"aria! you're here, honey!" taehyung's mother approaches her with open arms, capturing her in a warm hug that aria returns and smiles at taehyung's father. the mother quickly pulls away, standing beside her husband, giving aria the time to greet her to-be father-in-law as well.

"hello, mr kim." she hushes out softly, bowing to him, which earns chuckles from the couple.

"no need to do that, aria. treat me like your father, okay?" the man smiles, patting her side, "and who's mr kim? you should start calling us mom and dad now."

the smile on aria's lips takes a lot of effort from her to keep it on, as she forces herself to nod, "thank you, dad." she says, glancing at taehyung who smiles at her, wrapping his arm around her shoulders.

"dad and i have to leave for work now. mom and jungkook- wait, where is he?" taehyung turns to his parents.

"in his room." the mother shakes her head, glancing between taehyung and aria as she talks about her younger son, "he came home late and must be tired. that's why he didn't wake up early today. otherwise he's the one to get up first." she chuckles, getting a small smile from aria, as if she didn't already know jungkook and all of his habits by heart.

"wake him up now." taehyung's father says, laughing and looks at aria, "jungkook is our spoiled boy. now you're the one who has to make sure he becomes a gentleman, yeah?" he jokes, making his wife and son laugh, whereas aria doesn't find it funny. in fact, she feels suffocated and anxious with the constant mentions of the obvious reality that she is going to be the daughter-in-law of this house.

"anyway," taehyung shakes his head, patting aria's back as he smiles down at her, "bye, we'll go now. have fun." he says, stroking the side of her head and aria gulps nervously, somehow getting herself to nod at his words. taehyung seems to read through her discomfort and gestures his parents that he'd like to talk to the girl for a moment.

when he takes her hand, leading her to the side and his parents, like good people, leave them alone, aria grows more self conscious, worried that she did something unpleasant. "i'm sorry, i'm just-"

"hey, it's okay." taehyung cups her face, "what's wrong?"

"huh?" she blinks a few times, staring up at taehyung.

"are you okay?" he asks, getting a quick nod from aria. "ari, it's alright if you're nervous. that's normal. it's still your first time here, that too alone. so, i understand." he strokes her hair gently out of her face, tugging a strand behind her ear and smiles fondly, "you don't have to do anything if you're not comfortable, alright? just let me know."

can she tell him that this marriage makes her uncomfortable? fighting back the tears, aria smiles with gratitude like she has been told by her mother— to always be thankful to her husband. taehyung steps forward to give her a hug, which aria never protests although her eyes close in discomfort and wait patiently for him to let go of her. his hands feel so foreign around her nothing like what her boyfriend— well, ex-boyfriend now, felt.

"call me if there's anything that bothers you, okay? i can't really say anything about mom, but jungkook will look after you. i'll tell him to take care of things here." he assures her.

"no no, it's okay." she shakes her head quickly, "i'm okay, taehyung. i'll manage."

"that's good." he smiles, finally stepping away and waves at her as he calls for his father and head out of the mansion, leaving aria all alone with the mother and well, jungkook who is locked in his room.

"come, let's go i have a lot of things to show you." the mother smiles excitedly, taking aria with her to one of the rooms nearby. there are hangers in line with beautiful dresses, jewellery boxes and accessories arranged on the table and beautiful hand bags on one side of the couch. "all this is for you. you can see all of them and let me know if we need to change some things." she says, making aria sit down on the bed and takes the place beside her, eagerly picking up the nearest box of diamond necklace for her.

"this will look so beautiful on you, aria. i'm so happy taehyung is going to marry you." she gushes, taking the necklace out and puts it around aria's neck, "your parents have really raised a princess. you're undeniably beautiful."

of course. she has spent all of her life keeping her face spotless and her body in shape. even took extra care like massages once a week, steam and even hormonal therapies sometimes for a healthy, glowing skin. for aria, her beauty is what defines her, the way she looks, and the need to maintain a good image of herself and her family in the eyes of the people watching her, has been the top priority for as long as she can remember. she doesn't even know what kind of reaction she'd have if ever someone told her she didn't look pretty.

"mom?" it's jungkook's voice, deep and raspy as an indicator that he just woke up. aria prepares herself to meet him again after last night. in complete contrast to aria's nervousness, her mother-in-law is thrilled about every other thing.

she stands up quickly, glancing towards the door and replies to her son, "yes? come here." she calls, "see, who's here today."

aria forces up a small smile, which however drops quickly on seeing jungkook entering the room. his hair is messy, wearing a loose pair of joggers and nothing on his upper body. his eyes look a bit puffy, not too much but enough for aria to know that he cried. she lets out a shaky breath, hands curling on her sides to keep herself together and not go crashing in his arms. he broke up with her for a reason.

