I was surprised, but not shocked. I'd been suspecting it for a while, anyway.

If I was really honest with myself, I still loved him, too.

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

"Chanyeol?" my father sputtered, when he found out that was who I was dating. "Park Chanyeol?"

I nodded.

"Look, So Eun, I've been tolerating your friendship. You can stay friends. But no further than that. Don't you know that sooner or later you'll have to break up, when we find a suitable husband for you? Chanyeol won't do. I'll let you decide. Either you two break it off on your own, or I'll do it for you. And I'm sure you know what would happen if I have to step in?"

I cringed. If my father ended up "take care of things," then Chanyeol's family would basically get destroyed. My father wasn't exactly the most honorable person out there.

So, naturally, I decided to go see Chanyeol the next day. I called him, and we agreed to meet at our normal cafe. I ordered my traditional caramel latte, and he ordered a hot chocolate, to go. We walked back to his house, which was relatively close to the cafe. I stopped on the highest step on the porch and sat down. Chanyeol followed suit.

"Chanyeol--" I started

"I know," he said, sipping his drink and staring ahead. "Your dad and I had a talk."

I kept quiet. Chanyeol sighed and continued, "I guess I'd already known, the moment we started off, that one day we'd have to break off this relationship because I don't deserve you."

I cringed at his choice of words. "No, Chanyeol, that's not how it is--"

"Isn't it?" he turned around to look at me, face in despair. "My family isn't well off enough for your dad's standards."

"If anything, it's the other way around. I don't deserve to have you, Chanyeol, because I have a jerk for a father. You're the kindest, sweetest, most caring person I've ever met." I sighed and stood up, having no desire to leave but knowing that I should.

Chanyeol stood up as well and wrapped me in a hug. "But no matter what...let's be friends, okay?"

"Yeah." I looked up at him, and his eyes softened. Then he leaned down for our first, and final, kiss. It was sweet, but painfully heartbreaking at the same time.

Then he pulled away and stuck his hand out, pinky extended. "Promise?"

"Promise." We hooked pinkies and I gave him a shaking smile before I left, tears finally spilling down as I walked.

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

I had no desire to go home. I also couldn't go back to Chanyeol, so I roamed the city, going to all of my favorite stores and sightseeing places. When I finally made my way home, it was past eight o'clock.

I grabbed an old t-shirt and a pair of comfortable sweatpants, then headed straight for the shower. When I came back into my room, I saw no sign of Jongin--or his belongings. Eun Hye came in and informed me that dinner was ready. I went downstairs and searched the rooms there, hoping that maybe Jongin would be in one of them, after all. Eating dinner alone in this huge house did not seem appealing in the least.

I finally found him in a room all the way at the end of the hall downstairs, taking off his tie. I knocked, then poke my head in. "Uh...Eun Hye said that dinner is ready."

He looked at me, then waved me out of the room. "Yeah, I know, she told me too."

I left, seeing that he was making no move to head outside and eat. Slightly disappointed, I took a seat at the oversized dining table, and started eating, picking at my food. No matter how hungry I could be, eating alone at this dining table, in this overly huge house, made me lose my appetite quickly.

My heart nearly skipped a beat when Jongin came in and sat down, albeit at the other end of the table. At least I wasn't by myself. Considering that he made no attempt at conversation, I asked, "How was your day?"

Jongin finally snapped and turned to look directly at me, glaring. "Much worse than yours, I can tell that much. What did you even do all day? Obviously you weren't at your parents' company, because I hear they haven't even taught you the basics of the business. You don't know what it feels like to have to deal with annoying 'coworkers' that kiss up to you, but would turn their backs on you the moment you seem to be in a disadvantageous situation." Then he stabbed at his food, making me flinch.

"I don't understand why you hate me so much," I muttered.

"Hate you?" Jongin laughed. "I don't hate you. I don't know you enough to hate you yet. It's just annoying that whenever I look at you, I'm reminded of how little control I have over my own life. I don't understand why you don't feel the same. Oh wait--because you at least aren't forced to practically live in your company, having to worry about every little aspect of it." He stood up and stalked out of the dining room. I heard a door--probably his room's--slam shut, and I shuddered. He seemed nice enough if I left him alone, but he had such a temper.

Honestly, I was worried. Jongin was probably so stressed out about his life, yet had no one to talk to. After a few minutes, I decided to go check up on him, and maybe try to apologize...for what, I wasn't really sure, but it would probably be a good idea to make peace with him.

I opened his door a crack, silently, and peeked inside. He was holding a ring in his hand, on the phone with someone. "No," his voice cracked. "I still...love you, though."

I let go of the door handle, and started to head back upstairs, mind blank. Of course he would hate me. He probably had to break up with his girlfriend because of this unwanted marriage.

Even if it wasn't me specifically, circumstances would've forced them to break up.

Just like me with Chanyeol.

And he'd said himself, I was just a reminder of how little control he really had in life. I couldn't have said it better myself, whenever I saw him.

But then...why did I find myself attracted to his man I was forced to call my husband, find myself wanting to make him happier somehow, wanting to make his marriage work?

A/N: Hooray, it's Christmas Eve!

Merry Christmas, everyone!

Also, I probably won't be able to update for a while, because I have relatives coming over starting tomorrow for winter break, and...yeah. So Happy New Year, too!

♥