Chapter 19 The Family Dinner

"So Namjoon, I've heard you own some buildings," Dad said.

"That's right, sir," Namjoon nodded.

"Where are these buildings?" Dad asked.

"Well, there's the Wings building in the center of town, the apartments on Gulliver Street, and then some other buildings near the docks," Namjoon listed.

"The Wings Building? You own it?" Dad asked to which Namjoon nodded. "I thought it was owned by some old geezer."

"That old geezer was my father," Namjoon said with a chuckle.

"What happened to him?" Lance asked.

"He passed away. Cancer," Namjoon said.

"I'm so sorry," Lance said. "I didn't mean to bring up bad memories."

"Oh, no. If anything I'm glad he's dead," Namjoon said. "He wasn't the greatest father, but being his only son, I recieved all he owned. So I recieved all the buildings he owned. In addition to all the buildings I owned before he died."

"At least you still have your mother though," Dad said. I looked up at Dad with a look of warning. "Right?" he asked when he saw my face.

"No, unfortunately my mom passed away when I was a toddler," Namjoon said. "And my dad took the secret of how she died to his grave."

"Your father never told you how your mother died?" EG asked with food in his mouth.

"ELMER!" Lance, Dad, and I shouted. Namjoon chuckled at our sychronization.

EG swallowed the food in his mouth and said, "Sorry."

"It's alright, EG," Namjoon said. "And yes, I have no idea how my mother died."

"So you have no family?" Dad asked.

"I have the pleasure of working with my six best friends. In Korea, we often call our close friends, hyung, which means older brother. They might as well be family. So I wouldn't say that I have no family," Namjoon said.

"Friends turned family, cute," EG muttered. "Obviously not some loner with daddy issues thinking having a booty call will make you feel better."

"Well at least he has someone he can call a booty call. EG," I snapped at my brother.

"That's enough, you two. EG, be polite to your sister. Ana, be considerate about your brother's lack of a love life. Why do our family dinners always have to have at least one fight?" Dad muttered. "I'm sorry you have to witness this Namjoon."

"It's fine, I also witnessed some of it last night when I met EG," Namjoon said.

"So last night was when you met EG?" Dad asked.

"Yes I was over at Ana's last night when EG came by to talk to her. Ana tried to kick me out but he was at the door before I could leave," Namjoon said.

"I also met your friend," EG said. "He seemed kinda shady to me."

"Yoongi? He's practically a lazy cat. He wouldn't do anything shady at all," Namjoon said.

I froze and stared at the wall above Lance's head blankly. I knew that Namjoon would have to lie to my family about some things, but something I didn't imagine was such a blatant lie. Everyone could see how shady Yoongi was just by looking at him.

I listened as my family continued to interrogate Namjoon. Dad and Lance seemed to like him, but EG was hostile at the very least. After we were all finished with dinner, it was time for dessert. Meaning the pie that my brothers and I loved so much.

"I hope you like pie, Namjoon," Dad said. "I would have gotten cake, but Ana-"

"Only likes homemade frosting," Namjoon finished.

"She actually told you that?" Lance asked.

"It's weird," Namjoon said.

"It's not weird," I snapped.

"It's pretty weird, Ana," EG said.

"You're supposed to be on my side," I said.

"Why don't I clear everything off the table, and then we can get the pie," Dad said. "EG, do you mind helping?"

"Dad, why don't I help EG?" I offered and stood up. "That way you can continue getting to know Namjoon."

"Are you sure, Annie?" Dad asked.

"Of course. Come on, EG." I gathered the plates while EG gathered the leftover food.

We walked into the kitchen. I placed the plates in the sink while EG started to put the leftover food away. I turned to EG after I finished with the dishes.

"Can you at least act like you like Namjoon?" I asked in a hushed tone. I didn't want Namjoon to hear from the next room.

"Sorry, but no. I just don't like liars," EG hissed.

"Liar? Namjoon is being genuine. He wants to get to know my family. Is that so hard to believe?" I muttered.

"I don't know, Ana. Something about him seems off to me," EG said.

