𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐏𝐇𝐎𝐄𝐍𝐈𝐗

Molten

Thanks SM for being patient and supporting my fic<3

Happy reading!

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The sun shone warmly on the land, bathing the lawns in a clean green.

It had been five days since her wedding. Five days of her being a wife in the name only. Five days of Chaeyoung wracking her brain for whatever reason she could find for this sham of a marriage. And till now, she had found none. It frustrated her. Whatever evidence he had was sure locked up like a government secret. Maybe it was. She had absolutely no clue.

She hated him. But she had to admit he had surprised her. Since that party five days ago, she had hardly seen him at the house. He had been busy, working most of the time away from the mansion. Maybe he also had a mistress on the side, despite telling her he wouldn't cheat. Like she believed him. But that she didn't want to think about. She didn't want to think about why in hell should it bother her. But he had surprised her. He slept in his own room, worked out of the house during the day like she said, but always, always checked up on her when he came back, asking if she had been comfortable during the day, if there was anything she needed. She'd always retort with some sarcastic comment or the other and watch his face fall slightly, so lightly that she would miss it if she blinked, before he would shake his head and bid her a good night. She had the entire routine memorized now. And it had been five day. Jolly.

During the days, she had set up her own office in the room Raisa told her Jungkook had turned into a study for her. She had gushed on about how "Mister Jungkook" had seen to the renovations himself, wanting everything in place. And she had to admit she had been very impressed. The computers in the office were the latest models, all the equipment fresh and waiting for her to delve into it. She had actually squealed when she had seen it all, feeling immensely happy at all the new tech. That evening, she had thanked him, only barely curbing her enthusiasm, but told him that it didn't change anything. Jungkook had smiled slightly and nodded, going to his own room.

His own room was connected to hers by a door that she had locked. But that did not lock out the sounds that came from his room deep into the night. His groans and grunts of pain were an obvious indication of his restless sleep, his nightmares. And for the first time, Chaeyoung had understood that whatever Jungkook may have done to her, and however much she despised him, she didn't want him in that pain. It hurt her for some reason she did not want to look into. He was tortured, and given how long he had been in the brotherhood, how early he had come on, what all traumatizing things he had to have witnessed and perpetrated, her heart had ached a little for him. He may manipulate her into a sense of lull during the day, but at night, he was truly troubled.

These were the thoughts that had made Chaeyoung stay even more alert around him, her guard up the entire time. Her vulnerability could kill her this time. And she would not let him find a chink in her armor at any cost.

She sat lounging on the balcony under an umbrella, a tall glass of lemonade in her hand as she just looked out into the gardens. It was a beautiful house, she had to admit. It took her a few days to get acquainted, but once she did, she fell in love with it. Over the past days, she had become friendly with the staff, especially Raisa, who kept telling her small anecdotes about her own life in Russia, about the Jeons and Kangs, how she had served the family since the birth of Jungkook. She particularly like talking about him, about how good a man he was, how great a heart he had. Chaeyoung only just barely helped herself from snorting at that one. But she humored her. With the help of the older woman, she had arranged her office, then proceeded to set up the servers and the firewalls, even finishing a software for a client in two days. Her business, at least, worked well from here.