The road is so full. After all, it is peak hour, and almost every person in Korea is rushing to get to work. Donghae sighs, resting his head against the cushion while the cars inch forward.

Today is going to be horrible. Not only is it a Monday, the first day of work, it’s also the day when he’s going to meet his future wife. It’s going to be a formal dinner, with steamboats and future mother in laws, and however important the event is going to be, his parents still haven’t told him whom he’s going to wed. It’s supposed to be a surprise. How ridiculous. All Donghae hopes is that she’ll be someone relatively nice.

Suddenly, there’s a knock on the window. Donghae looks up, and he’s shocked to see a huge panda standing there. 

“Wait…. that’s not a panda. Just a costume. Don’t freak yourself out, Donghae.” Donghae mutters to himself. Then he puts on a business like smile as he scrolls the window down, wondering what in the world a panda -costume wearing man/woman would want from him.

“Hi there! Would you like to buy some cupcakes?” The panda says brightly, holding up a batter of cupcakes to Donghae’s face, and when by its voice it’s obvious the panda is a girl. He leans back slightly, feeling that she might be taking up too much of his personal space.

“Umm…no.” Donghae refuses, pushing the batter of cupcakes out of his window. 

“Are you sure?” the panda says, a hint of pleading in her voice. Donghae stares at the cupcakes, somewhat hungrily, but he looks at his suit, and realizes he can’t afford to get it dirty.

“Nope.” Donghae says. The girl in the panda suit pauses, about to say something, but then the lines of cars move forward, and he accelerates, watching the panda get further and further away in his rear view mirror. Thank goodness that panda is gone! Pandas selling cupcakes are just…really weird.

He peers out his left window again, pleased to see that the panda has disappeared from sight.

Phew. It looks like this jam is clearing out…

Suddenly, there is a knock from the window on his right. Donghae turns, and is once again eye-to-eye with the panda. He can see the other car owners staring at the panda in bewilderment and amusement.

Donghae gapes open mouthed at the window. What is that girl doing? Standing in the middle of a road full of cars…well, granted, the cars aren’t exactly moving…

Exasperatedly, Donghae rolls the window down. “I said I don’t want cupcakes.”

The panda pushes the cupcakes in his face again. “You do,” she insists in a somewhat childish voice, “you just don’t want to get your shirt dirty.”

“Fine, I don’t want to get my shirt dirty.” Donghae growls. “Get off the road unless you want to get knocked down.

The panda pushes the cupcakes further into the car, and now Donghae’s struggling for space. “I know you do! C’mon, be a little considerate for me. I’ve been waiting here since early morning, and no one’s bought them yet…”

“You do know that it’s still six ‘o clock in the morning,” Donghae mutters. “Hardly a long time.”

“Whatever. Just buy them. Pleeease.”

“NO.” Donghae moves his car forward, and the panda runs with him, keeping up with the car. 

“DO YOU WANT TO GET YOURSELF KILLED?” Donghae shouts in frustration. The panda stops. 

“No, but you could buy a cupcake,” she intones mischievously. Donghae throws his hands over his head. 

“Fine. FINE.” Donghae fishes out his wallet, and hands her a twenty won note. “Here. How many cupcakes will that buy?”

“Five.” The panda hands him a box, but Donghae realizes that there are still a few more in her plastic bag. “How many more do you have?”

“Two more boxes.”

Donghae hands her another fifty won note. “Keep the change,” he says, as the girl tentatively hands him the other two boxes. “I don’t want you running around on the roads. It’s dangerous.”

The girl nods, and takes off the panda mascot head. Donghae sits still for a moment, surprised. The girl is older than he thought, around his age. She smiles gently. “Thanks for buying them. I thought I would have to do this till nighttime, ‘cause I have something on tonight…but never mind. Just- thank you. “

“Oh…” Donghae is still speechless, taking in her wavy brown hair and big brown eyes. He shakes himself to his senses. “Oh. Uh, it’s okay.”

