“Marry me, Eun Mi.” Moon Bin whispered as he kneeled down in front of his childhood friend. Son Eun Mi sank down onto the wooden bench. Her lips hung slightly apart and her eyes widened in surprise. She stared at him in disbelief. “Moon Bin-a, are you serious?”

“Yes, let’s get married.” He said and took her hands into his. He gazed upon her face and felt sorry for asking her that favour, especially when she was having a hard time right now. But, he believed that it was the best choice for both of them.

She narrowed her eyes and curled her fingers into fists in his hands. “No.” She said and pulled them away from him. She knew what he was thinking and yet she couldn’t bring herself to agree with his idea. Instead, it infuriated her even more because it was not right. This is so wrong! This is ridiculous! She got up and stomped towards the street. Even so, she got pulled back and found herself facing him again. She huffed in irritation, “You must have lost your mind. Why should we get married? Why?!”

“Then, what should we do?” His voice raised slightly upon her angry words. He squinted his eyes when his headache came again, rippling across his forehead. He hadn’t been sleeping properly since last week. Every time he placed his head on the pillow, the problem would come into his mind and naturally he would think over and over again for the solution until he realised that another morning had greeted him once again. He closed his eyes for seconds and took a deep breath. His voice sounds gentler when he spoke up again, “Do you have any better idea? The wedding is on this weekend and Son ahjussi is not feeling well.”

She turned her head away and bit her lower lip, frustrated for not being able to answer his question. It was too late for them to stop the marriage since all preparation was done. The hall was booked and the dress and tuxedo were finished. Even the invitations had been given out to the guests. She felt like she was really going to insane with the guilt. If she rejected him, the wedding would be cancelled and both of them would have their freedom back. But it would bring a huge shame on both of their families and she couldn’t let that happen. Especially when her father was lying sickly on the bed right now. But then again, she didn’t want to marry, just not yet. She grunted as she blamed all of this on Son Hye Min, her elder sister. Hye Min should objected at the first place when their parents proposed the idea if she wasn’t going to marry him. Eun Mi looked at Moon Bin again as she finally realised that he was actually the one in the worst place. “Will everything be okay?”

He plastered a smile on his face when she finally looked at him again. Though, he felt like his heart was breaking as he watched the tears were pooling in her eyes. The last time he saw her like that was ten years ago when both of them were nine.

Moon Bin, Eun Mi and Hye Min were close since their childhood because their parents were best friends. Actually, their parents never thought the idea of being in-law until one day when young Hye Min spouted that she loved Moon Bin. She was only four years old meanwhile Moon Bin were two at that time. Thus, their parent proposed to them once again when Hye Min graduated from her high school. Hye Min accepted it with a big heart and Moon Bin had no excuse to oppose it. Everything was going great between them even when Hye Min went to university. Soon, the father of the sisters asked to fasten the marriage as his health got worse over time and still, the couple agreed. However, their plans got out of the hands when Hye Min suddenly came back one week before the wedding and said that she couldn’t marry him anymore. She disappeared on the very next day and Son Family was only left with a letter of apologies.

Moon Bin always thought that would only happen in movie or novel but he was proved that he was absolutely wrong. He gulped down the bitter taste in his mouth and slowly pulled Eun Mi into his embrace. He closed his eyes and gave her a light nod. “Don’t worry, everything is going to be okay.”

Eun Mi clutched at the sides of his shirt and leaned her heavy head on his sturdy chest. She sighed and mumbled under her breath. “But, we are still in high school.”

***

Cha Ji Yeon barged into her brother’s room and hugged him from behind. “Eun Woo oppa~!” Eun Woo, on the other hand, who was packing up his stuffs for going back to hostel burst into a chortle. He knew that she had something up in her mind because she would never call him ‘oppa’ if there was nothing. “Mmm...What do you want now?” He glanced and continued folding his clothes even though his sister was clinging on to his neck giddily.

“Let’s play!” She grinned.

“Okay, wait for a while. I’ll finish this first.”

“Alright~!” Ji Yeon jumped on her feet excitedly and slumped herself on his bed as he agreed upon her request. Her smile widened from ear to ear by only imagining the multiple challenging stages which she could complete easily in the video games.

Suddenly, the door of his bedroom opened once again and her mom appeared from behind it, standing in the doorway. She opened to say something to Eun Woo and yet, her forehead wrinkled into a frown when she looked at Ji Yeon. “What are you doing in his room?”

“I’m waiting for him to play game.”

“Did you already finished with packing up your things?” Her mom raised an eyebrow and Ji Yeon just beamed sheepishly upon the question. Her mom shook her head and emitted a heavy sigh. “Don’t call me later, saying that you forgot or left your things behind. I would just switch off my phone even before you call me.”

“I understand.” Ji Yeon replied before a cheeky grin crept onto her