He got really impatient the moment the sun rises. He put on his blouse in a rush and went out almost immediately after he wiped his moist face clean. The traffic jam made him even more agitated as he wished to reach there early.

“Hello? Hyosung-sshi, I’ll be in campus at 12. I’m taking half-day today.” He notified one of the staffs.

By the time he hung the phone, the traffic was flowing smoothly once again. He took a turn to his left and reached the neighbourhood. He didn’t have to face the security guards as they knew his face well.

“V has arrived. V has arrived.” It was part of the protocol for him to repeat twice so that the housemaids could relay the message without a mistake.

Taehyung drove really slowly to the front doors where another man took his keys to park his car next to their yard. He needn’t have to wait long for the insiders to welcome him. The ladies walked him over to the living room and he sat on the couch for the first time. Taehyung was idling the moment he arrived. He seemed invisible as the housemaids were diligently carrying out their tasks and none of the family members were dashing around like those workers.

He thought he came too early but then he saw Himchan walking down the hallway with his briefcase.

“V? Why are you here? Are you going to pick Sohee up?” Himchan gestured him to seat down when the latter stood up to greet him.

“Yeah… Is she awake? I can send her to school as well.” Taehyung was rapping through his words and Himchan couldn’t understand why he was too anxious to explain himself. Himchan took a seat on another couch and eased the other guy by softening his intense gaze.

“Is there anything about last night that i’m not aware of?” He asked but Taehyung kept his eyes on the floor as he was afraid of all the upcoming questions. He didn’t want them to doubt his love for Sohee. He was afraid that if they were to find out about it, they’d take her away from him and there goes his chance of getting to know her better. 

“Look V… I don’t know what exactly happened last night but let me just tell you one thing. If you’re not going to treat my sister well, you jolly well send her back to me. She crapped a stupid lie about running away from some dogs’ barking and ended up here because there wasn’t anyone home. I find that totally stupid because she used to curse and swear at any creature that barks. Well, that includes me but that’s not the point. I’m sure that she wouldn’t get herself drenched in the rain especially on her birthday just for some barking dogs. And the fact that you weren’t home on her birthday surprises me.”

Himchan was someone who’s born with a sharp tongue. Even between men where conversation would tense right when you say something that touches their pride, Himchan could do a perfect touch down of that within seconds. 

His words were fighting with Taehyung’s confidence to defend himself. It was clearly his fault that she left.

“I’ll just remind you one thing, V. Sohee was someone you loved entirely. The day she came here and start her life as Welix Enterprise last daughter, she didn’t even know how to tie her own shoelaces. That’s how much you pampered her for the 15 years that she had lived under your care.”

Taehyung gulped. No matter how loud he paced his thinking box to remember the importance of her, he couldn’t. He knew that Sohee meant everything to him before as that was what people had said. But he just couldn’t search for her in his heart yet.

“Please give me another chance. I won’t let this happen again.” He pleaded.

Just then, a lady ran down the stairs with her elastic band between her lips.

“Sohee,” Himchan called to let her know about Taehyung’s presence.

Her frantic mode jammed for a moment. She found herself standing there in surprise as he looked at her the same way.

“Are you late for school? I’ll send you.” Himchan offered. But Taehyung stuttered and offered her the same as well. Sora looked at the both of them back and forth.

“It’s okay, I’ll send her along the way to work.”

But Taehyung insisted. “It’s okay, I’ll send her to the campus, where I work at too.”

Himchan almost gave him a noticeable glare.

“Aish, don’t waste time glaring at each other. We’re late already!” Sora pulled Taehyung’s hand and made a run out of the house. Taehyung flattered the moment she pulled him away instead of Himchan. He thought through a lot though. Did she forgive him easily just because of what they shared in the past? Was it that hard for her to hate him?  

-

Eunkyung ended the unanswered call solemnly. She had almost nothing to do around that ridiculously massive residence of the Jungs. Other than drawing some prominent details of buildings and artistic objects, she either learn how to cook or rot at home. This was going to be her life as Royal Duo’s first daughter, she thought.

She felt ultimately helpless around that place as the housemaids wouldn’t leave her alone and everything she did had to be assisted by one of the ladies. Eunkyung felt the need to explore. She didn’t want to live such a lonely and loveless life forever.

“No Eunkyung, you can’t just give up!”

“But mother, you don’t understand. He doesn’t love me. It took me years to win his attention but he still refuse to look at me. Don’t you pity your daughter? She wants some real love, mother. Your daughter feels like she’s being used around like a puppet to stick with someone who doesn’t deserve her.”

“Shin Eunkyung, what more is there for you to worry about? He already said that he will marry you. Isn’t that great already? Sooner or later he’ll notice my beautiful daughter. You don’t have to worry about him and Sohee. He’ll forget her soon as the years pass.”

“But mother-“

“You love him, don’t you?”

“I do… but-“

“Then why are you stressing yourself over everything?”

Eunkyung tossed her phone and buried her face into the comforter. After a slight unproductive morning spent at home, Eunkyung thought that maybe she should head to the study room and grab some books to read. But a housemaid informed her some sudden news.

“Young lady, there’ll be a wedding photo shoot held this evening. The first lady told me to get you ready for it. Young master will meet you there after he gets off work.”

If only she knew about it earlier, she could’ve had taken good care of her skin better for this shoot. She thought it was too last minute. Nevertheless, she couldn’t argue. Eunkyung obeyed and trudged into the dressing room.

-

The setting of the photo shoot wasn’t as what she expected. She thought there’d be some posh cushion chairs that are meant for them to sit on along with their fancy wedding outfits. But it was just a massive house with its rooms and kitchen.

“Hello there Miss! Welcome to the set! I’m your photographer and director of the day, Kang Minhyuk.” He smiled cheerfully at her as they shook hands.

“Pleased to meet you, Minhyuk-sshi. Um… may I know what time will we start?”

“We’re starting in three hours’ time! You came a little bit too early, Miss. We’re informed that your fiancé will arrive at seven.”

She could already feel the bore suffocating her.

“Can I ask what kind of shoot will we be doing today? I wasn’t informed about this at all so…”

“Ah… it’s okay! I’ll briefly tell you what today’s shoot is about. For today, what we’ll be doing is called the bridal casual and natural concept. Naomi Jung chose a full package for the both of you which includes this extra scenes to be shown at your wedding ceremony. Today is pretty simple. All we have for you are some light and glossy makeups and we’ll be doing our shoot in the kitchen and living room. Attire wise, it’s informal… that explains our concept.” His cheekbones jutted out once more which made Eunkyung less tensed because of his apparent non-menacing features.

Minhyuk then excused himself as he needed to set up the lightings and other equipment for this photo shoot. On the other hand, Eunkyung felt uneasy because the main point of this concept was to feel natural and at ease with her partner. What connection did she ever have with Daehyun to make this a successful shoot? She wondered if Daehyun was as worried as her.

Eunkyung walked into the friendly kitchen and saw a few ingredients on the kitchen island. With the recipes she knew at the back of her mind, she thought that she could make plain scones with the things provided.

“Minhyuk-ah!”

A deep voice gained Eunkyung’s attention.

“V! Come in, come in.” Minhyuk welcomed him warmly just like how he welcomed her.

She was caught in surprise to see him walking through the doors.

“Bbangie?”

“Oh? Eunkyung?”

Minhyuk looked at them in confusion. “Wait, you both know each other?”