*SJK's POV*

I hurriedly rush out of the conference hall the moment the meeting ends. I don't get why i'm feeling extra giddy today. Let me just say that I woke up on the right side of the bed. I was even humming while shaving AND whistling while driving on my way to work. Weird.

Aigoo, calm down, Joong Ki. It's not like I haven't tried dating before. In fact, I've been to several, but still.... Hey, come on Joong Ki, what is happening to you? It's just a simple date. Come to think of it, it's not even a "real" date since we're not a "real" couple. Why are you so nervous? And excited, too. Grab hold of yourself! I keep telling myself, but still, I can't seem to find it in me to calm down. This one's making me more anxiousthan presenting a business proposal.

I pass by my office first, to check if there's still anything I need to take care of before leaving the office and also to check my appearance in the mirror. Do I look okay? Do I look decent? When I'm finally convinced that I'm good to go, I prepare to leave, making sure that Hye Kyo's bracelet is tucked safely in my pocket.

I arrive at SGC at around 12:30pm, still a bit early, but I decide to wait. I look around the lobby, awed by the vastness of it and its minimalist yet modern design. I am about to text Hye Kyo that I'm already here when I spot her walking from the entrance, talking animatedly to a guy. Hmm, they must be very close. He says something to her and she laughs happily. It's nice to see her laugh like that, instead of crying. Happiness looks good on her. I continue watching her like that when she finally notices me, surprised.

"Ommo, you're already here?" she says and I smile.

"Anyeonghaseyo! I'm Onew, Hye Kyo-noona's cousin. You must be her fiance?" the guy says, smiling widely. Oh, so they're cousins. He offers his hand for a handshake and I take it.

"Yes. Song Joong Ki imnida," I say while smiling back. 

"It's so nice to finally meet you. Anyway, I'm sorry but I have to go. I really want to talk to you more, but there's something Uncle wants me to take care of first," he says apologetically.

"Don't worry, I'm sure we'll have a lot of time to talk later on," I say and he bows, leaving me and Hye Kyo alone.

"He seems like a nice kid," I say, looking at his retreating figure.

"He is. He's very dedicated," Hye Kyo agrees and I turn my attention to her as she stares fondly at Onew greeting almost every person he bumps into. I watch as her expression turns to a mix of surprise and worry. 

"Why are you here so early? I still have about half an hour left. Did I happen to get the time wrong?" she asks worriedly.

"I came here earlier than planned," I say and she looks at me strangely. "Surprisingly, it feels great to have someone to wait for," I add and she starts to blush.

"So, let's go?" I ask, prepared to leave the moment she's ready.

"Uh, I still have something to take care of upstairs," she says.

"And what is that?" I ask curiously.

"Uhh," she seems to hesitate and I watch as she considers whether to say something or not. "I need to retouch first," she finally says, embarrassed.

"You are pretty enough now," I say, looking at her in the eyes. I'm not kidding, she already looks too beautiful now. Why on earth does she need to retouch? She blinks and looks away.

"Fine, let's go," she says, still avoiding my eyes, making me smile at her reaction.

"Ladies first," I gesture for her to go first and she scowls at me, before walking fast. I am about to laugh at her being adorable, when my eyes widen as I notice what she's wearing.

"Ya! What are you wearing?" I hold her wrist to stop her.

"Why? What's wrong?" she asks confused at my sudden outburst.

"That!" I point at her super short dress and she glances down. My eyes follow her as she looks down on her flawless, milky white legs. I feel my face burn red.

"What's wrong with it?" she asks, still confused.

"It's too short!" I say, mortified. Has she been wearing this dress, exposing her legs all day for everyone to see??!

"It's called a mini-dress for a reason, duh?" she rolls her eyes and continues to walk. I want to argue with her, but decide against it. No use putting up a fight over her dress when I know she'd only win. Instead, I just shake my head and follow her helplessly toward the parking area. 

---

*SHK's POV*

I don't get why this guy next to me is sulking. He was fine a few moments ago. What has gotten into him?

