“Pouty.”

What’s going on!?

As we were walking back home during the evening, Nichkhun wrapped his arm around my shoulder. His beautiful face got close to mine and my heart started racing.

“N-Nichkhun…”

“Shhh.”

“But…”

“Just stay still.”

Nichkhun whispered into my ear. Our faces were so close we could feel each other’s breath. Despite being it that situation, I was fascinated by Nichkhun’s face. His eyelashes are long, his skin is clear too. I’m going to start living with him. Nichkhun looked down at me. His face was inches away from mine when our eyes met.

“Don’t stare at me like that.”

“S-Sorry.”

“You’re standing awkwardly. Be more natural.”

“Natural?”

“Like this.”

Nichkhun pulled my head towards his shoulder.

“Ack!”

“Don’t act surprised. Grab a hold of my waist.”

“Grab?”

“Like you love me more than anything else in the world.”

I didn’t know what was going on, but together we walked, embracing each other. We were about to pass by someone when he called out to us.

“Oh, Mr. Horvejkul?”

“Yes?”

Nichkhun slowly turned his head to look at him. His eyes widened.

“Oh hello there, Park Jin-Young.”

“…”

The man he called ‘Jin-Young’ was a middle aged man in a beige suit. The man saw us holding each other and furrowed his brow. The reason Nichkhun pulled me close was to show this man? To prove my point, Nichkhun wouldn’t let go of my shoulder. Most people would let go if they bump into someone.

“You’re going home this late, Mr. Park?”

“Oh yes, we had a few errands to run. Anyhow…”

The man turned to stare at me.

“Isn’t it inappropriate for a young educated, respectable person to be seen making out in public?”

“Making out?”

“I saw from afar. You were whispering something to her.”

“Oh. I just want to always stay by her side.”

“I understand you just got married…”

“This is my wife.”

“Wi…!”

“This is Mr. Park cofounder and co-CEO of the company I told you about.”

Nichkhun took my hand and gentle pushed me towards the co-CEO. He whispered into my ear.

“You know what to do.”

“…” Nichkhun said this guy’s been sniffing around. So he is that person… I set my mind and smiled at the man in suit.

“Hello, nice to meet you. I’m Victoria, Nichkhun’s wife. My husband has spoken so much about you. I hope to get to know you better.”

I bowed deeply towards this middle-aged man, in turn he looked me up from top to bottom.

“Are you really Mr. Horvejkul’s wife?”

“Yes, although we just got married.”

“I still can’t believe he’s married.”

“Oh really?...”

“May I ask something? What made you fall in love with Mr. Horvejkul?”

“Excuse me?”

“Mr. Park. I’m sorry but…” Nichkhun interrupted.

“Oh, I apologize for asking such a personal question. I know Mr. Horvejkul is a handsome man. Women employees talk about it all the time at our company and he’s popular among our interns. That’s why I couldn’t believe that he was married. From my experienced eyes, he was enjoying his single life. I didn’t sense that he was getting ready to settle down.”

“…”

“So I’d like to ask Miss Victoria. What part of Mr. Nichkhun appealed to you Miss Victoria?”

“Well…” I don’t know what to say. I was caught off-guard.

“…because he’s selfish.”

“Is that a good thing? It’s not something you don’t like about him?”

“Well, he is handsome and many women might like him for his looks. But no one would love a selfish man like him. That’s why I decided… Aw!”

“That’s enough.”

Nichkhun squeezed my cheeks. He squeezed it harder that he needed to.

“Don’t say things like that in front of my colleagues. They’ll take it seriously.”

“Ouch…”

“Alright, I know you love me.”

Nichkhun hugged me from behind. He whispered into my ear so Mr. Park didn’t hear him.

“Remember this for later, in case it happens again.”

“So this is my lovely wife, Victoria Horvejkul.” Nichkhun smiled at the man. “We’ll get our marriage license soon. Once I get it, I’ll be even happier.”

“…”

“Goodnight Mr. Park.”

Nichkhun wrapped his arms around my shoulder and began walking away. He looked back to see if Mr. Park was gone and let go of me.

“Whew, that was a close one.” He said after releasing me from his hug.

“You surprised me by grabbing me all of a sudden.”

