"HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!" they all screamed and cheered. As everyone hugged and kissed I sat on the couch with my alcohol free drink and felt a little lonely... I hated gatherings like these... Sure it was a new year but why couldn't we just stay home? I drank some from my glass and turned to my left to suddenly find a boy sitting there. I had to bite my lip hard to not spit out the drink all over him and totally embarrass myself before I'd even said a word to him.

"Hi,"  he said and smiled at me. "Who are you daughter or related to?"

"Oh... My mother is Ahn Myung Soo... You?" I responded nervously but he only smiled at me so I calmed myself a bit. He didn't bite, did he?

"Aha... My family name is Lee. My parents know yours I think." He pointed at two people and I realized that the people beside them were no others but my parents.

"Yeah... They seem to know each other," I stated and watched my parents until they looked back and I switched direction. The guy next to me waved and smiled at them. I frowned. Did he know them?

"I'm Donghae. And you are Hana right?" he asked. How did he know my name- of course... I glared at my parents and saw that both our parents were ‘secretly’ eyeing us. "Um Hana?" Donghae brought me out from my thoughts. I looked at him and wrinkled my nose in suspicion. He looked at me surprised.

"Yeah... I'm Hana..." I answered. Silence followed as he only nodded and we awkwardly looked the other way. "I'm sorry for asking..." I started and bit my lip "I don't want to sound rude but did you come here for any special reason?"

"Haha." He chuckled and rubbed his hands together "You figured it out... They didn't think you would." I turned to him and looked at him angrily.

"I'm not stupid," I told him and sounded more pissed than I had planned. "And I know who you are too..." I continued and crossed my arms.

"You do?" his tone sounded surprised and confused but he didn't fool me.

"Yeah... You're Lee Donghae... My future husband..." I spoke and felt how my voice became thick. I didn't want to marry someone just like that. Soon the tears welled up in my eyes and I stood up "Excuse me." I bowed to him and went to the hallway, put my shoes on and went outside. How could my parents do this to me?! I hated them...

"Want a cigarette?" One of the guests from the party suddenly held out a cigarette to me. He must've been drunk but I didn't care. I nodded and took the cigarette and he lit it for me. He mumbled something before took his bottle and went inside, leaving me. I stared at the cigarette in my hand. I had never tried it but I guess there had to be a first time for everything, right? I prepared myself to inhale when it suddenly was taken from me.

"Hey!" I turned to see who it was and saw Donghae put it out on the ground. "What do you think you're doing?" I asked him annoyed.

"You shouldn't smoke. It's dangerous," he stated matter-of-factly.

"I don't smoke," I muttered and wrapped my arms around me and tried to ignore the freezing cold that hung in the air this New Year's Eve.

"Here," he said and put his jacket around my shoulders. It wasn't really my meaning but I glared at him. "Hey, I'm just trying to be nice," he told me severely and smiled.

"Sorry..." I apologized. "It hasn't been such a good evening and a quite rough year so I'm not so cheerful..." I smiled at him weakly.

"Nah... I understand. I haven't had it so good either..." His words surprised me, so I glanced at him and saw that he was standing right next to me, watching the sky. I did the same and noticed how many stars there was this night.

"What happened to you?" I asked hesitantly. He chuckled. "What?" I questioned, feeling slightly offended and pouted.

"You look cute when you pout," he said without turning his head and I immediately changed expression.

"You didn't even look," I said, looking down at my feet. "How can you know?" he chuckled again.

"What do I know? Psychic?" he joked. Even if it was lame I couldn't help but to giggle. He chuckled too and shook his head, amused. "Why not tell me what happened to you first?" he suggested. I scoffed.

"What didn't happen? My big brother left and I was told that I needed to keep our company going by marrying some guy named Lee." He laughed but I ignored him and kept going "And then my father got cancer and is still fighting it..." My voice slowly began to disappear the more words I spoke "...and my mother..." I laughed "...is a ing who doesn't give a about our family!" I sighed deeply. Donghae had by now stopped smiling and was frowning instead. I bit my lips and turned my head to hide my falling tears from him.

"I'm sorry," he tried but I just shook my head to helplessly sit down on the ground and cry.

"It's so unfair... It's nothing against you it's just that..."

"I know. You're not alone." He sat down on the cold ground beside me and then gently pulled me into a hug. I didn't have enough strength to get mad or anything so instead I welcomed it and leant my head on his shoulder. "My father is in the same situation as yours..." I looked up at him and caught him wiping away a tear which broke my heart in a way.

"I'm sorry too," I whispered. He smiled and wiped away my tears.

"We're not that different you know," he told me. "And I'm awesome so I reckon you are too." Once again it was a quite lame joke but I giggled and nodded.

"Yeah..." I thought for a while and then turned to him "Let's start over." I held out a hand to him and smiled "Hello, my name is Ahn Hana and I'm seventeen years old. I will turn eighteen in April," I presented myself. He smiled at me amused but took my hand and shook it.

"Hi Hana. My name is Lee Donghae and I have just turned eighteen in October. Nice to meet you." When he had finished his last word he, to my surprise, brought up my hand and placed a small kiss on it before letting go. Stunned and a bit chocked, I blinked a few times, of course making him chuckle.

"Why did you do that?" I asked him, still stunned. He shrugged.

"Manners? I don't know. I felt like it," he responded.

"Oh... Okay." I turned my head to find another focus but didn't succeed very well so I ended up watching my hands in my lap.

