Red Strings of Fate

Several days ago, Yuna spoke with Lanne, and they made plans to get together. Little does Yuna know just how important that day will be.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Skip back to the day of lunch with Lanne, Emily, and the guys.

 Yuna is out with her parents for lunch to discuss her upcoming marriage to the son of her dad's business partner. She is nervous as they wait for them to show up.

 She glances around the restaurant and notices several couples with the Red String of Fate connecting them. This makes her smile and somewhat eases her nervousness.

Yuna is unique because she can see the Red String of Fate. She has never told anyone about this for fear of being bullied or, in her parent's case, belittled.

With startled eyes, she sees Emily and Lanne across the restaurant; she looks at Emily and the dimpled man beside her. As their hands come into view, she sees it. The Red String! It's attached to their little fingers. She's even more shocked because Lanne has a red string, too! It is tied to the man on her left, who's trying to get her attention from the blonde man sitting on her right. Yuna giggles when the blonde turns his head where she can see his profile; She belongs to your friend, not you, Jimin.

Yuna knows Jimin from their days at Busan High School of Arts. They both studied contemporary dance and were top students in the Modern Dance Department. She sighed with regret at all that she lost when her parents told her about the arranged marriage they had planned for her. It broke Yuna's heart that they let her go so far in dance, never intending for her to go any further than to be a wife after graduation. When offers from entertainment companies started pouring in, that was when her parents let her know their plans for her life.

She recalls the day her parents destroyed her future for theirs.

"Mom, why? Why did you let me go to the School of Arts and follow my dream of dance when you were never going to let me finish chasing it?" Tears roll down your face as you look at your mom and then turn to look at your dad.

"Dad?" he sits silent, stoic. As he goes to speak, your mom breaks in.

"We let you have your dream, but it can't be your reality. We--" She is interrupted by your dad roughly clearing his throat, and she glares at him before continuing.

"I," she pauses for emphasis, "knew dance would take you nowhere. It is not a secure or financially stable job. I let you have your dream for a while because I knew your future was already planned, and we--" she is interrupted by your dad again as he loudly clears his throat.

She is frustrated with your dad and huffs, "You are to marry for the sake of your family, and that is all there is to it!"

Yuna was pulled from her past by familiar people walking toward their table. It's her contracted husband with his parents. She looked at his parents' hands; nothing. Then she looked at his; no red string connected him to her. He's destined for someone else.

 She looks at her parents' hands. She had never seen a red string, for theirs was a marriage of convenience, just like the one they planned for her.

As she watched them approach, J Hope passed their table on the way to the restroom. She gasped when she saw the red string on J Hope's little finger connect to hers!

Her gasp causes her parents to look at her. They look where she is and see her intended with his family coming nearer. They smile, thinking Yuna is happy to see him.

After Lanne left, Jimin looked around the restaurant and noticed Yuna. He was about to say hello when he saw her gasp as J Hope passed their table. His eyes shifted to J Hope, and he noticed the slightest pause in his step before continuing.

He watches the others join her table, and the young man takes her hand in his and places a kiss before sitting beside her. Jimin turns away and joins the conversation about fun things they plan to do at the beach.

Yuna caught Jimin looking her way, lowered her eyes, and raised them once again as her intended lifted her hand to kiss it before sitting beside her.

Lunch was insufferable. She wanted nothing else but to run. She only listened to the conversation half-heartedly, nodding here and there where it seemed expected, with a fake smile on her face. She didn't see why she should pay attention at all. She had no say in her life anymore. It was all planned. Even her wedding dress wasn't her choice.

When lunch arrived, her mother, who had been whispering with his mother, smiled up at the waiter. "Could you please take their lunches out to the patio?" It was more of a command than a question.

"Dear, you and Jiho enjoy your lunch on the patio. I'm sure there are things two love birds would love to talk about alone." Her smile is so saccharine. His mother encourages the idea.

"Jiho, walk Yuna out to the patio for lunch. We have important matters to discuss."

He takes her by the hand and follows the waiter outside. He leads them to a table secluded from those inside and partially from those walking by.

The waiter places their meals and turns to leave. Jiho sits and looks at her, still standing. "Well, aren't you going to sit down? I'm hungry." He places his cell phone on the table and starts eating without regard for Yuna.

Yuna sits but doesn't eat. She only pushes her food around on her plate. His phone lights for an incoming call. He puts his fork down and picks up his phone.

"Hi, baby. I'm just having lunch out with Mom and Dad."

Yuna is stunned and drops her fork. He doesn't even notice but continues his conversation.

"Of course, I will see you tonight. Yes, I love you too." He ends the call and puts the phone back on the table. He looks at her and smirks, "What? Did you think I love you?"

She feels like she needs to throw up, glad she hadn't bothered actually to eat anything. She sits there staring at him, speechless.

"Yuna, look, this between us is for our parents. I love my girlfriend, and she will still be my girlfriend even after we're married. We have to keep up appearances in front of our parents and sooner, hopefully, better than later, present them with a grandchild. But until then, you only have sex with me, is that clear? I won't have a bastard child as heir to my family's fortune."

"What about your girlfriend? What if she has your illegitimate child?"

He laughs, "She can't have children, and I don't want any. We are perfect for each other. I just need you to have my child to fulfill the contract between our families and secure my future fortune."

Yuna stands outraged, "I won't do it!"

He stands and glares at her, grabbing her face in his hands and squeezing. "You will get pregnant soon after we're married, or your family forfeits everything! Don't you know the stipulations of the marriage contract?" 

He smirked as he let go of her face. "I see you don't know." He laughed and sat back down. "Sit, Yuna."

 She refuses. "I said SIT!" He snarls at her, and she quickly sits.

"You have one year  from the date we get married to get pregnant with MY child, or your family forfeits everything to me."

"You?" Confused, she thought the contract was meant to benefit their parents.

"My parents are old, and I'm their heir. One never knows when they may have a life-threatening illness or have a horrible accident."

Yuna is terrified, thinking he plans on ending his parent's lives.

At this point, the waiter returned, asking if they needed anything else or wanted dessert.

They both refuse. As the waiter enters the restaurant again, both sets of parents come out smiling jovially.

Jiho harshly whispers, "Smile!" He presses his foot down on hers under the table until he sees her smile and then lifts his foot. "Good girl."

His mother, smiling sweetly, says, "It's time to go now. Did you enjoy your time together?"

"Yes, mother, we did. Thank you." He smiles at his mother and extends that smile to her parents and his father.

Yuna feels his foot pressing on hers again and quickly smiles, 'Yes, thank you so much.'

As they return inside, Yuna watches Jimin and his friends exit the building. She can still see the Red String of Fate tethered between her and J Hope.

If only. She wishes to herself.

Yuna's only spot of sunshine is the meeting she has next week with Lanne. But until then, desperation has to become action.



Bạn đang đọc truyện trên: AzTruyen.Top