“Let’s take a quick rest!” Sungjin announced, stopping the band from practicing. They were in their practicing studio again, practicing for the last stop of their concert which would be held in Seoul. As it was already around the corner, there was no time for them to waste. They’d be in the studio for as long as the day passed by, only going to the dorm for sleep.

 

Panting from the exhaustion, Sungjin sat on the floor near his backpack, gulped down his water before taking out his phone. There were some messages from their manager and concert director, as well as his sister.

 

He opened the massage from his sister first.

 

Ahra Noona

Sungjin-ah, did Eomma tell you anything about your soon-to-be wife already?

 

Ah, that topic again. It was only a week ago that this topic was disclosed, and although they said they weren’t rushing him, it was the only topic they talked about the whole week. Now, even his sister was involved in this.

 

Sungjin massaged his temple, feeling a sudden headache due to the stress. Day6 was literally in the middle of a tour, and yet here, his family kept demanding for him to quickly meet the person they had chosen for him.

 

The idea of an arranged marriage itself was already absurd. And the time limit…. Why again did he agree to this?

 

He quickly replied to his sister.

 

Park Sungjin

Other than the fact that they wanted me to meet her 5 times this year, nothing. Why?

 

To his surprise, Ahra sent a reply in seconds.

 

Ahra Noona

So you haven’t met her yet?

 

Park Sungjin

I don’t even know who she is.

 

Ahra Noona

Hahaha. Here’s her IG, if you’re curious.

 

Sungjin frowned. He wasn’t curious. He wasn’t even looking forward to it. He made sure it was clear to his parents that he didn’t promise anything, and they told him it was okay as long as he met her – but he was so sure even after those 5 meetings, nothing would change. He was sure of it. As long as he remembered, it needed quite a while for him to fall in love with someone – let alone someone he hadn’t heard of.

 

Sungjin stared at the username his sister had sent him. It wasn’t like he was interested.

 

Sungjin

Alright. I’ll check it later. Thank you.

 

Sungjin was about to put back his phone when he heard Jae ask, “Got any problems there?”

 

Sungjin looked up. The blonde, taller guy was now sitting next to him with one leg bent, panting all the same. He looked at Sungjin, frowning once he saw his face. “Dude, you look like you were just fired! What’s the matter?”

 

Sungjin sighed. He noticed the other members took a quick glance from where they were sitting. Sungjin shifted closer to Jae. “Jaehyung-ah. Would you believe if I told you I’m getting myself into an arranged marriage?”

 

Jae’s eyes widened in shock, as expected. “Dude! For real?”

 

Sungjin nodded heavily. He somehow showed his chat with his sister to Jae. “But it’s not like it’s confirmed yet. It was still just a plan.”

 

Jae was now rolling on the floor laughing. Upon seeing this, the other members scooted closer to them.

 

“What happened?” Young K asked curiously, sitting in front of Sungjin.

 

While Sungjin had no energy left to explain, Jae spoke in between his laugh and catching his breath. “Your leader…” Laugh – “is going to” laugh – “marry someone.”

 

All eyes widened. Of course. There was a long pause as they were still trying to grasp whether it was a joke or no. Jae was someone who joked around, but Sungjin wasn’t. While Jae was laughing his off, Sungjin was just sighing there desperately, so they knew it wasn’t a joke.

 

“To whom…?” Dowoon asked innocently, which was responded by Sungjin’s shrug. It was his shrug that made everyone frowned in confusion.

 

After a couple of seconds, Jae’s laughed stopped and he sat up straight as if just realizing something, before looking back at Sungjin. “Wait wait, I think your sister just sent her contact.”

 

Sungjin looked down at his phone. He was going to check it later, but now that there were 4 pair of eyes looking at him curiously, he had no choice but to unlock his phone again.

 

They sat in circle: Sungjin holding his phone and copy-pasted the username his sister sent him to Instagram search bar and the others watched as he did so. One profile appeared. He clicked it. There were about 80 photos, but most of them were just photos of the sky (to which Young K exclaimed, “She’s a sky person!” excitedly), some quotes, and group photos. They had no idea which was her.

 

Then he scrolled again until he reached a photo of her alone, standing on the street with her back facing the camera but her face was looking back, eyes directed right at the lens. She was wearing a pair of jeans, a loose pastel sweater, and sneakers. Her long, straight hair was let loose and fall along her shoulder, some hair sticks out, swayed by the wind.

 

“Oh, she’s beautiful.” Wonpil was the first person to comment after a moment of silence.

 

“She looks like a good person too.” Young K chimed.

 

Silently, Sungjin nodded. She’s a decent woman, he remembered his mother said.

 

“Agreed.” Wonpil nodded. Then,

 

“Wait, she’s a doctor?”

 

They all turned to Dowoon. It seemed like he opened her profile on his phone with Jae.

 

Sungjin raised his eyebrows – of all the photos, he didn’t see any sign of her being a doctor.

 

“She’s a doctor!” Dowoon said again, upon his older brothers threw questioned look at him. “Look.”

 

He shoved his phone to the elders, showing her highlight photos of her in a white coat in front of the hospital building with a group of other doctors. The next photos pretty much showed her daily activity: her in a blue scrub with a wall written EMERGENCY ROOM, her with a patient, and others.

 

There was another moment of silence as all of them looked up at Sungjin. They knew how busy it was to be a doctor, and how busy it was to be an idol. They were practically living in two different worlds.

