Woohyun's POV

Waking up in the morning, despite having stayed up all night walking around Seoul carrying Haneul, wasn't a problem. Probably because of the fact that I never went to sleep. 

I stared out of my bedroom window pensively at the streams of water washing down the roads.

"It's raining," I said to myself. I wondered whether it was a sign for me to stay indoors today. Haneul would be leaving for school soon; I'd have to hurry if I wanted to see her before then. Quickly I got changed, putting my shoes and jacket on, and rushed downstairs.

I heard noises of the News from the TV in the living room and strolled in to find my dad staring at it angrily. He turned to me and I quietly backed away. I was in big trouble...

"Running away won't solve anything, Woohyun," he said in a tone that told me he wasn't in the mood for retaliation. He turned back to the TV with a dead serious face.

"WHO'S CAUSING TROUBLE TO MY GIRL?! HUH?! Don't you dare mess with her! I don't care who you are!" the little me on the screen yelled in the news report. I cringed as my father clenched his fists on the arm rest. "'Who is this girl?' we all ask. Lets find out how many surprises this new CEO has in store, join us again at the same time tomorrow for more news."

"Woohyun, care to explain yourself?" my father said, not looking around at me.

"Ugh..." I began. "I don't have an excuse."

"Right. You want me to clean this mess up then?" I backed away again as he spoke but stopped as I reached the doorframe. "I understand you're young so I'll let you off under the condition that you let me sort this out in whatever way is necessary. Understand?"

I really didn't want to reply, wondering what he was planning. But I really had no choice since there was no way I could solve this by myself. "Yes, father."

"Alright then, my son. I think we're going to have to show them how serious you are with this marriage. The only way for them to forget about this girl is if they find more interesting news. That's why I've organised three potential fiances that I've selected myself to join us for the day."

"WHAT?! Today?!" I burst out, earning me a disapproving frown.

"Yes. Today. You'll like the girls, I made sure to give you some freedom of choice so they're all very different," he spoke calmly as if he was doing me a favour. "I suggest you clean yourself up before they come round. They'll be here at lunch time..."

I didn't hear the last of what he said as I ran out of the house and into a horrible downpour of rain, my anger and frustration overflowing. Straight away I ran to the next house for shelter; Haneul's house. Without hesitation I knocked on the door rapidly until it opened.

"Ugh...Hello?" a young voice said. I peered through my strands of dripping hair and saw Haneul's younger brother staring at me like I was a mental patient. "Can I...help you?"

"I'm your neighbour, Jinho!" I said, feeling insulted. His face finally showed realization and he nodded. "Aren't you going to let me in?"

"Oh sorry," he stuttered, moving aside. "Ummm." He stared awkwardly at me standing dripping wet in his hall way. "Would you like some tea?"

"No it's okay."

"Umm...alright then."

It was becoming more awkward as we stood in the small space, neither of us looking at the other. I took a quick glance at him and smiled, noticing how much he looked like Haneul. He had the same colour brown hair. I looked around the house as well and noticed how much emptier it looked from last time. There was hardly anything. It was a huge house, not as big as mine, but there was no furniture or ornaments at all. Just a couple of chairs, a sofa, a TV, a table and the basic built in kitchen units. Where had all their things gone?

"So....um....where's your mum and sister?" I asked, making small talk.

"They're both at work. But Haneul will be back soon to go to school," he said casually. I nodded but just as I was about to say I'd leave, the front door opened and Haneul came in, shaking a dripping umbrella. Her long hair was damp and wavy and her cheeks were flushed a brilliant cherry blossom pink.

"Stupid weather. The forecast always lies..." she muttered. She stopped abruptly when she looked up and saw me grinning. "Oh. Hi, Woohyun. Did Jinho let you in?"

"Yeah he-" I said, looking around but he was nowhere in site. "Weird, he was just here."

"My brother is weird." She hung her coat up and strolled into the living room, picking up some socks from the heater. "Decided to grace us with your visit?"

"I just wanted to say hi before you left for school." She gave me a look saying she didn't buy it so I shrugged and rubbed the back of my neck. "Okay I didn't want to stay at home. My father's.....inviting some potential fiances around."

