It’s written in Shin Hye’s POV.

I remembered when we met, it was three days before a new year. Even if ages had passed I didn’t think I would ever forget that day when our world finally collided. Your jet black eyes directed right to my eyes, making me unable to pull away. The weather was cold yet I felt anything but. I wanted to turn the heater down only to realize that your and my parents would freezing to the death if I did. What I remembered the most about that day was when you greeted us with your accent. I always loved your accent but you wanted to fit in with people in Seoul and that accent I loved was slowly disappeared. I still loved your voice though. 

“So, do you like strange foods? Like shark or snake?” he asked me with a grin playing on his lips, bringing me out of my daydream. I nodded, uninteresting with this topic but polite was all I had done since I started crawling so it was what I did right at the moment. “Chinca? I know this restaurant where they sell sharks. We can go there if you have some free times later.” He said eagerly, spooning his spaghetti before shoving it into his mouth. Only then I realized what I had just said yes to. “Or we can just go tomorrow?”

I’d been brought to either restaurant or food stall since we dated a week ago. He pretty much careless about woman size which was good but also bad since all I’d figure out about him were his favorite foods and restaurants. He and I didn’t talk a lot about ourselves. 

“Don’t you busy with your new project? I don’t want become a burden and besides I think sharks are protected by the government,” I said politely, wiping my lips with a napkin. 

Just when I was about to get up and find an excuse to hide myself in the restroom, a hand wrapped around my shoulder and a kiss planted on my cheek. Immediately I knew they belong to him. I could smell his scent around me and soon I could feel the vibration from his voice on my arms. His chest pressed on my arm to the fact he almost bending next to me. “Hey, Shin. Such a coincidence meeting you here,” he said innocently even though there was nothing innocent about him. His sly smile told me more than enough. There was no coincidence word in Yong Hwa’s vocabulary. 

Yeon Seok Oppa who sat across from me cleared his throat, getting attention from us. “I’m sorry but can you get your hand off of my girlfriend?” He said sternly, looking like he ready to lunge forward and punching Yong Hwa’s face. He never looked as angry as like this, the only time he looked so angry was when he found a hair in his soup when we went on a date three days ago.

Yong Hwa scoffed and looked at me with a smirk playing on his lips, straightening up his back and almost mocking me, “He is your boyfriend?” He dared me with his eyes to say it on his face. We both knew the rules and I knew he just wanted to humiliate Yeon Seok Oppa. 

“Yeon Seok Oppa Jung Yong Hwa. Yong Hwa—yah Yoo Yeon Seok.” Avoiding him, I introduced them to one another quickly.

Waving his hand, Yong Hwa signaled a waiter to come. ”Bring me a chair, please,” he ordered her then sifting his eyes to me once again. “Don’t you think we supposedly meet up around this hour, like right now? Do you forget?”

I glared up at him, telling him to leave. He just shrugged and thanked the waiter after she brought him the chair he asked for. He positioned it next to mine and sat on it casually like he didn’t just ruin my date. 

I gasped softly when he placed his hand on my thigh, glaring at him to move it. He just gave me a cocky smile, drawing a circle on my exposed skin.

Yeon Seok Oppa cleared his throat once again, his eyes were burning with rage and they didn’t go unnoticed from Yong Hwa. “Don’t worry Yoo Yeon Seok-ssi, I’m just someone who is very close with your girlfriend,” he said, stressed on the word girlfriend. “Aren’t I?” he glanced slightly to me before focusing to Yeon Seok Oppa again. His hand that unfortunately still placed on my thigh was started to tickling me.

“Uh-yes,” was my reply. His hand really did a great job distracting me. I tried to swat his hand away only to have him holding my hand tightly under the table. Glared to him once again I know I should leave as fast as possible before my fiancé and my boyfriend making a scene.

“I didn’t know you have a very close guy friend. You never tell me.” There was a twinge of venom in Yeon Seok Oppa’s voice that made me realize I was in trouble. He didn’t like this. Not one little bit.

“Well, now you know.” Finally success to break off my hand from Yong Hwa’s hold, I grabbed my purse and stood up. I walked closer to Yeon Seok Oppa, bending down and pecked his cheek. “Sorry, I gotta go. Apparently I have forgotten that I have appointment with him now. I’ll call you later,” I whispered right next to his ear, making sure Yong Hwa couldn’t hear it.

Before I could even think what I had to do next, a hand grasped tightly on my wrist and yanked me up. Yong Hwa practically dragged me out of the restaurant to his car. I didn’t dare imagine what Yeon Seok Oppa’s reaction but much to my relieve he decided not to follow us.

