#since1765

***

Seoul Garden Apartment Tower

City of Seoul - Gyeonggi Province

When Tiffany Hwang opened Kim Taeyeon’s house front door, two charismatic young men in very thick disguises welcomed her eyes. As she confirmed that the visitors were indeed GD&TOP, she let them in while eyeing them with disdain.

While she watched the boys remove their shoes, she muttered, “Rotten boys. Tsk, tsk, tsk.”

“Is Taeyeon still able to talk?” asked Jiyong, finally entering Taeyeon’s house in just his socks. He received a call from Tiffany to hurry, as they needed to meet before Taeyeon lose consciousness from drinking. To his disappointment, Fany shook her head.

“Whoa. This house has some kind of black magic,” commented TOP, situating himself in the living room couch. Looking at Fany with a menacing stare, he added, “Everyone just gets drunk.”

Tiffany scoffed at him and sat on the smaller couch in front of where GD&TOP where seated. She eyed Jiyong first, then commented, “You. Noneoun babo! I can't believe I ever had a crush on you.”

“You did?” wondered Jiyong, blushing a little. By now, he figured out that Tiffany Hwang was a very frank woman who spoke her mind. He liked her outgoing and loud personality very much.

“Not anymore. Not after hearing about your dumb ideas!” Fany exclaimed. Then, she eyed TOP, but immediately hesitated. “And you.” I can't believe I slept with you.

“What? What can't you believe about me?” dared Choi Seunghyun. He saw how the woman’s eyes flashed with reservation. He smirked. Tiffany Hwang was the exact kind of woman that would be on the bottom of her ideal types – loud, blunt, too girly, too pretty.

“Neoneoun babo also,” was all Tiffany replied.

“So what's the new plan you’re talking about to replace our stupid one?” inquired Jiyong, conceding to the woman’s criticism of his ideas.

“The new plan is to talk to these people,” Fany answered, handing them both a sheet of paper that contained names, phone numbers, and business addresses. “Find a way to get acquainted with them. I'm pretty sure you're good with socializing. I already took the liberty of researching their names. Now it’s your turn to do the leg work.”

“Who are these people?” asked Jiyong, reading through a list of unfamiliar names. He did notice that the business addresses were all from different colleges and universities.

“Those are experts in Korean Shamanism. Find as much as you can about The Chosen Families,” explained the well-prepared Stephanie Hwang. She addressed TOP and added, “I remember you said you come from a military background. Use your familial roots to find as much as you can about The Great Pact. Based on my initial research, this tradition was carried out by military families to protect the nation from another war.”

“What are we trying to find?” asked TOP, impressed that the woman remembered what he said about his family. So you did not completely forget what happened that night… hmmmm…

“The smartest way out of this mess is not lying, or getting married to someone else. That's just stupid,” Fany answered, and she got worked up again. With gestures showing her dismay, she cried, “Ugh, I can't get over your stupid plans G-dragon!”

“Point well made. Can we please just move on?” begged Jiyong.

Fany granted his request and collected her angry self. After calming down, she continued explaining to the two. “You need to know the problem to beat the problem. Find its hole, find its weakness. The elders need valid grounds for your insurgence. Find that valid reason. We don't know it yet, but it sure as hell ain’t just legal adoption, impending sickness or death, or shotgun marriages. Don't just believe what your elders tell you. Hear it from the experts themselves.”

Kwon Jiyong and Choi Seunghyun listened quietly to the very spontaneous Stephanie Hwang. It was clear as day that this woman’s brain was definitely needed in their hopes to escape from the old tradition. With much amazement, both marveled at the young woman as she continued lecturing them as if they were students.

“Once we've homes in on that one perfect and valid weakness, we then collect the evidence to present to your elders. If they accept it, you may find a way out of this arrangement without my best friend marrying her, cough*immature*cough, boyfriend. Understood?”

“You're a ing genius,” was all Jiyong could say, still at awe that Fany found all the experts’ names that fast.

