Jongin's eyes are on his fiancee, thanks to Sehun's intervention the others remain clueless, when he feels his phone vibrate. Assuming it's work, Jongin pulls his phone out, surprised to see the text.

Let's meet. RoomXXX. ~ L. Ji. 7:03pm

Jongin glances around the table. Sehun already watching him as he had seen the other head for the entrance. Jongin stands up, ignoring the disappointed look Sehun gives him. He knows his best friend is only trying to warn him, but his stupid self doesn't care.

Before slipping out the door, he glances around the ballroom but doesn't see his fiancee. As he's waiting for the elevator, he catches sight of a lone figure standing by the long window. He watches her for a few moments and his feet start moving towards her, but the elevator dings open and he loses all rational thoughts, remembering the person waiting for him.

He practically runs to his destination, panting when he enters the room. The person he's waiting for has her back to him, pouring a drink.

"Jihyun." Jongin pulls her into his arms,

"We need to stop this." Jihyun pulls away from Jongin, "Heeyoung doesn't deserve to be treated like a pawn because you're having a one-sided pissing contest with Baekhyun." Jihyun frowns,

"Excuse you?" Jongin sneers,

"If you two get married, we'll end up as in-laws. And if anyone finds out about this, it'll put us in an awkward situation." She tries to reason, pointing between them,

Jongin scoffs, "What?"

"You're being petty, Jongin. I admit I led you on and I've apologized countless times for that, but I will not leave Baekhyun. I love him while I've only seen you as a friend." She yells, startling Jongin as she's never raised her voice against him.

Jihyun tries to comfort him, but he rejects her touch, "When things get awkward, you can explain the situation to the Byuns. I refuse to cancel my business deal." He spits, slamming the door shut behind him.

He takes the stairs hoping to calm himself before making his way towards the event hall. He stops at the sight of Heeyoung still standing by the window. He turns towards the hall, but freezes seeing Jihyun walk out the elevator, while Baekhyun makes his way out of the event hall. The anger returns watching Jihyun jump into Baekhyun's arms and pull him for a kiss. Jongin heads for Heeyoung, she gives him a look asking if he wants something, but he exhales closing the distance between them.

"I apologize in advance." Jongin states, pulling her into his arms and clashing their lips together. Keeping his eyes focused on the reflecting windows, watching Jihyun and Baekhyun staring at the two wide-eyed.

Mrs.Byun drags Heeyoung around the entire room, wanting to introduce her to everyone present. Heeyoung follows along with a gentle smile, but the constant boring small talk annoys her and she excuses herself, heading out the room.

She thinks about going to the rooftop, but the view from the windows gets her attention. The smile on her face falls as a sudden wave of homesickness washes through her, reminding her of the fact she hasn't been home in over two years. Her thoughts lead her to the night when everything was ruined. Even if the day started brightly, the night ended in tears and heartbreak. As always, she finds herself thinking, had it not been for the pain, if she would have been stupid to listen to Mr.Byun's words and come back. The disappointment she went through when Mr.Byun didn't care for her, only using her to connect them with KJC.

Her trip down memory lane is cut short with a loud squeal, the reflective windows show Baekhyun dipping Jihyun as the two are engaged in a lip-lock. She's distracted from the couple with an angry Jongin. 

"I apologize in advance." She gets no warning as the next moment, he attacks her lips.

It shouldn't even be called kissing as the male seems to be venting his anger with the rough kiss. She's not happy about her backless dress, as the hands on her back feel hot with the male keeping a steady hold on her. His hands start moving and she attempts to push harder, but the man has to be a gym fanatic since all she feels is hard muscle. She feels his attempt to push his tongue into , but she knees him right in the stomach. He can only be glad, she didn't aim for di*k, as he's unsure if he could have handled it.

Heeyoung seems ready to spit fire, but the loud cheers pull their attention towards Jongin's friends gathered at the entrance of the hall. Heeyoung frowns seeing their parents head towards them. She turns to her confused fiancee, ignoring the pained look on his face in favor of cleaning the lipstick stains smeared around his lips. Jongin is momentarily shocked at the action but he returns the favor by helping her clean up as well. He smiles as it reveals another mole, just close to her lips. He attempts to fix her hair as she straightens his shirt out for him.

"How adorable." Jongin's mother coos, patting her son's cheek. Heeyoung quietly chuckles at the action, not seeing the look Jongin gives her.

"We don't mind if the two of you want to call it a night?" Jongin's father says, while the Byun couple nod along,

"You father means, we're sending you two out on a date." Jongin's mother beams at her children,

"I like that. Thank you." Jongin smiles, pulling Heeyoung close with an arm wrapped around her waist, Heeyoung goes along, putting on a polite smile.

