JUNGKOOK POV
"Why do you even care?"
"Someone has to, Jungkook."
Yeah, the world didn't work that way.
"Would it be so bad being married to me?" Jimin asked.
"Um..." I swallowed the lump in my throat.
"No, I guess not but..."
"But what?"
I winced even as my cheeks flushed and then dropped my eyes to where I was plucking at the edge of my suit jacket with my fingers.
"You want this to be a real marriage."
"I do." Jimin admitted. "Do you have a problem with that?"
Seriously?
Had the guy looked in a mirror lately?
He was drop dead gorgeous.
I had thought so since the first moment I'd ever seen him, mere weeks after starting work at his company.
It had just been in passing, him walking past me in the hallway on his way to a meeting.
I had nearly swallowed my tongue.
"Um, no, but..." God, I sounded like such a goober.
"Can we take it slow?"
"Maybe get to know each
other a little bit first?"
I knew I was asking for a lot but I just couldn't bring myself to have sex with someone I barely knew.
I know that made me a bit of an oddity in this day and age but that was just how I was.
"I'm agreeable to that." He said.
My eyebrows lifted. "Really?"
I had kind of expected him to argue on that point.
He didn't seem like a man that went without for very long.
Besides, I was positive that there were men and women vying for his attention.
He could probably get sex on tap if he wanted it.
"The fidelity clause would still be in effect if we went slow?"
Jimin smirked. "Well, I'm hoping to be able to lure you into my bed sometime in the next ten years but yes."
"The fidelity clause would come into play the moment we get married."
Some of the tension faded from my shoulders.
I didn't want to be married to someone that would be unfaithful to me, especially if this was supposed to be a real marriage.
"I don't know if you've had a chance to look over the changes I wanted, but—"
"I did and I've already signed on the dotted line."
"Oh, okay." I blew out a breath.
"There is one thing I need to warn you about before this goes any further."
"Your family."
I blinked in surprise. "Yes."
"I am fully aware of what kind of people your family is, I had you and them investigated before I had my lawyer approach them."
I winced as a knot formed in my stomach. "I wish there was
some way you could get your money back."
I felt really bad about that.
Dowries had gone out of practice a longtime ago.
It felt a little like Jimin was buying me but if this was my chance to get away from my family, I had to take it.
"I'll find a way to pay you back."
Even if it took me the rest of my life, It probably would.
"It was a small price to pay to get you away from them."
I squinted. "You don't know me."
"You don't know them."
"Why do you care about getting me away from them?"
I know I'd asked this already but I didn't get it.
This guy didn't know anything about me and even if he did,
why would he care?
"I told you, I know what
it's like to be bullied."
"No one deserves what your family is doing to you."
"But marriage?" That was the truly crazy part.
"You didn't have to marry me
to get me away from them."
I was surprised when Jimin chuckled.
"My lawyer said the same thing."
"He suggested I just give you some money and be done with it."
I started shaking my head.
"You'd never accept it, I know."
He was right.
I didn't want to be a charity
case even if that was
essentially what I was.
At least if we were married, I'd be able to give something back.
I just had to figure out what that something was.
"So, what happens now?" I felt as if I'd asked that question a hundred times already and I still didn't know the answer.
"Well, if you are agreeable, I thought I'd take you to lunch."
"Huh?"
"Jih is calling a judge friend of his While he works on arranging our wedding ceremony the afternoon I would like to take you to lunch."
"It will give us a chance to talk and get to know each other a little better."
My lips parted and I just stared.
Jimin lifted an eyebrow. "Do you not want to go to lunch?"
"We're getting married today?"
"The sooner the better."
Oh.
I wasn't sure what to say to that.
It was weird to think I had woken up as a single man this morning and I'd be going to bed married.
"After investigating your family, I believe you are right."
"They are going to do everything they can to interfere in our lives."
"Getting married right away seemed like the best way to put a stop to their shenanigans."
Actually, it would probably make them worse.
"If you're set on a big wedding, we can wait."
"No, no, I'm not set on a big wedding at all." My side of the guest list would be empty.
I couldn't think of a single person I would invite.
I didn't have a lot of friends.
I tended to avoid people because of the crap my parents and sister pulled.
I certainly wouldn't want my parents there.
"I thought we could get married in the judge's chambers today and then throw a reception once things settle down."
I almost laughed at Jimin's belief that things would settle down.
"You do realize once we are married, my parents are going
to try and bleed you dry, right?"
Jimin's wide wicked grin was a little off putting.
It was like looking at a feral shark. "They can try."
I was pretty sure my parents and sister had no idea that they had just made a deal with the devil but I did.
I just couldn't be sorry about it.
Jimin stood. "So, lunch?"
It wasn't like I could refuse.
I plastered a smile on my face and stood. "Lunch sounds good."
Assuming I could swallow past the lump in my throat.
"We do have one stop we
need to make on the way."
"But it shouldn't take long."
"Okay."
"I'd like to introduce you to Ari." Jimin said as he opened a door on the far side of the room.
"She's been my personal assistant since I started the company."
I'd seen the dark-haired woman walking around with Jimin on several different occasions.
I knew exactly who she was
and honestly, I was a little terrified of her.
If Jimin was a shark, she was a stingray. Beautiful but lethal.
"Ari this is my fiancé, Jeon Jungkook."
"Jungkook, this is my right hand and half my brain, Lee Ari."
I smiled what I hoped was a friendly smile as I held my hand out to the woman.
"It's nice to meet you."
I was surprised when the
woman smiled back at me.
"It's a pleasure, Mr. Jeon."
"Just Jungkook, please." Ari gave me a nod.
"I'm taking Jungkook to lunch."