“I know,” Tiffany confidently answered. She, however, also got a little flushed when G-dragon complimented her.

“I know artists from these universities. Let me make some calls, excuse me,” Jiyong told his company, standing up to find a quieter area.

“You got startled,” called out Choi Seunghyun as soon as Jiyong was out of earshot.

“What?”

“You blushed when Jiyong praised you.”

“Nonsense.” Tiffany mustered all her avoidant skills.

“You still have a crush on him,” teased Seunghyun.

“Of course not!”

“What is it with Jiyong? Swag? To you, his dope?”

“Whatever,” Fany muttered, standing up to get away from the man’s mockeries. She went to the bar next to the living room and poured herself a drink.

“Careful with that,” warned Seunghyun, pointing at the wine bottle she was holding.

“Don't worry, I would never sleep with you ever again. I've learned my lesson,” Fany answered, drinking a conservative amount of wine.

“You slept with me? When?” wondered TOP, acting innocent and confused.

Tiffany just rolled her eyes at him. “You know what I mean.”

“I'm sorry, but I'm a ghost that haven't slept in 485 years. I don't know what you're talking about.”

With this answer, Fany now giggled. The man was a bona-fide 8-dimensional jokester, as what was established in the media. “You're really a bingu, aren't you? Ghost. Pssshh. You keep posting about the same joke, dragging it until it's not funny anymore.”

“You checked out my Instagram?”

This made Fany choke on her wine. “No. Why would I?!”

“Caught you blushing again,” TOP said, chuckling at her. It was fun teasing such an overconfident woman. To him, Fany was too sure of herself, too blunt that she even called them stupid, too impressed with her own confidence… Choi Seunghyun loved making fun of such strong and independent women.

“You shut up!” cried out Fany when she realized that the man has taken a liking to teasing her.

“I think you're funny, Mona Lisa.”

Mona Lisa? This weird guy. Fany chose to ignore him this time, because answering back only gave the man more ammunitions to . After a few minutes, Kwon Jiyong reappeared, and he approached Tiffany in the bar.

“Dope! Just talked to one of my peaceminusone artists. He can setup a meeting with these four different professors in Seoul National University. Who's ready for a college drive?” Jiyong excitedly shared.

“That’s great! I’m impressed too G-dragon,” commented Tiffany. She grabbed more shot glasses and poured the two men their respective drinks. “Let’s toast to that.”

“To Tiffany's smart plans!” Jiyong exclaimed, raising his glass. He toasted with Tiffany, and they both drank one glass.

Even after just two glasses of whiskey, Kwon Jiyong’s confidence already tripled. By the time Seunghyun decided to join the two in the bar area, Jiyong was already rapping to Tiffany, “You're mind is zutter. Your plan is zutter. Your eyes are zutter. You are zutter.”

Seunghyun called out his drunkenness, and Tiffany agreed. She decided to wrap up the bottles and glasses in fear of having another drunken accident with the two Big Bang rappers. However, Jiyong insisted against it.

“Come on guys, Taeyeon can't be the only cool one of us four? Let's celebrate by drinking to our heart's content,” Jiyong begged, grabbing the whiskey and shot glasses from Tiffany. He poured for all three of them, and distributed them. “You found a possible solution Tiffany Hwang, give yourself some credit!”

“Oh I’m taking all the credits here. Your ideas were dumb!” answered the playful Tiffany, accepting Jiyong’s round.

“So do you still think we’re rotten boys? We’re really not. Don’t be mad at us anymore, pweeeeeease?” begged Kwon Jiyong, whose mildly-intoxicated mind caused him to act cutely. “We need you in this plan, Ppany!”

“Fine, whatever,” Steph conceded, toasting another round with G-dragon. This time, TOP joined the shots.

After a few minutes, Taeyeon’s entertainment system once again came to life, now echoing a rap song. Together, the three drunk idols danced and sang to the beat.

