It's been two days since Christmas. Lisa, Hyunjin and Christian went back home yesterday. Your parents called you and said that their flight ended up getting cancelled because of the weather conditions. Because of this, they're going to be stopping by today.

As much as you hate the tensions in the family, you know that this is for the better.

Seokjin's preparing a Christmas dinner filled with ham, mashed potatoes, cider, and a special dessert. Jimin is sitting at the dining table, elbows on the table as he texts someone again.

"Jimin, please don't put your elbows on the table when my parents get here." Jimin lifts his head and looks up, plump lips formed into an 'o' shape as he stares up at you.

"Yes, eomma." He teases. You roll your eyes and then step behind him, causing him to make it obvious that he's hiding the person he's texting from you as he places his phone face down on the table. You lean down and whisper into his ear.

"You're lucky I'm not you're eomma, Jimin." You tease back before reaching your hand down to pinch one of his plump cheeks as you let out a soft laugh. Seokjin glances back at you two and lets out a soft laugh before shaking his head. You let go of him and stand up before turning to Seokjin. "By the way, Seokjin, my parents are really conservative. I know you're already really polite with everyone who's come to the house, but you might have to be extra polite. My parents are probably going to be pissed off that Lisa isn't here anymore to celebrate Christmas."

"Lisa really hates them that much?" You nod your head, shrugging your shoulders.

"I didn't really need to mention anything because we didn't have any alcohol in the house the last time Lisa was here, but in college, she used to drink a little too much." You state.

"Too much? As in alcoholic?"

"Recovered alcoholic." You correct. Seokjin nods his head. "But anyways, my parents kinda... treat her differently because of it."

"Yeah, every dinner always ends up with an argument between them." Jimin chimes in. You glance at him before nodding your head.

"It's either that or I end up leaving early for work which makes Lisa leave the kitchen before my parents can even say anything to her." You state. Jimin nods along.

"If Lisa's a recovering alcoholic, isn't it a bad idea for her to be friends with you, Jimin? You love alcohol." Seokjin quietly asks. Jimin rolls his eyes.

"I've been friends with Y/N forever and during my entire friendship with Y/N, I've been friends with Lisa too. I don't touch alcohol around her." He states.

When Seokjin is about to ask more questions, you hear the doorbell. Your shoulders tense up a little and you take a deep breath before heading towards the double kitchen doors.

"You two. Please, please, please behave. Please."

"We got it." Jimin dismisses your statement with his hand. You look over at Seokjin who nods his head, agreeing with Jimin. You take another deep breath and exit the double kitchen doors, making your way towards the front door. You open the front door and smile at your parents.

Your father merely steps into the house, giving no greeting or hug when he enters. As you expected.

Your mom gives a small smile before stepping in and removing her shoes by the front door.

"I'm sorry your flight got delayed, but you didn't really miss anything on Christmas." You state while closing the door behind them. You turn around and see your dad inspecting the living room.

"Not your fault." He blankly states before nodding his head in approval of your living room.

"We brought presents for you and Jimin." Your mom states, handing you the two large boxes. When you open your mouth to reply, the double kitchen doors swing open and Jimin steps out.

"Hi Mr. and Mrs. Y/L/N." Jimin states before bowing politely. You watch as your father merely nods his head to acknowledge Jimin. Your mom gives him a small smile and a wave. "How have you been?" Jimin asks, used to your dad's aloof behavior.

"I retired two months ago." Your father merely states. "Y/N's mother is still working for a few more months before she can retire as well." Jimin nods his head.

"Congratulations on your retirement, Mr. Y/L/N." Jimin states to your father before looking at your mother. "And Mrs. Y/L/N, it's only a few months, they should fly by very quickly and soon you'll be able to spend your days relaxing. Fighting." Jimin says. Your mother nods her head and gives him a small laugh.

"Yes, I know this time will go by fast. Hopefully afterwards, I can-" your mom starts.

"Y/N, where's Lisa?" your father interrupts your mother, turning to face you. You move your attention from your mom, who's shoulders sink a little while she's being interrupted. The sight of her getting discouraged from speaking causes your stomach to drop a little. However, you maintain your composure.

"She left already. Hyunjin had to get back to work and they didn't pack enough stuff for Christian to stay a few more days." You state before scratching the back of your neck. Your father immediately shakes his head.

"Always irresponsible." You stare at the man, annoyed by his words.

"It's not really her fault. We all thought you'd make it here on time for Christmas, but your flight was delayed."

