TWO (1/1)

"Don't ask me to see him again. I'm not getting married to him," Sarang specified to her father in the strictest voice she could gather when the cars drove away from their driveway. Her father seemingly ignored her, as if he couldn't hear her. It got on her nerves, how he never seemed to hear her whenever she had an opinion. Most probably because she was the youngest in the family and it automatically made her the least important one. Minseok always tried to convince her otherwise, but Sarang knew her father. Better than any of her siblings. Reaching her room, she fell face first on the bed. Rolling on her bed, she wondered where her paintings really went. She was grateful that he remembered but that didn't make Sehun any different than the other guys out there waiting for her yes. He was handsome, she would give it to him but that didn't give him a free access to her heart.  There were so many things to clarify, so many things that didn't make sense. She was afraid she had let him make her think twice when she should really be believing her sister when it came to matters like this. She would never ask Sera about the story Sehun had laid out before her. She wouldn't doubt her sister.  Her tummy gurgled, the dinner had been too little today and too unappetizing. It wasn't the regular dinner that the maids cooked of course. Her father had hired chefs to do it and they were supposed to be ten times tastier. But Oh Sehun had to ruin all of it for her. They were low on money but her father still wanted to flex. If someone really wanted to marry Sera, he wouldn't want to marry her father's money. Rolling on her bed, she felt her eyes burn. Closing them, she wondered why she was still bothering with this super lacy dress. She could just take it off. But Sarang realized it would require a Herculean strength to get this dress off her body. She was tired and sleepy.

"So, what did the two of you talk about?" her mother asked once she took a seat on the couch beside her parent's bed. Her father wanted to talk to her about god knows what, because there was apparently nothing for her to discuss with them. The choice was hers and she knew what she had to do. "Nothing really," Sarang said plainly, glancing at her sister who was quite busy flipping a magazine. The question, however, had sparked an interest in her as she lifted her head up a little in curiosity. "Well, you did talk for some half an hour before coming down. It can't be nothing," said her mother, looking at her newly polished nails and smiling all to herself in satisfaction. Sarang rolled her eyes before looking down at her own choppy nails. She took a huge breath and sighed in annoyance. Her slumped shoulders deflated more as she met the expectant eyes of her family. She had been dragged in here. She didn't want to be here. "We were just—" "Omma, you called?" The door opened with a creak and Minseok's head popped in. Sarang raised her eyebrow in question; what would she even talk about with the whole family? But she was somehow glad he came and hoped she wouldn't have to answer her mother's question. "Son, come sit with us," his father returned from his study and took a seat on the bed. Minseok nodded and took a seat between the two sisters. "Sarang, you've got a lot of explaining to do," he murmured, glancing at her. "Of course," Sarang rolled her eyes. "Let's get straight to the point. Sarang," Her father called out, "I'll arrange a meeting for you with Sehun. Your job is to tell him that you agree to this marriage." "But–" Sarang started but was cut by her Mother. "Sarang, this is for your own good." Sarang scoffed at that; her marriage was for business and apparently not because they wanted her good. Well, they probably did want her to be happy but business came before the three of them to her parents, "And Sehun is such a delightful young man, don't you think?" "But what about Unnie then? She already likes him for a long time," Sarang said, glancing at Sera. "Is that true, Sera?" Her father inquired with a raised eyebrow. Sera softly smiled at her sister before nodding, "But, I don't want to come between them. Sehun likes Sarang, Appa." Sarang stared at her sister with her mouth wide open in disbelief. Wasn't she trying to convince her father to cancel the marriage because of her sister? She was trying so hard to get what her sister wanted for her and now that her sister was talking about getting over this Oh Sehun, for whom she had spent so many sleepless nights in social media just to stalk, the only guy who had received those dreamy eyes from her every time he smiled, Sarang wasn't being able to believe her. "Unnie, not you too," Sarang sighed. "Appa, at least ask for our opinions before you just decide something about us," She said in a louder tone. "I don't want to get married now, why don't you understand?" Her father listened to her talk against him for the second time that day. "You don't care about me; you don't care about Unnie nor do you care about Oppa. You didn't even want to listen to Min Oppa before you gave them your word. All you care about is your damn money!" "Sarang," She heard her brother mutter and his hand grasped her hand, asking her to stop. "Fine, Appa. I'll get married. I'll let you have the money. You don't need your daughter. You need the money. You'll have it!" She yelled at her father. There were these invisible strings pulling her towards that door, a resentment in her lungs that she needed to push out. "But remember this is the last thing I'll do for you." Sarang stood up abruptly and left the room with the door slamming shut behind her.

