Yul sighed as paper after paper of medical terms he was tired of staring at started to blur his vision.

Sitting in his bed at half past midnight, he was tired.  Today was a long day.  He had to collect med papers from a few people, and from others, exams.  He’d gotten the exams out of the way, but he was still working on the papers.

Suddenly, the phone at his bedside rang.

Taking his glasses off, he reached for the phone, and sighed into it.  “Morning, Lovely,” his husky voice fell over the line. 

“Am I the only one that calls you this late?” she smiled across the line.  Tiffany’s heart smattered.  That husky almost sleepy voice of his made her heart pound, and her mind fill up with a love potion.  She couldn’t have fallen in love with the voice.  But not the person.  HA! 

“Yes, I don’t think anyone else is as annoying.”

“Of course, but remember, I’m the fiancee, so I suddenly have the right, don’t I?” she smirked over the line.

As strange as it was, Yul liked getting Tiffany’s phone calls, and calling her.  They’d call each other every night at around this time, and converse on things that were on the agenda, or questions that were raised.  He loved to hear her voice.  The velvet sound of her almost sore throat (from talking all day) was something that triggered dreams.  Two months into the engagement now, and Yul was satisfied, somewhat.  It was that connection they’d feel, at times. 

She pretended now that on her engagement, she simply went to bed, and nothing important happened.  Yul was smarter than that.  He knew that she was scared, and that first night was extremely weird for both of them.  They really connected that night.  Hwang was an ice cube now, and stayed away as much as possible. 

Except for on her birthday, which was a little touch of heaven.  However, it was different now.  She didn’t even put the bet for champagne on anymore, but only was the quiet fiancee who appeared to say loving things in his ear to make him smile.  At least, that was what the press called it. 

In reality, Tiffany was making a droll comment on the attire of one of her cousins, or something of that nature.  He’d laugh.  When they were alone, however, it was a different story.  She found the way to push him off, or push him away.  She never stayed around long enough for him to talk to.

But then again, Yul didn’t REALLY mind.  After all, Tiffany Hwang was NOT the ideal fiancee.  He wasn’t even going to get married, so he didn’t really have to push the matter.

But there were times when he wished that perhaps there was someone out there for him, that would care.

Like that would really happen to him.

Tiffany and him alternated nights calling each other, when Tiffany started the tradition the second night of their engagement, asking him what we were going to do with their careers.

“I had that question presented to me by a friend of mine.  I said that I intended to keep my job, and you yours.  But my friend didn’t believe me because we were such a romantic couple she didn’t think we’d get along without each other.” Yul laughed.

Laughing and scoffing comprised most of their hour-long conversations each night.  Even if they had nothing to do, they’d read papers to each other and laugh.  It was odd.  Yul got the feeling that Tiffany felt safe when she could be with him alone on the phone and not have to see him.

Tiffany had that EXACTLY in mind.  In fact, it was perfect.  If he tried anything even slightly romantic, she’d just hang up and claim disconnection.  Tiffany never understood why she wanted to talk to him every night at such a late hour, for such a long time, but she reasoned that she enjoyed their dueling over the lines, and she enjoyed his insights and thoughts, especially since they were so different from the dreary common ones she was used to hearing.

Since the engagement began, since that NIGHT, she had been very careful with the Kwon prince.  It was hard to act as his fiancee and not feel the urge to be his in real life, for in public, he was the ideal fiancee, the one she’d always wanted, and he’d make her laugh and he’d do such romantic things.  He always sent her a flower at the office, which ever one she was in for the day, a white rose, and she’d smile like a shy embarrassed school girl.

Now, her birthday was a fluke…it was a touching escapade, and she was surprised Yul never asked for the bracelet back, as she had expected, and so, she decided that he meant to spend more than four thousand dollars on a birthday present he wasn’t actually engaged to.  Of course that was just for the outer appearances.  No one was to know about their agreement.  And she didn’t want to stick around longer than she had to so that he could snub her and make her feel like a brat all over again.  She knew he was acting, and Tiffany readily admitted that he was a GREAT actor.

But she was pretty good to.  There was more than once when she saw that overwhelmed look in Yul’s eyes.  She relished in those moments.

“So there anything special coming up this weekend?” he asked, casually.

“Going to Hyoyeon’s for lunch.”

“Good.  And evening?”

“Plan on staying the night.  Hyoyeon and I have a lot to catch up on. You?”

“Hospital seminar.”

“All day?”

“Yes, all day.  But at least now, I won’t have those young female interns giving me those starry eyes now.  I’m a taken man.”

“That is, until we break it off,” Tiffany reminded him, and herself.

“True,” he said, somewhat disappointed.

Tiffany couldn’t wait for the engagement to be off.  Only eight more months.  She was surprised they had survived two already.  She had been actually engaged for TWO MONTHS!  She looked at the ring on her finger, and played around with it.  Being around Yul, pretending to be in love with him, when he was pretending to be in love with you, was dangerous for any woman.  If Tiffany weren’t so set against him, she might have fallen for him.  Emphasize the MIGHT.  But two months had passed.  I’ll be it, two VERY long moths passed, but Tiffany was sure that eight could be passed the very same way, no complications. 

“So what’s going on up there in wonderful Massachusetts?  Long time since I last came up.”

“So visit some time.  Harvard’s grand this time of year.  Students are cramming and teachers are furiously writing new exams.”

“Well, we haven’t got much better at Johns right now.”

“Oh yeah, clear the tenth of May.  You have to come back and be my fiancee at the Harvard professor gala thing.”

“All right, but the third, a week before, is the Johns H one.”

“And the week before that, the 26 of April.  That’s Taeyeon’s birthday ball at the White House.”

“And the weekend before that is the coming weekend, so we’ve got our next weeks booked.”

“My cousins would sneer that we don’t spend any time together alone, as a couple.”

“But that’s not what we ever wanted in the first place, now, was it?” he asked, hoping to hear something to prove otherwise.  A silence. 

“No, it wasn’t,” she said quietly, and hung up.