"Seh—" Areum half yawned, half talked as she squint and run a hand on the empty area around the bed. "Sehun?" she managed to say as she propped herself up on her elbow only to find him gone.

Used to waking up alone she stretched and groaned. Despite being tipsy, she remembered everything that happened. A funny feeling filling her stomach, she turned and twisted her toes, just to make sure it still worked after all they did yesterday.

Not having to work 2 shifts a day, her body had somehow returned to being healthy, there were curves at the right spots, not too skinny, not to chubby. Her black roots had returned too. Having colored her hair out of boredom few months ago and not bring able to do another touch up due to her limited budget, her hair right now looked like someone had poured a syrup of coffee over butterscotch and caramel.

Realizing how she was still alone at the suite, she slowly stretched and decided to do something. At least earn enough money herself to get her hair redone.

"I'm going to look for a job." she said to herself as she pushed the duvet away to search for her garments. "Oh no!" she grunted as she remembered what Sehun had done to her dress. Since the dress was strapless, she hadn't worn a bra. And well, she was basically; stark .

Wrapping the duvet around her body she walked towards the sofa at the corner of the room. Grabbing the black cloth she unfolded it, only to find that it was Sehun's polo shirt. Not knowing what to do, or what to wear, she s her hands into the shirt.

Having being in a relationship with Yixing for more than 2 years, she'd still never shared clothes with him, so wearing Sehun's felt awkward but somehow, it gave her warm feeling, not to mention, it smelled like mint and lavender. It smelt like Sehun. Rubbing her arms against the fabric she picked up her underwear and slipped into it.

Whilst picking up the remains of her dress, she came face to face with a freshly showered, half Sehun emerging from the bathroom. Hair dripping wet, steam emitting from his godly body.

"That..." he pointed at the shirt on Areum and tilt his head at the side. "Nevermind." he shook his head and proceeded to dry his hair with the towel that hung around his neck.

"I have nothing else to wear." Areum smiled apologetically. "Sorry."

Sehun made no intention to reply to her half-hearted apology as he slipped into his wife beater and his blazer on top. Throwing Areum's coat towards her. "Wear it, unless you want to get cold."

"I already have a cold." Areum replied, opening the buttons of her fur coat and slipping into it. "And maybe you have it too now sinc—" her face turned red before she could complete her own sentence. Feeling silly for even bringing it up, she hid her face with her hands and ran towards the bathroom, mumbling something that sounded like, “I forgot to… pee”.

"Where're we going Sehun?" Areum asked as she peeked from the car window. Since they were dropped by the limo for the ball the previous night, the two had to settle with the hotel car service. "It's a Sunday. You don't work Sundays." she stated causally like they'd lived together for years now.

"To meet a friend of mine." Sehun replied, tapping his phone and locking it before Areum to see anything, not that she intended to.

"No!" Areum shot up, turning her head to face him. "I'm not ready, I mean.. Look what happened last time." she grabbed his arm. "I'm not prepared."

"Relax." Sehun replied coolly as he unlocked his phone; locked it again since no notification came up and slipped it into his blazer pocket. "It's not the guys."

Areum tilt her head and grinned, although inwardly, she felt something churning in her stomach. And no, she wasn't hungry. Yet. "A girl, huh? Girlfriend, perhaps?" she wiggled her eyebrows.

"A female friend." Sehun corrected as he rolled his eyes and swiftly pushed the sleeves of his blazer up, a move Areum wasn't sure if it was to remove her hands from his arm or just because he wanted his sleeves up. "And even if I had one... Why would I introduce you to her?"

"Yeah..." Areum nod. It wouldn't make sense for real. Unless the girl was really understanding of Sehun, the whole marriage thing would've really put her off. "You're right."

"She'll help you with the preparation for the wedding." fixing his tousled hair, he turned to check Areum's attire. "We should probably get you changed before you step out looking like... That." he gestured with his hands at her body and shrugged. "You can take the reigns for the whole wedding thing, because if you don't my father will send someone and... Well, you can imagine how extravagant he'll try to make it."

