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The social event was held at some grand hotel Namjoo never heard of before. It was a twelve floor yellow building, automatic glass doors with a bell boy or two, and everything inside seemed fresh and new. Namjoo couldn’t imagine the work it took to wax everything clean daily; the floors, the countertops, the tables, the poles, the chairs, and the windows.

The interior was freshly aired and every customer was treated with utmost formal respect. The brass that traced the counter borders flashed oncoming visitor’s reflections, the customer representatives were all required to dress formally in skirts, a white blouse, and a black blazer. Everyone who worked there had a gold name tag.

A large lounge filled with first grade soft and comfortable tables and various types of furniture spread across her right. The social gathering was held in a ballroom that consisted of dining tables, long tables with food and refreshments, and an antique chandelier in the middle of the ceiling. The glass jewels that hung off it offered a glimmer throughout the room, like diamond shining blindingly in light.

It was full of men and women of the middle age and up. All of them were dressed in their best, dolled from head to toe with smiles stretching their lips. Namjoo realized she, Kai, and Hayoung were the youngest people there. Waiters dressed in suits professionally grazed the room with fancy champagne cups filled halfway on trays they balanced skillfully on the palm of their hands. If she was asked to drink, she knew she couldn’t reject it.

Whatever happened, she just had to stand there as an imitation of Choonhee. Hayoung would be watching, everyone would be watching. All eyes would be on her and fingers pointing at her accusingly if she messed up. The fear kept Namjoo silent as Kai led her around the room with a hand at her back. For hours she continuously shook hands with and had small talk with strangers she didn’t know.

The awkwardness that they took her as Choonhee and the forced emotions of smiling made her all so tired. They might think they recognized her; that there was a form of familiarity between them, but in fact, there was none. She was this lost sheep trespassing into a pack of wolves.

When an opening came she slipped away to get a glass of water, sipping on it busily to make herself unapproachable. Namjoo recognized a few board members from work that had glared at her on her day of reckoning. No one paid her heed, which she was thankful for.

Namjoo jumped when a hand landed on her shoulder and Kai came to stand beside her, with his smile of comfort.

“Tired?” he asked.

Namjoo debated whether to be honest or to be Choonhee. She went for herself. “It is exhausting.”

“It’ll help to pay off in the end,” he assured in his usual gentle tone, “networking is a big deal in this area of work. It’ll help you get around, especially in times of need.”

“Oh…is it,” Namjoo rambled with a tiny smile, but really she didn’t understand any of it. What kind of trouble would anyone in this field ever face?

“Look who this is!” an elder man walked upon them excitedly.

Turning away from her Kai smiled and greeted the man, leaving Namjoo to herself. And she wondered how many times he’d done this to appear so natural.

Taking her chance now that Kai had forgotten her, Namjoo slipped away with her cup of water and went to stand in an isolated corner. Gazing around again she suddenly realized who was missing. Sehun wasn’t at the gathering. Why? Wasn’t he a part of the company? Or was this not a juncture of the company?

“Lee Choonhee?” a male voice interrupted her thoughts. She turned to see an elderly man in his fifties in a navy blue suit custom made just for him. He was entirely groomed from head to toe, even though the roof of his head was bald. It was bothersome how the skin there shone against the lights above. Switching her focus onto his dark red tie Namjoo forced herself to greet him.

“The fiancée, correct? Congratulations,” he congratulated with a ed laugh, “I was wondering when his son would settle down. He made a really smart choice,” he nodded toward her, as if his words held double meaning, “no offense entirely. You two make a good match.”

Unsure how to react Namjoo failed a smile, but successfully nodded. Fiancée? Says who? Had it traveled that far already? Did the entire world know about it?!

Namjoo’s insides screamed as she sipped her water to look busy again.

“When is the wedding?”

Choking on the water on its way down , Namjoo ended up making a commotion. She struggled to repeat while fiercely choking, “W…ed….wedd…ing…we….”

“Are you ok?” the familiarity of Kai’s voice drifted into her ears.

No, no, no. No! Namjoo shook her head. He shouldn’t have come. It would only make them look like a couple on their way off to a splendid wedding. And standing together would make them appear loving. Namjoo didn’t want any of it. She didn’t hate Kai, but she didn’t want to be associated with him in this direction.

Because she wasn’t going to marry him!

She felt him pat her back gently and pull her closer.

“You must have surprised her,” Kai said cheerily to the man in the navy blue suit, “Uncle.”

Ah…great.

“Was just asking about the wedding,” the uncle explained. “You two are quite in a hurry, aren’t you?” the man joked and leaned forward to whisper, “Is this a shotgun wedding?”

Namjoo’s eyes barely crossed due to her combination of a deep frown and hard stare. Her chest heaved as her cough calm down, but she still needed spitting. This time Kai’s hand made its way over her shoulder, his arm now around her securely. Oh god NO, was all she could think about. This was the image of a perfect couple, immersed in each other.

“What?” Kai asked, seemingly stunned.

