"What are you doing here?"
Pressing her lips into a thin line, Jiwon eyed the man in front of her with scrutiny. Unlike her, his day seemed to be rolling like it normally did. She could only wonder if it were only her finding a problem with their current predicament, when she could remember clearly his reaction last night at the dinner.
Damn. Jiwon almost laughed at the thought. It hadn't even been twenty-four hours since she had last dealt with him.
"Apparently, I'm supposed to be surprising my beloved fiancé with my presence," she replied, sarcasm dripping on her words, and scoffed. "What else do you think?"
"That you might ask for a date or something."
She gritted her teeth. "Can't you take this situation—"
"Seriously, Kim Jiwon," he interjected. "How clueless could you get?"
Her brows shot up almost too instinctively. "Excuse me? This was your plan in the first place."
"You still could've known your dinner meeting was to be held at the same place. Maybe you could've connected the dots a little too earlier. Unless your common sense is non-existent, I suppose."
And there went all the air of rationality and patience left in her system, deflated to the last molecule by his blatant remark.
"It's your fault you didn't know who the hell you were meeting with, and your fault for simply masking it as a date," she retaliated.
"Even if I knew, I wouldn't know it's you. I only knew of your existence at that exact moment."
Jiwon incredulously rolled her eyes at him. She had to admit, she wasn't really of interest to the public, and rarely did she ever appear on anything of importance. Except on family pictures that appeared on certain magazines, which were also rare due to the fact that the Kims were always private when it came to family matters.
"I do not have all the time in the world to argue with you, Min Yoongi."
He did not reply, but there was this faint grin that Jiwon caught playing on his lips.
How frustrating, really. She couldn't read him nor his expressions, which only brewed her irritation further. And much akin to tea, the longer it brewed, the more bitter it went.
Jiwon's desire to eliminate Yoongi was cut off by a knock. Then, the door flew ajar, followed by a lady deliberately entering, much like a shy child entering a classroom on their first day.
"Mr. Min, your next appointment is in fifteen minutes," she meekly informed, clutching her clipboard close to her chest.
"Cancel all my meetings for today."
"Sir?" Her eyes rounded.
"I have something important I need to take care of."
"But sir..." she trailed off.
"Do you want to attend them for me instead?"
The assistant gave out a defeated laugh and glanced at Jiwon, then at Yoongi. "Yes, Mr. Min. I'll cancel them."
Yoongi stood up from his chair and grabbed his coat from the rack. "I'll be out for a while. Just leave the documents I need to see on my table."
The secretary bowed politely before excusing herself. Jiwon observed her as she scurried out of Yoongi's office.
"Are you just going to stand there the whole day?" He raised a brow at her.
"Is she always that tense?" Jiwon ignored the question, and the corner of Yoongi's lips twitched up the slightest.
"She's only been here for three days," Yoongi replied noncommittally.
"And your previous assistant?"
Yoongi found the sudden shift of the conversation odd and gave her a look through the corner of his eyes.
He casually responded, "Caught snooping over confidential documents."
Maybe she's just being cautious, Jiwon noted. She pressed her lips into a thin line, attention shifting back to Yoongi.
"So... where are we going?"
Yoongi sidestepped her without a word, causing her to sigh to herself before tentatively trailing behind him.
Jiwon thanked the assistant as they exited his office, and gave her a smile in hopes for her to loosen up a little.
The two of them ended up in a modest establishment, in a residential area about four streets away, that served coffee, bread and pastries. At least this time, Jiwon had approved of his decision to talk about their matters somewhere distant and in a place not much people hung around.
Amidst her sweet-tooth being satisfied, his eyes fixated on her. He didn't really perceive her as a person who relished sweets — the antithesis of her exterior. And once he was contented with watching her, he snapped her out of her daydream.
"Do you not have anyone you actually like?"
Her brows shot up. She swallowed hard, a frown threatening to appear on her lips. Jiwon averted her gaze and simply shook her head.
"Not really." Her voice came out too small.
Someone she likes? Jiwon could hardly recall a time when she even gave this aspect any importance.
At a young age, Jiwon had already figured it all out. With the knowledge of how politics worked with the Kims and considering her position in the family, she had long neglected the idea of meeting someone, more so, falling in love with them.
Instead, she had devoted her time in improving herself, learning whatever essential information she had to know about their family's business, and playing the role of a responsible daughter at the same time. She didn't need to marry someone of a wealthy family just to contribute to their family's prosperity, right?
So when it seemed like all her efforts were being thrown into vain, just as how it was at the present, she just couldn't understand where she went wrong. And it could only get worse when the lingering pull of uncertainty — of whether things would ever swerve right — would haunt her on days she was left with her own thoughts.
When will all her hard work prove her point? When will she, simply as Kim Jiwon, be enough?
"Kim Jiwon."
Snapping out of her trance, she lifted her gaze. For a moment, she seemed lost, but after having an epiphany that she was still with Yoongi, she cleared her throat to compose herself.
"Ah, sorry. You were saying?" From the expression — or more like the lack thereof — on Yoongi's face, she had no idea what he could've possibly said that she didn't catch.
Yoongi sighed. "I've thought about it."
An inquisitive look etched on her face, before a thoughtful 'oh' slipped out of her lips.
"And?" Jiwon asked hopefully.
"I've figured we can use this to our advantage for now."
