Jeon Jungkook.

This time, it was Chaeyoung's eyebrows that shot upwards. Where did 'V' come from? But then, she wouldn't bring that up since he could have the same question in his mind. Where did 'J' come from if she was born Park Chaeyoung?

Everyone finally got themselves seated to start the dinner after that brief and awkward introduction. It was probably one of the most awkward dinner that she had to attend as she was unable to look at the man in front of her without feeling the need to roll her eyes or throw something at him so he would feel at least a little humiliated, just as how he made her feel the night they had that stupid blind date.

Only the parents talked, asked questions to either of them but neither of them even talked or said a word to each other. Chaeyoung focused on eating when she wasn't required to answer or respond to anything the guests said or asked, and as much as she hated it, she was aware how he was doing just the same.

"Why don't you give Jungkook a tour of the house?" her mother said once they were done eating. Her mother probably noticed how quiet the two of them had been and wanted them to break the ice.

Chaeyoung turned to her mother slowly, hesitated for a moment before she quietly asked, "...why?"

Her mother gave her a questioning look. She could tell that her mother's eyes were telling her the exact words 'just go' without her actually saying it.

"Maybe the two of you will talk when you're alone," Mrs. Jeon said with a soft laugh before she nudged him with her elbow gently and whispered something.

Chaeyoung could hear him exhaling through his nostrils before he stood up. "Would you like to join me for a walk?" he asked. If Chaeyoung wasn't looking at how uninterested he looked, she would have thought that it was a genuine invitation.

No, she didn't want to join him for a walk, or show him around the house. Why would she have to show him around her house? Wasn't he just a candidate to be her husband? And she was sure that she was only a candidate too in their point-of-view. What was the need to give him a tour of the house that he wouldn't be visiting the second time?

Despite all the questions running in her head, Chaeyoung stood up as she forced a smile on her face. She didn't want to make a scene. Especially not in front of his parents. They seemed sweet and kind, at least. Too bad their son was a douche.

Chaeyoung could hear the giggles of their mothers as they commented how she and Jungkook were cute when they avoided walking side by side.

It was a very quiet walk between two people who muted themselves. But the silence was broken the moment they were completely out of sight as he followed her into the garden.

"So..." he began as he walked behind her. "Where did 'J' come from?"

She changed her mind. She should bring up that similar question she had in her mind earlier. "Where did 'V' come from?"

"I asked you first, J."

"Doesn't mean I have to answer first, V." She stopped walking and turned around, crossing her arms over her chest. "Weren't you the first one who introduced yourself with a letter? I only went along with it."

Jungkook pushed both hands into the pockets of his black dress pants. He seemed to be observing her for a couple moments.

"Let me be frank with you," he said calmly. "In case you're not aware of it, our parents made an agreement to help each other out in their businesses with a condition that we should get married."

Chaeyoung was not aware of that plan, but she was not at all surprised. She even had the suspicion that every arranged marriage in their family was first and foremost, for business purposes. But she was convinced that while it might have started as a relationship built for the purpose of business, it might develop into something deeper than that, something beyond just business.

She might have felt disappointed knowing that this arranged marriage was for a business purpose if her future husband was someone else but with Jungkook as the possible future husband of hers, she didn't know if she was disappointed. Maybe not. But she didn't know what to feel either. Maybe because she didn't want to have any type of relationship at all with Jungkook, not even a business relationship.

"I'm aware," she replied, just as calm as he was. "So let me be frank with you. In case it isn't clear, I'm not interested in being in any type of relationship with you. Once tonight's over, let's tell our parents that we do not match. You can tell them you've actually seen me before. Tell them I'm the last person they would want as a daughter-in-law."

Jungkook laughed dryly. "Those aren't going to work on my parents anymore. I've spent at least a year using every excuse there is in this world to not get married with their choice."

"Maybe you just didn't convince them hard enough," she said with crossed arms, her eyes running from his head to his toes. "You don't strike me as someone hardworking." When she glanced at him, he looked beyond offended. The frown on his face was darker than the last time she'd seen him with a frown. Even as it was too obvious, Chaeyoung dared herself to ask with a smug face, "Why? Does that offend you?"

Jungkook responded with a roll of his eyes and a light scoff. "Can't believe someone in this day and age still judges a person based on appearance."

"Don't worry, it's only you," Chaeyoung replied with a bored look. "Just one look, I've known about 90% of you. Enough to convince me that you're the last person I want to be associated with."

