Jiwon kept staring, wide-eyed and mouth open until she realized how dumb she probably looked and promptly fixed her expression.

On the other hand, the man who was now sitting next to her kept a steady hold on her hand that was placed on top of the table. It had been a full fifteen minutes since the stranger suddenly appeared out of nowhere and gave her the shock of her life, but she still hasn’t been able to pull herself together and join the happy conversation that was now taking place.

On second thought, was it right to call this man a stranger? Jiwon might have been living overseas for a long time, but she still made it a point to read and watch Korean news. She was not so clueless about the people within the business circle, and this particular creature has appeared on newspaper and television way too many times already. This man is CEO Kim Junmyeon of Kim Global Group, one of the largest and most successful conglomerates in Asia.

So the million-dollar question for today is why the hell is this business magnate claiming to be my supposedly non-existent fiancé? Why is he here when he just announced his upcoming wedding today? (She was on the plane watching the news when the wedding report came out.)

Pulling her mind out of the gutter, the first thing she managed to register was her mom’s giggles as she pays attention to the man.

“This is not some kind of prank, is it? And I’m not being delusional, am I?” Mrs. Yoo was asking Junmyeon, as if consulting and asking for confirmation from her trusted psychotherapist. She looked like she wanted to jump up and down out of excitement.

The CEO gave an amused smile and shook his head, “No, madam. It is real. Your daughter and I are getting married.”

Jiwon audibly gasped at the bold declaration. She wanted to jump up and down too, but because of frustration. What the hell is happening right now?

“Jiwon, why aren’t you saying anything?” Mr. Yoo asked, and suddenly all the attention was being directed to the heiress. She was absolutely not prepared to be abruptly put on the spotlight, but she managed to not look like a confused and clueless fool.

“Huh? Oh, n-nothing, Daddy. Please don’t mind me. I’m just a bit… overwhelmed to see Junmyeon tonight. We had no plans of meeting today. Right, love?” She mimicked the endearment that the CEO had given her earlier, trying not to visibly cringe at the word.

No plans of meeting, my . Of course we had no plans. We don’t know each other to begin with.

She could not even fathom why she was going along with this. Jiwon’s mind went into overdrive when Junmyeon smiled at her again, but it would totally not be ideal to break down now.

“Yes, well, I have seen the news about your announcement to the media today, Mr. Kim,” the old man started. “I had planned to congratulate you personally. I didn’t expect that you’ll be marrying my daughter.”

“If I may ask, are you against the marriage, Sir?”

“Oh, no, my dear boy. You misunderstand me. I am delighted, no less. Just a bit surprised is all. You are getting married in the next month but you only inform us now.”

Jiwon did not know what to say. Obviously, the only thing left to do at this point is to lie.

“It was a surprise, Daddy. Junmyeon deliberately did not mention his fiancée’s name to the media because we wanted to surprise you,” she immediately said.

Junmyeon looked impressed at the heiress’ quick thinking. Thank God she was playing along well. He had already started this madness, so there’s no turning back now. He’d explain his plan to her if they get the chance to be alone.

“Nonetheless, we wanted to help with anything we can help with. Jiwon is our precious daughter after all,” Mrs. Yoo said. Jiwon wished her parents would just believe them and stop making things harder than it is for her to handle.

“I’m sorry for not thinking about your sentiments, Ma’am. We just really wanted to surprise you with the good news and have you not worry about the preparations. Everything is taken care of, I assure you,” the CEO explained.

Jiwon’s hand on the table was now sweating so much that she slowly pulled it from the man’s hold.

***

“So, tell me, how long have you two been dating?” Mrs. Yoo suddenly asked, catching the two young people off-guard.

“Six months.”

“A year”

.

The two of them