Bom came home and directly went inside her bedroom. She couldn’t sleep. Her mind is filled with thoughts of Young Bae and Seunghyun. She was taken aback to see that it was already 5 o’ clock in the morning when her gaze happened to land on the clock at her bedside table. She decided to leave early for work. 




Seunghyun arrives 15 minutes early than his usual time. The moment he stepped off the elevators and turned towards his office, his gaze strayed to Bom’s table. 

“Damn… I shouldn’t have thought of it in the first place. She’s emotionally distraught and I even try to take advantage of the situation” 

Guilt starts to eat up on Sugnhyun seeing Bom’s vacant table. Usually around this time, Bom should be sitting behind it, with a smile ready to greet him.

He opened the door to his office and was surprised to see the same person he’s looking for, seated at a chair near his table. Bom rose from her seat and slowly faced him. She was staring down at the floor

“I’ve made a decision” she said in her usual, soft voice

Seunghyun waited for her to continue, not trusting his voice. He’s a bit confused to feel more nervous now as he awaits for Bom’s answer than when he actually proposed to Kiko a month ago.

Bom slowly raised her head. It was then that Seunghyun saw the dark circles under her eyes. But he also saw the determination in them, when she looked straight at him.

“I’ll marry you.”




Seunghyun had given Bom a time off for the rest of the day. She decided to spend it at the hospital. Bom learns from the nurse that Young Bae’s vital signs are now stable, but has not shown any signs of waking up from his coma.


“Bae, it’s me.” Bom takes one of his hands, holding it between hers.


“I need to tell you something….I’’m getting married in 8 days”


 

~oOo~

The next morning, Bom was having breakfast with Dara, who scalded her tongue from the coffee she was sipping, 

“Did I just hear you correctly? You’re getting married to your boss, in 7 days?” Dara was almost shouting, still unable to believe what Bom had announced.

Bom face felt hot “It’s not what you think. “

“Then do please tell.”

The whole time Bom was telling about her upcoming wedding with Seunghyun, Dara was just quiet. Bom knows she can tell Dara the truth. If there’s someone she can give her full trust, it’s Dara.

“That sounds complicated. But you have my support, unnie” Dara utters, reaching over the table to give Bom’s hand a light squeeze.

“Thanks, Dara-ah.”

Bom’s phone suddenly rings. She got surprised seeing Seunghyun’s name on the screen.

“Hello?”

“Good, you’re up. I’m on my way to pick you up,. I’ll be there in about 15 minutes” Before Bom could react, Seugnhyun already ended the call. Bom is scowling at her phone.

“Who’s that?” Dara asked, curious with the expression on Bom ‘s face

“My boss”

“What does he want?”

“He said he’ll come pick me up in 15 minutes”

“You better move now, unless you want him to see you still in your jammies”

Bom stared down at the pajamas she’s wearing “Why? What’s wrong with what I’m wearing right now?”

“It looks like a very unattractive burlap sack. He might back out from your deal if he sees you in it. Don’t worry I’ll let him in.” 

Dara stood up, pulling Bom up from her seat as well. “Move, unnie”




 

~oOo~

Seunghyun is now seated inside a boutique. He is waiting for Bom , who is inside one of the dressing rooms being fitted for a wedding gown. He recalls their earlier conversation inside the car.


Bom kept throwing quick glances at him. 

“Do you want to say something Bom?”

“Where exactly are we going?”

“Buying your wedding gown”

“Why?”

Seunghyun would’ve laughed at the question if he hadn’t happened to glance at Bom. He saw that she was really serious about her question. “I think it’s very obvious that a proper wedding gown is in order, since we’ll be married in 7 days”




He was chuckling lightly at the memory, when the curtain was opened revealing Bom wearing a simple yet elegant ivory gown.

The mirth he was feeling only a few seconds ago is now replaced by awe once Bom faced him. This was the first time he saw Bom wear her hair down. 

He got up on his feet, and slowly made hi way to where Bom stands, without removing his eyes on her face. He walked around, his eyes perusing her from head to toe, before stopping directly in front of her. 




Bom is starting to regret to the suggestion the assistant made, while she was fitting the gown behind the heavy curtains. 



The gown fits her like a glove. She started to turn around, when the assistant named Mari, stopped her.

“Let’s have your hair down”

Bom shrugged her shoulders. In no time, her black hair was freed from its confinement. Mari fiddled with it a bit. 

“There. Now, you can take a look.”


Bom heaved a deep breath, before she turned around to check herself in the mirror. She gasped at the image she saw. The gown accentuated her curves, curves she wasn’t aware of even having. Her hair gave a romantic feel. Perfectly framing the entire look.

“Let’s have your gorgeous husband-to-be get a peek at you, and make him drool” Mari playfully gives Bom a wink, before she pulled the curtains to one side.





Bom could feel her pulse jumping at the base of ,. Never had she felt this nervous around Seunghyun. But today is different. He was looking at her intently with his piercing gorgeous eyes. Now she knows why women melt under his stare.

“Do I look hideous?” A blush tainting her cheeks, Bom begins to feel uncomfortable.

