Lying beside Yagi Arisa, Kibum ignored her slight snoring and tried to adjust his eyes in the darkness. He knew his alarm would be ringing soon, so it would’ve been pointless to try to fight for more sleep.

He had been like that the entire night, lying still with his hands folded over his chest, deep in thought.

Her beaming smile kept flashing into his head, then the memory of scolding hot coffee staining his suit.

He could see vividly her standing under the night lights, standing out amongst everything in her flooring red gown.

His cheeks reddened when he thought of Onew being too friendly towards her.

She wouldn’t leave his mind, and that made him restless.

Eunji…

Kibum pivoted his head slightly to see Arisa’s mouth pooched and parted, with her brown hair spilling over her pillow.

There was no flaring of his insides as it had been with Eunji. There was no dry mouth or anxiety in Arisa’s presence.

There was no feeling at all really, aside from the bit of annoyance he felt with the entire engagement.

“Key?” Arisa muttered, eyes still closed.

“Yes honey?” Kibum answered, cursing himself in his mind.

“What are you doing up before the alarm?” She began to yawn and shift her body into a more comfortable position.

“I could ask you the same thing,” Kibum replied and sat up straight.

“It’s Sunday. You usually sleep in on Sundays.”

Kibum took a moment to reply as he slipped into his bedside slippers.

“No sense in wasting the day,” he answered, grabbing his black silk robe hanging from the headboard.

Arisa’s head was propped on her hand now.

She eyed Kibum suspiciously as he walked to the bathroom.

Kibum ignored her squinting eyes and strolled inside.

He closed the door, retrieved his phone from his silk robe’s pocket, and went down his list of contacts.

Jung Eunji had already been programed in. The mere sight of her name almost made him sweat.

Just send her a message Key. That’s all you have to do.

“Key, are you feeling okay?” Arisa called from behind the bathroom door.

Kibum suppressed a groan.

“Why don’t you go out and do a little shopping? I’m sure there are a lot of things to be done before the wedding,” Kibum suggested through clenched teeth.

Kibum crossed his fingers, praying she would take him up on his offer.

“I suppose you’re right. I’m sure my mother would love to find places for tasting and-,”

“Then I suppose you better get going,” Kibum interrupted.

He waited for the patter of her feet before he continued to debate whether or not he should message Eunji.

His fingers tapped the screen of his phone apprehensively.

He wrote and rewrote his message four times until he finally settled on the words, “coffee this morning?”

He smiled at his own cleverness and set the phone down on the counter.

“Ah yes, payback right? I owe you two.”

Kibum retrieved the phone in the middle of brushing his teeth and read Eunji’s reply.

“Be ready by 8 am,” Kibum typed.

While waiting for her reply, he finished brushing his teeth and washing his face.

He was about to exit, until the sound of clicking heels halted him from turning the knob.

“Alright honey, I’m off. I’ll see you later. Text me with dinner ideas!”

Kibum almost laughed, knowing that that meant Arisa planned on picking something up. She couldn’t cook to save her life. That’s another thing that annoyed him.

His phone vibrated and like a giddy high school teen he grabbed it and opened the message.

“You got it boss :)”

Kibum felt the corner of his lips pulling into a smile, but he quickly bit down on them.

“This is just business,” he assured himself, nodding at his reflection in the mirror.

After Arisa left, Kibum readied himself fairly quickly. He even dabbed on a bit of cologne for a simple business coffee meeting.

He dressed casually sharp in bright peach pants, a sea foam green polo neatly tucked in, a tan trench coat, and a pair of clean white tennis shoes.

Before exiting his home, he ran his skinny fingers through his middle parted hair and sighed.

He wa