“Haha. Hope my costume didn’t freak you out. It was supposed to attract customers, but… “ she rolls her eyes, laughing. “Kay. See you later, business man.”

She puts on the panda head, and strolls off to wherever people in panda costumes come from.

Donghae smiles. That was actually pretty nice. She was pretty nice. She was nice and pretty. Donghae laughs to himself and shakes his head. He can’t be thinking that, for goodness sake, he’s getting engaged tonight.

 He picks up a cupcake, and as the cars inch forward, he takes a bite.

Mmmmmm.

_____LATER_____

“Son, you’re going to be married today!” Donghae’s mother wraps her hands around Donghae, emotional and motherly and how mothers are supposed to react when their sons are getting engaged.

“Who is she? Tell me already,” Donghae says, nervous and excited and dreading the event all at once.

“You’re meeting her very soon.”

“Very soon,” Donghae rolls his eyes. “Just tell me.”

“She’s –“

Just then, the door opens. There’s a middle-aged lady, who looks as excited as his own mother. Behind her is a slender girl, wearing a long flowery dress, hiding her face. Donghae tries to contain his excitement.

“Hello, Mrs. Lee, this is my son, Donghae.” Donghae’s mother says cheerfully, perhaps too cheerfully. Regardless, her mother smiles, and holds out a hand. “Hello Mrs. Lee. And hello Donghae, you look very dashing today!”

Donghae flushes red, and shakes her hand. The lady turns to her daughter. “Lee JiEun, come say hi. Don’t be shy.”

The girl, JiEun, whispers to her mother without looking at Donghae, and he is still unable to catch a glimpse of her face. 

JiEun’s mother looks at Donghae’s mum apologetically. “I think she wants to be alone, for…you know.” Donghae’s mother nods, and they sneak out the door. Donghae is left standing there awkwardly.

“…Wow! Your last name is Lee too? This really must be fate!" Donghae laughs, trying to lighten the atmosphere.

The girl finally looks up, and Donghae is speechless. Brown eyes, and that face…. No way.

“Oh my god. You’re the panda girl.”

Donghae is happy, and shocked. What a great coincidence this is. “How-how?”

The girl looks rather surprised, too, but she suddenly says, angrily, “Don’t talk to me. You have no right. I did not agree to this.”

Gone is the playful cupcake-selling girl.

“…Whoa. What? Neither did I! But-“

“DON’T TALK TO ME!” JiEun yells. She has tears in her eyes. She stomps to the couch and flops down, crossing her arms over her chest. Donghae hurriedly sits next to her.

“Are you okay?”

“Of course,” she rolls her eyes. “Not.”

“At least you know me. You’re not getting married to some random creepy stranger.”

JiEun stares at him. “I like you a lot, but technically you’re still a random creepy stranger I chanced upon while selling cupcakes.”

“But-“

“Look, I don’t want to get married to someone I don’t love, I… I just HATE this!” JiEun cries out. 

She turns away, and Donghae suddenly gets a stupid idea.

To kiss her.

In one swift move, he turns her around by her shoulders, grabs her soft face, and presses his lips against hers. JiEun is frozen at first, shocked, but gradually, their lips start to move in sync. Donghae can taste the salty tang of JiEun’s tears, but he doesn’t care, and he starts to kiss trails down her neck. She shudders.

“Stop,” JiEun pushes Donghae away from her. She has stopped crying, and now there’s even a trace of a smile on her lips. “I know you like me, but we’re not even married yet.”

“But you’re fine with it? The marriage?” Donghae asks anxiously.

“Not yet…but I’m totally fine with the kiss, if you get what I mean,” JiEun says playfully. Donghae laughs, starting to imagine how their married life would be. He could be happy with JiEun.

Slowly, he tugs her closer to him, and places another kiss on .
 

~~ Hi, this is my first one-shot here, so I hope you liked it! It might be a bit long, haha.