Rolling to the right, his hand then fumbling to reach his cell phone on the nightstand. As soon as his fingers touched the surface of the cell phone, he pulled it in front of him to check the time. With eyes half opened, he tried to read the time but then his eyes shot opened as he sat up immediately.

‘Hi. This is Choi Jaehee. See you at seven.’

The time read almost nine and he already late at the first day for his work. Cursing, he quickly left his bed and grabbed his jackets before he stormed off the single room. He was late almost two hours, what he was thinking. He shouldn’t lie on the bed and shut his eyes for a moment because he knew he would oversleep.

Now, seeing from the time he spent overslept, it seemed like his employer had gone home before him. Usually, he would be the first one to arrive home before the woman so that he could greet them home but this time, it looked like, he would be greeted by her.

He felt so bad and he wouldn’t be questioning if she decided to stop hiring him.

Passing the florist shop, he halted his walk before he reversed and stopped in front of the florist door. The word ‘open’ caught his eyes and it made him raising his eyebrows, he remembered that the shop usually closed before evening. What so special about that day that the florist still opened till night?

Shrugging, he casually walked in and made steps towards the counter where a smiling high school girl greeted him. “Yes, may I help you?” greeted the bubbly girl in front of him. His eyes then wandering around the shop, where he could see hundreds of different flowers that sent him a confuse feeling. He had no idea what or which flower to buy to ease the heart of his fake wife.

“How mad is she, Sir?” asked the cashier, to gain his attention.

Humming, he instantly turned around to face the cashier who had been waiting for him. Grinning, she repeated her question, “How mad is she, Sir? You look lost. It seems that you’re not buying for an event.”

Caught, he grinned sheepishly as he rested his hands at the edge of the counter. Hesitated, he cleared his throat before asking. “What flower should I buy to calm her anger?”

With a pair of glistening eyes, the teen cashier walked out from her side and lost from Hakyeon’s sight for a moment before she appeared with a bouquet of unknown purple flowers. Getting back to her section, she placed the bouquet of flower carefully on the counter and showed him her row of white teeth. “This is purple Hyacinth. This flower symbolizes regret and it expresses your sadness where you ask for forgiveness,” she explained enthusiastically.

Impressed, he wasn’t aware that he had his mouth opened. He never bought other flower than a stalk of red rose but he made an effort today to show his regretful side of what he had done. “Thank you,” he expressed as he paid it and brought the purple bouquet flower with him, ready to face his fake wife whom he hadn’t met before but he had seen her picture.

From the picture itself, he couldn’t lie but to praise her look. She is a beautiful lady and the question of her age still lingered in his head. She was too young to hire a husband, what made her to not hesitantly hire someone as a husband when she could have one for real.

She has the energy and the youthfulness. Why would she spend lots of money on him? Wait, where she got the money at the first place.

Arrived in front of the girl’s door, Hakyeon checked himself, making sure he didn’t look like someone who just had taken a nap. He hadn’t received the passcode to enter her house and so he rang the bell to tell that he was there.

While smelling himself, he froze as soon as the door opened in front of him instantly. Instead of a sour face greeted him, his eyes caught a sweet girl with a wide smile plastered on her face. “You’re finally here!” she beamed and he saw her eyes averted to the bouquet of flower on his hands. He expected to see an angry girl in front of him but instead, she looked very pleased to see him.

Was she that lonely?

“Wow, what is this?” she asked, curiosity settled on her face but the sweetness remained. Hakyeon couldn’t help but to release nervous laugh, the picture didn’t tell lie. She is beautiful and he could sense his heart fluttering.

“Flowers that telling I’m sorry for being late,” he handed it to her. His eyes were glued to her face while she had all her attention solely to the flowers. No, he reminded himself, he shouldn’t fall for this girl in front of him. He was doing this not for finding a real partner, he was doing this for money and he should respect her intention.

“Come in!” she chuckled as she pulled him towards the kitchen. Hakyeon looked at her hand that was wrapping around his, he swallowed hard. He used to be pulled around by his previous employer but why did he feel different with her touch. Was it because she was younger? He felt like a e for a moment.

He found himself sitting on the dining chair, puzzled. “I cooked for you but you didn’t show up until now. Wait for a few minutes while I’m reheating the soup,” she hurriedly turned to the stove to reheat every dinner she had prepared.