"Can you meet us back here
in a couple of hours?"
"Jih should have things set up with the judge by then."
"Of course, sir."
My eyebrows shot up when Jimin's eyes rolled dramatically.
"Jungkook is going to be
around for a long time, Ari."
"I think it's okay if you call
me Jimin in front of him."
Ari chuckled. "Yes, sir."
Jimin groaned, grabbed my arm and started leading me toward the door.
"She does that just to yank my chain because she knows she can get away with it, She knows where all the bodies are buried."
"Buried a few of them too." Ari added.
"Ari has a colored past."
I stopped and turned, narrowing my eyes and then pointing between the two of them.
"Are you two...?"
They seemed awfully chummy.
"God, no!" Ari's face softened
as she laughed.
"He's cute and all but he doesn't have the right equipment to make me happy."
Huh?
Pure amusement laced Jimin's voice when he said, "What Ari is trying to eloquently to say is
that I am gay and so is she."
"I like guys and she likes girls."
Oh.
"Sorry." I whispered as my face heated. "That was rude to ask."
"No please."
"If you have questions that might affect our marriage ask While I am a private person, I don't
like secrets, especially with someone I hope to share a
bed with sometime soon."
I saw Ari's eyebrows go up at that statement but she didn't
say anything.
Jimin grabbed my arm and started leading me out of the room again.
I wasn't real sure where we were going.
I had the impression that my idea of where to go to lunch and Jimin's idea were two vastly different places.
There was a black town car with tinted windows waiting for us when we got downstairs.
It came complete with a giant of a man that nodded to us when he opened the back door.
"Jungkook this is bruno, my driver."
"Bruno, this is my fiancé, Jungkook.
"You'll be seeing a lot of him."
My jaw dropped when the driver's eyes rolled.
"My name is Fred, sir."
"It's nice to meet you."
I glanced at Jimin, He had a huge grin on his face.
I was starting to suspect that
my fiancé had quite the sense
of humor.
I turned back and held my hand out. "It's nice to meet you, Fred."
I climbed into the back of the car after shaking Fred's hand and then waited for Jimin to climb in beside me before leaning over to whisper.
"Why do you call him Bruno?"
Jimin shrugged. "He looks like a Bruno."
He looked like a linebacker.
"Where to, sir?" Fred asked once he climbed into the driver's seat.
"Cartier over on 5th Street."
"Jungkook and I need to purchase wedding rings."
My eyes rounded.
"Very good, sir." Fred replied as the car got underway.
"Don't you need an appointment for that place?"
It was like one of the top five jewelry stores in the entire city.
Pretty sure I couldn't even afford to walk past the front window.
"Ari will have called and made
us an appointment."
"She knew I wanted to get us rings as soon as all the paper work was finished."
"Isn't that place pretty expensive?"
I hated to quibble about money at a time like this but I didn't have much.
I hadn't sent this month's payment to my sister yet and
I suppose I could use that to
buy a ring but that was going to create and even bigger mess.
"It is." Jimin patted my hand.
"But I don't want you to worry about the price tag, Just pick
out something you like."
I wasn't sure I could do that.
Jimin grabbed my hands and held them between his. "I know this is all kinds of crazy but this is a chance for a new life for you"
"I want to be able to give that
to you but you have to be
willing to accept it."
I wasn't sure what that had to do with weddings rings but I wasn't opposed to the opportunity Jimin was giving me.
It was a chance to get away from my family once and for all.
I was grabbing onto it with both hands.
"Just so you know, I'm not a real fancy jewelry type of guy."
"Neither am I."
Jimin pulled back the cuff of his shirt and showed me the antique looking watch on his wrist.
"This is my only piece of jewelry It was a present from my uncle when I graduated the university."
It was a nice-looking watch as far as I could tell but what I knew about watches couldn't fill a thimble.
Mine cost me less than twenty bucks at the local retail store.
That brought up another question for me.
"Are we going to live together?"
If we did, I suspected my local stores would no longer be my local stores.
I doubted Jimin shopped where I did.
"I would like to." Jimin said.
"I think two people that are married to each other should live together."
"I also think we need to move you out of your parents' line of fire. If you live with me in my penthouse,they can't get to you."
Jimin must have seen the skepticism on my face because he chuckled.
"I live in the penthouse on the Upper East Side overlooking Central Park."
"Not only is there a twenty-four-hour doorman as well as security patrolling all the time but you need a keycard or an escort to get up to the penthouse."
Okay, that made me feel a little bit better.
"How about this." Jimin said.
"We go get our rings then go out for lunch. After lunch, we'll go back to Jih's office and then go get married."
"If you agree, while we're doing all that I can have someone go over to your place and pack all your belongings and bring them to my penthouse."
"That way, you never have to worry about it again."
I cringed at the idea of anyone seeing the studio apartment I was living in but I would rather
it be strangers than Jimin.
I really didn't want him to discover just how pitiful
my life was.
"I could pack it tomorrow and then take a taxi to your place."
"I'd really prefer that you let
me do this for you." Jimin said.
"I don't want to chance you running into your family."
I didn't either.
"It came furnished, so just my personal stuff needs to be packed. It shouldn't take much."
Seriously.
Jimin smiled and pulled out his phone,He called Ari and arranged for her to have someone go pack my studio apartment up and deliver everything to the penthouse.
He also arranged to give notice to the landlord but only after everything had been removed.
He did not want to leave a forwarding address.
It was kind of nice to know he was thinking ahead.
Made me feel like I had someone in my corner fighting for me or at least someone that understood just how much I hated my family and wanted to be away from them.
Considering how hard Jimin was trying to help me achieve that, I couldn't help but be grateful.
I just hoped he didn't come to regret it.
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