This relationship they have now is not bounded by love nor it is sealed with affection or passionate romance.

Instead, there is no such thing as that to tie the two of them together.

It is just merely based on a business they had form to create with benefits.

H:

                Truth to be told, I was trembling from the moment I stepped into the cafeteria until I exited the crazy scene where I declared my unannounced date with Oh Sehun. I can’t even think straight when I’m talking with Oh Sehun. It just happened so quickly and I barely catch any breath when I faced him in that dreaded moment. The situation was excruciatingly awkward. I was so scared that he will say no but surprisingly he accepted my sudden offer of a date and it went smoothly from then on. When we met at the vacant stadium to discuss about our “date”, I decided to be truthful to him right from the beginning. There is no reason for me to hide it because I know he was the type of person who can read between the lines and wasn’t easily deceived.

And my intuition was right as he outwardly asked me on the reason behind the crazy scene I made at the cafeteria. Once I revealed everything that I need to so he will understand why I did it, he was hesitant at first but soon accepted it after I plead him. It wasn’t such a pleasant moment to appear weak but I guessed it was something that I need to sacrifice for me to achieve the goal of EJD (Eliminating Jung Daehyun).

With that, it finalized our decision to make the planned relationship a secret by putting an act of a couple to others. The deal had been sealed by verbal action since his act for a hand shake was something I found a bit compelling. Due to the fact, I can’t stand the sight of guys and being in contact with them was a thing I had always avoided from so I cut off Oh Sehun by giving him some lectures on the boundaries in our relationship. He just nodded with a small smirk on his face in which I found it absolutely irritating. Once our conversation finished and I’m pretty satisfied with the outcome, I moved out from the stadium before him and made my way to the parking lot.

The lot was filled with few students who were lounging around probably waiting for their friends to go back together. Some of them looked up when I passed; I saw it from the corner of my eye. It felt awkward and uncomfortable as always, but today their intensity of gazes was sharper than before. It was intimidating compared to their usual stares. Their questioning gazes and curiosity that cannot be sated was beyond my imagination.

I entered my car as quickly as possible and locked the door once I was safe in the driver seat. I guessed my life will just turn worse than it usually did. But I’m determined to survive through this until Jung Daehyun realized that he can never get a chance with me. I reached my hand out to the gear so I can drive out of the lot after turning up the engine but my action was stopped with the vibrating motion of my phone indicating an incoming call. I took out the phone to check the caller and Sunmi name was up. I pick up the call but regretted it a moment too late when an unexpected loud shrill ringed as the start of the conversation.

“What!! Park HanByul, are you freaking crazy!! What do you think you are doing?” Sunmi screamed at the end of line as her voice reached my ear. She needs to learn to control the volume of her voice. It’s getting louder day by day.  

“Stop shouting, Sunmi. You are being irrational now and please do not shout like that again. You could damage my ear, you know”, I rubbed my right ear putting the phone aside for a moment. 

“You crazy girl! I can’t calm down. What the hell were you thinking dating that four eyes dude? Gosh, have you lost your mind. Or are you insane. I thought you are wiser than that”, she practically blurted out all her frustration to me. From the way she sounded, she was beyond furious with the idea of me asking out Oh Sehun. I can’t really blame her for I didn’t even confront to her first about my sudden action.

“There is nothing wrong with me being in a relationship with him, Sunmi. I can go out for a date with anyone I like and that included Oh Sehun,” I shot back.

“But not with him. Anyone but that nerd. I don’t care who the guy is but not Oh Sehun. Don’t you see that ugly spectacles he wore, that horrible hair, and those shabby clothes? Hanbyul, you dumb, dumb girl,” she blindly criticized my so called boyfriend and I found it quite rude for she doesn’t even know him well. I don’t too but we can’t possibly judge people by their looks like how she was doing now. She was being ridiculous.

“Do not insult him, Sunmi. He is the guy I asked out for a date, the guy that your best friend chose for the first time in her life to spend some time with. You should respect him like how you respected me,” I defended Oh Sehun, thinking that Sunmi is being out of boundary with her remark.

“Whatever. Explain to me. I want to know why you chose him, Hanbyul? You didn’t even say anything to me on this. Heck, you never talk about any guys at all and suddenly you drop this bomb on me saying you are dating the nerdiest guy on earth. What the hell?” she prodded me with bigger questions in which I know I need to convinced her with a believable excuse.

