marriage trial \ j. jaehyun

xxiii.

morning came and i head to the company with a frown on my face, phone in one hand as i check it every minute. maybe jaehyun's just busy. telling myself that, i shake the sudden feeling of unsettleness as to why he hadn't sent me a message. i texted him a good morning with a following question about how his meeting went but i still havent got a reply from him. i should really stop being a worry-wart. the hours passed by and its already lunch time, chaeyoung opening the door of my office to barge in as i look up from my phone, still void of anything from jaehyun. “what is this?” she walks over to me with a serious face, brows knitted and lips pursed. she slides her phone on the table and i glanced down at it. “im sad that i had to find out about that through social media, why didnt you tell me?”

chaeyoung keeps on blaberring as i my eyes remains glued to the screen of her phone, breath hitching as i try to swallow the lump on my throat. lifting my finger unknowingly, i tap on the screen as the article loaded. the topic was highlighted with a big and bright font, a photo under it with further details of the said topic below it.

[Breaking News] Engagement of the Heir and Heiress.

It was such a shock to the whole business world when two of the leading companies in the field, the J Corporations together with the Lim Company announces the engagement of their heirs: Jung Jaehyun and Lim Mira.

Aside from being business partners on some of their projects, some of you may not know that the two companies actually have a strong and healthy bond, giving that both of the founders are good friends even from the start of their careers. Others would say they're just doing this for pure business and money, well, certainly not.

Jung Jaehyun and Lim Mira actually go way back on their childhood as they are the best of friends while growing up; attending the same school on preschool, going to an exclusive primary school and had each other's back through middle school and high school. Although they had to part during college, they were still inseperable as they both take turns in visiting each other during holidays despite the distance, with Mira attending a distinguished university in South Korea and Jaehyun going to a prestigious college in London. Both of their parents actually joked about them being each other's 'first love'.

For both sides, now is the perfect time to confirm their strong bond with each other as they finally announce their engagementㅡ

“bullshit.” i breathed out, looking at chaeyoung as she gasps, “you...you didnt know.” she whispers, realization downing on her as i take deep breathes, feeling the clenching of my chest “oh my god. im sorry. shit- i didnt know. i really thought you.. shit. im a terrible friend, gosh. im so so sorry.” chaeyoung went to my side and crouches down as she checks up on me, continuing to apologize, “no, no. its okay.” i stood up and helped her up too, “its okay. im fine.” chaeyoung rubbed my arms before pulling me into a hug, “you can cry..” shaking my head, i acted stubborn and just let out a dry laugh, “no. i dont want to.” my heart tightens a little more as i think about the article again, “i still want a confirmation from him. i want it to come from him.” chaeyoung rubs my back in an up and down motion while i try to breathe deeply to prevent myself from crying.

i got nothing done for the rest of the day. thoughts and questions running through my mind as i wait for jaehyun's messages but nothing arrived. chaeyoung walks with me down the building. she's quiet and unsure of what to say, leaving the aura around us gloomy and heavy. i am honestly confused, hurt and tired that i couldnt let out even a sound, shoulders slumping while dragging my feet as we walk.

a figure runs towards our direction the moment we step out of the rotating glass doors, “aera, oh my god.” my heart dropped at the sight of jaehyun's mother infront of me as she held my hand, “im sorry that stupid stunt had to happen. i didnt know his stupid ass would really push the wedding, i would've prevented it if only i knew.” she starts to talk about how shocked she was upon hearing the news, how she feel ashamed and furious at her ex-husband for pulling out a stunt like this despite knowing about jaehyun's relationship with me, she even apologized to me for all of that's happening, “its okay..” she stops on talking when i mumbled that, blinking slowly like she just heard something stupid, “we dont really have something going on..” jaehyun's mother's expression fell, eyes filled with confusion and curiousity. “jaehyun and i.. we're.. we're not really.. married.” i swallowed hard before telling her the truth about our 'relationship', that it wasnt a fake marriage but still not legal. that everything happened because we got tipsy and decided to do dumb stuff, that we just continue to play along for the sake of our entertainment. “im sorry. i didnt mean to lie but i honestly felt like we're going somewhere, but yeah.. i thought wrong.” my voice became small at the end of the sentence before letting out a dry chuckle, “wow. i was stupid for believing such things.” a hand brushes the apple of my cheek and i look up to jaehyun's mother looking at me calmly, “im not mad that you lied but.. more of disappointed, maybe.” i nodded at that, accepting the fact that i disappointed her and all the other people that believed our act. “but i cant blame you though.. i thought the same.” smiling lightly, i hold her hand that was caressing my cheek, putting it down and held it again, “well, it's just like that sometimes. we cant have everything we want.” trying to joke around, she showed a sad smile at me, “i still want you as my daughter-in-law, you know.”