I decided to wear a light pink dress and my favorite pair of heels for the occasion. It was our first time meeting, despite everything, and I at least wanted to make a good impression. I arrived fifteen minutes early, and played around on my phone until I heard the chair across from me being moved. I put my phone down and looked up.

I almost forgot to breathe.

I hated myself for it.

He was even more handsome in real life than he was in the pictures. His dark hair was tousled up today, and he wore a navy blue dress shirt with a pair of black jeans. The first two buttons on his shirt were ed, showing just enough skin to make any girl fall in love with the sight of him. He was literally breathtaking. But his face ruined it. Kim Jongin plopped down into the seat across from me, a scowl evident on his face. "Are you Jung So Eun?" he practically spat.

"I...yes. I take it you're Kim Jongin?"

He grunted in response and stared intently at the menu. I wondered what his problem was. The waitress came over to take our orders, and I noticed her smiling at Jongin more than necessary. But he seemed to not even notice, he was so preoccupied.

"So..." I tried again. "How has your day been?"

"Horrible," he replied immediately, taking a gulp of his water. "So much going wrong, and then I have to take time out of my day to go meet you, too." He glared at me, as though it were all my fault. "It's not as though it matters whether or not I even know who you are. Our parents already decided on the marriage date."

I felt a pang of sympathy for the guy; I understood. But at the same time, he didn't have to be such a jerk about it, either. Before I could say anything, the waitress came back with the food, and I swear she winked at Jongin before leaving. I curled my lip in distaste, but like before, Jongin didn't even notice. He must have girls doing that all the time.

Jongin finished his entire plate in about five minutes, then checked his phone impatiently. Something must have bothered him (what a surprise), because he tsked and got up, grabbing his jacket, which was hanging on the back of his chair. "Well, I guess I'll pay for you too. Nice meeting you," he said sarcastically, sending me a smirk. "I guess our next time seeing each other will be at the wedding itself." With that, he whirled around and left, never looking back.

Leaving me confused about how I felt. The smirk left me blushing. My heart was pounding. Yet at the same time, I was fuming; the guy was "gentlemanly," I guessed, but definitely not genuinely so. It was more as if he was only obligated to be nice. But then, I sympathized with him; he'd grown up knowing that one day he would have to worry about taking care of a major part of the company, and that controlled his life. In many ways, he had it a lot worse than I did; my parents may be in the business, but they'd never bothered teaching me about our company, and never pressured me to learn, either.

I took another bite of my food and decided to leave, not hungry anymore.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

May 21 came in a flash, following a whirlwind of planning, shopping, and frustration. My dress had to be adjusted five times because of the weight I'd lost due to stressing, as well as secretly dieting. Although no one said so, I knew that my parents considered me slightly chubby. The flowers and decorations for the wedding itself took weeks to arrive, much to my mother's annoyance. In addition, a problem remained: wedding photos.

Obviously, Jongin would have to be there. But he didn't seem to have time until the day right before the wedding, which complicated things. Nevertheless, preparations were made, and we had a happy reunion for the wedding photos, including a lot of swearing and muttered complaints from Jongin.

Unfortunately, he was still painfully handsome. Despite his frowns, I couldn't help admiring his face...and the rest of him.

I also learned that he was quite the actor. I knew he hated having to be here; he'd made that clear. But he was all smiles for the pictures, something that actually made me sad. Was I that bad to be around?

It was especially awkward when our photographer told us that he'd need a kissing shot. I fidgeted uncomfortably, and Jongin huffed. The photographer tried to make it better. "Well, I guess it doesn't need to be a real kiss. If we take it at an angle, you just need to be close and facing each other."

Jongin visibly brightened. "Let's do that," he agreed. His eagerness about not having to kiss hurt, but I didn't blame him. We were basically strangers, anyway.

The photographer had me sit on the windowsill of the huge window, and told Jongin to "make the move." He sighed, then held my chin steady with his hand. His face came extremely close, and he'd closed his eyes in a grimace, as if being this close to me was painful for him. But the director shouted, "Let's have more passion about this, you two! You're looking like you hate each other right now."

