It had been a week since Junho's Birthday and truth be told, after that night things got even more hectic that Soeun would have imagined them to be. For starters, the media went crazy. Headlines, television sections, and articles were spreading her engagement like wild fire. Of course, as curiosity seeped into her mind, Soeun couldn't help but read at least a small portion of the comments the articles had, and although there was a mixed variety of them, Soeun still saw some that she didn't want to re-read again. Although she never took any words from anyone (other than Jieun that is) seriously, the things that were said did cause her the tiniest of stings in her heart.  

 

Secondly, her schedule that Mr. Jung had planned out for her was non-stop. She hadn't gotten enough sleep in days, Soeun would even go to the trouble to take small naps in between if Mr. Jung wasn't looking. There was even a morning where her body felt so exhausted from the workload of the other day that she quietly told Mr. Jung she needed a toilet break only to sleep in her car for fifteen minutes before he came knocking on her car window with his arms crossed. 

 

Although her schedule was filled from top to bottom and there was barely enough time for her to even squeeze in lunch, there was always time for Mrs. Lee's visit, and to say things quite clearly, she didn't have a problem with it at all, however, the amount of time she spent with Junho's mother was starting to tire her out. It was the relaxing part of her day as she got to sit down and have a drink and some light snacks, don't get her wrong, but it was the matters that she would talk about that made Soeun always drowsy. Mrs. Lee would either go on about wedding details and preparations, and if she wasn't talking about that, she would be talking about Junho. Goodness help her, when she would start talking about Junho all she could hear were his achievements as a young heir or about the habits he would have. Soeun knew exactly that she could easily listen to the secrets about him and use it against Junho in the future, yet she only needed at least one or two points, but Mrs. Lee would outline every single aspect of it, not to mention she would trail off into other topics at times. 

 

As of now, all Soeun could see was the schedule for next week, and she was relieved to find Tuesday to Thursday free of hard work. It was still filled with small errands and matters to attend to, however for a large chunk of the day she could finally kick back and finally catch up on her precious sleeping hours she had missed dearly. 

 

"Miss Kim." her secretary called walking into the office. "Mrs. Lee is on the first line."    

Soeun rubbed her temples while nodding. It was that time of day again, and all Soeun could see in her future was Mrs. Lee yapping on about things she would have already said in the week. She picked up her phone in a sigh, already dreading on what she would have to say. 

 "Good afternoon." Mrs. Lee said brightly. 

"Good afternoon...." 

"I was just wondering if you were free for lunch?" 

Soeun's face started to cringe up as she thought for a moment about the plans her soon to be mother-in-law was making for her. On the bright side, at least she knew she was getting lunch today. "I don't think I have anything on at this time." 

 "Brilliant! I'll make sure to meet you at the cafe just down the street from your office in a short while."

"I'll be sure to be there." Soeun tried to say brightly before hanging up. 

Soeun completely fell face down onto her desk as she groaned, dreading for the lunch that was to come. Her eyes were growing heavy and she wouldn't be surprised if her sanity was to explode. 

 

"Miss Kim." her secretary whispered sensing the amount of stress Soeun was going through. "Mr. Jung just called and requested that you take the rest of the day off once you've had the meeting with Madam Lee." 

Soeun slowly lifted her head from the desk and raised an eyebrow in suspicion. 

 "Why is Mr. Jung giving me the rest of the day off? He very well knows that I have a workload to do..." Soeun widened her eyes in realization. "Don't tell me I have to spend the rest of the day with Mrs. Lee!" she questioned her secretary as she was on the verge of tears. 

 "Well, I'm not quite sure ma'am, he only told me that you were to take the rest of the day off." 

 "You've got to help me! I'm not ready to spend a whole afternoon with her!" 

Soeun's secretary giggled at the scene. To everyone else, Soeun was always so quiet and calm. She would never have shouted or cried in front of anyone... and yet here she is.

"Ma'am." her secretary whispered softly. "I could always ask Mr. Jung to let you come back to the office after the arranged meeting with Madam Lee." 

Soeun bit her lip and thought about it. It wasn't actually a bad idea. But then again, if she was to cancel half of today's talk with Mrs. Lee, there would be absolutely, no doubt, a longer talk next time she would see her. Plus, it wouldn't be as bad as the other times, right? 

Soeun looked up at her secretary and shook her head. "It's fine." she replied exhaling trying to keep her cool. "But if I text you, be sure to rescue me." 

Her secretary nodded as she smiled. 

 

Soeun looked at the time on her computer screen and found that she only had ten minutes to get to the arranged cafe. 

"Well, I better be going now." she said picking up some files and putting them in her bag. "Wish me luck." Soeun whispered in such a dreadful tone to her secretary, as she slid past through the doors. 

