Heaven liked to think she was openminded and an understanding person. When it came to business, she didn't judge when people rescheduled -- things happen, and she knew that. As long as they were reasonable, she had little to no problems.

Come to think of it, She thought as she pulled up to the all too familiar mansion, I have every right to be pissed off.  Heaven pulled out her car keys, eyeing the house with distaste. She hadn't personally been here in years. She wished that she'd be visiting when the person who lived here wasn't pissing her off.

At least he didn't change.

"Hey, Jang Hanbyul!" She knocked on the door loudly, "Open up!" 

If Hanbyul ruined this wedding, she's literally going to drown him in the ocean he loved so much. When there was no answer, she groaned, stooping down to take off her heels. Holding them in one hand, she headed down and around to the personal dock behind the house.

Of course he'd be here. She rolled her eyes as she descended down the steps leading to the dock. Heaven stood between the two boats that were here. Did he really get another one since she's last been here?

"...Damn rich kid." She huffed, pushing her hair out of her face. She had half a mind to find her phone and call him to leave him a very unprofessional message...

"Oh hey Heavs!" Heaven cringed at the nickname, looking up to the bigger boat to see Hanbyul leaning off the rail of the deck, grinning widely at her.

"My god, I forgot how much I hated that nickname." Heaven groaned, facing him. Hanbyul just kept grinning at her, shrugging. "It suits you."

"Where were you last week and yesterday?" And the grin was wiped off his face and replaced with a mix between confusion and guilt.

"...Here...?"

Heaven's jaw dropped. Seriously? "Seriously, Hanbyul, what the . You have a wedding to plan for!"

He didn't answer right away, but gestured for her to come up. "You remember how to get up here, right?" 

Heaven wanted to scream, but she begrudgingly complied, grabbing the the metal ladder found on the side and pulling herself up to the ship's deck.

"You gonna answer me or do I have to push you off the edge?" She settled on the floor next to him, her heels clattering on the metal floor.

"Ashley will take care of it. What does it matter if I'm there or not?" 

Heaven just glared, "Because that's not how marriage works." 

"Well, maybe that's how this marriage is going to work." Hanbyul shot back, his brow furrowed as he met Heaven's glare. 

"Listen you brat," Heaven straightened her back, "We may have been friends in high school but you were never like this. What's really going on?" 

Hanbyul ran a hand through his hair, his brow still furrowed but now more in defeat and distress than in irritation, "I'm just... I'm not ready to be married or settled down. But my parents want me to be, you know?"

"I can't relate but okay." Heaven admitted, urging him to continue so she wouldn't have to delve into her own family too much. He wasn't worthy right now.

"And Ashley doesn't want to be married either, but since our parents are both trying to set us up, we're going along with it. It's hard to escape them sometimes." 

"I've sort of figured..." She finally relented, "Since she's always glued to her phone and knows only the obvious facts about you." 

"Yeah," Hanbyul sighed, leaning back, "Probably asking Yuji her opinion on everything."

"So they're close?" Heaven raised an eyebrow. Hanbyul nodded, "You could say that."

The two fell into silence for a few minutes, Hanbyul simply enjoying the sea breeze and Heaven attempting to make sense of the situation she was just made aware of. And now had to help out with.

"Okay, okay, so let me just make sure i've got this straight." She finally spoke, gaining Hanbyul's attention, "Both of you don't want to be married, but are going to follow through to make your parents happy." 

"Pretty much." Hanbyul seemed impressed, but Heaven wasn't done yet, "And that's all well and good, but aren't your parents going to be suspicious if, well, I'm not sure about Ashley but I know you aren't aual or celibate so... wouldn't it be weird if you don't have a baby at some point?" 

"Well, she's definitely not either of those either, and we have mentioned that we wouldn't be opposed to kids, but we've got that covered too." 

Heaven didn't know whether to be impressed or exhausted at this point, "Oh, I gotta hear this."

"Ashley's best friend is a doctor so," Hanbyul explained, "She'll convince our parents that we can't conceive, so we'd need to adopt to have children." 

"I sincerely hope you aren't planning on bringing a baby into this mess of a relationship." 

"Of course not," Hanbyul dismissed the idea, "But that's what we've got. I think it's pretty fool proof." 

"Not quite." Heaven couldn't help herself, she was a perfectionist and if she was going to be brought into this crazy scheme (willingly or not), she wanted to make sure they had everything figured out.

"Oh? What's missing?"

"What about when you're both ready for marriage and finding love? What's the master plan then?" 