 “It just happened so and he helped me in my time of need. When I was sick last Thursday, he was there offering his help to me. I considered your words about me needing a boyfriend so I guessed I should try it with Oh Sehun. He is quite a decent guy,” I tried to convince her. Even though the truth was far from that since boyfriend wasn’t my priority list in my life. This all happened because of Jung Daehyun, the very person who created this unwanted situation. I heard she sighed at the end of the line as she continued talking.

“Why can’t you date Jongin’s friend instead? They have higher status and impeccable position compared to Oh Sehun. If you need a boyfriend then you should told me first. I could at least introduced you to one of them” she was muttering about it but I blanked out on her offer feeling my idea was much better handled with Oh Sehun and not Kim Jongin’s snobbish friends. This is because Oh Sehun is the only guy in the world that does not have any lust desire on me. I assumed that from the first time I met him. He is a much safer choice than any other guys.

“They were not exactly the kind of guy I’m looking for, Sunmi. I don’t care about appearance or wealth or any of those things. What I want is an honest personality and clearly a knowledgeable person. Jongin’s friends weren’t in those categories and you know that I despised most of them. So you just need to accept it, I had made my choice”, I said confidently and her voice came out meek as she answered back.

“Fine, you can do whatever you want. I won’t question about it again but I will come to your house to know more about this date. You better tell me from the beginning until the end”, she said then hangs up our call with a goodbye.

After the call ended, I read a message coming from mom stated that we are going out for dinner with my uncle who is barely around because he was busy most of the time. After those exhausting event that unfold today, I had no mood at all to go out and eat especially with Uncle Yoochun today.

I switched off my phone and put it back into my bag at the passenger seat. I rested my head against the head rest and stared mindlessly outside the tinted window of my car. My eyes caught a shadow standing still near the entrance but it was dark so I can’t see clearly. The figure who was looming in the darkness behind the pole slowly coming out into the lighter part of the lot and regrettably, I recognized the person’s builds. It was no other than Jung Daehyun who seems to be staring straight past my car window and look me directly in the eyes. From the way he stared, I sensed that he must have caught the news of me with Oh Sehun.

His eyes looked hard and his posture seems tensed. I rejoiced on the effect done to him, mulling to myself that he must be frustrated right now. However, a cynical smile replaced the tightness on his face and an instant mocking expression painted on his eyes caught me by surprise. As if I can understand from his expression that says ‘we will see how long this relationship will stay’ conveyed on his face. I can almost hear him whispering those words in my head. Feeling creeped out and scared, I pulled the gear to drive and move out from the parking lot as fast as I can, stepping on the accelerator hard to run from him. This is not good at all and I should always keep my guards up to ensure the plan worked so Jung Daehyun will stop bothering me. By tonight, the plan will need to be laid out in details to Oh Sehun.

Having dinner with Uncle Yoochun is like having yourself being questioned in a court as you are being forced to admit guilty to a crime that you did not commit. In my case, I was forced to say yes to the title in the company he offered me. Basically the topic of conversation he will always bring up whenever we were out for a dinner was my thought on rethinking the offer he gave me to take the position as an heiress of Empire Group, our family corporations which is currently managed by Uncle Yoochun. The result will always end the same way with me rejecting the offer when he keeps persist me to accept until a certain point that I finally can’t stand it anymore and decided to leave the table.

In my opinion, Hanna unni was the perfect candidate in line to run the corporations after him, so he shouldn’t bother to make me one. I don’t want to run a company instead I wanted to become a writer which had been a dream of mine since I was small. That is why I hated the dinner even though I do miss his presence. If he only just stopped talking about me taking over the company, I will be glad to have an enjoyable meal with our whole family. But I know Uncle Yoochun was the type to never give up that easily. Once he had set his goals, he will make sure he will achieve it no matter what. He was persistent and a very stubborn man.

That is why I had tried my hardest to make excuses and pleas to not attend tonight’s dinner but all of my attempts failed. It was pointless because mom was really firm on having everyone to eat dinner as a family and she had wanted this dinner to become a place for family time. Mom wanted everyone in the family to have a meal together and no one must miss it. If you had other plan, then you need to cancel it. That is how much mum loved having dinner together. With much reluctance, I was dragged to come.