Blanked for a moment, Hakyeon then realized him just being treated like a king and so he immediately stood up. “No, it’s okay. You shouldn’t burden yourself. I had my dinner already,” he lied but he couldn’t help swallowing his saliva to the smell of the meal.

She turned around and their eyes met, and the sweet smile appeared once again, fluttering his heart. “I cooked for two, that’s bad. We were supposed to eat together but my stomach was roaring for food,” she laughed and once again, Hakyeon couldn’t help but to stare at her.

“I’m wasting food,” she spun around and her shoulder rose as she heaved in oxygen, sad. Guiltiness rushed in his heart that he sat back on the dining chair, “But I had an early dinner, I think I still can ingest some more.”

Hearing that, she turned around with that sweet beam of her, “Really?”

He eagerly nodded as he pulled out a warm smile, “We shouldn’t waste food, right?” The sound of her giggles sent a warm feeling to his heart, at least, from this way, he wouldn’t upset her further. It was enough that she had to wait for him for two hours.

He expected for her to get mad at him or the long face but instead, his eyes saw a bubbly young girl in front of him who was fond to the flowers he had bought. The florist shop was a blessing for being open till late night that day and he was considering of being a loyal customer to the florist shop.

Looking up to her who was sitting in front of him, she glanced at him and their eyes met. Smiling sweetly, he couldn’t help but to return her with his warmest smile. “You’re a good cook. Well done.”

---

Hakyeon’s eyes glued to the flowers that he had bought in the vase, she had moved the flowers from its wrapping and it looked alive in the vase. The time now read five minutes passed ten and it usually mean the time of him leaving was closer. After wishing ‘sweet dream’, he usually tiptoed out the house and returned to his daily, boring life.

He wanted to leave but she didn’t show any sign of letting him go and they hadn’t introduced themselves to each other properly. He wondered if he still had the time to do the introduction and to know what she expected from him. And the passcode, he really needed her passcode so that he could be home before her.

Jaehee took a seat across him and she searched his eyes and they managed to make an eye contact. He grinned sheepishly as he tried to remain calm; it felt so awkward to have a fine young lady under one roof at late night. He felt more comfortable if she was older than him, the girl in front of him made him to feel the need to protect him, from himself.

“I’m Choi Jaehee,” she grinned as she held out her hand.

His eyes caught her hand and he accepted it as his hand shook hers, “I’m Cha Hakyeon.”

Nodding, the smile on her face never faded, “Nice to meet you, husband.” At the word ‘husband’, she laughed and he chuckled along. He wasn’t prepared for this.

“Nice to meet you too, wife,” he smiled. So, it was official that his roleplaying job began. “Shall we go to sleep? It’s getting late,” he asked carefully as he stood up. Jaehee stood up immediately as well, “Are you spending the night here?”

Her question triggered panic in his head, “No, I can’t do that. I still want to respect your privacy.”

She laughed and nodded, “Right, we’re not real married couple. I was joking.”

“Where’s your room? Do you need to take your time?”

Shaking her head, “No, it’s okay. You can go home now. I’ll text you the passcode and please. Be punctual tomorrow.”

His eyes averted to the floor as he heard her advice, he wasn’t being a punctual guy. She didn’t say anything about it just now but she had dropped the bomb regardless place and time. “I’m sorry, I’ll make sure it won’t happen again.”

“I know,” she nodded and her smile slowly faded. He noticed the expressionless face she held and he felt bad instantly. “I hope you can stay sometime. I have an empty room ready for you.”

Surprised, he turned speechless. He saw the loneliness straight through her eyes, she somehow looked really… hurt. And now he concluded that the smile she had been showing the whole night turned out to be the mask to her sorrow heart.

Forcing a laugh, she took time to ask but she managed to let it out, “Can I have a hug?”

Taken aback, he stared at her face in shock, still hadn’t recover from the speechlessness but he managed a small nod. In a split of second, she threw herself to his body before she wrapped her arms around his torso, “Good night.”

He had his hands up in the air and he didn’t get to return her hug as she let go quickly. “Good night, Cha Hakyeon,” she wished and closed the door to her room, leaving him muted for the entire night.

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A/N; I hope this update won't disappoint ^^