 

~~~ 

 

Soeun stepped inside of the cafe in utter nervousness. She bit the bottom of her lip, dreading the hours that were to come. She could already smell the scent of coffee as the smell of freshly made bread made her stomach growl. 

She looked around the room only to spot something at the corner of her eye. Soeun let her jaw drop straight to the ground. The room was packed with young couples, but it wasn't that fact that made her surprised, it was the fact that the person at the corner of the room wasn't Mrs. Lee, it was Junho. 

 

She slightly took a step back in shock. If Mrs. Lee was bad, Junho was ten times that. 

Soeun was about to pass out with the sight fixed on the person in front of her. The room became even more suffocating that it already was, and being at the office seemed way better in her mind than being with him. 

 

"Excuse me miss." one of the waiters said as she tried to get over her. 

 "Oh, sorry." Soeun stepped aside and noticed that the waiter was heading over to Junho's table. 'Take a deep breath and just walk to that table and sit down.' 

Soeun walked slowly towards where Junho was sitting only to be stopped as she noticed a group of screaming fan girls rushing towards Junho's seat. 

 "Oppa! You're so handsome!" 

 

Soeun almost threw up at the scene. If they wanted him that bad, for goodness sake they could take him! She slightly took a step forward when she suddenly heard a comment, stating who she was. 

 "Isn't that Kim Soeun?"

 

The fan girls turned around hearing the commotion just in time for Junho to look straight ahead of him and spot Soeun standing in the cafe. 

  "She only looks pretty in pictures." 

 

Junho heard the comments of the public towards Soeun and saw her lower he head in nervousness. He genuinely felt as if she was being stabbed by the words that were being said and couldn't help but feel like he should do something. 

Junho stood up and excused himself from the girls that were in front of him. "Thank you for appreciating what I do, but if you excuse me." He walked passed the tables that were staring at Soeun and grabbed her hand. 

Soeun looked up in shock at the sudden touch between herself and Junho. His grip on her hand tightened and suddenly dragged her out the cafe. 

Soeun widened her eyes in complete and utter shock as the actions were trying to process slowly in her mind. 

 

Junho reached his car and pushed Soeun in, as he walked over towards the driver's seat. 

 

After the processing of what just happened finally settled into Soeun's mind she couldn't believe what was happening! The exact same thing happened again! Junho just shoved her in the car without even a single word!

 "Again with the damn pushing and shoving!" Soeun shouted at Junho who closed the door with a thud. 

He didn't even look at her as she kept on shouting. "Why did you just stand around while everyone was criticizing you?" he said in what seemed like a whisper. 

 "Excuse me?" 

Junho finally turned towards Soeun and directly looked at her. "Why did you just stand -" 

 "I know what you said." Soeun replied as she exhaled heavily. 

"Then answer the damn question." 

 "Why are you angry?" Soeun asked in disbelief. "What I do is none of your business!" 

Junho pursed his lips in anger at the reply she made. "So I'm just supposed to stand around why you get pushed around by the comments of strangers?!" 

 "That's what you exactly do!" Soeun shouted at him, her voice being raised by the minute. She tried to calm down as the exhaustion of the week didn't allow her body to maintain the height of anger she was at. "Look..." Soeun started. "...if you don't understand already, then let me explain it to you." She took another deep breath trying to keep the level of calmness she was at. "I'm not just a normal girl, on the street that your parents randomly picked out. I was born into a world like yours. I've been through exactly what you've been through. I already know what it feels like to be a person living a life like yours. And if you can't barely see that..." Soeun trailed off in silence, as she fell back onto the seat in exhaustion. It was hard trying not to shout at him. He was an idiot that's what he was, but Soeun finally saw the side of him that was never seen through public eyes. It was a sense of relief really to know that he wasn't all smiles and playboy ways. 

 

Junho sighed as he followed in tune with Soeun and let his head fall back onto the seat. 

 "Why are you here anyway?" Junho asked. "Stalking me perhaps?" 

 

That's it. Soeun took it back. He was just a downright idiot.  "Funny." she replied in sarcasm. 

Junho couldn't help but turn away and smile trying to hold in his laughter. 

 "I was supposed to meet your mother at the cafe." 

Junho turned around to face Soeun. "My mother?" He suddenly checked his rear view mirror to spot where she was spying on them. 

 "If you're wondering where she's looking at us from, she's in the blue car that's three cars across from us." 

Junho looked back at Soeun in surprise. "How do you know her so well?" 

Soeun laughed at his comment. "See her everyday for the past week at approximately two hours at minimum helps." 

Junho sighed as he knew his mother would go through so many lengths just to make this marriage a success. 

 

Soeun suddenly bit her lip in frustration and looked at Junho. "Look here..." she said. "There's a reason why your mother sent me to that cafe, and honestly, we have to face the fact that she wanted us to get to know each other and go... on a... date." Soeun cringed at the last word. "Obviously..." she tried to go on, "your mother won't stop until we actually go on the damn date so I recommend we should follow her orders before she tries to set us up again, and god knows what lengths she'll go through next time." 

 

Junho stayed silent for a while before he took out his hand, indicating for a handshake. 

 "What are you doing?" Soeun asked in suspicion, seeing his hand in front of her. 

"Let's add another condition for our contract then." 

 "Excuse me?" 

Junho smirked. "The condition is that when we're by ourselves we can act like complete strangers and live completely separate lives. What's your business is yours, and what's mine is mine." 

Soeun nodded slowly in agreement. "But?" she replied knowing that there was always a twist. 

 "But..." Junho laughed for a second. "... once we step out into the open world, where they'll be eyes watching us, we have to act like a real couple."  

 

Soeun thought about the condition for a while. It wasn't necessarily a bad idea, it would be a win for everyone including themselves. She looked back down at Junho's hand who was still present in front of her. She knew once she shook his hand she would have to abide by the condition and live a life like this for twelve months. 

Soeun twisted her mother's ring on her finger and sighed. 

 

"Deal."