“You’re not going to dine with us?”

Jungsoo looked up to see Donghae standing on his doorway with questioning eyes. Heechul ordered him to tell Jungsoo that dinner was ready. But he got confused when he came to Jungsoo’s room and found him dressed formally.

Jungsoo nodded as he rolled his sleeves. “Yeah, I’m dining with my family. You wanna come?”

“No, thanks. It looks like you’re going to an important dinner.” Donghae declined his invitation.

“Not important at all,” Jungsoo chuckled. “Only a dinner with my family and Cheonsa’s family.”

“Ugh, right. Not important at all.” Donghae cringed. “You’re going to meet her family? Sounds like the whole arranged marriage thing is getting more serious.”

“Nah~ It’s just dinner. I agree to join this dinner to please my parents.” Jungsoo said as he applied perfume below his ears. “But there’s no way I will get married to her.”

Donghae crossed his arms on his chest and looked at his hyung; questioning. “You’re not going to marry her but you still hang out with her?”

Donghae and the other guys knew it really well that these past few weeks Jungsoo spent a lot of times hanging out with Cheonsa. He took her to his favorite diner on weekends, picked her up from work and then had coffee in Cheonsa’s favorite coffee shop, they watched movie four times, had dinner together, whenever Jungsoo had free time he would meet Cheonsa. He even brought her to Super Junior dorm one day and they had dinner with the other members.

There was a pause before Jungsoo would answer. “She’s a great company; I think it won’t hurt if we become friends.”

“Friends? You two look like a couple to me.” Donghae commented. Jungsoo rolled his eyes. He’d been told a lot by the members about that. “What about Cheonsa? Does she disagree with the marriage as well?”

“She doesn’t. She thought her parents’ decision is the right decision for her.” Jungsoo sighed.

Donghae frowned at him. “What? Does she know that you object the marriage?” Jungsoo just nodded. “You don’t want to marry her, she knows it but she wants to marry you. And you still hang out with her? Don’t you realize you’ll hurt her?”

Jungsoo snorted and shook his head. “She wants to marry me not because she loves me, Hae. No one will be hurt.”

“Whatever you say, hyung.” Donghae shook his head in disbelieved. He thought his hyung was so oblivious this time. “Don’t forget we’ll go clubbing tonight. You can bring Cheonsa as well; Chaerin and Hyeonmi will be there too.”

“Yeah, yeah. I’ll ask her.” Jungsoo glanced at his watch. “I should go right now, I’m kinda late.”

Jungsoo grabbed his phone and car keys and then bid his good bye to Donghae before hurriedly left the room. The younger male just shook his head, watching Jungsoo walked away. Jungsoo met the others in the dining area and passed some quick goodbyes to them, ignoring all their questions.

The dinner was in a fine dining restaurant in a 5-star hotel. Of course, the dinner was arranged by Jungsoo’s mother. She only wanted the top-end restaurant, saying that she wanted to impress her next-to-be-in laws. Jungsoo didn’t really complain when his mother informed him about the dinner. He thought a dinner wouldn’t hurt, since he was already close to Cheonsa.

“There’s my big boy!” Jungsoo’s mother exclaimed as she saw Jungsoo approached their table. She gave him a quick, hard hug.

“Hi, mom.” He kissed her cheek. He gave his father and his sister hugs and kisses as well.

The Baek family was there as well, and he greeted them one by one. Cheonsa got up from her seat and gave him a small nod, greeting him. Cheonsa looked stunning that night. She wore a white medium sleeves cocktail dress with a pearl necklace lingered on her neck. Jungsoo had a moment to be speechless and mesmerized by her beauty.

His mother told him to sit across Cheonsa and when he was seated, Cheonsa smiled at him and mouthed a hi at him. He smiled back and winked at her, much to her surprise. He mouthed, “You look beautiful”. She was flustered and her cheeks started to blush, but she thanked him. Jungsoo’s sister noticed the silent conversation between the two but she just smiled, watching them.