In the end, Sunmi can’t come to my house when she mentioned she will during our earlier conversation. I had to turn her down when mom forced me to come along to the dinner. Sunmi feel unsatisfied by my sudden outing because she was dying to hear the truth so she pushed me to call her after the dinner. I promised her to do so since Sunmi can be pretentious when she wanted something. She was dying of curiosity from her impatient tone when I called her to inform about the cancellation. Once that is settled, I went to get ready for tonight.

Not forgetting that I had promised Oh Sehun to explain to him on my plan about our relationship, I fished out my phone from my bag and scrolled through my contact list. I opened the recently added number and open his number to type a message to him. I texted him to meet me at the Maple House Café, 10pm. It’s better to done it fast because Jung Daehyun doesn’t seem convinced by my act today. 5 minutes later, a new message comes through.

Oh Sehun: Okay. I will meet you there.

Luckily, the restaurant we are going to tonight was only 4 minutes away from Maple House Café. I prefer to discuss on my plan in person rather than giving a lengthy message so we can directly explain things when some matters are not clear. I put on a casual black long skirt and loose dark blue blouse appropriate for dinner in a fancy restaurant that Uncle Yoochun had booked for us. My outfit was far from what I usually wear and I felt uncomfortable in it. It felt a little bit girly and I wasn’t the girlish girl in our family, Chaerin is. Nevertheless, it was by far more comfortable than the dress both Haera unni and Chaerin wears.

Chaerin and Yuna was enthusiastic on having dinner outside because they craved for something good and they are overjoyed to meet Uncle Yoochun who is their most favourite uncle in the world. Uncle Yoochun is not married yet but he is an eligible bachelor wanted by many rich girls. It’s just that he was too busy running the company until he does not have time to go out with women and just stuck in his office all day. Mom always scolded him but Uncle Yoochun doesn’t even listen since all he cared about is taking care of Empire Group and our family. Mum is a General Director of the corporation while Uncle Yoochun or famously known as CEO Park is the owner of Empire Group inherited from our great grandfather. Both of them had worked hard to preserve the success of the company. He was the only man whom I can stand and really cared in this world.

After everyone is ready, Haera unni drove all of us to the restaurant in mom’s car. Chaerin and Yuna chattered excitedly besides me while I was lost in my thought on the meet up with Oh Sehun after this. Once we arrived, we went in to get our table already reserved under Park Yoochun and then proceed to sit ourselves on the chair. The high class restaurant was designed in such opulent way as they used exquisite furniture and a dazzling chandelier hanging on the ceiling emitted elegance in the place. As usual, Yuna will look around the place and commented about it, saying it was beautiful and Mom nodded to her, smiling. I was more focused on the menu and internally gasped on the price because the food is absolutely expensive. We all waited for Uncle Yoochun before ordering our food. Not long after that, Uncle Yoochun came in with his dark suit and a leather briefcase on hand, a warm smile on his face.

“Hi, ladies. Sorry I was a bit late since I just rushed from a meeting nearby”, he kissed mom on the cheek and gave us a small pat on the head. It was his warm gesture whenever we meet. Uncle Yoochun seated himself across mom and with a sheer luck, the farthest from my seat.

“I’m glad you still make it. We haven’t did this for a long time”, mum smiled at us while saying. She truly looked happy with everyone here with an exception of Hanna unni who is busy studying in Canada.

“Yup, we haven’t seen you for months now, Uncle Yoochun. I wished Hanna was here with us then this dinner will be complete”, Haera unni add on. Chaerin nods to her, agreeing with her words since Chaerin missed Hanna unni badly because they both were really close to each other.

“Well, I missed all of you especially all of my girls. But not you, Junah nuna since I see you every day at work”, Uncle Yoochun said and teased mom at the same time. Mum pretended to roll her eyes and they both laughed at it.

“Most importantly, I came here to catch up with you guys and want to know how’s my nieces are doing nowadays. Perhaps, anything good you might want to share or any thoughts of future plan”, he glanced at me knowingly as he finished his words and I pretended to be oblivious about it. There he goes again trying to make me open my mouth and accept the offer he gave for the thousandth time. I just looked away and stared at the table. Mum kind of saved me by asking us to choose our food so Uncle Yoochun was distracted for a bit and he just let that words hang in the air.

