The news of their 'engagement' not only shook Seoul, it ripped the very foundation off of it. A week on, and with both SooJin and Won taking a rest to 'celebrate' the happy news, everyone has been left in speculation as to exactly when the wedding would take place. As silly as it sounds, there were online forums being built, speculating the details of a wedding that will unfortunately not take place. 

The other day, it had casually been on SooJin's reccomended page and it was ridiculous. She felt like she was playing house and she was looking in on another person's life. But then she saw the title of the thread and see that the name is hers. And when she scrolls down, she sees that the pictures are hers. So who else could it be?

But a part of her was amused too, it's like pretending to organize a wedding. Especially when you know it's not real, it makes it more fun. And that was how she went down a rabbit hole of forums upon forums. There was even one that was about her bouquet. 

Title : The Royal Bouquet 

Tags : bouquet, flowers, royalwedding, royals, CEOs, KimSooJin, KimWon, JEGUK, JegukGroup

Jjang Jam : I think, there's going to be a lace of gold in her bouquet...These rich people...they just don't have anywhere else to spend the money. 

KimYoon0213 : They could go with the all white style, I heard that's in this year. 

Jangguchinggu : It's probably going to be bigger than the bride herself. Those can be so tacky. 

Jung0808 : Ei, it will probably be that minimalist stuff, like a single white rose or something....

Hannagreat26668: Uh....that's actually possible, a few white roses, bound in white lace with a jewellry charm hanging from it. 

JinnyMinnyDinny90 : Whatever it is, I'm pretty sure it'll cause more than 10,000,000.00 won at least. 

The whole thing was a great distraction for SooJin who has had nothing to do and no motivation whatsoever to do actually do something, apart from laze around and order ice-cream and chocolate strawberries from the kitchen. After her first two trips the house attendants, the way SooJin prefered to call the maids in the house, had gotten way too nervous and had given her a direct line to the kitchens so they could get her whatever she wanted right away. They were afraid of the Chairwoman, the madame and the Chairman first and foremost, but years of waiting on the family simply made them anxious if anyone in the family so much as lifted a finger more than necessary. 

What they didn't know was that so far, SooJin has managed to influence the Chairman, the Chairwoman and even her stoic fiancee to start calling everyone who tends to the house as a house attendant. Mainly, it was the way that the house attendants beamed with pride when SooJin was around them while when the house attendants were with anyone else, they would return to their pokerface like formality. Out of guilt, the house was slowly picking up SooJin's habits. As for SooJin, she has made way too many calls to the kitchen to not warrant attention from her fiancee. And so, around the middle of the day, SooJin was jolted into her most upright position by a few raps on the door. 

The door opened up a little but not fully and then, "can I come in?" Won, being the gentleman that he was, only came in when SooJin said he could. And for the past week, they have done the same routine of waiting til everyone's asleep before Won starts sneaking out to his old room. He had even told the house attendants not to go in there and it was off limits. The main reason was so that nobody would accidentally find that the space had been lived in but it was also because SooJin thinks, that its where he goes to be alone. Kind of like that cut off space in the basement just for him. That train of thought got her thinking again, about the picture of the woman he has, his girlfriend. 

Every time that she thought about them, she would turn the bracelet on her wrist absentmindedly and wonder if she had gotten in the way of their line of fate. The guilt was strong enough to convince her that she did. And it didn't help that Won has been spending all his time moping around the house. Even more than usual, that is. 

But at one point, the mansion, all 10000 square foot of it, was getting a little too stuffy for her and she considered searching out for Won to go out. Get some fresh air. If one of them were to go out, the other almost always have to be around. Apparently, it's great for the company's image. For the time being, it was either they stayed home or went out with each other on hand. 

What drove her over the edge is after how many visit she made to the kitchen and even with the fridge full of food, she couldn't find anything that she wanted to eat. And she was craving bread, weirdly enough. There is this famous bakery that she heard of from EunHye that sells these huge cream filled bread. And in that moment, it sounded so good. So, that's when she decided to stalk the entire house, only to find Won, out, near the pool, with papers strewn all over the little poolside table he was seated at. 

