Chaebol Fate

THE HONEYMOON

We continued to put on an act during our honeymoon in case we were seen by anyone in the media. We held hands at the airport and the hotel. I continued to grow angry every time I found myself enjoying holding his hand.

Shortly after we arrived at the hotel, I changed into my bikini to head out to the beach and wrapped a sarong around my hips.

I noticed him staring at me in the reflection of the mirror as I was applying sunblock to my face and body. He thrust his tongue in his cheek as he scanned my body, and I saw his Adam's apple shift as he gulped. It felt so good to give him a taste of his own medicine.

"Jimin, would you do me a favor and get my back?" I asked sweetly. I was having a lot of fun watching him squirm.

"Uh, yeah," he blinked, then bounced up to help. But my evil teasing of him backfired. His soft hands on my skin as he applied the sunblock to my back made me tingle. Damn it. He finished and handed the bottle back to me. I hoped he hadn't caught on to the fact that I was flustered.

"Are you going to need help with sunblock, Jimin?"

"No. I plan to keep my t-shirt on. I wouldn't want to cause you to drool over the sight of my chocolate abs."

I chose to ignore his comment. "Well, I'm heading down to the beach. See you when you get there."

"Wait. Shouldn't we leave together? In case there are any spying eyes?"

"I guess you're right."

I waited, and we left the room together. Jimin promptly took my hand once we left our room.

"Do you always pick up habits this quickly?"

"What habits?"

"You took a hold of my hand as if it is second nature."

"I guess I'm a method actor," he laughed. It made me smile. He was proving himself to be quite cute. I figured this was the secret to his success with women. Handsome, sultry, sexy, charming, cute, sweet... none of those words on their own did him justice.

We found a couple of chairs with umbrellas and settled down, each of us choosing to read a book. Much to our surprise, we were both reading murder mysteries. I had already read the one he was reading, and in it, the husband was accused of killing his wife on their honeymoon.

"That's an interesting choice of reading material. Don't let that book give you any ideas," I joked.

"Don't give me a reason and you'll be just fine," he replied seriously. I didn't know him well enough to know if I should take him seriously. He was joking, right? Jimin didn't crack a smile or laugh to imply he was kidding. I opted to take him very seriously.

After an hour of reading and keeping to myself, the heat of the day had started to settle in.

"I'm going to go cool down in the water," I informed Jimin.

"Okay."

Okay? He wasn't being clingy. He was just going to hang back and keep reading his book. I kind of liked that.

As I waded into the cool waters, it felt freeing. Jimin wasn't glued to my side anymore. He and I had been forced together since our wedding the day before. I wandered further and further into the ocean, then dove down underwater to wet my hair. I popped up through the surface, closed my eyes, and laid back to float in the water. The waves caressed my skin as I bobbed aimlessly on my back. I felt my body being pulled further into the ocean, so I turned and swam closer to the shore. Once my feet touched the ground, I reveled in the squishing of the sand between my toes.

Maybe this wasn't so bad after all. Jimin had his life. I had mine. We had fulfilled our parents' wishes by marrying. It wouldn't be that hard to put on an act for the public, and do our own thing in private, would it? Besides, it's not like Jimin was a total jerk. He just liked sleeping around with attractive women. I would have probably been just like him had I been a man.