“What the hell was that?” he growled, shoving me into his car passenger seat and slamming the door right on my face. I rolled my eyes at how he exaggerating thing. It was just a peck on the cheek for Pete sake. 

Buckled my seatbelt, I was saying, “That was called a peck.”

“And who the hell giving you permission to did it?” he buckled his own seatbelt before starting the car. He glared at me for a brief moment before focusing back on the road. 

Folding my arms in front my chest, I refused to cower just because he had scary eyes. “In case you forget, we are on a break and based on the agreement I can date and kiss whoever I want.”

Stepping on a break on the red light, he turned face to face to me. “We were on a break,” he said strictly, making sure I understand the different.

“I haven’t say I forgive you,” I yelled back. He couldn’t just saying we were getting back together when he hadn’t done anything to apologize. 

“Now, you have.” He simply said and I had to grip the hem of my skirt to stop me from ruining his perfectly made hair.

Turning my head, I looked at the sidewalk through the window. I would not talk to him until he apologized. Did he forget he was the one who abandon me for more than three weeks? Ignored my calls, messages, and refused to meet me with busy as an excuse. I knew he was a busy bee but couldn’t he spare seconds to meet me or at least picking up my calls. Now, he was the one who seeking for me and out of the blue said we were getting back together when all he had done was abandon me. What a jerk!

“So, now you give me a silent treatment?” he said with a hint of amusement in his voice. I hated him. How could he think this was amusing? “You know you can’t get anything with it.”

“What the heck! No way did it not show us them kissing. Ninety three minutes and no kissing scene. Bull!” I rolled my eyes at Yong Hwa’s sudden outburst, on Yong Hwa’s hair on my lap. “I waited the whole time and they just ended it with them smiling to each other like dumb people. I’m gonna sue. Seriously.”

This was why I hated watching drama or movie with him. All he cared about were kissing scene or scene.

I still gave him a silent treatment three hours ago before he decided to bring me to one of the famous coffee shop in his neighborhood. He bought me my favorite Americano and cheesecake and cupcake and later a pair of branded shoes and a couple of bags on our way to his apartment. They did make me happy, hell yes, who didn’t? But it doesn’t mean I forgave him yet. I just agreed to accompany him until dinner time. 

Credits had started to roll on the screen when Yong Hwa took my hand and started kissing my knuckles. His breath was tickling me. I just smiled and kept his hair. He looked up at me like I was the most beautiful woman he ever saw when the reality was he surrounded by beautiful woman ever second in his life and probably more beautiful than me.

“I’m sorry,” he whispered between the kisses. “I know I was wrong but I needed to settle some problem in office and I know I couldn’t concrete when I’m with you. You know, you have the ability to make me forget what I’m doing.” This time his voice sounded playful and I smacked his arm for it. 

He let go of my hand and rubbed his arm that I smacked, chuckling at my action. As the matter of second his eyes stared up at me with seriousness that I never seen before. He always the playful one, the crazy one, the careless one, and I was the one who was started all our serious conversation.

“Why?” I asked him softly worried with his silence. He couldn’t keep his mouth shut. He was a chatterbox so there was must be something wrong when he did.

He shook his head and reached his hands up, cupping my face then pulling it down. I felt his lips against mine, full and warm like always. I almost forgot what his lips on mine felt like, what his fingers tracing some random pattern on my cheeks felt like, heck I almost forgot what my fiancé felt like. It’d been three awful weeks without him. No man could felt as amazing as him.

I didn’t know how but when we pulled apart Yong Hwa had manage to sit up and placed me on his lap, straddling him. He rested his forehead on mine and brushing my lips with his thumb.

“I miss you,” he whispered, closing his eyes like enduring a great pain. I his cheek with my hand, worrying with his behavior. He opened his eyes and smiled at me, the kind of smile that made you forget what your name was. “You know I love you. No matter what I did, what we did to each other, remember that I always love you.” And once again his lips claimed mines, leading us to something we’d been craving so much.

His hands that worked on the buttons of my shirt didn’t stop me from thinking what his words mean. This whole Cheating agreement was started when we felt bored with our relationship. There wasn’t something new or interesting with us and we reached a point where we almost didn’t feel the need to see each other, knew what each other doing, and contacted each other.

The problem was we still loved each other. Just the image of broke up with him had made me felt suffocated and felt like crying. At first we came up with an open relationship idea but we didn’t feel too comfortable with it. We needed something to hold onto and assured us that we not gonna losing each other completely.

That was why we came up with The Cheating Agreement and involved law in the process. We needed an assurance.

But now, I wasn’t so sure that that was the right choice to solve our problem. We somehow had started to drift apart without realizing it and it scared me to the death.