"don't you think you should put on some clothes?" his mother asks him, nearing him and pats his cheek gently, "my poor boy looks so tired. go and freshen up, i'll tell the staff to get your breakfast ready."

jungkook hums, glancing at aria and licks his lips a bit nervous with the situation, especially when he catches her turning away to get rid of the tears, before facing him and his mother with a smile. "hello, jungkook-ssi." she says first. even though her voice is soft and polite, it feels like a slap on his face after what he has done. "it's nice to meet you. your bro—" she clears her throat, "taehyung told me a lot about you."

jungkook finds himself staring at her, unable to form words for he has no idea what to say. can he just hug her once? maybe tell her that he still loves her? or should he just give a simple reply to what she just said? it's too hard to decide, so he just ends up nodding slowly, turning around in his heels and gestures his hand outside while muttering to his mother, "i'll wash up..." with that he leaves the room as fast as he can.

"i'm sorry, i guess he's just tired from yesterday." his mother tells aria, "he usually isn't like that. he must be stressed about something."

"yeah..." aria nods in understatement, sparing one last glance towards the door as her mother-in-law draws her attantion back towards the pretty dresses and jewelleries.

as a few minutes pass and aria can't bring herself to focus on the job, she starts agreeing with whatever the older woman had to say. this way they got done pretty fast and now mrs kim is taking aria to the kitchen, where jungkook is sitting with a bowl of cereals in front of him. but he's not eating, instead he's busy on his phone.

"are you eating?" mrs kim asks, getting a hum from jungkook as he puts his phone down.

"hyung's asking if you're done with whatever you had to do." he says.

"oh, yeah we're done. my daughter-in-law is so beautiful that everything suits her the best." mrs kim beams, as though she's proud of her choice. both the gifts and the girl.

jungkook falls silent at that, eyes automatically moving towards his ex girlfriend to admire and acknowledge once again that his mother is not wrong. he has seen her from way closer and knows her body inside outside, better than anyone else, there's nothing hidden from him about aria. from the curves, to the hidden moles and the areas unexplored even by her, jungkook remembers them all by heart, with his eyes closed like it wasn't a different person but a part of himself. that's how much he loves her. and his mother thinks she can take the pride of being aria's admirer?

"coffee?" jungkook watches his mother asking the girl, and gesturing the cook to get to the job even before she replies. he engages himself with his own breakfast, stealing glances at aria out of habit every once in a while. it doesn't take long for him notice how she has touched her forehead at least three-four times, making him frown to himself, shaking his head as he assumes that aria must've been too mad to take the medicines that he left for her, and probably didn't take anything to help her with the headache in the end.

"mom?" jungkook says, holding his head and turns to his mother, "my head's hurting. can you give me a painkiller?"

"you're having a headache?" she sounds worried, going near the son and touches his forehead, gasping at his state, "my boy, you're burning! why didn't you tell me earlier?"

"no, i'm fine. just need a painkiller." he says, "can you tell me where's it?"

"i'll get it for you." she ruffles his hair lovingly and leaves. jungkook then looks at the two maids, telling them different jobs as well and rakes a hand through his hair, getting near aria.

"what-" she steps back instantly, pushing his hand away when he tries to feel her forehead, probably to check if she has a fever since she was in the cold water for a quite a while last night, and even after jungkook got her out, she was never really dressed. "what are you do-"

"did you take any medicine?" he asks.

"you don't have to pretend that you care." she mutters, pulling herself back and looks away, "and please don't touch me again. my husband wouldn't like it."

jungkook's left stunned with those words, making his heart clench with anger, frustration and jealousy, but he decides to keep quiet. his mother returns with a box of medicines, placing it on the counter and takes out a pack of painkillers, popping one tablet from it for her son. jungkook smiles at her, turning away to get some water and pretends to bump on aria, "sorry," he mumbles, slipping the tablet in her hand and just drinks the water, like he took the medicine.

