Daehyun woke up to an empty bed. He peered sleepily behind his shoulder and saw that the other side of the bed was pristinely made. He scoffed and out of spite, rolled onto her part. His nose was assaulted by her scent and he decided that it wasn’t such a good idea. Grunting, he turned back to his side of the bed. His conscience pricked at him and he scowled. Ugh, why was he feeling bad?

            He sat up and thought of how she had tried again last night and let out a bitter laugh. This girl did not know when to give up. He checked his phone and shot up. How had he managed to sleep until nearly one in the afternoon? Daehyun cursed and threw on clothes and ran to brush his teeth. He had an important business call in half an hour. Why didn’t she wake him up?

            He stormed down the stairs and found that there was nobody waiting for him. The villa was empty except for a maid who was cleaning away the dishes. “Have you seen Jinli?” he asked her.          

            “Mrs. Jung said that she was going out and to let you sleep.”

            “You have got to be kidding me,” he muttered under his breath. Daehyun checked the time and sighed. “Where did she say she went?”

            “I don’t know, sir,” the maid was apologetic and he nodded impatiently. He would finish the call then go out and find her. What a child, always needing him to get her when she runs off.

            After he hung up the phone, Daehyun put on his shoes and started to walk to the beach. He recalled vaguely that she had wanted to see the shore. It wasn’t hard to see them. She was half submerged in the water with someone by her. He rolled his eyes as he got closer. Of course she would be with their scuba diving instructor. That man just seemed to be everywhere.

            He debated between going in after her or waiting until she got back. His eyes narrowed when he saw the other man pick her up on his shoulders as he dove among the waves. He cracked his neck. She always left him with no choice. She was the one who wanted to keep up the image and yet here she was, on top of someone else.

            Daehyun took off his shirt and dove into the water, cursing her as he went along. She was laughing and splashing the other man with water by the time he reached her. “Ya, Jung Jinli,” he called out, making sure to use her new last name. She let out a squeak and turned around. He saw her eyes harden when she saw him before she looked nervously at the man behind her.

            “Oh, I didn’t realize you were awake. You didn’t have to come get me. Taewoon is quite nice company. Did you eat yet?”

            He shivered as he looked at the instructor who has swum up next to Jinli, almost hovering protectively over her. Who did he think he was? Daehyun let out a low scoff. “Did you think I would have felt comfortable letting you wander here alone? I didn’t know you would be with him or else I wouldn’t have worried.”

            He knew that she was feeling guilty and he reached out to take her hand. “Let’s go get lunch.”

            She cast a glance back at Taewoon and Daehyun followed her gaze coldly. “Thank you for taking care of my wife. She’s not a strong swimmer so she would need your assistant. I promise I won’t let her bother you again.” He tugged Jinli along as if she were a child.

            Once they reached shore, Daehyun grabbed a towel and threw it at her. “Use this so you won’t freeze and catch pneumonia and later blame me.”

            Her teeth chattered as she glared at him. “You did not need to treat me like a child. You shouldn’t even have come after me. It doesn’t matter, remember?”

            He raised his eyes to the skies. She was infuriating. Shouldn’t she be grateful that he didn’t want to bed her? How could anyone be so persistent? He pushed her against a tree. “You’re the one who insists on playing this game and keeping up the false idea that we’re a happily married couple. Do you think this is how you can fool everyone? By going out and flirting with a complete stranger?”

            Jinli glared at him. “I think you gave up that act last night when you made it clear we would never consummate our marriage. I might as well just tell the world that you’re impotent and get away with not having children.”

            He slammed the trunk and pressed himself against her. “You better watch what you’re saying, wench. I almost regret wanting you to have a temper. You were much more tolerable docile.”

            She hissed out a curse and squirmed against him. “Let me go. I’m tired of you.”

            Daehyun pulled back from her before his body could react to her touches. He smirked at her. “Too bad you’re going to have to deal with me for the rest of your life, wouldn’t you?”

            He was surprised to see her cry. “You’re making it really difficult for me to even be able to tolerate it.” And then she pushed past him and ran back to the villa. He stared after her dumbly and wondered what she did that always made him feel bad.

***

            “How was it?” Lili hugged her tightly and Jinli shrugged.

            “Nothing happened.”

            The older woman’s eyes popped open. “What? What do you mean?”

            She looked at her and gave a wry smile. “What do you think, Unnie?”

            Lili gave a little gasp. “He didn’t, you didn’t?”

            Jinli shook her head. “He flat out rejected me twice, and to be quite honest, I could care less.” Her friend seemed about to say something but she stopped. Jinli shrugged and bent over the sleeping baby. “I’ll just live vicariously through you.”

sorry I haven't been updating :/ I like to have a couple of chapters on reserve and I couldn't write this past week >-<