Soon morning came. Sakura stirred a little. He kept his eyes closed with his arms still hugging his ‘bolster’. Instead, he hugged it tighter.

 

‘Why my pillow seems more huggable than before?’

 

He slowly prying his eyes opened and the view in front of him shocked the hell out of him. Quickly untangled his arms around his ‘bolster’ waist, Sakura pushed himself up. Lucky him, she was a heavy sleeper.

 

“Aish, stupid.”

 

Sakura cursed himself repeatedly. This was why he hated sleeping without his real bolster. He tends to hug random things. He mentally reminded himself to always reject Eunbi’s offer to sleep beside her next time.

 

“But that next time could be I am married to her.”

 

Sakura scratched his side head and slowly left the bed hoping Eunbi wouldn’t wake up. But when he was just trying to lift his leg and put it down on the floor, Eunbi slowly regained consciousness. His eyes widened the moment Eunbi slowly opened her eyes. It was awkward. Two strangers slept on the same bed and woke up while the other was trying to leave. Totally awkward.

 

“YAH!”

 

Eunbi threw her pillow at him resulting in Sakura falling on the floor with his bum landing first. He rubbed his sore and with his free arm, he protected his face from another pillow attack by Eunbi.

 

“Eunbi! It’s me!”

 

Another pillow hit his head. Sakura jerked backwards.

 

‘How come she’s this strong?’

 

“EUNBI!”

 

Not even listening to Sakura’s pleads, Eunbi launched another rocket pillow; this time it hit his face with full force. Sakura had enough. He pushed the pillow away and jumped back on the bed successfully grabbed Eunbi’s arms and pulled her in his arms hugging her tight.

 

“Eunbi, it’s me. Sakura.”

 

Eunbi finally realized who she was attacking. The moment she woke up, she hadn’t had a good look at the other person. She forgot she was in Miyawaki’s house.

 

“S-Sakura?”

 

“Yeah, it’s me.”

 

“Oh my god!”

 

Eunbi pulled away and cupped Sakura’s face inspecting any injuries since she hit him twice on his face. Her focused expression brought a smile to Sakura’s face. How could his boyfriend leave her? Sakura held on Eunbi’s hands and gently pried them away from his face. He shook his head.

 

“It’s okay. I’m fine.”

 

“No, I’m sorry. I forgot that I’m in your house.”

 

“My dad’s house but it’s okay. I’m fine. See?”

 

Sakura grinned wider and it earned a small laugh from Eunbi. Once Eunbi stopped laughing, she realized that he was still holding her hands. Somehow, she blushed. Sakura saw Eunbi staring at their hands and he quickly pulled away. He got up from her bed and smiled awkwardly. He needed to say something.

 

‘Think, Miyawaki Sakura!’

 

“Do you want to have a breakfast?”

 

Sakura mentally screamed at himself. Of all the topics, why did he mention breakfast first? Great. Eunbi was still blushing, but she knew Sakura tried to change the subject. She looked up and smiled.

 

“Yeah, after throwing up a lot last night, breakfast sounded great.”

 

“Good. How about you go and have a shower while I’ll check on what our maids had prepared.”

 

Sakura watched as Eunbi’s face turned redder. Did he say anything wrong? He kept on standing there, oblivious of the situation. Eunbi cleared .

 

“Erm, I need to change if I want to use the bathroom.”

 

Getting what she meant, Sakura quickly left the room and closed the door behind him.

 

“Sorry!”

 

Eunbi couldn’t help but laugh at him. He was so cute acting so innocent. But before she stood up, the door was slightly opened, and Sakura peeked in.

 

“I forgot. Good morning, Eunbi.”

 

He then quickly closed the door leaving Eunbi giggling over him. She had to admit, this stranger could make her happy in just one day.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“You should start taking that offer. Your wedding is in 12 days. A lot of preparation needs to be done.”

 

Eunbi watched as the two Miyawaki talked to each other. She sat next to Sakura with Hodong sat in front of them. Felt curious, she asked.

 

“What offer?”

 

“Dad said I should take a whole month leave to prepare for our wedding. Plus, we need to make the announcement in a few days.”

 

How come Eunbi forgot about it. She was going to get married in 12 days and her father had told her that he would come here a day before the announcement and fly back to New York. Sakura saw her in deep thought. He gently nudged her using his shoulder unnoticed by Hodong.

 

“What’s wrong?”

 

She shook her head and started eating again. Sakura didn’t want to push her, so he let her be. Hodong noticed the sudden mood drop. Felt like he should leave these two to discuss, he stood up.

 

“Okay, I’m off to work. Take care of Eunbi, okay Kkura?”

 

“Sure, Dad.”

 

Once he was out of sight, Sakura lightly turned around facing Eunbi.

 

“Hey, you can tell me anything, you know.”

 

Another silence from her. He didn’t know what to say so he waited. Eunbi put down her fork and broke the silence.

 

“Are you sure about this, Kkura?”

 

“Our wedding?”

 

She timidly nodded.

 

“I won’t accepted Uncle Changmo’s offer if I’m not sure.”

 

“I don’t want you to make unnecessary sacrifices. Plus, we barely know each other. What if after the marriage, you…”

 

“A sudden change of heart?”

 

Eunbi didn’t know what to say anymore. She was sure Sakura had his own life. Was it right to take it away from him? This was never his mistake for him to be responsible. Eunbi avoided his eyes and looked down. Sakura had a small smile on his face.

 

“Hey, look at me.”

 

Eunbi slowly raised her head. Their eyes met.

 

“We’re not really strangers. We were friends when we were small, remember? So, I’m practically your friend. I’m not the type that backs away from my promise. I promise you that I will take care of you until you give birth. After that, I’ll let you decide again what you want to do. This marriage is only for formality. We’re like two roommates moving in together.”

 

His answer calmed her heart. She wasn’t expecting much, and she was hoping he would too.

 

“Kkura, I had made up my mind.”

 

That made him curious. He waited for her to continue.

 

“I want you to continue with your life the way you had it now even after we got married. Can you promise me that?”

 

Eunbi had thought about this for a while. She couldn’t have Sakura leave his life for her. His willingness to marry her was a blessing already. So, she decided that she should give this freedom to him.

 

“Are you sure, Eunbi?”

 

“Yes, I’m sure. We’re bounded only on papers.”

 

“But I will be the one who take care of you.”

 

“I know but I want you to have this freedom. That’s all.”

 

“If you say so.”