"Really?" she said happily. I frowned, thinking she would have been upset and begged me to stay here all day. "That's great! He's giving you a chance to get to know them!"

"Well I guess-"

"I wonder if they're really nice. They're probably really pretty and rich, right?" she chirped as if she didn't even care.

"Pretty because they can afford plastic surgery, sure. But why would I want a rich wife? I'm already rich, I don't need money."

She laughed half-heartedly and I became irritated. Isn't she sad that I'll be marrying another girl? I thought she liked me...

"Well you didn't get plastic surgery..." she said. She suddenly turned to me with panic in her eyes. "Right?"

"OF COURSE I DIDN'T!" I said, insulted. She laughed again, wringing her hair out at the sink. "But that's not the point. I don't want to get married...well not to them anyway." I whispered the last part so she never got to hear. She would have hit me on the head if she did.

"Hey did you give me your jacket last night?" she asked out of nowhere. I looked at the jacket she held and nodded, remembering I'd sent her home wearing it since she was cold. "Want it back?"

"No. You can keep it. I have to go now, Haneul." She nodded as I sighed and regretfully made my way out of the house. Mine felt so cold and empty in comparison.

______________________________

"My son will be down in a moment, ladies," I heard my dad say as I took my time coming down the stairs in my formal suit. I really wasn't in a hurry to meet these girls, one of which would be my future wife.

"No need, I'm here," I said in my most bored tone. It didn't seem like the three girls caught on as they practically swooned over my sight. Maybe I should burp loudly and then they'll be put off. Wait, I can't burp on demand. Aish!

My father smiled as I reached the foot of the stairs and we all exchanged bows. He came up to me with a plastered smile and roughly clasped my sleeve. "Good thing you listened to my words and got changed before they came. I don't want to see you in those pyjamas again, Woohyun. They're guests you know," he said through gritted teeth.

I grinned, remembering his reaction as I stood in front of him earlier on, ready to meet the girls in my penguin PJs. "Well I'll be gone for a minute now, girls. I have some business to attend to so if you'll kindly go into the dining room for some lunch. Woohyun, I hope you remember what you have to do." With that he disappeared off to his lair and left the four of us standing awkwardly in the hall.

I leaned on the large stair banister and glared at the girls with my arms folded tightly over my chest, not planning to move anytime soon. All three of them were completely different from each other, my dad wasn't kidding when he said he was going to give me choice. One of them suddenly walked off to the dining room out of nowhere as if she couldn't be bothered for me to lead them in. She had long raven-black hair tied into a very tight pony tail and wore thin-rimmed glasses and a suit dress. She looked like she was in her early twenties- older than me at least- and in her presence the atmosphere felt icy.

I scoffed, my eyes following her as she left the room. What a rude girl. My attention turned back to the other two, but as I turned my head I almost fell backwards finding one of them was staring intently into my eyes, inches form my face. She giggled as I stumbled away.

"Wah! Wh-why a-are you so close?!" I stuttered as she stood straight and giggled. She was very pretty. Her hair was long, blonde and wavy and her skin looked like milk and honey. Her eyes were round and rimmed with glitter eyeshadow and her lips were a dolly baby-pink.

"You're funny," she squeeked. "Your dad told us to go to the dining room but you're just standing there. Isn't that funny?"

"N-no! I ca-can do what I like in this house!" I said in defence, slightly awestruck by her beauty. She giggled and flipped her hair with the back of her hand dramatically.

"You're right! This is your house so you can do whatever! Wow!"

"Ugh...well it's not really my house. It's my dad's so-"

"I'm going to go into the dining room now!" she interrupted, following the first girl out of the hall. I scoffed again, not believing how rude these girls were. I looked at the last girl who stood there with a face of steel, not making a move. She looked the most normal. In fact, she was very normal. Her hair was medium length, wavy and brown with a choppy fringe and she wore no make-up.

"I suppose you're going to walk off to the dining room too?" I asked her, bored. She slowly dragged her eyes up to me and I thought I caught a glimmer of saddness but it faded quickly.

She shook her head. "No. Wouldn't that be rude?"

"Are you saying those two girls were being rude, then?" I questioned, slightly more interested in her.

She paused for a while before answering. "Yes. I suppose I am saying they're rude."

