i swear i've eaten something so don't worry.

“Mom, I don’t want to~” Baekhyun whines and continuously tries to pull his hand back from his mother’s iron grip, earning amused looks from the people around them. Well, how funny is it to see a twenty five year old lad—looking gorgeous in a baby blue casual shirt and white pants with his dark brown locks styled handsomely—getting dragged by a beautiful middle aged woman in a simple dress to an expensive looking Chinese restaurant? “Mom!”

Mrs. Byun flashes a pretty smile to a bowing receptionist before following a waiter to a table far in the corner of VVIP area, completely ignoring her son’s protest but still has her hand around his wrist. There at the destination table, Mr. Byun is already having a good time with Baekhyun’s closest friends. She gives another pretty smile to Jongin who pulls out a chair for her to sit. “Sorry for coming late, gentlemen. Baekhyun was being stubborn as usual.”

“We all know Baekhyun can be a pain in the sometimes, auntie,” Kyungsoo casually replies which makes everyone but Baekhyun laugh.

Baekhyun glares. “Hey! I helped you to get noticed by Jongin!”

“Oh. With or without your help, Jongin‘d still notice me,” Kyungsoo sips on his lemon juice before smiling up at his boyfriend who is sitting next to him. “Right?”

“Sure,” is all Jongin says before leaning forward to peck Kyungsoo’s cheek.

Baekhyun rolls his eyes. “No PDA, please.”

“Someone is jealous,” Sehun pipes in before dodging the napkin Baekhyun throws at him.

After almost two hours—everyone has finished having lunch by now—Mr. Byun looks around the restaurant. “Where is he?”

“Where is who?” Baekhyun asks after wiping his mouth clean with a napkin.

Mrs. Byun knocks on her son’s forehead. “Your soon to be husband. Did you forget? He’s supposed to meet you here to discuss about the wedding.”

“Are you two seriously forcing me to marry this unknown stranger?”

“He’s not a stranger,” Mrs. Byun checks on her phone but puts it back inside her purse as soon as she finds no missed call or message. “You know him well.”

Mr. Byun asks a waitress for some additional desserts before turning to smirk at his son. “He’s from China.”

Baekhyun frowns. It means the nominators are Luhan—one of the sons of his mother’s best friend in university, Yixing—the boy who was once his piano tutor, Kris—the only son of his father’s colleague, and Tao—the rich wushu boy who is the neighbor of his cousin.

“He’s tall.”

Luhan and Yixing are crossed then, Baekhyun thinks, because he knows when his father considers someone tall, that person must be really tall. “That leaves Kris and Tao only.”

“He’s younger than you.”

Baekhyun feels his heart stop pumping blood the moment his mother delivers the last clue. It’s positively— “Tao.”

Baekhyun actually has no problem with Tao. The Chinese lad is such a polite gentlemen and he masters wushu so he can ensure his safety. Tao is also an understanding and caring person, which adds up to his plus points. Marrying him sounds like a good plan for his future, but deep inside his heart, Baekhyun knows his h