"Do you wish for something?" Donghae all of a sudden asked after a couple of minutes of silence.

"For my dad to get better I guess..." I answered automatically without thinking.

"Don't you have a wish for yourself?" Donghae then continued to question. He turned his face to me and tilted his head as to say 'you can tell me', which was exactly what I did.

"I want to see the world..." I said. "It may sound cliché and stupid-"

"No..." he cut me off, "it's not stupid or silly. I also want to see the world... And I would leave if I could but I feel like I'm bound to stay until my father gets better."

"Same here..." I mumbled. "But I'm tired of never being able to do anything... I always have to be so..."

"Perfect?" Donghae took the words out of my mouth and I nodded in agreement.

"Yeah... My mother says that it is my obligation to be my best but honestly I don't even know who I am when I am my best," I explained and Donghae nodded.

"Yeah... You feel so trapped inside yourself in a way. It's like you won't ever evolve and get the chance to explore and find new sides of yourself."

"That's exactly how it feels..." I sighed. "Why can't we skip getting married? I mean I don't want to. And I'm sure you don't want either." I turned my face to him and noticed that he had done the same.

"I do it because it might be my father's last wish." I knew that he had been perfectly honest saying that. I bit my lip, wanting to say the same back but nothing came out of me. No matter how much I loved my father this wasn't a thing I wanted to complete. I just didn't.

"I can't do it even for my father," I whispered sadly. "I want to marry someone of my own choice Donghae."

"I understand. And I won't force you into anything." He smiled and caressed my cheek. "If you don't feel ready… then too bad for me," he said then closed his hands and looked down at them. “You seem like the perfect wife though," he whispered so that I could barely hear it. I opened my mouth to retort his statement about me being perfect for him since it wasn’t true and he’d probably find someone way better just walking down the street but I got interrupted by the door opening and my parents stepping out. I stood up and bowed to them.

"Hana! Where have you been?! We've been worried for you!" my mother shouted. I shut my eyes as if to make it go away. Like a child...

"She is with me,"  Donghae simply answered and bowed. "It's my fault," he continued. Huh? He took the blame? I gratefully bowed to him. And mouthed thank you.

"Well... We are leaving. Say goodbye to Mr Lee," my mother commanded. I turned to Donghae and bowed again.

"It was nice meeting you," I said, smiling. He bowed back.

"You too miss Ahn." Then I remembered his jacket and was about to take it off when he stopped me. "Keep it." I nodded and put it on properly.

"I'll see you again?" I asked hopefully.

"Of course," he replied happily and leaned forward to place a small kiss on my cheek. My eyes widened. Donghae chuckled. "Bye Hana." He waved and went inside while I went to our car and got in. My mother gave me a smug smile.

"I told you. You're being dramatic. Like always." She faced the window and let out a laugh that made my spine twist. I hated her...

-----

"Daddy!!!! No!" I yelled and felt my mother's hand hit my cheek hard so that I fell on the ground.

"Behave Hana!" she scolded me. I continued to cry and didn't even bother to get up or to glare at her. I saw the coffin disappear under the earth. The rain had soaked me from top to bottom already, mixing with my tears. My mother showed no emotion whatsoever. Neither did the servants or the priest. Only me.

"Did you even love him?" I gritted my teeth to my mother who rose her hand to hit me again.

"How dare-"

"Hana!" someone yelled and both me and mother turned our heads to see who it had been. I let out a sigh in relief and ran to Donghae who hugged me. I began to cry on his shoulder. "Sssh... He's safe now," Donghae tried to calm me down.  He took my face in his hands and smiled. Then he placed a gentle kiss on my forehead and hugged me again to let me sob into his chest.

"Oh! Mrs Ahn!" a lady cried out and hugged my mother. I recognized her as Donghae's mother. "I know how you feel," she said and my heart stopped. I let go of Donghae, took a step back and met his eyes. They were sad and helpless, just like my own.

"Oh God... Donghae... I'm so sorry," I whimpered and hugged him tightly. He hugged me back just as tight, my back. "He's safe too."

"I know..." he whispered. "Hana..." He sighed deeply and let go. "Please Hana. His last wish-" I put a finger on his mouth and nodded.

"It was my father's too... And I will do it for him and for you." I smiled weakly. Then I did something that wasn't in the least like me, I kissed Donghae's soft lips. I felt him hesitate but then he wrapped his arms around my waist and pulled me closer to respond my kiss.

"I will make you love me," he whispered after breaking the kiss.

"And I will make you love me," I assured and we hugged each other.

-----

Years later we are still a couple... And we love each other more than anything. We both knew that even if it was forced in the beginning, it wasn't anymore. Donghae told me how much he loved me every day, as I told him how much I loved him, and we both started our mornings by visiting our fathers' graves and told them how we were. We ruled the companies together, deciding everything together. And we hadn't fought over something bigger than who was going to pay for the dinner when we went to a restaurant. I sincerely felt happy. So did Donghae. My mother had gone to China to run that part of our company there. I was glad that Donghae took charge of speaking to her so that I didn't have to anymore. His mother on the other hand lived next to us and always helped us with dinner if we worked late or had fallen asleep on the couch from exhaustion...

Every night before falling asleep Donghae would take my hand, kiss the ring and say: "I love you my most beautiful wife and I'm glad that you accepted me." Then he kissed me, hugged me and I snuggled up in his embrace. Then I closed my eyes and said it back: "I love you Donghae."