Candles flickered on the small round table. Two glasses of champagne had been poured even though he knew he would be the only one to drink it. Several dishes sat on the table covered in plastic wrap. Shownu glanced at his phone. It was 8:45 already. He had expected Leann by 8:15 at least. He shifted nervously in his seat. He was taking a big step, but he felt ready. He just wished she would get there so he could get this all of his chest.

Just then, he heard Leann keying in the door code. She opened the door quickly and rushed into the room, trailing a scent of strawberries and vanilla behind her. "I'm so sorry I'm late. The bus broke down just a few blocks away. So, I got off and just ran the rest of the way."

"Why didn't you take a cab? I've told you a thousand times to stop taking the bus."

"I like the bus," reasoned Leann. "It's full of humanity."

"Yeah, you keep saying that. I guess I'm not as interested in seeing humanity on a daily basis as you are."

"Well, it's an acquired taste," laughed Leann. She sat down and scanned the table. He had really gone to a lot of trouble to make everything look perfect.

"Thank you for the food," they said in unison before stripping the plastic off the dishes and digging in. Leann took a spoonful of rice and carefully laid a piece of kimchi on it along with some rolled omelet. Shownu watched her with interest. She certainly fit right in here. He wondered how he would fit in her world. She rarely talked about home. So, he wasn't sure what it would be like. From the little he could gather, she had not been happy there.

Later, after Shownu took a final bite of chocolate cake, he pushed his plate away. "I'm going to pay for that in training tomorrow," he laughed ruefully. He fumbled with something in his pocket and slowly pulled out a small box. Leann's eyes registered surprise.

"No, it's not what you think. They are just couple's rings, not engagement rings," explained Shownu. He opened the box to reveal two simple silver rings. Leann giggled as he slipped the smaller one onto her finger. Suddenly, her phone rang. She flipped it over and glanced at it quickly before putting it face-down on the table again.

"Do you need to take that?" asked Shownu. "It's fine if you do."

"No, it's fine. I don't want to break the mood. This is nice. I want to savor it," she said as her phone rang again.

"Somebody must really want to get ahold of you," Shownu observed.

"Yeah, it's my aunt. I'll call her later."

The phone stopped ringing only to begin again seconds later. "Maybe you'd better take it," said Shownu.

Leann picked up the phone and walked back the hallway. She hadn't actually entered any of the rooms, so her side of the conversation was still quite audible. Shownu, however, had trouble making out the English words. Leann seemed to be speaking quite differently than she usually did. He couldn't understand much of the vocabulary and the cadence of her voice was not like anything he had heard from her before.

"... damn it! Well, who gave her the hooch?"

"... it damn-well does matter 'cause I'm not cleanin' up her messes anymore!" Leann's voice rose in intensity and pitch. "I've prit' near had 'nough of y'ins! She made her bed, now let 'er lie in it!"

"... and why should I? What'd she ever do for me?"

"... no, don't you dare try to make me feel bad about this!"

"... so what if she does? Whose fault would that be?"

"... hell no!" said Leann before hanging up the phone. She stood in the hallway for several moments trying to compose herself. She wiped at her eyes quickly and took several deep breaths before returning to the table. Unbeknownst to her, she had smeared her eyeliner across her temples. Shownu took in her face with concern.

"What's going on?" he said finally, when it became clear that she had no intention of saying anything as to the content of the conversation. She looked down at her hands which were tightly-clasped on her lap.

"My mom's been in an accident?"

"Oh, my god!" gasped Shownu. "Is she OK?"

"Well, she's alive, if that's what you're asking. She got drunk and crashed into a tree and broke both of her legs. My aunt wants me to go home and take care of her during her recovery, but I'm not going," resolved Leann firmly. "I'm tired of taking responsibility for the consequences of her actions. I didn't travel half-a-world away just to go back to that shit again."

Shownu wasn't used to hearing Leann curse. The stern set of her face told him that she was as serious as the grave about her decision. He took another sip of champagne for courage and decided to charge forward.

"But she is your mom," he ventured.

"Since when?" countered Leann.

"Since she gave birth to you," answered Shownu simply.

"Well, she could be your future mother-in-law. Why don't you go and take care of her?"

"I would if I could," said Shownu softly.

"You say that because you don't know what it's like there. Everything is muddy. There's no internet. There's never enough food to go around and you have to try to figure out how to stretch half a pound of ground meat to serve eight. Try doing that a while and you'll figure out why I left there," Leann challenged.

"You're right. I don't know what you went through there, but all I know is if you really want to be free from that place, you have to go back and face it. It's still got it's claws in you." He reached out and touched her face. "Don't you see that? You say you're here, but part of you is still back there because you never came to peace with where you come from."

Leann smiled sadly. "When did you get so deep?"

"I've always been this deep. You just never noticed," said Shownu as he stood and walked toward her. As she sat in the kitchen chair, she lay her head against his stomach as he put his arms around her neck. After several moments, Leann pulled away and began to wrestle the ring off her finger.

"No, don't take it off," Shownu said even as he saw her free her finger from the ring and attempt to hand it back to him. He backed away, refusing to take the ring out of her hand. "Just leave it on. It will remind you of me while you're gone."

"That's just it. I can't mix these two worlds. If I'm there, I'm there. If I'm here, I'm here. I can't have my head in both places at once," Leann attempted to explain.

"But that makes no sense," replied Shownu as desperation began to constrict his throat. "There's no need to take it off. We're still together in our hearts even if we can't be together in person."

Leann shook her head sadly, trying to press the ring into his hand, but he just let it fall to the floor. He looked down at the small silver band on the wooden floor. Suddenly, he felt like he couldn't breathe.

"If I go, I don't know when, or if, I will be back again," she whispered as the sound of her voice tried to push past the lump in her own throat.

"You mean, you might not come back?" Shownu questioned in disbelief. "I don't understand why you can't go for a while and then come back when your mom is feeling better."

"Do you know how much it took for me to get out of there? If they reel me back in, there's no telling how long I'll be stuck there."

"If it's about money ..." Shownu began. Leann held up one finger to hush him.

"It's not about money," she assured him. She looked around the room nervously and finally stood and put her arms around Shownu and held him tightly for a few moments and then released him. He leaned in to kiss her, but she turned her head and his lips ended up just brushing her cheek.

"If I'm ever going to go, I have to do it now," she said through tears as she gathered her things and rushed out the door. Shownu had stretched out his hand to catch her, but had never managed to reach her before she closed the door behind her. His arm remained outstretched for quite some time after she left. Silent tears trailed down his cheeks. What just happened? Did she really just walk out the door? He bent down to pick up the ring she had left on the floor. He still wore his on his ring finger. Slowly, he slid hers onto his pinkie finger. If she can't believe in us, I'll believe enough for us both. I'll wear both of our rings until I can convince her to take hers back.