Surreal feelings.

Back in high school, I knew that... Dohyeok wasn't interested in me at all. As the years go by I know that it's time I give him up... but I can't help my feelings...!

That was always the excuse Se-gye gave So-ae whenever her sister confronted her to go on a blind date and stop clinging to someone who had never, not even once acknowledged her feelings.

Se-gye stared at the ceiling, she was still groggy after her tuneless alarm had brought her out of another lucid dream. One where she was drowning herself in alcohol after she couldn't forget about Dohyeok and had to turn down the blind date So-ae had told her to give a shot.

Of course, no matter how hard she tried to push down her feelings, tried to hide them or give them up, they would still resurface, as if they weren't her own.

She could still imagine how choked up she felt back then, holding unto feelings she couldn't do anything about. So-ae kept ranting on and on about moving on, but that's easier said than done.

Unrequited love can be so painful. No one could really console her. You can't hold yourself...so you desperately hope that someone else will. That devastating and empty loneliness...

Se-gye probably couldn't exactly tell anyone about how she felt. Dohyeok wasn't dating anyone either, much less had someone he liked back then. But if he did, she could maybe vent out her frustration by blaming that person for her suffering and she wouldn't have to worry about saving face either.

Se-gye groaned, arching her arms upwards in an acute angle shape as she pressed her palms against her eyelids, taping them shut. Why was she remembering those annoying memories now?

"Se-gye, it's all in the past now, so snap out of it".

"I didn't know you talked to yourself when no one else is around".

Her head snapped forward at the tall, handsome man filling half of the doorway. The sun faintly cast a luminescent glow in the area he stood. He had such a beautiful pair of amber-coloured eyes, more intoxicating than fine wine. I blamed them as partly the reason I was in his house right now.

The flames dancing in them could hold any prey captive until it was too late and they were already betwixt its claws ready to get torn apart limb from limb.

Two weeks ago, I'd agreed to sign it only if I could add my own clause of a way I personally could rescind the contract. And that is... that if he should hurt me, physically, emotionally or socially, for example with some scandal that involves me. I can choose to pack my bags and leave right that very second.

He agreed to that almost immediately.

"Should our marriage be a real one or just based on the agreed terms stated on the contract?"

Se-gye tilted her head, what exactly was he implying with that question?

"A real marriage?"

Wait so he was serious? He's open to the suggestion of them living like an actual married couple? She blinked and glanced at him again. He was still smiling and totally unfazed by the unbelieving manner she had asked her question.

"I um...er."

She looked down and didn't know what to say. Almost everything inside her was telling her to say yes but something this easy is equally as suspicious. A sudden marriage contract. A sudden suggestion of a real marriage. Him picking her out of the dozen models, celebrities, and other female bigwigs that were more suited to be his life partner. And he's picking her? Out of all of them? Because of some fleeting crush she had on him in high school?

Se-gye's upper abdomen twisted at the lie she had been forcing herself to believe all this while. It would have been much easier for her to bluff out of the question if she'd known Dohyeok as a gregarious person who is usually given to practical jokes. But he wasn't, so she was pretty much stuck on either side.

"It's okay. I'm not going to mandate you to give an answer right away but..."

Dohyeok pressed his lips together and released them in a sigh.

"... I really want it to be a real one and at one time or another, I will ask you for an answer. I hope that by then you'll have made up your mind."

Se-gye tilted her head to the side while she recalled the memory. Why did his voice appear so pensive when he said those words? He had been looking at her with an indefinable expression. Se-gye's face fell, and she kept stirring. Her heart was trying to deceive her again, wasn't it? Deluding her to succumb to feelings that might not be reciprocated if acted upon.

"Se-gye?"

Dohyeok reached over and pulled her cheek, snapping her out of her daydream.

"Are you okay?"

Se-gye turned pink in an instant. The pinch was painful but she enjoyed the feel of his skin on hers, even if it wasn't exactly the most tender layer. She was so embarrassed by how much she'd exposed her emotions to him.

He noticed the displeasure on her face and could almost see her shrinking away. Maybe she had a tiny bit of feelings left for him. Maybe she was hoping they'd wear off. Oh, but he was sure that being in the same house would rekindle at least something other than hatred for him inside of her. If only she knew...

"I'm fine. Don't you have work this morning?"

She arched an eyebrow when he smiled at her question.

"I thought you'd see me out?"

"Oh, okay."

She stripped the covers over her and walked out of the room first, he followed slowly afterwards.

***

Se-gye checked on the online store and scowled while sipping her yoghurt. Unlike most people, she preferred the dairy product at room temperature and not frozen.

There weren't any others today.

Which only translates to: no need for her to go to the office today.

"So...what should I do today?"

She usually dropped by the warehouse every day but Dohyeok's penthouse was too far away and she was the laziest excuse for a driver. She actually preferred taking the bus or subway to driving herself anywhere.

Ding Dong!

"Dohyeok?"

Her voice echoed off the wall next to the door but there was no reply. She searched the door with designs pricey enough to pay her rent for the next few months but there wasn't a little camera for her to see the person ringing the doorbell.

She took a deep breath and opened the door. Like what are the odds of her having an argument with his stepmother or a judgemental mother who could disapprove of her? Pretty slim, right?

***

"Moreover, since I am married to Dohyeok what's wrong with me speaking up for him? Don't tell me a good wife is supposed to be a mindless, smiling decoration."

"How dare you!"

SLAP!