Chapter 51

The doors of the elevator slid shut. 

Calm down. Breathe.

The compartment slowly went down.

Her eyelids dropped to a close as she felt air entering and leaving her lungs. Her clasped hands turned clammy from sticking together for awhile now until a hand finally untwine them. Her heart skipped a beat when the hand grabbed one of hers. Opening her eyes, Yeojin looked up at the man beside her whom everyone now knew as her husband.

His eyebrows were knitted in the middle while he stared down at her. "You okay?"

Yeojin gulped. "Do we have to do this?" Her voice came out above a whisper and she bit down her lip.

Slowly, Kris let go of her hand only to wrap her in his arms. "I'm sorry."

That wasn't how Yeojin was expecting him to react. She didn't want him to feel more guilty. It wasn't his fault. He only did what he needed to do. Why did it suddenly become so easy for him to apologize? This was making her feel guilty. And to think that she wasn't even able to say she missed him too earlier when he clearly wanted to hear it! It was just all too sudden; she was taken aback. Everything today was just too sudden, it confused her.

Slowly she s her arms around his torso. "Just don't leave my side. I'm scared." She rested the side of her face on his chest. "I'm scared of what they might think of me."

"I won't." Kris her back as his lips curled into a small smile. "You don't have to worry about what they think."

Deep down, it wasn't just everyone else's thought that worried her. Rather, it was Sehun's. What would he think of her? Of this truth.

When Kris pulled away for a little distance, the warmth that left her pulled her out of her thoughts. She gazed up at him and found him smiling at her as one of his hands cupped her cheek while the other rested on her waist.

"Don't look so sullen." He told her caressing her cheek with his thumb. "Think of it this way. You're my wife. The wife of the person owning this place. None of other people's thoughts will change that fact. If you think their thoughts are dragging you down, that just means you're standing above them."

She scoffed to the side and softly chuckled. "I think I've heard that quote somewhere."

Kris grinned in return. "I made you smile." He patted her head. "That's more I like it."

The elevator dinged open at the floor where the ballroom hall was. Mr. Lee greeted them with a bob of his head when they stepped out and escorted them to the door of the ballroom. Two attendants stood in front of the door and bobbed their heads. Mr. Lee told them to wait for the cue to enter.

Yeojin could feel her stomach churning. Her heartbeat escalated and she reached for Kris' arm. She placed her other hand on her chest while biting down her lip. His hand tapping hers on his arm calmed her a bit, but she kept her eyes on the closed doors. Suddenly, she felt his breath tickling her ear.

"Have I told you you look beautiful?" He whispered.

She pursed her lips and gave him a side glare. "You're not helping!"

He just smirked and looked back ahead. "Do you like the dress?"

Yeojin briefly looked down at her new black dress then nodded. "Better than the previous one," she admitted.

"Good!" He smiled to himself. After only a short moment of silence, Kris leaned to her again to whisper, "Your lip will bleed if you keep on biting it." He chuckled a bit when she immediately her lower lip. "Remember when we walked down the aisle on our wedding day?" He asked out of nowhere.

Yeojin immediately scowled at him. "Are you trying to ease me or make me more nervous?"

Kris looked away lowering his gaze. "We could hardly smile that day," he continued.

"Correction." She held up a finger. "I hardly smiled and-" she poked the side of his arm repeatedly as she continued to say, "you didn't even try." 

A corner of his lips quirked up at that. "There was a strain in our friendship then." His gaze found hers again. "But we're good now, aren't we?"

Yeojin paused but then nodded.

"Then, smile." He tapped her hand on his arm again. "I know you felt alone when you walked down the aisle. But not anymore now. We'll walk this together."

Her heart swelled with a new kind of feeling hearing his words. Yeojin blinked at him and slowly smiled. Suddenly, she wasn't that nervous anymore.

Eruption of claps from inside the ballroom hall made her look away from him. As the two attendants pushed the doors open, Yeojin took a deep breath and gave Kris' arm a little squeeze. The sound of claps became clearer as the doors were opened wider.

"Smile. You're not committing a crime. Have pride in yourself. You're Wu Yeojin to them now. You're my wife," he told her before they walked inside the room.

Steadily walking together, Yeojin tried her best to smile. Kris was right. Being his wife was not a crime. She should take pride in herself. If today didn't happen, she would still have to go through this sooner or later.

"Welcome," Kris greeted the guests once they were on stage.

Yeojin stood by his side; her hand now hold her other one. She could feel nervousness slowly building inside her again from not being able to hold his arm, but she tried her best to keep her calm. While listening to him gave his welcoming speech, she eerily felt someone staring at her. Sure, everyone had his eyes on them while still whispering among themselves. Yet, she could almost feel this one gaze rested solely on her.

