Hari felt like a bundle of nerves sitting opposite Sehun's parents, his older brother, and his grandmother. She was so edgy that she barely gotten a wink of sleep the previous night. It was strange because she remembered it wasn't as nerve-wrecking to meet Mingyu's parents for the first time. She raised her head and she happened to make eye contact with a poker-faced Sehun and a smiley Suho and immediately, she shied away. Hari couldn't help to wonder if that two EXO members were an inseparable pair as they seemed to go everywhere together. At this rate, Suho seemed more like Sehun's older brother than his biological brother, who was sitting at the end of the table. 

"So," Everyone directed their vision towards Sehun's father as he spoke, "You are Son Hari?"

Hari nodded as she gave an uncertain smile. Her heart raced for no reason.

"I heard from Sehun that you are pregnant with his child and the purpose of this dinner is to discuss about the wedding," Sehun's father continued while his stern eyes fell on the jittery girl, "To be honest, we were all shocked by the news and we didn't expect our youngest son to get married this soon."

Hari swallowed dryly and she felt knots in her stomach. What was she supposed to say to that anyway? As she was still thinking of a reaction to give, Sehun's grandmother interrupted the conversation with a ton of questions.

"How many months are you pregnant for? Have you seen a gynaecologist? Is the child healthy?"

Flustered, Hari didn't know which question to answer first. 

"Eomma, you are scaring her," Sehun's mother then turned towards Hari with an apologetic smile, "Sorry about it Hari, halmeoni is excited about having a great grandchild."

"Yeah," The energetic woman with grey hair suddenly reached for Hari's hands, "Ever since Junmyeon and Sehun told us about you and the baby in your womb, I have been waiting to meet you, my dear granddaughter-in-law. Welcome to the family."

Though Hari couldn't tell if Sehun's parents were pleased with her; the solemn man was good at masking his emotions while the elegant lady flashed polite smile here and there and she didn't speak much during the dinner; she was thankful that his grandmother liked her and she knew it was genuine from her adoring gaze and and from the way she held onto her hands tightly. 

"Don't worry about Hari marrying into our family, we will treat her well and take good care of her and the baby."

Hari felt a surge of warmth inside of her when she heard those words that Sehun's grandmother said to her mother. She turned to look at her mother, who nodded as a form of acknowledgement with a brief smile. 

"Son, are you serious about marrying Hari?"

The pregnant woman who just walked out of the washroom halted her steps when she heard someone mentioning her name. She didn't mean to eavesdrop but what could she do when the mother and son chose to have their private conversation along the path leading back to the restaurant? Hari knew the conversation wasn't meant for her but it was hard to contain the curiosity inside of her. 

"You don't like her?"

"That's not what I meant. No matter who you like, you know you will always have the support of your father and me. Your happiness is the most important thing to us and we could tell that you were way happier with Joohyun, you were so quiet throughout the dinner earlier on and you definitely don't look like someone who is getting married."

"I love Joohyun but I have to marry a woman that I don't love, you can't expect me to be all excited about my wedding, right?" Sehun released a humourless laugh.

Somehow Hari's heart dropped upon hearing that.

"Are you okay with that though, son?"

"Why? You want me to be an irresponsible man and let Hari bring the child up alone?"

"Of course not-"

"Then I clearly don't have a choice, do I?"

Sehun sounded so broken that for a second, Hari felt an ache in her heart - not sure if she was feeling bad for Sehun for not being able to choose his own happiness or she felt hurt for being the unwanted one. Though she didn't have any feelings for Sehun and she knew he was marrying her purely out of obligation, his harsh words still have an effect on her.

Heart feeling heavier than usual, Hari made her way out of the hotel instead of returning to the restaurant as she felt like she needed some fresh air. Sehun wasn't the only one feeling stressed, she felt equally pressured and it was impossible for her not to have doubts over her decision to agree to get married to Sehun. Afterall, their marriage is not based on love and prior to this incident, they were basically just colleagues who had close zero interaction with each other. 

"Hari."

The troubled girl raised her head and was surprised to find her mother out in the chilly night too.

"Eomma, why did you come out too?"

Her mother sighed, "Nothing," She smiled briefly, "Just trying to clear my head that is occupied with million thoughts."

Hari wasn't blind towards her mother's quiet behaviour during the dinner. Previously, she was so persistent and anxious in making the wedding happen but now that they had finally met Sehun's family and the wedding would be taking place in three days' time, her mother seemed a little too calm. 

"You don't like Sehun's family?" Funny how Sehun asked his mother the same question earlier on.

"They are not my priority," She placed her hands on either side of Hari's arms, "You are my priority. Do you like them?"

"It's too early to tell but grandma seems nice and she seems to like me."

"I just want you to be happy, my daughter. My marriage was a failure and I don't want you to end up like me."

Hari felt a lump in , hot tears b at her mother's words, "Eomma...why are you being like this? You know I hate cheesy stuff."

Hari's mother smacked her and yelled suddenly, "Can't I even be sad that my daughter is going to get married in a few days' time?" 

The pregnant girl broke into laughter as she hooked around her mother's arms and leaned her head on her shoulder, like a child snuggling to the adult. 

"Stop being a child, you are getting married and you are now a mum-to-be."

Hari clung onto her mother tightly, "I will always be your child, eomma."

Sehun twirled the red wine before pouring his 4th glass into his mouth and finishing it in one shot. It was the night before his wedding and even though s had planned a mini party for him to bid goodbye to the single life, Sehun wasn't in the mood. He sent a curt "I want to be alone" message to the group chat and put his phone away to continue to drink his sorrow away by himself. What was there to celebrate? He wasn't going to marry the woman he loved, there was nothing worth celebrating. In fact, the guilt of marrying another girl behind his girlfriend was consuming him each day. He felt suffocated, l