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Daera was standing in front of the kitchen door, the next morning. She was ready to speak to her parents about how she had changed and how she disliked them parenting her like that — exactly what Donghyuck had told her to do last night. She also wanted to tell them about Donghyuck and about how she likes to spend her free time fangirling about Red Velvet.
The teenager took a deep breath and opened the door, hearing their parents stop talking immediately. "Good morning, sunshine." Her father sent her a million dollar smile, while Daera sat down on her chair and looked at the bowl of rice in front of her — a classic Korean breakfast.
She sighed, shoving her spoon into the rice before gulping it down with a bit of soup. After she had swallowed everything she looked up. "I need to talk to the two of you." She said and waited for her parents to give her their attention.
Once the adults were looking at her she set her hands in her lap and bit her lip, trying to find the words to address her issue properly. "It's been five years since I lived with you. And in these five years, a lot of things happened." She took a deep breath, looking at her dad who was giving her an assuring smile.
"I'm not thirteen anymore. I learned how to take care of myself. I learned how to appoint a meeting with the doctor. I learned how to cook and I am still a Grade B student." Daera swiped a strand of hair out of her face. "I have a boyfriend and I am mature now. Yesterday you parented me as if I was a child, Mum." Daera looked at her mother. "I know that Ramyeon isn't healthy. But it helps me stay awake when I have to study for school or clean the house." The girl looked down.
"It's suffocating me. You acting as if I am five is suffocating me, Mum."
It was quiet after Daera let out her most hidden feelings. "I've been alone all the time and having you around all of a sudden is weird to me. I hope you understand my feelings. I really hope." Daera said and looked down.
Her mother looked at her father, who only sighed. "Daera-yah, lift your head." Her father commanded and the girl obeyed. She locked her eyes with the ones of her father. "We only came for a short period of time. We stopped by to see how you were doing and to show you that you still have parents that'll care about you. Daera, we love you so much. You have no idea how hard it is for Mum to always leave you behind when we move to a new place."
Her father took a break and looked at his only daughter. "It was never your Mum's attention to baby you. We know you're almost legal and that you're mature. You emphasized it often enough that you have a boyfriend." He smiled. "It's just hard for us to realize that you are not thirteen anymore." Mr Choi finished his speech and Mrs Choi opened her mouth to look at her daughter.
"I'm sorry that I was so rude to you at the store, sweetheart." Her mother added to her father's words. "Tomorrow night we fly to New Zealand. It's your opinion if you want to join us or not." Her mother said and Daera opened her mouth. "You are leaving again?" She asked, confused. "Yes. We didn't book a direct flight from Greenland this time. We wanted to see you and fill up the fridge for you." Her mother said.
"Mum and I have been cooking the whole night so you have enough side dishes for the next weeks. Please eat them and stay healthy, love." Mr Choi said and Daera nodded, tears pricking at the corners of her eyes. "Wow, now that I understand why you came back now, I feel bad for snapping at you."
Mrs Choi laughed. "I missed most of your puberty. I never knew I would see the day when you would snap at me." Mr Choi joined laughing. "We love you, Daera. Always remember that."
Daera spent her day with her parents, enjoying the spring that was slowly awakening. Eating cotton candy and taking a lot of pictures, her first and last day with her parents ended fantastically. Daera sighed happily when she fell into her bed that night and took her phone into her hands.
Seeing that her boyfriend had written her a text message was making her heart jump up and down. She quickly unlocked her phone seeing that Donghyuck had sent a selfie. Daera giggled seeing the selfie, tapping on it and zooming in on every little detail of Donghyuck's face that she was crushing on.
"Gosh, that mole is so darn cute..." Daera spoke to herself when she heard her Mum from the door. "Who?" Daera blushed and invited her Mother in with a nod from her head. "My boyfriend," Daera said with a faint tint on her cheeks. "He sent me a selfie," Daera explained.
"When can I meet that boy that makes you this soft?" Mrs Choi asked and Daera laughed. "You won't believe it, but he's almost as busy as you and Dad are." Daera smiled and gently stroked the screen of her phone that had already turned dark. "Where'd you meet him?"
"When I was visiting Ari at work," Daera said truthfully. "So he's someone from SM... is he older than you?" Her Mother kept asking questions, which made Daera sigh. "Mum, believe me, he's gorgeous." - "At least show me his selfie."
Daera knew she had to be super secret about her secret relationship to NCT's Haechan... but on the other hand, she wanted to let someone know about this boy that made her heart go into a frenzy.
With a quick swipe over her lockscreen, she unlocked the phone and showed her Mother the selca Donghyuck just sent. "His name is Lee Donghyuck and he's eighteen, just like me." Daera smiled happily, while her Mum nodded approvingly seeing the picture of her daughters boyfriend.
"He's very good looking." Her Mum said and then chuckled. "And you're right. That mole is darn cute."
