“Yoo Jeongyeon, you have chosen Myoui Mina to be your life partner. Will you love and respect her? Will you be honest with her always? Will you stand by her through whatever may come?” A man in his best suit, the marriage officiant asks as Jeongyeon and Mina stand in front of each other waiting to be declared as each other’s wife. 

Today is their wedding day. President Yoo has requested to close down the whole Signeul Hotel for their wedding. Their guests consist of influential people ranging from company presidents to the president himself, all hoping to score business deals from each other by attending a "business" wedding. Everyone knows this wedding isn’t about love but making business connections and growing the financial state of each families.

Jeongyeon is wearing an expensive royal blue suit and pants accented with a white flower on her chest while Mina is wearing a simple classic white gown with gorgeous lace details on it. Her jet black hair is made into a bun to show off her silky neck and collarbone. Both of them look like they came out from a royal wedding shoot and everyone of their guests thinks they make a powerful, god-visual couple. 
 

The place looks like it's taken straight out of a bride's dream wedding. Big classic chandeliers adorning the high ceiling, different shades of peonies are displayed everywhere while there's a striking water glass wall fountain in front of the couple that serves as their backdrop that reflects the water that threatens to escape from Mina's eyes.

“Yes. I will.” Jeongyeon utters, breaking the silence in the venue.

“You, Myoui Mina have chosen Yoo Jeongyeon to be your life partner. Will you love and respect her? Will you be honest with her always? Will you stand by her through whatever may come?” Mina hears him loud and clear but she’s frozen in place. She dreamt of this day to happen for so long and it kills her inside that the woman standing in front of her is not her real fiancée. This wedding would've been her dream wedding. She feels Jeongyeon touch her hand gently as if pulling her back from zoning out in front of all their guests and family. Mina looks at where Momo is supposed to be seated but she finds her girlfriend is no longer there. She inhales sharply before accepting her fate.

“Yes. I will.”

Jeongyeon and Mina continues with the ceremony, both saying their fake vows to each other, holding each other’s hand to get strength from one another.

“Mina, I- I give you this ring, that you may wear it, as a symbol of the vows we have made this day. I pledge you my love, and respect, my laughter and my tears. With all that I am, I honour you.” Jeongyeon shakily puts the gold ring with her initials on Mina’s finger.

“Jeongyeon, I give you this ring, that you may wear it, as a symbol of the vows we have made this day. I pledge you my... my love, and respect, my laughter and my tears. With all that I am, I honour you.” Mina puts the ring on Jeongyeon and she clasps their fingers together, feeling like she might break the facade if she lets go of Jeongyeon’s cold hand.

“.... and by the power vested in me, it is my honour and delight to declare you married and partners in life and for life. You may seal your vows with a kiss.” The officiant declares and both Jeongyeon and Mina are nervous and feeling nauseous. It’s not that they don’t find each other attractive but the fact that this is all just them faking while they have other people they’d rather kiss and get married with at the moment is overwhelming.

Jeongyeon takes a big sigh before she takes the initiative to place her lips softly on Mina’s lips for a brief moment. Everyone in the crowd then starts clapping and cheering for them.

----------xxx----------

“Welcome to your temporary home, temporary Mrs. Yoo.” Jeongyeon opens the door of her house and lets Mina get inside. She helps the younger girl carry her luggage as they both enter her simple yet large house.

Jeongyeon’s house is nothing but white walls, few book shelves and a mix of glass walls that allows them to see Seoul’s night lights. Her house is located at an elevated part in Gangnam-gu where she gets the best view in the morning and at night.

The house is simple yet it screams luxury and a very single person living in it. Unlike Mina and Momo’s apartment, there’s no trace that anyone is living with Jeongyeon.

“You can use the bedroom next to mine, it’s on the second floor. I have three rooms upstairs, Mine is the first door near the stairs, yours will be the one further and the other door on the opposite side is an empty room. The rooms on the first floor is a guest room and the other is my personal office. I usually stay there even when I’m at home. There’s a pool in the back and a jacuzzi tub if you want to relax. I hope you’re tidy because I’m extra meticulous when it comes to keeping everything in the house clean and spotless. I don’t allow just anyone to be here, we have no house helpers so please clean after yourself. If you miss your girlfriend you can invite her over, given that you should be careful not to raise suspicion that you’re cheating on me. This is the safest place you two can meet instead of the outside since everyone in your side knows you once had a relationship before marrying me. It would be weird for the both of you to still be caught seeing each other. I really dont care what you do as long as you both don’t make a mess here. I’d invite my girlfriend sometimes too since it’ll be too hard for me to sneak to her apartment when my father knows who she is.” Jeongyeon speaks as she leads Mina to her room. Mina is thankful that her “wife” understands and is smart to lay some ground rules. Jeongyeon is very civil but she doesn’t feel too stiff and Mina thinks they can even be friends after this.

