"So marry me."

Chaeyoung stared at him for a few moments. His eyes were staring into her softly, almost like pleading for her to just accept it already. The way he said it, though, made him sound uninterested and bored. It did sound nothing but a business-tone, which would be accurate since this was all going to be business, no feeling was necessary. Their relationship was supposed to be exactly that anyway.

"Wow, that's so romantic," she deadpanned with a roll of her eyes to which Jungkook gave no response.

Chaeyoung read the agreement thoroughly this time. There was nothing suspicious, nothing seemed to be hidden to trick her. It was exactly as he said. Yet, it just felt like the most natural thing for her to do to vex him when she passed him back the device.

"You call this a discussion?" Chaeyoung stared at him in disbelief. "This isn't a discussion. You're basically forcing me to sign this agreement."

Jungkook threw his hands in the air. "Who is forcing you? When did I force you?"

"Oh?" she smirked. "Well, if I'm not forced to sign, then I won't be signing it."

"What exactly do you want?" he sighed. "You said you want a 5:5, I'm giving you that."

"Well, at the end of the day, it is my choice to make," she shrugged. "After all, it's not as if my life depends on this. Tell me, what do I have to lose if I don't sign it?"

"For starters, you'll lose the chance to be the wife of Jeon Jungkook, the most eligible bachelor—"

"Then I'll be happy to lose such a chance."

"Ms. Park—"

For a split second, she missed the way her first name came out of his mouth. Chaeyoung glanced at him again and when their eyes met, she quickly averted her attention to the device in his hand. "You expect me to believe that you'll hand me half of the inheritance with that digital agreement, Mr. Jeon?"

"I am showing you the agreement before I print it out, so you can make changes if need be," Jungkook explained. "Once you're satisfied, I will print it out and we'll both sign and own the physical copies. Have you read through everything?"

"I have," she nodded. "But Mr. Jeon, my offer comes only once and you've rejected it that night. So..." She trailed off, showing him a slow shrug before she opened the door. She turned to him once more. "I hope you find someone more suitable, Mr. Jeon." A genuine smile briefly appeared on her face before leaving his car.

*

Seven days.

Seven days before his name would be dropped out of the will. Jungkook tossed his phone onto his desk right after the phone call he had with his mother. She had been in distress ever since Jungkook mentioned that he refused to marry Chaeyoung and would find someone else instead.

His mother had obviously fallen for Chaeyoung, despite having small interactions with her during their dinner, which had impressed him. Turned out that without his knowledge, his mother had been visiting the Parks quite often since the dinner and it wasn't until recently when she started talking about Chaeyoung, all nice things about her and so far, his mother had yet shown any signs of doubts in her choice for Chaeyoung. It was not an exaggeration to say that his mother had made it her routine to sing praises to Chaeyoung at every conversation he had with his mother.

Which was weird, with the way Chaeyoung had treated him.

How could she be so nice to his mother and intolerable toward him?

He'd done what she wanted. He was willing to split the inheritance with her. Wasn't that what she wished to get if they had to marry? Jungkook sunk into his seat, his fingers massaging his temples.

Jimin and Taehyung offered some help that evening, booking a restaurant and inviting a bunch of interested women for Jungkook to 'interview'. At least 30 women went through the 1-minute interview, and according to Taehyung, there were at least 20 waiting to be interviewed before Jungkook decided that this was all pointless and none of them even intrigued him.

Jimin had to remind Jungkook that he wasn't looking for a romantic relationship, more like a business partner.

"What if they wanted more from me?" Jungkook argued.

"You mean, like an actual relationship?" Taehyung asked.

He wasn't thinking of that. "I meant the inheritance money."

"You were willing to split half of the money with Ms. Park," Jimin pointed out. "What's the difference with any of these candidates? You could just offer them the highest you'd be willing to share is half of it."

Chaeyoung.

Every time he thought of her, his mind hurt. She told him the lowest she'd go with was half of the inheritance money, and now that he was willing to give her that, she still refused to marry him. Did she want him to give her more than half? And what if he was willing to give her more? What if he was willing to give her everything? He was pretty convinced that she would still refuse him, and he would really run out of time. The more he thought of her, the more convinced he was that she was fooling around.

"You know, you have only two choices," Taehyung began. "Either you give any of the ladies out there a chance to have more than one minute to talk to you. Or, you can give up on securing your name on the will."

Jungkook knitted his brows at Taehyung. "Three choices."

"What, Ms. Park?" Jimin chuckled. "In case you forgot, she rejected your offer, so she's off the list."

Jungkook grumbled. As much as it was hard to admit, his friends were right. But even for a business partner, wouldn't it be better to communicate with someone he could hold a conversation with? A little voice in his brain reminded him that Park Chaeyoung didn't even want to have a normal conversation with him.

But that was the thing. She didn't want to, not that she couldn't. Or most importantly, not that he couldn't.

"Now hold on, I'm confused about one thing, though," Taehyung shifted forward on his seat, his eyes downcast for a few seconds before he looked straight toward Jungkook. "What makes you think she's still one of your options?"

Jungkook looked away and downed his drink in one go. Taehyung lifted one brow, waiting for an answer and he could feel Jimin's eyes on him too. Why was she still an option? He let out a frustrated sigh.

"My mom likes her," he answered calmly with closed eyes.

"And?"

His eyes opened and looked at Taehyung confusedly. "And what?"

"What else?" Taehyung prompted.

He laughed incredulously. "There's nothing else." When he caught the hint of smirk on Jimin's face, he rolled his eyes. "My mom can't stop talking about her. She nags at me every day for even trying to find someone else instead of Chaeyoung—"

"Oh, I didn't realize we're on a first name basis now," Jimin chuckled and threw him a knowing glance.

