Hello guys! :) I just wanted to disclose that the first two books were written years ago and my writing style has changed since then. For now, I'll just be making a few edits here and there for Books One and Two :) Thank you!

Here's the Chapter:

PROLOGUE:

They say that her wedding day is the happiest day of a girl's life...

And, well... it's true.

For most people.

I, on the other hand, didn't choose this fate.

My parents did.

But I love my parents, and I would've agreed to the whole arranged marriage thing, even though I haven't even seen the guy before... I'm the type of person who's unlucky in love anyways, so why pass this chance, right?

So, here I am, talking about my arranged marriage, and how my parents chose the guy for me, and how I would have accepted.

Key word is WOULD HAVE.

Yeap, I WOULD HAVE agreed to this whole thing...

But did my parents really have to pick him???

CHAPTER 1:

“AAAAARRRRGGGHHHH!!!” I screamed, bolting up the bed as I did so.

Stupid alarm clock wouldn’t stop.

“LEAVE ME ALOONE!!” I shouted at it. It was really annoying, having to wake up to this thing everyday.

But it still kept on ringing.

“I didn’t wanna do this, but it leaves me no other option,” I said to it, hopping off my bed and taking the noisy abomination in my hands.

“Well, it’s been nice knowing ya,” I told it.

Then, I opened my window and threw it out.

“Woohoo!” I shouted in victory, pumping my fist in the air.

Then, I heard a very familiar but faint ringing sound from outside.

“Oh, stab me now!” I groaned as I plopped down on my bed again and buried my face in my pillow.

A few minutes later, I heard a knock on my door.

“Who could be here in this hour of the morning? “ I thought as I made my way to the front door of my penthouse apartment.

I opened it to see my work-mate/ best guy friend, Kim Junsu.

He was holding a wrapped package in his hand and was rubbing some kind of visible bump on his head.

“What happened to you?” I asked as I let him in.
“I have no idea,” he said weakly, still rubbing his injury. “ I was just walking on the way here, and a noisy alarm clock just fell out of nowhere and hit me on the head!!!” he exclaimed. “Weird, huh?”

“Uhh… yeah… very weird indeed…hehe,” I chuckled nervously. I looked at the package in his hand.

“What’s that?” I asked, desperate for a change of topic.

Junsu looked at me funnily and laughed his usual dolphin laugh. He handed the package to me.

“It’s your birthday gift, silly!” he said.

Confused, I ran to the calendar on my wall, and sure enough, it was September 27th. 

“Oh, I totally forgot about that,” I said to Junsu as I walked back to the living room.

“Well, aren’t you gonna open it?” he asked.

I smiled as I unwrapped the gift.

Really, it was incredibly sweet of my best, dolphin-voiced, soccer-loving friend to give me a gift on the day I turn twenty one. I was unbelievably touched by this little gesture. I mean yeah, we’ve been through a lot and he’s always been there for me, but going to my house this early in the morning (okay, it was already past ten, but I am a very heavy sleeper) and be the first one to wish me a happy birthday and to deliver it to me first was charming. It was so nice of him to get me…

An alarm clock.

Okay, let me rephrase that.

Really, it was incredibly sweet horrible of my best, dolphin-voiced, soccer-loving friend to give me a gift on the day I turn twenty one. I was unbelievably touched terrified by this little gesture. I mean yeah, we’ve been through a lot and he’s always been there for me, but going to my house this early in the morning (okay, it was already past ten, but I am a very heavy sleeper) and being the first one to wish me a happy birthday and to deliver a gift to me first was charming unpleasant. It was so nice awful of him to get me…

An alarm clock.

Now, that makes sense.

“Speechless, huh?” Junsu said, as he saw my facial expression. He was even beaming proudly.

“I knew you’d love it ! And the best part is you can wake up early now, instead of lazing around the house!”

NOOOOOOO!!!!

I stood up, and ran into the kitchen, taking a knife. I ran slowly and menacingly walked towards Junsu, prepared to strike.

“SeulGi?” he said my name cautiously. “What are you doing?”

I laughed maniacally, as I raised the knife up, aiming for his chest.

“SeulGi, stop it! It’s not funny!!! Seul Gi?! Seul Gi!!! AAAHHHHH!!!”

“SeulGi?” I was pulled back from my imaginations and into reality, seeing Junsu wave his hands on my face.

Yeap, i wasn’t holding a knife and killing Junsu, but I was jus sitting there, forcing a smile on my face instead.

“What’s wrong?” he asked me. “Don’t you like my present?” he pouted childishly.

I made the fake grin on my face stretch wider. “Aniyo, I love it!” I told him. “Gomawo!!!”

He smiled. “Cheon maneyo [You’re welcome]!” he said cheerily.

I sighed after Junsu left and looked at my new (evil) alarm clock. It looked just like my old one (yes, the evil one I threw out the window…who knew it’d have an evil twin?).

I narrowed my eyes at it. “We meet again.”

…

The phone rang as I got out of the shower.

“Yeoboseyo? I said as I put it next to my ear.

“SeulGi-ah!” my best friend, Boa said into the phone. “Happy birthday!!!!”

“Ouch,” I said as I rubbed my ear. “For someone so small, you sure have a pretty loud voice.”

Haha. I could just imagine the look on her face as I said those words.

“Very funny, Bae SeulGi! This what you best friend gets for wishing you a happy birthday?? Hmph, some friend you are!”

