Jiyong pulled into his parking stall and smiled when he saw Dara’s car already parked in hers. He got out of the car and grabbed his briefcase before locking the door and hurrying inside. He waved a hand at the security guard on duty and made his way over to the elevator and up to their penthouse apartment. As soon as he opened the door he was greeted with the wonderful smell of food.

“Babe, I’m home,” he called out.

“I’m in the kitchen,” Dara answered.

Jiyong set his briefcase down on the couch as he proceeded to the kitchen. There he saw Dara stirring a pot. She had already changed out of her work clothes and was wearing a pair of leggings and a long t-shirt. “Hi honey,” she greeted him and puckered her lips for his kiss.

Jiyong kissed her and slipped his hands around her waist to feel her still flat stomach. “How’s my baby,” he asked, and Dara smiled and leaned back against him for a moment.

“Hungry and tired.”

They’d been married for almost a year and Dara was now two months pregnant. She was working for her grandfather’s company and was recently named Executive Vice President of Development and Acquisitions, a job she excelled at and loved. Jiyong too had advanced in his family’s business and was the Vice President of Sales and Marketing Asia. He found the job both challenging and rewarding. But his greatest joy was the home life he had with Dara. She supported him in all he did and offered counsel to him when needed and a lending ear.

“You want me to give you a massage after?” he asked, and Dara smiled with her eyes closed.

“I think it was your massages that got me pregnant in the first place,” she teased, and Jiyong laughed.

“I don’t recall you complaining at the time.”

“Oh no, I definitely did not complain,” Dara agreed. She turned in his arms to look at him. “Go shower babe and I’ll call you when the food’s ready.” She knew he’d stayed up late the night before working and that he was probably feeling tired by now. “Go,” she gently urged, when he hesitated. Jiyong dropped a ‘kiss on her forehead before heading to the bedroom.

Forty minutes later Dara went to the bedroom and found Jiyong fast asleep. She sat on the edge of the bed and smiled as she watched him. Who would’ve known she would end up with him as her husband? Certainly not her, and not considering how they couldn’t stand one another in high school. The guy she thought was just a loafer living off of his family’s wealth turned out to be a caring, sensitive man who only needed a little of the right encouragement and direction in his life to finally embrace what fate had given him.

Dara had gotten to know Jiyong’s grandfather Jungju and had learned from him that it took a heart to heart talk between the two of them before Jiyong understood that all his grandfather wanted was for Jiyong and his other grandc.hildren to be happy.  Jungju explained to Dara, “I threatened to disown him and he told me to go ahead and that I should even remove his name from the family registry.”

“He said that?” Dara asked, shocked that Jiyong would go to that length.

Jungju nodded. “It was then that I decided to take a risk and let him know that even if he refused to marry you, I had every intention of hiring you as a CEO for our company.”

Dara was surprised to hear of this and Jungju explained to her that he would have gone through with the offer because he believed in her talent and abilities. But fortunately Jiyong began a turn around in his attitude that negated his plan to bring Sandara in as a CEO. “You must have done something to change him,” Jungju suggested, but Dara shook his head.

“The important changes he made on his own. The only thing I offered was to explain to him the misunderstanding he had that I hated him in high school. I never hated him, but I was disappointed whenever I saw him squandering away his opportunity to learn and grow. Maybe that made him reevaluate his life. I don’t think he fully understood my situation and the opportunity I was fighting for to be able to work for my grandfather’s company. In the end we came to understand one another and support each other.”

“You should thank me and your grandfather for setting you two up,” Jungju teased, and Dara laughingly agreed.

“I guess it goes to show that sometimes life experience does count,” she said.

**

Dara reached over and smoothed her hand over Jiyong’s cheek. “Jiyong? Do you want to sleep more? Dinner’s ready.”

Jiyong struggled to open his eyes. “I’ll eat now,” he said, sounding and looking like a little boy as he sat up. Dara stood and held her hand out to him, which he took as he got out of bed and let her lead him to dinner. “Let’s go to bed early tonight,” he suggested.

“Deh,” Dara answered, slipping her arm around his waist while he placed his arm around her shoulder. “We’re becoming like an old married couple.”

“I’d marry you anytime, anywhere.” he said.

She smiled, recalling a time when the two of them said the very opposite and tried everything they could to get out of their betrothal. She reminded him of that.

“We were pretty stupid, weren’t we?” he asked, and Dara laughed.

"Good thing I was smart enough not to listen to you."

"Ha! Very funny," Jiyong said. The two teased back and forth as they sat down to dinner, joking over the twist in fate that had brougt the two of them together. Regardless of who was right or wrong, one thing remained true to both, their betrothal set up by their respective grandfathers was the best thing to have happened to them.

~~~End:  Unbetrothed

**Thank you for reading everyone. Have a good week!