***

Nothing was more beautiful than watching the sun came down in the afternoon through the window of my office. The color was beyond beautiful and the view was giving me a calm feeling.

I was a CEO in my own publisher company. My appa was a politician and it wasn’t something new that everything a lot easier from me when I built this company. Money and influence were two big things in this world.

“Are you done?” A voice heard right next to my ear. I almost screamed if I didn’t recognize the voice all to well. His hard chest pressed tightly on my back, up and down as he breathed. One of his hands wrapped around my waist, giving me the feeling of safety and security. The other hand reached out over my shoulder, holding a painting of my face. “Do you like it? I painted it with my own hand.”

I smiled and titled my head aside, kissing his cheek. “Thank you,” I whispered, taking the painting and let him hugging me from behind. “Now, tell me what do you want?”

I knew him to well that I knew this sweet act of him had the meaning behind. He was insensitive and unsentimental that he was once forgot our anniversary. That was when I decided he more than deserved a silent treatment. A whole month of silent treatment. 

“I know you haven’t breaks up with him yet. You know the rule and I don’t want to share you with someone else when we are together.” I knew what he means by it. He wanted me to break things off with Yeon Seok Oppa. Poor guy. I hadn’t called him like I promised. “Do it now.”

I sighed softly, taking my IPhone 6 out of my pocket. Scrolling down the contacts names, searched for Yeon Seok Oppa’s name that I named as My Boyfriend 11. Yong Hwa didn’t help much as he kept kissing my neck, making me whimper. When I found the name, I immediately called him. After the third rings, he picked up.

“Yeoboseyo?” his voice was cheerful made me feel even guiltier. I shouldn’t had said yes when he asked me to be his girlfriend. We’d been friends since college and I knew all along that he liked me. It was just that he didn’t know Yong Hwa’s existence. We weren’t that close. I acted impulsively because I was so angry with Yong Hwa and wanted to forget him for a while. I chose the wrong person and now I was going to break our friendship. He wasn’t the kind of man who befriends with his ex. “Shin Hye-yah? Are you still there?”

Before I could say anything, Yong Hwa already took my phone away. “Let me do it,” he mouthed and started kissing the screen of my phone, making a smooch noise. How childish!

I tried to take my phone away but he avoided me by circling the desk, winking at me. That jerk started to make another noise, “Ah… that’s feel good,” he laughed silently when I threw him with a book on my desk. This seriously was the stupidest thing he ever done. 

“Harder, ple—“ I success to take my phone from him before he could finish his childish act. I wasn’t expecting any of this. I should have known how childish he could be.

“Oppa I—aah” I moaned in pain because that just pinched my arm. I glared at him and focused back on Yeon Seok Oppa. “That’s my—“ 

“Enough! I don’t want to hear anything from you again. We are over,” with that the line was cut off. I threw my phone onto the desk and rested my hand on each of my hips.

Rolling my eyes, I was fuming. “That was childish and stupid!”

Yong Hwa slumped down onto the couch in my office, laughing his out. “Who cares? The important thing is it work.”

I sighed in defeat, slumping down onto the couch next to him. If I could describe Yong Hwa with one word I would never think twice to use the word crazy.

I felt an arm wrapped around my shoulders, pulling me closer to him. He placed a kiss on my temple then rested his head on my shoulder. “Are you mad?” he asked cautiously, resting his other hand on my lap.

Sighing, I turned around and hugged him. “I’m not. Next time, just let me handle it, okay? We wouldn’t want to hurt another person’s feeling, right?”

Replying my hug, he whispered on my ear. “We already are. Don’t you realize?”

Before I could grasp his words his lips already placed against mine. I closed my eyes, savoring the feeling of his warm lips. His hands were rubbing my arms up and down then they moved to wrapped around my waist, pulling me even closer that I practically sat on his lap. He pushed my shoulders softly without breaking the kiss. I was laying flatly on the couch when he started kissing my neck, leaving me breathless. And the feeling of his breath tickling on my neck was more calming then watching the sun came down.   

***

The Cheating Agreement

1. Both parties allowed to seeing someone else under conditions: they are on a break or they have not been contacting and seeing each other more than two weeks
2. The physical contact between each parties and they temporarily partner is limited (ual  is prohibited)
3. Each parties have the right to terminate the other party temporarily relationship or demand for it
4. Both parties obligatory to prioritize one and another
5. Both parties prohibited to deny their relationship in front of people and their temporarily partner

Violation of any of them will be facing a punishment which has been compromise by both parties. 

