"Yes." the woman heard the man in front of her speak. She gulped nervously. 

"Yes." the woman spoke soon after, without quite caring about what was asked. Soon the man leaned in and pressed his lips on hers gently and the second he did, the air exploded in applause. His lips were warm and plush, his breath smelled of peppermint and his kiss was soft as feather; but the woman didn't have the time or mind to think as he pulled away and they both turned around, hand in hand, to smile at the crowd behind them. Soon the rings were exchanged, the cake was cut, champagne was poured and the music streamed. Then it was time to go. 

The man carried the woman to the bright red roadster that had the space behind its seats full of rose petals of every color. The crowd cheered and waved as the man got in the driver seat. The woman waved cheerfully to the crowd that started to get smaller and smaller when the man sped up. Soon she couldn't see even a trace of them or the little white church that was dreamy for many young couple and turned to sit properly on the seat... with a blank face. She spared nothing sort of a glance to the man behind the wheel who drove with an equally expressionless face. 

Finally, they both thought, the whole commotion was done and over with. A forced peace would come, with a loneliness they were bound to share. At least, it wouldn't be so tiring as to pretend every single second of their days. 

Nobody would know. 

~~~000~~~

"Good morning."

"Good morning, Ms Kim."

Walking into the luxury grand lobby was the well-known wife of the CEO, her heels clicking proudly with every step on the well-polished marble ground. She smiled softly to the workers bowing to her, without slowing down her steps. She had always been loved and respected in here, and it wasn't just because of her husband's position. She was a proud chief brand officer, not because of relations but because of talent. Before she was married, she was already in the brand management department - in the rival company. She was the daughter of the whole company's owner, yet there had been no outside help for her rise; her father had sent her to the field to gain proper experience and live her life for her own. Nonetheless, when it was about the merger of two great companies, marriage was the easiest way and she was the only one her father would turn to. 

"Good morning, Ms Kim; you came to visit, right? There's a meeting going on right now, if you would like to wait it should end in a few minutes."

"Oh yes, thank you. Would you mind bringing me a cup of tea, please?"

"Sure, of course!" 

She fixed her brand cream skirt and crossed her legs as her husband's secretary rushed to bring her tea. She remembered the times she wasn't welcomed so warmly here. It wasn't always that the workers were so eager to make her happy or at least respected her enough not to be annoyed by her existance. When she had first come here after the marriage, many people looked at her with doubtful eyes and whispered behind her back. She didn't even need to hear to know what was whispered: sudden marriage, she agreed so quickly, what is going to happen now I wonder, arranged marriages are always like this, of course because it was a contracted marriage, poor woman... though they had ceased in the time she worked with them and people had grown to like her. She herself, though, didn't find the whispers so unjust. 

It, indeed was a contracted marriage, decided between her father and his, as an excuse to bring two giant rivals together and rule the whole area with barely anyone to compete. Why had she agreed? Being close to her thirties and never fallen in love, she had ceased to believe in such. She had met him twice, found him to be nice. He was at her level, gentle, successful and handsome, there were no reason whatsoever to refuse such an offer so she had said yes. She couldn't say the same about him. She had gotten to know, the night of wedding, that he was basically forced into this marriage. Much unlike her, his life was a given. He was the heir of his father, raised to be so and if his father said to marry, he would. She had come to understand the reason of his stiff personality and expressionless mask. Behind that face, there was still a child who was waiting to break the chains and open his wings.

Actually, she wanted to help him do so. Living in the same house for over a year, even though they had seperate rooms and beds, made one understand the other's habits and get used to their existance. He had become her source of fun lately, precisely after that one time she had run into him right after shower and when he had absolutely nothing on - and oh, no he didn't like it a bit. The fake peace and the cold in the house was starting to break down lately, along with his defenses and it was about time for she was far more bored than she had ever been her whole life. She seemed like a calm and composed young lady on the outside; but well, she was human too. Not knowing love didn't make her any less human than others who did. 

She got her cup of tea when the secretary came back and took a slow, relaxing sip. She really liked tea, since she didn't know how long she would wait, tea had been nice. Before she got to the half of her glass, though, the door of the meeting room opened. She got up and smiled kindly as people left. When her husband showed up at the door, he looked quite surprised.

