Ch.368368. What? Meeting the Parents?

“Of course, your sister. It’s Jinwoo’s formal meeting with the in-laws.”

“M-my sister’s formal meeting…?”

This came out of nowhere. Suddenly calling me and telling me to clear my Saturday schedule because my sister’s formal meeting with her boyfriend’s family has been arranged.

I could make time to go if needed, but I’m still quite bewildered. Considerably surprised, I stammered without realizing it and glanced at Hwa Nabi.

The news about my sister Jinwoo, who would be Hwa Nabi’s sister-in-law, must have been quite shocking… Hwa Nabi is looking at me with a confused expression.

Her lips are twitching as if she has many questions, which I share. After all, this is the first time I’m hearing about this.

It’s news to me that my sister Jinwoo has a boyfriend she’s been dating long enough to have a formal family meeting, and that this meeting is happening this coming Saturday. Honestly, I’m a little—no, very surprised.

“Yes, Jinwoo’s formal meeting. Make sure to show your face if you don’t have anything special, and if possible, bring your new wife too. Their family is larger than ours, so we need to match the numbers.”

“Ah, yes. I understand.”

“Well, then…”

Father seemed to be trailing off. Thinking he was about to hang up, I quickly asked:

“Father, wait a moment. What does this person do for a living?”

“What do you mean what he does? Didn’t Jinwoo tell you?”

“No, I haven’t heard anything. I only just found out she even has a boyfriend serious enough for a formal meeting from your call… What kind of work does he do?”

“You’ll recognize the name too, Siwoo. It’s Baek Seonghyeon, Chairman Min’s son…”

“Ah… oh, that person.”

Baek Seonghyeon, a name I’ve heard before. If my memory serves me right, he’s the second son of Unseung Group, which dominates the food service industry.

He’s handsome enough to be the main model for their brand advertisements, tall, and even has a good personality with an overwhelmingly positive reputation.

Yes, he’s quite a catch… but why is he having a formal meeting with our sister? What does he see in her?

Such words almost escaped my throat before I swallowed them back. I shouldn’t say anything strange when father is delivering good news, so I’ll just hold back.

“Since they’re having a formal meeting, I assume they’re definitely thinking about marriage…?”

“Well, I don’t know what’s in Jinwoo’s mind… but personally, I hope things work out between them. Chairman Min’s son is a solid young man, so he should be able to live well even with our wild Jinwoo.”

“……”

So father thinks my sister is wild too. Nodding at this strange point of agreement, I cleared my throat and asked what I was curious about.

“How did my sister react? Did she seem happy when the formal meeting was mentioned?”

“I think it would be better for you to ask Jinwoo about that directly.”

“Ah…”

True, it’s not really proper to discuss someone behind their back.

“Umm, I understand. Thank you for answering.”

“No need for thanks, we’re family.”

“…Yes, I’ll see you on Saturday.”

The call ended after a brief exchange of pleasantries. I stared at the word “Father” flashing on my phone screen for a moment, then looked up at Hwa Nabi.

She had been looking like she was dying to speak throughout my call, and now she pounced.

“What is it? What’s going on? You suddenly say your sister’s formal meeting has been arranged, did you know about this, husband?”

“I’ll answer everything, so could you ask one question at a time…?”

My head is spinning from all the questions. I managed to calm down Hwa Nabi, who was excited about this rare piece of gossip, and we held hands as we went down the stairs.

As soon as I started the engine after getting into my car parked in the underground garage, Hwa Nabi turned her head quickly as if she’d been waiting and spoke rapidly.

“Husband, what does your sister’s future husband do? No, let me guess. A businessman, right? He’s a businessman?”

“Yeah, I guess so. If I had to categorize him, he’d be a businessman.”

More precisely, he’s a model for his company’s brand, a third-generation chaebol, and the second son competing with the eldest for the successor position at Unseung Group… but that would be too much detail.

“Oh, a businessman… What kind of business?”

“I don’t know exactly… probably something in the food service industry?”

“Food service? Is he a chef?!”

“Hmm, isn’t a chef not a businessman…?”

“Why not? Chefs can be businessmen too. These days, famous chefs often start businesses using their names.”

“Ah, I suppose so.”

As Hwa Nabi said, some well-known chefs do venture into related businesses, and the head of Unseung Group is a major player in the food service industry.

As the boundary between businesspeople and non-businesspeople becomes increasingly blurred in society, I guess a chef could be called a businessman too.

“But you seem to have a lot of questions. Are you curious?”

