VHope Fluffshots

Arranged

"I don't want to hear it, Hoseok! You will be married off to the Kims' son and that's final!" 

Hoseok was beyond frustrated at this point. He remembered the first time he was informed of the arrangement. The Kims had come over for a business dinner when he was sixteen and their son was fourteen. He'd been zoned out during the majority of the meal, uninterested in his family's business with the Kims, until his mother suggested a marriage between the two sons. 

Two weeks prior to that dinner, Hoseok announced that he preferred men over women. Hearing his mother pawn him off like some sort of bargaining chip to the Kims' son hurt him beyond compare; the Kims didn't have a daughter, so they took this as an opportunity to combine their families' riches? Does the Kims' son even like men? 

Now, at twenty-six years old, Hoseok was going to officially meet his fiancé for the very first time. When the boy was fourteen, he was meek and scrawny, unwilling to look at or talk to anyone. During all the time that's passed, maybe he changed. 

At the moment, Hoseok rolled his eyes and glared at his mother. "I don't want to marry him. That family is cold and cruel and they don't know how to love; they've probably neglected that child so much that he turned out the same way," he snapped, minding the tailor measuring his proportions for his wedding attire. 

The wedding was going to be more traditional; ancient ceremonial garb was to replace modern suits and jackets. Hoseok didn't mind, since traditional clothing was better than those stiff suits he always had to wear. 

"Hoseok," his father warned, though he was not thrilled about the engagement, either. He was just as powerless as his son in this situation; his darling wife that he was forced to marry was the matriarch and business owner. Mr Jung was but a trophy husband for her to flaunt around, though he eventually grew to love her. 

Mrs Jung stormed out of the fitting area, the door slamming shut behind her. Now that she was gone, Mr Jung sighed. "Hoseokie, I wish I could stop this, too, but you know I can't. If I had it my way, you'd marry for love."

Hoseok dropped his head, nodding once in understanding. He held no grudge towards his darling father, who always resembled a kicked puppy in Hoseok's eyes. Like father, like son, he thought, staring at his father. They were both pawns in the chess game of financial success and elitism. 

"Just...be nice when you see him tonight, okay?" Mr Jung asked, giving his son an encouraging smile. 

Hoseok smiled back, nodding once again. "I will."

-------

"He's a pathetic worm of a man, treated like a lapdog all these years," Mr Kim snarled, eyes on the road as he drove his family towards the Jung estate. "I'm glad his wife has control; she's got a backbone. Remember, Taehyung, to be an important leader, you must have a strong backbone. Jung Dohyun has the backbone of a jellyfish."

Taehyung rolled his eyes from the back seat of the car. "I don't understand why you must undermine Mr Jung. He was arranged for Mrs Jung, just like Mom was arranged for you. But what you and Mrs Jung both don't understand is respect for what you're given; you both treat them like trophies instead of human beings." 

If anyone hated Mr Kim more than his own wife, it would be his own son. He held nothing but discontent and dejection towards the man that commandeered his entire life, as well as his wife's. Kim Miyeon unfortunately passed away a few months before Taehyung's sixteenth birthday, leaving her son to her husband's torment. 

He clutched the locket she gave him tight in his fist, closing his eyes in a quiet plea for his mother to protect him from his vile father. 

Finally, the two arrived at the Jung estate, parking in the driveway designated for guests; it was one of those roundabout driveways that many large estates had, only branching off to the garage, where the homeowners parked their cars.