"I'm sure Hyunjin could've taken Christian with him back home and Lisa could've stayed. She just didn't want to because she's dramatic." You arch an eyebrow before looking at your mom, silently asking for permission to further defend Lisa. Your mother sighs, making you take a deep breath.

"Dinner is ready." You state, dropping the conversation before walking past your mother and Jimin. Jimin shakes his head to himself while your father isn't looking and your mother's head hangs low as she becomes upset from his behavior.

Walking into the kitchen, Jimin follows behind you with your mother and your father trails behind.

"Chef Seokjin," you formally address Seokjin, causing him to furrow his eyebrows for a second at the name. He then realizes what you're doing and nods his head. "We're ready to eat now."

"Yes, ma'am. Please, everyone, take a seat while I serve you the dinner." He bows politely. Your mother smiles at Seokjin before gesturing back at him while mouthing 'he's cute' to you. You ignore her and let her sit down, instead examining your father.

"Chef Seokjin? Your last chef was a girl." Your father states, eyeing Seokjin up and down before turning to you. "You lost another chef?"

"She quit, father. Not much I could do about it."

"You could have offered her a raise." He crosses his arms before looking back at Seokjin.

"I did do that and that didn't work." You mumble under your breath.

"So, Seokjin, what are your qualifications? Did you go to culinary school?" Seokjin looks at you, uncertainty in his eyes. You merely nod your head.

"Yes, sir. I majored in acting and minored in culinary arts at my college." Seokjin partially lied. Your father lets out a pity laugh.

"Acting? What a useless major." You watch as Seokjin's expression drops a little. It hurts you.

"Father, he actually was scouted by many different music and acting agencies."

"That's surprising." He states. "Well, at least you found a real career in cooking." He walks past Seokjin and you give Seokjin an apologetic look before making your way to the table.

Seokjin begins serving the food, placing the large ham, bowl of mashed potatoes, and special dessert on the table.

Once everyone starts eating, you eye your father and see him picking at the ham, not taking a bite.

"Is something wrong?" you ask him while setting down your utensils.

"Excuse me?"

"You're not eating. Is something wrong?" you reiterate.

"Chef Seokjin," your father ignores you, causing your nostrils to flare and expression to turn cold. "what did you do to prepare this ham?"

You watch as Seokjin tells your father the process, watching as your father continues inspecting the piece of meat before eventually taking a bite. His face remains neutral before he nods his head once Seokjin finishes speaking.

"Better than your last chef." He tells you. Seokjin, standing behind your father, starts to nervously fan himself with his apron. The sight of him being this anxious causes your stomach to drop again.

Only dessert and then everyone can open presents, and they're out of here.

"Chef, can you please serve dessert now? It looks like most of us are ready for it." You state after examining the other three plates on the table besides your father's. Your father is ready to interrupt that he's not finished, but soon realizes that everyone else has been waiting for him to eat this whole time.

"Yes ma'am." Seokjin bows politely to you before placing the homemade Yakgwa cookie plate on the table. "I prepared traditional Yakgwa cookies. It's a family recipe. Please, enjoy." Seokjin states while bowing at all of you.

You feel bad that he has to be so professional when he's normally walking around the kitchen, humming songs and behaving normally.

"Thank you." You tell Seokjin. Your mother, you and Jimin take some of his cookies and take bites right away.

"Chef Seokjinnie," your mom politely calls out to him, probably also sensing his overly polite demeanor. Seokjin nervously walks towards her. "These cookies are delicious." A grin forms on Seokjin's face, making his cheeks look a little chubby and his mouth is giving a small curve upwards. You nod your head.

"These cookies really are incredible, Chef." Seokjin's ears start to turn red as he grows shy at the compliments. You stare up at him and give him a small smile.

"I think they're missing something." Your father steps in, causing the smile to wipe entirely from Seokjin's face. You look at Jimin, whose eyes are now wide as he looks at Seokjin, knowing how Seokjin reacts to criticism about his cooking. Seokjin merely gulps before taking a deep breath, nodding his head.

"Thank you, maybe I measured some ingredients wrong." He says through gritted teeth. You stare sympathetically up at Seokjin and mouth 'I'm so sorry.' He merely shakes his head, dropping the subject as he starts moving away from the table towards the double kitchen doors before exiting.

"That was really rude, sweetheart." Your mother states. You look over at her, shocked that she's finally speaking up.

So, she defends strangers but not Lisa.

"Rude? It was constructive criticism. If your chef can't handle that, Y/N, you should get a new one. Maybe try getting the old one back."