We ordered our food and the conversation continue on with Mum, Uncle Yoochun, Haera unni and Chaerin talking about stuffs. I kept quiet, only listening to their talks until our appetizer arrived and we started to eat, leaving the table a comforting quietness as our mouth is being filled with the mushroom soup and garlic bread.

When we finally finished with the soup, the main course come in which is lamb steak, the restaurant’s popular dish so we indulge the food and soon enough, the conversation is picked up from where it ends with Uncle Yoochun starting it up. I was enjoying chewing the meat in my mouth when suddenly Uncle Yoochun brought up the dreaded topic, interrupting my flow of thought on today’s event.

“So Hanbyul, have you think it through yet?” he asked me with his eyes staring straight at me. I can sensed the anticipation in his voice but I will only make it gone the instant I open my mouth.

“Wait, before you say anything, I want to tell you certain things about this offer I’m going to give to you. Being an heiress to Empire means that you will be a strong force in this industry and I don’t choose you based on our bloodline whatsoever but because I trusted you. Hanbyul, you are a great girl and a very clever one so I know you can manage this well”, he tried to continue but I cut him off.

“But, I don’t want to become an heiress or CEO or anything that is related to the company, uncle. All I wanted is to live my dreams and you should know that better than anyone. Besides, Hanna unni is studying hard at Canada and she will come back here as the one who will lead the company after you. That is why you send her there and not me”, I retaliate back, wanting so badly for Uncle Yoochun to stop from forcing me.

“Hanna is a brilliant girl and I chose her to study abroad so she can gain some experience there. She accepted my proposition since she was really interested in this business and management job. I know very well that she is capable to become a great leader in the future, no doubts about that. However, she lacked of certain quality as an exceptional trait of an heiress in which you have it, Hanbyul. I had seen it from the day you helped me to score a deal with Mal Food. You are great in this job, Hanbyul”, He tried to convince me with the pleading tone he always used whenever he brought up this topic.

Everyone on the table went quiet as a mouse when we started to argue. The only thing I think they pray in their heart is for me to not leave the table. I almost had the urge to do so but was stopped when I saw the expression of Uncle Yoochun. I watched his face and his eyes seem to be gleaming with hope. I felt bad every time this happened but I just won’t let my dreams go away only to fulfil his because I live for myself, not for others.

“Uncle, how many times I need to say this to you that I’m not taking that offer. I would never accept it”, I firmly said. He looked ready to open up his mouth with another reason from the way he put his fist together, a behaviour he always does when he had a pretty valid argument. However, mom beat him to it.

“Yoochun, you know I think it’s time for you to stop doing this to Hanbyul. She doesn’t want that position and you can see those forces and offer you gave her won’t affect her stand in this. My daughter is resilient and a strong headed girl so she won’t listen to you after those countless attempts you tried to do. She won’t budge, Yoochun so just leave her alone”, Mum defended me. I felt ecstatic and a smile tugged on my lips when she said that. Uncle Yoochun frowned upon hearing that.

“But, nuna, she is the perfect person to be the next CEO of Empire Group. I believed she can handle the company much better than I am. She was praised a lot by our partners and buyers, they were impressed by her. I mean she can help develop our corporations bigger than now”, Uncle still tried to argue his decision on wanting me as the heiress. I mentally sighed from this never ending stubbornness of his.

“What about Hanna, Yoochun? She worked hard for you and went to Canada alone to study so she can come back to help us in the company. She wanted this job more than anyone. Don’t you remember that? You can’t let her be disappointed when she comes back with a degree in her hand, knowing that she wouldn’t get the job. Yoochun, you need to stop this conversation and let all of us enjoy a peaceful dinner without any words about this again”, Mum ended the topic abruptly. Haera unni eyed me from the corner and gave me a slight smile. I’m glad mom backed me up.

Uncle Yoochun sighed to himself and just continued eating. Soon after that, dinner resumed as usual with Yuna entertaining Uncle Yoochun with her days in school and everyone also join in to tell about their days. I kept my mouth shut through the end, feeling out of mood but occasionally I will smiled at Yuna’s story about her dance class that she is crazy about. The dinner ended in a good note with everyone smiling after a satisfying dinner even though earlier we have small banter in which mom saved me from. We finished the meal and got up to exit the restaurant. Before we parted ways with Uncle Yoochun, each of us hug him goodbye since it will be very hard to see him next time, except for mom. I hug him the last and he holds me the longest as he whispered into my ears softly.

