Old Friend

Ashes of Dreams

It was a new morning with a bright and sunny weather, but Oh Sehun couldn't care less. Because currently, he was more focused on the severe headache he was suffering from. After all, drinking has it's own side-effects, the major one being hangover. Clutching his head with one hand, he started rummaging through the drawers of the bed-side table with the other one, searching for some pain killers. As he found nothing, he closed the drawer and was about to retract his hand, when he felt his hand brushing against a cup placed on the table and heard a clinking sound when his wedding ring collided with the it.

He was about to check what it was, but ended up rushing towards the bathroom, feeling a bile coming out of his stomach. He hunched over the toilet bowl to puke his guts out. When he was vomiting continuously, he felt a gentle hand rubbing his back, trying to soothe his discomfort. For a moment, everything was quiet, the only sound that could be heard was his gagging voice. He wanted to brush away her hand, but had no energy to do so as he kept on puking. Then he heard Yun Hee speaking.

"Why do people even drink, despite of knowing the hassles of it's aftermath? Not only it is a waste of energy, but also very harmful for health. Drinking is really bad for the liver. It's not like people do not know about it, then why do they drink repeatedly? Being a doctor, I just cannot let it slide. I just don't get it. There are so many ways to deal with heartbreak. Drinking can surely be avoi......."

"Are you done sputtering nonsense?, he deadpanned in a hoarse voice. "If you are not, then let me tell you that you are completely wasting your time here, since nobody present here is interested in your nonsense talks", he said when he done puking and got up to clean his mouth.

"Well, I was just trying to divert your attention, which, I think, has worked, since your face hasn't been contorting in pain because of headache for a while now", she said while following his every move with her eyes as she saw him washing his mouth, brushing his teeth, shaving and cleaning his face. "But to get rid of your uneasiness completely, you need to take the herb...... Yah!", she shouted, becoming totally frustrated when she saw him getting out of the bathroom without letting her finish.

She followed him to the bedroom and found him rummaging through the drawers of the bedside table, completely ignoring the cup of herbal tea she had made for him. She saw him taking out a packet of pills, plopping one in his mouth and drinking water after that.

"I hope you know that medicines also chemicals, which can be harmful for the body if they are taken constantly. I thought you don't care about me, that my existence doesn't matter to you, then why are you doing all these just to get rid of me? I mean i know that I am unavoidable, but seriously, you don't need to do so much just to ignore me. You do know that nothing is going to work since you are tied to me, spiritually and legally. So why do you keep on doing useless stuffs like drinking ans staying away from home till late night?", she said, hoping that her words would trigger him in a positive way, but all the hopes came crushing down when she heard what he said next.

"Don't give yourself any unnecessary importance, alright? I did not drink to avoid you, I drank because I wanted to forget the whole world, forget the pain of losing the most important person of my life who has left me because of you. You do not mean anything to me, do you get that?", Sehun said, giving her his full attention.

"For your kind information, your ex-girlfriend did not leave you because of me. She left long before our marriage was arranged. So don't you dare blame me for it. And Hun, don't you think you should forget about Jieun now? You are married now, to someone else, me. You are liable to me, responsible towards me. Show some respect towards the commitment. Besides, she was the who broke up with you, then why are you still holding on to her when she has clearly moved on?, Yun Hee said, a bit loudly.

Hearing her words, Sehun hissed under his breath and spoke each word harshly, "Don't take her name so casually, you have no right over that. I don't accept this marriage, it was forced upon me against my will. I don't take you as my wife and I will never do so. The title of my wife can only belong to her, because she is the only person I have ever loved. She is my everything. What we had between us was very real. She must have had some genuine reasons for breaking up with me, but I know, my heart knows that she also loves me truly, so she hasn't moved on. She can't move on. And so, I will wait for her, until she is ready to come back to me. You have no say in it."

After that, he turned around and started going towards the walk in closet. Right before entering, he faced her once again and said, "Another thing. Don't call me 'Hun' ever again." Saying this, Sehun walked inside the closet, without giving Yun Hee a chance to say anything else.

Yun Hee sighed deeply and walked towards the bedside table to pick up the cup of herbal tea that was totally untouched. She went to the bathroom and threw the tea on the basin. She took the empty cup and was about to leave when she heard an outburst coming from her husband who was inside the closet.

"Why are there your undergarments in the drawer where I had asked Mr. Jun to keep my neckties yesterday? Why are your stuffs even here inside the room? I never allowed you to share the room with me, Lee Yun Hee."

Stifling a laugh, Yun Hee shouted, "It's Oh Yun Hee now, Mr. Oh Sehun. I have equal ownership over this house and this room, which automatically makes the room mine as much it is yours. So have fun dressing up in our room, Hun." Then she laughed out loud and ran out of the room.

 


 

Yun Hee could tell even without looking at Sehun that he was fuming with anger, judging by the furious clinking sound of his knife and spoon. He was busy trying to kill the poor piece of bacon, which she found really amusing. So the whole breakfast time consisted of Yun Hee trying to keep quiet and getting stinky glares from Sehun.