Her eyes gazed around the tables near the stage to shake off that weird feeling. It was then that her eyes met Sehun's. Her world instantly stopped spinning. Her stomach churned again and her lips slightly parted. The way he held her gaze struck her heart. She gulped.

Hurt.

That was how he looked. But this wasn't her fault, she told herself. She had warned him not to meddle with her business. She had warned him not to fall for her. But he did. As she did for him.

A gentle touch on the small of her back pulled her out of her trance. She looked to her side and found Kris briefly giving her a small smile before turning back to look at the audience. She let her gaze stay on her husband.

And for another one too.

"Yes, this girl is my wife," Kris continued to speak. "Her name is Kwon Yeojin." He turned to look at her again. "She's still in high school," he revealed earning gasps and more murmurs from the audience. 

What he was planning by revealing this, she didn't know. But looking at his eyes eased her nervousness once again.

He looked back at the audience. "But don't judge her." The murmurs almost instantly died down. "We got married to fulfill my late father's wish," he continued.

Half truth, Yeojin said in her heart.

"But this girl is just like any other normal high school girls. She studies hard, she does her homework- sometimes until late at night." He paused smiling to himself. "She gets stressed over tests, she failed in one only to study hard again. She eats a lot of snacks to relieve stress. Movies, dramas, arcade games- she loves those!" He paused then added, "Along with weird long-haired alien comic book characters she likes to call gods."

Some surprisingly laughed at that. Probably because this was the first time their cold chairman cracked a joke despite him maintaining a poker look. Yeojin would have laughed along if she didn't feel a pair of eyes boring a hole on her back.

His expression suddenly turned a little more somber. "And just like any other high school girls, she falls in love."

Yeojin's eyes rounded by a fraction. Other people might think he was talking about her falling for him. But Kris didn't know that. He didn't know her feelings for him. She knew he was talking about her liking Sehun instead. Her heart was suddenly clenched with guilt.

"What I'm trying to say is," he cleared his throat, "her being a wife at such a young age is not a crime. She's still a very responsible student. My wealth is not her concern. Her studies are." He grabbed her hand intertwining their fingers. 

"But I know people will think she was in it for the money. That's why we had been hiding this marriage. But today happened, and I'm here to address this matter." He gave her hand a squeeze as he continued, "Do remember that my wife is Wu Yeojin as much as she is Kwon Yeojin. Thus, anyone messing with her is messing with me. And I do hope nobody looks down on her just because of a marriage certificate."

Yeojin bit the inside of her cheeks. She didn't know he would go to this length to protect her. A strangled sigh escaped her lips realizing that he meant it when he said he loved her. She was caught off guard when he turned to her with a gentle gaze and a small smile. Thinking about it, he had been giving her smiles a lot often today, she noted.

"In any case," he spoke again; eyes not leaving hers. "Once again, I introduce you my wife, Yeojin."

They looked ahead when people started clapping. He then whispered to her to go down the stage and sit. Yeojin nodded agreeing because standing there with eyes on her was burdening her more each passing seconds.

"Furthermore-," he let go of her hand and clutched on the podium again while she started walking off the stage. "- I hope this clears any misunderstandings and unnecessary gossips. Titan Wu's performance would not be affected by this scandal."

Kris continued his speech going back to talking about next year's upcoming plans for the company as a whole. Meanwhile, Mr. Lee escorted her to her table. She met eyes with Sehun when she passed his table and had to force herself to look away.

Mr. Lee pulled the chair for her, and she smiled to Suho who was sitting beside her. Yet soon enough, her smile faded when she realized someone else was sitting at their table.

"It's nice to finally see you again, Yeojin," Park Changsun greeted with a wide smile that instantly sent chills down her spine.

Sehun played with his food; eyes blankly staring at it while his mind was somewhere else. Once Kris was done giving his welcoming speech, the event had proceeded and the main course had been presented. Though almost half an hour had passed by, he couldn't stop thinking of the speech.

When Kris listed down what kind of a person Yeojin was, he felt like she was a stranger to him. Sure, he knew some of the habits listed. But he was alienated from the feelings lay between the lines of what Kris said. To him, it didn't sound like a mere list of Yeojin's daily habits. There were memories and feelings behind every word Kris said. And it pained him.

"I almost wanted to nullify our contract when he said his wife is still in high school," his dad spoke with chuckles. "I mean she's just Sehun's age. It sounded so wrong-"

"Dad," Luhan sighed with a roll of her eyes. "Yifan is a good guy. I trust him. And if you're worried of what he might have done to his young wife, I think he's wise enough not to do anything inappropriate. It's not something we should meddle with anyway. And weren't you the one wanting to work with Titan Wu all this time?"

