Soeun shook Junho's hand in agreement to the final condition. It was genuinely the first time she had agreed to something he had said, and it didn't feel as terrifying as she had thought. She quickly turned away from Junho's eye contact and put on her seat belt before he would use his playboy ways and do it for her. 

 "Let's just get this done and over with." She said look straight ahead at the road trying to avoid the beams that were shooting out of his eyes.

Junho shook his head as he started the engine, smiling to himself. "Right. And my destination is?"     

 "Anywhere that passes as a 'date venue'." Soeun replied quickly, still not looking at Junho. 

"So if I take you to a club?" he asked, flashing a smile at her before meeting a slap to his shoulder. 

 "You never fail to irritate me." Soeun spoke bringing the most attention to the last two words.

"It was just a suggestion." Junho laughed as he finally drove out of the parking space.

 "Suggestion?" Soeun rolled her eyes at his reply.

Up until now, she never quite understood why every girl that set eyes on him fell head over heals in love, sure he wasn't an average looking guy, however with a personality as his, why didn't women understand that they might deserve a little better. At least someone who would treat them nicely without looks and money being an issue. 

 "I just don't understand how all those women fall for you when you can't even treat them with manners." 

Junho nodded at her opinion. "You don't think I have manners?" 

 "It's not like I've seen them." 

Junho nodded a second time while grinning in reply as light bulb quickly shot above his head. "You know what?" he started while smiling broadly. "I'll show you why women fall for me." 

Soeun couldn't help but laugh at his utter confidence. She wiped a tear of laughter from her cheek sarcastically, looking at him. "You're not serious are you?" 

Junho stopped the car at the red light and turned to face Soeun. "You don't think I can do it, do you?"

 "Well," Soeun said pretending to think. "According to all the meetings we had, and let me tell you we did have several, you had you chance to 'sweep me off my feet' and let's just say on a scale of 1 to 10 on how well you did, -1."

"But you see Miss. Kim, I don't recall me even starting to work my magic on you yet."

Soeun chuckled again, looking at Junho in a sarcastic frown. "Oh, right. Because that time you put the seatbelt on me the night we had our official meeting wasn't counted as 'trying'. Or was it?"

"And when you were closing your eyes when I did, wasn't because you were nervous? Or was it?" Junho imitated her while grinning. 

Soeun's wide smile turned into a stern face as his comeback knocked her down by surprise. Her sense of pride came over, and if he wasn't driving, she would have slapped him across the face. "You know what. Okay, fine. Lets see you 'work you magic'."  