Jiwon could tell exactly where this was going. Notwithstanding, she gestured for him to carry on.
"We'll let out parents think that they finally succeeded in setting us up," he told her. "We need to show them that we're getting along well, but the end point is that we'd realize we don't seem to match."
"Then I guess we have to practice acting civil with each other if we're pushing through with that." Jiwon snorted with humor and amusement.
Yoongi narrowed his eyes at her, not exactly sure if she were mocking his idea.
Jiwon propped her cheeks on her palm and released a soft breath. "I just hope they don't keep insisting me to take a break from work, or worse, tell me to entirely stop doing so."
Trying to string together words to speak, Yoongi's face perked up the slightest. He hadn't known her for so long, but this side of her was far off from her strong and sharp persona. Not to mention, she had this sudden transition inside his office earlier as well.
It ticked him off, to say the least. She had this odd tendency of shifting from snapping out and containing herself through random humor. Like a fickle person who wants to open up but dodges the opportunity because of hesitation.
Although he assumed it was more odd of him to pay heed about it.
While these observations occupied his mind, Jiwon's attention had long left him, staring outside whilst deep in thought. Yoongi sighed through his nostrils, following her line of sight.
A chuckle soon broke out of her lips, eyes filled with a vague glint as she turned back to him.
"Don't tell me you suddenly have a soft spot for me, Min Yoongi."
No acknowledgement nor opposition followed. Instead, he only studied her and the way the curve on her lips did not even possess the slightest of the cheerfulness she was trying to portray.
But he did not comment on it.
Silence took over the air shortly. It wasn't exactly comforting, but it was tolerable.
By now, Jiwon's appetite had diminished, and her worries had began to invade her mind again.
Neither of them had spoken up for the duration of their time together, as if a tacit agreement existed between them to pause the game. Jiwon could only hope that life could also have a similar option of doing so.
Eventually, they had to leave and call it a day. While Yoongi was paying at the counter, Jiwon chose to wait outside the shop. The establishment belonged to a residential area, one where it was rare to spot a person walking by, giving her peace and quiet as she sorted her thoughts.
Jiwon exhaled the weight on her chest as the wind chime above her tinkled. But before she could whirl around to see Yoongi exiting the shop, a piercing voice caught her attention.
"Give me back my sandwich, you thief!"
Jiwon's alertness kicked in, eyes wide and very much alive.
"Hey, hold this."
"W-Wha—" Yoongi was cut off when Jiwon abruptly shoved her purse at him and dashed away.
A conflicted Yoongi stood frozen on his spot for a second or two, as three figures ran at different speeds and distances ahead of him.
"Y-Yah!" Regaining his senses, he raked his fingers on his hair frantically and decided to run after Jiwon — Something he didn't really seemed so pleased about.
Meanwhile, with every step she took, Jiwon could feel the coldness of her breath build up on her throat. She hadn't really ran for so long and her endurance wasn't top notch, yet it did not discourage her.
She caught a glimpse of her target by the intersection and sprinted with all her strength. And probably because of how adamant Jiwon was with catching him, and how the other girl kept shouting, that would probably attract attention later on, he slowed down on his tracks.
Just when Jiwon had neared him, he placed the sandwich in between his palms, ducked his head down and kneeled on the ground in surrender.
"Yah, ahjussi!" Jiwon glared hard at the sandwich thief, catching her breath with heavy inhales and exhales. "Does your family even know about what you're doing? If you're gonna steal food, at least get something decent."
The old man, probably in his 50's judging by his appearance, muttered a plethora of apologies. Well... at least until her words sunk in and he glanced at her with a perplexed expression.
"You might get away from it now, but what happens next to you?" chided Jiwon. "Life might be unfair, but that doesn't give you the right to take advantage of other people."
He turned away from her, the flash of guilt evident on his face. Then, in a hurried manner, he stood up and tossed the sandwich towards her.
Thanks to Jiwon's quick response, she managed to catch it. But she was not quick enough to anticipate he'd run away forthwith.
"H-Hey!" Just as she stepped forward, a hand yanked her arm, bringing her closer to its owner.
"What"—Yoongi breathed—"What are you doing?" Beside Jiwon was a panting Yoongi, face wrinkled in vexation.
"Catching a sandwich thief, I suppose," Jiwon replied flatly, grimacing, aware she wouldn't catch the old man again this time. "Maybe a lecture at that too."
"And that's seriously worth your time?"
Jiwon blinked at him, face void of any expression. Then, a bitter smile landed on her lips.
"Sometimes all we need is time," she muttered, lost in her thoughts. "Time from people to remind us how to be sane."
Yoongi's grip on her arm loosened, a hard look forming on his face as he watched her profile. Suddenly conscious of his gaze, Jiwon blinked in realization and pivoted on her heel.
"Never mind," she said, taking her purse that was still with Yoongi. "Let's just go back."
As Yoongi watched her amble away, nonchalantly thrusting the sandwich bag to the girl who had just caught up, the curiosity inside him grew.
Perhaps there was something more than this engagement plan she was holding back on.
— ✿ —
❝hiii, was the chapter too long and seemingly irrelevant? because I kind of feel I've been rambling. let me know so I could consider your opinions in case I revise this in the future. also, your theories are really interesting haha I'd rather not say anything for now. thanks for reading and have a great day ahead wherever you are! ♡❞