"Sooo.. where are we going?" I try to break the ice. "Are you taking me to somewhere hidden again? Another secret place, perhaps?" I ask and he smiles. Finally! I really don't know how to deal with a sulking Joong Ki. Not that I know how to deal with him when he's not. But still.

"Nope, not this time. This time, I'm taking you to somewhere nice and familiar," he looks at me and I gave him a confused expression.

"And where's that?" I ask.

"You'll see," he says.

"When?" I ask, impatiently. He's always playing those guessing games with me.

"Now," he smiles. "We're here."

I look out to see that we are now in front of the building where one of my favorite restaurants is located.

“Tani Next Door? How do you know this is my favorite restaurant?” I ask, trying to unbuckle myself from my seat the moment we got settled in the parking lot.

“I don’t. This just happens to be one of my favorite restaurants as well,” he says opening his door and hurriedly walks around the car the open mine.

We make our way up to the 9th floor of the building where Tani Next Door is located and the familiar host welcomes us, “Good afternoon, Mr. Song, Ms. Song, your table reservation is ready. Please follow me,” he says as we follow him to one corner of the restaurant.

“Thanks,” Joong Ki thanks him and proceeds to hold the chair for me, I sit without complaining, anxious to order. After taking the seat next to me, he quickly grabs the table napkin and drapes it on my legs.

“What are you doing?!” I ask horrified.

“People are looking. I don’t want others to see,” he simply says looking around, seemingly surveying the scene.

“No, they’re not. And to see what?” I ask. What is up with him? Why is he so concerned about my dress?

“Your legs,” he pouts and I roll my eyes. I proceed to look at the menu, deciding which one I’ll be trying out today.

“Ready to order, sir? Ma’am?” the waiter asks and Joong Ki closes his menu book.

“I’ll have a Miso Black Cod and for the lady…” he says, waiting for me to place my order.

“I’ll have a Moist Salmon please. Thanks,’ I say, looking around the place as I hear Joong Ki add tempura prawns, sashimi and a bottle of. sauvignon blanc wine. Whoah, this is going to be a feast, but I’m not complaining since I’m quite a bit hungry. Aside from the delicious dishes, the place also boasts a beautiful and well-lit interior.

“How have you been?” he suddenly asks, catching my attention.

“Good, why?” I ask him, skeptical.

“Just asking, why? Can’t I ask how my fiancée is doing?” he pouts and I roll my eyes. “So… this is your favorite restaurant, too, huh?”

“Yup, I like the ambiance here. And the food’s really nice. I used to come here a lot with my father,” I say and he nods in agreement. “So, what’s the plan?”

“Wah. So straightforward. You really don’t waste time. Can’t this be just a simple meal with my fiancée?” he asks and I raise my eyebrow at him.

“Fine. Okay, since we agreed to make this engagement thing believable, we need to do stuff that couples normally do, such as enjoying meals like this,” he gestures to the table. “Hanging out, me fetching you…” Okay, I get it, seems reasonable to me

“…holding hands, hugging, kissing…” Wait a minute.

“Ya!” I scream at him.

“What?” he asks innocently and I want to punch his smiling face.

“That’s too much! I think you’re taking advantage of the situation,” I accuse.

“Ms. Song Hye Kyo, that is what normally engaged couples do. If you want others to believe us, then we should probably do those… but if you’re hesitant, then I guess…”

“Fine! But no hugging,” I say and he smiles. “And definitely no kissing!” He frowns.

“Don’t you think that’s going to be a bit weird? Couples not showing public displays of affection? What if your father gets suspicious? Hmm?” he asks, his face resting on top of his hands on the table. Well, he kind of has a point and I don’t like it.

“Fine! But only if the situation calls for it,” I say, surrendering, and he smirks. I want to wipe that smirk off his face with my knuckles. “No taking advantage of me. If you must know, I know a little karate.”

“Fine then, it’s a deal,” he says and I roll my eyes at him for the nth time today. “You know, we should….” He starts.

“What?!” I cut him off before he suggests anything stupid.