"D-does he know?" Areum asked, gripping the hem of the shirt to pull it lower down to her thighs. "That this is all just.. pretend?"

"Yes." Sehun answered truthfully, but left out all the details. It was his father who suggested the idea.  "Look Areum," he suddenly said seriously. "You can do whatever you want with it but just make sure... You don't let anyone know that this is not a real marriage okay? Not even to my friend."

"Okay.." Areum nod, feeling nauseated from having woken up so late and not having breakfast or lunch for that matter. Or maybe it was just a hangover.

"Do you still have the card I gave you?" Sehun asked as he grunted, trying to reach his back pocket.

"Yes."

"Alright." he suddenly smiled, patting the girl with no affection whatsoever on her shoulder like an uncle would do to his nephew after playing a round of catch. "I'm going to get off now."

"Okay."

Giving a last nod, Sehun jumped out from the car as soon as it stopped, making Areum slouch on the seat and grumble gibberish. A knock on her side of the window startled her, causing her to let out a little shriek only to find Sehun leaning down, his hands pressed on top of the car roof.

"I've already informed her about everything. The driver will take you to her so don't worry about where to go." he glanced at his watch and slapped the roof twice before bending down and flashing his sweetest eye smile. "Be safe. Alright?"

For Areum it was the sweetest thing Sehun had said throughout their whole journey till now. Feeling butterflies flying in her stomach she nod and bit her lower lip to wave him goodbye silently.

Little did she know of what was about to happen.

"Son Areum?" the tall brunette said as she walked over wearing a pant suit, perfectly wrapped around her model-like body. Unlike Areum, the girl had height, standing almost as tall as Sehun, she smiled, holding out her hand to shake. "Hi, I'm Im Jiah."

"Hi." Areum shook the taller lady's hand timidly and inclined her head twice. "It's nice to meet you."

Jiah nod and retrieved her hand to hand the girl a paper bag with a known brand name written on it. "I hope it fits. I just guessed your size with how Jongin described you."

"Jongin?" Areum asked, confused. She thought it was Sehun who'd talked to her.

"Yes, he called me earlier today to let me know that you were coming. Why? Didn't he tell you?" Jiah asked, crossing her lean, long arms against her full chest.

"I-It slipped my mind. Sorry." Areum feigned a smile and lifted the bag up, shaking it. "I'm going to go change." she smiled, asking for the direction to the girl's room.

"I'm not going to ask you what happened, based on what you were wearing earlier." Jiah chuckled, looking at Areum and gesturing with her hand to enter the car. "But let me just say, don't take Jongin the wrong way. He's just... He's a child, playful and clumsy, but he's pure at heart." she smiled a very sisterly smile at the mention of the boy which made Areum smile too, remembering how he tried to protect her when she met her father the last night. "Anyway." Jiah said, crossing her legs as she pulled the seatbelt over and placed her hands on her knees. "So, where do you want to start?"

"S-start what?" Areum was utterly clueless. All Sehun had said was she was about to meet his friend and to take the reigns for the marriage preparations. "I have no clue of what we're going to do."

Jiah placed a reassuring hand over the younger girl's and smiled. "Then you came to the right person." she grinned, looking away and averting her gaze to the moving street. "I have one question before we begin though..." she said, her tone slightly off, but Areum brushed it off.

"Sure."

"Did Sehun say anything about me?" she asked, her fingers tapping against the leather of the seat.

"He said you were a good friend." Areum said truthfully, not having any idea of what the girl might've meant. "Nothing much."

"Oh, okay." Jiah nod, immediately peeking through the seat to talk to the driver, telling him the destination and ultimately their conversation was done. No one spoke for the next 40 minutes of their ride to a place where Areum had never been before. Upon reaching their destination, Jiah announced the name of the place and asked Areum to hurry since they had more things to take care of.