"A-ah, I didn't expect you." he said with a voice matching his expression, but he collected himself soon and plastered a blindly-in-love smile on his face. He was so successful at this that even she found it hard to distinguish it from real sometimes. She tilted her head a little and shot back the same loving smile at him.

"Of course, I didn't tell you I'd be coming. I wanted to surprise you." she chuckled slightly He chuckled back as the last person left the place too. 

"Kyojung, would you please make it so we're not disturbed for a while?" he said as he reached out his hand to her. She walked towards him and he wrapped his arm around her shoulders casually. She was used to her warmth by now, except sometimes she wished she could feel it more often. It had become a comforting feeling for her in this past year. 

"Yes, Jaejoong-ssi. Ms Kim." the secretary bowed as they went in and closed the door after them. The second the door was closed, Jaejoong pulled his arm off of her and turned to her with his classic exasperated, apathetic face.

"Why did you come?" he said with a blank voice. She felt the need to . 

"Why, can't I come visit my husband out of blue?" she said, flirtatiously. Jaejoong let out a deep sigh.

"Yeojin." Jaejoong said with a warning tone. She rolled her eyes. 

"Fine, fine, you're so boring! Sheesh, really... well, to make it short, I came here to remind you of the upcoming anniversary. Since you're so not enthusiastic about this whole thing, I figured you'd forget; but the image we've bee giving off demands you to do something ridiculously romantic." she said, leaning her hand on the meeting table. 

"I have it on my calendar. Roses, dinner and a diamond necklace should do it, right?" he said, like talking about a bother. This had started to annoy her lately; but she decided to it up for now. If she wanted to make a fight over it, it would have to wait until home where there was no risk of being caught. 

"Mm, that should about do it." she said and took a seat on the meeting table. They needed to stay in a short while at least. She took out a napkin and started to rub away her lipstick. 

"What are you doing?" Jaejoong said, looking at her with a frown. 

"Getting a little messed up. You better rub or bite your lips too; you know, lovers do kiss wherever they find." she shrugged. She saw Jaejoong visibly blush. She smirked slightly. "What, have you never kissed before?"

"T-that's not it, you can be really sly in an indecent way sometimes." he said, looking away and rubbing his lips as she had said. 

"Sly and indecent? Why, it's not like I you or anything." she mumbled, shrugging.

"As if you could." Jaejoong snorted. Yeojin blinked, that was about the first real emotion-related thing she had heard from him. She looked at him in surprise. The slight crooked smile on his face was far more beautiful than any of his fake loving smiles. She couldn't take her eyes off of it. He raised his head when she stayed silent and blushed again when he saw she was staring at him. 

"W-what?" he stuttered. She chuckled, unable to help it. 

"Are you actually blushing, Kim Jaejoong?" she said. He looked annoyed.

"I just have a hard time believing you can be so open about things. Do we really have to show off so much after a whole year?" Jaejoong said. Yeojin shrugged. 

"You don't want to deal with a lawsuit, right? You'll have to bear with this a little more, then we can tune it down. Even though it's been a year and people are laying low, I don't think it's safe just yet." she said. Because they had gotten married so suddenly, there had been a lot of people saying openly that this was a contracted marriage and it could be used against both companies. So they had been showing off ever since. 

"I think it could be safe." Jaejoong said.

"What does your father say?" Yeojin raised her brows. Jaejoong shrugged. 

"Same as you. He tells me to keep going until he has a grandchild in his hands." he said. It was Yeojin's turn to blush this time.

"Grand... what? I've never heard of this before!" she said. 

"Well that's what he says. He says it's time you got pregnant." he said. Yeojin's eyes widened, almost in horror. 

"There's no way in the world I'd do it with you." she said without thinking. It wasn't like she hated Jaejoong; but being married for a year, they hadn't even slept in the same bed since the first week of their marriage. Now, a baby from that man she barely even knew? There was just no way in hell. 

"Don't worry about it, I told him it wouldn't happen." he said. She sighed in relief. 

"At least you have some sense left in you... well, I'll be going now, if we're done; I have somewhere I need to be in fifteen minutes. Excuse me." Jaejoong said and before she could say anything, he opened the door and went out. Yeojin frowned. 

