Min jae's POV
I stood guard.
Badly.
Someone walked by and I panicked and pretended to be a statue.
By the time we got back to the room I was sweating everywhere.
"This one," she said, tossing it at me. "Put it on, it was right at the back, and I've changed a little position of the straps a little. I cut out this part, I doubt they'll think it's theirs."
I changed and honestly I don't know whether to cry or scream because it fit. TOO well. Suspiciously well. Like the universe personally wanted me humiliated.
When I stepped out, Soo-ah put her hands on her hips and nodded proudly.
"Look at you," she said. "You look like someone who can fool a billionaire family. Barely. But maybe."
I didn't even have the emotional energy to fight her. I was just staring at myself in the mirror thinking, This is it. This is the end. I'm not coming back.
"Okay," Soo-ah said, clapping. "Run to the pickup point. He'll meet you there."
"WHAT? RUN? IN HEELS?"
"YES."
"I can't RUN…."
"You can if you want to stay alive," she said, opening the door and pushing me out like a garbage bag being thrown from a truck.
So now I was half-sprinting, half wobbling, half dying through the fancy part of the area, trying not to fall on my face. People stared. Someone took a picture. A dog barked at me. A child pointed at me and said, "Why does that lady look mad?" and honestly I wanted to turn around and scream, "BECAUSE I'M NOT A LADY AND ALSO I'M DYING."
But I didn't. Because I was trying to survive this day without fainting.
Then a car pulled up.
Black. Expensive. Very "I'm richer than your entire existence."
And out stepped Jae-hyun.
He looked at me like he couldn't decide whether to be impressed or suspicious.
"You're early," he said.
"Thank you," I replied. Not gonna lie the complement made me red.
He opened the car door for me and I got in, trying not to trip. I nearly fell anyway but I caught myself by grabbing his sleeve and he looked down at my hand like it was personally offensive, until his expression softened in that way that made me want to smack him and kiss him and run away from him all at the same time.
"You look…good," he said quietly.
I blinked.
Did he just….
Compliment me???
"Thanks," I muttered. "I want to die."
"That's normal."
"It really shouldn't be."
We drove.
And the closer we got, the more my heart tried to escape through my chest.
"Your family…" I said softly, staring at the window like I was looking at my own funeral procession. "Are they…nice?"
He didn't answer for five seconds.
FIVE.
LONG.
SECONDS.
"Depends."
"DEPENDS ON WHAT?"
"Depends on you."
"OH GREAT. PERFECT. I'M DEAD."
He just smirked.
SMIRKED.
Like he enjoyed my misery.
And then…
We pulled into an area that made me stop breathing because everything was so fancy and expensive and disgustingly rich that I felt poor just by existing in a fifty-meter radius of the place.
"YOU LIVE HERE?" I blurted.
He raised a brow. "Problem?"
"This isn't a HOUSE, this is…. THIS IS A NATIONAL TREASURE."
"You're being dramatic."
"No no no, I'm being very realistic. I don't belong here. I shouldn't even breathe here. I'm going to contaminate the marble."
He grabbed my hand.
Just took it.
"Min-jae," he said, staring at me in that way that made my knees hate me, "don't run."
Oh so he knew me.
"I'm not going to run," I lied.
"You're absolutely going to run," he said. "That's why I'm holding your hand."
Then he opened the door and pulled me out like some kind of badly-behaved pet.
***
The servants bowed.
BOWED.
"Welcome, sir. The family is waiting."
"Oh my God," I whispered. "Oh my GOD, Jae-hyun, they have…."
"Behave, wait aren't you supposed to be rich or summ."
"Urmmmm"
"What the hell. We'll talk about that later."
We stepped inside and there they were.
His parents.
His grandfather.
His brother.
Everyone.
It felt like a firing squad.
His grandfather was the first to speak.
"Ohh, so this is the girl," he said loudly, squinting at me like he was checking if I was edible or something. "Pretty."
I choked.
Actual choking.
Jae-hyun elbowed me lightly, like "say something nice or I'll strangle you."
"H-hello," I said. "Nice to meet you. I'm… I'm Min Minnie.. Mini…"
I forgot my own name.
