"If you'll just listen to me-"
"When have I ever listened to you? Never! And do you know why? Because this is what comes out of your mouth!"
He frowned. "You're making this into too big a deal, Nari."
She sat down hard in the chair behind her desk, grabbed the stapler and started stapling the air. He could see staples falling out the side, and he decided he'd rather have it empty anyway.
She took a deep breath. "You just announced on national TV that you and I are engaged. And that all the bad press from your ex-girlfriends are jealous tantrums. Did I miss anything?"
"You know, most women would be thrilled to be engaged to me."
"Really? You really think any other woman in this building would be happy at finding herself unknowingly engaged to you? I'm the only anomaly here?"
He thought about it, then nodded. "Yes."
She narrowed her eyes but didn't bother to disagree with him. "Well, perhaps they can be taken in by a pretty face and a charming smile. I, however, know that you are not nearly as wonderful as everyone thinks."
"And why is that, Nari?" He leaned back in his chair and steepled his fingers.
If he was going to be visiting more often, he was going to get this chair replaced.
She said, "Why can I see through your bull? A gift, I guess. Now I want you to go back downstairs, get those reporters to turn their cameras back on, and tell the world you were joking. We're not engaged."

He shook his head. "I'm sorry, honey. We are."
He could see pressure building again and he held up a hand to stop the flow. "Just for a little while. Until I'm back on my feet. It hurts having all these women ganging up on me."
"My heart bleeds for you. We're not engaged."
"I'll let you dump me. You can say you couldn't handle all the press and leading a public life."
She said, "I'm not going to be able to handle it. All the attention is going to jump from you to me!"
"They'll lose interest. We'll have a little press conference, tell everyone how happy we are, and it'll die down."
She rubbed her temple with one hand, the other setting the stapler down, forgotten. Taeyong stood, moving it out of reach, and walked behind her.
She twisted in her seat, glaring at him. "What are you doing? Get back in your chair."
He put his hands on her shoulders and started massaging. She tried to stand up but he pushed her back down.
"You're the only one I can ask to do this-"
"You didn't ask."
He ignored her outburst. Of course he hadn't asked. She would have said no.
"I know this may be hard for you to grasp but most women do love me. They fall in love with me so easily. Any other woman would start out being a friend, doing me a favor, but then she would start secretly hoping, hinting. And then I'd end up breaking her heart, watching her cry, and I'd be in the same place again."

"Maybe you should try being less lovable. That way they'll dump you and no one gets hurt."
"If you and my ex-girlfriends have anything in common, it's that you have no illusions about how lovable I am. Even if I did break noses and force abortions, my name is synonymous with Prince Charming. Every woman in the world wants her own Prince Charming."
"I don't."
He spun her chair around. "I know. That's why I can trust you."
He knelt to one knee and the look of horror on her face made him chuckle.
"Kim Nari, will you do me the honor of pretending to marry me?"
"You're even nuttier than I thought you were."
"Was that a yes?"
She shook her head. "No."
He took her hands in his and smiled. "I've always wanted my very own no-man."
When she opened to yell at him some more, he stood up. "Just think about it. I'll give you a few minutes."
He needed to nail this thing down before she could come up with a way to get out of it. And also alert his mother and grandma. He probably should have done that before the press conference but he hadn't thought of it.
He might just leave a voice message for his mother. Or let his grandmother tell her. Mother had strong feelings about Nari and he didn't want to hear them again.
He took out his phone, backing his way out of Nari's office. She was looking around for the stapler again and he closed the door behind him.

He dialed his grandmother, nodding his head at those passing him as if they were giving him heartfelt congratulations instead of incredulous looks.
When Ellen answered, he didn't know what to say.
"Er. . ."
She chuckled. "We saw it."
We. "Is Mother alright?"
"She's lying down."
He debated whether or not to tell her this was a temporary arrangement but decided against it. He would have to get his mother on board and he didn't think he could do it over the phone. He wouldn't put it past her to try and end this fake engagement before it had a chance to start. He glanced behind him at Nari's office. He wouldn't put it past her, either.
"I need to go. I have a few more interviews to give. Tell Mother everything will work out and I'll see her tonight."
"Bring Nari."
Taeyong grimaced, imagining Nari and his mother together right now. "I'll try." He paused. "You seem okay with this."
"I knew the minute I saw your grandfather. Sometimes that's how it happens. And sometimes it takes seven years and countless mistakes before you can see what's right in front of your nose."
He shook his head, smiling. Trying to decide if she was going to be upset when she learned it wasn't real.
He didn't think so. Grandma rarely did surprised or upset. She left that to Mother.
He said, "I'll see you tonight. Try to be gentle with Mother."

Ellen hung up on another chuckle. Taeyong was glad somebody was finding this situation amusing.
He commandeered an office on Nari's floor, giving his rep a quick call to see who wanted interviews. He gave permission to confirm the happy engagement, with no date set yet.
He returned four calls to reporters, giving quick interviews with promises for more later, then sat back and took a deep breath.
When he'd seen those pictures this morning, rage had filled him. He couldn't ever remembering feeling that kind of white, hot anger before. He'd known from an early age that he was fair game. There would be good written about him and bad. And that was that. It was up to him to get them to spin it how he wanted it spun.
And the women he dated were already in the spotlight. They knew the pressure, the unspoken rules. . .
Most of them, anyway.
But Nari didn't, and seeing her on the front of the National Enquirer had made him seriously think of destroying those who'd put her there.
He'd gone this morning to comfort her. To tell her it would be okay.
And he'd realized after about two minutes that Nari didn't need him to protect her. Wouldn't want him to.
And she did a damn fine job of getting him to stop moping, stop dreaming of revenge, and start thinking how to spin it.
He'd known an engagement was what he need