"You're free to move into your apartment as well. Boyeon and I have already had your things moved in." Mrs.Kim informs them, surprising the couple as they both share a look.

"Everything was handled with care and your car has also been sent over." Mrs.Byun informs Heeyoung, giving her a tight hug. Heeyoung sees Mr.Byun head for her, but she quickly deflects by attaching herself to Mrs.Kim.

"You better take care of my daughter-in-law. I'll be sure to stop and check up." Mrs.Kim warns her son. The elders head back to play host, while Jongin's friends gather around them.

As everyone has their attention on Jongin, Heeyoung carefully extracts herself from the group, and quietly moves towards the stairs.

"Hi." She startles, taking a defensive stand as she turns to see a tall male behind her. 

Heeyoung nods at him as he opens the door for her, "I'll walk with you." He smiles down at her, she can't help but notice the male is at least a head taller than her.

"They're a wild bunch, but that's what keeps things interesting." He starts, his tall legs letting him jump down a couple stairs at once,

"It does." She says with a small, genuine smile.

"Why haven't we met, even though you've been here for over 2 year?" Chanyeol wonders,

"Because I kept looking for a way out of this." She answers truthfully. She expects the male to be shocked but he simply nods as if he knew her answer. The long walk down the stairs turns into quiet conversation about Heeyoung staying in his childhood city and by the time the two get to the first floor, they've already exchanged numbers.

The others are quite surprised to see them, as they're engaged in a silent conversation.

"Is everyone leaving?" Chanyeol asks, as they hand the valet their tickets,

"Video call with my baby." Jongdae chirps,

"We-"

"The car's here." Jongin nudges Heeyoung, the engaged couple quickly bids the group good-bye.

"Um." A soft voice breaks the silence of the car, as Jongin turns to look at his fiancee.

"Where are we going?" Heeyoung asks,

"Our apartment." He casually states, frowning at the panicked look on Heeyoung's face before she schools her expression, 

"Are we expected to share a room?" She wonders out loud,

"I'm not sure. I guess it depends on how many bedrooms there are. Though my parents are somewhat old-fashioned, they wouldn't want a scandal before the wedding, but the wedding is in two weeks, so they wouldn't care if they have grandkids soon." Jongin teases, slightly disappointed as she manages to keep a blank face at his teasing.

Would you like dining out or getting take-out?" Jongin asks, trying to move past the somewhat awkward atmosphere he created,

"Take out would be better." She nods,

"Alright." Jongin nods, getting back on the road. Half an hour later, Jongin pulls up in front of a large gate, however with a simple click on his phone, the gates swing open letting him drive in.

"You're going to have to download the app on your phone." Jongin informs her.

"Look for Building D." He instructs,

"It's straight ahead." She answers, looking over the signs,

He has a small smile hearing her calm voice, of course he knows where he's headed. He's the one who chose for them to move here, since his self-proclaimed best friend lives there. His parents did offer to give them a house, but he didn't want them setting their hopes high on the wedding, because he was only in it for the shares. Not that the apartment is horrible either, with Sehun's picky personality, he would never have stayed here if they weren't anything above average.

"There." Heeyoung points, observing the buildings as she points out, "They're American style apartments."

"Yeah, they're built by Song apartments, so they would be different." Jongin chuckles, pointing towards another building, "Sehun stays there." He informs her.

"What unit are we?" Heeyoung asks,

"Unit 8, it's on the second floor." He replies, frowning as she heads for the stairs,

"There's an elevator." He points out,

"It's only two flights." She says, leaving Jongin no choice but to follow after her.

~

Heeyoung notes only four units on each floor, with theirs the one on the back, left. Jongin opens the door for her, letting her go inside first. The shoe cabinet is stuffed with house slippers, "The guys come over quite a bit." Jongin explains, as they head inside.

The hallway leads to an open space with the kitchen and dining table on their left and living room and balcony on the right. The huge entertainment center is packed with multiple gaming consoles along with several different games to play on each of the systems.

"Both the bedrooms are furnished, you can get first pick." Jongin tells her, leading her towards the bedrooms, 

Heeyong scans the first room, intended to be a guest room first, before heading towards the master bedroom.

"I'll take the first one." She tells him,

"Did you not like this one?"

"You have more things than me. It would be a hassle to move them." She explains, heading towards the closet.

"I don't think that's a good idea. We'll both be in trouble if my mother finds out." Jongin frowns,

"You're right. I guess we'll be sharing a closet." She sighs, heading for the closet. "I need to freshen up first, but do you mind meeting back in the living room? I'm sure we both have things to say."

"No problem."

~

By the time Heeyoung gets to the living room, Jongin has finished two beer cans and half a pizza.