"The old one doesn't want to come back. I like Seokjin's cooking, so no, I will not be hiring a different chef." You state. "And that was rude. That's a family recipe. How would you feel about someone saying something bad about your tteokbokki?" you question.

"No one would ever say anything bad about my tteokbokki." He laughs.

"Well, I think you add too many spices." You speak without thinking, causing the table to get quiet. Your eyes widen for a moment before you nod your head, tired of this. "Your tteokbokki is as bad, if not worse, than your parenting."

Your father drops his silverware on the table and narrows his eyes at you.

"What did you just say? I'm your f-"

"Do you know why Lisa didn't stay?" you question.

"Because she's an alcoholic and probably left to dr-" That fucking does it.

"She's a recovered alcoholic. She doesn't drink anymore." You interrupt again.

"You should stop interrupting me before I get angry."

"Oh? But you can interrupt me, Lisa, and mom while we talk but we can't do it to you?" you arch your eyebrows. "Lisa didn't come to dinner because you treat her like she's a disgrace to this family. Alcoholism runs in the family genes but you don't treat your brother like shit even though he's one."

"I hardly ever interrupt any of you."

"You did it at least five times today to me and mom." You look at your mom. "Didn't he?" she stares at the two of you, eyes shifting between the two of you before slowly nodding her head.

"You're being dramatic."

"Why? What's dramatic? I think it's rude for you to insult Lisa for the person she used to be. Hell, you call Lisa an alcoholic every time you see her, yet you wonder why she only calls mom." Your father scoffs before letting out a bitter laugh.

"If you were still dating-"

"Don't you dare finish that sentence." For once, Jimin stands up to your father as well. "You know how badly that scumbag hurt your daughter. Do not bring him into your mess to piss her off."

"I bet he would keep you in line and stop you from being so dramatic."

"'Keep me in line?'" you question while staring at him before standing up from your chair. "I deal with sexist men like you every fucking day at work and I've called out every single one of them, but clearly it's time I call you out, father."

Your father remains quiet.

"I'm a person, I don't need anyone to keep me 'in line.' I'm a woman, but I'm also the owner of a business that makes millions of dollars a year. I've built an entire company by scratch and had to tolerate men like you trying to tell me I'm not going to make it in the business world. You, meanwhile, worked at a meaningless, lifeless job for which you had no passion for whatsoever. You speak to me, Lisa, and mom as if we're less than you but all of us have more motivation and intelligence in our pinky fingers than you do in your entire body." You rant.

He remains silent as he stares up at you with narrowed eyes.

"You insult your own family, don't understand social cues, and open your mouth to say negative things that I can't tolerate anymore." You turn to your mom. "Mom, you need to stand up for yourself. Lisa and I grew up watching him step all over you and treat you like you're his minion. Fix it."

Your mother merely gulps before you take a deep breath and sit back down at the table.

"You're in my home. You're my guest. My guests do not get to insult my staff nor me." You state. "Jimin, get the security at the gate to escort this man out of my home."

"Y/N..." your mom states.

"You can stay, mom. I just don't want this negative energy in my home."

Jimin pulls out his phone, making a quick phone call before the security at the gate come into the house, escorting your father out without another word.

"You need to learn to speak up for yourself. He's a bully and has been bullying you since Lisa and I were little." You tell her before getting up to grab your phone. "I'm going to call Lisa."

Your mom is sitting at the table by herself before Jimin peeps his head through the double doors of the kitchen. He sees your mother sitting by herself and sits down next to her at the table, sensing her sadness.

"I'm sorry that all of that happened." He states. Your mom merely shrugs her shoulders before taking another cookie in her hand.

"You know, these cookies really are good," she states before taking a bite, causing Jimin to laugh softly. "I guess I've been letting him tell me what to do for longer than I thought."

"Looks like it affected Y/N and Lisa a lot more than you realized too." Jimin states. "You know that Y/N is afraid of having real relationships because of him and her ex-boyfriend?"

"Afraid?" Jimin nods his head and rests his hand on her back.

"She's been seeing someone but won't tell anyone who it is... I don't know if it's because she's scared of it being real or because she's not used to relationships since that jerk... but, eomma, you should really show her that she has nothing to be scared of." Jimin states. Your mom nods her head before sighing softly.

"I'll talk to her. Thank you, Jiminie. You've always been the son I always wanted." Jimin smiles widely before nodding his head and giving your mom a hug.

*****
Normally I would add the latest news here but I'm not having the best day right now. I'll make up for it next week.

I love all of you. Please be safe and take care of yourselves. I hope you're all having a wonderful day/night.

I love you

Kim