From the moment that they reached the entryway of the flat, Catalina was already feeling antsy. She clutched the purse in one hand and cradled the flowers the way one would hold a child with the other. She tried to settle her mini anxiety attack by taking deep and steady breaths. After Jae had told her that his mother was making her best dishes, Catalina knew she'd come under prepared.

     "I should've brought Empanadas or something, you should've told me earlier," she hissed over as he began to open the door.

     "Cat, you're okay. It's gonna be okay," he hushed before he pushed open his flat's door.

     She gulped and shut her eyes as he offered his arm and she took it. They stepped into the apartment, the smell of delicious food taking them by surprise—a very pleasant surprise. In fact, the smell eased Catalina's mind greatly.

     Catalina sighed in content and gave Sung-Jae's arm a squeeze. "I'm already hungry," she mumbled.

     "Eomma!" Jae called out as they walked to the kitchen.

     "You're here already? You must have flown, no?" Mrs. Kim popped her head out from the kitchen, signalling them over while she kept her eye on the stove.

     Catalina slithered her arm from Jae's and walked towards his mother, offering her the bouquet of flowers. "Mrs. Kim, thank you for inviting me, it's very kind of you."

     "You're my son's girlfriend; of course I'd invite you," she said as she took the flowers from Catalina's hands. There was a smile on her face, bright but a bit intimidating. "And there's no need to be so formal, call me Cecilia."

     Catalina shot her head towards Jae, giving him a puzzling look. Clearly her name was not Cecilia.

     "It's my English name," Mrs. Kim clarified, "I thought it'd be easier for you to pronounce."

     "Oh, I—um, thanks? Er." Catalina furrowed her brows. "I mean, uhm, I—Thank you for inviting me, Cecilia." It felt strange to call her so informally but if it was what she wanted...

     Mrs. Kim gave her a nod and another smile before she turned to her son, "Jae, dear, how about you show Catalina around, I'm sure she's dying to get to know the place and see how her boyfriend lives. I'll call you down when dinner is ready."

     "Of course, eomma," he bowed his head slightly and Catalina followed the action before he led her away from the kitchen.

     The living room was mostly empty, Catalina could see Jae was living the 'minimalist' lifestyle. There was a simple smoke-grey shaggy carpet underneath two white couches that faced a flat screen television which hung from a wall.

     "So, you live here alone when your parents are in Korea?" Catalina asked while they walked towards the staircase. By now she had already noticed that the flat he lived in was a two story flat, with one side overlooking the small city.

     "Yeah, I do." Jae led her up the stairs to a row of rooms. "So, washroom is down the hall, guest room to the left, my room to the right and there's another vacant room on the other side."

     "Nice," she nodded, "it's spacious, isn't it?"

     "Hm."

     "Kinda lonely, no?"

     "If you say so."

     She stepped towards him. "You don't get lonely here? At all?"

     "I don't think—"

     "That's something I should know?" She finished for him. "You're right. It isn't. But maybe it's something you need to say."

     He took a step towards her, closing most of the space between them. So, she took a step back, but he stepped towards her again, and again, until her back hit the wall and his face was hovering over hers.

     Catalina gulped as she felt her cheeks heat up and her hands become all clammy. "Er, uh."

     "Yes," he said, his face void of any expression. "But that doesn't concern you, now does it?"

     She looked away and he finally stepped towards the stairs.

     "There's a washroom downstairs as well." His mood was indifferent, as if he hadn't just cornered her.

     She brought a hand to her heart to ease the wild heartbeat. "Y-yeah, uhm, okay."

     He turned to her, brown eyes scanning her over. "By the way, I think that the dress was a good choice. You don't have a bad fashion sense after all."

     "...Thanks?"

     He descended the stairs without any further words and she stood in silence before taking a deep breath and stepping towards the stairwell as well.

     "Catalina?" She turned her head to see Mr. Kim exiting the door on the opposite side of the hall.

     She bowed. "Hello, Mr. Kim."

     He made his way towards her after giving her outfit a glance. "Jae showed us some of the pictures of you two, you both didn't look right for each other..."

     Catalina blinked, she was slightly offended but recalled her grunge outfit and Jae's preppy one.

     "But I think you two make a cute couple."

     "O-oh," she stuttered, "thank you."

     Immediately, Mr. Kim glanced down the stairs. "Don't tell my wife I said that, she's not very...keen on you."

     Catalina smiled. "My lips are sealed, sir."

     He returned the smile. "I'm guessing Jae showed you around already?"

     "Yes, he went ahead." She signalled down the stairs. "I stayed back to explore a little."

     "Did he show you his room?"

     "No." She shook her head. "I think he might be a bit embarrassed."

     Mr. Kim laughed. "Maybe. He doesn't have much inside, but come." He led her down the hall and into Jae's room.

     The room wasn't much, very monochrome in colour, only off whites or greys. But what was distinct was that it was splashed with glow in the dark stars.

     "Wow," she whispered.

     They stepped inside. "He's always loved stars since he was a little child. He used to collect glow in the dark stars, says he just likes the stars so much. I think it's kind of cute."

     Catalina looked around and her eyes caught sight of a picture hanging on the full view mirror. "Is that Eun-Byul? Your daughter?"

     "Yes, that's her," Mr. Kim replied, "isn't she pretty?"

     "She's almost heavenly," Catalina murmured, and the second part she blurted out without thinking. "Just like Jae."

     Mr. Kim laughed. "I guess there's no doubting your intentions."

     Catalina blushed and cleared her throat. "Well, I think... maybe we should start heading down for dinner."

