I was in the middle of a brainstorm to find a way to avoid this event when someone knocked at the door and disturbed my thoughts. The maids brought in my room at least 20 dresses and 20 pairs of high heels. What am I supposed to do with all of these? Good to know that grandfather took care of me by paying a make-up artist and a designer to help me prepare for the party, pathetic. While I was looking at the dresses, very exquisite dresses, I heard her voice.

“Brilliant! All the dresses are so elegant and superb!” I turned my head to find a happy and smiling Chaerin standing in my room.

“Aw, hey! What are you doing here?” I asked surprised.

“Chanyeol called me, he told me about his conversation with your grandfather and that you are very unnerved about tonight. He got the make-up artist and designer thing cancelled and suggested to me to come and help you, so you would feel more comfortable. Is it ok with you?”

“Please leave us,” I told the maids and continued after they left. “More than ok… I was shocked to find out that my grandfather paid important people to do my make-up and help me select the perfect dress. Huh, just another insult. I know I haven’t been living in luxury until now, but he can give me a break. I wish he would stop thinking of me as a negligent and thoughtless girl…” I answered while looking at the dresses again. “By the way, why did Chanyeol arrange this? I’m wondering if he called you before or after he came to my room.”

“He did what?” Chaerin asked amazed.

“Well, after he finished talking to my grandfather, he came up here and found me lying on my bed crying. And he started teasing me, of course. Ugh, I just want to wipe that smirk off his face forever. He also told me that he is excited to see how I will look tonight.” I said as I was starting to think more and more about what he said to me. Nope, this has to stop. “Aish, anyway, who in this world would organize an event like this in the middle of the week. We have school tomorrow.” As I turned to face her, she was already grinning at me.

“What’s up with that beam on your face? Stop, it’s creeping me out.”

“Oh boy, he really is starting to like you.”

“Chaerin…”

“Hey, I know him since we were little, so believe me I know what I’m saying. You really might be the one to change his temper!” she awed.

“Alright let’s just focus on the party for now. I just want to get over with it already. If he really liked me, he wouldn’t try to bully me—“

“Girl, you really have no idea how a boy’s mind works. That’s like Chan’s strategy. And trust me, after tonight, he won’t be able to keep his hands off of you—“

“YAH! HEY STOP!—“ I yelled as we kept interrupting each other.

“Why can’t that boy like you from the first day? We met each other today as well and here I am already becoming your best friend. Things work fast. Come on, I’m having my blueprint for you, too. Remember, Suho trusts me with you, and I hate disappointing people.”

She is being so kind to me and here I am arguing with her. I tried to change the subject turning my attention to the dresses. She helped me pick a long red dress made of silk, with a high slit on one side and thin straps. Also, the high heels and the lipstick were a sensual red (that will drive him insane as he wished  J).

After I took a shower, Chaerin and I were helping each other with our make-up and hair doing. At 8 pm, we were expected to go downstairs.

“You look stunning! We did a great job! I can’t wait to see Chanyeol’s expression when he will see you.” Chaerin said as she grabbed me and put me in front of the mirror.

“Wow… I feel… beautiful and feminine…” I spoke as I watched my reflection.

“You ARE, with or without all of these. We just accentuated it a bit more. Now let’s go, the guests are waiting for you.”

Smiling, I nodded and took her hand, leading her to the stairs.

As we were walking downstairs, all the maids that were present in the room watched us astonished.

“Aw! Oh, my Goodness! Girls, you are radiating!” my mom exclaimed overjoyed. “Jiyeon, you look so different and elegant, my daughter is more gorgeous than ever, and I wish I could cry of happiness right now but the limo is waiting for you outside, I will arrive later because I still have a few things to take care of.”

“Where’s father?” I asked as we were exiting the mansion.

“He can’t come, don’t worry. Hurry, I will meet you there later.”

I saw how my mother’s facial expression completely changed when I mentioned my father. I wanted to find out what happened, but Chaerin pulled me towards the limo.

“Alright, I assume we are going to get to the hotel in less than 25 minutes.” She said as we got inside. “Ya, put a bright smile on! Wanna try some champagne?”

Half an hour later we were arriving in front of the colossal and dainty hotel, greeted by dozens of paparazzi.

“What is this?!” I turned to Chaerin out of a sudden.

“Remember to keep that gorgeous smile on.” She winked at me.

Few seconds later, the valet opened the door and we both stepped on the red carpet. Listening to Chaerin’s advice, I put on a bright smile and waved at the people who followed every move of ours with their cameras. When I looked to the entrance doors, I found my grandparents and Baekhyun smiling and ready to meet us.  My grandfather walked toward us the moment we saw him, his eyes were sparkling and he had a mysterious beam on. Hoping he didn’t have any more plans for tonight but to introduce me to the high society would be just wrong. In addition, his terrifying smile said it all.