The next hour went really well. Jungsoo hadn’t seen his family in weeks, so there were a lot of things to catch up on. Cheonsa’s parents would also ask some questions about his life, and so did Jungsoo’s parents to Cheonsa. They kept sharing stories and sometimes laughing throughout the meal. No one brought up the marriage topic, until the butler served the dessert.

“I wasn’t really a pasta person, but Cheonsa cooked the best pasta ever. I ate a lot, seriously, I swear I never ate that much in my life before.” Jungsoo was telling his parents and Cheonsa’s family about their lunch. He glanced at Cheonsa, who was smiling at him. “Good thing you cooked a lot.” He added.

“He ate so much until he passed out on my couch.” Cheonsa said, chuckling.

“What?” Jungsoo had a protested look on his face, “I didn’t pass out on your couch!”

“Well, nearly. Jungsoo oppa was really tired that day. He just got back from his schedule but still made time to lunch with me. And he also had another schedule later that night, so I let him rest in my apartment before he went to work.” She explained to Jungsoo’s family and her parents.

The mothers and Jungsoo’s sister were watching at them with dreamy eyes. They were all smiling ear to ear. They were hoping that the two of them would get closer by setting a lunch date before, but they didn’t expect them to be this close and they were really pleased by it.

“It was just the two of you in Cheonsa’s apartment, right?” Mrs. Park suddenly asked. Cheonsa and Jungsoo answered her with a nod. Mrs. Park and Mrs. Baek giggled mischievously. “Did something happen between you two?” they asked together.

Jungsoo and Cheonsa blushed, startled by their mother’s question. “We did nothing!” Jungsoo quickly answered them. But the red on their face made it hard for them to persuade their mothers. They were all laughing at the two of them.

The mothers didn’t buy him. They kept talking, ignoring him. “Oh dear, young people these days are bolder than us back then.” Mrs. Park commented.

“I never had the courage to come to my husband’s house before we got married, but things changed in time.” Mrs. Baek joined in. “Thank God, they’re engaged, right?”

They both giggled.  “Yaah, Jungsoo. He should hold it until they get married, though. But, oh well, it’s okay as long as they get closer.”

“Yes, yes. It’s only a month away, anyway.”

Cheonsa couldn’t stay silent any longer. She cut them. “Nothing’s happened, mom. Really. Jungsoo oppa were only sleeping in the guest room for two hours and then he headed back to work. That’s all.” She tried to explain. “Right, oppa?”

Jungsoo didn’t answer her. His expression was getting darker and he looked surprised. “Wait, what did you mean it’s only a month away?” He demanded.

Everyone went silent. Jungsoo glared at his parents, demanding an explanation. His parents didn’t answer him and tried to avoid his stares. His sister gave him an apologetic look. Cheonsa’s parents looked confused with the situation. Jungsoo turned his attention to Cheonsa, who stared back at him with no expression.

“Jungsoo, honey.” His mother started. “Last week we met with Cheonsa’s parents and we already set the date.”

“What date?” He glared at his mother. Mrs. Park looked at her husband, worried, and then looked back at their son.

“Your marriage date.” She answered carefully.

Jungsoo couldn’t believe what he just heard. His anger started to boil inside. He clenched his teeth and closed his eyes. “What did you mean marriage date?”

His mother sighed. “Your marriage date with Cheonsa. It’s on 26 next month.”

Jungsoo could felt his stomach sank and everything he just ate was trying to get out from his mouth. He wanted to puke. “26th next month?! That’s like 4 weeks from now!” His raised his voice, instantly angry.

Mrs. Park chuckled nervously. “Well son, you are scheduled to enlist in spring next year so we think 26 November is the right date for your marriage.”

“You can’t do that.” He said, throwing his hands up. “I never said I agree with this arranged marriage.”

“Jungsoo! I thought we’ve passed this phase.” His mother hissed. She smiled apologetically at Cheonsa’s parents, who were looking at them with confused eyes. “We’ll talk about this later, okay?”