...

Won had only started easing into the work of the company and although he wasn't yet allowed to make the trip to the office, there was still so much to do behind the scenes. Especially when they were now incorporating a new business venture into the entertainment industry. It was made worse when, the company does not have that much experience in said industry and in Won's opinion, they could benefit from investing in a third party advisor or, better still, to hire those who specialize in that field so that they would have a separate task force, the way that they have a taskforce for every other industry they have entered so far. And in that moment, he was trying to get all the paper works ready to bring the matter and suggestion up to the board members and the Chairman. All the bank statements; budget, expenditure, losses. He had to factor in the cost of bringing in a third party versus hiring someone long term. 

While he was feeling the lightheadedness that came along with a new idea train, he heard the painful screech of the chair next to him. Metal against rough tiles. He was still trying to get rid of the ringing in his ear when SooJin sat down. "Hey." 

"Hey." He replied. Maybe he had been the only one to feel the awkwardness that wedged itself in between them those past few days, but rather than having her ignore him, he would rather be the one going into hiding first. And that was what he had been doing. Even though, he knew she had been wearing the bracelet all that time and during the press conference, she had clearly shown her support, he couldn't bring himself to believe all of it. He knows that she's way too nice, sometimes, way to nice for her own good so she could be wearing it as a sign of gratitude and maybe, she had been too vulnerable herself during the press conference, so she had needed the support too. 

But here she was, in the middle of the day,seeking him out, without any reason. His mind was about to malfunction trying to figure out what and why and with a dozen different thoughts running through his mind. Before he could actually crash and burn however, SooJin pulled him back to the poolside where the waterfall behind had been the reason why he had sought out the place in the first place. It helped him focus. 

"Hey, are you busy?" Again, he couldn't understand this. She could clearly see the piles of work sitting right in front of him. He also doesn't get why, when he opened his mouth to answer, what came out was, "Uh...no...not really...why?" He was still trying to hide the little skip in his chest; what could that be? He couldn't understand why he was excited to find out her answer. 

And in that short amount of time, his brain could only come up with one conclusion; cabin fever. He has been stuck at home, and away from work for so long that anything to do with the outside world excited him. Yes, that must be it. "Good. If you're not busy then you could come with me to the bakery." He had not expected that. Then again, he didn't know what he had expected. 

Taken by surprise, he could only stutter with no actual words coming out. "Oh come on!" she whined and this time, the jump in his chest was more like a leap into the abyss. He had to keep himself in check when she started pouting and held on to his hand as she continued to try and convince him to go with her. All the while, not aware that she already had him the moment that she played the puppy face card. 

"Aaaaaa....come on....there's this cream bread I wanted to try...Aaaaa.....Won ah....come on...." With every shake of his hand he could feel himself melt even more into the chair he was on. "Oh? Pleaseeee.....?" He knew he was done for right then and there. It was the exact moment that he questioned himself and his sanity. What was wrong with him? And at that same time, a kind of realization came over him. No matter what SooJin was going to tell him or ask of him, he would almost always...say "yes". The almost is the only thing keeping him from losing himself completely and he needed it to help light the way through this time of confusion. 

This entire monologue had been so monumental that he was forcefully shoved back in his chair by the force of it. He finally admitted defeat with a little sigh. "Araseo...I'll just tidy these up and we'll go." Though the corners of his mouth were twitching, trying to form a smile, he pushed them back down. It was already bad enough that he could hear the thumping of his heart in his ears with the crazy little scene playing back in his mind. For one crazy second he thought she was going to reach over and kiss him on the cheek. 

He shook the thought away. Being in this fake engagement was making him forget just who he is. That none of that was ever going to happen. They were chingus and that was it. Period. End of story. He drew in a huge breath as he watched her walk away, with that little skip in her steps, the one she has when she's excited. Finally he gave in to the strong urge of smiling too and a wide one spread from ear to ear as she disappeared around the corner. It sent a sensation through him that he hasn't felt in a long time, the fuzzy warm one that tells you, it feels good. And to be quite honest, he didn't really mind that one. He actually kind of liked it. 

