Meizhen’s POV

I don’t know how much longer I can take this misery. My parents clearly care about their business more than they care about me and it seems that I am destined to marry someone who will only make me even more miserable than I already am. People say that there is light at the end of the tunnel but is it all a big joke? When I look into my already planned out future I only see black. The light is nonexistent. I am not allowed to have dreams because my future career has been chosen for me, I am not allowed to fall in love because my husband has also been chosen for me. I just graduated college at the age of 20 because my parents made sure I was ahead of everyone. At my age, I should be discovering who I am and what I want to do…but the closest thing I have to any kind of normal life is Chanyeol…and he is only nice to me because he likes me.

“Meizhen, it is already 7am! Hurry up!” My mother calls for me. Add never being allowed to sleep in to my list of things I don’t get to do.

“I’m coming!” I say slipping into my heels. Have I mentioned that I hate heels yet? No? Well, I hate those too. Maybe I complain too much…but I think I have good reasons to complain.

“If you ruin this one I promise I will have you legally married with no wedding and you will never get to have a wedding to look back to and show pictures to your children.” She scolds me as I walk out of my room in my baby blue dress. I don’t respond because anything I say will only make her even more angry.

The car ride to the restaurant was not long and soon I was standing in a hallway in front of a private room, about to officially meet my new marriage prospect. My mother is fixing my dress and my hair to make sure her possession looks good enough for her to sell. The doors open and I lower my head to look like a respectable young lady and after a few seconds I look up slightly with a small smile before bowing politely.

“Hello, my name is Meizhen. Thank you for allowing me to meet with you today.” I saw in a small voice. This has all been rehearsed and I have done it many times.

“Oh, what a darling! It is nice to meet you Meizhen! My name is Mrs. Kim and this is my son, Jongin!” said a kind looking lady who was seated across from the prick.

“Nice to meet you.” Jongin mumbled and did a quick nod of his head before trying to cover a slight hiss…I think Mrs. Kim kicked him! I like her…

“It is nice to meet you as well!” I say with my innocent smile.

“Honey, why don’t you have a seat next to Jongin?” My mother adds with her fake smile and demanding eyes before taking a seat next to Mrs. Kim. I nod and take the seat next to Jongin as if I didn’t want to run out of the room. Our mothers begin to chat excitedly about trivial things as I begin to daydream about possible runaway. Unfortunately, my family has too much power for any of them to actually work but I like to imagine a life in which one of them would work. A life in which I could run away and live however I want to live without anyone ever finding me. Maybe I could even change my name? Amanda sounds like a nice name…

“How does that sound to you Meizhen?” I hear Mrs. Kim ask and I am a little taken aback because I definitely was not listening to them. I smile and nod, “That sounds great Mrs. Kim!” I feel Jongin glaring at me and immediately regret agreeing to something without knowing what it was.

“Splendid! I just knew she would like your son!” My mother says as if I just confirmed my marriage plans…that is not what I just did right?

“This is so great! You kids have fun and we will take care of all of the boring stuff!” Mrs. Kim says as if she is trying not to cry. I stand up from my seat before I bow and walk towards the door. Jognin bows as well and follows me out.

“What the heck was that?” he asked annoyed. “What happened to ‘no way on God’s green earth’?”

“I wasn’t paying attention…I am still not sure what I just agreed to.”

“You agreed to go on a date with me while they plan our engagement party.” Crap. That is not what I wanted.

“That is not good.”

“No kidding. Look, I can’t break this wedding off because of a deal I made with my mother so you will have to do it.” Jongin sounds really stressed.

“I can’t…my options really are you or Suho. The last time I tried to break off a wedding, it ended up with me in a torn dress and looking like I had just run out of a slasher movie as I met you for the first time on the beach. I have ruined every marriage prospect by making the other family not want me…but if I do it again then my mother will find a country that she can have me married without my consent and marry me off to the wealthiest man. It will be much easier for you to break a deal with your mother.”

“My mom may look nice but she is actually a very scary lady. If you make a deal with her then it is done and there is no turning back.”

“Are you telling me I am stuck with you?” I feel my heart breaking as if it wasn’t already in pieces. I guess you could say I am depressed? I handle myself very well and I don’t hate myself, just my life. His face looks upset too as the realization sinks in. “Jongin, are you okay?”

“Kai…my name is Kai.”

“Are you okay, Kai?” I ask.

“No, I am not okay. I feel like, in this situation, I should have a way out or propose a plan that we marry but still date the people we love but…I have nothing and no one.” He looks towards the ground, trying to keep himself composed. My mom got me this time and so did his. She found a guy who can’t break the engagement any more than I can and I am sure she is laughing to herself right now.

“Can I…take you on a date?” he asked after a few minutes of silence.

“Do you want to?” I ask.

“No, but will you go anyway?”

“Okay, where do you want to go?”

“Far away from here and this entire situation…but a good gentleman will take you home before 10pm.” He says and I roll my eyes and chuckle a little bit.

“How about a walk in the park?” I ask.

“The park? Sure, I guess that is okay.” He answers and we walk to a park that is one street over. The sun is bright in the sky as we walk along the stone paths, admiring all of the flowers as we go.

“So, how many men has your mom tried to marry you off to?” He asks and I think hard about it. After counting them in my head for about a minute, I answer, “Eighteen.”

“Eighteen?! But are you not twenty years old? You have only been legal for two years!”

“My mom wanted me to marry as soon as I was legal to marry…I guess I could only fight it for so long. You are number nineteen.”

“Wow…I never imagined that I would only be a number to the woman I am to marry.”

“Does it make a difference if you are the last number?” I ask with sorry eyes. Even I feel bad for him and I hated this guy this morning.

“I guess that is the number that counts. If I am your last number, does that mean that mean that you won’t divorce me?”

“Where would I go? Plus, if I embarrassed my parents like that they might hire someone to kill me or something.” I say with a blank expression.

“Wow…your parents wouldn’t really do that right?” Kai asks in shock.

“I don’t know but I wouldn’t put it past them. They have always looked at me as a possession and not as a daughter.”

“I’m so sorry…after we are married, do you want to live here? It is much different than China, but my mom is really nice and will treat you like a real daughter. Wow, this is weird to say, but it is true.”

“I don’t know because I am the only heir to my parents’ company…”

“I am also the only heir to mine.”

“I guess I can have a headquarters built here and then it won’t be an issue.” I think out loud.

“Okay, so you can live here with me and work from here too while your parents handle things in China. It’s not like you will never see them again but you will at least be able to breath.” Wow, he really is a decent guy. He doesn’t even know me but he has found a solution to try to help me.

“Okay. I will marry you and live here but…can we agree not to touch each other until we are ready? I am not ready for that yet and am not comfortable with that. We can start as roommates?”

“Roommates?” he asks, “That sounds good to me too. I am also not comfortable enough with you to want to have any skinship.”

“Should we cut out date short and tell our wedding planners our plans? That way, my parents can start working on the plans for the new headquarters and your mom can work on my living situation?”

“Is it really a date if all we are doing is walking around a park and planning our future?” he chuckles.

“People do that as a date! But, they do it after they have been dating for a while and they choose to marry each other!” I laugh as well. Suddenly, his face gets serious and he looks around for something. He then picks up a piece of grass and begins to twist it and make a small circle out of it. I give him a confused look because he looked so serious about his little piece of grass. Then, to my surprise, he gets down on one knee, takes my left hand, and places it onto my ring finger. “Hong Meizhen, will you marry me?” he asks with a serious face.

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Hey guys! I am so sorry for making you wait such a long time :( My semester has been really busy but it is pretty much over now.