"I know, I know. I was just saying." Oh Jaehan shrugged. "This isn't a small scandal, you know? It might affect our name too."

"It's not like he's a e or something. They're only four years apart. Nothing's wrong with that. And they were arranged to marry," Luhan defended. "Yeojin seems to be a nice girl. I'm sure she's a good student at school too. Right, Hun?" He asked his brother only to belatedly realize he wasn't even listening. "Sehun?" He nudged his younger brother who finally turned to him.

"I need to go to the restroom." Sehun suddenly stood up and left.

Jaehan shook his head and sighed. "What's wrong with that boy?" 

Luhan knitted his brows while his eyes followed his brother leaving the room. His instinct told him Sehun was bothered by this sudden news. But something told him his brother had known of this fact. Besides, he did strongly deny she was his girlfriend before. Another thought had been worrying Luhan, nonetheless.

When his brother told him before that Yeojin was just a friend, he never bought it. Just from the way Sehun acted that one time Yeojin was at their house, he knew right away that his brother liked the girl. Today, judging by how he had been acting up to now, Luhan realized something else. His brother couldn't be moping for nothing.

Sehun didn't like her. He loved her.

Luhan heavily sighed. He hoped his brother wouldn't do anything stupid and just let her go because it wasn't hard to see that Kris loved her too.
 

"You can go back to the suite if you want to," Kris whispered to her.

"Are you sure it's okay?"

Kris nodded her back. "You should rest."

"Okay," Yeojin replied in a small voice.

She stood up and bid good night to Suho, Chanyeol, and- reluctantly- to Changsun before excusing herself. Kris must have sensed how she was uncomfortable sitting there. The tense atmosphere hung between the men couldn't be overlooked by Yeojin either. If it weren't for Chanyeol's and Suho's attempts to keep on striking a conversation with her, she might feel even more uncomfortable. Or worse, Park Changsun would converse with her- something she really avoided.

Her steps came to a stop when she turned at a corner and saw Sehun; his back on her.

"Yes, I need you to check it for me."

She noticed he had a phone pressed to his ear. She was going to look away right when he turned around and caught her eyes with his. 

"Yeah. Thanks, Tao," he said to the phone before ending the call and slipping the phone inside his pocket again.

Their eyes never left each other's as they both stood frozen in their own spots. Words she wanted to say to him got stuck in .

"Sehun..." was all that she managed to let out in a small voice.

As if a spell was broken, Sehun looked away and closed his eyes. He was hurt, that was all she could think of. Opening his eyes, he finally walked toward her, but he didn't stop in front of her. Just awhile ago, she convinced herself that it wasn't her fault. But now, her heart was clenched with guilt again when he brushed past her. Without much thinking, she quickly grabbed his arm to stop him.

Sehun halted but didn't turn to her. was constricted and she felt it hard to breathe. She then tried to take a deep breath and gulped down the lump in .

"Sehun, I-" she started then bit down her lip. "I know how you feel, but-"

He suddenly snapped his head toward her and stared down at her with steely eyes. "Do you really?" he curtly asked.

Once again, she found herself at a loss of words. Her hand slipped off his arm and her lips slightly parted. Did she really understand him, she wasn't sure.

"Miss, here is your key." Mr. Lee suddenly appeared oblivious to the tension between the two. "Chairman forgot to give it to you."

"O-oh. Yes." Yeojin took the card. "Thank you, Mr. Lee."

When she turned to Sehun, he was no longer there. She watched his retreating back as he walked toward the ballroom hall again.

"Anything wrong, Miss?" Mr. Lee asked in concern. "Do you want me to you?"

Yeojin tore her gaze away, turned to the elder man and tried to smile. "No, it's okay, Mr. Lee. I can go alone."

Her eyes glanced back toward where Sehun had disappeared to, and she sighed.

They're over.

And SeJin shippers be like: NOOO!
Cheer up, team SeJin! As you can see, this ain't the end yet. (Not saying who the end game is though lol)

Was Kris' speech too long?

Anyway,

I'm here to announce that I am Aina!
Hi! 
Very random, I know. It's a pen name I've finally decided to use. So, you can call me that from now on (if ever you feel the need to haha!). But, if you're comfortable with calling me "author" or "author-nim" or whatever, I'm cool with that too. Just be reminded, my name is not Author haha.

Welcome to new subbers, thanks to upvoters and commenters, and love to you all readers! <3 See you on the next chap!