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"Hey, can I come in?"
Jisoo was a little taken aback to find Yixing poking his head into her room. She excused herself when everyone finished their food. At first, she only wanted to use the restroom but after she came out from the en-suite bathroom, she took a seat on her desk to check on her phone. She had left it in the drawer after coming back from hanging out with Sehun this afternoon since she didn't expect any message from everyone. But she found some unread messages and one of them was from Yixing.
'Hey, are you aware if we're having dinner with my parents and your family?' it read. Yixing sent it just an hour after she put her phone in the drawer. 
'if you don't, just don't freak out.'  he sent the second message about an hour and a half ago, which may be on his way here. So, he indeed tried to warn her. She felt a little bit betrayed by him this evening, thinking that she was the only one who was clueless about the dinner invitation. She wished he would have told her earlier so, at least, she wouldn't react like a stupid person in front of his parents. But after reading his message, Jisoo took back her disappointment and started to smile like a fool for liking it too much.
"Hey, come in." She pushed open the door wider for him and let him in while keeping the door ajar.
"I was looking for you, and your maid said you're in your room," Yixing explained as he sat himself at the tip of the bed.
Jisoo took a seat back on the desk and nodded, "Okay." she replied shortly.
"So, did you read my message? You seemed a little bit shocked to see us at the door." 
She scoffed at his word choice with the mention of 'shock', but to reply to the question she showed him her phone. "Just read it a minute ago."
Yixing raised his brow as if saying that it explained all the gaping and frozen state.
"Um, anyway, I'm here to give you this," Yixing told her after a few moments of silence. He fished out a folded paper from his pants pocket and handed it to her. "Only read it when I'm not here." he held it second before releasing it as she had her hand on it.
"Alright." She eyed the folded paper and couldn't help to smile seeing that Yixing took her note seriously about it.
When Yixing took her home last Monday after the dinner, he asked if she would like to have another dinner with him in the future. And knowing that it wouldn't be probably their last meeting, she gave him a piece of paper.
Jisoo had made a questionnaire paper that she intended to give to her date only when they would make a potential second meeting. She made it to make it easier for her to understand her date better by answering the question list. It's nothing big, some of the questions were things like what he did in his spare time, what kind of food he liked, what kind of a dating partner he was, etc, etc. And she didn't get the chance to give it out to anyone since she never made any second date with the previous men she had met. She was a little hesitant at first when she handed it out to Yixing, afraid that he would think it was stupid. But when he took it from her and read the question in a glance, he just smiled and promised her to answer it honestly and seriously 'Like I'm taking my final exam' he said.
"But I left mine at home, I would've brought it with me if I knew I'd see you here..." she said as she put the paper inside the drawer.
"That's fine. I'd like to figure you out myself, it's more fun." 
She blushed and looked away to see out the window where the desk rested. There's no one on the patio anymore, seemed like everyone had gathered back in the house. Yixing on the other hand, leaned in and rested his forearms on his thighs. He looked around and landed his eyes back on her as she watched him scan her room.
"Your grandparents have a very nice big house." he commented, "Did you live here before?"
She shook her head, "No, I only use this room every time I come to visit. Before that I lived with my parents outside the countries, Minseok was the one who lived here in his teenage years." she informed. She tilted her head to look at his face carefully. Now that he was under a brighter light, she only caught that Yixing looked much fresher than the last time they met. The eye bags under his eyes were less swollen, his eyes were crystal clear and he definitely looked at her in wider eyes. Like he just had the best rest of his life.
"Looks like somebody finally had a good sleep." she couldn't stop herself from mentioning it, her smile grew wider with the recognition.
"I did have some good sleep, thank you."
"Oh, even some. Good for you." she didn't mask her surprise or even fake it but genuinely felt so happy that he finally got a proper rest. Well, it's not like she knew exactly how he lived his days or how he had his nights of sleep, it's just that, the last she saw him, he looked just so bad that it was quite concerning her for somebody living his life like that.
"What's the secret recipe?" she leaned in and put a hand at the side of her mouth to say it in a whisper playfully, as if it was only the secret shared between them both.
Yixing raised his brow and pursed his lips, "One nice date and three hours of doing a questionnaire will do. But I'm sure I'll have a very much better sleep if there's a goodnight kiss, but, maybe next time." he said mischievously with a grin on his face. Jisoo squinted at him at his flirtatious remark, a bit agape in his confidence, but in the end, she couldn't hold her laugh.
"You're moving too fast, Mister," she warned.
"Not a good idea?"
"Nah-uh."
