The whole week was a pure blessing for Hayoung.  No more ‘should I set another date for you?’, ‘that son of that group is okay too,’ from her mother whenever she was back from work. No talk about marriage, either, at the table. To put in short, her mother was totally shut herself up when she told her about that. It felt so good – it was like she got her old life back, the day when her marriage wasn’t the main topic in the house.

She still remembered her mother's reaction the night when she came home after the dinner with Sehun - didn't know either she should be happy or guilty because her mother looked so happy, but unbeknownst to her mother, it all was a lie.  The guilty feeling was still there but lying for her own sake - her, who didn't like being controlled but didn't know how to be rebellious, she thought it was fine. Not that she lied about big matter. Well, she had never lied to her mother before - except when she talked something bad about her blind date; that was an exception.

The light at the house was off; probably everyone was already in their own room. But then she realized the light in the dining room were still on. There was no other than her mother. She had gone through a lot of blind dates that she knew what waited for her when she reached home. Her mother was waiting for her excitedly as if she went to a date with her beloved boyfriend and waited for her to spill about those sweet things happened.

She went straight to the dining room and greeted her mother. Her handbag was put on the table before she went to the refrigerator and took out a yogurt drink for herself.

"Mom, I'm going to meet Sehun again," she told her mother as she settled herself on a chair in front of her mom.

"I know this is going to happen. I'll be looking for another date for you,"

She shot her mother a puzzled look, obviously her mother didn't listen to her words properly if this was her reply, or probably her mother was used to her failed date that it came out naturally from her lips once she told her something about the date. "Mom, I said I'll meet him again," she told her once again, her voice raised a bit than before.

Her mother’s lips curved, forming a smile before patting on her shoulder. "I told you he's different, right? I know you'll like him."

Hayoung replied her mother with a smile; of course he was different. He was way smarter than all the guys she met before; he came up with a super brilliant idea. "Yes mom," she nodded, "he is really different from others and I like him," half of it was true and the other half was a lie. She didn't think she would like him as a man; she only liked his brain.

"It's good, then."

"You should introduce him to me earlier so I didn't have to go to how many dates I don't know," she complained, sincerely from the bottom of her heart.

"I'm really sorry about that. Seems like you like him so much," she . "Now, go to sleep, you must be tired," her voice sounded very happy. Something that she barely heard.

Don't get too happy over that mom, it'll over in two months and three weeks, she thought to herself.

A ringing phone snapped her out of it. She looked at the caller ID before a long sigh escaped from her lips. She was thinking to ignore the phone call but she just couldn't. He didn't call her at all for the past days and out of blue, he called her. It must be something if he called her.

"Yes, what do you want?" she asked right after she answered the call, not giving any opportunities for the caller to talk first.

“Lunch with me,” a short reply from the caller.

“What is this Oh Sehun? You said no personal feeling attachment,” she chuckled – didn’t expect this would come from his lips. 

“You think I want this?” he sounded so pissed off. “A restaurant is already booked and my secretary will arrive at your company in ten minutes.”

“Is this your mom doing?” she was curious because this was unlikely Sehun to do this. His voice was so angry and he was still in his sane state, so definitely, absolutely not him.

“No. It’s our mom’s.”

She bit her lips and her eyes closed; she didn’t like it. She thought her mom wouldn’t mind her life anymore but she was wrong. It seemed like her mom would never stop until she got married. “I got it. Let’s talk about this later,” she hung up the phone and went to the company lobby afterwards.

-

The restaurant seemed empty when Hayoung entered, making it easy to spot Sehun. Looking at the surrounding, she couldn’t help it but to wonder if their mom booked the whole restaurant. She had a lot of things on her mind but it needed to be organized first, which one needed to come first, which one needed to come later.

“What do you want?” Sehun asked her.

“Anything pasta will be fine with me,” she stopped for a while before continuing again, “but four cheese pasta seems good,” she smiled.

“Two four cheese pasta and two apple juice,” he told the waiter and so, the waiter walked away from them.

Hayoung looked at him who ordered without asking her first. He was lucky that he ordered something that she liked.

“What are you thinking of?” He questioned as he noticed she had been spaced out since the moment she got here. It was obvious; she barely talked.

“Why don’t you tell your mom you’re busy or something?” Ignoring his question, she asked him. She actually was planning to have lunch with Jaehyuk today, but luckily, Jaehyuk called her this morning, cancelling the lunch as he had a meeting. What if her date with Jaehyuk wasn’t cancelled? She really had no idea how she should reason to Jaehyuk him since he knew nothing about this date.

“Telling her I’m busy won’t do anything – she asked my secretary for my schedule,” he looked at her, “your mom told her that you’re free when I said you’re the one who is busy, instead,” he raised his eyebrow.

Hayoung sighed; nice one, mom.

“Does this mean we will have a lot of lunch like this?”

“It seems like that.”

