❝I married her just to keep the promise I'd made to you, my love.❞
A Forced Marriage AU in which Kim Taehyung, a young business tycoon is forced to marry the daughter of his father's friend against his own will.
➤ Kim Taehyung CEO AU
➤ Romance/Drama...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
It was around three hours past midday.
Jaein had already eaten a delicious lunch prepared by Layla. However, she couldn't fully relish its essence. All the unpleasant memories of her wedding ceremony lodged in her food pipe, choked her, and made her feel queasy. So the young woman had sat on a wingback chair facing the balcony, her thighs resting against one of its arms, and a ceramic plate filled with food perched between her chest and knees. The pink kimono robe she wore glided on her clean arms and legs as she stared mindlessly at the scenery before her, fingers encircling the fork poked into the noodles.
Even after an hour, she remained at the same spot. The half-eaten noodles were a cold heap on the plate, accompanied by an empty tumbler beside it. From behind a soufflé of clouds, the sun shone, not too strongly but bright enough to cast soft golds on her skin.
"Ms. Jaein, your stylists are here."
Jaein shifted her attention towards the doorstep. Layla stood there with a gracious smile. She stepped aside, allowing a couple of women to appear with cheerful faces. They were the ladies who'd doll her up for the evening, for her and Taehyung's wedding reception.
With a nod, she subtly beckoned them, and on cue, they entered the room.
For as long as she could remember, one of Jaein's favorite hobbies-apart from her guitar-had been doing makeup. What had started out as an innocent curiosity towards the cosmetics her mother would put on her face before she went out has now developed into a strong passion that could potentially sustain her future.
But today, she felt like doing nothing. Had it not been for her own non-consensual wedding, she'd have already done it all by herself.
Jaein was a mannequin in their hands. No thoughts, no opinions, no resistance. Just a stiff body to fit the mermaid gown. The carmine velvet kissing her curves was bedecked with tiny diamonds along the high neckline, the front, the waistline, and the long sleeves. It opened at the back with sparkling crystals dangling from its rhombus opening, revealing a smooth sheath of honey that was her skin.
When they were done, she was made to sit in front of a large mirror, where they did her makeup. She stared at her own reflection as if she were attempting to peer through the mirror into a different world where she'd never met the Kims.
"Ms. Jaein, Mr. Kim is waiting for you. If you're ready, shall we just...?"
"Uh yeah, sure," Jaein murmured as she looked away from her own reflection. She picked up her clutch purse, slipped into the pair of embellished silver stilettos, and strode out of the room, Layla trailing closely behind.