"Like what?" I asked. I was actually curious. If my lawyer brother could see something wrong with my mafia boss's ruse, then that means the rest of my family would be able to see through it as well.

"Like how I looked up 'Namjoon Kim' when I got back to my apartment and there was nothing about him anywhere," EG hissed and took the pie out of the fridge.

"You looked up my boyfriend?" I asked. "In what database?"

"Google, Facebook, the Police database, the usual," EG shrugged and took out a knife. "He has no history. He has no documentation, no diver's license, no birth certificate, no address, nothing. He's a ghost, Ana. It's like he only exists for you."

"Maybe he's hiding from someone. If he's hiding from someone there has to be a good reason behind it," I lied.

"Or he has a pregnant wife that he's not telling you about," EG said as he cut out pieces of pie. "Or he's a gang member. Or worse, he's using you."

"Can't you try to see him as a normal person, who's not lying?" I asked as I grabbed plates. "Just try to get to know him. I really like him, Elmer. Can you stop being an overprotective brother for one night and be supportive instead?"

EG looked up from the pie to me. He gave me a soft gaze, deciding what to do. "Hey, Dad, you still keep the wine in the dining room?" EG called out. "I think we could all use some wine."

"Of course, EG," Dad called back. "Break out the wine glasses."

I rolled my eyes and said, "Of course you need alcohol to get through the rest of the night."

I walked to grab the wine glasses before I walked' back to the dining room. Dad had pulled out a bottle of wine and was twisting the top off. Namjoon stood up and grabbed half of the glasses from my hands.

"Everything going okay in here?" I asked him in a hushed tone.

Namjoon winked at me before handing out the glasses to Dad.

"Everything is great, Ana. I'm beginning to wonder why you didn't tell me about him sooner," Dad said.

"You're too kind, George," Namjoon said. "I'm glad that Ana's family likes me."

"Don't speak to soon," EG muttered as he walked in with two plates of pie.

"Okay, most of Ana's family likes me," Namjoon restated.

"EG," I warned.

"What?" EG asked. He handed me the slices of pie before returning to the kitchen to grab the other slices.

I sighed and turned around. I handed the pie to Namjoon and Lance. Dad was already pouring the wine into the glasses for each of us. EG came back and handed me a slice of pie and placed the other one next to Dad before going back to the kitchen to grab his slice, and Dad handed each of us a glass.

"Why doesn't everyone sit back down," Dad said as EG walked back into the dining room. "Now, Lance. Have you and that fiancé of yours finally decided on a date for the wedding?"

Lance sighed. I couldn't help but laugh as Lance took a large gulp of wine. EG chuckled along with me.

"We're still deciding between a spring or summer wedding," Lance said.

"The answer is a big fat no," EG said. "The day the two of them decide on a date, is the day that they just elope."

"None of you would never elope," Dad snapped. "I'm going to each of my children's weddings. Once they all find a partner that is."

Dad stared deadpanned at EG who was shovel pie into his mouth. The rest of us looked over at EG as well. He then turned to look at each of us in turn.

"What?" he asked, his cheeks full of pie.

"ELMER!"

///

"It was so nice to meet you, Namjoon," Dad said. "I trust that you'll take good care of my daughter. And if you break her heart, we'll kill you."

The two of them stood on the porch while my brothers and I stood on the lawn, waiting for them to finish talking.

"I won't let anything bad happen to her," Namjoon said. "I can assure you of that. My feelings for her are more than I can describe."

"That's sweet. I'm going to barf," EG grumbled from beside me as he looked up at the two of them.

"Shut it!" I snapped and slapped his stomach.

"Feel free to come over whenever you'd like," Dad told Namjoon. "Even without Ana. You'd be fun to have a beer with."

"Thanks, George," Namjoon said. "I will."

Dad opened his arms out to hug Namjoon, which he welcomed. When the two of them separated, Dad waved to the rest of us.

"I miss you already, Kids," Dad called out.

"Bye, Dad!" we call back.

"Do you need a ride back to your apartment?" Lance asked me.