“Think hard, Hanbyul what is good for you and your family” his whisper was short and then he release me from his arms to look me in the eyes. The determination and hope is still visible in his deep brown orbs. I didn’t say anything for I’m unsure what to reply to the word he uttered.

With final goodbyes, we saw him drive away in his car back to his home. I checked my watch and it is 9.50 pm, 10 minutes left before I meet Oh Sehun. I asked mum for permission to meet someone and when she asked who, I just mentioned a friend. Haera unni looked at me suspiciously but she didn’t say anything. She wanted to send me to the place but I declined politely saying I’m more comfortable walking. Then, they went away and told me to be careful. I nodded as a sign of understand and walked down the path to Maple House Café.

                    Sehun arrived at the designated place earlier than the set time. He was anxious and nervous on the prospect of hearing the plan from Hanbyul. He felt weird to come to this café as he will be meeting Hanbyul here. Since he never went to places with girl before with an exception of his mother and sister so it was a normal thing for him to feel a bit uncomfortable. To fill up the remaining time of waiting for Hanbyul, he brought his Advanced Calculus book with him and tried to solve some of the questions in the book. It was kind of a hobby for him, one of the reasons why people call him nerd. He was deeply immersed in finding the answer for question number 6 when Hanbyul arrived at the café seeming to be looking for him.

She was outside the café so she can’t see Sehun from her view because he sat at the hidden comer of the café inside. Her entrance attracted the café workers as they greeted the new customer and one of the workers who recognized her is Byun Baekhyun. A bright smile instantly lit up on his cute face as he stands in the counter. She approached the counter and her eyes searched on the coffee she wants to drink as she read the menu which is attached on the wall behind Baekhyun.

Baekhyun who was the one to take the order from her, watched her intently. She had that ice cold expression as always but she looked lovely today with her outfit that he rarely saw she wears in college. He wanted so badly to talk to her but Hanbyul was clueless about it. After deciding she wanted Caramel Macchiato, she immediately ordered it and was oblivious to the fact that Baekhyun was showing interest on her. She moved her heads around looking for Sehun whereabouts and once she found him with his head down in the secluded area in the cafe, she focused back to Baekhyun to pay him.  

“We will send you the drink once it was ready, so you may take your seat, Miss”, Baekhyun said politely and smiled. Hanbyul didn’t even return the smile instead she nodded to his word. She walked off leaving the counter as Baekhyun eyes lingered on her back. He regretted for not being brave enough to speak up first.

Sehun was still in his math solving mode until Hanbyul come to the table he occupied and saved for them. She sat on the opposite chair without Sehun notice and watched him as he focused on his book. She scrutinized him from head to toe and said to herself,

~He sure likes to dress the same style he always had. And what is that book he’s holding? Is that math? Oh yeah it is. What an interesting character~. This monologue played inside her head as she stared at his figure.

If she looked closely on Sehun, she will realize what lies behind those glasses of his but she wasn’t they type to stare at someone for too long. She knocked on the table with her fist to get his attention and it worked as Sehun turn up his head upon hearing the sound. Both of their expression doesn’t change when their eyes meet and the silence that hangs between them sort of act as a greeting.

“You are early”, Hanbyul said shortly and wait for Sehun’s response.

“Yeah, kind of. Have you ordered your drink yet?” he asked as he pointed to his Hazelnut Latte which had gone cold. Hanbyul nod as an answer.

“Let just cut to the chase and not waste any time.  What I’m going to tell you is a secret between us. I know you understand that fact well”, she said with her eyes on his. They were interrupted when Baekhyun come to place Hanbyul’s drink. Baekhyun was surprised to find both of them together and didn’t expect that. However, he soon realized that they were on a date because he already heard the news about them going out. He didn’t know that it was this soon.