What got him going from that stand still, in the moment state was the anticipation of going somewhere and with SooJin at that. He couldn't keep the smile off his face as he put everything away and got ready. Smiling like an idiot, he was only able to get back to his semi normal self when he walked out to the foyer and saw SeungHo, leaning against one of the many luxury cars his family owned. The man looked a little paler and definitely more exhausted than usual, but otherwise, it was the same SeunHo that he and SooJin had grown used to. Yes, he hated to admit that too, but the incident at the hospital helped to soften his heart a little. 

...

It had been a roller coaster ride of a week, with a mixture of emotions that made him feel sick even just thinking about them. Which was exactly why he had decided to return to work as soon as possible. At least, it would keep his mind busy. He had this half guilty thought about the whole thing. He loved his eomma...immensely. So, in a perfect world, she would still be healthy, living out her days up until the golden age of 90 something. 

But at the same time, he always resented the fact that he didn't get as much time, as much money and as much attention as everyone else. On his worse days he would like to just get out, not have to worry about the medical costs and the very real possibility that when he woke up or worse yet, while he was asleep, his eomma could be taking in her last breath. 

And now, that's happened. His worst fears has come to past and what now...Suddenly he doesn't even know what to do with himself. Talking about inheritance and money, there really isn't very many, apart from what was in their little home, in the forms of furniture and clothes and maybe his eomma's minimal amount of jewellry, but that was it. So maybe he did get out lucky. There was no fuss. It was wholly like his eomma. Even when she was sick, she didn't want to be a burden so she would always push him out the door right after he had come in. 

"Go live your life." She would say. "Eomma will be okay." Well, she isn't okay and he doesn't know how to feel. Now all he has is his halmeoni and this job. And the old woman needed her rest too, after being there at the funeral with him every step of the way. So now all that's left is....

"You're here..." His first instinct was to snap but he couldn't muster the energy to. So he just nodded and said. "Yes." In fact he didn't feel that Kim Won was being mean or cruel anyway. If anything, he sounded worried. 

"I needed a distraction so, here I am..."He let his outsretched arms fall down to his side with a slap. Surprisingly, what he saw on Won's face was pure understanding. Because what he didn't know was that his hyeong did the exact same thing, to keep the bad thoughts away. Here, at least, the two had one thing in common. 

The sound of the cellphone ringing in his boss' pocket was what interrupted the groundbreaking moment. Fishing the phone out of his pocket, SeungHo was taken by surprise again at the look on his boss' face. This time, it was an angered look or disgust. He didn't know what that was about but Won stormed off into the corner, near the bushes where he would get some privacy. Even without the grief to overwhelm him, he wouldn't want to get involved with the man, in the state that he was in. So he did the only thing he could. He angled himself away from that direction and waited patiently for his other boss. 

....

SooJin felt like a spy as she skulked around the house, hiding from her two mother in laws. She was so happy to be out of the house, even just for bread that she didn't care what she looked like. Knowing her mother in laws, she knew they would insist she wear the finest clothes and jewellry from the walk in closet that weirdly enough seem to increase in volume every time she walked in. She had picked out a simple white turtle neck, a pair of light wash skinny jeans and a colour jacket that fell just below her knees. Along with a wrap scarf, she also put on a pair of chunky high-heeled boots to complete her look. After all, they were only going to the bakery. 

As silly as she felt, she still kept her back flush against the wall as she approached the main staircase. Once she was sure there was nobody, she did a little run across the foyer to the front door. Fortunately, her shoes gave her the advantage of stealth. Even so, she reached a screeching halt right by the door which might have defeated the purpose of being stealthy in the first place. 

