Sooyeon wasn’t fond of winter, the rain and snow force her to stay inside and the gloomy weather makes her depressed and oils up her skin; so in that cold night of December, her mood was already bad. Instead of meeting new business partners, she wanted to lock herself in her room and watch some romantic comedy while talking on the phone with her friends, but still she forced herself to get dressed and talk nicely.

Sooyeon was going down the stairs slowly so as to not trip in her Marc Jacobs high heels when the Lee’s arrived and soon the quiet house was filled once again with new voices. The Lee family was a chaebol family too, the grandfather Lee Jongsun settled up in the 30’s a chain of restaurants, soon his business flourished and he opened factories to make canned food. When he died, his two sons Lee Jongmin and Lee Jonmyun expanded the business even more by setting up tourism agencies.

That night, the Jung family that ruled the hotel industry in Korea was meeting up with the family of Lee Jongmin to talk about their future joint project, well that’s what the young heiress thought but it turned up to be much more than that.

                In the middle of the dinner, Mr. Jung tapped his champagne glass with his spoon making the chatting around the table stop. He served the guests his contagious smile before he started talking. “Today, I am not only gaining new business partners, I am also expanding my family and I’m glad to announce to the whole world, the engagement of my beautiful daughter Sooyeon to you Donghae” Jung Yunmin’s voice shook a bit while announcing the last part, he knew his daughter would throw a tantrum, he also knew it was wrong to let out such news in this manner, he even published the news on his company’s web-site before telling her, but it was the only way to MAKE her do it, otherwise she’ll refuse the engagement.

                The man’s predictions were true, Sooyeon pushed her chair noisily, and he could clearly see her clenched fists and glaring eyes. She looked at all the other ones present decoding their facial expressions, and apart from her younger siblings, everyone knew. She felt betrayed, even her older brother and his wife didn’t tell her. “How could you betray me like that?” she raged while looking at them with her eyes lined up with tears threatening to fall. After a last glance, Sooyeon dashed out of the door seeking for compassion elsewhere.

                “I hate them, uuugh, how could they do that to ME?” Sooyeon cried and whined all the way to Soonkyu’s house, only her friend’s cuteness could heal her sad heart. She was greeted with a bone crashing hug and a few pats on her back; needless to say that Sooyeon cried the whole night.

                Back at the Jung residence, the elders were being scolded by their children. “Father, I told you shouldn’t have done it this way” said Yunho the eldest. He already lived such situation since his parents forced him to get married a few years ago, he already had a girlfriend at that time but his parents didn’t want to hear anything from it, so he did get married but divorced the girl 10 months later only to get married to his soul mate, Boa.

Even Donghae wasn’t pleased with the situation, “You should have told her before. How could our marriage work when it’s starting like this?” Snarky Soojung joined the protest for the safety of her sister’s heart and the usually happy Chanyeol wasn’t so happy about the future facing his sister. The discussion continued for a while but with no avail. What is done is done, there is no going back.

                “Where were you?” asked Sooyeon’s mom. The young Jung didn’t go to her house until the other morning worrying her parents that called her the whole night, only to meet the answer machine of her phone.

“With someone who cares about me!” answered the daughter before going up to her room. When she got of the shower, Sooyeon found her parents in her room looking at her with apologetic eyes as if they were children about to get scolded by their mother.

“We’re really sorry sweetheart, I admit we were wrong” started her father. Sooyeon was fully aware that her marriage was going to be arranged, but she didn’t expect it to be announced in such a brutal way, that’s what hurt her feelings the most.

“Sweetheart, please say anything, you’re worrying us” continued her mother after the lack of response.

“What do you want me to say? You did whatever suited you without so much as a hint. Don't you even care about my feelings?” Sooyeon raised her voice even more after each word, while tears sprung out of her eyes. The Jung parents felt even guiltier after the scene, Sooyeon wasn't overly sensitive and only cried when she was really hurt.

“From now on, we’ll let you decide everything, and we’ll do what you want us to do” compromised Jung Yunmin while spreading his smile.

“I’ll plan the wedding without anyone interfering” demanded Sooyeon first before adding “Oh, and don’t you dare talk about wanting children” and a few other demands including brand named shoes and bags earning laughs from her parents.

