Why? Why did their parents suddenly ask them to get married? Why him? Why her? Why now? What really happened? These questions seemed to be lingering both Himchan’s and CL’s thoughts for the past few days.

Of course, when it comes to this topic, there are quite a number of possibilities that may pop up in our minds. One, to save one’s failing business. Two, to help expand and develop one’s business. Three, one family is indebted to the other family. Four, a stupid and meaningless promise made by certain family members way before the kids are even born and the list goes on.

None of these clichés (which, by the way, are very common in K-dramas), however, are valid to Himchan’s and CL’s case. The secret behind it all might be quite shocking to some of you. Why? Because it’s just as ridiculous as all the clichés you could think of. Or perhaps even more ridiculous.

A month ago…

“Hey, I knew it! I knew it was you from the moment I came in!” said Mr. Kim as he approached his long lost friend, Mr. Lee who was sitting by the window of a café.

Mr. Lee was very surprised, yet very happy at the same time, to see his old friend. They have known each other since elementary school, but they kind of lost contact with one another after they graduated high school. It’s been more than twenty years and somehow fate has brought them back together again

“We’re actually having a gathering tonight, why don’t you come and join us? It will be great. My wife would be really excited to see your wife.” suggested Mr. Lee and Mr. Kim, without any hesitation, accepted the offer.

So the two couples hung out together that night – reminiscing their younger days, boasting about their jobs, how well their kids have grown up and whatnot. At first, things were pretty normal until suddenly, Mrs. Kim brought up the topic of Himchan being an idol and her wanting a grandchild. Apparently, Mrs. Lee was also on the same boat. And that's when everything came into place.

Mr. and Mrs. Kim has a son who happens to be an idol, while Mr. and Mrs. Lee has a daughter who also happens to be an idol. Like everyone knows, being an idol has its drawbacks, and one of them is the possibility of dating and/or getting married, especially at such a young age and at their peak of success is rather low. And so they thought hey, why not just get their two idol children to marry each other? Because to them, that was seemingly the best solution or the easiest way out.

Selfish? Maybe. Was it the right thing to do? Maybe not. But would this marriage work? We’ll just have to wait and see.

***

[CL’S POV]

“CL-roo! Don’t you dare running away from me!” shouted Bommie eonnie as she ran after me and thankfully, I managed to get in my room and locked the door.

She has been bugging me with lots of questions ever since I told them about Himchan and it’s driving me nuts. Why oh why did Dara eonnie has to say ‘The Himchan’ in front of everyone? And now people thought that I had a crush on him or something. Trust me, it’s not that at all. It’s just not.

I lied down on my bed and sighed as I stared at the empty, wide ceiling above me. ‘Why did I even say yes to this marriage? Heck, other than him being an idol, I don’t even know a thing about Himchan! So why?’ I got all stressed out by my own thoughts and ruffled my hair rather roughly.

Suddenly, my thinking bulb lighted up. My mom has given me Himchan’s phone number the other night and I was thinking, maybe, I could talk to Himchan and discuss this whole marriage thing or something. So I took my phone out of my bag and just stared at it blankly for a while. For a second, I thought that this might not be a such good idea but then again, I thought it would be better to talk to him and straighten things out. I took a deep breath and gathered all the courage that I had and finally texted him.

‘Hey, this is CL. Was wondering if we could talk in person.’ – CL

I waited and waited. A few seconds turned into a few minutes and now I kind of regretted everything. ‘Did I scare him? Was it the right thing to do? Why isn’t he replying? He must be really shocked. Or mad.’ all these negativities suddenly filled my mind and I am not one who is usually that pessimistic.

After what felt like a year, my phone suddenly beeped. I jumped up and sat down at the edge of the bed, with my phone in my hands. I was, surprisingly, very nervous. I took another deep breath before looking at my phone, and yes, he finally replied

‘Sure. Just tell me where and when. :)’ - Himchan

‘How about tomorrow morning? 6am? You decide the place. :)’ – CL

‘6am? Wow!’ – Himchan

‘Sorry. Is that too early for you? I was just trying to be safe. Y’know~’ – CL

‘Haha! Don’t worry. I totally understand. I was just not expecting that early. But hey, 6am sounds good to me. :) Han River Park?’ – Himchan

‘Phewh~ Okay, Han River Park sounds cool. See you tomorrow!’ – CL

‘Okay. See you. And good night.’ – Himchan  

***

[HIMCHAN’S POV]

“Good luck on your first date!” Yongguk teased me, half asleep.

“Just go back to sleep, you idiot!” I replied playfully and threw a giant pillow towards him. “And it’s not a date!” I added and stuck my tongue out to him before leaving.

I drove my car after a long time and arrived at the park thirty minutes earlier. To my surprise, CL was already there waiting for me and she seemed… pretty normal. She was wearing a black oversized tee, a pair of black skinny jeans with a pair of faded Chucks and of course, her signature shades. I was surprised. Pleasantly surprised. I guess I was just used to seeing her in her stage outfits that I never imagined seeing her in normal clothes.

“Good morning.” she greeted me with a smile. “Iced Americano, right?” she asked as she handed me a cup of coffee.

‘Wow. Just… wow! How did she even know what my favourite drink is.’ I thought silently, not even noticing that I was staring at her throughout the entire time.

“I did some research. Well, Dara eonnie did.” she giggled and I’ve got to admit, I did find her cute at that point of time.

It was silent for the first ten minutes or so. We just sat down on a bench, enjoying our cups of coffee and the picturesque view in front of us. I stole a few glances at her every now and then, and somehow my heart started to beat faster for no reasons.

“So…” she finally broke the silence. “Aren’t you going to ask me why I said yes?” she continued.

I literally choked on my drink and spilled some coffee out of my mouth upon hearing that, causing her to panic a bit. She tried to help me clean the coffee stain but I insisted that everything was fine. “Yeah, about that. Why?” I asked the obvious.

She just giggled and looked up to the sky. “Well, I don’t know myself. Mother’s instinct maybe?” she giggled once again and I swear to God that’s the cutest giggle I have ever heard!

“Oh, so your mom said that too, huh?” I replied jokingly and we both laughed.

“I’m sorry if everything was all so sudden for you. I was pretty shocked myself.” CL’s tone was more serious now and for the first time in my life, I saw a different side of CL – I saw Lee Chaerin.

“That’s okay. I understand.” I said with a weak smile and sighed.

“Well, nothing is confirmed just yet. I may have said yes but your opinion matters too. It’s not only my future we’re talking about here. It’s your future too. If you don’t want this marriage to happen then I am more than glad to cancel it. I won’t force you.” CL really caught me off guard with what she has said.

I was really confused before this but she made me realise that my opinions matter too. She made me realise that I am the one who’s in control of my own life. She made me realise that I have the rights to agree or disagree. And at that very moment, I knew exactly what I was going to do.

TO BE CONTINUED.

A/N: Yay! More Himchan-CL moments! :D So, what do you think Himchan will do? WIll he say yes? :D Well, stay tuned to find out! Hee hee. And oh, welcome to our new subbers! Thank you so much for subscribing to this story. Feel free to upvote and leave your comments below! :)