Two months, I’ve been married to Choi Siwon for two months and no one knows. Kim Haneul thought.  I guess that’s not exactly true. His family knows, my uncle and cousin know, the judge that married us knows and the CEO of SM ….. but, the public, the fangirls? They are completely clueless. It was my husband’s idea but I agreed. The thought of the ELFs knowing scares me. She couldn’t help but shake her head as she put the now clean rice in the cooker.

    She jumped at the sound of the code being entered and the front door opening. Her husband wasn’t supposed to be home for another hour. She hurried into the living room. “I’m so sorry nampyeon,” Haneul bowed. “I thought your schedule was different so dinner won’t be ready for another hour. Would you like a snack?” She looked over at the doorway when no reply came and found a shocked Donghae and Eunhyuk.

    “Uh, isn’t this Siwon hyung’s house?” Eunhyuk asked Donghae after several minutes of awkward silence.

    “Yes,” Haneul answered instead. “My name is Kim Haneul. My husband Choi Siwon will be home in about an hour. Would you like a drink or some fruit?”

    “Husband? Hyung isn’t married,” Donghae said. “Look, I know you’re a fan and you love hyung, but you can’t just break into his house and make him dinner.”

    “Or call yourself his wife,” Eunhyuk chimed in. Haneul couldn’t help but start laughing, which most likely just confirmed her status as a sasaeng.

    “I’m not a fan,” Haneul waved her hands in protest. “I mean, I do like Super Junior, but not enough to stalk you guys or anything. I’m really married to Choi Siwon. You can call him or his manager to prove it.” She paused. “Or go upstairs, in the master bedroom, you’ll find all of my things in there.”

    Eunhyuk rushed upstairs while Donghae phoned Siwon. Haneul didn’t wait for them to confirm what she already knew. She went back into the kitchen to continue preparing dinner. She was dicing some vegetables for a salad when the two joined her in the kitchen.

    “Sorry we doubted you,” Donghae said. “Hyung hadn’t mentioned anything about you or his marriage. We didn’t know.”

    “That’s to be expected,” Haneul replied with a soft smile. “We didn’t marry for love, I’m sure he wanted a place where he could forget my existence.” Donghae and Eunhyuk looked at each other out of the corner of their eyes and shifted in their seats. “That sounded incredibly bitter!” Haneul laughed. “I’m sorry, I made you uncomfortable. What I meant is that I understand that Siwon-ssi doesn’t love me but I care for him greatly and I’m happy with my life.”

    “Why did you marry if you're not in love,” Eunhyuk questioned.

    “It’s simple,” Haneul replied, never stopping cooking. “He married me so that his sister wouldn’t have to marry my playboy cousin. I married him because my uncle wanted to tie with Siwon-ssi’s father’s company.”

    “That doesn’t seem very fair to you,” Donghae said gently.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

    Siwon had already been on his way home when Donghae called. He was sure Haneul’s appearance in their house had shocked his friends much more than their arrival had shocked her. In the two months they’ve been married, Siwon had found that Kim Haneul is unflappable. She’s learned to take life as it comes to her and adapts herself to it calmly. He didn’t think he’d ever seen her angry or excited actually.

    Siwon entered the house quietly and followed the voices to the kitchen. When he heard the questions his friends were asking Haneul, he decided to stay out of sight. They were drawing her out, causing her to open up to them. They were getting to know his wife more than he had ever tried to.

    “That doesn’t seem very fair to you,” Donghae said. “Wasn’t your happiness thought of? What about your parents?”

    “My parents died when I was eight. My uncle sent me out of the country soon after that. I’ve always known that he would arrange a marriage for me that was profitable for him,” Haneul said. Siwon almost gasped from shock. He had known none of this before. “I actually consider myself lucky. My husband is exactly the type of man I’ve prayed for. He’s a Christian man who has treated me with respect.”

    Siwon felt like hitting his head on the wall. Respect, the best she could say is that I’ve treated her with respect. How could she consider herself lucky to be married to me? He wondered. I didn’t even tell my friends, my brothers, that I’d married her!

    “Do you always take your wedding ring off while you cook?” Siwon heard Eunhyuk ask Haneul. He began to feel panic. He had forgotten about rings! He’d never bought her a ring!

    In the kitchen, Haneul looked at her hands silently. “Ah,” she paused. “I don’t have a wedding ring. This is a political wedding. I suppose Siwon-ssi will buy us rings before we go public with the marriage. If he chooses to make it public. I’m sure that him wearing a ring now would just cause him an unwanted scandal.”

    “Well, hyung is going to have to introduce you to the rest of SuJu. We’ll make sure of that,” Eunhyuk said, throwing his arm around Donghae’s shoulders.

    “Quite right,” said Siwon, coming into the kitchen and starting the trio in there. “Are you busy tomorrow ahneh?”

    “Oh, not at all,” Haneul replied. She quickly hurried to get him a drink from the fridge. She handed it to him and he took it without a sign of acknowledgement. Eunhyuk and Donghae exchanged a look.

    “Good,” he said. “You can come with me to our practice room tomorrow and meet everyone. Well, all but Yesung hyung. He’s still doing his military duty.”

    “That sounds like an excellent plan,” Haneul replied. “I’ll make food for everyone. I was planning on making kimbap for your lunch. I’ll just make enough for all of you then.” She turned to get more rice soaking when her cell phone went off. She checked the Caller ID and smiled. “Ahjussi.” Haneul answered the phone and went into the next room in order to not disturb the men with her phone call.

    “Well hyung,” Eunhyuk said as soon as Haneul was out of the room. “What kind of prank is this? You’ve been married for two months and never felt the need to tell your brothers or buy your wife a ring?”

    “I know,” Siwon sighed and put his face in his hands. “I didn’t know how to tell you guys. And as for the ring …. I completely forgot about it. I wish I had had the reason she ascribed to me. The truth is, I have resented her and I still do some now. She says I’ve been respectful of her but it’s been the respect born of indifference not of care.” He groaned and shook his head at his own callousness.

    Before the three could talk anymore about Siwon’s faults as a husband or how to remedy them, Haneul returned with a skip in her step and a bright smile on her face. A smile Siwon was stunned to see. He suddenly realized that while they’ve been married he had never seen her so happy or so beautiful.

    “Who was on the phone ahneh?” he couldn’t stop himself from asking. Two months worth of indifference gave way before her beautiful smile.

    “Oh, it was ahjussi, my uncle’s secretary,” Haneul replied. “He’s taken care of me since he began working for samchon when I was thirteen. He’s found the perfect place for me to volunteer here in Seoul.” She clapped her hands in excitement. Siwon wished to ask her about this opportunity but he suddenly felt hesitant. He didn’t want her to wonder at his sudden change in behavior. She might ask him questions that he had no answer for yet.