Chapter 5

The Proposal

“Lalisa, will you marry me?”

Lisa stared at him in disbelief. Taehyung’s voice sounded very clear and sure, but why it was hard for her to believe what he just said. Was he joking?

“What did you say, oppa?”

“You heard me, Liz. Let’s get married”

Every girl who put themselves in her shoes might immediately say yes. How come his handsome face looks very serious and convincing.

they were lovers, Lisa might be happy to accept it. Smiling, saying "yes I do" then hugged him like a drama. But unfortunately, they were not. They weren’t even friends but a couple of strangers who were involved into a crazy plan that relates to their future.

“You kidding me oppa” Lisa shook her head in disbelief as she let go of his hand.

“I know this may sound crazy, Liz. I know you won’t believe this but I'm serious about it”

“You..” Lisa was speechless. She had no idea what to say ‘cos it was too sudden for her. “.. seriously oppa, what’s wrong with you? I mean didn’t you disagree with this plan before? Didn’t you promise me to find a way to cancel this marriage? but now you’re just asking me to get married. Are you out of your mind?”

“Yeah, I did want to call off this wedding” He sighed desperately as he stared at the sky. “.. but this is my grandmother's last wish, Lisa-yah. I haven’t had time to make her happy. Even when I have reached this point, I have never given anything to her.

Taehyung turned to her and found a pair of beautiful eyes watching him carefully. He smiled, realizing that beautiful eyes of the girl sitting next to him had managed to make him feel calm and warm amid his sadness.

“Grandma and also my parents chose you to become my wife. It sounds crazy, I know. But for this once I want to grant their wishes and make them happy. Don’t you feel the same way, Liz?”

She stunned to hear his question. Her thought then drifted to a phone conversation with her mom shortly after their first encounter with Kim family in Daegu. At that time, her mom kept asking her to accept the wedding plan. She told Lisa that she and her biological dad had been arranged by their parents before.

They refused at first, but over time they finally fell in love to each other even though her dad had to leave them first because of cancer he suffered. Her mom believed that her parent’s choice would never go wrong. Lisa remembered how her mother was so sure that Taehyung would become a loving and responsible husband for her.

“…” Lisa kept shut as she stared somewhere, ignoring his eyes.

“Say something, Lisa”

Lisa heaved a sigh. She was so clueless. It wasn’t just a question like “Will you come to my concert?” or “would you be my girlfriend?”, not that simple. He just asked her to get married when she was only 19 for God’s sake. She hasn’t even dated before.

“We just know each other, oppa. I don’t know who you are and you also have no idea about me” she finally voiced out.

“We can learn to understand each other”

“…” his answer is still not convincing

“Lisa listen to me..” then once again he held her palm to make her looking at him in the eyes. “… I know you very much doubt me. I know maybe I’m not the dream guy you want to be your husband. I’m selfish, careless, silly, dumb, alien, whatever you say I don’t care! But seriously I promise I’ll make this marriage work on us.”

Lisa stunned to hear his confession. She could say that the man next to her is a great actor. What he just said sounds so real and convincing. Even his eyes, OMG she must admit that she’s melting by his intense gaze.

“We can slowly get to know each other. I won’t restrain you, no you’re free to do whatever you want and even continue your career. Don’t take this as a burden, liz, let’s just say I’m your friend, not your husband”

“Does it mean this marriage is just a play?” she frowned

Taehyung paused, not expecting her to ask about that. “No, no I didn’t say that. I just don’t want you to feel overwhelmed. I understand this will be very hard for us, especially you ‘cos you’re still too young for this”

“Oppa, what if we will not fall in love with each other? What if we find