The sound of the airplane engine roaring as they ready to take off filled Taeyeon’s hearing senses, it tickled her ears. She’s up before the break of dawn and sits cozily in their company’s private plane used for official business purposes. Times like this gives Taeyeon a moment to let her mind wander on things of no business concerns but a deeper dive on personal ones; things and happenings Taeyeon tend to ignore on regular days in favor of more pressing matters like running a multi-million dollar company.

And in silence at this wee hour in the morning with the plane stabilize on the air and the engine noise dies down to a silent hum, Taeyeon thinks. She thinks about her life, the bachelorette life she’s officially given up to get married; she thinks about Jessica Jung, the gorgeous stone cold-faced woman with a warmth hidden beneath, how she’s both distant and familiar now.

Taeyeon did not know what made her agree with what her parents wanted, initially she’s just going with the flow because it’s good for business. They want her to marry the eldest of the Jungs for her own good they say, though thinking back to the time it was first opened up to her she wanted to suggest they can do business dealing without such legally binding ties – but it’s a futile attempt to thinking her mother wouldn’t probably budge. She’s the one who wants Taeyeon to marry the most, like she’s tired seeing her one and only child being single and with a non-existent dating life. And now, she's just fond of the other woman.

Ironic, how her parents were the ones getting tired of her single, dateless life. She’s actually fine with it though, she considered not marrying at all, even. Her dream of a happy life with someone she’ll call her other half disappeared five years ago – and she’s not even her girlfriend! No, but she was her best friend, the person who knows her best, the only person she’s harbored deep feelings for like no other. But she left, she left when Taeyeon was finally able to muster the courage to confess her feelings. She disappeared just like that and had left Taeyeon with her unspoken confession.

They moved back to the US without even telling her, didn’t even try to contact Taeyeon, has avoided her on purpose. A couple of years back Taeyeon went to see her in person, booked a one-way ticket to California only to be greeted by the sight of Miyoung with a child just about the age of two, a splitting image of her. Taeyeon put two and two together, and decided it’s best not to show herself. She went back to Seoul nursing a broken heart, confused and hurt. Confused over the fact that Miyoung now has a child, was she married or a child out of wedlock? Hurt over the fact that her best friend took off leaving her in the dark, she’s even more hurt knowing Miyoung chose not to tell her what she was going through, isn’t that what best friends are for? So then on, Taeyeon chose not to try to contact her anymore.

It wasn’t so hard to get back on track after that month-long rebellion, if she can even call it that. Taeyeon went on with her life like nothing happened, it’s easy to get lost in the sea of faces at work or outside, and drown in piles of workload, but she didn’t think she could still fall in love again.

Maybe that was her reason for agreeing to this arranged marriage after all.

If she would not fall in love again, she might as well give her parents what they want – it’s okay if she’s not experiencing happiness that comes from being in love, as long as she makes her parents proud, it’s a good enough exchange for her own happiness. She can settle down, maybe have children if Jessica wants to,