Once they’re inside the room, Mina is greeted by a luxurious room that can be just the same size as her apartment with Momo. She takes a tour of the room and sees that it has a bathroom with a bathtub, a walk-in dresser, a 60-inch television, a mini fridge and a desk near the window. She makes a mental note to ask Jeongyeon if she can set up her ps5 and personal computer on the weekend since she noticed the older girl values her privacy and things, a lot.

“If you’d like anything, I’ll be in my room. I’m tired and I want to get some sleep since I’ll be working tomorrow. There’s food in the minifridge and downstairs so help yourself if you get hungry. Make yourself at home.” Jeongyeon is about to leave when Mina stops her by holding her arms.

“When will I see our contract?” Mina asks when Jeongyeon’s eyes landed on hers.

“Ah. Good point Mrs. Yoo. Tomorrow. I’ll set a meeting with my lawyer at around 4pm. Will that work for you? You can bring your own lawyer to review the documents with you. You just have to be careful they won’t be influenced by my father just in case something gets out.” 

“I think I’ll be in the hospital until 6 pm. No. I don’t think bringing another person in this is necessary. I trust you and I can read through everything myself.” 

“Alright. We can just set the meeting for dinner then. Will 7pm work for you?” 

“That’s fine. Thank you, Jeong.” Mina smiles at Jeongyeon, happy that she’s with someone who treats her nicely and wants to be out of the same situation as her.

“No problem. I’ll just text you the details once I talked to my lawyer tomorrow. Good night, Mina.” With that Jeongyeon closes the door of Mina’s room to head to her own.

------------xxx-----------

Mina wakes up the next day looking for the usual warmth that greets her every morning but instead of someone warm she feels nothing but cold pillows and sheets. The room is still dark, she doesn’t know what time it is since there’s no one who wakes up ahead of her to open the curtains. She sighs in disappointment as there’s no Momo within her arm’s reach. She finds her phone to check the time and sees that it’s six thirty in the morning. Jeongyeon’s place is near their hospital so she didn’t have to rush this time. She gives herself a minute to familiarize herself with her new room before she gets up to fix herself and head to work.

After an hour, Mina is done and is heading down the stairs when she sees that Jeongyeon is already awake. Her back is facing Mina and she looks like she’s busy cooking something on the stove. Jeongyeon is already wearing her work clothes, the usual pattern of black suit and white blouse with heels.

Mina gives herself time to observe how Jeongyeon moves around the kitchen and notices how she feels natural. Like she’s cooked herself breakfast a million times before. The younger girl thinks that she may have judged Jeongyeon from their first meeting, thinking that the older girl is someone who’s spoiled and have everyone doing everything for her at her disposal. Which based on her observation, she's clearly not.

“Good morning.” Mina decides to make her presence known by calling out to Jeongyeon. She opens the fridge to search for something she can eat.

“You’re up. Morning. Do you eat pancakes and bacon? Have some before you go.” Jeongyeon puts a stack of fluffy pancakes on the table first. She places the plate of bacon next after she’s gotten rid of the excess oil. Lastly, she asks Mina if she drinks coffee and the younger girl only nods while she takes a seat in front of the older girl who still has her apron on. 

“Kiss the chef” Mina reads the words on Jeongyeon's white apron quietly and giggles at the thought that this serious person is wearing something so ridiculous.

“What’s funny?” Jeongyeon asks as she places two pancakes on Mina’s empty plate. She asks if she likes bacon and maple syrup and when she nods, Jeongyeon puts some of it on her plate as well.

“Nothing. I just find it ridiculous that you’ll wear something like that, since you’ve always been so serious and wear fancy clothes since the day I met you.” Mina points at Jeongyeon’s apron which the latter only smiles softly.

“My girlfriend gave it to me. We both like cooking. Well she likes cooking, I’m more of a baker. She’s a model and we’re both living packed schedules but cooking is how we usually spend our rest days. How about you and your girlfriend? What does she do?” Jeongyeon asks in between taking bites of pancakes. Mina thinks that Jeongyeon is trying to make their situation light and she appreciates her more.

“Well she’s a handywoman. She can fix almost everything she can get her hands on. She’s also a barista at a cafe in downtown. We live together. Well, we used to live together for some time now.” Mina says as she takes a sip of coffee.