After pretending to adore my grandparents in front of the cameras, we were led to the ballroom where the “ceremony” was taking place. The spacious and welcoming room was already half filled with women and gentlemen who were dressed in fancy and extravagant attires.

“Oh my God I need a drink…” I spoke as I looked at all of those people.

“Oh your God, you better stay still because you will have to speak into the microphone and introduce yourself on the scene.” He said as he pointed his finger to the small stage. “You all teenagers can have fun when the announcement is over.”  Without any other word, he left with my grandmother to greet other guests.

“Now, these girls be looking fine…” Baekhyun smirked satisfied as he analyzed me and Chaerin from head to toe.

*slap*

“What’s wrong with you?! Your hand is itching whenever I try to make you a compliment!” Baekhyun cringed from pain.

“What was about to come out of your mouth was anything but a compliment, you ! Ugh, where’s Jiyong?!” Chaerin said as she started looking desperately for her boyfriend leaving Baekhyun and I behind.

“This chick is crazy, aish!” Baekhyun mumbled in anger and turned his attention to me. “Anyway, she did a great job with you. I can’t wait to tease Chan about this because I bet you won’t let him put his hand on you. You really look hot.” He continued smirking.

“I don’t know what kind of games your friend is playing, but tell him to stop. I’ve been forced to leave my old lifestyle behind and all I want is to avoid yours as much as possible. So far, I can’t even say if you’re being nice or mean to me or whatever. Actually, everyone seems nicer than Chanyeol…” I responded starting to get irritated for like the 100^th time today.

“I’m sorry I didn’t mean to offend you or anything… I know you’re upset about all the “moving to another country” thing, but don’t just judge us like this… take it as a challenge for you, so keep your head and sarcasm up and you will get along with everyone.” I appreciated that Baekhyun was trying to assure me that everything will be alright, but I just couldn’t get used to all of this. All of my life suddenly changed in such a short time and I was expected to smile all the time. The pressure that my grandfather has over me is exhausting, his obsession to control our lives is exhausting.

“Hey! Don’t overthink.” He said as he snapped his fingers in front of my face. “Let me you to our dinner table.”

“By the way, where’s Suho? And Kyungsoo?” I spoke as my eyes began to search them in the room.

Baekhyun smiled and led me through the crowd to a round large table where I finally met Suho and D.O. Disinterested about the other boys and girls who sat at our table, I took a seat next to Suho and told the both of them about my horrible day.

After a few laughs and a glass of red wine, everyone stood up and started to clap. My grandfather was now on stage with another old man, standing in front of the microphone getting ready for his speech. A few seconds later, I felt a warm touch on my hip that made me startle.

“Looking more beautiful than I thought you will, may I take you to dance when this nerve-racking speech is over?”  Chanyeol spoke as he looked straight into my eyes.

“Do you know what this is about? And stop watching me like that! You’re not intimidating me.” I responded as I turned my attention back to the stage and pushed his hand away.

“Welcome, ladies and gentlemen! I want to thank you all for gathering here tonight, and I will skip straight to the subject so I won’t keep you for long. I hope you’re all enjoying this event and that the dishes and the wine are perfect for your taste.” My grandfather said smiling as he watched the crowd.

“I thought he was going to skip to the subject…” Suho whispered into my ear. Again, I felt a hand on my hip. Chanyeol was slowly pulling me to his side.

“Stop touching me!” I muttered as I slapped his arm.

“What’s your problem?” Suho asked Chanyeol.

“Not you, for sure. You can’t even compete with me.” Chanyeol responded harshly with a judgmental look in his eyes.

“Now, some of you already know what this celebration is about. I’m very excited to officially announce the engagement of my sweet niece Lee Jiyeon of Lee Empire Industry to Park Chanyeol of Park Seoul Empire.” My grandfather’s words almost stopped my heart from beating. Everyone in the ballroom was clapping.

Frightened, I turned around to find Chanyeol staring at the stage, frowning. I was too shocked to make a sound.

“Jiyeon, Chanyeol, come up here!” 

As Chanyeol grabbed my hand and led me to the stage, everyone around us congratulated us. I was so shocked that I could swear my blood changed its flowing course.

“You’re so pale, don’t worry. I’m Chan’s grandfather and I know that I’ve made the right decision with your grandfather for our businesses’ future and for the both of you.” Chanyeol’s grandfather told me as he led me and Chan to the center of the stage.

“Haha, Jiyeon usually speaks a lot but now I surprised her. She didn’t want the public to find out like this. This event is like a coronation, getting my niece known in the high society plus announcing her engagement. It is truly so much for a day. I apologize in advance if she won’t want to talk in front of you right now, but Chan is more open to it.” My grandfather took a few steps back to let Chanyeol speak into the mic.