SeungHo's figure drapped against the car's back door had surprised her into annoyance. She had told him he could have as much time off as he wanted and yet here he was, already back at work. SooJin, in her understanding of grief, had believed that after the death of a loved one, a person should take some time to properly grieve, at least that's what her appa had taught her. When her eomma had passed away, her appa had told her that she could cry if she wanted to and if she had ever wanted to talk, she could do so. And for the first few days, she had been allowed to stay home if she had wanted to. And she was thankful for those few days when she could probablys say goodbye, visiting her mother's grave and staying there, with her sister and with her appa when he had everything settled. 

By the end of it, they got most of the grief out of their system. On some days it came back tenfold and on others, they forget about it all together. But not for long though, because the guilt will bring them right back. Her knowledge of the guilt that will always be there, even if it only peeks through on somedays made her adamant that SeungHo must take as much time off as he could to say a proper goodbye. 

"Yah, what are you doing here?" She was greeted by SeungHo's indulgent expression, like she was the child that he was in charge of. It was scary how death could age someone, but here was the proof. She wondered what he was thinking, looking off into the distance, but it wasn't polite to ask so she went into her default noona mode instead. Truth is, she is genuinely worried for him, having gone through something similar herself. 

"Mwo hae? I thought you were going to take some time off!" It wasn't a question. 

It was weird to her to see a more grown up chuckle coming from him rather than revert to his sassy self.  "I tried, but I think having something to do would be better for me." The way he stood too, seem to have matured over the course of the week. Now, he stood with the easy stance of a professional, with both hands, clasped together in front of him and a posture so straight she wondered if he hadn't secretly stuffed a rod right behind the suit he was wearing. 

When it comes to grief, anyway, she couldn't force him to do what he didn't want to. Why? Because she knew if it was the other way round, she wouldn't like it either. She satisfied herself with the fact that he did take some time off and just the way that she had taken that time off back then to say goodbye, he had used it now, to find out what was best for himself, in order to live again. 

So, with that in mind, she gave him, what she hopped was the kindest smile, she could muster and just like that, the whole thing was passed. "Araeso...I understand..." He returned her smile with one of thanks and in that moment, she doesn't even know how grateful SeungHo had been as he thought about his luck in landing a job with the Kim family. 

"So, are we ready to go?" His question then reminded her of the other person in their weird little equation. 

"Jamkkanman....Where's Won?" For the first time since she's seen him, something that looked like discomfort came across his face. 

"Ah...President Kim?" It's even worse when he didn't immediately jump at the opportunity to call his boss hyung. Did something happen. In one split second she had begun to look around and SeungHo had contemplated blocking her view since he had this inkling that Won might want the privacy. But before anybody could actually wonder for too long, Won made his appearance, jogging the short distance from where he was before. 

"Hey, you ready to go?" He had his hand hovering over SooJin's back as he asked, clearly, ready to get out of there. There was a flush to his face which SooJin didn't catch but SeungHo had but chose to ignore. In the end, she was herded into the back seat by both men, with Won at her back and SeungHo holding the door open. 

Thinking it was a little weird, she didn't bring it up, for both men's benefit. The two was already going through enough without her pitching in. So she sat patiently as Won rounded the car to slide in the other side, declining SeungHo's offer...nicely, as hard as that was to believe. Right down to SeungHo punching in the Bakery's location into the navigation and the slight nod the two of them exchanged, for that morning at least, the three of them were the epitome of the roles that they were supposed to play. 

The Chairwoman would probably be proud if she could see them right then. But considering that they were sneaking out for some fresh air, there was no way to show off the little play that they had put on. Through the entire ride Won had kept himself occupied on his side. SooJin, having not have the freedom for a while was too busy enjoying the scenery outside to notice the tension in the air or to even see the internal war that was happening right next to her. 

....

He couldn't believe what he was hearing. But he had to commend Hyuna for calling him immediately after it happened. When he had organized the event that had landed them where they were, he had also taken the advantage to get the bookshop's number. And now, everything that happened there, he would know about first. Well...at least the ones that are less serious. 

Like this one, where a pig's head had been left in a bed of fleece in a box right in front of the bookshop along with a threatening letter that was written in either blood or red ink. The message was simple. Either SooJin did as they asked or they were going to destroy the place. For good, this time. 