Leaning over on a foot the uncle jokingly nudged his arm, “I was just kidding. I know you weren’t raised that way. Surely, it isn’t.” the uncle shot her a glance then turned back to Kai with a smug grin. “I just wanted to catch up. Oh! I see your mother over there. I better go greet her.”

Namjoo heaved a bewildered sigh when he walked away and bit her lower lip. Subconsciously sliding out from Kai’s arm she drew herself to the side and clutched onto the cup of water. She wanted to leave.

“Are you alright?” he repeated himself. “Never mind my uncle. He’s like that. He’d old, but he still acts like a kid. You know there are some people like that.”

Whatever his words were Namjoo’s mood had already gone severely downhill. She was starting to panic because more and more people were starting to know about the engagement.  If it continued she feared their pressure would put her directly into Choonhee’s place.

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That night she lay in bed with her stomach down nervous flips and dreamt that Choonhee’s ghost swooned down at her with a deafening high pitched scream flowing from her lips. The deathly pale sister had had her arms outstretched, as if ready to wrap them around her neck. When she jolted awake just as the ghost touched her, the sun was already up.

“Young Miss?” the knock at the door made her jump a second time. Auntie Shin called again, “Young Miss.”

Groaning underneath her breath Namjoo sighed a complaint and ran her hand through her hair. Still feeling groggy she remained on the bed, listening to Auntie Shin’s annoying knocking. After a second she finally managed to pull herself up and walked toward the door.

“I’m up,” Namjoo said irritably unintentionally then catching herself toned her voice down. “I was coming down for breakfast.”

“That’s not the problem,” Auntie Shin told, “you need to get ready. You’re heading out with your parents.”

Suddenly awake Namjoo asked, “Why? To where? How come I didn’t know?”

“To President Kim’s.”

“Kai’s? Why?” Namjoo interrogated.

“You need to get ready,” Auntie Shin reminded. She barely turned away before swiveling back to her. Her eyes slightly narrowed as she looked her up and down. “Are you unwell somewhere these days? You’re sleeping longer than usual.”

A nervous tremble fluctuated through her body. Clearing Namjoo replied before closing the door, “No.”

Once the door clicked shut and the woman’s footsteps shuffled away, Namjoo finally breathed but her heart felt constricted. If they were haaving breakfast at Kai’s it only meant one thing.

The engagement.

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Standing in front of the mirror satisfied with his pick of clothes for breakfast, Kai worked the tie around his neck and stared at himself for a few seconds. Deciding it was too casual and would make him look too hyper for what his parents were going to announce, he strung it off and tossed it aside. Over doing it would be a mistake seeing how Choonhee wasn’t quite up to par with him these few days. If he scared her off by dressing up – that would be one of his big mistakes.

Kai turned when his phone on the table rang and picking it up saw that it was the notorious Hayoung. Immediately impatient to have her away he answered without greeting.

“Are you going to say you’re busy today again? I could tell you didn’t want to pick up.” She mused, glad that she was irritating him.

“Actually, yes. Choonhee and her parents are coming over for breakfast.”

“Oh?” Hayoung asked. “For what? Are you going to pull her into the engagement?”

Kai hesitated then decided to go forth with it, since after all, if it was actually confirmed no one would be able to cut in.

“Yes,” he answered with high confidence, “we’re setting a date this weekend with the board members to confirm a wedding date.”

There was a moment of silence. Then Hayoung chirped up, “Just in case Choonhee should reject you, I got your special little medicine right here with me. After all, Choonhee’s not one-hundred-percent guaranteed in this plan of yours, is she? I’ll drop it off tomorrow.”

She hung up before he could say anything more.

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“There you are,” Eungi stated angrily with how long she’d taken to get ready. The car was already running and she could see her father sitting in the back through the tinted windows. “Get in the car.”

“I thought we were having breakfast at home.” Namjoo tried.

The woman took one step down the stairs before turning back to look at her. “Well, we’re not. Get in.”

Her heels loudly clicked against the marble stairs, leaving Namjoo no choice but to follow. Along the drive Namjoo wrapped her hand into a fist on her lap. Her parents were murmuring something about their business in the backseat. The five minutes that passed, they’d neither bothered to say a word to her.

Then they finally arrived at Kai’s house – the magnificent mansion, where his mother happily hugged her at the front door, as if she were a most wanted visitor.

“There you are,” she said hugging her, “I’m so glad to have you over today. Lets go in. The tables all set and the guys are waiting.”  

This time instead of getting lost, Namjoo was led down the twisting corridors that all appeared identical to one another, and then they were in the dining room. It was a fine room with nothing but a long table draped in a flowery table cloth with curved ends. Three tall windows shone morning light into the room. Namjoo wondered how gloomy the room would be if there were a storm outside.

The table was topped with various special dishes, each of them fresh and warm. There were about eight chairs tucked into the table with Kai’s father at the head of the table and Kai across from him but not in front of him. The two empty seats opposite of Kim Sungsik were reserved for her parents. Everyone seemed to know where they belong, and Namjoo quickly stammered after them when they sat down in their seats.

Assuming her seat was across from Kai she grabbed the chair. “Choonhee,” Kai spoke up, “come sit over here, with me.”

