boomerang

Chapter 6

"So marry me."

Chaeyoung stared at him for a few moments. His eyes were staring into her softly, almost like pleading for her to just accept it already. The way he said it, though, made him sound uninterested and bored. It did sound nothing but a business-tone, which would be accurate since this was all going to be business, no feeling was necessary. Their relationship was supposed to be exactly that anyway.

"Wow, that's so romantic," she deadpanned with a roll of her eyes to which Jungkook gave no response.

Chaeyoung read the agreement thoroughly this time. There was nothing suspicious, nothing seemed to be hidden to trick her. It was exactly as he said. Yet, it just felt like the most natural thing for her to do to vex him when she passed him back the device.

"You call this a discussion?" Chaeyoung stared at him in disbelief. "This isn't a discussion. You're basically forcing me to sign this agreement."

Jungkook threw his hands in the air. "Who is forcing you? When did I force you?"

"Oh?" she smirked. "Well, if I'm not forced to sign, then I won't be signing it."

"What exactly do you want?" he sighed. "You said you want a 5:5, I'm giving you that."

"Well, at the end of the day, it is my choice to make," she shrugged. "After all, it's not as if my life depends on this. Tell me, what do I have to lose if I don't sign it?"

"For starters, you'll lose the chance to be the wife of Jeon Jungkook, the most eligible bachelor—"

"Then I'll be happy to lose such a chance."

"Ms. Park—"

For a split second, she missed the way her first name came out of his mouth. Chaeyoung glanced at him again and when their eyes met, she quickly averted her attention to the device in his hand. "You expect me to believe that you'll hand me half of the inheritance with that digital agreement, Mr. Jeon?"

"I am showing you the agreement before I print it out, so you can make changes if need be," Jungkook explained. "Once you're satisfied, I will print it out and we'll both sign and own the physical copies. Have you read through everything?"

"I have," she nodded. "But Mr. Jeon, my offer comes only once and you've rejected it that night. So..." She trailed off, showing him a slow shrug before she opened the door. She turned to him once more. "I hope you find someone more suitable, Mr. Jeon." A genuine smile briefly appeared on her face before leaving his car.

*

Seven days.

Seven days before his name would be dropped out of the will. Jungkook tossed his phone onto his desk right after the phone call he had with his mother. She had been in distress ever since Jungkook mentioned that he refused to marry Chaeyoung and would find someone else instead.

His mother had obviously fallen for Chaeyoung, despite having small interactions with her during their dinner, which had impressed him. Turned out that without his knowledge, his mother had been visiting the Parks quite often since the dinner and it wasn't until recently when she started talking about Chaeyoung, all nice things about her and so far, his mother had yet shown any signs of doubts in her choice for Chaeyoung. It was not an exaggeration to say that his mother had made it her routine to sing praises to Chaeyoung at every conversation he had with his mother.

Which was weird, with the way Chaeyoung had treated him.

How could she be so nice to his mother and intolerable toward him?

He'd done what she wanted. He was willing to split the inheritance with her. Wasn't that what she wished to get if they had to marry? Jungkook sunk into his seat, his fingers massaging his temples.