“You don’t have classes today, do you?” Donghyuk asks as Youjung sets a cup of coffee in front of him with a raised eyebrow. “It’s been a long time since you’ve been to the company. I miss working with you.”

“Donghyuk, I’m only there to assist you. You could also ask me for help when we’re home. I don’t see that happening either ways,” she rebukes before taking a seat across him to start their daily breakfast together. “You know that I’ve been busy with school too.”

His eyes travelled to the tabletop as he chews on the breakfast slowly. “It’s different without you around… After all, you were around for almost two months straight. I’m still not used to you not being around me in the office,” he says in a childlike voice.

Youjung’s lips tugged upwards slightly before reaching over to ruffle his hair. “Uri Donghyukkie miss Youjungie?” she coos and he nods with a pout, going with the act. “What if Youjungie studies in the office? But Donghyukkie cannot disturb her, ara?”

He nods with a grin before returning back to his breakfast. Having to stay with the young and mighty CEO for almost two months, Youjung quickly learnt the different sides of the male and learnt how to deal with each of them when it makes their appearance. Donghyuk holds a spoonful of food and held it towards her. She smiles slightly before accepting the mouthful of food. Her phone rings and she picks it up to see what it was.

“Netizens are really missing you, Donghyuk,” she mentions, waving her phone screen at him.

Kim Donghyuk missing?

“Aw, they’re so nice,” he coos affectionately, “worrying about their tabloid prince.”

She continues to scroll through the forum, people protesting that the relationship between the couple to be true because they never went on a date in public before and the fact that she popped up from nowhere. She chuckles, thinking of the irony before exiting out of the forum to finish up her breakfast. This time, his phone rings and he picks it up, face turning serious.

Without a word, he stands up and heads to the living room for privacy. She picks up their empty plates before placing them into the sink and got to work, cleaning up. Once that was done, she walks past the living room to see frustration clear on his face. She walks over and cups his cheek, his muscles immediately relaxing and his words more firm and clear. She shoots a small smile before going to her room to change and then proceeds to his room to lie out his outfit for the day.

Youjung waits at the front door, fiddling with her bag to make sure that everything she needed was in her bag. Kihyun was already waiting for them at the front of the building complex and time to report to work was ticking closer and closer. Donghyuk finally appears with his tie undone and flashes his pleading eyes towards his fiancé who scolds him gently with her eyes but ties it either way.

Soon, they were on the way to work when Donghyuk’s phone rings again. He pulls it out of his pocket in annoyance and accepts it before putting it on loudspeaker. “Eomma,” he greets monotone. “How have you been?”

“Donghyuk! Have you seen the tabloids?!” she almost screeches. “People believe that the relationship between Youjung and you are fake! How could they?”

He offers an eye roll to the girl in the car who silently giggles as a response and starts a conversation with Kihyun whom they both had grown closer due to their heavy reliance on him bringing them around. “Yes, Eomma. How could they,” he replies dryly but his mother seems to think that he was being serious.

“I know right? Donghyuk, you have to settle this immediately! Youjung and you should be married at once and announce it to the media. I will definitely plan the grandest marriage of the century!” his mother says excitedly.

He sends help with his eyes at the thought of his mother planning a cliché marriage – something he doesn’t want to happen. “Eomma-nim,” she immediately calls out affectionately while Kihyun just smiles and Donghyuk heaves a silent sigh of relief. “I don’t think that Donghyukkie and I need to get married to get rid of the rumours. We’re both still young and we just got together, almost immediately, getting engage a few months later. We just want to enjoy our time together as the benefits of being fiancés while dating passionately.”

“But Youjung ah… The tabloids,” his mother insists and the couple glances at one another.

“Donghyuk and I can go on a date to appease the media. I’m pretty sure our fan club would love it too,” she suggests as a small smile appears on her face. “We’ll go to that restaurant that just newly opened. I heard the reviews for them are really, really good. It would increase exposure for that restaurant and also, allow us to be under the media’s eyes.”

His mother agrees, a slight defeat in her tone but bids the couple a good day before hanging up. “You know that she just wants us to get married right?” he whispers, glancing at Kihyun who was looking forward, knowing that he wasn’t to hear their conversation.

