"I'm sorry, there really isn't anything that can be done." Baekhyun's face fell at the words, despite just having heard them a few minutes ago. "Are you sure? There isn't any way to arrange something else instead of the marriage?" The vocalist pleaded for what seemed like the fiftieth time. The future couple of Exo had been at the S.M. administrative office that same evening for just over an hour now, courtesy to Baekhyun's overly dramatic and persistent protests at the quote-on-quote "piece of bull." As much as it did his head in, Chanyeol found a little bit of it to be cute. Not that he would actually tell Baekhyun that. He still had an arm to keep. 

Exo's manager-nim sighed heavily, folding his arms and pinching the bridge of his nose. "Listen, Baekhyun-ssi. This isn't the only group to have gone through the program, believe me. It's an integral part of S.M's marketing and promotion scheme for fans in Korea and overseas, and Exo is by no means exempt from this policy, especially seeing how popular you are. Once Soo-Man makes a decision, there isn't any turning back. His mind is made up. You two will have to marry."

Chanyeol casually leant against the wall of the office as he listened to the mundane talk, which he had the misfortune of hearing on repeat over the time span of an hour. In all honesty, the rapper didn't see why the brunette was trying to change the system so desperately; it was a stupid system, yes, (not to mention one that was practically non-existent to the two until now) but was it really that bad? It's just a marriage, no big deal.

The taller cleared his throat to speak up. "So um, how long exactly will this thing expire? As in, how long will we have to be married for?" Baekhyun stopped chewing his lower lip in anxiousness to face his best friend, a part of him wondering how the younger could remain so calm and nonchalant under the given circumstances. He didn't question it too much, he had long since learned that Chanyeol had this weird ability to maintain a facade of indifference at his own will. 

The manager looked towards Chanyeol, giving a small nod of acknowledgement. "Well, that's the great part about this you see. It's entirely up to you, the both of you. You can choose to leave the marriage at your own will." The older's face lit up like a Christmas tree at the new knowledge. Now all of Korea didn't have to know him as Park Baekhyun. Hey, that almost kinda has a nice ring to--no no no! Baekhyun mentally slapped himself for even conjuring up such a thought. He blamed a certain long-legged rapper for it.

"Having said that, there is a requirement for the marriage to last for a minimum of eight months." Darn it! So much for that. Chanyeol scratched his head lightly, trying not to show his disappointment in the short period of mandatory time they had been allocated. "Eight months...that's still quite a long time, don't you think?" The dark-haired happy virus lied through his teeth. Hey, he had to at least show some disinterest; not that he could say it was going mighty fine, but whatever.

The Exo manager smiled awkwardly at Chanyeol. "Well the set time had originally been a year, so perh--no! It's fine. I-I mean...eight months is fine." Baekhyun cut him off abruptly because he couldn't even imagine what being in a forced marriage for an entire god damn year would be like. Pfft, no thank you. Meanwhile, Chanyeol tried not to let his disappointment show through, deep down kind of wishing that his best friend wasn't so opposed to the marriage. Okay, so forced marriage. But at least they could separate after the stupid mandatory set time, so technically speaking it wasn't the end of the world. 

"Well if that will be all, I have a meeting to be at in fifteen minutes so I'll be leaving."

"Wait!" This time it was the taller of the two to interrupt the manager, which if Baekhyun had to admit, had slightly surprised him.

The manager faced Chanyeol with a tight-lipped smile, "yes?" He just had to know. It was a question that had lingered in his mind for too long. He shot a quick glance towards Baekhyun, almost regretting it when he discovered the small brunette staring up at him which resulted in a flustered Chanyeol. "W-why us? I mean...why did me and Baek have to be the ones to get married?" Chanyeol asked in a voice so small he was sure it was inaudible. Except for Baekhyun, he couldn't have missed it. Not when they're practically close enough for their hands to brush against each other.

Baekhyun gulped subconsciously, facing their manager in anticipation for the response he was suddenly all too curious in. Manager-nim smiled properly for the first time that evening, leaning back in his seat and looking at them briefly. "Easy. You share the most dynamic and realistic love with each other." Chanyeol, now feeling very grateful for having asked, lowered his head quickly, just hoping that Baekhyun hadn't caught the stupid grin that spread across his face. 

The next morning Chanyeol woke up to a very sulky Baekhyun. The constant dragging of the smaller's feet across the wooden floorboards could be heard at 7:00 am and had succeeded in waking Chanyeol up. That was saying a lot seeing as he slept like a log about 90% of the time. Ah screw it, I can't take this anymore. 

"M-morning Bae