Thanks to the skyscrapers reflecting sun rays into his office, Daniel found himself blinded not only by the sunlight but also by the delicately engraved mental image of Jihyun he had seen a few days ago. His brain couldn't (and refused) to erase the scene where she was diligently sitting by the window of her workplace, engrossed in her task. Her radiance was almost heavenly, giving the sun a run for its money as Daniel had been completely captivated enough for him to recall the moment over and over again many days later. He had caught himself daydreaming about his neighbour many times after the daunting dinner with his parents where he had introduced Jihyun as his fiancée. For the first time since he had known the girl, Daniel finally acknowledged his feelings for her. She meant a lot to him, more than just a neighbour and certainly no longer as a personal chef, but nowhere near a significant other. Is she a friend? They unquestionably interacted casually now with the constant pranks he'd pull on her and their endless witty banters. The girl could’ve easily ruined his plans and reputation by acting like a complete jerk or exposing their lies, but she acted the opposite by trying her best to make a good first impression on his parents in her words and actions as if she was really his fiancée.

Daniel shifted his gaze from the dull white ceiling to look at the sky aimlessly through the glass walls of his office, openly ignoring his colleague Ha Sungwoon who was chattering away about his routine weekly presentation. The manager of the Research and Development Department was not completely oblivious of the director’s decreasing attention as he recited the list of newly developed products and their respective findings for the past thirty minutes. Sungwoon noticed that it wasn't the first time the boy's thoughts had wandered off in the middle of their meeting as evidenced by Daniel’s dry responses consisting of 'okay', 'I agree' and 'great!', each one sounding less convincing than the last, “You weren’t listening,” Sungwoon sighed, raising his voice and tapping the table with his fountain pen to win Daniel’s attention.

Indeed his findings were significant when Daniel repeated the same response in a monotonous and disinterested tone, “Yeah, I’m listening,” he glanced briefly in the manager’s direction and waved his hands, signalling Sungwoon to finish the rest of his presentation.

His lacklustre response made Sungwoon frown, “No, you’re not. I’m trying to have a serious discussion with you,” he curtly replied. Deciding that the briefing could continue at another time when Daniel doesn’t have his head up in the clouds, he closed his laptop shut and leaned back in his chair, “Want to share what’s in your head right now?” Sungwoon offered, turning off his serious professional tone into a friendly one. Since a serious meeting was impossible anyway, he chose to take a break and entertain his friend’s daydream.

“Thanks for putting me as your substitute best man,” Daniel began by expressing his gratitude to his friend. It was uncharacteristic of him to be revealing his silly daydreams to anyone, but considering that Sungwoon is a good friend and had a small contribution in this matter, he conceded. Besides, Daniel felt like bursting into pieces if he were to keep the thoughts bottled up inside, untouched.

Sungwoon pondered for a while with furrowed eyebrows, trying to comprehend the meaning behind his words. He was appointed as Seongwu’s best man a month before the wedding thanks to his longtime friendship with the newlywed. Unfortunately, after a crazy night of endless pre-wedding toasts at the bachelor party, Sungwoon ended up in the emergency ward with an IV needle stuck to the back of his hand and a diagnosis from the doctor that he was unfit to perform his duty as the groom’s right-hand man. In his bedridden state, Daniel’s was the only name he could think of as his replacement while he apologized to the groom repeatedly before being wheeled into a ward, “Are you talking about Yoon Jihyun, the maid of honor at Seongwu’s wedding?” Sungwoon threw the dart, hoping that he’d hit the bullseye with the assumption.

Daniel neither approved nor rejected his friend’s deduction, but his body language gave away the answer as he sat up straighter in his seat and smiled hesitantly.

Sungwoon snickered quietly and shook his head in disbelief, “It’s rare for you to be thinking that much about a woman,” he pointed out, taking a sip from his cup of coffee that had turned cold. Considering how Daniel’s previous relationship had ended on a bad note, Sungwoon contemplated his hasty decision in sending the boy as his substitute because he was afraid that it would rekindle past heartbreak. Instead, maybe he should give himself a pat on the back for killing two birds with one stone by making Seongwu’s wedding a success and unintentionally setting up Daniel with a potential love interest, “You’re attracted to her don’t you?” he teased, hoping that it would encourage Daniel to spill the tea.