Junho grinned to himself. "Okay, but don't regret falling for me at the end of the day."

~~~ 

Soeun got out of the car and looked around. "We're at an organic market?" Soeun said turning to look at Junho, unsure if he was just stopping by or actually planning to stay here. 

He nodded his head and smiled. "We're at an organic market." He knew very well that if had taken Soeun to a restaurant, he wouldn't be able to shake off the silence between them, and if he was to take her to the theaters, there wouldn't be much talking involved, so like the woman's man he was, he took her to the next best thing, where conversations would settle in with long walks and delicious food around the stalls.

"Well, I'm fine as long as you're paying." Soeun sighed walking ahead of Junho. 

He smiled at her reply and ran to catch up with her. 

Soeun could smell the food that was blowing with the wind, and it made her stomach growl even more and more. She held her stomach and tried to make it stop. "He better buy me lunch first." She uttered to herself. 

"So you want lunch?" 

Soeun flinched as she turned around and found him beside her. She breathed a sigh of relief. "You scared me." 

Junho slightly laughed at her as he began to grin. 

"So what would you like to eat?" he asked politely.

"Is this your first step to what you think will generally conclude with me falling head over heals for you?" 

"What? Offering to pay for a meal? Or the part where I actually asked politely like I always do?" 

She crossed her arms and stopped midway. “You know, if your aim is to make me fall for you, I highly recommend you stop being sarcastic.”

“Oh right. My apologies your majesty.” He said sarcastically. 

Soeun ignored him as she caught the sight of a food stall and dragged Junho with her. Junho looked down at the sudden grip of his hand and hers. 

The smell of the pastries being made brought back the sense of being back home. She kneeled down to the ground to see the different breads that were on display in the glass case. "I want all of them." Soeun whispered, her eyes being glued onto the food. 

Junho sighed as he kneeled down onto her level and turned his head to face her. "So which one do you want?" 

Soeun looked over to Junho and smiled as she pat his back. "Good job for asking Mr. Playboy. I give you one point." She turned back to the glass case and smiled broadly thinking about devouring the pastries. "But, I want you to choose which one would be best for me, and I'll judge you from there." Soeun said in a flash as she smiled again only to stand up and walk away. 

Junho sighed in exhaustion as he stood up. "Just give me your two best pastries please." 

He took out his wallet as the attendant wrapped up the bread in the packaging.

Soeun sat down at the table as she cautiously watched Junho from the corner of her eye. Her depth of hatred she had for him had lowered a small amount, but in her book it was far from the top of the chart of 'like'. She hadn't necessarily forgiven him for all the times he had been rude to her, nor did she even want to be here. However if being with him, for the amount of time she had to, would save her father's company...then so be it. 

She suddenly looked down at her bag and felt the vibration of her phone from inside the pockets. Soeun quickly scourged inside the items inside before finding it. 

"Hello?"

"Miss Kim." her secretary called out. 

"What seems to be the problem?" 

"Mr. Jung just informed me that they'll be a change in your schedule next week." 

Soeun laughed to herself, as she had already known this was going to happen. A few days off was an unlikely thing to happen, right before two companies were to merge. She stood up from her seat and turned away from the stall. "What changes are we talking about?" 

"The days that you initially had the least work, will be moved onto the weekend." 

She slowly started to take small steps away from the stall as her secretary kept on outlining her schedule, before turning back around. She could see Junho turning around and walking slowly towards the table. "I'll check back with you in a while. As for now, text me my schedule, and tomorrow morning book me into a meeting with Mr. Jung." 

"Yes ma'am." 

She hung up, and quickly slid her phone into the pocket of her coat. Dealing with business was something she barely even wanted to think about at the moment, and on top of that she had to think about the many watching her with inquisitive eyes. 

Junho set the pastries on the table, as Soeun arrived at the table at the same time. She looked at the number of pastries that he had bought, and shot Junho a look. "Where's the rest of the food?" 

"This is all the food." 

She looked back at Junho and lifted an eyebrow, shaking her head. "You should have bought more than one Mr. Playboy. One point deducted." 

Soeun picked up the knife and fork and slowly cut the crisp outside of the delicate pastry. Chocolate started to ooze out at the core centre as the soft bread fell lightly on her plate.

"Chocolate," She continued. "...one point." she said smiling at the new system of points she created. 

~ ~ ~ 

Mrs. Lee sat at dining room table, legs crossed, as she kept on tapping the screen of her phone lightly with her fingernails. It had been at least half an hour since she had last talked to Soeun and no news nor updates had been sent to her. She cursed heavily under her breath. "How hard must it be for a person to simply follow the two and get back to me at the same time?" She quietly uttered to herself. Her temper started to slowly rise as she took a bitter sip of the red wine, that she swayed in her palm.

"Madam, your lunch is ready." One of the maid's said quietly, trying not to disturb Mrs. Lee.

