Arranged || Dino ff

six

"Who am I getting married to?" She was just generally curious. There was four representatives sitting in front of her, it had to be one of them.

Xiang Tao nodded to them before explaining to her some back story "Well, you see, we've arranged this plan before you turned 20. And we agreed for it to happen only if... well, you became single." He glossed over the incident of that night, not wanting to remind her of her heartbreak "This was also a plan if you agreed to it, he agreed to it as well since that day. Sweet pea, I'd like you to meet your fiancée..."

One of the four men stood up from his chair, turning in her chair to see who it is, her heart pounding anxiously as she made eye contact with the one with the lightest hair and the most piercing eyes, who was staring back at her. His smile contrasted his tough looks and softened his demeanor, he then bowed deeply before making eye contact with her again.

"Lovely to meet you, Ms. Rose. My name is Lee Chan, one of the managers at Royal One-Seven." He held out his hand for a handshake. Slowly rising from her chair, she hesitated to take his hand in hers before she gives her usual strong grip, his being equally strong to hers.

Soon a contract and a marriage license was placed between the two. Chan let Jia Mei sign her name first on both documents before he did. Once he lifted the pen off the paper, the two documents were taken away to be processed and there was no going back.

"Alright, that officially settles it, you two are now engaged. We'll discuss wedding plans starting next week, thank you all for coming today." Xiang Tao thanks the four men as the meeting had been adjourned for the day.

Jia Mei let out a sigh and walked out of the conference room without saying a word. Chaewon shot up from her chair and went after her. Chaewon to catch up with her, notebook and pencil in hand, calling after her sister "Mei! Mei wait up!"

The older only stopped for a second so that Chaewon could actually catch up so they could walk together "You're not serious, are you?" She asks while trying to find any emotion in Jia Mei's eyes, only to find no indication of emotions and questioning her sister's motives further "Mei, you can't be serious. You shouldn't force yourself into this!"

"Chae," Jia Mei starts off in a quiet tone "As much as I don't want to do it, I've never been more serious about anything in my life."

"But why? Can't you settle for an alternative? Dad would've understood, he knows that you're still heartbroken after your breakup with Longwei!"

All Jia Mei did was let out a sigh before saying "That may be, but it's been two years now. I know that the family business is more important than my feelings."

Before Chaewon could argue further, they heard their father's voice calling from behind them "Wait, girls! Before you two leave!"

Turning around, Xiang Tao caught up to them with Chan following behind him "Mei, instead of going home, I recommend you spend the day getting to know your fiancée. Who knows? Maybe you'll like him." Xiang Tao gives a sheepish smile while Chan looked abashed.

Jia Mei rolled her eyes, but nodded in compliance anyway. Then Xiang Tao turned his attention to his other daughter "Oh, and Chae? Mr. Kwon Soonyoung wants to talk to you."

Surprised, Chaewon's eyes widen as Soonyoung approached her with an intimidating aura surrounding him.

"You... Wanted to talk to me, Mr.Kwon?" She asks politely, trying not to show her fear.

"Come with me," He says, gesturing her to follow him "I'd like to talk to you, alone."

Chaewon hesitates to follow him, but Soonyoung had already taken grasp of her hand and walked her away from them, making Jia Mei narrow her eyes at him.

What is he trying to do?

"Don't worry, I'm sure he doesn't mean any harm." Chan comments, not thinking much about it "He seems very clear about his intentions, though."

Jia Mei raised an eyebrow, suddenly getting a bad feeling in her stomach "Intentions? What are you implying?"

Before she could press further on the topic or even try and chase after them, her father interrupted by clearing his throat "You must be very hungry considering you haven't eaten yet, Chan. Mei, Why don't you show him your favourite fried chicken place? And..." He practically begs "Please, take time to get to know him at the very least."

Jia Mei heaves out a breathe as she looks over at Chan, giving him the elevator eyes before looking back to her father "Alright then. Come on, Chan. Let's go get lunch."

She walks into the elevator as he follows in behind her. Waving goodbye to her father, the doors close and left the two alone in the elevator. As the elevator slowly went down, nothing but silence was between them along with the occasional cough. As much as Chan wanted to say something and start a conversation with her, he was just so damn nervous around her.

It's the first time seeing your crush in two fucking years, Chan. Just say something!  Mustering up the courage, he speaks for less than two seconds before getting cut off by her.

"So, Ms. Rose-"

"Just call me by my first name. Jia Mei or Ji Min is fine, we are getting married after all, Chan."

"Right..." He trails off before trying again "Speaking of which, let's get to know each other as we go out. Let's not be strangers, ok?"

"I suppose, it's not like we have a choice anyway." Her words hit him like ice, but regardless, he wanted to get to know her.

Reaching the ground floor, the elevator doors finally open and they walk out of the building towards her car. Chan stood there, hoping he would be able to drive her, but she just went ahead and did her own thing. Opening the door to the drivers seat, she looked back at him.

"Why're you standing there? Get in." She demanded, startling him a little bit as he obeyed and got into the car. Soon she was driving downtown while music was playing on the stereo.

"So, tell me about yourself, Chan." Jia Mei breaks the silence first, she might as well start opening up to him.

"What do want to know?" He asks, a bit nervous about what she might ask.

"Anything you want to talk about. And you know you can stop being so formal, right? I'm younger than you by two years, so you can be as casual as you like."

"Alright then," He nods, taking a bit of weight off of his shoulders "You know about my career, so I guess I'll skip over that. But, uh..."

"Ok, I'll make it more easier for you. What did you do before Royal One-Seven?"

"I, uh..." Chan sighed trying to recall his past "I was only in high school before I was hired. Just studying and being a part time janitor to save up money for university. I was originally planning to become a healthcare aide. Then one day Seungcheol witnessed my negotiation skills I had with... someone, and saw me as useful. He then got our company's foremen, Wonwoo and Seokmin to train and show me everything about the company. Now I'm currently here as their youngest manager."

"I see." She then stopped the car and parked "We're here."

Exiting the car, Chan sees that she's parked outside a popular bar for party goers, it's also the Diamond Clan's favourite place to get drunk. Then again, it also gets really shady during later hours.

"A bar?" He asks aloud, her nodding as she stood next to him.

"Dad doesn't know my favourite place to eat is a bar, but I'm old enough to drink and food they have here tastes amazing. Come on." She smiles as she gestures him to follow her inside. Complying, he couldn't help but smile himself as he followed in behind her. He was entranced by her.

Damn, with that smile, I'll do anything for her.