Yoona had been in her best mood for the past few days, including the moment when she found out that Jieun was pregnant with Kris’ baby. Something was up after all. Everyone might have been fool enough to believe that the love story of Kris Wu and Song Jieun would happen ever so candidly, but not her. She knew Kris too well, and there would be one person who could confirm her theory.

“Park Chanyeol.” She called for the tall guy as he walked out of the JJ Entertainment building.

Chanyeol was evidently a little taken aback at the sight of the renowned model, who had suddenly appeared out of nowhere. “Yoona noona. What are you doing here?”

“Just few quick questions. And if you answer them correctly, I’ll leave you be.” She told him, not dallying even for a second. “Kris doesn’t love her, right or wrong?”

Chanyeol’s round eyes grew bigger but he didn’t take his time to answer her. “Wrong.”

“They didn’t exactly have a relationship before they were married, right or wrong?”

This time, Chanyeol was hesitating for few seconds. “Wr-wrong.”

“Kris only married her because he got her pregnant, right or wrong?”

Chanyeol’s mouth parted slightly, but he closed it promptly. “You’re wrong.” He’d answered her a little too loud.

Yoona had smiled despite all of his answers, in which she knew were not accurate because of his manners. Even though she wasn’t exactly close to Chanyeol, he wasn’t really hard to read. “Well, thank you for your honest answers, Chanyeol.” She told him before making a move.

“Noona, wait!” Chanyeol stopped her and stood in front of her yet again. “Please don’t do anything reckless. He deserves to be happy.”

“Yes, with me! Not her!” Yoona scowled unattractively and walked away.

She swore if Kris wouldn’t come back to her, she would tell everyone her secret. Song Jieun’s damnable secret.

***

“As soon as I think I’m falling for you, I’ll file a divorce.”

Kris jerked his head backward and observed her face, trying to detect if she was joking. But she’d meant business. This woman in front of him was his nightmare; she was skeptical, full of ego and had so much passion to hate him, it made him feel tested. And then again, she was potentially his most beautiful dream. Apart from the baby in her belly, he didn’t know what else it was about her that made him bound to her every actions.

Forcibly agreeing to the idea, he then nodded his head. “Ok.” He told her simply. “But really, you did mention that you won’t fall for me few times last night…so, I expect we’d do good?”

She gawked at his calm expression, as she tried to remember her unusual behavior from last night. It was madness to think that she had thrown herself completely to a man who had a reputation like his. Seconds later, she nodded her head enthusiastically. “Of course.” She chimed. “And just so you know, I only agree to this because of my pregnancy hormones, in which made me really attracted to you for some odd reasons and I don’t even want to—” She was shocked into silence as something soft yet rough encased her lips.

He pulled back and stared at her warningly. “Why do you talk so much when you’re worried? Like that last time when you thought I’d kissed Yoona. God, I really wanted to kiss you then so you would shut up—“

“Rude!” She emitted and slapped his chest.

Kris cheekily grinned at her. “Jieun, relax. You’ll be fine…if you just keep reminding yourself that I’m that jerk you hate—who only knows how to seduce you into his bed and who really wants to take you back to bed right now...”

Jieun rolled her eyes and let him carry her back to bed. That’s right, this man is only interested in you because he wants you in his bed. The second you fall for him, you’ll be making the biggest mistake in you life. Ever. She cautioned herself in her head. She might as well enjoy the warm bed provided by this fake husband of hers, but she was determined that she would not let her heart be broken again.

***

Eventually during the day, Jieun and Kris got along just fine when they weren’t kissing each other’s face. If this was what he’d meant by letting go of the tension, where she had gotten used and neglected his teasing with no difficulty of letting any feelings in between, then Jieun didn’t have anything to complain about.

Fake marriage with benefits—it sounded crazy, but when was the last time she ever done crazy thing?

But of course there should be rules.

“No cuddling or back hugging. Like what you did this morning after I peed, or while I’m cooking, reading, watching movies—”

“But I thought you love cuddling.”

They were back in bed that night; it was in Jieun’s room this time, and it was their last night at the homestay. Starting tomorrow, Kris would be back on his work schedule and would probably start to be spending less time with Jieun.

“Because I love them…that’s why you must not do them.” She remarked. “No sweet talking. I know you’re very good at it but some words could trigger my feelings—“ She stopped as she saw Kris, who was lying down on his back bitingly smiling at the ceiling. “I mean it, Kris!”

Kris’ smile had turned to chuckle as he shook his head. “You and your rules.”

