The funeral was just as depressing as it was expected to be. Her father had been a highly respected and loved man of both the business world and outside of that. Everyone at the funeral gave their condolences to Seonhee, her stepmother, and stepsister, but that didn’t make the pain go away.

            He was still gone.

            She was still alone.

            After the dinner to celebrate the life her father had lived at her house, she desperately needed fresh air and silence. She exited the house full of tearful relatives and friends and got on the first bus she saw. With no specific destination in mind, she simply stared out the window, leaning against the pole to keep her balance on the rocky bus ride. She was too busy looking outside, so she didn’t notice the person getting onto the bus a few minutes after her.

            But he noticed her.

            “Seonhee-sshi?” he asked in a soft voice as to not startle her. She jumped at the sound of his voice anyway. She looked up at him with wide eyes.

            “O-oh, Daejoon-sshi, hello again.” She quickly bowed, which he returned. “What are you doing here?”

            He raised an eyebrow and smirked. “Riding the bus.” He said with a small chuckle.

            Seonhee mentally slapped her forehead. “Yes, but don’t you have a car?”

            “Why would you say that?”

            “I-I mean, since you’re…” she let the sentence fade, gazing at his face.

            “Rich?” Daejoon finished for her with a kind smile. “Do you think I’m rich?” she nodded mutely. “I’m not, trust me. I’m Jinho’s manager along with his best friend. I keep him in check when he acts out, which he does a lot.”

            “Oh.”

            Daejoon smiled, amused. “I’m on my way back to my place. I needed space away from the guy for a few hours.”

            Seonhee nodded. “I could see why.” She muttered, more to herself than to Daejoon but he chuckled anyway.

            “Don’t get the wrong idea about him. He means well, it’s just that he speaks before he thinks almost all of the time.” Seonhee gave him a disbelieving look.

            “Almost?”

            “Okay, always. But he’s still a great guy.” Daejoon said with a small nod.

            “Great guys don’t yell at someone for accidently spilling something on their clothes and then kidnapping them.” Seonhee said, looking back out the window.

            Daejoon had no response to that, since she was right.

            He glanced down at his phone, which was ringing and noticed it was Jinho. He knew why Jinho would be calling at that moment but didn’t want to answer. He knew Jinho would just complain about HyeMa, the girl that his father wanted him to marry, but Daejoon had heard every insult Jinho had for the girl already so he was beginning to repeat himself.

            After a few minutes of ignoring his ringing phone, Daejoon noticed a text message from Jinho:

            ‘Get me out of this marriage anyway you can think of, NOW.’

            Daejoon glanced up at Seonhee, his mind racing with ideas.

            “Seonhee-sshi?”

            “Hmm?”

            “Are you single?”

            Seonhee slowly tilted her head to look at him. Was he really asking that?

            “N-not for me. For Jinho.” Daejoon quickly added.

            “For Jinho?” Seonhee repeated. “If so, then I’m so taken that there’s no way I’d ever be available.” Daejoon sighed.

            “Didn’t you say that you would pay him back in favors for destroying his clothes though?” Daejoon asked, not looking at her.

            Seonhee just stared at him. She knew he was right, she had said that. But was he serious? He wanted her to date that Jinho guy?

            With a heavy sigh, she turned fully around to look at him. “What kind of favor is this?”

            Daejoon grinned and gestured for her to follow her. “We’ll have to stop by Jinho’s place for a second, okay? I need to talk to him about this idea I just had.”

            “What? No, I’m not going back there.” Seonhee said, backing away.

            “Let’s just pretend you didn’t say that, okay?” Daejoon grabbed her hand and tugged her off the bus and down the sidewalk before calling for a taxi. “The bus doesn’t stop near his apartment, so we’ll have to take a taxi.” He opened the door of the car for Seonhee and allowed her to slide in first.

            They drove back to Jinho’s apartment and during the whole ride; Daejoon explained the situation to Seonhee.

            “So this…HyeMa person, is his fiancé?” she asked, tilting her slightly to the side.

            “Sort of. Against his will.” Daejoon responded. “His parents want him to marry her but he basically…hates her guts.” Seonhee sighed. What was she getting herself into?

            They exited the taxi after Daejoon tossed a few bills at the driver and he led her back to Jinho’s apartment. He knocked on the door, which flew open seconds later.

            Jinho stood there looking annoyed. “Hi.” He said in a flat tone, and then looked at Seonhee. “What’s she doing here?”

            “She’s your fiancé.” Daejoon said, then smirked at the confused look on both Jinho and Seonhee’s face.

            “What?” Jinho said after a while.

            “You needed an excuse to get out of this marriage deal, I got you one. Your welcome.” Daejoon walked around Jinho and entered his apartment, calling out, “Hey HyeMa-sshi!”

            Seonhee heard someone whine, “What are you doing here?”

            Jinho sighed, closing his eyes for a second before letting them open again. “Did you agree to this?” he asked Seonhee.

            “I guess so.” Seonhee muttered, looking back at him with a shrug of her shoulders.

            Jinho nodded. “Then there’s only one thing I can say:

            Kim Seonhee, will you marry me and save me from this misery?”

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ELLO READERS!!

this is paracosmstories!!

i sure hope you guys are liking the story so far :D

YoungEunMi and I are taking turns writing each chapter, sooo anticipate YoungEunMi's update haha

Enjoy :D