Arranged Marriage (Jackson Wang FF)

CHAPTER 3 THE PLANNING

ELLIE

I've made mental notes to find out more about him when I had time. But this week went fast again. I had several surgeries in my schedules and some scientific papers to finish. I had to give some lectures for the medical students as well. When I was home, I was pretty exhausted so I went straight to bed after finishing my work. I was walking to the OR when my phone buzzed.

[Don't forget tomorrow's meeting at 9. - Jackson-]

I read the text. Oh shoot. I almost forgot about it. I immediately put it in my schedule before I forgot about it again. That's kind of him to remind me, and write his name on the text as well. I haven't saved his number yet so I did it this time.

[Ok.] I replied. Wait. Should I put down my name as well? But he must've known that already since he texted me first. I decided it wasn't necessary and kept on going. I had back to back surgeries today so I could have a free day tomorrow.

That night, I was exhausted. I almost hit the bed when I remembered I was supposed to gather more information about Jackson. I went out of my bed and reached for my laptop again. I began searching about him. Seconds later I was amused of what I was seeing. He was truly famous. He was funny as well. I ended up watching his old videos back when he was in Korea and laughed until my stomach hurt. Maybe it wouldn't be that bad living with him.

JACKSON

Gee.. this girl was really cold-hearted. I was kind enough to remind her about our meeting tomorrow and she just replied with 'ok'. No 'thank you', nothing. Was she rude in reality? Or was she busy? I couldn't guess for sure since she had no emotion on her face. I could barely read her mind. I was thinking about tomorrow, should I continue with her plan? Or should I just declined the arrangement only to be dragged to another again soon? I looked at my watch, would Jinyoung still awake right now? I could use a friend tonight. I decided to call Jinyoung anyway.

"Hey man, whatsup?" I heard Jinyoung's voice.

"Hey man.. did I wake you up?" I asked.

"No, I was still heading home from my agency."
"Your manager is driving, right? You're not answering while driving, aren't you?"
"Yes, my manager is driving me. Now spill, why are you calling me? And what's with the accent? You forgot how to talk Korean already?" he started dissing my accent. It's been awhile since I talk in Korean.

"Don't insult my pronounciation! Anyway, it's gonna be a long talk bro.," then I started telling Jinyoung about the marriage arrangement and Ellie's proposal. "So, what do you think? Should I play along with her or should I decline it?"

"Hmm.. it's a tough one. I have to say that girl is pretty smart. Her proposal is quite interesting. She has lots of good points. She knew both of you would be busy so you won't be seeing each other most of the times, so it's safe to be in a marriage contract. Then the house arrangement and the account split are good ideas as well. She really calculated everything."

"So?"

"Hmmphh.. it's totally up to you, man. It's your life. After all, we're 30 already. We're supposed to have a family. My friends are gettting married one by one after they finished their military duty. Maybe I would too in a year or two if I could find someone. Why? Do you feel something's weird with the girl?"

"That's the problem. She looked totally normal. She's a surgeon so she's cold as ice. I can't read her face. Totally emotionless. This is totally business for her. I'm afraid I might turn into her if I ever get close to her. Do you think she's psychopathic?"

Jinyoung laughed when he heard my ridiculous question. "Doctors are usually emotionless man.. How can they work when they cry everytime their patients got hurt?"

"Oh yeah. You're right."

"You'll keep the marriage a secret right? So why not? I guess she just gave you the best solution. Once you get divorced, you'd probably be super successful that you don't have to work hard anymore. Then you can focus to find someone you really love. She's just giving you extra time so you can focus on yourself and your work for now."

I nodded even though Jinyoung couldn't see it. I started to think that it would be okay.

"But I'd be lying to my parents and her adoptive grandfather. I'm not a good liar. What if they found out about it because of me?"

"Just be busy. Avoid meeting them without her. Just discuss everything with her first. Don't even accept your parents' call without getting prepared first." Once again I nodded.

"Hmm.. ok..ok. That sounds good. Pheww.. thanks man. You really help me. Welcome back by the way.. Are you going to be busy with drama again?"

"We're just discussing my first comeback project, it'd be another drama again for now. Will you tell the others about this marriage arrangement?"

"I'll tell them when everything's settled." We talked more before I ended the call. It was pretty late and I didn't want to be late tomorrow.

The next morning, I told my manager and my bodyguard that I would be on my own. They shouldn't follow me as this was a personal matter, a date, I said. I picked her up at her apartment and went to my attorney's office. This time I could see her clearly. She had a nice figure, slim but not super skinny just like I've predicted. She decided to dress a bit formally today, maybe because we were going to the attorney. She even tied her hair into a low ponytail today. We exchanged greetings and then we rode in silence.

ELLIE

Today he decided to pick me up himself. I didn't see his bodyguard in sight. That was a relief. I couldn't imagine how I could live if I had to be shadowed by someone else 24/7. I greeted him and just kept silent afterward. I felt awkward somehow being alone with him in his car. I noticed his car was quite dark. Maybe because he was a celebrity, so his car had to be dark so no one could see who's driving inside.

"Wait, do you have any question about the plan before we meet the attorney?" I suddenly asked. He told me he would give it a thought, but he didn't say anything at all about it today.

"Oh.. I forgot to tell you. I think I'll go with your plan. But I have to warn you that I'm not a good liar, so you'd better be on your toes if I ever need help about anything regarding our fake marriage. If anyone wants to visit the home or meet us, it's us or nothing. I won't see them on my own. Especially during the first year. They would be super interested and might ask a lot of questions, so better not see them alone."

"Okay. That's a good point. You're right. We'd better plan everything before we meet them. Get our story aligned first," I agreed.

"What about job-related? Do I need to be with you or what?"

"No. The marriage is supposed to be secret, remember? So I won't even tell my colleague that I'm married. I won't even wear my wedding band. I'll tell the family that I'm afraid I might lose it because I have to take it off when I wash my hands before surgeries. You have to make sure your family understand about it. My family would accept my reason. So, I won't be coming with you as well. Even if you have out of town schedule or anything, you'd be on your own. As if you're not married. Are we crystal clear? No dinner meeting, no dinner party, no party whatsoever aside from family related."

"Clear."

We arrived at the attorney's office just when we have finished discussing the details. We went up to the office straight and met his attorney. Apparently the attorney was his regular, but he still asked him to sign another NDA regarding the marriage contract.