Looking down at the paper on my hand with my own signature and Yong Hwa’s on the bottom of it, I thought of what we had done wrong. We loved it the way it was but something in my heart kept tugging on me. Was it wrong what we do?

“Shin Hye-yah, are you come or not?” My cousin, Park Seo Young, shouted from downstairs. She was slightly slimmer and shorter than me and just one look at her face could make you felt calmed down.

“I come. Wait a minute,” I yelled back, putting the paper back in my drawer. I jogged down then hugged her. I just needed someone to calm me down from my own fear.

“Ya, what’s wrong?” she asked me softly, my back like she always did when we were little. She was years older than me and always acted like a big sis for me since all I had were three annoying brothers.

Shaking my hand, I broke off the hug. “Aniyo, I just miss you,” I smiled and gave her my wounded puppy eyes, making her laughed at my antics.

We were going to celebrate her graduation. Just the two of us, the girls night. She got good grades for her Master degree and it was more than enough for her. She wasn’t the smartest in her grade but smart enough to graduate.

On the ride there, I couldn’t stop myself from thinking about Yong Hwa. We hadn’t been contacting each other this whole month because I’d been busy with a new project and he’d been away to do some business trips. Maybe I called him later. 

The light was dimmed and an up beat music filled the room when we got there. There was a throng of people on the dance floor, some of them were drunk and the rest were almost on it. Seo Yeong Eonni and I headed towards the stools on the right side of the bar where people chatted and flirted. We sat on the corner and asked the bartender for two shots of tequila. 

“Make it three,” Seo Yeong Eonni croaked. She smiled sweetly at me like an angel despite her dark outfit that more suitable for funeral. “I need some liquid to make me forget.” I knew what she meant by it. She broke up with his boyfriend the same day she announced graduate.

We pretty much wasted by the time we wiggled our hips on the dance floor. I was aware of man eyes watched us but too careless since this night we wanted to feel free from all our feelings. Just this night I wanted to feel fearless. 

But it seemed like God had the other plans. My smile was completely vanished when I saw my fiancé and some random chick danced just four people away from me. They didn’t just dance. They also made out if that kind of intimate contact could still considerate as a make out. They nearly ed on the dance floor.

Then it hit me. Why was I so stupid to believe that each of us following the rules? It was likely just me. He maybe had a one night stand every chance he got. He possibly couldn’t keep his hands from touching his temporarily girlfriend. He was still a men with needs and I didn’t always there as his fiancée. 

Crystal liquids started rolling down on my face, I didn’t even notice them. I wiped them away exactly the moment when my eyes and his jet black eyes met. I turned around and ran to find the exit door, bumping sweaty and smelly bodies in the process.

“Shin Hye-yah!” he shouted my name but talking to him was the last thing I wanted to do right now.

That agreement was a mistake. A great mistake. How stupid I was only to realize it now. Maybe it was foolish of me to believe men could resist his own need and saved it for only one person. They all the same just like my appa.

I was only three feet away from the door when my body being dragged to the corner of the bar and pinned against the wall. My hands were pinned on each side of my body so I didn’t have a chance to escape.

“What the hell is wrong with you? I called your name and you pretended like you didn’t hear me.” His eyes were burning with rage. I knew how much he dislike people disobeyed him and calling me meant I should turn around.

“Just leave me alone, please.” my voice was barely audible to the fact that I held my tears, I refusing to break down in front of him.

He let go of my hand and moved his hands to wrap around my waist, bringing me into his embrace. “Sorry you have to see it. I don’t have anything to defend myself.”

“You don’t have to say sorry. That’s stated in the agreement, right? You can kiss her again if you want. I’m just being a jealous illogical fiancée,” I said sarcastically, trying to push him away but he didn’t budge. “I’m stupid, right? How can I believe a man like you will survive a day without touching a woman?”

He pushed me away to look at me right on the eyes, gripping my shoulders. “I know what you mean by touching. You better remove that thought from your pretty head. We made this agreement because we trust each other. We knew each of us will follow the rules so stop distrusting me.” His voice was slightly higher than before indicating how frustrated he was. “I can’t say that I’m not cheating because it’s what we do but I can assure you I’m not cheating on the agreement.”

Was that how trust works? Did trust also works on this kind of situation? I didn’t know. Heck, I didn’t even know what we were doing. What I know was that I didn’t want to see him for now. I just needed time for thinking.

“Please leave me alone. I just need some space,” I whispered before pushed him away and rushed out of the bar, running towards my car.

*** 

Hope you enjoyed this chapter and please give a feedback. And guys let’s cheer Shin Hye up with our support. She might be smile in front of us but we know losing one of our family members is really painful and leaving a deep scar.