It was his turn to be quiet, and Heaven really hoped he was just trying to remind himself of the plan or that he'd figure it out with her later. "We're still working on that. Would you be willing to help us out?" 

"Help how?" She raised an eyebrow at him. 

He smiled, "Help us by setting us up with people that might understand our situation... when we're finally ready, that is." He added on, looking uncomfortable at the thought of trying to be serious about a relationship.

"....You and Ashley are messed up. This whole scheme is messed up." Heaven told him, stretching out her legs.

"You got that part of the match right at least." He offered, and Heaven couldn't help but laugh.

"Yeah, I'd feel bad if I found this out from you, but it turned out that one of you was secretly in love with the other. Glad to know you both are on the same page." 

"Mhm." Hanbyul hummed, laying back on the deck. Another spell of silence fell over them, and Heaven almost thought that the boy had fallen asleep until his voice startled her.

"What about you?"

"What about me?" Was Heaven's quick retort, making Hanbyul laugh again.

"I don't see a ring on your finger," He vaguely gestured to her hands, "And either you're happily in a relationship or someone who's very lonely and lives vicariously through others."

Heaven scoffed, "I'm the CEO of a succesful business. I made the decision to put my career and family before my romantic life. I've dated, but honestly, with how busy I am I just don't have time to manage another person in my life." 

"So you're lonely. Got it." Hanbyul nodded, looking smug until his face contorted in pain when Heaven smacked in dead in the stomach.

"Not lonely. Career driven and I don't like people, I'm slowly beginning to discover." She corrected casually as he recovered from the hit.

"Just trying to be funny, god, you still know how to hit --" Hanbyul groaned, bringing himself back up into a sitting position, wincing as he rubbed his stomach. Heaven felt a little satisifed seeing that. He deserved it.

"Anyways," He sighed, "Movingon to a topic that doesn't involve me getting bruises, my best friend is coming back, so I'm bringing him along to the meeting next week. He's going to be my best man and he's way better at this planning than i am, so he'll be more helpful." 

Heaven wanted to be happy that he said he was coming next week, but the mention of this 'best friend' made her nervous and a little suspicious. "Boy I hope you don't mean who I think you're talking about."

"What? It's just Jongdae." 

"Yeah," Heaven scoffed, " 'Just Jongdae', the guy who flung spitballs and pencils into everyone's hair. Just Jongdae, the guy who bubble wrapped every classroom overnight and made it impossible to go to school for two days. Just Jongdae, the boy who caused the school to ban bubble wands until we all left. Just Jongdae, the student who somehow managed to turn the school cafeteria into a --" 


"Listen, the bubble wand thing was hilarious and totally worth it and you know that." Hanbyul pointed out. She rolled her eyes.

"You haven't changed a bit and I doubt Jongdae has." 

He rolled his eyes right back at her, "We'll see, Miss High And Mighty." 

"Listen," Heaven started gathering her shoes and purse, checking her phone for any missed calls -- there was one from that Luhan from Manchester, she wondered what was up, and a message from Steph and Aejung, Steph was on a date with Rory, so what did she need Heaven for? And Aejung was probably asking if she needed a ride from the airport this weekend, and she'd really appreciate it honestly --

"I'm listening, but all I hear is the sea." Hanbyul quipped, and it took all of Heaven's self control to not throw her shoe at him. They were from the Christian Louboutin 2016 Spring Collection, they were a gift from the CFO for setting her son up. Hanbyul wasn't worthy.

"If you actually show up with him next week, I might -- might," She emphasized, "give him a chance."

"It's that easy?" He asked, looking confused. 

"That's how easy it is for me." Heaven rolled her eyes, "Because that's how sure I am that one: you're not going to show up, and two, that Jongdae is still the same old banned bubble wands Jongdae Kim." 

"Wow," Hanbyul pretended to look wounded, "Why do you have to be so judgmental based on my past statistics? Why not give me the slightest benefit of the doubt?"

"Because I know you and Jongdae. Well," She stood up, "I'm going to go and drink at least two bottles of wine because of all the information I just received. I can't believe this is my life, planning a sham wedding with two people who don't care."

Hanbyul didn't even bother moving to see her off as she started to leave, just laughed as she grumbled and complained about this wedding and his best friend.

"See ya Heavs!" She heard him shout over the edge as she finally started up the boardwalk of the dock. She didn't even bother turnign around, she just flipped him the bird and kept walking.

God, she'd have to deal with him and Jongdae next time she came back to Australia. She had a very, very bad feeling about this. 

Author's Note