"Please, Yun Hee. Only you can save me from this marriage now. I cannot refuse no matter how much I want to, because I have promised my mom. Her condition can be fatal if she becomes even the slightest bit of stressed out. But I also cannot marry you because I love someone else dearly. Though she has broken up with me, my love for her is strong enough to overcome all kinds of obstacles. You have seen us with your own eyes. You have seen the love we share. It is the kind of love a married couple feel for each other. Then how can I marry you if I can never give you that kind of love?", he cried out.

"You know, love can happen even after....

"You don't understand. I only know how to love her, only HER. I can't love anyone else like I love her."

"You don't need to give me her place to make this marriage work. You can give me a new space, even a small one will work. We can start...

"I don't want to marry you, don't you get it? I don't want to marry you willingly. I am only going through this engagement because I am bound by the promise I have made to my mom." Yun Hee could say that he was on verge of pulling his hair out of frustration.

"Just like you, I have also promised aunty that I will marry her strong-headed son, no matter what he says or what he does. She made me promise to stay by his side because he is lonely after his girlfriend left him. I am also not going through this marriage because I want to, but because I need to, for the sake of our families. But unlike you, I am not whining like a baby, complaining about everything. Instead, I am trying to cope up with the situation, trying to get myself used to everything."

"That's because you have never truly fallen in love with someone, have never felt the need to give your all to someone, have never dreamt of spending all your life and building up a family with that person. Then how can you understand my pain?, he said in a broken tone.

Yun Hee composed herself and started speaking in a calm voice, "We can always try to fall in love with each other and build a family together. We can try to do everything once we get married. Will it be that hard for you to love me in the future?"

"I cannot even imagine myself falling in love with someone else other than her." 

"We will try our.....

"Snap out of your reverie, Yun Hee. You can make anyone fall for you, but not me. NEVER."

                                 ___________________

Yun Hee woke up, feeling very much disoriented and uncomfortable, as sunlight seeped through the windows, blinding her eyes. She adjusted her eyes with the light and saw an unfamiliar room, wondering for a while what had happened. Then memories from yesterday came rushing to her mind, making her realize the situation.

She tied her hair in a bun and slowly went to the bathroom to wash up. She brushed her teeth and took a shower, changed into decent clothes and then came out, not bothering to do anything with her swollen eyes and face.

She went to the kitchen and greeted the maids cheerfully, who were looking awkward because, even though she tried to sound happy, her swollen face and hoarse voice made her look far from that. Nonetheless, they greeted her back politely and informed her that breakfast had been already served at the table, so they were retiring to their quarters. They also told her that if she needed anything, they were just a call away.

She made her way towards the gigantic table and found a scrumptious looking breakfast all over it. Toasts, omelettes, bacon, jam, butter, bread, coffee, sugar all were served properly. She sat on one of the chairs and took a toast from the plate. She was about to butter her toast when she heard the door of the master bedroom opening. She focused her ears on the sound of the footsteps coming towards the room, while patiently buttering her toast.

Then a familiar figure appeared before her eyes, hastily making his way towards the front the door. She felt sprouting words even before she could think of anything.

"Hun, where are you going so early in the morning? Come and join me for breakfast", she said to him nonchalantly, even though she could feel his burning glares.

"What did you just call me?", he muttered, anger oozing from his voice.

Yun Hee faked an innocent look and asked him with a voice laced with ignorance. "Oh! Hun? It sounds cute, right? You also find it adorable, don't you? 'Hun' sounds a bit like 'hon', the short form of 'honey'. Since almost every married couple uses 'honey' to refer to their partners, I decided to come up with something unique. Then 'Hun' came out from my creative mind. Your name also seemed to support that idea of mine. So what do you think about my genius invention, hmm?

"Don't test my patience", he gritted his teeth. "Who gave you the right to give me a nickname?"

"Being your legally wedded wife, I have all the rights in the world over. Giving you a nickname was just a speck of dust", she said, giving him an as-if-you-don't-know look.

"I don't consider you my wife, I will never do so", he barked out.

"Well, the papers and the ring on my finger says otherwise", she stated immediately, finding his riled up self amusing.

"If a few papers could make a marriage work out, then there would have been use of divorce in the world. And about the matter with your ring; well, there is no ring on my finger that matches the one you have, so there is no proof of the fact that I am your husband", he said, waving his empty fingers in front of her face. "Anyways, keep living in your bubble, since I don't give a damn about what you believe."

He turned to leave but stopped Midway to open his mouth again. "And yeah, don't you dare call me "Hun" again. I hate it as much as I hate you. You know, before this scam named "marriage" happened, I just used to hate your guts. But now, I hate you. I hate you more than you can ever imagine. I hate you with all my being."

And he left.

As soon as the door closed behind him, the smile on Yun Hee's face faltered and turned into a bitter smirk.

"He hates me. The one who is supposed to love me forever, hates me", she whispered the words, before getting up from her chair, leaving an untouched breakfast behind her.