“Produce me a heir.”

Jiyong scoffed at the boldness of his Mother’s words. It was a mere joke, but he felt the hint of seriousness.

“Mom, you know what way I swing.”

“Well, you’ve made it clear one too many times.” She swirled the tea in her cup and watched as the steam rose out of it. It was cold, and the winter blast happened to make her misery much worse than it already was. His Mother was a simple woman and had only wanted the best for her kids. After all, it made sense as to why his sister called him a spoilt brat.

“Regardless, it is about time you got married. It’s not a good look you know,” a sip, “People have started talking.”

“Why are you so concerned about what others say?” Jiyong pondered loudly. The last of the paperwork had found its way into another pile that would be tended to tomorrow. His polished shoes have made their way atop of the desk but are shooed down by the elder woman. Disgusted and annoyed she pulls an expression of discomfort.

“This is why you need to get married! You need someone to keep you in line, disgusting boy.”

“Mom I need a husband, not a maid.”

“At times you need both.”

At that Jiyong scoffed again. The idea of arranged marriage wasn’t one he disagreed with it was just something that he had never considered for himself. Of course, love wasn’t his top priority and never had been now that he thinks about it.

The glint in his Mother’s eyes provide more than he has bargained for and he knows he can’t put it past this smart woman.

“Jiyong, I am your Mother after all, and it is my pleasure to make this a lot easier for you.” She proclaimed as she dug into her purse. He had expected maybe several bits of paper or photos, or whatever else was in there, to be pulled out. But instead, all it was, was a passport sized photo that now sat in the palm of his hand.

The questioning look on Jiyong’s face had said it all, but some things had already been answered. The reoccurring glint in the eyes of the woman was more than enough of a giveaway of what was going to be said.

“Do you remember Mrs Lee?”

Jiyong cut her off, “The one with the adorable son?”

That had been a chapter of his life that had been secured shut. It was nothing terrible but merely the fact that both families moved on with their journeys of life. But, for the two years, he had known the Lee family, Jiyong could not forget the hyper panda-eyed three-year-old that followed him around. The boy who looked at Jiyong with stars in his eyes. The boy who would eat dripping ice-cream held by his chubby hand. How could he ever forget Seungri?

Well, his Mother just proved to him that it had been quite easy to do so as he had no idea about the whereabouts of the Lee family after they moved away all those years ago. Now, in his 20s it all came rushing back.

“I remember how upset you were when they moved overseas,” His mother stated. Jiyong had never used up as many tissues as he had in that event of goodbyes.

“He probably doesn’t even remember me.” The panda-boy had just turned three when his Father found an opportunity of a better job out of the country. It had been a tearful goodbye. The panda-eyed boy had pinky-promised him with his small hand that he would never forget his Jiyong Hyung, and that they would meet again. Of course, he had never imagined for it to be under these circumstances.

“Well, we will find that out,” his Mother sighed, “Regardless, he received a scholarship at a University here and will be staying for the year, exciting right?”

Jiyong blinked. “What does that have anything to do with getting married?”

His Mother chuckled. “Unlike you, I’ve always kept in contact with his Mother.”

“Oh?”

“And I know you’re not going to go and find someone on your own, so I figured what better reason than to marry someone that you already know!” The woman jumped in excitement.

It wasn’t even something that had crossed his mind. But his Mother was a cunning woman, and she had a way with words, she would surely convince him at some stage, and he would give in as defeat.

The silence followed, and it was much needed knowing that the man had to process this information.

“Oh my, have I broken you?”

Maybe?

“I--Mom this is absurd!” Jiyong finally answered. “Does he even know about it?”

“He agreed.”

“On what terms?”

She snickered at that. “Staying in an apartment meant paying rent, and that is expensive.”

“That isn’t included in the scholarship?”

“Not all things in life are free my dear,” She reasoned. “--And so I told his Mother he could stay with you, after all, you may get lonely sometimes.”

Jiyong directly stared at the woman in front of him. He was beginning to get a headache.

She continued, “Then I remembered all the bad talk about you not getting married, and then stuff about the company in case something happens and so on and then I had an idea.” she paused as if a lightbulb has formed itself above her head.

She leaned forward staring her son in the eyes, “I figured he can stay with you for free if he marries you.” and then a fallback and a clap of her hands as if she had presented the most brilliant idea to date.

“And before you ask, they both agreed so there is no problem at all.”

“Mom!”

--

Youngbae plopped himself down on the couch knowing that it was no time for a small therapy session. He had to stop doing this for free but being Jiyong’s best friend didn’t exactly have a price in these terms.

There had been times where he had wanted to slam-dunk Jiyong into the ground and today was one of those times. Escaping the current situation was inevitable, and they both knew that. But the fact that it was happening as soon as it was was what had scared the both of them.

“Am I supposed to sing a congratulatory song?” The question had been as innocent as ever; nonetheless, it still earned a couch pillow to the face.

“We sign the papers after he arrives.”

Seungri had been scheduled for a flight later that afternoon, and Jiyong had made sure that the apartment was presentable, spick and span. He’s not sure how their sleeping arrangements were going to be, but the guest room had been cleaned from top to bottom. There was no escaping this so he might as well had made it as comfortable as possible.

“He’s that kid you used to call panda-boy?”

Youngbae and Jiyong had