"aria, your coffee." mrs kim says, gesturing towards the cup with steam rising above it as the maid places it in front of the girl and handed mrs kim's to her.

the girl glances at jungkook over her shoulder, making sure he's watching her dropping the tablet and stepping on it. she huffs at him, flipping her hair and smiles thankfully at mrs kim, taking the cup of coffee that's meant for her. "thank you, it's amazing."

before jungkook did anything, his phone rings on the table, displaying his brother's name and photo. aria stares at it for a moment, dragging her eyes upto jungkook's face as he answers the call, "yes, hyung?" aria remains shut and nervous, a part of her never believing that she's not messing things up. jungkook hums at whatever taehyung told him and gradually looks at aria, "yeah, everything's fine."

aria looks down, taking another forceful sip of the coffee, listening to jungkook very carefully, "don't worry, i'll drive her back." he says, making aria choke on her drink, turning to jungkook with wide eyes, helpless that she can't really protest right now. "of course, hyung. it's fine. yeah." with that he hangs up. "i'll take you back home. let me know whenever you guys are done."

"no, it's okay. i'll manage." aria says, "you don't have to-"

"hush." mrs kim interrupts, "jungkook will drive you back. he's at home today, so it's not problem. don't worry."

"but i can really manage, mom. he doesn't have to bother." she tries again, only to get an assuring look from the mother, who also gives a pat on her shoulder before gesturing jungkook that they can leave in a while.

"talk to aria, jungkook. accompany her and show her around. i'll be in my room now." mrs kim smiles at the two, walking away to the staircase. aria stares at her disappearing figure, letting out a deep breath and picks up her bag, leaving the coffee half as it is.

"i'll leave too." she mumbles, about to walk outside the kitchen, but jungkook stops her, making her sigh. "you don't have to do this, okay? i said i'll manage."

"hyung told me to drop you home." he states the obvious, "i'll grab my keys. wait here."

aria inhales deeply at that, turning to face him entirely and shoots him a glare, takung advantage of the fact that they're alone right now. she's tired of fighting back her tears since morning, "what are you trying to prove, jungkook? last night you wanted to ended things with me—"

"are you stupid?" jungkook hisses, his hand pressed against her mouth to keep it shut as he glares at her. keeping his voice low, he speaks, "i know i hurt you, but try to understand that you're not the only one hurting. none of this is easy for me, and fuck! it hasn't even started yet. do you know how many times i'm gonna die watching you with tae? how i feel when i hear my family talking about how lucky tae is that he's marrying you? you don't live inside my head, baby, or you'd know the way it's killing me every minute." he grits out, laden with anger and frustration that makes aria look down gradually, pulling herself out of his grip.

"i'm trying to get used to it. you should too." she mumbles, rubbing her eyes. the hand clutching on her bag and blinks a few times, "please don't touch me or do anything like this again."

"don't say that," jungkook hushes out, "you know i can't—"

"you're the one who let go of me, jungkook. you said it yourself, why can't you see it then? you brought us here... at this point... why're you playing dumb?"

"i can't do this..." tears drop from his eyes as he steps near her, holding her hands in his and lowers his head in shame, "i'm sorry, ari, but i love you. i'll never stop loving you-"

"i said don't touch me." she hisses, pushing him away, "all of you men are the same. i've seen guys like that... getting close whenever they want and then leaving like it's the easiest thing in the world. i can't fight anyone, jungkook... my family, your family, the people out there who are watching me, and especially you." she stares at jungkook past the layer of tears threatening to fall. jungkook looks down, his own tears rolling down his cheeks. she's about to say more, but stops for the fear that someone might hear them and they've already done enough drama here.

she pulls away from him, glancing over her shoulders as jungkook follows after her, picking up the keys of his car from the table near the living room and takes aria's hand, "let me take you home." he mumbles, leading her to his car and makes her sit on the passenger seat, quickly getting on the driver's and shuts the door. he turns to her, about to tell her something but aria interrupts him with her finger over his lips.

"don't." she whispers softly, glancing down at her lap, "i don't wanna fight with you, okay? i don't hate you right now, and i kinda understand you no matter how much i deny... but that has nothing to do with how i get to live my life." she looks up at him, letting out a dry chuckle and a few silent tears with it, "i haven't made a single decision in my life, jungkook. i never had opinion... what i wanted to wear, what games i wanted to play, who i wanted to be friends with, what i studied, where i went, if i even leave the house or not, what i eat, how much i eat, my skin care, my hair... whom i marry..." she trails off, clutching the leather seat so tight that her newly manicured nails seem to break. "i went to college for a degree, which was my father's decision because people don't want a girl who isn't educated. i met you and we started dating because you fell for me first, you made the first moves. and last night... you broke up with me, jungkook. did you ask me what i wanted? if i could live without you or if i wanted to end this?"

jungkook looks down in guilt, being aware of what her parents did to her just like many others with their daughters, especially in the society they are a part of. aria pushes her hair back, fiddling with her hands as they rest on her lap, "you came in my life like a miracle, jungkook. whether you believe it or not, but after knowing you, a lot of things changed. i was talking more, smiling more, and being a human more rather than just a perfect doll for my future husband... you were magic for me, jungkook. with you i could do whatever i wanted without fearing anyone, i could eat as much as i wanted and sit however i wanted. you made me feel safe, when i used to be scared of my own father.