“Well what can we do? We’re engaged. You’re the only heir to the company. It’s obvious she wants you to get married, very grandly too, I must say,” she whispers back and sees his worried look. “Everything will be fine. We’ll just push it back as long as we can.”

“Isn’t this lying?” he asks with a helpless tone and bitter smile grace her face and she grips his hand to interlock their fingers, a warm feeling flowing through her. “Will anyone find out?”

“We made this decision together, Donghyuk. I don’t think anyone would find out as long as we’re careful,” she reassures with a soft voice. “Plus, we’ve been very careful – avoiding the media’s eyes unless necessary, keeping our relationships under wraps and we occasionally showcase our relationship and it only happened after we were comfortable with skin ship happening. It is enough to please the public, the media and especially your mother.”

“I wish Eomma wouldn’t try to make our relationship like a Korean drama…” he mutters under his breaths at the thought of previous conversation where his mother suggested ways to get more intimate with Youjung when the lack of their pictures surfaced online.

She smiles reassuringly before tighten her grip slightly. “It’ll be fine,” she comforts as the car slows down to a stop. “Come on, let’s go to the office. The earlier we get there, the more time I have to do my workload and then we can head out for a lunch date at that café around the corner.”

“Aren’t we meant to have the date during dinner?” Donghyuk asks with a raised eyebrow.

“Well who is to say that we can’t have two dates in one day?” she asks with a teasing smile before getting out of the car.

“Donghyuk,” Kihyun calls out and the mentioned stops mid-way and looks over. “Youjung’s a great woman. I’ve never seen you this relaxed, only when she’s around. You’ve got yourself a catch.”

“Thank you, hyung,” he responds with a small smile. “You don’t have to drive us around today, you can have the day off.”

“Being a nice boss?” the older teases but was replied with an eye roll. “But still, thank you~ I’ll bring your Lambo for tonight!”

Donghyuk gets off with a smile forming on his lips as Youjung throws a weird look at him. “Did you wake up at the wrong side of the bed?” she asks and he scoffs.

Donghyuk’s face turns stoic as a soft sigh leaves Youjung’s lips before she takes a deep breath to ready herself to remain emotionless. As she was getting into her poker face, a hand intertwines with her right hand. Her eyes snapped to the hands before trailing up to her fiancé who had a small, encouraging smile – the smile that was reserved only for her. Her lips tugged at the sight of his smile as a soft flush appears.

A grin breaks out on his face but it was quickly reverted to his famous serious face before they both walked into the company together, in the midst of their employees reporting to work. As they walked through the crowd, naturally, whispers were heard as female workers gush over how cute they were and male workers torn between being annoyed or wishing to do something like that.

They both entered an elevator, cutting the queue as a small frown appears on the girl’s face but she immediately stopped it as the doors closed. “We could have waited,” she mentions with a frown.

“Well, I’m the CEO for a reason,” he retorts simply and she stays quiet.

Continuing their trek into the office, every worker who has already reported to work immediately stood up and bows as a greeting. Her eyes darted around quickly to see everyone in a bowing position even after they entered the personal lift to the CEO office. “Why are the workers even bowing to greet you?” she asks.

“Babe,” he replies with a smile as he squeezes her hand quickly. “They’ve been doing this way before I took over. It’s a legacy.”

“Well, this is a legacy,” she mutters and he controls his smile from appearing, pretending that he didn’t hear it.

As the morning shift passes, Donghyuk and Youjung hardly paid attention to one another as they worked through their own workload right next to one another – Donghyuk at the table and Youjung at the couch with her papers all over the coffee table and laptop on her lap.

Occasionally, Minji would enter to bring some refreshments for the both of them, something the CEO had requested after seeing his fiancé fall asleep more than once while working through her work despite having a proper rest the night before.

They wouldn’t raise their head up from the work in front of them but reaches out blindly, hoping to grab some form of energy booster. Before entering, Donghyuk had instructed that no phone calls were to go through to him and that any last minute meetings will have to proceed without him, getting his approval at a later time. There would be movement in the room but only from the male as he walked around the spacious place as a break from the small words and never-ending terms and conditions.