“I saw the man coming. That’s why I wanted to show him that we’re a happily married couple.”

“You need to warn me next time!”

“You gotta improvise at times like that. What an amateur.”

What!?”

“If you can’t improvise, think of your responses ahead of time. You can guess what people are gonna ask newlyweds.”

“…”

“And as for ‘What do you like about me’ you better come up with an answer that’s believable. That’s your homework for tonight.”

Nichkhun started walking faster ahead of me. I wouldn’t know why I’m in love with Nichkhun… because I’m not inlove with him. He calls me names, he’s bossy, and he says rude things. I wonder if I’ll find good things about him if we live together.

No. I don’t think so.

 

 

“I’m home!”

“Pardon my entrance.”

We arrived at Nichkhun’s home. He lived by himself in a luxury high-rise condominium. The exterior of the apartment, his furnishings, and household appliances were all sophisticated and stylish.

“Your place is very clean.”

“Of course. I like to keep things neat.”

“Are you sure you don’t have someone who cleans for you?”

“Actually…”

“You do!?”

“Let me introduce to you my roommate.”

Nichkhun patted a disk-like object to his feet. It was a Robovac.

“I’m home Roomba. Thanks for cleaning up again today.”

“Is this the machine that vacuums your home on its own?”

“What a cold description.. my Roomba is like my pet.. no, my family. It’s so cute when it heads to its dock to recharge. When it’s tangled up with cables, I run over and apologize to it. That’s why I said ‘I’m home’ when we got here.”

I thought it was weird he said that when no one was home. I didn’t think he was greeting his Roomba.

“Well, you’ll learn more about me as we live together.”

Nichkhun walked over across the room and sat down on the couch. He looked at me standing in the room looking uneasy.

“What are you doing? Sit down.”

“But…”

“Your seat is here.”

“Whoa!”

Nichkhun tugged my hand and I fell into the couch.

“Why did you do that!?”

“I always sit here. So you sit there. That is your seat from now on.”

“…”

Late at night: A man and a woman sat next to each other on the couch. We were less than an arm’s reach away. Now that I think about it… we’re all alone. Oh no, I’m getting nervous. In order to break the silence, I the TV.

“You have satellite TV, we don’t have satellite TV in Busan. I wonder if anything good is on tonight.”

I flipped through the channels using the remote when Nichkhun suddenly spoke up.

“Hey.”

“Yeah?”

“Are you nervous?”

“What?”

Nichkhun stared at me. I got even more nervous and my shoulders stiffened. I was frozen still as I sat next to Nichkhun.

“You know what…”

“W-What?”

Nichkhun reached to me and touched my hair.

“There’s something in your hair.”

Nichkhun combed my hair with his fingers. He got the tip of my hair and twirled it around his fingers.

“You have beautiful hair.”

“Are you teasing me?”

“I just said what I felt. Don’t take everything the wrong way… We need to learn more about each other.”

“About each other?”

“I don’t want us to be caught off guard in front of others. Especially to Mr. Park.”

“So we need him to really believe we’re married… will I be seeing him again?”

“Yeah most likely. He lives in the same building.”

“WHAT?”

“See that’s why you need to live with me. Also I saw him a few times at the supermarket. He looked inside my shopping basket. He could probably tell I was single from what I was buying.”

“So we need to be diligent.”

“That’s right. In order for him and others to believe, I need you to do a good job.”

“I see.”

“If you’re my wife, you’ll need to know me inside and out. Love me like no other.”

“That’s crazy.”

“I’m not asking you to really fall in love with me. I just need you to act like you love me.”

“Act like?”

Nichkhun stopped his hand and put it gently over my cheek, looking straight into my eyes.

“Hey Pouty.”

“What?”

“Don’t you want to know what it’s like to kiss your husband?”

“Kiss…!?”

Nichkhun leaned over as I got flustered.

“In order to get to know me better, isn’t it the best way?”

“’…………….…”

“Can I take that silence as a yes?”

“……”

“Pouty…”

Nichkhun’s face came closer to mine. Right as our lips were about to touch… I took the cushion on the couch and put it in front of my face.

“I can’t!”

“Mmph! What are you doing?”

