The Marrying Type || Jensoo & Chaelisa

Chapter 19

When they awoke that next morning, the dread settled into their hearts yet again. Jisoo and Jennie left the hotel room quietly, allowing Chaeyoung and Lisa the sleep they needed – they had stayed up until the early hours of the morning talking, all four of them, and the other two had nowhere to be.

Jisoo had never been to a psychologist before. Jennie, on the other hand, had seen enough to last her two lifetimes. Nevertheless, neither of the two were any less terrified when they drove over to the courthouse and were led to a specific room, in front of which they were told to wait. Jisoo fiddled with the hem of her blazer, which had a few loose strings coming off of it, while Jennie tapped her fingers against her arm and counted the seconds in her head.

At precisely eleven o'clock, the door opened, and a young man emerged. He looked about Jisoo's and Jennie's age, with sleek black hair and dark, kindly eyes. He was wearing slacks and a light green sweater, which would have made him look like a mama's boy were it not for the fact that he completely owned whatever he was wearing.

He looked like a puppy, Jisoo thought, kind of in the same way as the doctor from Polis. Juwon or something, that was his name.

But then he looked at her and smiled tightly, and she felt her gut churning again as she recalled why she was there.

"Right this way, Miss Kim."

She briefly wondered how he knew which of the two was which, but pushed that thought away and out of her mind. She needed to focus.

"I'm Dr. Jongsuk Lee. Please, have a seat."

Jisoo sat down slowly, eyeing the man before her carefully. He couldn't have been any more than a few years older than her – if anything, he looked younger.

"Right, Miss Kim – or would you prefer Jisoo?"

Jisoo shrugged. "Jisoo's fine."

"You can call me Jongsuk, in the spirit of setting you at ease. Now, the purpose of this meeting is so that I can properly evaluate your own mental status as well as your relationship to the petitioner, Miss Kwon. You understand this, I am sure?"

"Yes, I do."

"Right, then let's get right to it. Why did you marry Miss Kwon?"

Jisoo gaped at the psychologist. "That's very straight-forward. I was expecting obscure ink blot tests and questions about my childhood traumas."

"We can discuss those if you'd like, but I would like to first get to know you a little better. So, please answer my question."

Jisoo sighed. "Honestly?"

Jongsuk smiled, and Jisoo suddenly felt slightly less tense. "Preferably, yes."

"I married her because I was certain I was falling in love with her."

"That's all?"

"Are you implying there should be more?"

"You breathed in at the end of your sentence. Seemed like you had something to add."

Jisoo peered at the man before her carefully. Though he may have had the looks of a puppy, she saw now that he was certainly intelligent – brilliant, even. "I...she was talking about her parents and how she was afraid they'd forcibly strip her of her rights, so I offered to marry her to ensure she had an out if that occurred."

The psychologist, however smart he may be, had not expected this, and Jisoo felt slightly satisfied when she saw the surprise in his eyes.

"And you're referring to the conservatorship that was granted to them in July?"