Youjung remains unmoving for the longest time, simply adjusting her position or stretching her limbs, eyes glued to the screen at all times. So when Donghyuk pressed the save shortcut and closing her laptop, she glared at him before following to where he was pointing – a clock. “It’s lunchtime~” he mentions in a singsong tone, causing her lips to tug upwards. “Are we actually going to the café?”

“Not suitable for you?” she questions as she packs up the area a bit, stacking the papers nicely.

“Not in the mood for café food,” he replies before setting the device on the coffee table and leaning back on the couch. “What about takeaway?”

She scrunches up her nose as she slips on the heels that recently become the must item in her outfit. “What about… Japanese?” he asks with a childlike smile and she nods, knowing that he wanted it.

She mutters something along the line of him being a kid while she gathers her bag and ensures that her appearance was fine. They exited the office together, chatting about the dinner later on. “Kim Donghyuk is actually leaving the office?” a familiar voice was heard once the elevator doors open.

The couple looks up to see Yunhyeong with a grin as a taller male stood behind him, scarily looking alike. “This is Chanwoo, Jung Chanwoo,” the rich male introduces and the mentioned sticks out his hand towards the female who meekly replies the handshake.

“Just going on a date with my fiancé,” Donghyuk mentions, pulling her closer.

“You’re utterly smitten by her,” Yunhyeong teases with a wide grin. “I’m just here to tell you about our monthly meet up tonight. It’s at the usual place, same time.”

“You could’ve sent a message,” Donghyuk replies with a frown.

“I wanted to see if you were free for a meal too. But seeing as you need to spend time with sister-in-law,” the other says as his eyes trails over to the female, “we won’t disturb you guys further.”

They boarded the elevator together to head to the office before entering the main elevator to arrive at the lobby of the building. Youjung slowly warmed up to Chanwoo in that time period as the business partners chatted about the company. “Are you a reporter?” she asks curiously, remembering the name turning up in magazines, especially gossip magazines.

“You caught me,” he replies with his hand at the nape of his neck. “I’m a close friend of Donghyuk hyung though. So please, don’t worry.”

Youjung nods even though some part of her was still wary towards the younger male. Chanwoo looks away, fully understanding and knowing why she felt that way. He stared at Donghyuk’s back before a small smile appears at the thought of the older’s fiancé – someone who would most definitely take care of him properly, unlike the other girls he was with before.

“Jagi, let’s go~” the CEO calls out, stretching out his hand which she took without hesitation. “We’ll be going now.”

“See you soon, sister-in-law,” Yunhyeong teases as Chanwoo just nods his head and the couple heads off.

The walk to the Japanese restaurant, hand-in-hand, was filled with occasional mindless chatter as people started to whisper around them and phones hovering in their direction. Youjung unconsciously shuffles closer to Donghyuk and kept her gaze downwards. She adjusts her clothing a bit and he frowns at the sight of that. When they stop at a pedestrian crossing, a crowd had formed behind them but no one dared to step nearer to them, allowing plenty of personal space.

He leans towards her ear and whispers, “You look fine, babe. Don’t stress about your appearance.” That made her smile but insecurities still surfaced in her mind. Does my outfit look okay? Damn it. The heels do not match with this set of clothing. What was I thinking. Why is she looking at me like that? Is it my body? Am I too fat? I am sure they are mocking me in their minds, talking about how Donghyuk deserves someone better.

He tugs her along broke her train of thoughts. She stares at his back view as he leads her towards their destination. The surroundings slowly become a whirl in her eyes as her focus stayed on his back. Someone this prestigious shouldn’t have even started this fake relationship between someone like me, a commoner. I’ve been selfish, in his world, relationships are everywhere and every single moment is reported. What kind of person have I been? I say I want to make him a better person but I’m making him a worse person in the eyes of the media.

Am I someone worth his status?

Am I someone worth risking his life?

Am I someone worth protecting?

“Youjung,” his sweet voice lulls her out of her thoughts as she realizes they were standing in front of the restaurant and the crowd around them seemingly bigger. “Let’s go in?”

She pulls his tie downwards as she moved forward and their lips met.