"Do you, Oh Sehun, take Lee Yun Hee as your lawful wife, to have and to hold, from this day forward, for better or for worse, for richer or for poorer and cherish until death do you part?"

"I do." Yun Hee had never heard an 'I do' as cold as his.

"Do you, Lee Yun Hee, take Oh Sehun as your lawful husband, to have and to hold, from this day forward, for better or for worse, for richer or for poorer and cherish until death do you part?"

"I do." And she meant it.

"Now with the power bestowed upon me by the almighty, I, hereby, announce you as lawful spouses. You may kiss the bride now."

He leaned in, ever so slowly and landed a peck on the corner of her lips, only to move away as soon as possible.

The crowd erupted with the noise of a huge round of applause, but Yun Hee could not hear a single thing over the drumming sound of her heart.

They were holding hands for the rest of the evening, grinning from ear to ear as they moved along the congratulating crowd. Yun Hee could feel her cheeks hurting from the pressure of the fake smile she had been wearing on her face for hours already. She could bet a fortune that he was also feeling the same.

"How can they expect us to behave like a couple in love when they all know that it is an arranged marriage?", she wondered.

She looked around herself and saw her parents talking to her parents-in-law as all four of them were chatting animatedly. She scanned through the crowd a little more and saw her sister, Yun Yeong fondly watching her husband, Park Chanyeol and their 2 years old daughter, Park Ara goofing around each other while caressing her still non-existent baby bump. Then her eyes fell upon her brother-in-law and sister-in-law talking to their 4 years old son, Aiden Oh. They had taken out time from their busy schedules and flew here from Australia, just to attend the wedding.

Seeing them so happy about everything, she felt as if she was the only one who was unhappy. Suddenly she felt a tug on her wrist and looked up to see her husband staring at her with questioning eyes. Then she remembered that she was not the only one. There was someone else who felt even worse than her. She felt sympathy for him just a little, but was quick enough to shrug it off.

They repeated the routine of smiling, nodding and talking for another hour before finally getting to flee away from all these. They found a black limousine standing outside the entrance and a chauffeur holding out the door of the backseat for them to enter. They turned around to bid a farewell to their family and went inside the car.

                                   __________________

When they reached the house their parents had bought for them as a wedding gift, Yun Hee saw her husband throwing the car door open and getting inside the house, without looking back even once.

She got out of the car and walked towards the door slowly, her wedding dress making it hard for her to move around freely. Once she reached the door, she saw a butler welcoming her warmly and informed her that her supposed husband was currently occupying the master bedroom upstairs and had been keeping the door locked for a while. Feeling tired beyond her endurance, she asked Mr. Jun, the butler, to take her suitcases to the nearest bedroom and made her way to that room herself.

She changed her wedding dress and wore her comfortable pajamas. Feeling slightly relieved from the pressure, she went to sit on the bed and started resting in a half-lying position. She started massaging her sore feet and shoulder blades, feeling a slight headache making its presence known. She laid down feeling completely exhausted and the events of the day all came flashing through her mind altogether. Before she could realize, she found herself off to Dreamland.

She woke up feeling the unfamiliarity of the environment disorienting. She lightly chuckled at her inability to sleep in a room that's not hers. She looked at the clock on the wall and saw that it was 3 am. Knowing that trying to fall asleep is going to be futile, she decided to take a walk around the house. She wore her slippers and made her way out of the room.

Once she reached the living room, she saw the door of the master bedroom and felt curiosity creeping up inside her. She started climbing up the stairs and soon found herself standing in front of the room. She turned the knob silently and found the door surprisingly open. She opened the door and saw her husband sitting at the farthest corner of the bed, his back facing the door, hunched over something and sobbing quietly. She was about to knock on the door to ask him if he was alright but heard something that made her halt in her steps.

"How I wish it was you in that wedding dress, walking towards me with that enchanting smile of yours. How I wish it was you who said 'I do'. How I wish it was you who I kissed. How I wish it was you who became my wife. How I wish you were here with me instead of leaving me totally alone to suffer. Why did you leave me, Jieun-ah?"

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Slowly, Yun Hee crept out of the room and locked the door behind her. She got down the stairs, her hands and feet shaking violently. She tiptoed towards the room she was using before and made her way to the bed. Once she reached the bed, she felt weightless and dropped down on it. She couldn't understand how her life had turned out to be like this, being married to a person who will never love her, a person who was madly in love with someone else, a person who detested her for marrying him. She couldn't believe her fate and smirked mirthlessly. Then she felt something wet on her cheeks. Holding up her hand to find out what that wet thing was, she found it to be her own tears, hot and salty, that too on the very first night of her married life, her first night.

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They say a girl is the happiest on her wedding day. Oh! How wrong and delusional they are!