“No, let’s talk about this right now, shall we? So everyone will understand. I’ve told you I don’t want to get married. Not this soon, and not with anyone you arrange to marry me!”

“Turned down your voice, Son! Don’t use that tone to your mother, and people will notice you!” His father scolded him. Usually Jungsoo wouldn’t dare to rebel his father whenever his father started using his serious tone, but he was furious.

Jungsoo turned to Cheonsa. “Do you know about this?” He asked. Cheonsa stared at him for a while and then nodded. He shook his head in disbelieved and got even angrier than before. “You knew about this and you’re not saying anything? Do you still agree with them?”

Cheonsa’s eyes never left his and she didn’t look hesitated for a second. “I’ve told you I agree with this marriage.”

“What about your dream? You have a dream, Cheonsa! Are you just going to throw away your dream?”

Cheonsa’s parents was getting confused that he mentioned about their daughter’s dream and Cheonsa started to get uneasy. It seemed that she never said anything about her dream to her parents.

“What dream?” Her mother asked. Cheonsa just shook her head, refused to answer her.

“Come on, Cheonsa. You don’t want this, right? You want to be a photographer, you want to travel. There’s no way you want to marry me, right?” He offered his hand to Cheonsa, as if he wanted her support in this.

Cheonsa stared at his hand, deliberating. All eyes fell on her, waiting for her decision. The parents stared at her anxiously. But then she looked back at his eyes and hers were firm. “I’m sorry, Oppa. But whatever my parents decide for me is the best decision for me.”

The parents’ shoulders relaxed on her answer. But Jungsoo was furious. He gritted his teeth, staring at Cheonsa in disbelieved. He felt betrayed by her. He stood up and then slammed the table, making everyone surprised.

“I don’t want to get married!” He yelled and everyone went silent. “I will never agree with this marriage, or any marriage you arrange for me! Never!”

With that, he stormed out of the restaurant, leaving everyone behind.  He went to the parking lot and got his car. Before he drove his car, he pulled his phone and called someone.

“Donghae? Are you guys still going to club tonight? Yeah, I’ll be there.”

He threw his phone to the passenger seat, started the engine and then drove away. He drove mad, far beyond the speed limit to the club that Donghae just told him. 15 minutes later, he reached the club. He parked his Audi right in front of the entrance. The valet guy seemed to recognize his car and immediately approached his door to open it for him. Jungsoo got out from the car and handed the car key to the valet guy, his face still hard.

He looked around and found his team members on their usual table at the VIP section. When he reached the table, he could see that the others had just started the party. Donghae, Kyuhyun, Heechul, Shindong, Kangin, Eunhyuk and his cousins were present and it seemed like they were trying to get drunk, seeing from the amount of bottles on the table.

“Oh, you’re here!” Donghae exclaimed when he saw Jungsoo. Jungsoo didn’t smile back but he greeted all of them one by one. Donghae noticed that he came alone. “Hyung, where’s Cheonsa?”

“Don’t ask.” He answered. Donghae watched him taking a seat between Kyuhyun and Heechul. He could see that Jungsoo was in terrible mood when he took Kyuhyun’s glass and drunk it up in one shot. So he didn’t ask further.

Jungsoo told Kyuhyun to make him some shots of Cuervo and he took two shots at once. When he was about to take his third glass, Heechul grabbed his arm and stopped him. “Whoa, whoa, Jungsoo-ya. Are you trying to kill yourself?”

“I’m just trying to get drunk. Don’t stop me.” He said and then drank up his glass. “Kyuhyunah, make shots for everyone, we’re gonna have a toast!” He ordered again. The magnae happily object his order and poured the Quervo to everyone’s glasses.

Jungsoo raised his glass and soon everyone raised their glasses as well. “For being Super Junior, the king of Hallyu! Cheers!” Everyone cheered and clinked their glasses before they bottomed up their glasses.