I. FORGOT.
MY OWN. NAME.
Jae-hyun quickly wrapped an arm around my waist like he was obsessed which, by the way, he was overdoing SO HARD it made his parents stare like, "what is this boy doing now?"
"We met on my last business trip" Jae-hyun said smoothly.
His mother frowned. "That fast?"
"She charmed me," he said, squeezing my waist.
I pinched his hand behind my back.
Hard.
He didn't react except to pull me closer like a psycho.
His father asked, "So what do you do?"
I smiled nervously. "I work.. I'm a…I'm…."
Soo-ah didn't give me a job description.
WE FORGOT TO PRACTICE.
WE DIDN'T REHEARSE ANYTHING.
Jae-hyun cut in instantly.
"She's a freelance stylist, a model, an upcoming actress and some more " he said.
I almost burst out laughing.
ME?
A STYLIST?
ME WHO JUST LEARNED HOW TO APPLY FOUNDATION LAST WEEK?
His father nodded slowly like he didn't buy it but didn't feel like fighting.
Then the grandfather leaned forward like a detective sniffing out the truth.
"So how did you two REALLY meet?"
Oh great.
Oh wonderful.
Oh perfect.
Jae-hyun smiled like a man who enjoyed lying for sport. "I saw her. I liked her. And she liked me."
I almost said "NO I DIDN'T" but I swallowed it because I wanted to live.
His grandfather turned to me.
"You like him?"
"I…uh…." I squeaked like a dying mouse.
Jae-hyun squeezed my waist warningly, like "say yes or I'll kiss you in front of my entire family."
"Yes," I blurted. "I like him. A lot. Like…a lot."
His father coughed. His mother looked like she was swallowing ten lemons. His grandfather? Oh he LOVED IT. He lit up like a child on Christmas.
"GOOD!" he shouted. "I like her! APPROVED!"
I don't think I breathed for a full minute.
His parents looked…less excited.
More like "oh no, not this… not again… why us…"
Dinner was worse.
Questions.
So many questions.
His mother: "What are your parents like?"
Me: "Uhh…alive?"
His grandfather laughed so loud I jumped.
His father: "What are your future plans?"
Me: "To survive today."
His grandmother snorted into her tea.
At some point Jae-hyun reached over and brushed a strand of hair behind my ear AND MY WHOLE BODY FROZE because WHY WAS HE DOING THAT??? WHY WAS HE ACTING LIKE HE WAS OBSESSED WITH ME???
I whispered, "Stop touching me."
He whispered back, "Stop looking like you're going to run."
"I AM GOING TO RUN."
"You'll trip."
He had a point.
After dinner, his grandfather pulled us both aside like we were contestants on a game show.
"You two," he said, pointing at us with all the authority of a king. "You look good together. Marriage approved. Wedding tomorrow."
TOMORROW???
TOMORROW????
I swear my soul was YANKED out of my body and thrown into space.
I turned to Jae-hyun with the smallest voice ever:
"Tomorrow?"
He shrugged. "It's normal."
"NORMAL WHERE???"
Then his grandfather added the final nail in my coffin.
"Tomorrow morning. Be ready."
My vision blurred.
My heartbeat died.
My knees wobbled.
Jae-hyun placed a hand on my back.
"Don't faint."
"I WANT TO."
"Too bad."
We walked back to the car and I didn't say a word until we got in, and then everything exploded out like I'd been holding it in for hours.
"TOMORROW?! YOUR GRANDFATHER SAID TOMORROW?! WHAT DOES HE MEAN TOMORROW?! I'M NOT READY TO BE ANYTHING TOMORROW…I DON'T EVEN KNOW HOW TO SIT IN A DRESS WITHOUT FLASHING SOMEONE BY ACCIDENT…."
Jae-hyun leaned his head back and sighed like I was giving him a migraine.
"It's happening."
"No, I'm hallucinating."
"It's real."
"No, I died thirty minutes ago and this is hell."
He turned to me, grabbed my chin gently, forced me to look at him.
"Min-jae. Tomorrow. Our wedding."
I stared at him.
He stared at me.
And all I could think was:
I'M COOKED.