Ongoing Cycle

29

The doorbell rang to the house and [Y/N]'s heart lurched. She knew who it was and what was about to happen. A few days ago she finally had the courage to spit out to her parents that she had a boyfriend, which they were really pleased with. Of course, they asked her to bring him over sometime to make sure he was...fitting. Not because they were overprotective of her, but because they needed to make sure his family had status and money.

     To say that she was nervous was an understatement. She was a wreck and her mind was caught up on her fears at all the mistakes she could make. The judgmental eyes of her parents burning into her was going to be enough to make her freeze.

     Before she could let her parents answer the door, she skidded through the hallway and to the front door. Opening the door up, there stood Kuro in all his glory. He was dressed pretty decently with a polo shirt and jeans that fit well on him and his blue eyes were just as bright as ever.

     Mustering up a smile on her face, she hesitantly let him inside. He nodded at her and stepped inside. Closing the door, [Y/N] suddenly didn't know what to do. She really hoped her parents weren't nearby to see such an awkward scene. This would blow their cover, that's for sure.

     The boy standing beside her gently touched the side of her arms and lowered his head to her ears. His voice low, he whispered. "Hey, you look as tense as a deer caught by headlights. Take a deep breath. It'll be fine. I promise that at the end of this, your parents will love me."

      Though she was slightly annoyed by his somewhat cocky attitude, she looked at him and smiled a real smile. He was right. He was Kuro, the guy who could charm any girl. Surely he could easily charm her parents as well.

      "Ah, you must be [Y/N]'s boyfriend," someone's voice called out to them. Breaking her gaze with the boy, [Y/N] looked in surprise to see her mother at the other end of the hallway. Her father was right behind her and their gazes were hungrily on Kuro, as if they could already taste the money coming off of him.

     A little embarrassed that she was still in such a close position with Kuro, she easily stepped out of his arms. At least it made their relationship a little more real, right? The warmth that came along with him was evaporating from her and she suddenly couldn't help but wish to be near him again.

      Kuro then walked towards her parents and gave each of them a polite handshake. "Ahh, yes. My name is Kuro. You two are her parents? She's talked a lot of great things about you guys."

      Her father laughed a carefree laugh. "Did she really? That sounds about her alright," he joked, his eyes peering at her, whom was still lock in place at the door.

     She was slightly boiling inside. That sounded like her? What the hell? She guessed they weren't the only ones acting here: her parents were too. They were trying hard to sound like their family was fucking perfect, so that this boyfriend of hers wouldn't leave. What a nauseating cycle. It was already so messy and they haven't even sat down to eat and discuss.

     "Have you've eaten? Would you like to join us for lunch?" her mother asked Kuro.

     Since they had planned this out, she told him not to eat before coming here. "Yes, that sounds good," he agreed. They all left the hallway and entered the dining room. The table was already set with food that was prepared by her mother this morning.

      They sat down around the table, so [Y/N] sat down beside Kuro and in front of her father. As they began to eat their meal, her parents fired questions to Kuro. It sort of made her feel bad for him that he was put in such a situation. Although he did seem very composed, with his posture comfortable and his smile looking real.

     "So how have you two met?" her mother asked, her eyes aiming at Kuro.

     "We met in class. We were paired up for a project and we got to know each other through it."

     Well....they met each other in the school's bathroom, but that wouldn't be a good idea to say. It made sense to her why he didn't say the truth. It was kind of funny though, so she made a small face at him. He responded to that with a wink. She rolled her eyes.

     She knew her parents were watching this exchange between them and she hoped they wouldn't read too much into it and would think they were just lightly flirting. 

     "Why do you like our daughter?" her father then asked.

     She never expected them to ask such a question and it got her cheeks blazing. For some reason, she didn't want to hear Kuro's answer to this. She gave out a nervous chuckle. "He doesn't have to answer this if he wants to."

     "But I do," he interjected, which left her speechless. He even went as far to grab her hand under the table. His hand clamping over her sweaty hand, tingles shot up her arm. His eyes dug into hers and he proceeded to speak. "I like how hardworking she is and how she cares for others way too much. She's really witty and she's someone who you can always rely on...even if she hates you."

      Her heart pounding restlessly, she averted her eyes from him. His grasp on her hand wouldn't seem to let go though.

     "You really care about her, don't you. That's so sweet of you," her mother stated. She then went on to the one question she had been looking forward to this whole time. "What does your parents do for a living?"

      It sickened her to see her parents' eyes gleaming darkly as they waited for his response. Why did they ever only care about perfection and success?

     "My dad's the CEO of his company and my mom's a doctor," he nonchalantly told them.