Anyone But Him | JJK ✔️ (Completed)

Chapter 10

"Oh, sorry to have surprised you, Chaewon. I was just thinking since your parents are having a divorce, you'd be going with one of them, right? Why not come with your father and me?" Lisa offered, giving me another smile of hers. Now that I knew what she was up to, the smile that had seemed good-natured now seemed like a simper to me.

I kept my feelings under check pretty well. "What do you mean, my father and you?" The tone of my voice gave out all of the emotions bubbling up inside me.

Lisa waved her hands in front of her, in a no gesture. "Please don't get the wrong idea of this, Chaewon. Your father is remarrying after his divorce. He's..." She didn't elaborate, but I already had a gist of what she was going to say.

"You're saying that my father is remarrying you, Ms. Miller?" I ventured, raising an eyebrow. Without waiting for her to acknowledge, I continued, "I don't mind that, so there's no need for you to act nervous."

Lisa let out a sigh of relief. "Thank you, my child."

Scratching my back because of itch, I asked Lisa, "Ms. Miller, can you remove the topmost layer of fabric at the back of the dress? It's making my skin itch badly."

I wasn't used to wearing princess gowns day and night, so the rough fabric whenever I wore dresses always grazed my skin like rocks. It felt like I was wearing sandpaper on me.

Lisa looked taken aback. "Oh, Chaewon, God forbid!" Then she seemed to realize I wasn't Christian like her, and corrected herself. "Sorry, I forgot I'm not talking to an American. But yes, I cannot possibly denude the dress. If you change your mind about buying this dress, how can I sell it again for good profit, when one part of it is already gone?" She sounded hopeful enough for me to change my mind, without saying, which I hope you do out loud.

I managed a smile and shook my head. "Nope, Ms. Miller. This dress suits me, and I'm going to get this." Lisa opened her mouth, probably to protest, but I cut her off, "Ms. Miller, I promise I won't make a refund or something. It's alright if you won't want to denude the fabric for me."

Lisa sighed, but nodded, somewhat unwillingly. "No, I can help to denude it. But shouldn't we show your father how lovely you are first?" she said with a small smile, opening the door of the stall.

***

My father looked me up and down, walking around me to take in all the details of the dress I'd chosen.

The moment Lisa and I emerged from the fitting room, his first expression was disgust. I didn't find any wrong in choosing this dress, but he seemed to think of it as an insult.

The dress I'd chosen was a leaf green one, with frills at the long sleeves. It consisted of a V-neck collar and the skit extended until the floor, which I didn't really like because I wasn't quite fond of revealing clothing, but it was the best choice among the other dresses (compared to the rest which were either pink or purple).

My father clucked his tongue dispprovingly. "Chaewon, what kind of dress is that? It's such an awful shade of green. Why would you even like it?"

Lisa nodded along, though I could tell she was watching me apprehensively in case I showed any signs of anger towards her, in which she'd probably stop agreeing with my father. "It's no use, Byeongcheol. I've tried to talk her out of it, but it seems she's made her decision."

"Chaewon, you insolent girl," my father chided. "You do know that Lisa is a fashion expert, eh? She will be able to give you advice better than mine, although I can say my fashion advice are still considerable." He shrugged matter-of-factly.

Lisa smiled in an ingratiating manner. "Byeongcheol, you are still debonair as always, you know? Chaewon-" She gestured towards my father. "-you should learn from him. Although he is middle-aged like me, his fashion sense is still quite orderly."