"JongIn-ah," my mother called making me look up from my paper and frown. "JungHa-ah's picture will be arriving soon and I'm sure you'll fall in love with her!"
I dropped my pen on the floor, dismissing her with a grunt. What sort of mother assures you that you'll fall in love with a girl who is sending you a portrait of herself? Yes, you heard right. Portrait.

I scrambled around the floor in an attempt to retrieve my pen, finally reaching out and grabbing it before settling down on my seat again to go through a paper by John Wheeler. Another knock on the door roused me from my dream-like state which was filled with quanta as I barked a "come in."

The maid poked her head in and squeaked "Ah, the lawyer you called for has arrived sir, would you like me to send him in?"

I nodded as she bowed and stepped away and soon a young man of about twenty six entered the room, bowed slightly and introduced himself as Lee Donghae. I acknowledged him with a curt nod and introduced myself, indicating to the seat and nodding at him to take a seat. He glanced at me, pulled out a note pad from his briefcase, clicking his pen and pushing on a pair of reading glasses up the bridge of his nose before looking up at me.

"So, how may I help you?”

I cleared my throat, "You see, my wedding has been fixed with a young rich girl, and as you can obviously see, I'm not one for getting married. But, since we're both in it, I'd like to put forward some conditions for the both of us. Rules, to make things easier."

His eyebrows shot up as he fixed his glasses again "So, you want me to...draft these rules into a contract?" He asked slowly, as I nodded in reply, I was never one for talking much, preferring to be completing my thesis rather than wasting my precious breath speaking to people. But this, this was important. I stood up and paced around my office.

"I have fifteen conditions that I wish to put down in contractual form." I said, stopping and placing my hand on the table as he eyed me, observing rather than judging. He only nodded to indicate he was listening.

"Firstly, the marriage will take place in a mutually decided location at the decided time." I dictated, as he scribbled it down.

"Secondly, neither of the two parties will interfere in the other's work, preferably staying out of the way."

I continued dictating my conditions as he scribbled them down, occasionally raising his eyebrow but not saying anything. He pushed the notepad over the desk to me.

"This is what you want right?"

The notepad read:

1. The marriage will take place in a mutually decided location at the decided time.

2. Neither of the two parties will interfere in the other's work, preferably staying out of the way.

3. The female party will take care of the cooking, cleaning and other menial tasks.

4. The male is the sole breadwinner, and the female must take permission from him to earn money. He will only agree if he is compliant with the job conditions.

5. The two parties may have relationships outside of the marriage, but not without informing the other party first.

6. The rings must be worn at all times in the presence of each other.

7. No one else must be informed of this agreement. If this rule is broken, it will result in this marriage being annulled. (Including parents)

8. If there is an extra marital affair, there should be no illegitimate offspring.

9. A certain period will be allotted to know each other, and then only will the marriage take place.

10. The alimony:
a.) In case of divorce, the alimony will be divided fifty-fifty. In case of any offspring, the of the offspring will be brought into consideration.
b.) Both parties may involve lawyers of their choosing.
c.) Litigation will take place in a suitable high court.
11. Female party will be subject to various tests to ensure good health and genetics.

12. In case of any premature deaths, the remaining party has the permission to remarry. However, on the day of remarriage, the monthly allowance given to the living party on behalf of the late party will be withdrawn.

13. Any celebrations and/or events may only be held with the consent of BOTH the parties.

14. The parties should ensure that neither of them gets in the other's way at home and at work.

15. If both the parties truly fall in love with one another, they will have to renew their marriage vows.

I inhaled haggardly, going through the points over and over, trying to find any loophole. When I didn’t, I opened my mouth to express my satisfaction. That was never meant to happen.

A knock reverberated through the spacious sparsely furnished room. I massaged my temples, annoyed at being interrupted with an important session with the lawyer. Irritated, I got up from my chair and strode towards the door, to find a delivery man, and my own grinning father.

"What?" I snapped as he continued to grin as he waved at the delivery man.

"It's here!"

'What?' I repeated, slightly nonplussed.

'Oh, tchah!' My father said, impatiently, and burst into the room.

I frowned, stealing at glance at the curious looking lawyer.

He signalled to the delivery guy, who brought a large portrait into the room. Sighing, I shifted out of the way as my father paraded around the room, almost disturbing my carefully written equations and knocking down a stack of papers.

'This-is-your future wife!' He said with a flourish.

It was the picture of a girl wearing a white dress.I stared blankly at it as I heard a soft muttering in the background "That’s my last Duchess painted on the wall, 
Looking as if she were alive. I call 
That piece a wonder, now: Fra Pandolf’s hands 
Worked busily a day, and there she stands. 
Will’t please you sit and look at her?" I spun and stared at the odd lawyer who seemed to be quoting poetry.

'Um..jogeyo?' I said, rather snappishly.

'Aniya.' The lawyer said. Okay, is he flushing? This is most unprofessional behaviour.

I looked back at the portrait, and didn't look anywhere else for the next ten minutes.

'Ahem.' My father broke the silence.He looked triumphant.

'That doesn't mean I like her.’ I said, unconvincingly. She’s just a beauty. What if she turns out to be my opposite? What if she's dumb?'

He only shook his head knowingly.

'One month,' I said, raising my index finger and sighing 'I'll know her in a month, and then ONLY will we proceed with this marriage.'

"Oh, so my son wants to meet her!" my father chirped excitedly.

I sighed. The lawyer cleared his throat, and it brought me back to earth.

'Abeoji, please leave at the moment.'

"Let's arrange a party!" he threw his arms in the air,"that way, you'll be able to meet her family too!"

I grunted affirmatively.

"Please Abeoji, we will discuss this later." I said, shoving him out of the room and slamming the door shut.

'Excuse me. My father tends to cause awkward situations sometimes.'

'I think he is quite amiable,' the lawyer shot back. I was momentarily stymied. 'To business, to business,' He continued, and I glowered at him. But he appeared not to have noticed and smiled. 'Now that you have dictated your terms, we will get the contract drafted out and sent to you by five o'clock today evening. Until then, I will take your leave.' He got up smartly and strode out of the door.

Damn this guy is good.

I turned back to the portrait and had a good look at it. I felt a slight effervescence in my stomach and dismissed it as acidity; I hadn't eaten in a while after all. I stared at the portrait, observing it carefully.

She had large eyes- uncommonly large eyes.

She wasn't smiling brightly, but she was smiling. And for some reason, this smile made me slightly disconcerted.

It must be some flaw of the paint, I thought. I never really had a thing for impasto portraits

But her eyes, they held a sense of sadness to them as well. They me in almost like they were the black holes in outer space.

Yet they held a certain something about them that showed me that she was innocent, not stupid.

She looked like a unique snowflake, captured and preserved in Formvar. The essence of her captured in paint and preserved on canvas.

Snapping out of my silly daze, I turned the portrait around so I wouldn’t see that hauntingly beautiful face and made my way to my desk, settling down in front of my papers and drowning into my dreamland of quanta yet again.