"It's... Beautiful." Areum gasped as she looked around the place. A botanical garden, a whole stretch of green with a pond at the side and blossom trees surrounding the compound. "What is this place?" she asked as she neared Jiah who was in a deep conversation with a man dressed in impeccable black suit.

"Areum, this is, Mr. Choi Sungmin. Sungminsshi, this is Son Areum. The bride to be."

So, Jiah knew about the marriage. Then why'd she assume she'd spent the night with Jongin despite already being engaged. It confused Areum. However, she chose not to speak of it.

"Ah, it is a pleasure to meet a beauty like you Areumsshi." the secretary bowed, making Areum to mirror his act. "I didn't think there could be anyone as beautiful as Jiah-sshi here. But you proved me wrong." he smiled, gesturing with his hand to Areum. "Would you like me to show you around the place ma'am?"

"Please, just call me Areum." Areum chuckled as she politely took his hand and the two walked ahead with Jiah trailing behind them.

After a tour around the garden, both Areum and Sungmin stopped at gazebo, where a dozen of maids offering them tea and macaroons. It was a very fascinating experience having tea outside at a garden like this one. Areum closed her eyes taking in the aroma of the tea leaves only to be interrupted by Sungmin as he cleared his throat

"I really hope you like this place. Both Mr. And Mrs. Jung were so excited to hear that you wanted to use this place." he took a sip of his tea and continued. "They consider it a blessing to have such beautiful people spend the most important day of their lives, here, in their farm."

"I'm sorry?" Areum asked as she dabbed a napkin over her lips. "Mr. And Mrs. Jung?"

"Yes. Sir Jung Honwon and his wife, Lady Jung Chaeyeon. Too bad they couldn't meet you in person, they would've loved you just as much as they love Sehunsshi."

"T-the prime minister? O-of South Korea? I-I..." Areum stuttered feeling her heart pound loudly over her chest. Nothing was making sense to her. "I don't understand." she mumbled numbly.

"Did Jiahsshi not tell you?" Sungmin knit his brows and stared at Areum for a second. When she made no sense of replying he chuckled. "Oh, I'm terribly sorry, I thought you knew." he laughed, putting his tea cup down. "This is where you'll be tying the knot with Mr. Oh."

"Oh." Areum squeaked.

What in the world is happening?

"He sent in a personal request last week and of course Sir Jung agreed to it immediately. But the only thing left now is if you like this place or you want to get married off somewhere else." he said picking up a macaroon for himself. "Mr. Oh though.” He paused. “He said it's your call."

"Oh God Sehun." Areum groaned inaudibly. She was beyond happy with having all the power to the marriage preparation but getting married at the Prime minister's farm house garden? Wasn't he the one who said he wanted a low key wedding? Blowing a puff of air out in exhaustion Areum cleared . Low key? If this was ‘low key’ she couldn’t bear to imagine what ‘extravagant’ would mean to them. "This place is amazing. But I'm not sure if the likes like us... I mean me, deserve to get married at a place like this. I-it's just too much."

"Oh no!" Mr. Choi shook his head. "The Oh's are like family and you're going to be one Areumsshi. You of all people deserve the best kind of a wedding you can have."

Areum sat speechless in her seat as Sungmin went on with how close the Oh's were to the Jung family. Having being a Prosecutor before entering politics, Mr. Jung Honwon and Mr. Oh sr. had always been good friends.

It seemed as if Mr. Choi were a salesman and Areum a potential buyer. The way he tried to make her chose the place was almost abnormal, considering how they were just commoners, scratch that, how she; a mere commoner could get married at a place like this.

"So, what is you decision Areumsshi?" he asked as he wiped his hands with the cloth and turned to face Areum.

"This is it." Areum said, trying to put on the widest smile she was capable of. "I guess we're getting married here."

"Wonderful." he clapped excitedly, excusing himself as he slipped out his phone and mouthed. "I'll let my boss know of your decision.” 'Boss' being the Prime Minister.

Christ!

