It’s already been a week since you met Kris, and somehow, you realized you had managed to sneak out every night around two or three in the morning just to be with him. Most of the time, you two did the most random things:  playing basketball in the park (of course it would end up with you playing keep-away instead…), running around the city streets to skip around the big fountain, or simply laying down on one of the many rooftops to talk. He’d fought long and hard to figure out your name, but by the second night out, you already called him Oppa.

You hated to admit it, but you were falling in love with him. And it was killing you just thinking about it. You knew it had to end soon. The arranged marriage was inevitable, and you were making it worse—so much worse. But you couldn’t help it. The way he made you feel couldn’t have been prevented, and, in a way, you were just wading in these feelings, basking in the scent of his jacket every night.

This just wouldn’t end well.

It was harder to fall asleep more than anything nowadays especially with the late arrivals and the leftover adrenaline. You’d remember slipping into bed around 4:30 in the morning only to hear your alarm seconds later. Now the clock says six, and if you had gotten any sleep at all, you weren’t aware of it.

You sighed, hugging your pillow. It wasn’t hard to figure out why you couldn’t sleep. You toyed with Kris’s engagement ring, laying next to your lips on the pillow under your head. You always ignored it whenever you were with him even know it was a constant pain in your . It wasn’t cold anymore, but it still kept your attention.

After another couple of hours passing the ring across your fingers, the sun finally rose. No sleep—surprisingly, it didn’t affect you that much until you stood up and felt your neck ache.

“Damn.” You swore. You probably have the worst dark circles right now. You didn’t want to move away from your bed, and the mere thought that it was only the beggining of the day just shot through you.

You flopped back onto your bed in time for one of the maids to enter your room.

“Miss, you have a letter.” She set the note down beside your face. You tumbled over to read it.

You didn’t recognize the handwriting, but it was in fact addressed to you. It was a letter from Kris.

_______-ah, meet me on our usual rooftop in an hour. I’ll wait for you.

Until then! -Kris

You smiled to yourself, but not before remembering one urgent detail.

You were supposed to meet your fiance today. Aigoo, how could you forget? Maybe it wasn’t the best idea to stray away from your fixed mental schedule. It was so unlike you to forget such an important date.

Instead of continuing to worry in your bed-ridden state, you drowned away the anxiety in a hot bath laced with honeysuckle—something that reminded you of Kris and his alluring stare.

How were you suppose to tell him, you muttered to yourself. You felt so much for him when you knew you shouldn’t have. You’re going to have to tell him somehow and that had to be some today. Aissh, you shouldn’t have procrastinated!

You slid your face under the water, counting sheep before you absolutely had to get ready.

You needed more time than you could ever imagine.

**

You made a slow, easy pace up the stares to the roof of the apartment complex that you and Kris usually visited. With each step, you grit your teeth even harder, trying to form words into sentences that would somehow serve as a confession. No one should ever have to tell someone they love that there’s no way they could be together. It sounded just as difficult as it was to do.

You opened the door to the rooftop. Kris was sprawled across the far edge of the building; if he had just sneezed over to the right, he would have tumbled off and over the edge. You jogged over to him, hugging your arms to your torso.

“Oppa!” You called his attention with a soft smile.

Kris looked over to you with a grin. “Hey.” He met you half way before seeing how nervous and weary you were. “What’s wrong?” He knew you better than every after this past week, and you weren’t surprised. There wasn’t a soul in the world who knew you like he did.

You stared into his eyes, waiting for the words to pour out, but they just wouldn’t. You both stood there in silence until four small words slipped from your lips.

“I can’t do this.”

Kris cocked his head to the side and held your arms to keep you from shaking. “________-ah, what are you talking about?”

Now you tried to avoid his eyes. “I can’t—I can’t be with you. Anymore.”

He waited for you to explain further, but all you did was wiggle out of his hold. You slowly unclasped your necklace and held his engagement ring out to him. He just stared at you, more than confused about whatever you were doing.

“Do you remember when we first met?” You said hesitantly. He nodded. “I was so mad because you were engaged… but really, I was mad at myself.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Oppa, we can’t be together because I’m engaged, too.”

Kris kept his gaze on you. You couldn’t tell if he was livid, upset, despondent or anything. He just looked straight at you, and you couldn’t read him at all. You didn’t even want to wait for him to respond before continuing.

“I should have told you.” You backed away. “I’m so sorry—” You shoved the ring, necklace included, into his hands and ran straight for the stairs. 

You were so numb; you didn’t even comprehend where you were running. It was like you were on autopilot programmed to go home. The wind whipped against your face, and your tears flew behind you with your hair. You didn’t even want to think about how Kris was feeling. You’d rather just forget about it and go along with your original plans—no mess, no worry, just marriage.

Just marriage. And no Kris.

**

You stayed huddled against your bedroom door with your face buried in between your knees. Appa had sent another maid to tell you to come to his study at noon sharp. You had intended on sobering up of your emotions so your eyes wouldn’t be red and puffy when you met your fiance, but you failed horribly as the tears just managed to spill out while you just sat there.

Noon rolled around faster than you thought it would. You had barely managed to put enough makeup to keep your dark circles under the radar, but your eyes were still red. You continuously pinched the inside of your arm to keep you awake as you made the death march to meet your father.

When you arrived, you found the doors closed, barely a crack left for you to even eavesdrop. You peered through to catch a glimpse of your appa, but instead you saw something—well, someone else.

“YOU!” You crashed into the room, finger pointing right between Kris’s eyes.

He looked back at you not nearly as shocked as you were.

“But we just—I just—the rooftop! Wait—What are you doing here?!” You yelled.

”_______-ah, lower your voice; you’re scaring your fiance.” You father said with a slight grin.

You froze, lowering your hand. Kris just looked at your with his hands tucked in his pockets.

“But—But I—” You continued to stutter. “But he’s—”

“Yes, he’s your fiance.”

Without warning or any pretense, you shoved Kris out of frustration. You could feel your insides boiling and you couldn’t tell if it was from adrenaline or anger.

“Did you know about this?!” You shrieked.

Appa stepped in between you two. “Now, now, ______-ah, this wasn’t his fault. It was my idea. I knew you would think him indifferent if you had met him at the ball dresses yourself, so I instructed him to get to know you in his own way before you officially met like this.”

“But…” You started to calm down. “I thought you said you were from Canada.” You hiccuped, looking over to Kris.

He chuckled with flushed cheeks. “I am. But my dad lives in China. I go back and forth, and when I’m here, I stay with Chanyeol.”

You didn’t know how to process any of this. The entire time you were with Kris worrying about your fiance, you were actually with your fiance. And while you were angry about Kris’s fiance, in reality, you were the fiance you had been mad at. Aigoo, even that was hard to understand.

“But you—” You forced out a sigh. “But we’ve been—”

Kris took your hand in his. “________-ah, I’m sorry I didn’t tell you. But I knew this wouldn’t have happened unless I got to—”

“What wouldn’t have happened?”

“I wouldn’t have fallen in love with you.”

You could feel your heart smiling even if you couldn’t speak. Kris took his ring in his fingers, still attached to your chain.

“This is my engagement ring to you. And this—” He took out an identical silver band from his pocket. “Is yours.”

You dove face first into Kris’s chest and hugged him with tears soaking his shirt. He nestled his face into your neck and kissed your cheek softly. You completely ignored your father’s reaction as you continued to cry, laughing to hide your embarrassment.

“What’s wrong?” Kris smiled, wiping your tears with his thumb.

Your sniffled with a slight grin.

“I’m just really happy it’s you."