 “This song is sick, my rap is sick, my style is sick, I’m kinda sick. I shake my legs, I make money, I walk in the sky, ay do you wanna.”

“I would have never imagined I'd be drinking with GD&TOP. This is zutter!” yelled Tiffany over the music. Now all three of them have been toasted, completely lost in the music and the alcohol.

“Lemon soju, tequila for me, mojito for you. Let’s go to Jeju, California, Rome. Let’s go to a white pearly beach with great waves. Finito! P A R T Y! P A R T Y!”
 

By half past ten, Kwon Jiyong gave up to the alcohol. He was the only one of the three to get completely wasted. Together, TOP and Tiffany helped him lie down in Taeyeon’s bed. They decided to put the two together for reasons that would be revealed later. Upon successfully putting the drunk man to rest, TOP and Tiffany watched over the two drunkards for a few minutes.

“Look at them peacefully sleeping like that,” softly commented Fany. “If I didn't know any better, I'd say they match well together.”

“You jealous?” asked TOP, who was observing the sleepyheads on the other side.

“No, fool,” she retorted, scoffing at him.

“I agree with you though,” remarked TOP. “Can you believe it? The coincidence is uncanny. It's as if their arranged marriage was fated.”

“Damn, that was deep,” Fany quickly commented, giggling as she was now the one teasing.

“I told you, I have a mind of a 485-year old,” TOP replied, also chuckling, glad that the woman didn’t respond with hostility.

Tiffany just continued smiling at him, staring at his malicious face… a little too long… Damn. You are one handsome sleepless ghost.

***

“Taeyeon's home is really beautiful,” Grandfather Kim commented in amazement. He was observing every corner of his granddaughter’s beautiful home.

“This is the result of her hard work,” said Kim Seungil, Kim Taeyeon’s father. “She is a really good daughter.”

“Indeed, she is. I am very happy about her decision to accept the marriage,” Grandfather Kim murmured.

It was a few minutes past nine in the morning. After more than two hours of traveling by land, Kim Taeyeon’s parents and grandfather have finally reached the City of Seoul. Using the spare key of Taeyeon’s mom, they entered her house and comfortably rested in the living room.

When his father has seated, Mr. Kim sat on the couch across the old man. “We haven't talked to Taeyeon regarding the arranged marriage, so I was surprised about that when you told me. To be honest with you father, I am still confused about all these.”

“Have some coffee, father,” Mama Kim offered, expertly navigating around Taeyeon’s kitchen. “Taeyeon's probably still asleep. Please wait here while I wake her up.”

Mama Kim walked away from the living room, leaving the two male Kims discussing The Great Pact. Grandfather Kim told his son, “What matters now is that the Ceremony of First Mating shall finally take place. My heart jumped with so much joy when I received the invitation of our Gyeonggi brothers! They even sent us a vehicle that took us all here in Seoul.”

“The hotel that Brother Kwon setup is very nice. They are very generous and accommodating,” also commented Daddy Kim.

“OH MY GOODNESS!” the men heard Taeyeon’s mom scream from one of the rooms.

“Honey, what's going on?” inquired Daddy Kim, worried.

 “WHAT-- KIM TAEYEON!” Mama Kim even screamed. This now caused Daddy Kim to head towards the same room, leaving his weakened father still sat in the sofa. He opened the door to Taeyeon’s bed room and immediately asked, “Honey? Taeyeon? What happe--”

But Daddy Kim was dumbfounded at the sight that welcomed his eyes. A young man was lying down on the bed, closely resting beside his eldest daughter. Kim Seungil couldn’t find any words to say.

“Is everything alright?” asked Grandfather Kim from the living room. The old man’s voice put Daddy Kim’s senses back to functioning. By instinct, he immediately peeked out the bedroom door to shout to the old man, “Uhm, father, just stay where you are, okay? We'll sort this out soon. Taeyeon is just fine.”

Immediately, he entered Taeyeon’s room and closed the door behind h