Arranged in love {jeongsa}

chapter 1 - bound by buisness

Yoo Jeongyeon’s life had always been governed by rules—rules about success, about honor, about fulfilling the obligations of his powerful family. As the eldest son of Yoo Enterprises, he understood that his life was intertwined with his family’s legacy. His father had raised him for this, sculpted him into the perfect successor with expectations higher than the tallest skyscrapers their company built. But nothing in his carefully organized life had prepared him for this.

“Jeongyeon, you will be marrying Minatozaki Sana.”

The words hung in the air, sharp and unyielding as cold steel. For a moment, Jeongyeon simply stared at his father, convinced he’d misheard. But the look in Mr. Yoo’s eyes told him everything he needed to know—his father was deadly serious.

“Excuse me?” Jeongyeon managed, his voice steady but laced with a flicker of disbelief. His mind whirled, the weight of his father’s words settling heavily on his shoulders.

Mr. Yoo, seated in his grand leather chair behind an imposing mahogany desk, regarded his son with a steely gaze, eyes unwavering. “You heard me. This marriage is non-negotiable. Minatozaki Group has proposed a merger that could transform both our empires, and the union of our families is the binding factor.”

Jeongyeon’s chest tightened. Marriage? To a stranger? Of course, he knew of the Minatozaki family. His father had spoken highly of Minatozaki Group’s shrewd business dealings, and Jeongyeon was aware of their youngest daughter, Sana. From what he’d heard, she was the poised, reserved type—elusive, even. She rarely appeared in public, her name whispered only in the upper echelons of society, and rumors about her were sparse yet intriguing.

But he’d never seen her as anything more than an abstract figure, a name in his father’s network of powerful connections. Now, she was his future wife?

He swallowed, the words nearly sticking in his throat. “And if I refuse?”

“You won’t,” his father replied smoothly, as though he’d anticipated the question. “Because you understand what’s at stake. This isn’t just about you, Jeongyeon—it’s about the future of Yoo Enterprises. The future of our family. Turning down this arrangement could mean losing everything we’ve built.”

Jeongyeon clenched his fists, anger bubbling just below the surface. The room’s silence was thick, his father’s gaze pressing him down. He took a long, slow breath, willing himself to stay calm. He knew this was no ordinary request. His family’s empire was built on power moves and strategic alliances, and he’d watched his father orchestrate them his entire life. Declining now could mean jeopardizing everything his family had built. As much as he hated the idea, he couldn’t bring himself to be the one to break it all apart.

Just as he was processing the demand, his father rose from his desk, his movement a silent signal that the conversation was over. “The Minatozakis will expect us for dinner tonight at eight. You’ll meet Sana then.”

And with that, Mr. Yoo swept out of the room, leaving Jeongyeon to sit alone in the vast office. The silence that settled over him was deafening, the reality of his predicament sinking in. What had once been an office of ambition now felt like a prison, its walls closing in, suffocating him.

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The drive to the Minatozaki estate that evening was shrouded in an uncomfortable silence. Jeongyeon sat stiffly in the back seat of the family’s sleek black sedan, his mind racing as he replayed his father’s ultimatum over and over again. The word “marriage” kept echoing, becoming an inescapable refrain, louder and louder until he could almost feel it pressing against his skull.

He glanced out the window, watching the city lights blur past in streaks of white and yellow. Somewhere out there was his fiancée—a woman he’d never spoken to, never seen up close, yet now, she was meant to become his wife. He didn’t even know her voice, her laugh, her quirks and flaws. The idea felt absurd.