Embarrassment flushed through her when all eyes landed on her and quickly leaving the chair walked around the table, wondering if she was flushing mad red.

“I hope we aren’t too late,” Choonhee’s father apologized. “Choonhee was running behind schedule today. I guess she must have been nervous.”

Namjoo pressed her lips firmly together and swallowed, wondering if she should put on bad behavior to turn off the marriage. After all, these people were rich and expected a lot of formality and manners, didn’t they?

“No, I’m not nervous at all,” Namjoo piped up. Then leaning forward to look at Kai’s father with a grin, “I kind of slept in. I’m sorry about that.”

She took note of how Choonhee’s adoptive mother half-rolled her eyes, but Kai’s father humorously laughed her words off.

“Choonhee-ah,” her mother whispered her way.

Namjoo shot her a glance before leaning back into her chair feeling quite happy. Be daring, she chanted to herself, nothing matters as long as she could slip out of this engagement.

“Actually, I should apologize too, father,” Kai spoke up from beside her. “I forgot to mention to Choonhee yesterday that we were having breakfast today.” Then he turned to look at her and with a slight smile. Namjoo blankly stared at him, confused about what he was trying to do.

Had he meant it? Or was it a lie, in case she got wound up in trouble with her parents later?

“Why are you all making breakfast so serious?” his mother, Seulgi, piped up with a smile. “This the dining table. Lets not talk business here, shall we? I cooked a lot of specialties and the kimchi soup that Choonhee really likes.”

“You shouldn’t have, we won’t be able to finish all this,” Eungi said gladly to be polite.

“Eat up Choonhee,” his mother urged her and with the way her eyes gazed at her, Namjoo was forced to nod and pick up her spoon and fork.

There was something controlling about Kai’s parents she thought, but she couldn’t put the feelings into words. She was so annoyed how she wouldn’t be able to enjoy all this food without calculating every step of their plan to push her into the engagement.

“Here,” Kai placed some food onto her plate. “I bet you’re hungry since you came here in a rush, huh? You never skip breakfast.”

Namjoo shot him a glance, her heart fluttering at his kind gesture. Mumbling a thanks she nodded her head at him and timidly brought some food up to . Chewing on the food she turned to see him watching her the same way Sehun did her sometimes. Then suavely smiling at her to tell her how happy he was he turned away to have his fill.

“Since we couldn’t talk about the engagement last time, I thought we could go over it as we have breakfast today,” Sungsik mentioned. “Kai mentioned to me that he proposed to Choonhee and now all we need is a date and time.”

“Is that so? Yes,” Lee Kwan nodded, “I’ll be quite busy the next few days. It’s better if we do it today.”

The woman shot each other a look of uncontainable glee.

“Do you have anything in plan?” Choonhee’s father inquired.

“I’ll leave the arrangements to my wife,” Sungsik explained. “We can reconfirm everything with them this Saturday, how about that?”

“That’s a great idea!” Eungi chirped up. “The kids should get married as soon as possible. I don’t think an engagement party is necessary in this time of day.”

“Yes, I agree.”

Namjoo tried to cut in, but they were too fast for her.

“Is that what you think?” Kai’s father asked, thinking to himself. Then he nodded in agreement, “I can arrange for Kai to get an engagement ring then, and then we can move right onto wedding arrangements. How’s that?”

“That’s a good idea, honey.” His wife nodded in approval.

“Is it alright if I have some important members of the board at the meeting this Saturday? It’s important to have other witnesses around during such important events these days, due to the fact that so many things can go wrong. If two parties get into conflict and one side starts making untruthful statements, there will be the witnesses to have their right hands up.”

Namjoo fought not choke on her food after swallowing too fast in hopes of interrupting them.        

Choonhee’s father nodded in acknowledgement. “Yes, that’s right. A lot of agreements do tend to get out of hand these days. Lets do that then.”

“Look at them, they’re so happy. I can’t wait to have Choonhee in the family,” Seulgi mused joyously.

Were they blind?!

Once breakfast finally ended and her parents were tending to their farewells, Namjoo hurried toward the door to slip into her shoes. She had a desperate need to escape outside for some fresh air. Too bad Kai caught up behind her.

“Are you alright?” he asked.

“Huh? Oh…of course,” she lied then thought maybe she should have told him, “No, nothing’s fine! I’m going to get married to you and that’s not right!”

Smiling, he slipped his hand around hers and walked her outside. “I wish you could stay longer, but I also have some work to do.”

His hands were soft and well looked after. They held hers tenderly, like she was a most valuable thing to him. Finally stopping in front of the car he turned to her.

“I can’t wait until you’ll finally be mine, Choonhee.” Kai told her, smiling gleefully. His eyes sparkled, like Sehun’s when he looked at her.

Namjoo’s insides shrieked.

His hand traced her hair and landed on her face, holding her delightfully. “You’re pretty today, so is your dress.”

Her last tactic.

“Thanks. It was a gift,” she told him, “from Sehun.”   

***Well, Tao told her to 'use Sehun' to escape the engagement. This might drag Namjoo down or help her.