"Aish! Must you go now? Must you really leave?" Sooyoung mumbled to herself as she watched her fiance and his friend load their bags into the trunk of a tiny black car.

"Soo, I have to. For my job," Chanyeol explained as calmly as he could to a woman he wasn't even infatuated with.

"Baekhyun is going though, and we all know the last thing he'll be doing is business." Sooyoung whined aloud, leaning on the door frame of their apartment, arms crossed with a bitter pout glued to her face.

"He's part of the company too, you know. Every decision I make cannot be alone. I need him."

Sooyoung rolled her eyes as she marched off, stomping her clicking heals against the marble floors. Her flaxen colored dress swayed like angry swinging arms against her calves as she smoothened her pinned up wavy hair. From afar, Chanyeol could hear Baekhyun chuckling as he slammed the trunk shut as hard as he could, and the taller turned to glare at the said man. The shorter returned the look, instead offering a look as if to rub in the fact that Chanyeol was in trouble. With a heavy sigh, Chanyeol strided after Sooyoung, easily finding her to be furiously rearranging her jewelry collection.

"Sooyoung," he said with a hitch in his throat.

She never even turned to look at him. "You know... Hyoyeon's husband, Hyukjae, left for America a few years back. Turns out one of Hyoyeon's cousins lived nearby where Hyukjae was living. Do you know what she saw?"

He tried again. "Sooyoung,"

"She saw him prancing around with another wife and a daughter!"

"Sooyoung, listen to me, please."

"And remember when we had to comfort young Jinri a while back? She told me that while Taemin was down in Busan, she called one of her friends to check up on him. They found him hooking up with some !" Sooyoung revealed through gritted teeth as she slammed a pearl necklace to the floor, shattering it's construction as tiny white beads flew in all directions. "Do you know why I'm telling you this? Do you know what we all have in common, Chanyeol? We are all forced into arranged marriages, and of course the men never return the love that their loyal wives give to them. If it was so easy for two married men like Hyukjae and Taemin to cheat on Hyoyeon and Jinri, then don't you think it'd be even easier for a man who isn't even married yet?" She finally turned to look him in the eye, jaw clenched.

By now, Chanyeol was slightly afraid of the woman sitting before him. She was shorter, thinner, and weaker than him, but with agility and nerve like her's, Chanyeol wouldn't doubt that she'd come running at him with a broach's needle.

"I know you don't love me Chanyeol, and... and I've accepted it." She gazed to the floor, holding back her tears. "Just promise me that you won't do anything bad in Japan. The women there are beautiful, and I don't want to lose you."

Chanyeol hesitantly stepped forward, clasping his smooth hand around her's. He lovingly placed a hand on the back of her updo as he leaned forward to press his lips to her forehead. "Don't worry, Sooyoung. I promise."

"You promise what?" She sniffled, catching a tear in her palm as to not ruin her dress.

He snickered against the skin of her forehead. "I promise that I won't lay a single hand on any woman in all of Japan."

Baekhyun was casually leaning against the car, cigarette in hand, as he stared longingly off into the distance overhead of Seoul. The driver sat in his seat with his legs streaming out the entrance of the car, huffing the new smoke that his employer had offered him. He didn't know exactly what may happen while overseas, but there was a strange voice in Baekhyun's head that told him it would be an experience that he'd never forget, and one that would change not only his, but many other lives around him forever. The black, burnt coffee taste of the not yet known killer in his fingers lingered in his mouth, and he coughed slightly when the smoke he blew to the west had blown right back into his face from the oncoming gust of wind.

"Having trouble there, Baek?" Chanyeol muttered with a smirk as he finally returned, nodding to the butler behind him to lock the front door.

"I was just going to ask the same to you," Baekhyun giggled lightly, passing Chanyeol a cigarette, who gladly took it.

"She was worried that I'd cheat on her," Chanyeol said as be balanced the smoke between his lips. "Hey, light me."

Baekhyun shook his head as he pulled out his lighter. "Well, were you going to?"

Chanyeol leaned into the fire in Baekhyun's hand, their faces mere centimeters away as Chanyeol lit his cigarette while Baekhyun relit another one for himself. "Of course not."

Baekhyun scoffed. "You said that with a pause, Yeol."

Chanyeol squinted his eyes in irritation. "Whatever."

"No, not whatever," Baekhyn insisted, blowing his smoke in Chanyeol's face, who only stood still with a blank look to his eyes. "Were you going to cheat on Sooyoung?"

The taller was silent as he in more of the poisonous gas. "I don't know," he glanced at Baekhyun. "Why? Were you hoping we'd finish what we started?" The loud and gloating laugh that rung from Chanyeol's lips annoyed the older.

"That was one time in college, and we do not speak of it." He tossed his cigarette to the pavement and ground on it with the heel of his dress shoe. "I'm serious though. I can do what I want because my parents didn't force me into something. You, on the other hand, cannot. Do what you want Chanyeol, because you won't be shamed. If anything, Sooyoung will, and the community of rich s will just see her as a bad wife who can't keep and please a man. She'll be reduced to nothing and no man will think she's eligible."

"That's cruel, Baek," Chanyeol whispered.

"That's life."

Baekhyun, however, had no idea what kind of cruelty lied ahead. As he stepped into the car with a carefree look to his face, his concernment with his friend's marriage problems vanished. Chanyeol's stressful thoughts of it left as well, and suddenly, both men found themselves dazed off as their eyes watched the passing surroundings. They said goodbye to the little shops that lined the streets, the mansions of the aristocrats (and their close friends), and the sky and air which smelled of thick Korean sustenance. As they arrived at the airport, a stick-thin young man with a tiny mole on the side of his chin stood proudly by the plane. His smile was warming, and the way his eyes crinkled into half moons made Baekhyun grin. When the partners reached him, his heavily accented Korean greeted them.

"Byun Baekhyun and Park Chanyeol! It is a pleasure to meet you. My name is Terada Takuya, and I am from your neighboring company over in Japan, Lantern Industries. I will be your guide during your trip to Kyoto, Japan."