Jungkook leaned against the lamppost, one hand inside his pocket while another was rubbing against his clean-shaven chin. His hair was shorter and was pushed to the back with a few strands falling over his forehead. She tried to focus on his forehead as she reminisced how completely annoying he was on that night they had a date to distract herself from thinking that he was actually attractive.

His eyes bored into her very being like he was trying to study her. "How about the ten percent?"

"What?"

"You don't know me much if you only know about 90% of me."

A chuckle of disbelief broke free of her. "Sir, if there's already 90% of you that turns me off, what makes you think I need to know the other ten? It's not even enough to turn it over."

"You're right, it's not," he chuckled. "But, if you get the ten percent by learning it, it should be more than enough to erase the 90% you assumed about me."

"That's the thing. I'm not interested in learning anything about you," she said with a shrug. "No offense."

Jungkook looked as if his patience almost ran out. "Maybe all you need is to pretend to be interested. It will do you good."

Chaeyoung's frown deepened as she analyzed what he was trying to say. She looked at him long, long enough to wrap him with discomfort. "You couldn't stand me back in the dining hall," she stated.

He looked confused for a moment. "Oh, yeah. Don't worry. I still can't."

"What exactly are you trying to say?"

Jungkook looked to the ground and took a deep breath before he looked into her eyes again. "Why don't we just give them what they want?" He raised a brow. "Trust me. There's no way my parents are going to take any excuse anymore. And trust me when I say this, your parents are very fond of me."

"Wow, no thanks to you," she scoffed and rolled her eyes before she realized something. "Wait, are you saying... you'd be okay to marry me?"

He shrugged. "It'll be just on paper. Completely business."

She laughed. Hard.

Chaeyoung had wished to marry for love, but if she had to marry someone for no other reason than business, couldn't it be someone who was not him? She'd accept any man except for Jungkook. He didn't just look like a complete asshole. He was definitely one. After the dinner date they had, she was finally convinced that assholes exist in different forms. The one standing before her just happened to be one of those attractive assholes.

She continued to laugh until the confusion on his face became permanent. When she stopped laughing, she responded flatly, "But I won't be okay with marrying you."

Slowly, a smirk pulled on his face. "Why not? Everyone would kill to marry me."

"Go marry everyone then."

"That would include you too, you know."

"Excluding me."

Jungkook laughed softly. "Any reason you refuse to marry me?"

"That's a question you obviously had the answer to," she said, every bit of memory of that blind date night playing in her head like a broken record. "Also, if you've made up your mind to just marry anyone your parents chose for you this time, why did you go on a blind date then? That just makes no sense. If you've accepted anyone your parents would choose for you, the most logical thing for you to do is to sit back and relax."

Jungkook said nothing for almost a minute. "Your point is?"

"My point is... if you could go on blind dates while your parents already have a choice in mind, you definitely do not want to be tied to the woman they chose for you," Chaeyoung said before turning her back on him. "Go on some other blind dates, maybe you'll find someone you're willing to marry."

Chaeyoung had walked about ten steps away from him when he said something that stopped her in her tracks.

"If this is about that night, I apologize."

She remained in her position as she took in every word he said. "What do you mean?"

"You're upset," he said. Chaeyoung's fingers gently curled around the fabric of her dress when she heard him stepping toward her. "And I'm sure it's about everything that happened between us during that date."

Chaeyoung turned around slowly, her frown was heavier as her eyes settled on him. She tried to assess him, trying to find a joke hidden somewhere in that expression he was wearing on his face. But as her eyes wandered about his face, lingered in his eyes, she found none.

"I went too far that night, and I'm sorry."

There was something about this apology. It did sound genuine to the ears of someone like her who had difficulties trusting people, but it seemed like this apology was for more than one reason. It seemed to be like a last resort, or all else would fail.

Chaeyoung squinted her eyes, crossing her arms as she approached him in slow steps. When she was two steps away, she stopped, her eyes stared straight into his eyes.

"What do you get if you marry me?"

Jungkook looked confused. "What do you mean?"

"You're onto something, aren't you?" she smirked. "This isn't going to be just about a business deal between our parents. What is it? Your parents threatened to leave you out of the will if you don't get married by a certain age? This is your last chance so you're desperate. If I walk away, if I don't agree, you'll lose everything."

Jungkook's face remained unchanged, that look of confusion stayed static for a few more moments before it dropped, the corner of his lips pulled into a small smile.

"You're quick, aren't you?" he asked with a chuckle.

