Violin ≛ Seo Changbin

dinner

I laid at the foot of my bed reading a novel. The time was around 6:40 pm when my phone rang. I glanced at the caller ID and when I saw it was her, I quickly set my book down and answered.
"What's up?"

"Hi. Have you eaten dinner yet?" Her voice came from the other end. 

"Not yet, why?" 

"Perfect, you should come over to my house to have dinner with my family. That way, my parents can get to know you better."

"What? Your parents want to get to know me?" I asked, slightly tensing at the thought. 

"Well... it was more of my idea."

"You seriously want me to come over and socialize with them? They hate me!"

"That's exactly my point. Maybe if they knew you better, they wouldn't be so bothered whenever we hang out. Come on, just this one dinner, okay?" 

"Fine..."

_

I stirred the pile of mashed potatoes on my plate with my fork. The four of us were quiet, the only sound was the clinking of our utensils. I kept my eyes on my plate for most of the time except for the rare moments when I had to talk. It was a dreadfully uncomfortable atmosphere. 

I also noticed her mother glancing at me multiple times as if she was examining me and taking mental notes. The frown on her father's mouth never subsided, and neither did the intense look in his eye. 

"So... how was everyone's day today?" she piped up, hoping to start some kind of conversation. 

"Good."

"Good."

"Good."

Well, I guess that's the end of that. I scooped miniature spoonfuls of food into my mouth and chewed as quietly as possible. More than anything, I just wanted to shrivel up and disappear right then. Her father's gaze felt like it was dissolving me. 

"Did you guys know Changbin can write and produce music? He's really talented. He even wrote the song he performed at the talent show the other day, isn't that cool?" she said. 

"Really now?" Her mother said to me. 

I nodded. "Yes, ma'am. I've written a lot of other songs with my friends too, would you like to hear them?" 

"Maybe another time," her father dismissed. "But actually, about the talent show, your performance was quite impressive. Your stage presence was something I've never seen before."

My jaw dropped at the fact that her father just complimented me. I quickly recovered and thanked him. 

"Yes, you're certainly very talented. And I was also surprised when I heard you had convinced our daughter to perform as well." Her mother's facial expression turned soft and friendlier all of a sudden. 

"Mhm, seeing Changbin and his musical ability really inspired me to go on stage! I'd have never gotten the courage to do that if it weren't for him." She grinned at me and I did my best to ignore the butterflies erupting in my stomach. 

"I've never seen her play so well in front of an audience until then. I guess I have you to thank for that," her father said. Then, he did the last thing I would have ever expected him to do. His frown had finally disappeared and he smiled at me. It was sweet actually, coming from this old, slightly balding, silver-haired man who seemingly hated me. 

Once dinner was over I helped clean up the table and tidy up. She was coming with me to walk me out, but her mother had called her to finish up the dishes, and she grumpily obliged. Instead, her father walked me out. Even if it was a short distance to arrive at her front door, it felt awkward to be alone with him. 

"Thanks for having me over for dinner," I politely said as I stepped outside. 

He simply nodded with a grunt, his expression now laxer. "You know, I was really skeptical about you spending time with my daughter and having you over at first." 

I gulped. "And has that maybe changed at all?" I asked, hoping I didn't sound incredibly nervous. 

"It has. You're decent I suppose. I look forward to seeing you around more, son." He shut the door with another nod. I headed back home feeling quite accomplished. 

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Ayee I'm actually updating pretty frequently wowowow but it's mostly just because I want to start writing my Jisung fic called Steal My heart as soon as possible lol.