It made his blood boil. It made him want to punch a hole in the wall. And if SooJin hadn't appeared right at that moment, he might have done it too. But as it turns out, he was fated to cool down to clear his head so he could solve this problem the right way, the legal way. Regardless of that, he knows what his first move would be. It was so ridiculously simple that he felt stupid for not having thought of it. 

But first, he had to get some fresh air. Maybe the bakery won't be so bad. He could probably get himself something too. With this enforced positivity, he had managed only to get SooJin in the car, while trying to hide the anger that was still trying to seep away. 

Don't be mistaken, he did try. He tried to be in the moment, to forget what he had been told for one second. But as soon as they were surrounded by the idle silence in the car, the blood boiling in his veins started pumping in his ears. And he was seeing red, there was no denying that. The only thing deadening the flow of anger, was that of guilt. 

He felt like he should be focusing on what they were doing right now, maybe even strike up a conversation, as if he wasn't alrady wholly aware that she was the more talkative of the both of them. And sometimes he wished that he could start a conversation and keep it going without talking business. He looked over to where she was just watching the outside world and he could feel that weird feeling again, tickling his chest and he couldn't help the anger coming back. 

The first thing that he would do when he got home was to call Lee Ahjusshi. For one thing, he would bring the old man some new business and for another, maybe they could finally catch the perpretrators. And then, maybe SooJin won't have to go through so much of the grief and the exhaustion that came. It was the least he could do, it was the only thing he knew how to do, get rid of a problem. 

....

It was nearing lunch time and the roads of Seoul was bustling with that hum that was so uniquely Seoul. People were starting to file out, in little packs of friends or colleagues to grab some food before returning to work. And in the midst of all of this, the Kim's family car slid into the one parking spot left that was in front of the bakery that was going to be where they would have their fateful encounter from the past. 

Both of the Presidents weren't aware of the fraying in their lines of fates. From now on, they would have to deal with the ghosts of their past and the consequences that came along with it. Maybe it came time that the both of them actually dealt with what had been haunting them and learn to finally let go. And being there at the right time in the right place had been the first step in doing that. 

For the moment though, SooJin was just glad that there wasn't a long line, like she had expected. There was however, a crowd of people inside and she was keen on getting in there before the line started forming, or worse before they started selling out of the cream buns. "Come on!" She was convinced she looked like a kid in a candy store as she tugged at Won's arm. But she didn't care. 

Won on the other hand, allowed himself to be tugged along and into the busy establishment. The first thing that you would notice once you walked in was the warmness that surrounds you and at the same time, infuses itself into your soul. There was the strong scent of bread being baked and the smell of sugar wafting through the air along with the golde-ly delicious spread right in front of them. Of course it wasn't as full as it could have been when they had first opened up shop in the morning, but it was still a mouth watering spread. 

All of a sudden, thoughts of the cream bun slipped her mind and instead, she wanted one of everything. There were the delectable chocolate croissants, and the white chocolate rolls and warm red velvet cookies twice the size of her palm and also buttery rolls that show bits of delicious yellow butter in between. SooJin was trying way too hard not to jump in place and ended up just bouncing on her heels while unknowingly holding onto Won's hand trying to tether herself from the excitement. 

It wasn't clear if the tomato red of Won's face was from the crowded warm space or from the way that SooJin was holding tightly to his hand. Either way, both felt a warm fuzziness from the tops of their heads to the ends of their toes. Soo Jin finally let Won's hand fall to his side as she picked up a tray and started picking out stuff she wanted. 

And Won was happy enough just to trail around behind her. He can't help but mimic the smile on her face as he watched. All of a sudden, the entire place felt a little too hot, even for a bakery with fresh bread from the oven. Even a rough tug on the collar did nothing to elevate the heat he felt. If that was bad, it was about to get way worse. 

It all started with a white sweater, and a woman. Her hairstyle has never changed, ever since the first time Won had met her. And even if she did change it, he could spot her in the crowd anywhere. Maybe he wasn't over her after all. "Hyeon Ju." He breathed. But as if tethered together by a kind of connection, a kind of line of fate that was barely holding on, the woman in the white sweater turned around and HyeonJu and Won came face to face for the first time since...a while. 