He shrugged again with another tight-lip smile, "At least I've tried." and Jisoo laughed again in a response. What did that even mean? 
Jisoo saw Yixing as an honest talker, and yes, he would flirt with her occasionally but she didn't expect that he was going to be this straightforward about further physical contact. Not that she hated it, she wouldn't deny that there was a part of her who once imagined how that lips of his would taste when they kissed, but the realization would not be just that easy for her. She'd like to keep a more normal pace in their relationship, not too slow, but not too fast, thank you very much.
She couldn't also just deny how her heart fluttered suddenly. The way Yixing looked at her intently with his signature smile and sweet dimple on his cheek, rushed the butterflies in her belly, she felt so overwhelmed. She looked away again and fixed her gaze at the darkness outside the window instead, anywhere but that certain man sitting on her bed. And her heart beat much more erratically when she saw from the corner of her eyes, Yixing rose from the bed and walked up to her. She then turned to look at him and tried to read his unreadable expression when she heard a knock on the door. Yixing stopped midway.
"Hey," Sehun pushed the door open, "Sorry to interrupt, but you guys are needed downstairs. They want to speak to both of you." he left right away after conveying the message.
Speak to both of them? Jisoo threw her gaze back to Yixing with a quizzical look. Why would their parents want to speak to them? What were they going to talk about? There were some speculations that Jisoo had in mind but she put them aside because she couldn't decide which of the guesses they would exactly discuss. In addition, some of them were also quite impossible to happen, such as the possibility of their parents wanting them to stop seeing each other, because they seemed to get along with each other pretty well at the dinner. Or otherwise, with the possibility that they would like to hasten this relationship to a more serious level, because, well, maybe her mother wanted her to get married soon, but she knew her father wanted her to pursue her dreams before it all took place. So what kind of talk would they follow? Especially with the presence of everyone in their family?
She wanted to ask Yixing what it was about, but seeing that there was no nervousness in his expression, she thought this was probably nothing serious. Yeah, maybe she's just overreacting.
"Come on, let's go." he put his hand on the small of her back as she slid off from the desk and led their way downstairs.
Everyone was in the living room when Jisoo went down the stairs with Yixing just behind her. She sauntered across the room when her father beckoned them to take a seat. Yixing seated himself on the only vacant couch, and Sehun rose to give her his seat and sat at the armrest of her couch instead.
"Okay, now everyone is here. We have several things to discuss." her mother started. Jisoo took a deep breath.
"As we know the Zhangs here came to Seoul on a special occasion to fulfill your grandfather's dinner invitation. And as we all know both Jisoo and Yixing have had their meeting, and seemed that both of them showed a mutual attractiveness..."
Jisoo was struggling not to scoff or laugh in this matter, her mother didn't seriously use that 'attractiveness' to define this raw relationship between her and Yixing. What a way to exaggerate.
"And seeing that this relationship would lead to a positive light, we've discussed among each other this evening before the dinner. We came to presume that the only thing left is having you both get married. It would be much better if you guys do it right away."
Okay, she could see this... wait. What?
"Jisoo is a smart girl. I've heard from Yixing how kind and thoughtful she is, and they're substantial virtues among others that a family would like to have as a mankeeper. I would be very happy to welcome you to the Zhang family." Yixing's mother added in Mandarin, in which Yixing translated for them. "It's our tradition to provide all the things the bride and groom need for the wedding and after. We also have bought a residence for you both to live in, it's nothing big though, but I hope you'll like it. Nothing to worry, all sets."
Jisoo felt her head spinning fast now. All this information was too much for her to swallow. Even though she had thought about it before, she didn't think this would really happen so quickly. Like, they only met three times, for God's sake, the first one didn't count because they didn't have a proper conversation.
Her eyes were set on Yixing, then Minseok, then her father, her mother, her grandparents, then Sehun to return to Yixing. Why didn't all of them show the same expression as herself? Was it just her here who had no idea about all this?
She frowned at Yixing, who looked at her with his brow raised.
Damn it, he knew, and he said nothing.
"Umm, excuse me, I'm so sorry, but can I talk to you for a second?" Jisoo asked, but she didn't wait for an answer as she pulled Yixing's hand and rushed climbing the stairs leaving the family in complete silence. And Yixing didn't say anything until they got back to her room, she spun to him irritatingly after shutting the door closed.
"I told you don't freak out." was the only thing Yixing said. And that's when Jisoo realized that his last message was not about freaking out of his and his parents' visit, he warned her about this!
And she groaned, frustratedly.
"Yixing, what the hell??"
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