After meeting Jungkook's grandparents, the party started and she had no choice but to be glued to Jungkook, especially when it was about time to blow the candles. Her eyes slightly widened when Jungkook offered her a small piece of the cake in front of everyone. As the spoon hovered just an inch away from her mouth, Chaeyoung silently cursed him for putting her on the spot, and she had no other choice but to part her lips and accept the cake when she noticed his parents were watching her with big smiles.

She didn't forget to subtly shoot him a glare as she closed her lips around the spoon. When she realized that Jungkook's eyes weren't even on her eyes but locked at her mouth as she pulled her head back and licked the cream of her lips, she felt heat rise around her cheeks. She chastised herself for even overthinking that his action meant something.

Reminding herself that they were supposed to look like a couple, Chaeyoung gently took the spoon from his grasp, scooped a small piece of the cake but made sure that it was mostly the cream before she offered it to him with a forced smile.

Jungkook hesitated for a second, and she noticed how his eyes briefly glanced at the people watching them before he leaned forward to eat it off the spoon. His hand, though, was gently holding hers that was holding the spoon and his eyes were firmly on hers. Panicked, Chaeyoung forced herself to retract her hand as naturally and as calmly as she could. She cursed herself in her head when her hand actually shook, causing the cream to slightly smear right above his lips.

A small chuckle escaped her upon seeing the cream mustache on Jungkook, which caused everyone else to laugh. Her laughter subsided when she heard Jimin's ridiculous solution to that incident was that she should kiss it clean. She had to mentally thank Jungkook for immediately wiping it off with a tissue without sparing a glance toward her.

She had been doing well socializing with every stranger she met, immediately making friends with everyone she talked to despite how brief the conversation went. That soon felt a bit like pressure when she had been making eye-contact with her best friend, whom she felt like she owed an explanation to. After everyone basically was doing their own thing, she managed to slip out of the crowd and found an isolated spot to talk with Jennie.

"Fiancé?"

Chaeyoung released a long sigh. She hadn't even seated herself when Jennie shot her with that single-worded question.

"How am I only finding out that you're engaged today? At your fiancé's birthday party?"

"Look, it's very complicated, okay?" Chaeyoung took her bottom lip between her teeth. "Are you upset?"

"Yes, I am!" Jennie threw her hands in the air before realizing that they could attract attention and she slowly took a seat next to Chaeyoung. "Before you assume anything, no, I am not upset that you're engaged to my boyfriend's friend. I didn't even know who Jungkook was before this birthday party. I just—" Jennie groaned. "I can't believe you didn't tell me anything."

"Well... I didn't know how to tell you. Like I said, it's complicated."

"I can't believe I made you go on a blind date and even tried to be a cupid, matchmaking you with few men when you were already in a relationship," Jennie sighed. "No wonder you've been rejecting them all," she said in realization before turning to Chaeyoung and lightly slapped her arm. "You could've just told me!"

"What?" Chaeyoung breathed.

Jennie lowered her voice and leaned into her. "What if you got unlucky and Jungkook saw you going on a blind date that night?"

She opened her mouth to say something but Jennie cut her off before she could even begin.

"Oh my god. I cannot imagine ruining your relationship with your boyfriend," she shuddered in regret. "Please tell me you weren't already engaged by the time I asked you to replace me for that blind date. Chaeng, I'm so sorry!"

"Jennie... it's—"

"Why haven't you told me anything?" Jennie asked with genuine concern in her voice. "Why didn't you tell me that you were dating?"

"That's because..." Chaeyoung paused, thinking if she should just reveal to Jennie that the man she was engaged to was also the man who was supposed to be Jennie's blind date. Was it going to change anything? Briefly, she wondered if Jennie had gone on that date instead. Would Jennie be in her place right now?

No. No she wouldn't. Jungkook might have gone to that blind date, not knowing that Chaeyoung was replacing his real date. But Jungkook was also the man that her parents had agreed to marry her off to. She was also the woman that Jungkook's parents had chosen to become their daughter-in-law.

Whether she had replaced her friend or not, it wouldn't have changed the fact that Jungkook was going to be her fiancé, and Chaeyoung was unsure if it was supposed to make her feel upset or relieved.

"Earth to Chaeyoung," Jennie snapped fingers in front of her face. "Are you okay?"

Chaeyoung blinked her eyes, inhaled deeply and shook her head. "Sorry. Was I saying something?"

"Yeah, and you just suddenly froze and began a staring contest with your fiancé. What were you going to say?"

She tilted her head in confusion before she instinctively glanced to her front where Jungkook was already watching her. His friends were talking, and his focus seemed to be fixated on her instead, like he was worried that the secret of their agreement would be spilled to someone other than their family members.

"Um," Chaeyoung blinked away and turned back to Jennie. "Never mind. I forgot what I wanted to say."

"No, I don't accept a never mind," Jennie shook her head. "Why didn't you ever tell me that you already have a boyfriend? I wouldn't have asked you to go to that blind date, Chaeng. And I wouldn't have gone on cherry picking possible boyfriends for you if I knew you already got one."

"I'm sorry," she ducked her head, feeling slightly guilty even though she shouldn't have, since she really wasn't dating anyone when Jennie had asked for her help for the blind date and during the time her friend was eager to find her a boyfriend.

Jennie placed a hand on hers. "No, Chaeng. I'm sorry. I..." she sighed and looked regretful. "I should've known without you needing to tell me. I should've noticed."

"That's fine," she shrugged. "I just didn't know how to tell you. You wouldn't have known, it's kind of complicated," she repeated for the millionth time. She really wanted to talk about this to her friend, but it was not the right place to discuss. Perhaps, it wasn't the right time, too, to tell Jennie anything about the actual relationship she had with Jungkook. It seemed to be a private matter that only both families should know about.