It’s funny how someone else’s misery became someone else’s happiness. The bedridden Sungwoon gave Daniel the opportunity to share a special moment of walking down the aisle with Jihyun and see a different side of her that he quickly grew fond of. Thanks to the fateful night, Daniel was also struck with the realization that he had started caring for his beautiful neighbour. The pair’s relationship snowballed from there, where he learned that Jihyun was wary of new relationships after her break-up from how adamant she was in keeping the knowledge of their acquaintance a secret from her brother, to how flustered she got when her mother happily misunderstood that Daniel was her new lover. His newfound affection for Jihyun was tested with the presence of a potential rival Lee Donghae and the unnerving stalker incident where he learned that he cared enough to feel jealous when other men showed interest in her and are concerned for her safety in the presence of danger. Believe it or not, Daniel had been reminding himself to forget about Jihyun for a moment and concentrate on more important tasks in hand but failed miserably.

“She hit me with a car, threw fruit punch all over my face, almost poisoned me with her cooking, made up for it by being my personal chef, knocked out a stalker when I’m supposed to be the hero and now even pretended to be my fiancée,” Daniel summarized the series of memorable events he’d experienced since knowing Jihyun for the past two months in a single sentence, “She's… she’s extraordinary,” Daniel added proudly. In spite of their out of the ordinary interactions and neighbours rivalry, Daniel was pleasantly surprised when Jihyun reciprocated by displaying rare acts of kindness and affection. To him, it was a sliver of hope that it wasn’t a one-sided infatuation.

Sungwoon almost choked on his drink at the last statement, staring with his mouth agape while questioning whether he misheard the word ‘fiancée’. He’d heard stories of how successful Seongwu’s wedding was and how the best man and maid of honor had captivated the wedding guests so much so that they were mistaken as the bride and groom instead. Their friend Seongwu didn’t fail to mention how he’d caught Daniel stealing glances at Jihyun and the intimate dance they shared on the dance floor. However, the groom also relayed a shocking truth that the maid of honor was not only his bride’s cousin, but she was related to one of Daniel’s co-workers, “If I remember correctly, she’s related Yoon Jisung. Does he know that his boss has taken a fancy to his sister?” Sungwoon cautiously raised the question. Based on the few interactions he had with Yoon Jisung due to work, he couldn’t imagine how the colleague would react if he knew the truth, “But honestly Daniel, it’s not like you to get attached,”

“It’s funny really. I can’t believe it myself. Yoon Jihyun’s just different,”

*******************

“What are you looking at? Is there something on my face?” Jihyun questioned, taking a paper napkin and fishing out a mirror from her purse to check her appearance. She couldn’t enjoy her meal peacefully and felt uncomfortable to face him due to the constant gazes Daniel had been giving her. Thanks to his relentless effort in ringing her doorbell early that morning, Jihyun found herself eating brunch at a table for two in a café famous as a dating spot for couples. Waiting for her order to arrive never felt excruciatingly awkward and long as she was forced to sit in a small both so close to Daniel till their knees grazed each other while being surrounded by lovers showering affections to one another. When asked why he had chosen the particular eatery, Daniel simply stated that it was located close to their next destination and he’d always wanted to try their famous chicken burritos. She had leapt from her seat when the pager buzzed, thankful that she didn’t have to make a lame excuse to leave the booth and take a breather.

Jihyun found herself unable to look at Daniel in the eyes whenever they interacted ever since she overheard his confident declaration in front of his parents. There was also a slight improvement in how he’d treated her; the playful pranks and witty exchange of words were still present, but Jihyun could see more of his heart-fluttering smile and hear his addictive husky laughter. She always knew Daniel had an attractive deep voice, but she didn’t expect that he would ever talk to her in a calmer, more earnest and almost affectionate tone enough to make her weak in the knees. Jihyun almost had a heart attack when Daniel suddenly appeared behind her as she was collecting their food from the counter and wrapped his cardigan around her waist while whispering how some men were staring at her legs because she wore a skirt. Jihyun could’ve sworn Daniel had sent death stares at those men when he took the heavy tray of food from her hands and escorted her back to their table. The situation made it feel like a date and his manly actions made her feel like his girlfriend. Was she dreaming or did someone exchanged the real Kang Daniel with an overly polite and caring robot?

“Can’t I look?” He replied casually, stealing some chips from her plate, “You can stare at me too if you want to be even,” Daniel surprised even himself with the sudden daring suggestion that easily escaped past his lips.