“Good evening everyone! You already know my name, Park Chanyeol, and I am as astonished as you are. And also I am so happy to have such a wonderful and beautiful girl now by my side. Also, I promise to take good care of her.” Chanyeol spoke into the mic, turned his attention to me and smiled kindly.

“Right here, in front of senior Lee, my grandfather, my delightful fiancee and all of you, I vow to take responsibility for the family’s business and do my very best.” As Chanyeol addressed himself to the public, I felt my insides going numb. I couldn’t move nor speak. Just how much can a person take? An arranged engagement followed by a sophisticated and crude wedding to a person that I don’t even want to get to know? As Chanyeol and the elders finished their speeches I was lost completely inside my thoughts.

All of a sudden, music started playing in the background and it forced me to snap out of my unhealthy ideas about this life.

“I must leave early. Tomorrow morning I will be attending an important business meeting with Chan’s grandfather. You both can party all night if you wish, you can skip school tomorrow. Aish, tell me now that I’m not a great grandfather.” He spoke to us laughing arrogantly. Chanyeol and I shook hands with the elders when they said their goodbyes. I was still unable to make a sound. I managed to look up and see Suho’s expression in the crowd where people started dancing. He seemed pale, worried and was just as speechless as me.

When I was about to walk off the stage to go to him, Chanyeol grabbed my wrist strongly and pulled me out of the ballroom heading to the elevators. As he pressed the button for the last floor, I finally found my courage to speak.

“What… What is all of this about? And for once don’t laugh at me and tell me the truth… Did you know about this?” I said with my voice trembling. He didn’t speak a word on our way up when the elevator’s doors opened he dragged me after him to the last room on the hallway.

“What are you doing? Where are you taking me? Stop! Do you know what is going to happen if anyone checks the security cameras?” I insisted as we entered the luxurious suite.

“Chanyeol stop you’re hurting my wrist—“

“Can you stop asking so many questions and complain this often? Aish, this girl…”

“How about you give me some answers? Today has been the most confusing day of my entire life! A new school, new people… rich and very tiring people! An who tried to bully me got me humiliating him in front of the whole school and then told me he likes me, but he laughs at me whenever he sees me in some uncomfortable situation! Oh and now there is this event where my grandfather wants to introduce me to the high society and ends up telling the world about my nonexistent engagement with Park Chanyeol! Where are my parents? Where did my dad disappear? And never ever in this world will I marry you!” I spoke as I fell on the sofa.

“Eh, you decided to breathe? You don’t get to choose who you’re going to marry, Jiyeon. I’ve been growing up like this, always being told that I am going to marry the girl that my family will select for me, I mean… you.” He said as he walked near the glass doors of the balcony and watched the lights of Seoul shining in the dark.

“Me? What do you mean?” I stood up suddenly.

“You really are clueless… I guess you know the fact that your mother should have married my father, right? But she fell deeply in love with someone else and ran away. At that moment, my grandparents went insane and swore that they will do whatever it takes to unite their business with your grandparents’. So your mother gave birth to a girl, and my mother gave birth to a boy, and here we are. I know that this is so unusual to you, but trust me when I’m telling you there’s no way out. Let’s just do what they want us to, for a while… we will eventually escape this grudge. And no, you won’t be able to run away like your mother did, the elders won’t allow it to happen again. Everything was planned to get you all back to Seoul.” 

Hearing him I could feel my eyes starting to water, everything sounds so surreal.

“I always wondered what you looked like... Is she more or less than pretty? Is she kind or is she cruel?  Are we going to be at least friends? I always asked myself this kind of questions… My mother never even allowed me to have a girlfriend because she knew that this day will come, so the only thing that I could do was to play around with hot chicks.” He stopped and turned his gaze to me. “Anyway, you’re so different from what I’ve expected. I know you grew up in another country with dissimilar surroundings, but that doesn’t matter, I expected you to fall at least for my looks.”

He seemed to wait for an answer, a few words from me, but nothing came out of my mouth. I couldn’t even look him in the eye, and I have lost control of my emotions, letting the tears fall on my cheeks.

“Please don’t cry… let’s not make this more complicated than it already is… I brought you here to explain everything I know… My fiancée needs to keep her head up for things to work out. The marriage date isn’t set yet, and it won’t be anytime soon… if that makes you feel any better. And I wish I could say that you’re free to spend time with whoever you want, but when I see Suho getting close to you, my blood is on fire.” He spoke kindly as he grabbed a tissue from his pocket and wiped my tears away.

