Tethered by Rivalry | Eunwoo

2

The rivalry had always been neatly confined to the classroom. But with the wedding date looming over both of you, it was starting to spill into every aspect of your lives. Soon, you’d have to face the inevitable—you needed to tell your circles about the upcoming marriage. It was a task that neither of you relished.

With focusing so much on the rivalry and dealing with a life under the roof together with Eunwoo, the need to tell your friends was something that had actually accidentally slipped off your mind and now, you were thinking of ways on how to tell them without giving out too much drama. With this thought in mind, you also wondered if Eunwoo had the chance to tell his friends about the arranged marriage and upcoming wedding.

“Have you told your friends yet?” you asked him one evening, breaking the silence during one of your rare interactions at home. You hated that you even had to bring it up, but it was needed.

Eunwoo looked up from his laptop, probably working on some marketing strategy that didn’t interest you. “Not yet. I figured we’d do it at the same time. Keep things… efficient.”

Efficient. That was such an Eunwoo thing to say.

“Right,” you muttered. The idea of telling your friends, people who had seen your rivalry with Eunwoo play out for years, was daunting. How would you even begin to explain that the person you spent half your university life trying to outshine would soon be your husband?

Eunwoo leaned back in his chair, eyes narrowing slightly. “I assume you haven’t told anyone either. Or are you too focused on your thesis to handle something that basic?”

You clenched your jaw. “I’m capable of doing both, thank you.”

“Just checking,” he said, that infuriating smirk playing on his lips. He knew how to get under your skin without even trying.

The thought of the wedding—an event neither of you wanted but were forced to endure—hung over your head. It wasn’t just the two of you anymore. Your circles, your classmates, friends, and even professors… they would all know soon.

The last thing you wanted was to give them the satisfaction of seeing how tangled this academic rivalry had become. But deep down, you knew that no matter how much you tried to control the situation, there was no turning back now.

The wedding was coming. And both of you couldn't brush it off anymore.