 

Then, the silence was broken as Jae laughed was heard, with his typical pssssh sound. “Dude, she’s a doctor!”

 

 

 

---

 

 

 

 

Han Hyerim woke up to her loud ringtone - BTS’s Fake Love – that filled up the entire room, and a pillow thrown right at her face by her roommate.

 

“Hey!” She exclaimed.

 

“It’s been ringing three times! Just wake up already!” Jisoo, her roommate, exclaimed back, before turning her back towards Hyerim and covered her whole body with her blanket.

 

It was Sunday afternoon and they had planned to sleep through the day as they had just finished their night shift in the ER, which was prolonged due to some circumstances (re: so many patients coming at once and some needed extra observations). Her not turning her phone into silent mode was practically the reason her roommate got so grumpy in the morning. They needed some good sleep.

 

Hyerim picked her phone lazily, and upon seeing the caller ID, she sat up straight. Getting out of the bed and made way to the balcony, she answered the call.

 

“Good mor- afternoon, Mrs. Park.”

 

“Good afternoon, Hyerim-ah!” The voice of a woman in her early 60 from the other side was cheerful, in contrast to her gray mood right now. “Am I disturbing you?”

 

“N-no, Mrs. Park, it’s okay…” She lied. Her entire body felt numb right now. She was sure if she fell into sleep again, she’d hibernate all day. “I’m not doing anything important at the moment. Is there anything I can help with?”

 

Mrs. Park was a woman in her neighborhood back in Busan, who happened to be her parents’ elementary school friend. She met her for the first time when she was still a fresh graduate doctor in Busan, about 3 years ago, when she was working in a hospital in Busan and met a kid with anaphylactic shock. He was only 3 years old back then, coming to the ER in critical condition, and because she was just a fresh graduate doctor and happened to be in charge of the kid, she took extra care of him, never leaving him out of her sight as she was so scared that he might’ve died anytime. His parents and grandparents must have been there and saw whatever she was doing as she took care of the kid. She remembered how the kid was getting better and better, and while the attending pediatrician (her professor) visited and explained the condition to the whole family with her by his side, Mrs. Park was smiling at her throughout his explanation. She was just so happy with the fact that the kid came back just fine to even wonder what she might’ve been thinking right then.

 

Fate must’ve played a real funny story because not long after the incident, Mrs. Park found out she was her friend’s daughter – and she invited them for tea and dinner multiple times at their home. Without Hyerim’s knowing, her mother and Mrs. Park had been keeping in touch since then until suddenly, last month, her mother asked her if she wanted to marry their son.

 

Yes, if she wanted to marry their son.

 

She was shocked, of course, because she didn’t even know their son, let alone met him. He was never in Busan. How would she agree to that?

 

But then again, her parents had been asking when she’d get married and why hadn’t she got a boyfriend and set so many blind dates for her that she didn’t remember who they were anymore. It could be her senior doctor in Busan, or a startup manager, an office worker, or simply a guy next-door – it could really be anyone. It was just the very first time they made it sound a bit more serious: instead of a blind date, it was someone to marry.

 

She didn’t think too much about it, though, because every time she went on a blind date, it just never worked; either because they weren’t interested in her, or because she wasn’t interested in them, or because no one had really tried making it work. She knew this, so it wasn’t like a surprise anymore. She knew it wouldn’t last long, anyway. So when her mother asked, she never really said she wanted it, but she just played along. At least, the family was close enough to hers, she knew them quite well – except this one son whom she never met – so they weren’t just anyone for her. If anything, she knew it wouldn’t end so bad. Besides, it wasn’t like he would be okay with the whole idea, anyway.

 

What she didn’t know was: It needed no time for Mrs. Park to contact her, and she was so persistent about this whole matchmaking. It was probably her mistake for going along with their plan, because now she felt as if she couldn’t back off anymore.

 

“Nothing, dear.” Mrs. Park said reassuringly. “I just want to tell you that I just talked to my son, and he agreed with the plan.”

 

What? What plan? How could he just agree? He didn’t even know me! This guy must be just as crazy.

 

Mrs. Park continued, “It’s just… Maybe it’ll take a while for him to open up. He has never had a girlfriend before, and he’s kind of busy so…”

 

Has never had a girlfriend before? She scoffed. Ppfft… and busy? I am busy too.

 

“It’s alright, Mrs. Park.” She said politely nevertheless. “We’re not in a rush.”

 

“Oh, dear, how lovely you are.”

 

What lovely? I did nothing, for God’s sake.

 

“So I think we need to put more effort here,” She spoke again. What? “Can you at least meet him 5 times? Try meeting him at least 5 times, and you can decide after that. We’re open to your decision. My son is a busy person, and you are too, but I’m sure if you both respect each other, you’ll compromise each other. And my son is quite responsible and strong too...”

 

She didn’t know why Mrs. Park told her he was strong. It just sounded funny and out of place that it made her chuckle silently.

 

“How about it, dear?”

 

“I get it, Mrs. Park.” Hyerim answered. She was about to hang up when she just remembered she hadn’t got the name yet. His name. Trying to be as polite as she could, she asked, “And, pardon me, Mrs. Park. May I know your son’s name?”

 

“Oh, haven’t I told you?” Mrs. Park sounded surprised.

 

“It seems like that...”

 

“Park Sungjin.” Mrs. Park told her proudly. “His name is Park Sungjin.”

 

She frowned. Park Sungjin? That can’t be…

 

 

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