Forced to be together for the sake of the public eye, Jung Wooyoung and Choi San have been wrapped up in a scheme to bring their parent's million dollar companies together. Wooyoung hates San, and San hates Wooyoung. The arranged relationship was on...
"It's not even that, Hwa–" Wooyoung sighs, shuffling into his bed deeper, pulling the covers closer. "He's actively trying to be nice, but he's never asked to buy my dinner before."
"Have you ever thought about the fact that he's just trying to make it work?"
"He claims to have hated me before all of this bullshit even started. I don't exactly know why, but he wasn't all that enthused to meet me in person once the documents had been signed."
"So, wait–" Seonghwa takes a breath, pausing momentarily. "You both hated one another before you even knew each other?"
"I mean. . . when you put it like that–"
"Can you just back up for a second? I think I'm confused. Start from the beginning."
"Okay, well, you know that our parent's companies hated one another. They were like sworn rivals at one point."
"Right. I remember you talking about that."
"So, when they tried to reach an agreement of sorts, my parents brought up an arranged marriage. It's been in our lineage for decades, and it's really all my family knows. I don't think any of my family, alive or dead, willingly chose their partner."
"That's severely fucked up, but go on."
"Trust me, I know it is." Wooyoung sighs, glancing to stare up at his ceiling, phone held to his ear. "I don't exactly know how they got them to agree, but that's how they paired us up. They offered San's hand for mine. Beomgyu was never mentioned in the deal, and I think it's because he's three years younger than I am. But this way, there was some sort of promise that in the near future, Jung Technologies could merge with their media company and become like this huge enterprise that would be worth an insane amount of money."
"Okay. So why does San hate you?"
"We've known about each other since we were kids. I've never asked him as to why, but when we first met, he was extremely cold and not willing to talk to me. We had to have our parents present in the room before we even thought about speaking to one another for the first two weeks."
"What changed?"
"That's why they forced us to live together. Not only does it look good for the press, but they thought it might help us bond better, to seem stronger so that the deal wouldn't fall through. But, I don't think it's helping much."
"Well, I know you guys have separate rooms and such. But have you ever tried just spending a small amount of time with him?"
"No." Wooyoung bites the inside of his cheek as he contemplates. "He's never been friendly to me before. We had the discussion about the expectations from one another in public, so that's why we're always holding hands, hugging and smiling at each other, but it all fades away when we come back here. He's never questioned the boundaries of our fake-relationship, but I think I'm starting to."