“I can’t kiss you or anything like that!” I wailed with the pillow still on my face.

“Geez. If you didn’t want to, you should have said no. Otherwise it seems like you’re just teasing.”

“What are you talking about?”

“You don’t understand men. Have you really had boyfriends?”

“Of course I have!”

“They weren’t good enough to make you blossom, huh?”

“Blossom?”

“Well. If you live with me, I’ll awaken your inner woman. You’ll get used to it.”

“I don’t need to be awoken! I didn’t come here for that!”

“You have a loud voice.”

“I was born with a loud voice!”

“You’re tough. You seem more relaxed now, too.”

“Huh?”

“You were all stiff earlier. So I thought I’d tease you a bit. Looks like you’re back to your normal self now.”

“Oh…”

Nichkhun pulled away from me and sat back down on the couch.

“Think of this place as your own home. Feel free to use anything here.”

“Thank you.” I said finally.

“And can you stop being so polite?”

“What do you mean?”

“Even though I’m older than you, isn’t it weird for a married couple to talk that way?”

“But it’s hard to do that until I get close to someone.”

“Then do you want to get close to me real quick?”

“……”

“I’m kidding. Stop making that face. Well, you’ll get used to it eventually. Do it at your own pace.”

“Allright.”

“So once you talk more casually to me, then I’ll know you’ve opened up to me, right?”

Nichkhun stood up and stretched his arms.

“I guess I’ll start preparing my lunch tomorrow.”

“What should I do?”

“You can put away your stuff or watch TV. Do whatever you want to do. See yah.”

Nichkhun walked towards the kitchen. I look at his broad shoulders from behind. Nichkhun knew I was nervous. It’s hard to tell because he’s so brash, but he was probably thinking about me.

 

 

“Khun...”

I finished putting away my things and peeked into the kitchen. Nichkhun was prepping his lunch as he looked up.

“What’s up?”

“May I have some water?”

“Of course. Feel free to eat or drink anything in the fridge.”

I opened the refrigerator that seemed awfully large for someone living alone. Inside the fridge, everything was orderly. His room is neat, but his fridge is too. He must really be a neat freak. Impressed, I pulled out a bottled water and took a sip. I looked towards Nichkhun and he was making several different side dishes.

“It looks delicious. Is that all for tomorrow’s lunch?”

“There aren’t any good restaurants near my company building. So I have to take my own lunch.”

“You’re really good around the kitchen. I had that impression when you made the pilaf. Did you learn to be a good cook by living on your own?”

“…”

“Nichkhun?”

“My mom was a chef. Ever since I was a kid, I would watch my mom cook at our kitchen. She would let me help sometimes. That’s how I got good at them.”

Nichkhun continued to prepare his food as he talked.

“And my mom died two years ago.”

“I’m sorry. Do you have any siblings?”

“No. I’m an only child.”

“…”

“Well, once you get used to it, being alone is more liberating.”

“I’m sorry.”

“About what?”

“I feel like I shouldn’t have asked…”

“There’s no need to apologize. It’d be weird for my wife not to know these things. So don’t hesitate to ask. Plus…”

Nichkhun stopped to look up to me.

“Now I have you. Even if you’re my fake wife, family is still family, right?”

“…”

“I haven’t lived with someone in a while.”

He looked like he was genuinely happy. And maybe because I looked at him with a surprise look, he immediately blushed.

“Stop staring at me like that. I’m saying you’re better than not having anyone.”

Despite his mean words, he patted my head lovingly.

“My lunch is packed. I’m gonna go take a bath. Pouty, did you want to bathe first?”

“No, you go ahead, Khun.”

“You sure? Allright I’ll go first. This makes us sound married, doesn’t it?”

Nichkhun laughed a little and walked out of the kitchen. I didn’t know Nichkhun doesn’t have any family. Is that why he looks a little lonely? But wait what about his father? Maybe he has a complicated family. As I was thinking that…

DING DONG!

“Hm?”

Someone’s here. Who would visit so late at night? I could hear the shower running from the bathroom. Nichkhun couldn’t hear the doorbell. I went to the intercom in the kitchen.

“Yes?”

“!”

On the monitor, I could see the security camera of the visitor. On the screen was… the man we bumped into earlier.