“Huh?” Hearing her voice seemed to have broken him from his trance. “N-no. I was just surprised to see you looking like that. It’s my first time to see you wear your hair down” 

“I really must look weird then” she said with a small pout.


Seugnhyun’s eyes zoomed in on her pouting, pink, plump lips. 


“Why don’t we seal this deal with a kiss?”


He slightly shakes his head, at the sudden flashback he had of the small joke he made yesterday morning. 


Seunghyun cleared his throat, breaking the silence that ensued. Turning his attention to Mari, who was waiting at the side “We’ll take this gown”

As the cashier is ringing up their purchase, Seunghyun glanced at the watch on his wrist “It’s already noon. Why don’t we go and take our lunch.”



 

~oOo~

“Bom? Honey, we’re here.” Seunghyun called out. He has his hand held out to assist the bewildered looking girl , for a minute and she still hasn’t moved.

Bom quickly takes his hand and steps down from his car. Seunghyun stopped when they reached the main door. 

“Breathe. I don’t want you fainting for being too nervous”

“I’m not nervous”

“Stop worrying. Omma already likes you so she won’t interrogate you that much. Just remember what we practiced earlier”

Bom nods, not yet trusting her voice.

“Now, breathe and smile” he whispered to her ear before they went inside.




The whole dinner with Seunghyun’s parent went on smoothly. Bom answered Mrs. Choi’s questions like what they had practiced. And Seunghyun gave an impeccable performance of being a doting fiancé.

That is until Mrs. Choi raised one question that caught the two off guard. A question they never expected.

“How much do you love my son, Bom?”

Bom stiffens in her seat. Sweat rolls down her back. Three pairs of eyes are focused on her.

She her suddenly dried lips, gather up all the courage she could muster to look straight into Mrs. Choi’s eyes, right before she replied “I love him with my entire being”

Mrs. Choi’s face broke into a smile.

Bom almost jumped in surprise from her seat, when she felt Seunghyun’s hand cover hers. She turns her head slightly to the side to see him release a sigh of relief.




 

~oOo~

They were now heading back to Bom’s apartment building. Bom was looking outside throughout the drive that she failed to notice the fleeting looks Seunghyun kept darting at her, each time he hears her sigh. 


The moment the car pulls over for a stop, Bom immediately gets down from it. Seugnhyun quickly follows Bom. Even the ride inside the elevator was enveloped in silence. The tension is too thick, a knife could’ve been used to slice through it. Bom goes out quickly, just like she had earlier, when it stopped on the floor where her apartment is.


Seunghyun holds Bom by her elbow, making her stop directly in front of her apartment. He turned her around to face him. But she kept her head bowed down.

“Hey, is anything wrong?” Placing a hand under her chin, Seunghyun gently tilts her head up.

Instead of replying, Bom just threw her arms around his waist and pressed her face against his chest. But Seunghyun was taken aback more, when he felt her tears seeping through his shirt. His arms automatically encircle her body then his left hand started caressing her back. He let her cry. not caring whether he gets his shirt soaked with her tears.


After a few minutes, Bom raised her head, pulling away from his embrace, and said“I’m feeling guilty. We’ve lied to your parents” 

“We have no other choice”

“I know. It’s just that, I don’t want to let them get hurt because of this.”


Her gaze strayed over his shirt and sees the damage she’s done “I’m sorry for ruining your shirt”

“I’m sorry for making you lie”

Puffing her cheeks before letting out her breath “Like what you’ve said, there was no other choice”

“You never told me, you’re such a good actress. When Omma dropped her last question, I thought was going to faint for holding my breath in too long” Seunghyun jokes, trying to make light of the situation.

“I would’ve fainted first before you do. I actually feared that my nose would grow long right after I answered.” 

“You look more like Rudolph now than Pinocchio, with your cute, red nose”

They began to laugh.

“I guess we did well, for our practice run in being a couple” 

“Yeah, I guess so”

“Goodnight, Seunghyun”

“Goodnight” He then gave her a light kiss on the cheeks, before he turned and walked his way back to the elevator. 

He kept walking. Forcing himself not to look back . He only turned around when the doors of the elevator closed.


Fcuk! Did I just kissed Bom ?


Bom is still standing frozen by her doorstep, with one of her hands, cupping the cheek that Seunghyun had just kissed. The door suddenly opens, with Dara’s head poking outside.

“Unnie, what are you doing standing there? Are you ok?”

“Yes, I’m ok. I’m just tired I guess. Goodnight Dara-ah” Bom hurriedly went inside her room. 


Dara was left standing in the middle of the living room, confused with the way Bom had just acted, but decided to shrug it off.

here's the second chapter....i sneaked using the desktop while my bro's taking a shower...LOL

wow!  i must say i'm overwhelmed with the response and it's humbling since this is the first time i wrote a FF with a new pair of leads. Yeah, you'd still see DARAGON here....my ABOUT ME can provide the reason for that. (^_~)

this monster is not really a 'new' monster.  I had this posted on 2 sites DGH & YGL under my other username around Dec of last year.  I got stuck after chapter 3....since I have more than a handful of monster & critters. Posting this one here now, means I'm ready to tend to this monster.

THOUGHTS and COMMENTS

are welcome and appreciated

THANK YOU 

as always for reading

much ♥

CHET