boomerang

Chapter 4

Jeon Jungkook.

This time, it was Chaeyoung's eyebrows that shot upwards. Where did 'V' come from? But then, she wouldn't bring that up since he could have the same question in his mind. Where did 'J' come from if she was born Park Chaeyoung?

Everyone finally got themselves seated to start the dinner after that brief and awkward introduction. It was probably one of the most awkward dinner that she had to attend as she was unable to look at the man in front of her without feeling the need to roll her eyes or throw something at him so he would feel at least a little humiliated, just as how he made her feel the night they had that stupid blind date.

Only the parents talked, asked questions to either of them but neither of them even talked or said a word to each other. Chaeyoung focused on eating when she wasn't required to answer or respond to anything the guests said or asked, and as much as she hated it, she was aware how he was doing just the same.

"Why don't you give Jungkook a tour of the house?" her mother said once they were done eating. Her mother probably noticed how quiet the two of them had been and wanted them to break the ice.

Chaeyoung turned to her mother slowly, hesitated for a moment before she quietly asked, "...why?"

Her mother gave her a questioning look. She could tell that her mother's eyes were telling her the exact words 'just go' without her actually saying it.

"Maybe the two of you will talk when you're alone," Mrs. Jeon said with a soft laugh before she nudged him with her elbow gently and whispered something.

Chaeyoung could hear him exhaling through his nostrils before he stood up. "Would you like to join me for a walk?" he asked. If Chaeyoung wasn't looking at how uninterested he looked, she would have thought that it was a genuine invitation.

No, she didn't want to join him for a walk, or show him around the house. Why would she have to show him around her house? Wasn't he just a candidate to be her husband? And she was sure that she was only a candidate too in their point-of-view. What was the need to give him a tour of the house that he wouldn't be visiting the second time?

Despite all the questions running in her head, Chaeyoung stood up as she forced a smile on her face. She didn't want to make a scene. Especially not in front of his parents. They seemed sweet and kind, at least. Too bad their son was a douche.

Chaeyoung could hear the giggles of their mothers as they commented how she and Jungkook were cute when they avoided walking side by side.

It was a very quiet walk between two people who muted themselves. But the silence was broken the moment they were completely out of sight as he followed her into the garden.

"So..." he began as he walked behind her. "Where did 'J' come from?"

She changed her mind. She should bring up that similar question she had in her mind earlier. "Where did 'V' come from?"

"I asked you first, J."

"Doesn't mean I have to answer first, V." She stopped walking and turned around, crossing her arms over her chest. "Weren't you the first one who introduced yourself with a letter? I only went along with it."

Jungkook pushed both hands into the pockets of his black dress pants. He seemed to be observing her for a couple moments.

"Let me be frank with you," he said calmly. "In case you're not aware of it, our parents made an agreement to help each other out in their businesses with a condition that we should get married."

Chaeyoung was not aware of that plan, but she was not at all surprised. She even had the suspicion that every arranged marriage in their family was first and foremost, for business purposes. But she was convinced that while it might have started as a relationship built for the purpose of business, it might develop into something deeper than that, something beyond just business.