"I don't know. Namjoon is your friend coming to pick you up?" I asked.

"I was hoping to get a ride back to your apartment," Namjoon told me.

"So I guess we are getting a ride," I said.

"Wait, you're spending the night at my sister's house?" EG asked.

"No, just watching a movie, like a promised to do this afternoon," Namjoon said. "But since I got caught up at work, we pushed it back to after dinner."

"Well good night then," EG said and walked to his car.

"Night, little bro," Lance called out at his retreating form.

The rest of us got into Lance's car. Namjoon got into the backseat, while I sat in the passenger seat. We were all quiet. I looked into the backseat to see Namjoon on his phone.

"I'm sorry about EG," Lance said as we got onto the road. "He's just a tad overprotective of Anastasia. And she's never had a boyfriend before."

"It's understandable," Namjoon said. "I'm protective of my family as well. But none of them have dated. Many one-night stands but never dated."

"Wait a minute," Lance said. "How many one-night stands have you had."

"None. I've been too busy with work," Namjoon shrugged.

"Everyone has one-night stands. Even me," Lance said.

"I haven't," I spoke up.

"And I love that about you," Namjoon said.

"Come on, Ana. Don't be such a prude," Lance said.

"Lance!"

"What? I'm not like EG. I don't care about your romantic life. If anything, I want to hear all about it. Except for the sex part."

"We haven't kissed yet," Namjoon piped up from the backseat.

"Come on, Anastasia! Kiss the poor, guy. He, at least, deserves that."

"Don't tell me what to do in my relationship," I snapped at my brother.

"I appreciate it," Namjoon said.

I turned to give him a 'shut up' look. In which he smirked at me and raised an eyebrow. I bit my lip, quickly turning back around.

After another fifteen minutes of Lance giving Namjoon and I a pep talk about our relationship, we arrived at my apartment building. Namjoon opened the door for me to get out and the two of us went up to my apartment.

I pulled up a movie on Netflix while Namjoon tried to pet Murphy, who just growled at his hand whenever it got too close. I plopped down next to Namjoon and cuddled into his side. Namjoon maneuvered his arm to wrap around my waist. As I cuddled my head against his chest, Namjoon pulled my legs to drape over his lap. He pulled off my boots for me, leaving me in just my tights and socks.

"Now that you've met my family, you probably think we're crazy," I said.

"What I think is, your dad is amazing. Lance is the glue that keeps you all together. EG is the protector. And you are the light of the family," Namjoon said. "It's a much more functional family than mine ever was."

"Thanks. Oh and by the way, I loved all the lies you told my family. I'm not going to be able to remember them all," I said.

"I'll make you a list." I rolled my eyes. "I also made a list of all the reasons Lance likes us together, because I knew you wouldn't be listening. And I have to admit, many of them are actually pretty good."

"Please don't tell them to me," I begged.

"Okay, I won't. And Lance saying that we should just go ahead and kiss-"

"Do not!"

"We don't need to listen to him," Namjoon continued after my outburst. "As much as I would love to kiss you, and ravish you, and touch every inch of this gorgeous body of yours, and show you just how much I love you, I will wait until you're ready."

I was glad that he would wait until I'm ready. I didn't have to worry about being rushed into something I'm not ready for. He would wait to show his love for me.

Wait, he said he loved me. He actually loves me. It's not just admiration or lust, it's actual love.

"Wait, love?" I asked. "You love me?"

"I thought that would be obvious."

I stared at him in shock before I quickly stood up and moved away from him. I was overthinking this. I knew I was. I mean, Namjoon was a Mafia boss. The most dangerous Mafia boss in Towson. And I was a new detective.

Was it possible that we were in love? Did I feel the same way he did? We had only known each other three weeks, and I disliked him for more than half of that. How was I already in love with him? And so deep in love as well.

"Oh God," I whispered.

"What? Was it something I said, Ana?" Namjoon asked. I turned around to see him stand up, and make his way towards me, slowly. "I didn't mean to make you upset. I just wanted to tell you how I feel."

My body moved against my mind as I closed the distance between the two of us.