I again fidgeted, and Jongin backed away, smoothing his face into a resemblance of a peaceful expression. "Let's get this over with quickly, shall we?" he asked me.

I nodded, and we looked over to make sure the photographer was ready. He gave us a thumbs-up, and I prepared myself as Jongin took a deep breath. Again, he held my chin and came close, our lips about an inch from touching. I closed my eyes and couldn't help smelling in the scent of him. He was a combination of smells that I couldn't place, sweet yet somewhat spicy, but I liked it.

"Good! We're all set!" I heard, and I opened my eyes, standing up. Jongin straightened up. We thanked the staff, and headed off to change into our regular clothes and continue on with our day.

He left without even saying goodbye.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Then it was our wedding.

So many people were there, it was a miracle I didn't die of suffocation. As I sat in my dress, getting makeup applied, my mother actually looked happy...touched. "So Eun-ah, you're all grown up now. Every one of my daughters is married off now, as of today. Remember, though, even though you'll be married, you need to maintain your dignity. Don't let your husband boss you around, just because he's rich and he's your husband. Do you understand?"

"Yes, umma." It was the first time I'd heard such heartfelt words coming from her in a long time, and I was touched, wanting to remember this moment.

"Good. It's time now, honey. Let's go."

I stood up and followed her out into the hall, where my father was wating. My mind was blank as I walked down the aisle, towards a waiting Kim Jongin. As always, he looked dashing, but expecially today. As we said our wedding vows, he smirked down at me. Our first kiss lasted only a second before he pulled away, still smirking.

Then we were surrounded be a crowed of people, all congratulating us and commenting on how well we looked together. Soon I found myself separated from Jongin as people started dancing. I was feeling lost and more than a little lightheaded when I heard a familiar voice. "Hey, look who's here," Chanyeol drawled. "The star of today." He gave me a mock bow. "May I have this dance?"

I grinned back at him, relieved to finally be able to relax. "Yes, of course." I felt my tension ease as we swayed slightly to the music.

"So, how are you feeling?" he asked.

"I feel drunk, that's how I feel," I replied wryly.

Chanyeol laughed. "Drunk? I hardly think that's an appropriate way to describe how you feel on your wedding day."

I sighed. "Yeah, well, it feels like I'm dreaming. Is that better? It hardly seems real. There are so many people here, and quite honestly, I'm really lightheaded. You don't know how relieved I was when you suddenly came."

"Yeah? Let's go get some fresh air, then." He stopped dancing and gently led me out the door to the balcony. We quietly watched the guests below us, also outside, holding drinks and chattering amongst themselves.

I was finally able to breathe again. "I'm married," I suddenly realized, the fact fully sinking in.

Chanyeol looked at me oddly. "Yes, you are. To Kim Jongin."

I frowned slightly. "It's so weird to think about. I'm married."

He patted my shoulder. "Yeah, well, I'm sure you'll get used to it. You should probably go back in now, too, before people start wondering where the bride is."

"Yeah," I agreed. "I'll see you around, then." I headed back inside, where I was instantly surrounded by a few girls, distant friends.

"Congratulations, So Eun!" one of them cried. "You're so lucky. Kim Jongin! He's so handsome!" Then another one elbowed her, and she quickly added, "That's why you look so cute together!"

The girl that elbowed her asked, "Actually, I'm really curious. How did you two meet?"

I gave them a smile. "That's a secret."

Indeed, a secret. No one knew. Not even myself.

Did we even know each other? Not really. Jongin and I were two strangers brought together for the benefit of our families. Nothing more.

A/N: So, honestly, I feel bad portraying Kai/Jongin as such a cold guy when he's really sweet and warmhearted in real life. I guess it's just because he fits the image so well...but Chanyeol makes up for it, I guess, ahaha~

Hope you guys are liking this story so far ^^