Berserk Tiger

ii. contract

"Seo-ah, are you serious?! Why would you marry a stranger?"

Seo-ah sighed, zipping up the second suitcase with ease. She hadn't had much to pack; most of the valuables had been sold or pawned, and only the necessities were afforded.

"L ook, Jinah. He's a stranger to you, but I already know him. I'm sorry I haven't introduced you two before, but I wanted to make sure you wouldn't be in harm's way if he turned out to be like Lee Geum. He's wealthy and agreed to help you with your schooling, and he's been nothing but nice and courteous to me. I could do a lot worse."

"But you don't even love him! If you're doing this for my sake, Seo-ah, I'm sure we can work something out-"

"I may not love him, Jinah, but he is a good man. I like him, and I'm sure I could love him one day."

"But what about him loving you," Jinah pointed out.

"Are your bags packed?" Seo-ah asked, brushing her question aside. She felt guilty for lying to Jinah, who'd been her closest friend and confidant for years, but there was no way she was going to tell her she was getting married to someone she'd known for an evening. It was bad enough pretending that they'd been secretly dating for some time.

Jinah deserved to go through school happily and without misplaced guilt for making her marry someone for his money.

Jinah sighed and dragged her suitcase of things over to stand beside the two Seo-ah had packed. Three suitcases between the two of them, for the whole apartment, was kind of sad.

Seo-ah shook her head, dispelling the thoughts, and curved her lips into a half-smile.

The glare of a sun reflecting off a windshield shone through the window, alerting her that her ride was there.

"Let's go, Jinah."

Seo-ah carried the suitcases out to the car, where Min Yoongi was standing.

"Min Yoongi, this is my dongsaeng, Kim Jinah. Jinah, this is my husband, Min Yoongi. I'm just going to drop the key off at the landlord's, and we can leave."

She returned to Yoongi shaking Jinah's hand solemnly, one side of his mouth tilted in a small smirk. "Of course, Miss Kim." He handed her into the passenger seat, turning to offer his hand to Seo-ah. He settled in beside her in the back seat and Hoseok took off.

They arrived at the villa in record time, and Seo-ah anxiously watched Jinah's reaction to their new home. She seemed impressed by her surroundings, but stayed close to Seo-ah's side.

Hoseok brought Jinah's suitcase to a room overlooking the gardens, with a cosy natural ambiance supplied by plants, clean lines, and the wall of windows.

"Feel free to make changes to the room as suits your taste," supplied Yoongi, casually leaning against the wall as the sisters whispered. "The remote on the table there controls the blinds, so don't worry, you do have privacy here."

Jinah bowed. "Thank you very much, Min Yoongi-ssi. I will be very comfortable here."

"Good. Seo-ah, Hoseok's brought your luggage in, if you want to unpack." He headed down the hall to the room at the opposite end, also overlooking the gardens. Seo-ah was definitely going to have fun digging in them in the summer.

She appreciated how Yoongi inferred that she'd been there before and knew where all the rooms were, helping her further the deception to her sister, who'd followed her along like a duckling.

The door swung open to another glass-walled room, still comfortable-looking like Jinah's, but done in darker tones. The floor-to-ceiling curtains were dark green and not pearl grey, the bedding was black and not white, and the furniture was varying shades of grey and black, with green accents dotted here and there.