Chaeyoung rolled her eyes, her annoyance toward this man grew at mere seconds now. This was really a world where everyone did something just for themselves. If life had to be that way, shouldn't it be a two-way street?

"So with this marriage, I'm basically helping you to secure the wealth," she muttered more to herself. "But what's in it for me?"

Jungkook obviously had thought and prepared for this question as a grin appeared on his face. "If you would be my wife, the wealth I'll be inheriting from my grandparents, 20 percent of it will be yours."

Chaeyoung hummed, pretending to be in deep thought. "Too low."

"20 percent of the whole thing is a lot, Ms Park," Jungkook said with a frown.

"And? It's still 20 percent, which is still too low."

Jungkook pressed his lips into a thin line. "Let's go with 7:3."

Chaeyoung gave him a wide smile, but her eyes were shooting venoms. "Still too low, don't you think? Find someone else who would."

"Fine," he sighed. "What about 6:4?"

"Mr. Jeon, have you been living under a rock? We now live in a world of equality. The lowest I'd take from you is 5:5," she said with a smile.

"That's too much."

"Take it or leave it."

"You got nothing to lose, Ms. Park."

Chaeyoung's jaw almost dropped. "Nothing to lose? I'd be marrying a man I can't stand, losing the freedom that comes in the life of a single woman, and you think I got nothing to lose? Equal is the way to go."

Jungkook looked at her long, his brows furrowing even further. He turned away a moment later, letting out a grunt before shaking his head. "No. We'll go with 6:4."

"If you insist on a 6:4 deal, then 6 should be mine. Else, we go with 5:5," she smirked.

Jungkook laughed, but his eyes were dead serious and she definitely could see the annoyance in those huge doe eyes of his. "You know what," he pushed his hands into the pockets of his pants as he began walking past her. "For someone who's still considered a stranger, you demand too much. I'd rather not share."

Chaeyoung's smirk was gone after he said his last sentence. She inhaled deeply, her lips pressing into a thin line as she watched Jungkook casually walking away from her before she began to take long steps, catching him by his arm. "You're not being fair, do you know that?"

Jungkook wriggled his arm from her grasp easily. "And why is that?" His brows lifted.

"You expect me to settle for nothing?" She scoffed. "This marriage will be a win-win for our parents. But for us, it's obviously unfair because the only one gaining from this is you. And me? I get nothing!"

There was a hint of smile tugging on his face before a chuckle broke. "I didn't realize you wanted to marry me so bad." Chaeyoung's face scrunched in disgust and before she could say anything, Jungkook cut her off. "Why are you still worrying about what you should get from the marriage? Who said I'm going to marry you?"

Her eyes widened in disbelief. "You're an asshole."

"Hey, this asshole is granting you your wish. Be thankful. Even though, it's pretty questionable why you would be so desperate since you're ..." he paused to turn his head around and gestured toward the house and the garden, "...actually pretty well-off, opposite of what I've seen on that night." Jungkook was still chuckling and it took all her might not to raise her hand and send him a slap across that cheek of his.

"You think I'm that desperate for your stupid wealth?" Chaeyoung spat and Jungkook continued to laugh, causing her anger to boil even further.

"Yes," he said with his eyes crinkling.

"I hope you don't find anyone within this year so your name will be dropped off that will."

Jungkook's laughter was still in the air. "Why do you wish for that? Do you wish to marry me so badly that you hope I won't be able to find someone else?"

"Who the hell wants to marry you? Me? Not in a thousand years."

"After a thousand years? Maybe you'd want to, right?" he joked and Chaeyoung curled her hands into a fist.

"I would rather eat dirt for a lifetime."

Chaeyoung spun and stomped her feet as she left him behind. Did he really think she wanted his money so much? Her family's wealth would be more than enough for generations, but even so, she didn't even need her parents' money to buy what she wanted. Her earnings were more than enough for her. Heck, she didn't even need Jennie paying for her ticket to travel across the world. She could afford it herself just fine.

As she made her way into her house with Jungkook following her from behind, Chaeyoung mentally chastised herself for her actions earlier that had caused her to embarrass herself because no matter how much or how hard she was going to deny his assumptions of her, if she was in his place, she'd also think that Park Chaeyoung was too desperate for a share in the inheritance money even though that wasn't even her priority.

She didn't think she'd be able to face him anymore. And she couldn't stand his stupid teasing and stupid smirk and stupid laugh. She hoped this would be the very last night they'd have to deal with each other.