After the not-so-pleasant breakfast was done, Sehun slightly pushed his chair and was about to get up when Yun Hee called out for him.

"Hun, where are you going?"

"Don't call me Hun. and wherever I am going, it's none of your business. So don't bother to ask me again", Sehun said in a harsh tone.

"I guess, I have totally wasted my time since I didn't get any answer. It's okay. Besides I only asked because of formality. I already know that you are going to the company, since I heard you talking to papa when I was going to call you for breakfast, so i have my answer. Anyways, I just wanted to let you know that my parents are having a family get-together today evening and we are expected there. So be home on early. And before you decline the invitation, which I am sure that you would, let me tell you that your mom and your brother is gonna be there. I hope you wouldn't want to upset mama, considering her health", she said smiling triumphantly when she saw Sehun sighing in defeat.

"I will go there directly, so you can go there on your own. Don't expect me to come and pick up", he said before opening the main door and leaving towards the car the chauffeur had prepared for him.

"Bye, hubby. Have a nice day", she shouted after him, even though she knew that he couldn't hear her, before going towards the master bedroom she was going she was going to share with Sehun from now on, to pick out a dress for the evening..

 


 

When Sehun entered the building of Brazen Electronics and walked towards the VIP elevator, all the stuff stopped walking to stand before him and greeted him politely. He just gave a slight nod to acknowledge them, not in the mood of greeting them back. He went up to the 50th floor, where only the rooms of the President and CEO was there. He walked towards his room and saw his secretary talking to someone animatedly on her phone, while sitting inside her cubicle which was in the outside of his room. He cleared his throat and coughed a little to grab her attention. Sensing his presence, she quickly got up and started straightening the wrinkles of her skirt, dropping her in phone in the process.

"Good morning, Mr. Oh. I am so sorry because I am a bit unprepared. Please wait for a little while I prepare your schedule. Should I bring you a cup of tea for the meantime? Please excuse my mistake this once", she said, keeping her head low.

"Miss Bae, I don't pay to have lovely conversations with your lover, without doing any work. This is the last time. Next time, you will be fired without being given a chance to provide explanation for your irresponsible works. Do you understand? Now give me the list of all the meetings that are happening today and give me the files of the Busan factory. Get back to your work, NOW", he ordered her in his professional voice.

He turned around from her and made his way towards his room. Just when he opened the door, he heard a 'Boo' coming from none other than Kim Jongin, his best friend, who was now looking at him with a funny look, probably feeling victorious thinking that he had successfully managed to scare Sehun.

"Here comes the CEO Oh, my dearest best friend. I scared you today, right? Did you miss me? I mean, I surely was gone for a while. How is married life, bro? Why are you here at the 2nd day of your marriage when you are supposed to be having honeymoon moments with your wife. Are you taking a good care of Yun Hee? I know that your marriage didn't happen in the best situation but still, she is you wife. Sometimes, you can be more workaholic than your dad who is the president of the biggest electronics company in the whole Asia, while you are the measly CEO of it", Jongin said, shaking his head lightly. 

"At least, I be there everytime you guys need me. Where were you when I needed you so much? Where were you hiding when I was getting married to someone else other than the love of my life, huh?", Sehun said in a accusing tone.

Jongin's smile faltered and he stammered a little before saying, "You know that I was in New York. My sister was about to give birth to her first child, I had to be there with her. Anyways, enough of this discussion. Besides I had come here with the intention of meeting with uncle, so I better be on my way. See you later, okay? Now give me a hug." Saying this, Jongin ran to hug Sehun and Sehun also hugged him back, chuckling softly at his friend's childishness.

Jongin then retracted from the and turned to leave the room. He gave Sehun one last smile, before closing the door behind him. Once he was out of Sehun's sight, he leaned against the door and whispered, "How could I be there as your best man and mental support when you were getting married to the girl I am deeply in love with?"

 


 

Jongin woke up from the sound of the chaos that was happening in the hall. He heard a girl's voice, shouting at Chanyeol for something he couldn't quiet understand because of his hazy mind. He heard Sehun shuffling beside him, before getting up from the bed with a very fowl mood and getting out of the room almost immediately. Seeing him getting out, Jongin decided to freshen up a little before going out himself. When he went out, he heard Sehun speaking to the girl very disrespectfully. If there was anything jongin couldn't endure from his childhood was disrespect for women, since he had two elder sisters. So feeling angry at Sehun's rude attitude, he spoke out, "Yah Oh Sehun! Is this how you talk to a girl?"

He was about to apologize to the girl on his friends' behalf, but the girl stopped him before defending herself band showing Sehun where he went wrong. She was doing it so gracefully that it was getting really hard for Jongin to keep his eyes away from her.

That night he developed a crush for the bold, outspoken, brave and beautiful girl who would stop at nothing for her dignity. he started admiring her even more when he heard from Chanyeol that she was the sister of the girl Chanyeol had been dating for a while and that she was here to lash out at Chanyeol  for breaking her sister's heart.