“Why are you suddenly so kindhearted? Wiping my tears away, I would have never seen this coming…” I spoke as I passed by him and opened the glass doors to let myself out on the balcony and feel the cold autumn air caress my skin.

“Perhaps the fact that you don’t really know me tells you something? I can be the biggest douchebag or the sweetest man to his lady. Believe me, I have never wiped away a girl’s tears before. I have to be nice now and leave you a good impression if I want you to collaborate with me.” He spoke as he got closer to me.

”Until now, I have noticed that my fiancée can be really stubborn and sensitive at the same time. I don’t know what type of guys you prefer but—“

“Can you stop calling me YOUR fiancée? And you seem to have a plan to stop this marriage? And what kind of guys I like? That shouldn’t trouble you.” I interrupted him as I shyly took a step forward.

“Firstly, nope, I can’t stop calling you like that because I like it. Secondly, I do have a plan, but it won’t include a canceled marriage. Lastly, it does trouble me. I don’t want to see my wife going around with some squirrel.” He said arrogantly as he reached for the railing.

“Wife? Park Chanyeol, you are unbelievable. And it doesn’t even make any sense. Let me get this straight, we are supposed to get married and also we can have other lovers at the same time—“

“Exactly because this alliance is just a strong bond for businesses between our clans.  I used to say that I didn’t care who I married, as long as her voice or face won’t tear my nerves apart. So you’re pretty cool and hot as hell.” He spoke as he turned his head to me and smirked. I just stood there, staring at him anxiously.

“What? Why are you watching me like that? We should just go inside or you will catch a cold.” He said as he gently grabbed my arm wanting to go back inside.

“I’m just trying to figure you out. One moment you’re telling me that you can’t stand to see me around another guy, seconds later you’re talking about getting a girlfriend after you marry me.” I mumbled as I looked down and then into his eyes again.

“Don’t tell me you don’t feel the same… Aish it’s freezing here let’s just go inside.” He said impatiently.

“What do you mean?” I responded, not wanting to move.

“That you’re so overwhelmed about me, aren’t your thoughts going crazy inside your head?”

“I’m confused. You like to play with a girl’s mind, don’t you?” I said as I started to feel my cheeks burning.

“What is that? Are you blushing?” He asked as he leaned closer to my face, grinning.

“What are you talking about? It’s just the cold air.” I answered as I took a step back and touched my right cheek, heading back inside.

“So you’re telling me that I can get a boyfriend, and you will get your girlfriend. This bonding won’t stop us from real love, even though it will complicate our relationship with the significant others. God, I can’t believe what I’ve been dragged into. Chanyeol—“

“Can you stop calling me by my name?” He interrupted me as he closed the glass doors.

“Uhm… what?” I asked watching him with a confused look as I sat on the sofa, hugging myself.

“Because it’s making me want you.” He spoke as he looked around the room.

He was right earlier. I am overwhelmed by everything, especially about him. He is making me overthink every detail about him.

“Why Suho? I heard you two were best friends, what happened? Why are you so disturbed when you see me around him?” I asked as I tried to change the awkward subject.

“Nothing special, I mean, it doesn’t matter anymore. There was a girl I liked, and he knew I couldn’t get her because of my mother. I started dating her secretly for a while. And I didn’t know he liked her too, and he was flirting with her when I wasn’t around. When I found out, he told me he was trying to abstain, but she answered his flirting. I was played by her, she actually played us both, but I couldn’t get over the fact that he didn’t tell me and that he was wooing her. He’s still sorry for what he did, but I just can’t trust him again. In addition, my mother found out and there was this huge scandal at home.” He stopped talking and let out a long sigh.

“Oh… I’m sorry…” I stood up, needing to turn on the lights.

“Don’t.” He started. “I want to try something.” He continued as he began to walk lazily towards me.

He stepped closer to me and I stepped back until I hit the wall. Both of his hands were now placed on the wall, not giving me a chance to escape. We were both breathing heavily, none of us making any movement for a few moments. He gently began lowering his lips to mine. I could feel my blood rushing through my veins and my heart was about to explode. I wanted to push him away, but at the same time, I don’t know why, I was craving his touch. Two seconds later, he was pressing his hard body against mine and his lips on the corner of mine.

“Why can’t I do it properly? I can feel your frame trembling against mine. You want this, too.” He whispered against my lips. “This is going to be a long night because we are supposed to spend time together and get to know each other. I have to stay put.” He continued as he brushed his fingertip on my lower lip. And again, I couldn’t move nor make a sound. He began to step away from me, giving me the chance to regain my usual rhythm of breathing.

“We should go back, the party is still going. And I need a long drink.” He spoke fast, heading quickly to the door and leaving me in the dark alone. Once I heard the door slamming, I fell down on my knees inhaling and exhaling deeply.

What just happened?