“They are going overboard - I’ll talk to my mom later,” she stopped when a waiter came bringing their meals. Just then, her mind remembered something – something that she wanted to ask when she arrived here. “Do you think your mom booked this whole restaurant?” she looked around the empty restaurant, “because it seems like there is us only.”

“No way. You’re not that special that she would book the whole restaurant,” he smirked

“How am I not special? I’m her daughter-in-law to be,” she cringed inside. Who would marry that guy? Even he was the only living man on the Earth, she wouldn’t marry him. That was so impossible.

“I don’t have any brothers. I’m the only son – how are you gonna be her daughter-in-law?” he said impassively, making Hayoung to grunt.

Feeling frustrated with him, Hayoung ignored him and focused on her food. He got the brain but, not personality. His personality wasn’t that great and he was annoying to the core. She just needed to be patient, just deal with him for only two months and three weeks more. Yes, she was counting it because she couldn’t wait for the day she’d free from all these problems.

“Do you actually want to marry me?” he chuckled, breaking the silence between them.

She put down her fork and lifted her face, looking at him straight in the face, “don’t you know that? It’s obvious that I really want to marry you,” she replied sarcastically.

“I know that so well,” he smiled as he nodded. “How many dates have you went to?” he was just curious. Looking at her during their first meeting, it seemed like she had been to hundreds of blind dates.

“Well, not much, around ten?” she tried recall back everything. More than five, but less than ten; she was sure about this. It was so annoying right?

He burst out into laughter. “Not much you said? That’s pretty much. You’re the second.”

“You’re lucky then, to meet someone like me on your second date.”

“Gotta admit that,” he yet again nodded.

The girl he met on the first date was super annoying that he couldn’t stand her for even five minutes. He had this idea since his first arranged date but with that girl, but he couldn’t do that. He just needed to find the right girl for this plan. When he met Hayoung, she was just right for it. Even she herself came up with a plan but it was so bad – he couldn’t agree with that because his plan was better. He would agree if she came up with much better idea than his.

“What kind of person is ‘someone like me?’” she raised her eyebrow, really interested in the answer.

“Pretty unlucky when you’re alone but when with me, you’re kinda lucky,” he answered without hesitation.

“Why don’t you just say you’re lucky instead of twisting the words and make it complicated?”

“You’re not that stupid after all.”

Hayoung grunted. She was sure he couldn’t go a day without sarcasm – he really spoke sarcasm. How to deal with that kind of guy? She had never met this kind of guy; all the guys she met before had a good attitude. But then, came to think of it, most of them only being nice in front of her. Maybe he was better; at least he was honest with everything even though it hurt her pride when he kept saying she was stupid.

“Can you please stop saying I’m stupid?” her voice raised a bit.

“Okay, okay,” he chuckled, realizing the girl in front of him was so pissed off. She was a girl after all; getting so sensitive over it. Women were really annoying, getting sensitive over that word. He used that a lot with his friends, and no one ever said anything. Well, man and woman sure were different.

“I swear I won’t have dinner, lunch or whatsoever with you anymore,” she claimed as she finished her meal.

“I don’t think so, though,” something rang on his mind the moment she mentioned dinner. “Next month, our company will have a dinner and I guess you need to go with me.”

She heaved such a huge sigh. Of course she needed to go with him. They told their parents they were going out and it would make no sense if they didn’t go there together.

Just then, her eyes caught a glimpse on a figure who was entering the restaurant with two other men. Why did he come to this restaurant? There were a lot more restaurants in Seoul but why he chose this restaurant? Right at this time, when she was eating with Sehun, only the two of them.

The man passed by them and he gave Hayoung a smile, making Sehun looked at Hayoung puzzled.

“You know him?” he asked.

“That’s my boyfriend. I’m doomed!” she was afraid that Jaehyuk would misunderstand this even though she knew that he wasn’t the type to be mad over something like this. He was rational; he sure would listen to her when she explained this later.

“Wait, your boyfriend doesn’t know about this?” his tone sounded shock, didn’t expect her keeping this from her boyfriend.

She nodded.

“Do not blame me if he misunderstands this,” he continued, sounded like a warning to Hayoung.

Her phone vibrated when she was about to answer Sehun. She took a look at her phone and saw a message coming from her boyfriend. With a pounding heart, she opened the message before her lips curved, forming a smile.

‘Text me when you’re done. I’ll send you to your office, and don’t worry, I’m not misunderstanding anything.’

“Don’t worry, he’s not,” she replied a smile. “Ah, you know I have never lied to my mom because I will feel bad,” she grinned. “And that’s why I have been refusing every time Jaehyuk wants to send me home because I know my mom would question me who’s that. Now that I have you I think I can answer ‘a friend’ to her.”

“And how is that related to me?”

“My mom will think it’s you. I’m not lying but she misunderstands it,” she explained impassively.

“You use me to fool your mother?”

“It’s not fooling. And just like you said; let just use each other. Comfortably,” she gave him the sweetest smile ever.