*

            “The wedding is in two days and… and I couldn’t do anything to break it off. I’ve thought of this for a while, but maybe, we could just secretly get married ahead and—”

            “I’m sorry, Seungcheol. Just go ahead with your wedding because… I can’t marry you.”

Seungcheol woke up with a throbbing pain in his head. It felt as if someone was hammering it with different types of rocks it was almost unbearable. His eyes remained close for a while, trying to recollect what had happened that caused his head to ache like that. Sure, he knew he it was from a hangover, which wasn’t really new to him by the way, but the throbbing was on an entirely new different level he just had to remember what made him drink that much.

He remembered he had a stiff meeting with the foreign investors from early in the morning until afternoon, he received a message from one of his flings and he asked her for a lunch date, their subtle flirtings… Then something caught his attention—the familiar long brown locks together with his slim figure, his back was facing him, and also the guy who was with him. His face turned grim as he excused himself from his date and carefully went close to the two men, hiding behind the huge ornamental plant the restaurant used as decoration, and his suspicion was confirmed when he took a close glimpse of their faces and even accidentally heard their malicious conversation.

"...it’s you I really love, Jeonghan. Would you like to elope with me?”

"Sure..."

His eyes fluttered open. Sure? So his cheating wife was not contented with him that he had to flirt with his best friend, too?

Don’t get him wrong, but he was not in any way jealous. Jeonghan might just look innocent and fragile, but he knew there was something in him, something strange and something dangerous. The way he still pushed through with their wedding despite his desperate pleadings—Jeonghan was really something dangerous.

Then he remembered he excused himself with his date, telling her he was suddenly not feeling well. But honestly, he just wanted to calm himself down and have a drink by himself for he was wary he might start doing something scandalous at the restaurant, like giving Jun a punch he deserved and dragging Jeonghan away from him because Jeonghan, his cheating wife, just agreed to elope with his best friend when it’s clear that Seungcheol was still not done making his life miserable, right? The amount of pain he inflicted in his wife was still not enough to make up for all the sufferings he had caused him. He still had to do more, and Jeonghan should stay by him until the end. Jeonghan should not, in any case, escape from him.

So with that in mind, he drank himself up until he absent-mindedly finished two bottles of vodka and was about to open another one when a hand stopped him; it was Jeonghan’s. It wasn’t clear to him how their conversation went, but he remembered he was enticed by his delicate features and they ended up having , the reason why he was lying on his mini-bar’s couch with only a blanket covering his ness.

Speaking of which, where’s Jeonghan, by the way?

The couch could fit at least two people, but he woke up alone and his wife was nowhere to be found. He looked at the time from the digital clock at a nearby table and saw it was only 6:42 in the morning. Too early to get up for someone who slept at almost dawn.

He fidgeted when he heard a beep, his cellphone to be exact. It was inside his jeans’ pocket which was lying on the floor a few centimeters from him. He groggily reached for it and saw there was a message from his mom.

7pm tonight at the Yoon’s main restaurant, do not forget.

He inwardly groaned. He’d almost forgotten about their family’s monthly gathering. Ever since the Choi and Yoon families got bounded together by their marriage, it had become a tradition to gather at the Yoon’s restaurant every third Sunday of every month, which meant that he and Jeonghan should act all lovey-dovey to cover up what really was happening between them. And God knows how much he loathed being like that to his wife, even though they were all just an act. Encircling his arms protectively over Jeonghan’s waist, wiping the sides of his mouth when he sees remnants of food on them, smiling at him, dancing to a sweet music… Ugh. He would have to endure all of it again, for at least three hours of boring talks and observing eyes on them.

His parents seemed to have really developed an affectionate liking towards his wife a lot, especially his mother who was extra sweet and cheerful towards Jeonghan who seemed to be enjoying the attention. His father, who was a very serious and uptight man who rarely smiles, was surprisingly wearing a genuine warm smile on his face whenever he talks with the beautiful male.

And Jeonghan’s parents, in his opinion, were nothing different. They treat him equally with love and respect but the only thing he didn’t like about them was their constant query of “When will you and my son give us a grandchild?” in which he would just answer with a nervous smile every time.

Was Jeonghan a witch? How could he easily tame his parents, making them love him in such a short period of time?

He couldn’t help but to compare how different his parents treated Hyelim from Jeonghan. He wouldn’t forget the time when they first met her, they were incredibly cold and treated her as if she was some sort of an air—nonexistent. No matter how many times they’ve met, all they would give her was a cold shoulder and would oftentimes scoff at her whenever they think he’s not watching.

And with Jeonghan… He really did not have to put any effort for them to like him, to accept him in their family. All it took was his ‘yes’ in their arranged-marriage and poof, they were suddenly a perfect example of a good in-laws relationship.

He sat up from the couch and stretched his arms, collected his pieces of clothing scattered on the floor and wore them, and decided to look for his wife to remind him of the gathering just in case he forgot. He lazily made his way towards his wife’s room, the knob and was surprised to find it unlocked.

He was baffled with what greeted him upon f