Eyebrows shooting up again, Bolin leans in with interest. “Oh? Someone you actually care about? You’ve got a boyfriend already?”

Jihyo muttered a curse under her breath. It couldn’t be a good idea to let a random stranger- her future ex-fiance, no less- find out about Gary. “That’s none of your business,” she tells him. The waitress returns with a salad and the steak at that moment. Jihyo claps her hands together, pretending to be very occupied with the food. “Ooh, look; it’s here! Yum!”

Smooth, Jihyo, very smooth, she thinks to herself, mentally cringing. When she looks up from cutting up her steak into little pieces, he’s staring at her again, clearly not fooled by her oblivious act and looking even more intrigued.

“A-aren’t you going to eat?” Jihyo asks him, motioning with her fork.

 “Why aren’t you answering my question? Does he know that you’re engaged? Does he even know that you’re meeting with another guy today?”

Jihyo ignores him, continuing to spear pieces of meat with her fork. This guy is way too nosy, she thinks grumpily.

Chen Bolin suddenly leans back with a satisfied look on his face. “Ahh, I see. You like him, he doesn’t like you.”

“He does like me!” Jihyo exclaims before she can help herself. Bolin shakes his head.

“I’ve seen too many of these sad love stories in my lifetime. Rich girl who has watched one too many romance movies becomes infatuated with the idea of forbidden love. I’m willing to bet that he’s poor, too, and that your dad doesn’t approve of your relationship, so that’s why you’re so hush hush about it, and why the poor chap isn’t making a move. Trust me on this, but these rich-with-poor relationships never turn out well.”

Jihyo gapes at him, mouth open. “You think you’re a fortune teller now? What does someone like you know?”

Bolin raises his eyebrows. “Someone like me?”

“You know. Rich, privileged, mommy’s boy. You probably haven’t faced a hard day in your life. And don’t even deny it; if you weren’t, then you wouldn’t be sitting here, willingly, at an arranged marriage date with some random girl you barely know like that.” Jihyo finishes her steak and moves on towards the cheesecake with vigor. Who did this guy think he was? She ‘d better hurry and leave this quack.

Chuckling without humor, he shakes his head. “I simply discovered that obeying orders is what is best, after all. Listen to me,” he says, suddenly serious. “There is no such thing as love in the life of the rich and privileged. Especially not with someone who is not our kind. They won’t understand how to live life your way, and you wouldn’t be able to live a life like theirs. They won’t be able to withstand the pressure and destruction you will surely face from your disapproving parent. In the end, you will just end up with disapproving family whose trust you have to work hard to earn again, a good lot of your youth and time wasted, and a broken heart.” Bolin spat out the last word, as if there were a foul taste in his mouth. “The rich and poor are just too different. You’d be better off obediently doing what your father says and marrying me.” By the end of his spiel, his face is hard, the previous amusement in his eyes completely vanished.

Jihyo stares at him hard. “What happened to you?”

The tips of Bolin’s lips curved upwards into a grin, but it looked forced. “What?”

Jihyo puts down her fork. “You’re speaking from experience, aren’t you? You once loved someone who was of a lower financial status than you, and she ended up not being able to handle it and broke your heart, right?”

Bolin’s grin twists into a wry smile. “Well, look at you; you think you have it all figured out.” He picks up the cloth napkin and begins to toy with it, not looking at her. “If you must know, we agreed to meet and run away together after my parents found out about our relationship. But she never showed, and the next day an acquaintance handed me a note that briefly said that she was too afraid couldn’t just give up the rest of her life like that. In other words, I wasn’t worth it.” With that, he throws down the napkin onto his plate angrily. “Just one month later, my father suddenly passed away due to a disease he was hiding, and I inherited the company. Had she just waited one more month, we could have been together without any troubles.”

“I’m sorry,” Jihyo offers tentatively. She could sense the pain in his voice. Maybe he wasn’t such a privileged rich boy after all. After a moment, she speaks up again. “Just because this happened to you doesn’t mean that it will necessary happen to me. I trust Gary.”

Bolin snorts, his expression dark. “I didn’t take you to be such a dreamer.” He muttered a few words under his breath, but Jihyo caught the word “delusional”. “Look, I warned you already. Trust me, there is no such thing as love for people like us, so you can just forget about it.”

“I’m not delusional!” Jihyo protests. “I bet that I can prove to you that real love does exist for people like us,” she blurts out before she realizes what she’s saying. “I bet you a hundred dollars!”

“Oh?” Bolin quirks a brow, eyes suddenly filled with interest. “I’ll take you on that bet. Tell you what: I’ll raise the stakes even higher. If you can get that guy you like- what’s his name again?”

“Gary.”

“That Gary guy to admit that he likes you before the day of the wedding- no, even before we say the vows and it’s official, I’ll make it so that you guys can be together without your father disapproving.”

“And just how are you planning to make that happen?” Jihyo asks, unconvinced.

“I can pull a few strings, don’t worry,” Bolin replies coolly.

“And what are the drawbacks?”

“No drawbacks,” Bolin assures her. “Just that he’s probably not going to ever admit his feelings if he actually does like you, and after which you will simply be married to me, which is not a bad deal at all. We can understand each other after all. We’ll respect each other’s space and be like friends. Oh, and you can’t let him know about this deal. You can’t tell him that I can help you guys be together without your father stopping you. That might unfairly influence his decision.”

Jihyo narrows her eyes. “Why are you doing this? What do you get out of this?”

Leaning back, Bolin casually folds his arms behind his head. “Oh, I’m just in it for the entertainment factor.”

Jihyo frowns. This is a bad idea, and she knows it. She’s not entirely sure about the purity of Bolin’s offer, nor is she entirely sure it will work. What if- for one second only, she allows herself to imagine the worst case scenario- what if Gary doesn’t actually like her? What if he doesn’t want to be with her? The thought of it alone is enough to bring a tear to her eye. She can’t imagine a life without Gary.

Bolin notes her hesitation. “Well, are you in or not? Or have you finally realized that you’re going to lose?”

She can’t imagine a life without Gary, and making this deal with Bolin might be her only chance that she might be with Gary forever.

“Are you scared?” Bolin taunts, a smirk on his face. Jihyo sticks her chin up.

“Who says I’m scared? Let’s do it.”