Jungkook stood up. He was done with his friends' teasing. That was the only reason why Chaeyoung was still an option for him to save himself from having his name dropped off the will. Why would there be another reason?

"Where are you going?" Jimin asked.

"Home."

"Whose home?" Jimin snickered. "Chaeyoung's home?"

Jungkook raised a middle finger as he walked, leaving his friends behind.

"What about all those ladies?" Taehyung asked.

"Deal with them. I wasn't the one who asked you to invite that many people."

"Wow, you're welcome, you know." Taehyung caught up to him and slung an arm around his shoulder. "It's impolite to send them away just like that, so I was thinking of buying them all drinks. Can I bill it all to you?"

"Whatever."

"I like rich friends," Taehyung said as if he wasn't rich himself. "Jimin, tonight's going to be your night."

*

Chaeyoung's whole face lit up when she saw the donuts that she'd been craving since last week were finally available. She had been a few seconds behind before all of it was sold out last week. As she was about to pick her favorites, a man stood in front of her.

"Hi."

Chaeyoung stood straight and clutched on the strap of her handbag upon realizing who it was. "Hi..." she responded, putting on a cautious smile, "Mr. Lee."

Mr. Lee was one of the senior employees at her workplace. The man displayed her a huge smile as he pushed forward a box of donuts in a plastic bag toward her. "Here, I got your favorites."

Chaeyoung stared at it for a moment, her hands stayed where they were.

"Take it, Ms. Park. You wanted to buy them last week, I saw. Unfortunately, it was sold out, no thanks to me," he laughed. "I guess you can say that we have the same taste?" he winked.

"Oh..." Chaeyoung ignored what he said at the end, losing her smile as soon as she saw that meaningful wink. "Well, that's fine. They still have it today, so..."

"No, I insist, Ms. Park," he grabbed her hand and made her take the donuts. Chaeyoung flinched when the man's hand lingered, his thumb brushing against the back of her hand a little too long. She quickly retracted her hand, thinking of just leaving the place as quickly as she could without causing a scene. When she looked up at him, he had a wolfish grin and that made her hair stand.

"So, what dress are you going to be wearing for the annual dinner this time?" Mr. Lee questioned. It was such a random question that it caught her off-guard. "But that's not quite important since I know you will look amazing in every dress. The most important thing is, who's going to be your plus one?"

Chaeyoung gritted her teeth. Heat emanated from her cheeks not from embarrassment for not having someone to attend the annual dinner with. She could feel her anger rising, because this was a question that Mr. Lee had asked her multiple times ever since there were rumors that every employee should bring a plus one for the annual dinner this year.

With a ring on his finger, he still had the guts to ask someone else to be his plus one instead of his own wife and that had irritated Chaeyoung.

"If you still have no one to attend the dinner with, we could—"

"I am sure it would be a great sight to see you and your wife attending the dinner together, Mr. Lee," she said, still trying to be polite.

Mr. Lee's smile faltered for a split second before he tried to take a step toward her. "Ms. Park—"

She shifted one of her feet backward.

"Is there any problem here?"

Chaeyoung whipped her head upon hearing that familiar voice. Jungkook came to stand right beside her and for some reason, relief washed over her. Mr. Lee turned his attention toward Jungkook, his eyes running up and down the younger man.

"No, there's no problem," Mr. Lee said with a frown. "Is there any problem?" he asked Jungkook in return, lifting an eyebrow with a cocky expression.

"Yes, there is," Jungkook nodded. "You're harassing my girlfriend."

Chaeyoung almost choked on her own spit, but she remained calm, trying not to show surprise at that statement. If this was the only way for her to get away from the perverted middle-aged man, she would play along.

"Girlfriend?" Mr. Lee laughed. "She is not anyone's girlfriend unless she said so. I've never seen her on a date before either. And excuse me, did you say 'harassing'? I harassed nobody."

Uncomfortable was now an understatement the moment she heard that he'd never seen her on a date before. Had he been following her? Stalking her? Chaeyoung shivered inwardly, thinking of being watched without her knowledge. If he had been doing that, she couldn't imagine to what extent he'd already gone.

Jungkook's expression remained unchanged as he stared down at Mr. Lee. "Does she look comfortable around you? That's enough to know that you're harassing her."

Mr. Lee scoffed and turned his attention back on her as if Jungkook didn't exist. "Anyway, Ms. Park, about the annual dinner—"

Without thinking twice, Chaeyoung slipped her hand into Jungkook's arm. She could feel him tensing for a second before he relaxed as she clutched onto his arm. "I'm going with my boyfriend, obviously."

Mr. Lee didn't seem convinced and looked quite upset at that statement. "The other day you said you're not going and I assume it's because no one's going with you."

"Because I have been busy," Jungkook answered. "But I have now rescheduled everything, so I'll be able to attend the dinner with my girlfriend." Jungkook took her hand off his right arm before passing it to his right hand to hold, tightly. "Let's go get lunch somewhere else."

Just before they walked away hand in hand, Jungkook snatched the bag of donuts from her other hand and placed it onto a table of another couple. "Here, it's a gift from that man," he said to the confused couple, gesturing toward Mr. Lee who was standing dumbfounded by the counter.

Jungkook didn't let go of her hand even when she wordlessly tried to slip her hand off his hold. He only did when she was finally seated in his car. Just as she thought he'd just ask her to sit there until Mr. Lee went away, the engine revved and Jungkook pulled the car out of the parking space, driving away to another place.

a/n:

+ jimin's 'like crazy' hit no.1 on billboard hot 100! (♥ω♥ ) ~♪