"Well then bring them to me. I don't pay you to just talk and tell me what I need to do." She shouted. Her anger was increasing every second. The maid bowed in apology as she walked away from her presence.  

Mrs. Lee heaved a sigh as she rubbed her temples with both her index fingers. She needed this to work. It has to work. Both Junho and Soeun needed this. They needed the time to get to know one another. 

She raised her glass and poured more wine into it. 

She unlocked her phone and stared at the home screen for what seemed like forever before slamming it on the table. "Damn it." She cursed under her breath before swallowing most of the wine in the glass. 

"You were never patient." A voice called out behind her.

Mrs. Lee looked across her shoulder and saw her husband walking towards the dining table.

 "Neither were you." 

He let out a laugh, sitting down beside her. "I think your 'spies' called the wrong number, because I received an anonymous tip about our son and his fiancé." He calmly stated before taking the glass of wine off her hands and drinking all that was left of it. 

Mrs Lee widened her eyes as her heart dropped. "Excuse me?" 

"They said that both Junho and Soeun were eating lunch together and chatting happily at an organic market.”

A wide smile creeped onto her face as she got up from her seat. “Well then, as the matter with our employees that don’t know whom to message, I’ll deal with them later. As for the moment, I seem to be needing some fresh air.”

Mrs. Lee sophisticatedly walked away from her husband and she grinned. “A trip to the markets seems like a fine thing to do today.” she mumbled to herself, as she re-applied her shade of deep red lipstick. 

~ ~ ~ 

Soeun walked slowly, taking light steps before inhaling in the fresh air. They had both finished lunch, and truth be told, she had enjoyed the meal. She glanced at Junho who had his eyes fixed onto his mobile phone. 

She could bet her three hours of sleep a day that he was texting one of his women. Even though, he had already signed the contract and agreed to ditch the whole playboy concept, the contract wasn't technically valid until their wedding day. 

"A girl?" She couldn't help but cough under her breath, still loud enough for him to hear.

Junho suddenly looked up from the screen and saw Soeun gazing away from his eye contact. He laughed and put his phone back into his pocket and smirked. "Why so curious Miss Kim? Jealous perhaps?" 

She sarcastically laughed and looked at Junho from head to toe. "I don't think there's anything to be jealous about." Soeun directly said before turning away from him. 

Junho just smiled at her reply. “Well, since you don’t want me to text to my secretary, I’ll put my phone away.” 

Soeun pinched herself inside the pockets of her coat for looking like a complete idiot. Why did she ask that question in the first place?! 

Junho sighed as they kept a distance. “So tell me about yourself.” Junho said bringing up a new topic, hoping that it would ease the tension that was lingering in the air. 

Soeun slowly turned to Junho slowly who was now facing her. “What’s there to tell?” She replied clearing . “I’m 25. Only child. Heiress to a company that is slowly dying. My father has died, and my mother lays in a bed 24/7.” Soeun replied in a bitter tone,  clutching the strap of her purse as she looked straight ahead. 

It was the first time she had been so straightforward about the matter, and for some reason, the truth had hit her then and there. Every time she had to bring up her parents, an aching pain began all over again in her chest and she would choke back the tears that were pushing it’s way out of her eyes. However this time, all she could grasp was the disgust in her body. The truth was always in front of her door, and yet, she never opened  it. She was always afraid, always crying, always in a position where it felt like something was stolen away from her when she needed it most. Now, it felt as if she didn’t just open the door, it felt as if the truth just barged in and the door broke, leaving her vulnerable to the cold wind that the truth brought in. 

“So that’s your life story?” Junho said cutting her trail of thought. 

“Is there anything else that I missed?” she asked rhetorically. 

Junho chuckled as he stopped in his tracks to face her. “You missed the part where you smiled.”

Soeun turned back towards Junho puzzled. “Excuse me?”

“You missed the part where you laughed, and cried tears of happiness. You missed all the moments where your heart was going to explode from the love that you kept to yourself. You missed the part where you fell in love.” He smiled.

Soeun stared at him with a blank expression, finding herself tighten the grip between the strap of her bag and her fingers. 

“You’ve forgotten all those moments in your life story and slowly, you’re occupying your mind with thoughts of grief.” 

Soeun couldn’t believe what he was saying. The moment he brought up this topic was the wrong decision. She clenched her teeth and looked directly in his eyes. 

“What if that’s what I want? Those moments are the reason why I’m like this.” She said in anger. “Then what about you? You think your bad relationship with your parents was a secret? Well I’m sorry to burst you bubble Mr. Playboy, but rumours are spreading and everyone knows that your womanising ways was to forget about your parent-problem. If you think I should follow your advice first?” Soeun laughed in sarcasm. “Look at yourself first.” 

Soeun exhaled before walking away from him. “Every moment I spend with him I regret.” she uttered to herself walking towards the main road. 

Author's Note: I'm back! After several months. I'm sorry for not updating, I had a serious case of writer's block, the words just didn't want to splurge on the page. I hope I didn't lose anyone! But for those that have made it this far, I thank you all so much.