"I can't believe it." Areum said, still in awe as they rode back in the car with Jiah sitting beside her, a phone attached to her ear. "Wow."

"They owe many favors to the Oh family. No surprise there." Jiah supplied in the midst of talking on the phone.

Areum pressed the heels of her palm on her eyes and let out an exhausted sigh.  She couldn't believe what kind of a clique she'd gotten herself into. Just a month ago she was working at a barista, sweeping the floors and now, she's getting married at the Prime minister's personal garden. Wow! What an escalation. She sarcastically said to herself.

"How did you two meet?" Jiah suddenly asked startling Areum side she thought she was still on the phone.

"Sehun and I?" Areum asked, only to stall. She still hadn't decided how to answer that, knowing Sehun had asked her to not let anyone know of the faux marriage thing. "We? Not too long ago." she smiled.

"You don't know when?" Jiah asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Of course I know." Areum nervously chuckled.

"I hope you don't mind me asking you so many questions." Jiah said, tucking her hair behind her ears. "I'm just curious that's all."

"Oh, no no." Areum waved her hand casually but deep inside, she was a mess. She still hadn’t thought of how to answer. Breathing in a long breath, she thought of what Sehun said to her last night before the ball, ‘Go with the flow’. "I don't mind at all." she added. Areum, think! She chanted in her mind, her poker face on. "We met last year actually."

"Really?" Jiah exclaimed. Amused for reasons Areum didn't know.

"Yes." Areum confirmed with a nod of her head, turning her gaze away from the intimidating girl beside her.

"Then maybe I suppose if you're marrying him, you might as well regulate your.... Activities with Jongin. It wouldn't do good to either you or Sehun if it got out to the press," she casually said, trying to suppress her laugh and suddenly it angered Areum. Just when she almost voiced out  her thoughts, a ringtone broke out.

"You—"

"Ah, Hello?" Jiah answered the phone with a big smile on her face . "Sehun?"

The tone with which she spoke to her and the tone with which she answered the phone immensely disturbed Areum for no particular reason. She wasn't sure why she was feeling that way, probably it was because Sehun chose to call Jiah but not her? Silly. She spat at herself mentally. Turning her eyes to the road, Areum intently listened to their conversation; without being too obvious of course.

"Oh, yes. We're on our way back." Areum could even feel the smile on her face even though she couldn't see her face at the moment. "We'll be reaching in a few minutes."

Areum shifted her position a couple of times, trying to pull down the hem of her dress to cover her thighs but to no avail. Her hair had been put up into a tight bun since she didn't have time to wash them before going out.

"Okay, see you soon. Bye." she cooed, slipping her phone back into her purse before turning to face Areum. "I'm so sorry." she smiled. "You were saying?"

"What was I saying?" Areum repeated, pointing a thumb at herself. "Oh, yeah! I was saying how we fell in love at first sight." smirking like an idiot person, Areum  crossed her legs. If the girl could be sassy, she'd be sassy too. "Wonderful, isn't it?"

"Are we late?" Jiah asked as soon as they stepped into the JJ industries building and into Sehun's floor. "The traffic was horrible." she groaned, diving onto the couch like she owned it. While Areum quietly entered, conscious of her surrounding and the familiarity between her husband to be and a certain ‘friend’ of Sehun’s known as Im Jiah.

"Did it go well?" Sehun asked as he swiped his computer mouse over the board and clicked it twice before swivelling around on his chair to meet the two girls.

"Mr. Choi was hospitable as always." Jiah supplied, sitting up straight and pulling out her lipstick from her purse to reapply it to her plump lips. "Sehunnie, when was the last time we saw him? Because he looked a lot older." she asked, tilting her head to the side innocently. "He's such a sweetheart."

"A year ago. He's almost 60, of course he'd look old." Sehun answered, smiling. "How did you like the place Areum?" he asked, clasping his hands together on top of his crossed legs.

Too occupied with wondering over the way Jiah called Sehun 'Sehunnie', she totally didn't hear him ask her a question and silently nibbled on her lower lip.

