§  P r o l o g u e  §

29th November 2015, Seoul, South Korea

It was cold.

That was the first thing that came to Areum’s mind as she stepped out of the office building, pulled the rubber band that held her hair off. Her ebony locks fell around her shoulder, framing her face in waves. That should keep her cheeks warm. Hopefully.

Alas. Wind, thou art a heartless .

Stuffing her shaking fingers inside her coat pocket, she in a deep breath as the wind assaulted her small frame. Areum could feel the cold silver band across her left finger. A ring. Not just any ring, mind you, but the ring every girl dreams of. Well, most girls. And it turns out Areum wasn’t one of those girls either; at least she thought she wasn’t.

Yet here she is, three weeks away from her wedding day.

She was of a reasonable age of marriage, 23 years was young, but more people were married younger. But the thought still seemed to unsettle something in her stomach, an uncomfortable pit that only crept upon her when she was left to her thoughts.

That was probably why she kept herself distracted most of the time.

A heavy sigh escaped her thin lips, as she felt her phone vibrate inside her pocket. Slipping it, she glanced at the caller’s name, a small smile escaping across her lips.

“Why aren’t you home yet?” Hyunwook’s words seemed to be serious, but there was a small hint of playfulness escaping his voice.   

“Ya,” Areum responded, a small chuckle escaping her lips. “I haven’t moved in yet, I still need to go to my Grans house and get my things, and besides, maybe I’ll get cold feet and run away to Cuba,”

There was a beat of silence, before Hyunwook let out a soft chuckle. The sound seemed off, even to Areum.

Before she could ask what was wrong, there was a loud crash heard through the phone. “Ugh, are you still at work? And here’s you telling me that I should be at home!” The nerve of him.

“Chill babe, yeah I’m leaving now. I’ll just go see what that noise was before I’ll be on my way.”

Areum made a noise of agreement, but the beep of the phone ended before Hyunwook could even hear it. That happened a lot lately, Areum noticed.

With a sigh, she shuffled towards the edge of the road, slipping her arms out in front to signal a taxi.

She rubbed her fingers together trying to keep them warm as she pulled her purse out from her shoulder bag. A car slipped forward, to which she greeted the driver greatly. She gave the directions quickly, as wrapped her coat across her body more tightly.

An awkward silence stretched between them. Areum started to count the cars beeped beside them, in an aid to stop her mind from becoming so hyperactive. They travelled at a slow pace, Areum tapping her fingers against her knee. The sun was slowly settling into the banks, colours of scarlet and indigo exploded across the endless clouds. Tall buildings reached towards the heavens, their claws trying to reach the stars but failing miserably. Night was speedily approaching.

The driver smiled reassuringly from the mirror, before another awkward beat of silence passed between them. His fingers slid forward towards the car radio, allowing a loud announcers voice to fill the silence between them.

“Onto other news, Kris Wu becomes the youngest CEO to ever get the highest amount of stock shares in South Korea from a foreign company, Wu Enterprise,” The driver turned the volume of the radio higher, craning his neck to hear better.

“Kris Wu?” Areum wondered.

“Haven’t you heard of him?” The driver admired. “Undeniable talent, that boy has. 24 and already he owns one of the biggest companies worldwide. Plus he started it from scratch,”

Areum coughed slightly, her eyes widening. She could only come up with a quiet “Oh…”

The news then turned to weather forecasts; it would be snowing soon apparently. Areum hat