The nest day, he extracted the address of Chanyeol's ex-girlfriend from him by lying and saying that the girl from the previous night had left something of hers. He drove towards the address and stopped in front of a beautiful two-storey house. He rang the doorbell with shaky and sweaty palm, feeling very nervous. Fortunately, it was that very girl who opened the door. But judging from her looks, he could tell that she had already forgotten his face.

Before he could realize what was happening, his mouth started moving nonstop. "Chanyeol truly loves your sister, but that prick is too dense to know what he really feels for your sister since it's his first time falling in love. The mention of marriage scared him even more since he was still  confused about his feeling and that's why he broke up with her. So, i want you to help me in making him realize his love love for your sister since i know that you want her happiness m,ore than anything else. Are you in?", he said in a breath.

That day, he got to know that the girl's name was Lee Yun Hee and got to enjoy immense happiness when she called him her new friend.

Over the course of time when he and Yun Hee worked together to do everything so Chanyeol would realize his feelings, they got really close to each other. She told him about her family, her friends, her childhood, her hobbies, her school, her university and many other things. He noticed that she could laugh as well as cry without hesitation in front of him and really liked the feeling of being trusted by her.

The day Chanyeol got on his knees to seek forgiveness from Yun Yeong and propose her for marriage, Jongin learnt that Yun Hee had the brightest smile in the world that was reserved only for the people she loved, when he saw her smiling with tears in her eyes as Yun Yeong said yes.

The day he tried to bake a cake shaped like Olaf, her favorite Disney character on her 20th birthday, she gave him the most precious gift in return, that bright smile of hers.

But the day Jongin would remember forever was the wedding day of Yun Yeong and Chanyeol. That day when he saw her in the dress of a bridesmaid, standing at the alter beside Yun Yeong, he realized that his utmost wish was to see her in a wedding dress, coming towards him with her beautiful smile, holding his hand and promising a forever with him. He realized that he wanted to spend the rest of his life with her, that he had utterly and madly fallen in love with Lee Yun Hee.

 


 

"If only Sehun's parents never met you, then maybe. you would have also fallen in love with me. We could date for a while before finally tying the knot. We would be the most perfect couple on the earth and I would be the best husband for you. We would have the most beautiful babies and a blissful life together. If only", he said, sighing deeply before wiping the water droplets that were under his eyes and made his way towards the office of Sehun's father.

 


 

Love is not always a blessing. Sometimes it is a curse, a painful curse that burns people like Sehun, Yun Hee and Jongin in it's fire and makes it impossible for them to get out of its whirlwind. It happens only when you fall for the wrong person at the right time, or when you fall for the right person at the wrong time.

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anikasen
The story has a new cover, yay... The credit, once again, goes to none other than, Pearllin.

Comments

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OnCloud9withEXO
#1
Chapter 40: I really hope oneday you will update. Cz this story deserves an ending ♡
real__katepark #2
Chapter 40: Update please. Omg this story is so good. I've cried so hard. I need a happy ending for them. 😭
Qexora #3
Chapter 40: oh no😭please dont fight
Ankita_123 #4
Hi Anika! Hope you're doing well. I'm really worried about you. Doesn't matter when you update the story, please just let us know that you're healthy and doing fine. Praying for your family's well being. Please notify!
OnCloud9withEXO
#5
Chapter 40: I read the full story again >< hshsgdh hELp. Oh I love this story. I was always been a er for arranged marriage AUs and this is so well written.

I wanna upvote it but it says i need 10 karma points or smtn. Anyone knows what's that and how to earn it? 😅 Idk how this aff thingy actually works.

Anyways I hope you update the nxt chap soon ^^. I can't wait to know what's the actually reason of Jieun to meet a psychiatrist 🤔

Another thing! If it's okay then may I ask which country are u from? *-*"
OnCloud9withEXO
#6
Chapter 40: Hey there! I'm not someone to put comments as I'm comfortable being a silent reader but this story is good enough to make me say that I love the way you are keeping the pace in the story and plot. It's not like the other arrange marriage AUs that I've read before. Not those typical ones where they would make the male lead look like jerk, arrogant etc.sehun is such a gentleman here with some flaws ofc,his efforts to make this marriage work. The female character too. Not like those fragile type of ones. I like OCs witha strong character which you put very smoothly in Yun Hee's character. I love the way you portray their feelings, you are making their character development go slow which I prefer.

Keep your good work♡ I really like this story^^. Hoping to get an update soon><
Ankita_123 #7
Chapter 40: Hi Anika! Hope you are doing well and everything is good on the health front, specifically. We're missing you. Be back soon. But prioritize your physical and mental health over everything, please!! Also, you can drop updates about yourself and what new is happening in life as well whenever you feel like putting it out. Take care!
ntsgstn #8
Chapter 40: i’m reading this while listening to Baekhyun’s Cry For Love. the pain!!!
Haru97
#9
Update please 🥺
Haru97
#10
Chapter 40: Ewch m'y heart is crying