Arranged || Dino ff

eight

"Ok so," she started off while clasping her hands together "Starting this year, I will be the CEO of Rose Corporation without my dad's guidance and we're getting married at the end of this year."

Chan nodded, waiting for her to continue her sentence as she took her time to think about the events that had happened not even two hours ago.

"I'm sorry, it's taking me a second to process all of this. I know it's for the best if I agree to this marriage, even if it is loveless, but I also want to communicate how I feel about this, I hope you do too."

"I actually want to talk about this as well," Chan states "Why don't you go first?"

Nodding, Jia Mei clears her throat before starting off "As I've said already, this marriage may be loveless, and I can't predict how this will turn out. I also know you may have... 'needs' you may have to satisfy someday, and I'm not really about that kind of stuff. So as long as I know, you have my consent to have a mistress as we're married."

Chan pressed his lips together as she lowered her head and avoided eye contact, quite saddened that she's prepared for something so terrible, but it only proved how considerate she was. Then, without thinking, he placed a hand on top of hers, he then curled his fingers around her hand and started rubbing circular patterns with his thumb as he chuckled "You don't need to worry, Jia Mei. I'm not really... prioritizing that kind of thing right now, I'm already caught up in my work as is." He dryly chuckles to himself "I'm also aware you're still trying to recover from your previous heartbreak, and I don't want you to feel as if you're forced or trapped into this. At the very least, I want you to be comfortable and able to communicate with me. I want to be friends with you, and I'm not expecting nor forcing you to love me at all."

She sits there and ponders for a second, contemplating as she felt his hand on hers. It was comforting and warm, she felt the tension in her shoulders relax as she looked up at him, who was staring at her with a look of care.

"So will you please give it a try?" He asks "We can just be friends, and hopefully this partnership will go onto greater things in the future."

She nodded with a small smile, ok with the idea. However, another thought bothered her "What if my parents wants us to have a kid? I know mom especially will be urging us to give her a grandchild as soon as we're officially married, and my dad would eventually want an heir to the company."

"Mei, It's only the first day that we got 'engaged'. " He uses air quotes while using her nickname, which was strange. He sounded so casual as it rolled off his tongue so effortlessly as he kept talking "We'll discuss children when the time comes."

Nodding, they moved on from the conversation and began to dig in to the chicken, which pretty much blew Chan away.

"Wow," he exclaimed, "I've only had drinks here, I never knew the food was this good!"

"See? This is why I love coming here. Though it's hard to find a good time to come here with how busy it gets. Especially on weekend nights."

"You've been here on a weekend night?"

"Just once. Chae wanted to come here to experience clubbing when we turned 19, and the next day she had a terrible hangover. After that night, I have to remind her how drunk and reckless she was every time she thinks about going clubbing by herself."

"Ah I see."

They continued chatting and getting to know each other until they were done eating. After splitting the bill for their meal, Jia Mei packed the bottles into a paper bag and they left the bar. Heading back to the Rose Corporation building, they continued to chat a little more about business and upcoming meetings. Once they pulled up to the building entrance, she saw Soonyoung was with Chaewon, drinking coffee and laughing while walking side by side.

"What the-" Jia Mei was both confused and angered when her protective side began to seep through.

Noticing her rage, Chan spots what she's looking at and casually says "Oh, there he is."

"You said he had intentions earlier, correct?"

"Yeah, why?"

"What does he intend to do with Chaewon?"

Chan just shrugs "I'm not sure. Usually you can tell his intentions with other women he's asked out, but even I can't tell."

"Does he have a... history with the women he's asked out?"

"From what I've observed? First dates, a few more dates if he likes them. But over time he seems to get bored, so he doesn't always stick to plans and tends to cancel last minute or flake. A few of the clingy ones tend to make long posts on anonymous websites about how he broke their heart-"

That was enough information to get out of her car, Chan following Jia Mei's actions as she called after her sister "Park Chaewon."

Getting the attention of the two, Soonyoung suddenly tensed up seeing Jia Mei glaring daggers into him, meanwhile Chaewon was unaware as she ran up to greet her sister.

"Hi Mei!" She greets her as she ran up to give her a hug "Did you enjoy your lunch date with Mr. Lee?"

Glancing over at Chan for a quick second, Jia Mei smiles and nods "I did, actually. And I see you also enjoyed your date... With Mr. Kwon." The sweet tone in her voice drops as she narrows her eyes at Soonyoung, who looks away immediately.

"Ah, hahaha...." Chaewon chuckles nervously before clinging onto her arm like a koala and changing the subject "Didn't you say you had some extra paperwork at home? We should head back so you can get started on that."

Knowing Chaewon was right, Jia Mei agrees before saying goodbye to the two men before driving off with her sister. The car ride was nearly silent if not for the music playing on the stereo, and after a few minutes passed, Chaewon spoke up.

"It's not what you think, you know."

She only got silence in return from Jia Mei before she continued with her explanation "Mei, I'm being honest. Mr. Kwon just said I was interesting and wanted to get to know me, so he offered to go with him to get coffee."

"'Interesting'? 'Get to know you'?" Jia Mei emphasized "Chae, you know very well those are the universal compliments and stepping stones to seduce someone into your bed."

"And? It's not like he's going to go that far into trying, and I won't let him pass either. He'll probably just give up once he realizes you, mom, dad and Xander- heck, everyone at the company is watching over me. But all in all, I just want to be his friend."

Jia Mei rolled her eyes "Don't give me that fabricated excuse, I know damn well that you find him attractive. He's exactly like those ex-boyfriends you had in the past, and what did they all do? Break your heart!" She grips the wheel as the car swerves, focusing her attention back on the road "But... I know you're mature and capable enough to make decisions for yourself, I'm not in charge of what you do, but I just want to make sure that you're safe at all costs. Be careful, ok?"

"Yes mom." Chae teases as she giggles as they finally arrive home "Netflix marathon?" She asks as Jia Mei turns off the engine, Jia Mei's lips curl up into a smile.

"Hell yeah." She answers as they both get out of the car.

Paperwork can wait for now.

As soon as they open the front door and kick off their shoes, they change into more comfortable clothing. Chaewon runs out into the living room and flops onto the couch, turning on the TV while Jia Mei gets some snacks from the kitchen. Once finally agreeing what to watch and gathering snacks, they went on a two hour marathon.

Somewhere in the middle of the marathon, a kiss between the main couple happened that made Chaewon go crazy.

"AHHHHHHHH FINALLY." She screamed, smothering her face in a pillow while Jia Mei just stared at her with a smile.

She then pictured her last kiss, how she felt so safe and comfortable in Longwei's arms, how his warmth still lingered around her along with the feel of his lips. But then her mind wandered towards someone else...

She then began to wonder what it'd be like to kiss Chan.