“Calm down, I was only going to propose that we should take a picture together,” he says with again that innocent look on his face and I narrow my eyes at him. “Normal couples do that, you know,” he quickly adds.

“Fine!” Like I have a choice.

He beams and scoots his chair closer, taking out his phone. He opens his front camera and puts an arm around me. I immediately shoot him a death glare.

“What? It’s what normal couples do. Do you want people to see how distant we are from one another?” he says expertly and I think about it. After a few seconds, I finally give in. I hate how he has a valid reason for doing this. He seems to be enjoying while I’m not liking any of this even a bit. He pulls me closer and tells me to smile. I comply, projecting my practiced smile, not having the energy to start a fight.

“Wow, nice. Let’s take another, this time a wacky one,”

“What?! No way!” I protest.

“Do you want people to believe us or not?” Fine. Fine. Fine! Joong Ki = 3, Hye Kyo = 0. Let’s get this done and over with. He makes a peace sign while I make a pouting face.

“So nice. We look good together,” he muses and I make a face. “I’m posting this on facebook.”

“You are?! Why?!!” I ask. Why on earth does he have to do that? I don’t want to be like those couples who post PDA stuff online. It’s embarrassing.

“Well, we have to make ourselves facebook official. That’s the new trend nowadays,” he says, eyes still glued on his phone. He seems to be really enjoying this plan. He’s smiling from ear to ear until I see him frown.

“What?” I ask. What is it now?

“We’re not even friends on facebook, yet,” he pouts and I roll my eyes at him. He can be so childish sometimes. I grab my phone and added him as a friend in the said social application.

“There. Done. Happy now?” I ask, irritated, watching him return his attention back to his phone then smile widely again. What did he do now?

With curiosity taking over me, I take my phone out for the second time to check and my eyes widen at his status update. Posted are the pictures we took from a while ago with the caption Lunch date with my love <3 <3 <3

I groan. I have officially become one of those gag worthy over affectionate couples online. Yuck. What on earth have I gotten myself into? “You’re disgusting,” I say to him and he just throws me a winning smile.

“I am not, I’m sweet and romantic,” he grins and I hide my face in my hands. This is legitimately a face palm moment. I am so finding a hole to bury myself into after this.

To prevent myself from smacking his annoying face, I continue scrolling down my feed until I come upon Hae Jin’s profile. He recently posted a picture with that girl making duck face expressions in the background. I frown. “She’s not even pretty,” I unconsciously say.

“She is pretty.” A voice startles me and I turn to look at Joong Ki now peeking over my shoulder.

“Ya! Whose side are you on?” I ask, annoyed, and he gives me a defensive expression. Why is he siding with her?

“I wasn’t finished! I was going to say pretty ugly,” he defensively says. “She is pretty ugly,” he adds and gives me an innocent smile. Aish. I am about to smack him when the waiter interrupts us, bringing our food. Finally!

We eat in silence, savoring the food. This place is heaven! I will never tire of eating Japanese food. I think about all the times my father and I went here and order several dishes just because we’re craving. My father. I suddenly remember how overprotective he can get. Is it possible that he’s sending in private investigators to spy on us?

“Maybe we should also choose who we tell about this plan of ours..” I say, thinking about possible scenarios where people close to us get interrogated by his men and Joong Ki looks up from his food.

“Well, I was thinking that maybe we shouldn’t tell others about this considering everything at risk,” he says and Lee Jin comes to mind. I already told her about this.

“Uh, I don’t think that’s possible, I already told Lee Jin,” I say, worried about his reaction.

“Jong Suk’s sister? Can we trust her?” he asks and I feel insulted. Does he really think I would confide to someone I don’t trust?

“Of course, Lee Jin’s my best friend. She wouldn’t betray me for the world,” I say defending her. Though hesitant about my plan, I’m 100% sure she will not make a move that would involve me getting hurt, and that includes keeping mum about this.

“Okay, then. Lee Jin’s in. But no more, okay? We have to be really careful,” he says and I nod in agreement. We really should be extra careful, or else. I can’t even begin to imagine what would happen to both of us if our parents