"Dude, where the fuck are you?" Sehun heard after pressing the phone to his ear while halting his bicycle by the lake in the park. He sighed internally at Jongdae's tone, knowing what he was going to scream into the phone in the next two seconds. With a little smile, he answered. "Somewhere. I needed a break." "You're getting married," Sehun knew that his friend was smiling from the other end. "To Kim Sarang. That girl?" "That girl, yes," his grin stretched from one ear to another. "Sorry, I forgot to tell you. I still need her answer though. But I can guess it would be a yes." He turned to the sparkling water a couple meters away from him. The ripples stretched across the lake like tiny waves. The children were playing with their paper boats, pushing the boats away with the swish of the hand against the water. "What do you mean? It's all over the news that Kim Sarang and Oh Sehun are getting married by the end of this year," Jongdae chuckled. "You people are famous after all." "In the news? Are you sure?" Sehun inquired with an arched brow. Must have been her father. That man was one problematic fellow and Sehun would always make sure to be wary of him, even if they became in laws.  "Yeah, I'm in my office, watching it now. Check your news feed," he said. "Kim Sarang, she's pretty." Sehun could be off to daydreaming again at the mention of her name. But Sera stopped the flowers from growing inside his brain and butterflies from flying inside his stomach. A little stunned at her figure leaning against the huge cherry tree, Sehun suddenly felt the jitters get to his fingers. "I'll hang up now. I'll check my feed." Sehun quickly cut the call. Sera walked over to him in her model-like stance. He smiled, not knowing what to do instead of just smiling. Smiled because they were going to be in-laws soon, if she said yes, of course. They couldn't have bad blood between them. "Hey," He started when she came closer. "I didn't expect to see you here." "Me neither," Sera said with a cold look on her face. "But now that you're becoming my in-law, I thought, why not greet you." "How are your parents?" Sehun scratched his nape because her cold stares were making him uncomfortable, like always. "They're doing fine. How are you?" "Me? I'm fine as ever...Is Sarang okay?" He asked in a worried tone to which she really wanted to roll her eyes. "Of course, she's getting married after all. She probably dreams about you by now," She said in a sarcastic manner. Sehun laughed nervously with a slight blush on his cheeks, "Does she?" He knew very well that Sarang didn't even think about him the last two days thus her dreaming about him would probably always be his dreams.  "Really? What did you even see in her?" She asked in an irritated tone. Sehun was slightly taken aback by this question, "Huh?" "I was never rejected in the 24 years of my life, Oh Sehun. And you just rejected me for my dumb sister? What does she have that I don't?" Sehun stared at her for a good three minutes before answering her question. "Well, if you ask me, Sarang doesn't carry this type of attitude with herself," Sehun paused before continuing. "You know, even when I said that you slept around with people in high school and how cruelly you broke my friend's heart, she was still taking your side. She was thinking about you when she should've apparently thought about herself when we talked about our marriage that night. She was scared she'd lose you because she loves you. And here you are, calling your own sister dumb." Sehun took a huge breath and tried fighting the urge to continue while Sera just stared at him.                                        "Remember Jongdae? He was an idiot to ever fall for you. I cannot risk my friendship by marrying you. Sarang is a better choice in my eyes. I like your sister, a lot. I'm sorry." Sehun dragged his bicycle back on the track and paddled away as fast as he could.

"Sarang," Sehun hoped she'd not hang up hearing his voice from this end. Nervousness climbed into his head and snugly seated itself right inside his brain. She didn't speak for two seconds. He counted, raising the anxiety in h