I smiled, already liking her. At least someone acknowledged how I was feeling. "Well maybe we should go now. Want to follow me?" I asked kindly, extending my hand. She took it soundlessly as we entered the dining hall.

I pulled up a chair for her, as she gazed off distantly, before sitting down myself at the head of the table. The icy girl sat stoic on my left and beside her was the scowling blonde. She looked irritated that I had pulled the chair up for the other one so she whipped out her phone and occupied herself on it instead of the lunch that was being served.

After the food had been laid out, I knew I had to question them since my father ordered so. I sighed as I propped my head up on my palms and picked on the icy girl who seemed to be the only one mentally in the room.

"So what's you're name? I'm Nam Woohyun," I asked half-heartedly. She looked straight ahead and answered in mono-tone.

"I know who you are. My name is Baek Seyoung."

"Oh..." I mumbled, looking away. Talking to her gave me chills. "Right."

"I assume you are trying to find information on me as a background check since you don't even know my name yet. It's clear you haven't done research."

"Erm well-"

"Fine. I'll inform you myself. I'm 22 years old. I had until now been studying at Hanyang University Law School. I'm the second daughter of Baek Seungil who owns JeonHan inc. an international cooporation managing various major property developers and their projects. It was my father who sent me here as a candidate for a place as your wife," she said robotically. I was completely stunned by her sudden outburst. I would have thought it was all rehearsed but something about her told me that's actually the way she talks. I laughed nervously, shaking off the ice that had spread over me, and turned to the blonde girl who was still on her phone.

"What about you? Ya!" I yelled. She was furiously texting and probably hadn't even noticed the food had arrived. "Yaaaa! Blonde girl!"

She peered up momentarily to see me fumming and cringed, putting her phone down. "Oh I'm sorry. What was it you asked, Woohyun-ssi?"

"Tell me about yourself," I huffed with a sigh. Her face instantly brightened up and she spoke animatedly with her head in the clouds. I rolled my eyes as she told me her life story.

"Well, my name is Park Yumi and I'm 19. My father manages the SD-Oringinals clothing line that's recognised widely across Asia and my mother was a Japanese model for the line. That's why my name is Japanese! Isn't that really cool?! It's an amazing story, my family's business. My mother was the number 1 model in Japan at the time my father was looking for..." she sang to herself in her own little world. I drifted off from what she was saying. It's obvious she's in love with herself.

I sighed tiredly and finally turned to the last girl- the one I was most interested in finding out about. I'm sure there a must be a better back story to her than the others.

"What about you? Will you introduce yourself?" I asked kindly. Despite nodding in reply, her eyes told me she was far away from reality and thinking of distant thoughts. I wondered what was keeping her away.

"My name is Jung Mirae. I'm 18 and I'm the daughter of Jung Kyuseok who owns MoonWater International, a company managing tourist boards for East Asia," she recited, only half in the room. She said no more. She didn't even look at me once. What are these girls even here for? Really?

"AHH! You guys are so difficult! Help me out here!" I yelled out without thinking. If I didn't say anything I'd have to go through this all week and eventually for the rest of my life once I became married. Mirae suddenly snapped out of her daze and looked at me with shocked, apologetic eyes that seemed to be almost b with tears. "No wait, I'm sorry!" I instantly ushered to her, my heart clenching up from making her upset. I didn't mean to do that. "I'm sorry that wasn't what I meant-"

"No...I'm the one who should be sorry," she said in a small voice, quietly looking down. I winced at her hurt expression. It wasn't supposed to go this way but now I've made her upset.

"Ah, I think we should all eat now-"

"Woohyun! My son!" my father boomed, strolling into the room proudly. The three girls instantly straightened up from the shock of his voice as he sat at the other end. "Haha! How is it going? What are your names, girls?"

"Baek Seyoung."

"Park Yumi."

"Jung Mirae."

I snickered at their sharp, scared replies which sounded like they were at a miliatry camp. Mirae sent me a cold and judging glare and I instantly stopped laughing. It reminded me of Haneul's expression when she used to lecture me so there was no way I could avoid it.

"Good good. Please do your best girls whilst you're here because one of you will eventually be my daughter-in-law, remember."