Jong Kook stepped inside his apartment and let the door slammed behind him. He just got home from an event that would change his life. He went to his bathroom and the shower. He took his clothes off and stood under the cold, running water for a few minutes, letting it cool down his anger.

Eun Hye came this morning to his office to inform him about the dinner with her family and as much as he wanted to decline her invitation, he couldn’t turn it down because his parents would be there too. The dinner went well at first but then his father broke the news that he thought that it would be an honor to have Eun Hye as his daughter-in-law. Much to his horror, her family accepted delightfully.

He didn’t understand why his parents selfishly decided his future. He confronted them after the dinner about the arranged marriage and all they said that it was for his own good.

“For my own good they said. Huh! It’s obviously for their own!” Jong Kook cursed loudly.

The Kim and the Yoon were two well respected families in South Korea for their reputations and successful businesses so Jong Kook was well aware that this arranged marriage could bring their family business to a higher level of power and wealth. Call him an idealist but he didn’t think that it was all he wanted in his life. Money couldn’t bring him happiness. He understood it very much because he spent all these years living as a son and an heir of a rich family and he didn’t truly happy, not even when he had all the things the others wanted.

He hated the idea of arranged marriage, to be forced to marry Eun Hye, a woman he barely knew. He couldn’t deny that Eun Hye was beautiful and kind but he didn’t love her, he didn’t want to marry someone he didn’t love with all his heart. Besides, he only met Ji Hyo again and they started being friends once more a few days ago. How could he marry another woman when the love of his life was right in front of him? It wasn’t fair, not only for him but also for Eun Hye. She deserved a man who loved her back. Somehow he knew that Eun Hye liked the arrangement, her eyes sparkled when his parents discussed about the plan with her family at the dinner earlier while he just sat there with an act as a good son to keep his image without nothing to say. He felt that it was his obligation to repay his parents.

Jong Kook turned off the shower and dried himself. His head started pounding. After he wore his white shirt and grey sweatpants, he lay down on his bed. It was past mid-night and he really wanted to sleep and forgot all the matters that happened, hoping that it was just a dream which was he perfectly knew that it wasn’t. He took a deep breath and closed his eyes, trying to sleep but his phone started to ring. He answered his phone without checking the caller identity, annoyed that his time of rest had been disturbed, “What?”

“Jong Kook –ah! I heard the news!”

“Cha Tae Hyun! Do you know what time is it now?”

“It’s… 45 minutes after mid-night! You’re already in bed at this time? Don’t waste your time, old man.” Tae Hyun mocked his friend and Jong Kook only rolling his eyes, accustomed with Tae Hyun’s words.

Tae Hyun was one of Jong Kook’s best friends in New York and he was the mood maker in the group. Although he described as silly, funny man, he was actually the mature one. Jong Kook and their other friends sometimes looked up to him when they needed advice.

“How do you know about that? I haven’t told anyone.”

“My fiancée is one of Eun Hye’s close friends so yeah, she called Ji Hyun and they were so excited as if she’s going to marry tomorrow. Hey, you’re not going to marry her tomorrow, right?”

“No.”

“Ah finally our Jong Kook –ie is going to settle down, congratulations!”

Jong Kook stayed silent and Tae Hyun knew that something was wrong.

“You’re still not over that girl.” Tae Hyun stated.

“Huh?”

“That ex-girlfriend of yours that made you looked like a zombie for years.”

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