The wedding bells tolled and piano filled the entire room. There were beams of sunshine peeking through and a murmur of awe swept over the crowd. They craned their necks to see the beautiful bride walk in. When the massive doors opened, the bride stood there and smiled through the opaque veil. The songs changed and she began on her cheerful march down the aisle.

                The groom was handsome and he stood, tall, as he waited for his bride to reach him. There were two small flower girls and a lot of posing once the bride took her place next to the groom. “You may now kiss the bride.” The room exploded in bulbs of white light.

                Her manager held out the envelope to her and she took it cautiously. It was a frilly and laced large envelope, with the logo of a very popular Korean show. She raised an eyebrow and asked, “What is the meaning of this?”  

                The manager shrugged. “They want to try out rookies. And they decided to pair you up with Super Junior’s Donghae. So I suppose just get ready to meet him? Your makeup artists are here to help you be presentable. Good luck. Remember, make us all proud.”

                Maliha placed the envelope down on the dresser and stared at her reflection. She shook her head. All she ever wanted was to come to Korea to study. She never anticipated having YG compliment her on her height and adorable expressions. After some negotiating, they had decided to pay for her university experience as long as she promised to be their trainee, and on-call actress. So far, she’s only been in one drama.

                She stared at the lacy paper and fancy lettering and wondered who this Donghae person was. She had heard of him briefly; he was part of an obnoxiously large idol group. But that was all she knew. She took out her iPad and decided to look him up. He was good looking, she supposed. And after reading some of the fan accounts, he was apparently the nice and the romantic one. Maybe that wasn’t so bad.

                Her makeup artist walked in and smiled brightly. “Maliha!” she singsonged. “You’re extremely lucky. You’re just a rookie and already you landed a show that everyone would love to be on with the one person all the girls want to be with. Aren’t you quite a blessed little child?” 

                Now she was annoyed. It was enough that she had to do this. Why did her assistant have to make her feel incompetent that the reason she got this role was purely due to something as trivial as luck? She turned and glared at her slightly. “Is he really that amazing? Because he is an idol you know. He could just be faking all those fancy moves.”

                The makeup artist fell silent, slightly put off by the rookie’s obvious coolness towards her bias. Hmmph. Maliha stood up and headed to the studio where Donghae was waiting. He wasn’t facing her. Instead, he was looking out the window, letting the light hit him at the perfect angle. She scowled. Stupid idol.

                She made sure to tap her heels obnoxiously on the squeaky glass floors and he turned. Even the way he turned was perfect. He smiled when he saw her, and bended at the waist in a respectful forty-five degree bow. She couldn’t be rude so she dipped her head. He began to glide rapidly towards her. Yes, glide. That was the only way to describe the elegant gait with which he approached her.

                “Ah, so you’re the beautiful new rookie I have to work with. Fantastic. I’m Donghae, and you’re Maliha?” he had an enchanting voice. It was low and soft and just simply a caress to her ears. But his words bothered her. Why did he have to be so formal?

                Had she been an uncouth gangster, she would have snapped back with an attitude. But she had manners so she only smiled. “I’m flattered by your compliments. But I think we should go and meet the PD now. He’s been waiting.”

                His lips curved up in slight amusement before it twitched back into a line. “Of course.” Without asking for permission, he took her hands and she reluctantly followed him. They walked into another room, this one cluttered with cameras and boards and umbrellas. The PD was sitting in the director’s chair, looking casual as if he had no care in the world.

                “Ah, good. I see you two already met,” and his eyes flew to their entangled hands. “And are already getting into the spirit of things. I like this. Progress has been made. So the task is simple. I’m sure you’ve all seen or heard of the show. We plan little moments, and you two act it out. I know some couples truly feel for each other, but I’m going to assume you two would be lying your way through.”

                Maliha winced at the words. ‘Acting,’ ‘lying,’ they were all such superficial things, and only served to prove that what she had said about Donghae was correct. He was a fraud and their whole relationship on television would be too.

                She shrugged. “Show me script, and I will do. It’s what I’m being trained to do. Besides, it would be futile to truly love a super star idol anyway. It would only cause too much scandal.” The PD nodded with approval.

                “Perfect, then we can get started. We’re going to skip the whole courtship part and start off filming the wedding. Please get dressed and follow my orders.”

                The stylists bustled around Maliha and tried to fit her into the poofy white dress. They tsked and yanked at her hair and jabbed her with pins before presenting her to a mirror. The girl in front of her was completely different. She looked magical.

                When the music began playing, her “father” took her by the elbow and led her down the aisle. The hall was dark, with a beam of light streaming in from the high glass window. Donghae stood at the end, perfect, and waiting. When she approached, he took her by the hand and turned her to face him.

                There were the few traditional vows, switched to suit the show, before the PD pronounced them as married. “Donghae, Maliha, you just got married.”