“I’m still mad at you, and where is Yunho Oppa, he is going to get it from me” soon, Sooyeon’s feisty side started showing up meaning she slowly started forgiving them.

“Why don’t you meet Donghae at that coffee shop next to the company, he’ll be there at 4” middled her mother again.

“Mom, what did we just say?” whined Sooyeon again.

And once again, Mrs. Jung did her best to get her daughter go to that “date”.

                 The next day, Sooyeon tried her best to finish work before 4 o’clock, she was an important manager in the Jung enterprise and she couldn’t just skip work whenever she wanted to. She didn’t even have the time to change into something less formal, so she headed to the café dressed in a black dress and her favorite Miu Miu ankle boots. She made the effort to take off her glasses, and check that her wavy long hair wasn’t messy. Everyone should know that Sooyeon hates looking bad, and she loves making good impressions.

Being five minutes late, she apologized as soon as she arrived, but Donghae didn’t seem to mind, he immediately smiled at her and told her that he just arrived too. The 28 year old man seemed like he just got off work as well, as he was wearing a suit.

Neither knew what to say, they just sipped their coffee quietly while looking shyly at each other. The soon to be Mrs. Lee scrutinized his face; he indeed is handsome, with his lively eyes and dashing smile. At least she wasn't "sold" to some old man with a huge belly. Instead, Donghae had a nice body, although he was short –just like his fiancée- his body seems to be well-built.

                Sooyeon was lost in her thoughts when he told her “Let’s not hate each other”. She totally understood where he was coming from as many of these arranged couples end up hating each other or making the other one’s life a living hell. The perfect example is none other than their own best-friends: Taeyeon and Leeteuk, you could hear their screams a mile away from their house and they’re always scheming dirtily to make the other suffer. 

Sooyeon nodded making Donghae continuing the explanation , “I don’t want our lives to turn into a misery, we may not love each other but let’s be friends, maybe one day when we find someone else we love, we could get a divorce or something like that” .

She smiled weakly as he killed all chances of them being together.“Let’s make some rules, shall we?” she proposed instead gaining a nod from him.

“We should make others believe we’re in love, otherwise our parents are going to be a royal pain and you know how people love to talk about other’s private lives” she continued.

“We can also date other people if we want to, as long as nobody knows” he gave out another idea.

“Let’s sleep in separate rooms. Another idea Mr. Lee? ” Sooyeon asked jokingly.

“Let’s not make each other’s life miserable” Finalizing their rules, the couple shook hands as if they were sealing some business contract.

“You’re Leeteuk’s friend, he talked about you many times but I didn’t see you during the wedding”

“I was serving in the military that time, but I do remember you from high school. You studied in the same class as Hyoyeon, right?”

They talked for quite a while since they have so much in common, from their friends to their school. After about an hour and a half, Sooyeon excused herself, she already had something else planned: an awesome shopping spree with her best friend.

She headed home first to change into something comfortable.

“So, how did it go?” her mother asked

“He’s nice and handsome, very lovely actually. I like him” Sooyeon smiled at her mother making her believe she was falling for him, he really is nice and handsome, but after he shut the door on any chance of a relationship she did too.

              After changing into a nice pair of jeans, some flats and a warm blue coat, Sooyeon met up with her friend in the shopping mall. Having lived the same situation too, Taeyeon tried her best to cheer her up, she also told her that Donghae was a nice person so there’s nothing to fear.

Sooyeon preferred to set aside this whole marriage thing and focus on her Christmas shopping. They were peacefully choosing watches for their fathers when an over-used perfume filled the air and a girl nudged Sooyeon’s shoulder.

“How could you even think of taking MY man?” It was none other than Im Yoona, Sooyeon’s favorite enemy. These girls hated each other right from the first day of kindergarten, but Yoona’s form of hate came in copying everything Sooyeon does in the hope of being better, something that the Jung qualifies as stupid. Well Yoona wasn’t completely dumb; she did get her MBA at Yale just like Sooyeon did, and her attractive appearance helped in so many cases, including dating Sooyeon's Ex's.

“Aren’t you the one who’s always taking her leftovers?” scoffed Taeyeon.

“Oh please, everybody knows Lee Donghae is MINE, I've liked him since High school”