“Well, I’m sorry I’m a woman and you’re a man with nothing but lust in your mind.” She bellowed, feeling down again in a matter of seconds. Did she ever mention how much she hated pregnancy hormones? “Kris, if you can’t follow these things then I can’t—“

“Ok, ok. I’ll do whatever you said, ok?” He turned his head to look at Jieun.

“Promise?” She prompted, almost beaming.

Kris languidly nodded his head. “I promise.” Not really.

A smile appeared on Jieun’s face. “It’s for your own good too, you know? You don’t want to see me blushing too much, you might fall for me first.” She gave him a you-don’t-want-to-do-that face.

Kris sat himself up and bore his eyes in hers for longer that he ought to. “Fair enough.”

“And you can’t stare at me for more than 3 seconds.”

Kris’ head fell backward as he groaned loudly, and she giddily laughed before Kris had tackled her into a tickle fight.  

It was almost afternoon when they awoke. A bird was singing loudly in the honeysuckle outside the house. Neither of them remembered to set the alarm. It was fair to say that as soon as both of them were drifted in each other’s game of pleasure, nothing seemed real anymore. Of course this morning was like a slap on the face when Jieun saw the time on her phone screen.

“What time did you say your meeting was, again?” She asked him, not even minding at the fact that it wasn’t her problem to be stressed about.

“4pm.”

“Ok, we have few hours.” She sighed in relief.

“Babe—I mean, Jieun.” He corrected, looking at her lazily. “We’ll make it in time.”

“Oh, but you don’t know London like I do.” Jieun slid out of the bed and walked to his side. She pulled his arms, making him sit on the edge of the bed, but his weight only caused him to pull her closer. He deftly held her waist. “What did I say about huggi—“

He kissed the middle of her stomach and pulled back a moment later. Tenderness appeared on his face, as if he was looking at the most precious thing in the world. “Good morning, my baby."

“Ok, this is all up emotional. You need to lock it down!” Jieun bluntly scolded him, but secretly impressed by his fondness over her stomach or so he called his baby within the past forty-eight hours.

He brought his eyes up, staring at her in disbelief. “I only wanted to greet my baby a good morning.”

“Well, you can greet her when she’s out of my belly.” Her tone was icy as if she had meant it. Of course she was playing with him.

“How did you turn into Cruella De Vil in one night?”

“I have always been Cruella De Vil. You said so yourself that I’m scary.” She shrugged. “Now, go take shower and get dressed.” She jerked him up and pushed him out of her bedroom. Her palms then perched behind her lower back as she winced at the backache that she was having. She sat on the bed and rested one palm on her swollen belly. Your father may not love me but as long as he loves you, that’s all that matters to me. She spoke in her head as if her baby could hear her telekinetically.

***

Later, Jieun sadly bid her goodbye to the homestay and returned the key to its owner. Kris, who wasn’t too fond of the house at first found it rather memorable at last. He drove them out of Oxfordshire and headed straight to Jieun’s family vacation house in Richmond, London. He had also given the postcode to Manager Park—who had just landed at Heathrow—and told his manager to meet them at the house, as he went along with Jieun’s suggestion.

Suddenly, the song that Jieun was dancing to two mornings ago was playing on the radio. Kris turned the volume up, teasing her as usual and started singing to it.

Jieun buried her face in her palms as she couldn’t bear to look at him.

“Do I really give you the whole damn zoo instead of butterflies?” Kris quoted the lyric “don’t need no butterflies when you give me the whole damn zoo”, as he looked at her.

Jieun’s lips had automatically formed a perfect shape of an O to his sudden question. The fact that he'd just assumed that the song was for him made her laughed out loud. Ever since they had gotten all intimate with each other, she had found him bearable enough to deal with. Most of the words that came out of his mouth, she would think of them as an escapade rather than a threat. But truthfully, she couldn’t say that she wasn’t thinking of him when she danced to the song.

“So, what do you find attractive about me?” Kris began a conversation as he turned the volume on the radio down again. “No emotions. I’m just curious…” He added before Jieun could tell him off.

Jieun let out a soft sigh. It wasn’t a hard question to answer to. “Well, you’re already know that I’m hopelessly drawn to your scent…it’s really annoying, to be honest.”

Kris had laughed.

“Your voice...” Jieun continued and there was a miniscule pause. His deep, baritone voice was the bane of her life; especially if it was only millimeters away from her ears. Then her eyes fell onto the sight of his hands that were gripping against the steering wheel. “Your hands