Jennie casted a suspicious glance at Jungkook before she stood in front of Chaeyoung, completely blocking Jungkook's view of her. "Is it an abusive relationship? Is that why you never said no when I tried to get you a boyfriend? Is that a way for you to ask for help? Do you want out?"

Chaeyoung's brows dipped, and she almost laughed. Jennie could be so protective of her especially after Chaeyoung's last relationship that sort of ended badly. At times, she just found it to be so endearing. "Jennie, it's all fine," she chuckled softly, "I'm not in a toxic relationship. If I am, I wouldn't say 'yes' to him. Trust me." She swallowed and hoped that the little lie would be enough to reassure Jennie that she was indeed fine.

Jennie's last question, though, stuck in her mind for a while.

Do you want out?

Did she? Did she want out? She didn't care about the money, honestly. She wasn't in a position where she needed that money to ensure that she'd survive her life. The one and only reason she had signed the agreement was to save herself from Mr. Lee's constant unwanted affection.

But was the promise of protection worth the stay?

At the end of the night, when Jungkook wrapped his hand around hers as he guided her to see everyone before sending her home, Chaeyoung recalled the day he had pulled her away from the creepy man and the time he picked her up for lunch. Ever since those days, she hadn't been approached by Mr. Lee. Approaching her used to be Mr. Lee's routine, to the point that Chaeyoung had to work her brain to think of ways to slip away from him when he always showed up out of nowhere. She had run out of ideas on how or where to run to avoid Mr. Lee because it felt like he could be everywhere. Hard to believe in the beginning, but she had begun to see that with this engagement, she had been relieved of the pressure of interacting with Mr. Lee.

"Let's go," Jungkook said to her after she hugged his mom.

Chaeyoung looked at him and nodded.

Maybe she didn't want out yet.

*

Jungkook walked into his office with a huge frown, his mind cluttered with the issues at work. There was so much paperwork needed to be done, so many meetings that needed his presence and he wondered if it was all worth it to fight for his position in the company. He didn't remember the last time he had a vacation. Perhaps, he needed at least a week just to take his mind off everything and just enjoy life. What was his money for if he couldn't spend them to give himself a reward for working hard?

He stopped halfway to his desk when he noticed a strange object sitting calmly on it. What was a vase of flowers doing in his office? Jungkook rounded his desk slowly and stared at the flower with furrowed brows before his assistant and close friend Yugyeom came in with some files.

"Where is this from?" he asked.

Yugyeom looked at the flower and grinned. "Oh, some lady dropped it at the reception during lunch. Said it was for you."

Jungkook raised a brow. "Some lady?"

"Yeah," Yugyeom nodded. "Some tall, beautiful lady with blonde hair."

A certain tall, beautiful blonde lady surfaced in his mind. One whose hand felt so soft and delicate. "And does this lady have a name?"

"She didn't say," Yugyeom chuckled. "She just told the receptionist that this was for you and left."

He noticed a little note tied to the neck of the vase and he flipped it open.

Happy belated birthday, Mr. Jeon.

"Who do you think it was?" Yugyeom asked curiously and tried to peek at the note, but Jungkook immediately closed it in his hand, taking it off the vase. "Ooh, we got a secret admirer, huh?"

"Go back to work."

"Yes, sir," Yugyeom saluted and left his office laughing.

Jungkook took a seat and fiddled with the note between his fingers as he read it again and again. He placed it flat on his desk, finger tapping it a few times, his eyes scanning the handwritten note, admiring the handwriting for a moment before he reached for his phone and dialed a number.

After three rings, the call was answered with a soft 'hello'.

"What's this flower for?" he asked straight to the point.

Chaeyoung laughed without humor on the other line and Jungkook frowned when he realized his brain was replaying that laughter of hers more than he would like to admit. Wasn't laughter supposed to sound beautiful only when they genuinely laughed as a response of humor or amusement?

"I actually left a little note there at the most obvious place, wasn't hidden at all."

"I saw the note," he said.

Chaeyoung was silent for a moment. "Well, then, in case you can't read, the note says, 'happy belated birthday'."

He was glad that this conversation between them was only on the phone, or he would burn himself alive if she'd just seen the way a smile played at the corners of his lips, but damn, she was annoying when she wanted to.

"You didn't have to." Trying to sound gruff in his attempt to turn this back into the normal way they would interact.

"You wouldn't let me get you a gift during your birthday and I had to walk around there thinking if anyone wondered why Mr. Jeon's fiancée had nothing to give him," she said in a complaining tone.

Once again, Jungkook wanted to freeze the muscles on his face because why the hell was this woman complaining about something that he thought wasn't really important, making him smile?

"No one actually cared, Chaeyoung." Jungkook held himself back from repeating what he told her that night, that her presence alone was a gift, which was actually true. If she hadn't been there with him, he knew that it would be difficult to convince his parents that he had indeed proposed. They wouldn't have believed him if he had simply told them about it. "Why do you care what people think?"

"Because unlike you, I care about first impressions."

"If you care so much about first impressions, why did I have a horrible first impression of you?"

"That's because—" Chaeyoung paused for a moment. "That's only because you like to view me negatively."

Jungkook sighed, not knowing what else to say because apparently, he got himself a smartass to be his fiancée. "This is really unnecessary," he said, as flat as he could.

There was a pause, a long one this time. "Look, if you don't like it so much, you can just get rid of it."

"That's not—"

The line went dead and Jungkook felt like the biggest asshole. His finger hovered over her name, trying to call her again and tell her that he didn't mean it like that. But then what's new? Wasn't he already an asshole to her?

He sighed heavily, putting his phone aside. The little note from Chaeyoung came back in between his fingers, and before he realized it, he was already out of his office with his car key dangling in his hand as he slipped her note in his pocket.