“Yes, of course I’m curious. He’s going to be your sister’s husband, right? She has quite a personality, so I wonder what kind of person…”

Hwa Nabi, who had been speaking excitedly, suddenly closed her mouth. Then she started cautiously checking my reaction, apparently aware she had misspoken.

Well, it’s fine. I shook my head with a slight smile. Even I think my sister has quite a temperament. I hadn’t thought Hwa Nabi would see her that way too, but I guess her prickly personality is obvious to everyone.

“I know, I wonder what kind of person would want to marry my sister. It’s truly puzzling.”

We stopped at a red light. For about a minute, Hwa Nabi watched me cautiously, and just as the car was about to start moving again, she carefully asked:

“But, husband. This isn’t the way to our home, is it? It’s the opposite direction.”

“Yeah, I know?”

“…What?”

She looked at me blankly after my nonchalant response. It seems she’s forgotten our conversation at the landing earlier, so I deliberately rubbed the back of my neck.

“Maybe it’s because we haven’t been out in a while? I’m really tired.”

“…?”

“Since I’m tired, let’s rest before going home.”

“Rest…? …Oh, OH.”

After pondering my words for a moment, she suddenly seemed to understand, and her face turned bright red.

“We’ll be resting for quite a while, so be prepared.”

“…Ah.”

*

The formal meeting is on Saturday, and today is Monday.

That means there are five days left until the meeting, and since it’s my sister’s formal meeting, I thought it would be impolite to know too little about the other party, so I decided to find out a bit.

The most reliable way would be to ask the person directly, but asking someone about their own personal information seems a bit off.

So the method I chose was to ask my sister, the prospective wife, what kind of person Baek Seonghyeon is.

But, what’s this?

“…Sister, say that again. What did you say?”

“It’s just a dinner, not a formal meeting. What formal meeting? We weren’t even officially dating in the first place.”

“Really? You’re not saying this because you had a fight with your future husband, are you?”

“I’m not a child. Would I pretend someone doesn’t exist just because of a lover’s quarrel? It’s not that—we’re really not in any kind of relationship.”

“Ah…”

What is this? I called to satisfy a small curiosity, but now I have an even bigger one.

Father said it was a formal meeting, so I firmly believed it was, but it’s actually not a formal meeting and they weren’t even officially dating? What kind of situation is this?

“Then what’s this formal meeting father mentioned? He even told me to bring Nabi, but you’re saying it’s not a formal meeting?”

“What? Did dad tell your wife too? That I’m having a formal meeting?”

“He didn’t tell her directly, but he said to bring Nabi, so I did pass it on.”

I didn’t need to mention that she had heard everything. When I told her the truth, I heard what sounded like a groan from the other end of the phone.

“Really… I told him to stay out of it, why is he making things bigger again… Hey, Siwoo. You haven’t told anyone else, have you?”

“I haven’t been spreading unnecessary rumors. But what about father? He likes to brag about these things, so I think he might have contacted everyone around him…?”

For the sake of father’s honor, I hadn’t mentioned it until now, but the truth is, when I got married, the happiest person was none other than our father.

What did he say? Something like the first and second child were approaching thirty without even bringing home a partner, but the youngest, whom he hadn’t expected much from, was the first to get married and about to show him grandchildren…?

I don’t remember exactly, but anyway, he said something similar whenever our three siblings got together, and my sister would remember that too.

My prediction wasn’t wrong, as my sister went from groaning to outright sighing.

“Ah, this is driving me crazy… Siwoo, do something about dad. At this rate, the false rumor about me getting married will spread to everyone in the country…!”

“I know, if you were actually getting married, that would be one thing. But now rumors are spreading that you’re marrying someone you’re not even in a relationship with. Sister, this is really serious…”

“…Are you trying to comfort me or make me feel worse?”

“Of course I’m comforting you. Why would I try to make you feel worse?”

“Siwoo, sometimes you’re strangely innocent in the oddest ways…?”

The tone suggests it’s not exactly a compliment. Anyway, that’s not what’s important right now, so let’s move on.

“Anyway, sister. So what are you going to do? Do you have any plan in mind?”

“Plan or not, I need to call dad first. After stopping dad, then I’ll contact close friends… Ah, really. Why is dad like this? Siwoo, never be like this, okay? I really can’t with dad…”

It must be giving her a headache just thinking about it, as she started sighing heavily and complaining.

I listened quietly to my sister’s complaints, then suddenly became curious and asked:

“Sister, you said you’re not in any kind of relationship with this Baek Seonghyeon person, right? That’s definitely true?”

“Yes, we’re really not in any relationship at all. Why do you ask?”

“Then… why, how did you end up being misunderstood as having a relationship serious enough for a formal meeting?”