But what the two didn't know was that their partners too...had laid eyes on each other. "Oh? Who's this?" A man, who Won hadn't even paid attention to turned around a second later, one hand on HyeonJu's lower back. Won couldn't help but stare and felt that slight pang in his chest. 

"Ah, oppa this is Kim Won, his family owns the school where I work..." He could see HyeonJu try and mask the recognition on her face. He would be lying if he said he wasn't hurt by it, but he was too busy watching the man to care. 

"Ah...You're the President of Jeguk Group. It's nice to meet you..." The man reached out a confident hand and Won hated that he hesitated for a second before taking it. He did make up for it by giving him one of his power shakes he only used to assert his dominance. If the man noticed, he didn't say anything. Instead, he turned his attention to SooJin who had slipped in to join the party. 

"This must be the fiancee..." SooJin's hand shake was immediate and more confident than Won's. His eyes moved from HyeonJu to the grasped hands before him and it made him angry. This man...who has his hands on HyeonJu, now also has his hand on his fiancee too? Of course it made him angry. And when he was angry he couldn't think straight. 

His hand was already balled up into fists and the anger was the fuel as he tightened them, winding up, ready to strike. The only thing stopping him was a hand on his arm; SooJin's. "Hello. Nice to meet you...." SooJin's smile too was easy and confident, as if nothing was wrong. Well, maybe to her nothing really was. This was Won's past, and in his eyes, his mess. 

To keep himself in check, he reached out for SooJin's hand. She jolted in surprise, but didn't pull away. And he was grateful for that because clarity returned to him. "Congratulations on the engagement..." HyeonJu tried to hide it, but he could tell when she wasn't sure of something. All at once he begun to wonder was something wrong? He could still remember when she had wanted to end their relationship because it was getting to hard and it would be for the best anyway. 

So why then, did she look so disappointed? 

"Ah yes, the royal engagement. I heard about it, it's all in the news and every media outlet is covering it. A very grand event." Does the man ever stop talking? Won wondered to himself and had to resist the urge to roll his eyes. But the man, or JaeHo, as they come to find out, wasn't done. Oh no, he was going to say one last thing before saying goodbye. 

"Hey, now that I think about it, there's this new restaurant open here, and uh, maybe we could go..." Both Won and HyeonJu went wide eyed at this. HyeonJu was horrified that her current boyfriend was inviting her ex for dinner. Granted, the poor man didn't know this fact. SooJin however, was fully aware of the situation, so Won couldn't understand why then had she said, "Yes, that would be lovely...Just let us know the time and the place." 

....

Won was annoyed. At SooJin. There was so much that he wanted to say and he was antsy to say them, but what would he say? Why she did it? Did she not know?  None of it felt right so he just kept his mouth shut. As seething as he was, the moment they got in the car, he busied himself with getting in touch with Lee Ahjussi and scheduling a meeting as soon as possible. Preferably that day, so he could get out of the house, alone this time, to collect his thoughts. 

To : Lee K Security Services

Text:

Ahjussi, please schedule a meeting as soon as possible. 

He knew that he was in top priorities list of clients and he'll probably get to meet the ahjhussi  later on today. And once he did, he was going to have eyes to help him catch whoever has been harassing SooJin. He too, couldn't understand why he was doing all of this, despite being mad with what SooJin had done. At least it kept him busy for the time being. And being occupied was his favourite method of keeping the bad away. 

SooJin, on the other hand, felt good about what she had done. She thought that maybe if the two reconnected, Won could get what he wanted. The two would realise that they still loved each other and maybe Won could be happy. So why then did it make her sad and maybe a little jealous at the same time? They should really get un-engaged as soon as possible. She was starting to feel more like a third wheel the more that time passes. 

That's what she attributed the sadness and jealousy to. Because let's face it, nobody wants to be the third wheel,not even in a fake relationship. 

A/N : Happy New Year and I hope you enjoy reading!