“Is that all?” asked the waitress as Joochan completed his order- a cup of black coffee.

“Yes, that’ll be all. Thank you.” smiled Joochan; charming the waitress. Her cheeks were red.

“I’ll bring them right away.” informed the waitress with a slightly higher pitch before walking away towards the barista.

“So?” questioned Donghyun as soon as the waitress left the coffee on their table.

“Well, first and foremost, I wanna apologize since the plan kinda moves faster than we expected.” Joochan took a sip; closing his eyes to enjoy the rich and fragrant coffee. No signs of remorse being shown although his mouth just uttered an apology.

“Uh huh. And how did this happen, exactly?” puzzled Donghyun as he was curious on how Hong Joochan blurted it out to his parents.

“It’s a long story and I’d hate to waste your time. Well, they’ll know about you eventually since you WILL marry me either way. You are the most important part of my plan.” smirked Joochan.

Not wanting to ask further regarding this big ‘plan’ Joochan had, Donghyun let his curiosity fade away along with the steam that came from Joochan’s hot coffee. Half of it was because he was a little scared of Joochan after listening to the rumour and half of it was because he wanted this contract to go smoothly so that Joochan would keep his half of the bargain- stopping ‘them’.

“Fine, I won’t ask further. So, what do you want me to do?”

“Well… first, let’s look for some more appropriate attire shall we? And you are supposed to be engaged to me, so let’s look for a ring as well. Something that’ll suit my future husband.” explained Joochan while looking at Donghyun up and down with judging eyes.

“You got a problem with the way I dress up?” fumed Donghyun, looking straight at Joochan in the eyes.

“It’s too.. Hmm.. how to say this… too childish? For me and definitely even more so for my parents.” ridiculed Joochan, taking another sip of his coffee.

To be very honest, Joochan had no qualms with how Donghyun dressed up. He himself was not very particular about how people around him dressed up, however, he loved seeing Donghyun getting all flustered and angry. Those red ears kept on inviting him to tease the owner.

“What the f-”

“So, are you coming or not? I’ll explain about my parents and the plan on the way to the tailor.”

“Do I even have any choice?” sighed Donghyun, knowing he had no say when it came to Joochan’s big plan. He had already signed the contract. As long as it didn’t bring harm to anyone he loved, he’d follow the contract.

**********

According to Joochan’s plan, they’ll be having dinner at Joochan’s family house. Donghyun wasn’t sure if any other family members would join the dinner but he figured he better get himself ready for any possibility. In the car, Joochan had also explained how his parents were; personality wise.

He warned Donghyun a few times not to be fooled with that old man’s smile. He was a crafty old man who knew what he was planning inside his head. He believed that Donghyun’s expertise in the stock trading area would really allow him to get along with his father easily.

As for his step mother, he didn’t explain much about her except the fact that she’s a prideful Alpha and she definitely would not tolerate Joochan marrying Donghyun. Therefore, he advised Donghyun to take anything his mother said with a grain of salt.

“Ah, my uncle could be there as well.” said Joochan as soon as they finished the ring needed as a proof that they were engaged.

“Who?” asked Donghyun, wanting a confirmation since he could not hear what Joochan was saying over the loud engine’s roar from the superbike that passed by them.

“My uncle. Remember how I said, I wasn’t exactly the sole heir? Yeah, he’s another person that could be a threat to my plan. I have nothing against him; he’s definitely a good guy. His faction is a little obsessive when it comes to him inheriting my father, though.” explained Joochan, closing the car’s door after Donghyun got in next to him. He then signaled the driver to start driving.

“Faction?”

“Uh, well nothing for you to be concerned about.” Joochan’s voice was a little trembling as he almost exposed the truth about his family. It was not something an outsider should know. Even though Donghyun was going to marry him soon, he just thought it wasn’t a good time to explain to him. This might be the first time in decades, someone outside of the family being introduced as the future partner of the next heir. Brides or grooms for Kitsune’s heirs were typically chosen from branch families or family friends and allies, in which the explanation about their family was not needed.

“Well, if you said so.” replied Donghyun.

‘As long as it doesn’t involve me.’ he continued in his mind.

The car ride went quiet for a few minutes before Joochan’s phone rang. Donghyun, who was observing the outside through his window, shifted his attention to Joochan’s phone.

“You aren’t gonna answer that?” questioned Donghyun.