"Let's make one thing clear." Jongin starts, not even giving her a chance to properly sit. "This is strictly business. I don't care about your expectations from this sorry excuse of a marriage. However, we have to continue our act of being in love. I don't care what happens in your life, but keep the h*ll out of mine. We're only a couple in the public eye, Understand." He states,

After the door shut behind her, he was finally able to pull himself together and knew a clear line had to be established. No matter how kind she seems, he can't let her take advantage of him, especially not is she's anything like Baekhee.

"Sit down." Heeyoung instructs, when she sees him attempt to stand,

"You've stated your conditions, now it's my turn now." She starts, "I'm glad we're both aware of our stand regarding this business deal. I will do my absolute best of portraying you as an amazing husband, so work on your acting skills. We're going to also be keeping our lives separate, so never forget that. However, what happened at the hotel was unacceptable, and if that were to happen again, it won't be your stomach I'll be aiming for. You might be used to kissing strangers, but I'm not. I'll be moving my things out from your room tomorrow, if anyone finds out, lie for all I care. Thank you for the pizza." She grabs two slices along with a water bottle before heading towards her room, leaving Jongin gaping after her.

Hearing the door shut behind Heeyoung, Jongin turns on a random gaming console as he tries to gather his thoughts. The pros of getting married include becoming a major shareholder of KJC and pushing him closer to the Chairman position, while he'll gain access to Byun Enterprises shares. Disregarding BE, why Byun Heeyoung? Was she the biggest name among all the prospects or was it because his mother pushed him towards her or the fact she's connected to Byun Baekhyun, and in turn Lee Jihyun.

He met Lee Jihyun almost 10 years ago during piano lessons. They became good friends and they also attended the same high school along with the rest of their friends. At first, he didn't think much as bounced from one girl to another while Jihyun never paid attention to relationships as she was focused on staying at the top of everything. After high school, they choose to attend the same university as almost all Kim family members have gone there. He didn't realize his feelings for Jihyun until he saw her paying more attention to others. After realizing, he didn't want to wait and immediately started making plans to confess, going against the advice from his twin and best friend. However, the day he thought would be one of the happiest in his life, left him heartbroken as he saw Jihyun run into Baekhyun's arms as the older decided to surprise her with some time-off from his mandatory duties.

Seeing Jihyun happy, Jongin decided to move on and it seemed to work, until Jihyun out of the blue showed up at his doorsteps, sobbing since Baekhyun broke up with her. His heart came to life once again as he thought this would be his chance to swoop in. It seemed to be working as the two started meeting up much more frequently for things such as coffee dates, movie dates, dinner dates and nights spent dancing at clubs. He thought he was successful as one night she took a step towards him. They were both drunk out of their minds, but even if he wasn't, he knew he wouldn't have hesitated to give in to her kisses and touches as they spend the night exploring each other.

The morning after Jongin woke up to an empty bed along with a simple text asking him to forget last night as it was one of the biggest mistakes she made in her life and they never should have crossed the line between friendship. He spent the next few days searching after her for a clear answer, neglecting work and everything. But when he saw her the next time, she was wearing Baekhyun's engagement ring. 

After the horrible rejection, Jongin sought comfort in alcohol and meaningless . Rock bottom is a place he's been and it's awful, lonely and disgusting. Had it not been for his family, he's not sure he could have climbed out. Jongin never thought himself as weak, never could he have imagined sacrificing his career over love but he stupidly almost ruined his life, in the name of unrequited love. Soon, the day long drinking sessions became day long meetings and many nights were spent in the office trying to catch up on his work, though he still occasionally went out for fun. The unhealthy coping mechanism worked and pushed him up the ladder pretty quickly, going from a project head to managing his own department and one day, he aims to become the Chairman. 

Initially, he had rejected the Byun Alliance; no level of desperation could force him to marry Byun Baekhee. She's a beautiful woman, but her childish personality and dark heart overshadow her looks. The first time he heard about Byun Heeyoung, he was confused since Baekhyun never mentioned a second sister. A sister whose shares surpass Baekhyun and Baekhee's combined. Once his mother heard about Heeyoung, she strongly pushed for the alliance with Heeyoung and never has his mother's decision harmed him.

Heeyoung, she hasn't harmed him but seeing her reminds him of Baekhyun and he can't help lashing out at her.

~

Heeyoung angrily types out an email, relaying the events of her day. They couldn't even get past the first night without arguing. Are they going to spend the rest of their lives arguing? Can they separate once they've reached their goals? Not all arranged marriages work out, some more toxic than others. But, she didn't want that, she didn't want to walk on eggshells at home. She wanted to relax when she was at home, not be mentally aware of the stranger living under the same roof. She doesn't expect them to fall in love, heck she hopes they don't. However, she does want to try to live as at least friends or roommates. What's difficult about being civil.

Shutting the laptop, Heeyoung falls on her back, plugging her headphones as she drifts off to sleep.