A tinge of jealousy surged into him but he still maintained the smile on his face as he served the coffee. Hanbyul said soft thanks. Baekhyun then leaves them alone to continue with their talks but he occasionally glanced back to watch their interactions. Baekhyun can’t comprehend on how Oh Sehun managed to make Hanbyul attracted to him. He leaves them with that thought swirling in his mind. With the third party gone and no one around in their vicinity, Hanbyul laid out her words to Sehun about her plan.

“This is what we are going to do. The date will occur so it will be a proof for our relationship to all of the students. By going out for real, we can convince others and hopefully Jung Daehyun too that we are serious about the date. It will show them that it was the first step in building our relationship to the next level which is becoming a couple. We will be meeting up at Sky Park Garden tomorrow; 12.30 pm. Meet me at the front of the garden where there are many people there. Don’t be late”, she told Sehun on the date.  Sehun processed the info in his brain.

“Noted. Then, what kind of rules you’re going to set on our relationship? It will be much clear if you tell me now so I can take note of it”, Sehun asked her.

“One, no touching and any personal contact can be done in this relationship. Second, we will treat this relationship as real in front of others but when it’s just two of us we can leave each other personal matters and respect each other’s privacy. The rest, I guess there wasn’t much to do but you will need to abide the two rules”, she answered. Hanbyul sipped her coffee carefully to avoid burning with the hot liquid. She waited for Sehun to say something.

“I think the first rule should be revised a bit. I won’t touch you or do personal contact without your consent but if unexpected circumstances happen, I think it should be allowed only if it’s necessary to do so. But before, you argue about that, I thought it will be more believable to had those small gesture to show other people that we are together, don’t you think so”, Sehun added when he saw that Hanbyul’s face changed when he mentioned on the touching part. She thinks momentarily.

“Fine, only in desperate situation then it is necessary to do so. I will allow that but if you tried to break the rules, I will make sure you regret it”, she stretched the condition again and even threatened Sehun if he dared to act out of boundary. Sehun grinned when he heard her aggressive tone and just nod to confirm his understanding on the matter.

“How long do you think this relationship will go on?” Sehun asked curiously. He wondered about this the most.

“I’m not entirely sure. Probably until all of the mess created by Jung Daehyun is solved, I guess”, Hanbyul replied. She didn’t think that far but she only hoped that it doesn’t stay long.

“Okay. I guessed we will just let fate decide it. I have one last question. What happened if our family know about our relationship?”, Sehun wanted to know the answer to this question.

Hanbyul hesitated for a while because she was a bit unsure on what exactly they need to do. But they will need to make this relationship as real as possible so family may be involve in the picture and it can’t be avoided.

“Well, we will just have to deal with it and act like a normal couple. It was kind of impossible to hide it when the students in our academy were the biggest gossip in town. Our family might catch a whiff about our relationship and we don’t need to hide it. For the time being, I will say that we will act as a real couple except that it will be played in front of the audience only“, Hanbyul concluded.

“If you said so, I had no problem about it. Then, I think it will be wise to know about each other right so we should formally introduce ourselves and begins a new relationship starting today”, Sehun said with a small smile. He pushed his glasses up to his nose and straightens his posture facing Hanbyul more confidently. The nervousness he felt before Hanbyul is here was washed away with a newfound braveness he felt and somehow there is a sense of comfortability when he’s with her.

“I am Oh Sehun, 20 years old, majoring in Neuroscience and I came from a family of four. Nice to meet you”, he extended his hand as an attempt to get her to react. He predicted Hanbyul might act differently this time.

Hanbyul was taken aback by his action but she composed herself when she saw the amused smile on Sehun’s face. His smile seems to hide a mockery and challenged her to accept his handshake. She was furious with his act. Hanbyul detest the feeling of being challenged so she decided to take it.

“I’m Park Hanbyul, 20 years old. Bachelor of Arts student in English Literature major. It was pleasant to meet you, Oh. Se.Hun.” she monotonously said the syllables of his name one by one and shake his hand tightly in her grasp. Sehun grinned at her, satisfied his tactic worked.

Byun Baekhyun who watched them from afar was intrigued by their interactions. He can’t see Hanbyul’s expression but he noticed the smile on Sehun’s face and that left wonders in his mind on what exactly they were doing. Only the both of them know. So the relationship is officially formed between Park Hanbyul and Oh Sehun.

The chapter was pretty long and it took me a whole night to finish this. I am so tired now. Need to sleep

~Blossom_sprng~