“okay, okay mianhae!” I said.

After chatting for a while, Boa asked me a question I hoped she’d never ask.

“Have your parents called you yet?”

I sighed. Every year, my parents would call on my birthday to ask me what I want. I always gave them the same answer: NOTHING. But they get me something anyway.

I know what you’re thinking. I know that a normal person would usually be excited for birthday presents from their parents, because theirs is supposed to be the most special, right?

Well, I don’t exactly feel that way.

You see, my parents own one of the most successful business corporations in Korea. And since I’m their only daughter, they pamper me a lot. Which is why I have my penthouse, a handy-dandy trust fund and about everything else a normal girl would want.

But I didn’t want any of those.

I mean, yeah I still work at my parents’ company, but I’ve always wanted to be independent. I wanted to live life just like any other normal person, and used the money that I’ve actually made by myself.

The only reason I live in a penthouse was because my parents wouldn’t let me move out unless I they would pay for my living expenses. I thought they’d get me a simple, normal apartment, but they gave me a huge penthouse apartment at the top floor of a building owned by them.

“No,” I told Boa. “They haven’t.”

My other phone (yes, I have another phone, courtesy of my oh-so-loving parents) rang and I took it as a cue to finish my conversation with Boa.

“I gotta go, my parents are calling,” I said into the receiver.
“Okay,” Boa said and I hung up.

I answered my “Parent Phone” as I called it [a/n: lame name, I know, but I couldn’t think of anything else.] and heard the voices of my umma and appa.

“Happy Birthday, our beloved daughter!” I heard the voices of my parents ring in my ears.
“Hi, umma, hello appa!” I said cheerfully. Even thought they cared too much, I still loved them dearly.

“So, what do you want for your special day?” they asked. Wow, that was straightforward.

“Umma, Appa, you know that I don’t-” I began.
“Oh, how about a car???” my mother asked, not listening to what I had to say. Again. I swear, on most days, they’re all ears for me, but on my birthday, where I’m SUPPOSED to be listened to, it’s like their eardrums don’t function well.

“That’s a good idea!” my father said. “What about it, sweetie?”

A car? I’ve always wanted a car. But not from my parents. I’m supposed to earn the money to buy one!

I shook my head, even though they couldn’t see me.

“No, I don-”
“Okay, it’s settled then! Just go to the place where you buy cars, pick one, and put it on our tab!” concluded my appa.

“Um, it’s okay, really-”
“Oh, we gotta go now! We have a meeting! Bye, sweetie!” my mom said.

“Okay, but-”

Click. The line went dead.

The only thing left to do was go to that car dealership across the street.

So I took the credit card my parents gave me and left.

…

I entered the doors of the small building and looked at the various types of cars I could choose from. I walked around, observing all the different types of cars.

I had to admit, I was bored. I didn’t know what kind of vehicle I wanted. Heaven knows I only wanted a car, and that’s it.

My eyes suddenly landed on this particular silver machine. I didn’t know why, but I was so drawn to it.

The salesperson saw me ogling at it.

“Aaah, the 2009 Toyota Camry, I see,” he said. “Quiet interior, with very little engine or road noise, extremely fine and smooth engines, reputation for reliability and good resale value. Good choice.”

“What else?” I asked.

He pursed his lips. “Well… the exterior styling is very conservative, and the interior materials can look really cheap. Plus, the build quality is unimpressive. It’s not exactly the ideal car and there are better ones in here.”

I opened the door and I swear, it was love at first sight.

I followed the dealer to his desk to agree to a deal that would perfectly suit me. Eventually, we agreed on one that was cost-friendly and it was enough for me to insist my parents to let me pay them back for it.

“I’ll take it!” I beamed, pulling out a pen to sign the papers.

“Not if I take it first,” said a voice behind me.

I turned around to see a man, about my age.

It was really obvious that he was buff. He was wearing a tight-fit shirt and some really cool jeans. He took off his shades and I could see that he had beautiful eyes. His mouth was curved up in a small, seductive smile. As far as I was concerned, he was gorgeous.

I gave my head a little shake to break myself away from his spell.

The man walked over and turned to the car dealer. “I’m buying that car.”

The sales guy looked back and forth from me and him, in confusion.

“Yah, don’t you see I’m about to buy it?,” I said to him, narrowing my eyes.

The man scoffed. “So?”

I scoffed back. “So I’m buying it! Get yourself your own car!”
“No, I want this one!”
“Why do you want it so much anyways? There are better cars!”
“I just want it!”

The sales guy did nothing but look at him, then look at me, then him again.

“Oh, screw this, just give me the car!” I said, turning to him and slapping my credit card down on the desk.

The guy I was fighting with slapped two credit cards down.

So I slapped three.

And he slapped four.

Just as I was about to slap another card, the evil guy turned to the salesperson. “I’ll pay double of what she’s willing to pay!”

“I’ll pay triple!” I shouted back.

“I’ll pay four times more!”
“I’ll pay five times more!”
“Six times!
“Seven!”

We glared at each other.

Now, the sales guy was really confused.

“I’ll pay more than her maximum budget!” he said.

Ouch.

I couldn’t say anything to that.

So, long story short, he got the car in the end.

And I just ended up with a lousy Honda.

“I’ll see ya around!” the man said as he drove off with MY car.

Stupid jerk.