"Areum?"

The sound of snapping fingers awoke her from her day dreaming and she whipped her head up to find Sehun intently staring at her.

"Hey, what's up with you?" he asked, glancing from her to Jiah, who shrugged, then back to Areum. "Did you even hear what I said?"

"He asked you if you liked the place." Jiah prompted, rubbing the vacant area next to her on the couch. "Come sit." her tone was suddenly so soft, a perfect contrast to the one in the car.

"Y-yes. It was amazing." she managed to murmur as she staggered a few steps backwards. "Sehun, are you done?" she asked, her tone slightly off, border line annoyed. She wanted to get home as soon as possible, away from all the madness, away from Jiah.

"Yeah. Why?" Sehun knit his brows as he stood up and stepped forward, seating himself beside Jiah.

"Nothing." Areum shook her head as she watched Jiah playfully smacking the leather cushion towards Sehun's arm, who reacted by grabbing her arms and twisting it playfully. She wasn't even sure if he'd heard her because she was so quiet. She hadn't eaten anything other than the tiny macaroon and tea she had at the garden, her stomach grumbled loudly and she silently prayed they didn't hear anything.

"Ji.." Sehun grunted, standing up from the couch to straighten his shirt. Holding out a hand, which Jiah took he jerked his head towards the door. "You can leave by yourself right?" he asked, glancing at his watch.

9:17pm

"I didn't bring my car." Jiah pout a little much to Areum's disgust. The lady looked a little old to do any sort of aegyo.

"Oh." Sehun nod. "You can ride with us." he offered, making Jiah clap her hands and pick up her purse from the couch.

As the two walked ahead, Jiah's arm looped around Sehun's and the latter didn't make any move to remove it. He seemed to like it, according to Areum.

"Friends." Areum scoffed when the two were out of ear shot as they neared his car.

Walking in slow steps, Areum reached the car to find Jiah already strapped to the passenger seat, fiddling with the radio while Sehun rolled the window down.

"Areum?" Sehun called out and she rushed to his side of the window. "I forgot my car seats only two people. You wouldn't mind if dropped Ji real quickly and come to fetch you later, right?" he asked, his tone was apologetic, she noticed. Feeling too tired to even protest, she waved a hand signaling it was okay and turned around on her heel to face her back towards the couple.

It wasn't until she heard a loud tire screech that she realized they actually left without her. She knew all to well that getting attached would only cause problems that she decided she'd pay no heed to any of his matters. After the wedding is over and when she can take her revenge on her father, she'll gladly walk away from all this drama and never look back.

"The apartment isn't too far from here." she thought as she leaned against the trunk of a car which suddenly beeped, making her jump in surprise.  “God!” she sighed, placing her hand on her heart and walked away, making sure not to make any contact with any of the cars. Looking around, she saw no sense of life at the underground parking area and decided to go on her own way. She had her card with her anyway, she could easily hop on a taxi or the subway and reach earlier than Sehun.

Walking at the footpath, she scrolled through her phone, browsing through the pictures she'd taken at the garden. Too busy looking at her phone, she hadn't realized how someone had been following her as soon as she exited the JJ industries building.

"Tax—" just as she was about to call for a cab, she felt being clamped with a cloth. Struggling with the grip on her body, she kicked her feet has hardest she could, managing to hit the person on his family jewels. Quickly she slipped off her heels and ran. Her head became heavier and heavier with every passing moment, probably due to the chloroform. She convinced herself.

Fighting the dizziness with all her might, she ran and ran until she reached back to the JJ industries building and saw a familiar face climbing down the stairs.

It didn't matter to her that the person she saw didn't like her very much, all she knew was she'd be safer with him than alone.

And she collapsed, right in front of him.

"H-help me."

A/N:
Who do you think it is? J
I’m so sorry I didn’t write the rated part. I’m still not comfortable with writing .
 

Upvote if you like it.

co-author heyitsme94 here!