“Nope. Not an important call.” replied Joochan, after rejecting the call. It only took a few seconds for the phone to ring again.

“Are you sure? Doesn’t seem so to me.” doubted Donghyun.

“Yeah. No one important-”

Joochan’s explanation was cut short when his phone rang once again. He looked at the screen but this time his facial expression seemed to change from the cool facade he was showing to concern.

“Hello?” answered Joochan immediately. His brows were frowning. Donghyun couldn’t make out what the other side of the call was saying but he was sure it was from someone important. So important that Joochan only nodded a little when Donghyun was about to leave the car as they had arrived at Donghyun’s house.

As the car left Donghyun alone under the street light in front of his apartment, he couldn’t help but wonder who it was on the phone. Whoever they were, they managed to cause Joochan to have those expressions on his face.

‘So, next week, huh?’ he thought as he unlocked his phone, wanting to set an alarm on the date. However, his action was hindered as a call came in. He looked at the name on the screen and saw ‘Mrs Bong’ written on it.

‘Damn that idiot couple are such blabbermouths.’

Donghyun took a deep sigh before answering the call and walked towards the lobby of his apartment.

**********

Donghyun took a clean tower from his towel rack in the bathroom and proceeded to dry his hair using it. He then walked towards his room, pulling out the drawer of his bedside table. He took out the clear plastic bottle containing blue capsules; popping one of them into his mouth and swallowing it whole using a bottle of water he prepared on the bedside table. His eyes then wandered and landed on the bags he had placed on the bed. One bag contained an expensive suit Joochan had bought for him and another one contained a custom-made ring made out of platinum.

Suddenly, Donghyun's thoughts went back to the time he and Joochan were at the luxurious jewellery shop, picking up the ring Joochan had customized. It seemed like the owner of the shop was his old friend; looking at the way Joochan was treated as soon as he arrived at the shop. They were served with some tea and cookies while waiting for the ring to finish. Joochan said he added a few last minute requests for the ring customizations and thus, prompting it not to be done on time. The platinum ring had no diamonds or any kind of stones on it. However, the intricate carvings on the ring definitely awed Donghyun. Joochan explained to him that every single carving on the ring was made by hand. He wanted to ask how Joochan knew his finger size but once again, he was too afraid to ask due to the rumour.

Donghyun threw himself on the bed and turned to his left, reaching for the small, black paper bag containing the ring. He took out the ring from it’s red velvet box and put it on his ring finger. Strangely enough, he felt nothing. He was sure he felt something when Joochan put the ring on his finger at the shop this evening. Why was it now he didn't feel anything at all. He then observed the carvings on the ring, there were some floral patterns surrounding an emblem with a wolf head outline inside of it.

‘Kitsune means fox, right? Then why is there a wolf outline over here?’ he thought.

Donghyun slowly fell asleep as the drug finally took effect.

The next week…

“Are you ready?” asked Joochan as he helped Donghyun get out of the car.

“Nope. Definitely not.” answered Donghyun, honestly.

He was getting a little too intimidated at how big their property was. On the way to the main house, Joochan told Donghyun that even though there were main family and branch families, they all lived on the same property. Thus, all the big houses Donghyun saw as soon as the giant gate to their property opened. The houses weren’t that far apart from each other but each of them had their own big lawn and backyard. Not to mention some of them even got a horse stable next to them.

“But I’ll do it anyway.”

“But you’ll do it anyway” said Joochan simultaneously before smirking at Donghyun who was confused.

“Hey!”

“Sorry, can’t help it.” giggled Joochan.

The six days that they spent getting to know each other before the dinner had gotten them to understand each other even more than before. Joochan would pick Donghyun up every evening after work and they would go for a simple walk or just a simple dinner at some local restaurants. He said it was essential to make the relationship believable if they want approval from his parents, therefore they need to get to know each other better; be it habits or even something as simple as hobbies.

Donghyun had changed a few opinions he had about Joochan after getting to know him. He was kinder than what Donghyun thought. Although Joochan did put up a wall between them, he sometimes could see a glimpse of the vulnerable Hong Joochan- the one he saw that day when he answered the phone call.

“Donghyun? Shall we?” asked Joochan when he saw Donghyun was still observing the main house.

“Yeah. Let’s go.” replied Donghyun while taking the first step towards the door with Joochan.

Little did he know, that was the first step that changed his life forever.