"What is that supposed to mean?" she mumbled to herself. Some sense left in her? He was the one who never made any sense in any way. She had never done something unreasonable to him and for a long time, they hadn't even chatted properly in the same house. They were basically two strangers in a single house. A week ago, when Yeojin had walked in on a Jaejoong by mistake and he had given the cutest reaction yet - like screaming, blushing furiously and diving under his bed covers - she had started to to see a more natural side of him. She was bored. She was just being normal and friendly. 

She sighed and got out of the meeting room, walking back to her room with a quick pace. She probably wouldn't see him again today. She was going to work until the end of the work hours and then overtime, probably until late at night. When she arrived home, he would probably have eaten and went into his room... just the way it had been since they had been married. She hadn't thought it would be this way when she agreed to marry him. True, maybe he didn't love her; but he could at least try to be friends with a girl he was stuck with. 

She remembered their wedding night clear as day. He had brought her to Jeju, to the little dreamy beach house she had always imagined spending her honeymoon at. The moon was up by the time they had arrived and because of a small problem, there was no power. They had waited in the dark hallway, the air was so tense that she felt too awkward to speak a word. He was the one to break the silence in the end.

"I have no intention to carry out the requirements of this marriage. I've been told to keep it a secret from you; but I was forced into this marriage, I am not here because I want to. It's be smart of you not to expect anything from me." he had said. She had just blinked. She was sure back then that she could break that coldness of his and he would eventually get used to it. She had no idea he would be this stubborn about all the "I have no intention" thing. She had tried to make conversation at first. He was perfect when they were out in public but once they got home, he turned into this icy man who didn't spare so much as a glance at her. At first, it had annoyed her, made her upset and such; but in time, she had gotten used to it. It had become a daily routine for her and she had learned not to expect anything of him, just like he had told. But it was a marriage. Nobody could spend the rest of their life with a person they never talked to unless it was absolutely necessary. She was no different. She was bored. And if he didn't care, she didn't have to either. She just wanted to have some fun with her life again and if the best source of fun lately was teasing him, it was his fault for being so boring in the first place. 

Somehow, she felt sorry for him too, in a way. She also remembered that she told him he could leave her if he found someone he truly loved and she wouldn't do anything to make it hard for him. She remembered that bitter smile he had on his face as he answered. "Do you think I can? If I had that freedom, I wouldn't be here stuck with a woman I only know the name of in the first place." he had said. She had never thought that she would feel guilty for getting married, but she had when he said those words. She had wished that she had never agreed to the marriage; but it was too late now. They were already stuck together. Still, she had told him again that he was free to go if he found the one he loved and starting from that moment, she had tried to make it easier on him. Yet all he had done was to be a stubborn little prick and continue ignoring her and being cold to her, almost like screaming "no matter what you do I will hate you because I was made to be with you, tantrum tantrum..." what a kid, she sometimes thought. 

"Yeojin!!" she heard someone call her name after a while. When she raised her head from work, she saw that it was already 9pm. 

"Oh, it's been this late, I never realized." she mumbled and stretched as her best friend and colleague Boah walked up to her.

"What, you've been working non-stop all this time? You're insane!" she said and pulled on Yeojin's arm. "Come on, we need to loosen you up a bit!" 

"Loosen, what are you even saying?" Yeojin said as she was pulled up, unable to resist her friend for long. 

"Soju, , I'm saying soju! You need to drink and let some steam off, it's Friday, you know." Boah said.

"Wait, let me finish this..." Yeojin tried to get back at her screen; but Boah pressed the power button before Yeojin could even find where she was left. 

"You'll continue later, forget about it already!" Boah said and pulled Yeojin again. 

"Alright alright, I get it, at least, let me get my purse!" Yeojin said, trying to resist her friend long enough to fetch her purse and phone from the table. The second she got them in her hands, Boah pulled harder on her and walked out of the room, basically dragging Yeojin along.

"Time to have fun!" Boah chirped.

"You're literally kidnapping me here." Yeojin complained. Boah turned to her and winked.

"Yeah and you're being willingly kidnapped, so no trouble there."

Yeojin laughed at her friend's cheeky response. Boah had always been like this. She didn't know, actually, if she could last this long in a marriage like hers without Boah around to cheer her up. She saw her more than she saw Jaejoong anyways. And whenever they went drinking together, she would forget about everything but laughter after a few shots of soju, too. Damn right, there was no better than good friends and all men could go to hell. She was fine like this. 

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

hope you liked it, please comment!! thank you <3