     "Of course." Mr. Kim nodded and they exited the room. They made conversation as they walked down the stairs and he finally put on his act that he didn't like Catalina.

     "Cat?" Jae furrowed his brows once he saw her walking next to his father.

     Catalina smiled as she walked up to Jae. "Mr. Kim was nice enough to show me your room."

     Immediately, Jae's expression soured. "Without my permission?"

     She hooked her arm around his and nodded. "Sorry about that...but I find it extremely cute that you like stars."

     Jae shot her a side glance but gave a nod anyways, looking at his mother. Catalina already knew that he had a lot to say on the matter but didn't want to give them away.

     "Now, please," Cecilia spoke, "everyone take a seat, dinner is ready."

     They all headed towards the dinner table but Cecilia held Catalina back, asking if she could help her set the table. Of course, without hesitation, Catalina helped Cecilia with anything she felt she needed help with.

     "Catalina, as much as you seem like a great person, I do want to make it clear that I don't like you. It's nothing personal, believe me. In fact, I've had plans for Jae from a very early age...but now that he has a girlfriend...everything I planned for him has gone down the drain."

     "I...I hope I can speak my mind, and I do apologize if I sound rude and this makes me look worse but I won't apologize for dating a boy that I like. Jae and I... or rather Jae..." Catalina felt the need to defend him. "His life should not be decided for him. He should be at liberty to make his own decisions even about love—especially about love."

     Cecilia looked upon her. Her face was stern and Catalina was starting to understand what Jae meant by the fact that she was the 'bad cop'. "I don't like your views, I also don't like the fact that you think you can speak to me in such a tone...but I do admire your courage. It takes a lot to speak against someone like me."

     Catalina took a deep breath. "I..."

     "There's no need to say anything else. You've made yourself clear and I heard you. Jae, however, is my son and I still have dominion over him."

     Immediately, Catalina lifted the plates off the counter. "Understood," she affirmed, "and the fact that Jae and I are together won't change as well."

     Catalina didn't even know from where all this courage was springing up from. To talk back to a parent? She would never! You wouldn't even catch her dead doing it! And yet...here she was, speaking her mind against Jae's mother. Jae's very intimidating mother.

     "With all my...heart," Cecilia nearly grimaced at the word, "I do hope you don't regret your words."

     Catalina took one last breath. "With all due respect, Mrs. Kim, I'm certain I won't regret them."

     After a mini staring contest, the two of them began setting plates on the table and Jae didn't even have to think twice to feel the tension between them. He gave Catalina a puzzling look but she shrugged him off with a bright smile as if nothing was happening; she was always good at downplaying a situation.

     After they had set all the dishes and side dishes on the table, Catalina and Cecilia sat down at their respective spots before they gave a small thanks for the food and they began eating.

     Catalina was glad that she knew her way around chopsticks as she learned from Daniel who had an obsession with asian food since high school. She gave a quick and mental thanks to Daniel for she wasn't making a fool of herself and everything seemed to be in order.

     "Now that we are all here together," Cecilia decided to drop more news, even with her sarcastic smile, "I wanted to be the one to tell you kids that my husband and I will be extending our trip!" She clapped her hands.

      "What?" Jae looked shocked as he set the pork down on his plate. "What?"

     "Yes," Mr. Kim nodded, "our business deal is going very well and so we decided to solidify it by staying until Jae finishes his exams for the first semester and be back in Korea for Christmas."

     Catalina swallowed the lump of beef she had been chewing and gave Jae a horrified look, as if he had pulled a knife on her or something.

     Jae took a sip of his water and gave Catalina a kick under the table."Why? You were supposed to go back in, like, less than a week, right?"

     She shot him a short glare.

     "Well, we wanted to spend some time with you and make sure that our investment didn't go south. We thought it would be a great time to spend some quality time and get to know Catalina well," Cecilia answered. "Is there a problem?"

     "No, of course not...I just...." Jae trailed off and the rest of the dinner was silent for the most part. Jae was contemplating life and Catalina understood why Cecilia had made sure she wouldn't regret her words.

     Cecilia had told Jae that he should take Catalina up to his room while the 'adults' cleaned up and talked. Of course, they had no say in the matter and Jae lead Catalina up the staircase.

     "You knew about this, didn't you?" Catalina hissed.

     Jae rolled his eyes. "No, do you think I'm stupid?"

     She didn't comment. "So, what now?" She groaned as Jae instructed her to sit down and she took her place on his fluffy bed.

     Jae seemed to dislike her decision as he had pointed at the chaise for her to sit on. "This is your call. We can 'break up', or we can continue."

      Catalina bit her nail, thinking over her own conversation with his mother. "But if we break up, wouldn't your parents just hook you up with the girl they wanted you to be with?"

     "Yes, but—"

     "Doesn't that ruin the whole purpose of this thing?" She motioned between them.

     He nodded. "But, I promised it was for two weeks; I'm not going to force you into this."

     Recalling what she had said to Cecilia, Catalina shut her eyes closed. "I think...I think we can't really stop now." Now that her pride was involved too.

     "I don't...I think you need time to think about it."

     "I really don't. My answer won't change. First, what if your parents find out you lied, how would they feel, huh? Do you really think they'd suck it up and be like 'it's okay, baby,'? No," she shook her head, "definitely not."

     "You're right. They'd probably drag me all the way back to Korea."

     "Exactly." Catalina smiled at her triumph. "By the way, I love the stars, they add a cute touch to the place."

     He glared daggers at her. "Shut up. You weren't even supposed to come inside."

     "Well," she shrugged her shoulders, "if I'm your girlfriend, I'm bound to be inside this room at least once."

     "Shut up."