"you said you'll always be mine first, but y'know the truth is that, i will always be in love with you no matter where i go and who i'm with. you were the first man to really love and me show me what it feels like to be in love... i don't know about anything or anyone else in the world, but if i'm ever given a chance to hug someone when i need it the most, i'd go to you... you broke up with me last night, but i still wanna do this, jungkook. i'll wait for you for as long as you want, i'll support you through everything, i don't even care if we stay here or somewhere really far away. i'd be okay as long as you're with me."

jungkook stares at her with a soft gaze, leaning closer to aria and pulls her in a kiss. it's slow and full of meanings, for jungkook can't help but let out tears, holding his entire world in his arms, "i love you." he breathes out close to her lips, kissing her again, "i love you, baby. let's run away."

aria looks at him with a subtle frown and he nods, "i can't live without you either. it's only been a night and i know i regret doing this. i want you and no one else. so, let's just go away from here..."

she gulps thickly, wiping her tears and asks, "where? what if our families find out? and what about taehyung?"

"fuck all of them. you just said you don't care about them if i stay with you. let's do it then. i swear i'm gonna keep you happy, and do whatever it takes to treat you like my princess." he promises, kissing her forehead. "i'll love you forever. just say yes..."

aria breaks into a smile, hugging him tightly and nods, "yes," she heaves out, chuckling in relief when jungkook nuzzles his face in the crook of her neck, "yes, yes, yes. i love you, jungkook. i love you so much."

jungkook smiles as well, bringing up her hand and kisses her knuckles, "i'll take you home right now. i need some time to think and prepare everything. but i'll try to make it within two-three days, okay?"

"yeah," she nods, "thank you, jungkook. i really don't wanna marry your brother, or anyone for that matter. i just want you."

"you have me, baby." he assures, "i'm all yours."

his words make her chuckle, pulling him in another kiss and giggle when he bites her lower lip gently, tucking her hair behind her ear, "i'm sorry for making you cry." he says in a soft voice, caressing her cheek with his thumb gently.

"it's okay, i'll plan my revenge." aria says, getting a look from jungkook as he lets out an amused chuckle. "yeah, why not? you said nobody can make me upset. now it's you, so we gotta do something about it right?"

"i'm sorry. i've been a terrible guy." he nods.

"yeah, and you deserve a punishment for that, don't you think?"

now that makes him chuckle, nodding his head as he stares at her, licking his lips, "do whatever you want." he breathes out.

"uhm right now?"

"why not? scared, are we?" he teases.

"you don't want your mom to see—"

"-me fucking you?" he whispers in her ear, caressing her waist as aria leans into his touch, "i wanted to laugh when she kept saying how beautiful you are. she hasn't even seen half of it."

"thank god she hasn't." aria giggles.

"yeah, thank god." jungkook laughs, pressing a kiss on top of her head, "i'm glad we're good now. if i ever do this again, feel free to hit me and make me realise that i only love you, okay?"

"okay," she nods. "but don't do this again."

"i won't." he bumps their foreheads together, before finally pulling away and puts on his seatbelt, gesturing aria to do the same. "okay, now let's go. i have a quite a lot of work to get done with."

"uh jungkook, you met jimin last night?" aria asks.

"oh, uhm yeah. i didn't feel going home and i was worried about you. he just met me on the way, and we ended up talking for a while." he admits, "how do you know?"

"he came over in the morning. we had breakfast together, that's when he told me that he met you at night and that you looked stressed." jungkook hums at that, nodding to confirm that it's all true.

"hey, listen. when you get home, i want you take the meds for your headache and fever if you feel down. then you should sleep for a while, okay?"

"okay, dad." she scrunches up her face, mocking at him for being extra caring.

"it's daddy, princess." he smirks and winks at her, making her cringe in her seat, and jungkook laughs.

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a/n:- vote and comment!✨