Actors

04. Commitments

In the two months that led to today, it had been hectic and exhausting. I did almost everything known to man in the world of entertainment. There was a lot of variety shows appearances, co-hosted a few programs, guest appearances in dramas, interviews, and more. I had people calling me up for projects again. It seemed things were slowly returning to normal for me.

The rumors about me had ceased— as if they never existed. Everything had settled down with photographs that popped up on the covers of magazines, news media coverage, fan sites, and even the newspapers which sold out quickly. Our faces were selling millions of magazines and newspapers. It was with those very pictures that I demonstrated my innocent of any extramarital affairs which was rumored because of a watch.

Jungkook kept his promise and sported the limited edition watch. He even wore it at a photo shoot saying it was one of his favorite watches. I doubt it's true. He had worn it almost everyday as if to make a statement, it was. He was making it known that he owned it and I was his. We went out on several occasions, the outings were more for show than anything. This wasn't time to make friends or amend anything; we barely talked about anything that wasn't related to the wedding or something correlated to it. He preferred to talk about the wedding, what would occur during the event, and what he expected of me as a husband. It's as if I didn't know, we'd gone over it a million times. I knew what I was supposed to do. Didn't I?

I had demonstrated to be a thoughtful and loving husband. We had shown it to the nation which seemed to love the whole affair. The audience ate every scene up. They loved the corny details, the times I had been more than my fair share of romantic. I had done more than the show asked of me. Every step I took was done meticulously to have everyone believing my inclination towards Jungkook. It had worked!

I can't believe we managed to survive the "Married for a week" program, which filmed us almost twenty-four hours a day for seven days. For the most part we filmed together to provide some good quality romanticism for our fans. Behind the scenes, we were trying to follow prior commitments. It had been hectic but manageable.

The most memorable event, according to a poll note, was managing to make him blush during our date by the river. It was the most talked about scene which had the producers release a statement –after the finale– about us surprising the filming crew and making them coo at my unexpected romantic gestures which were unscripted. It was no doubt that the show gave guidelines or scripts to make everything seem natural but it was unnecessary for us because we have chemistry. Well they think we do. They actually believed it so much that they thought we were secretly together when filming. At that time, we hadn't confirmed anything and it brought more hype towards its release because some staff let it slip that there was too much chemistry between us. That our chemistry couldn't be faked. The release of the program had been pushed forward when we released news we were getting married.

We scored a multi-million dollar deal to get the live-footage and an exclusive interview, which we signed due to previous exclusive contracts. It had something to do with clauses related to networks we worked for previously and it's was a tangled up thing which is difficult to explain. This could only mean being on my best behavior, try not to roll my eyes at the brat, and be camera ready a hundred percent of the time. As if I wasn't tired of the wedding photo shoots that we had taken prior to this!

"He's calling again, hyung," Jimin told me.

"You're driving, don't worry about it. I bet he's just nervous about the time. Don't worry," I replied. I know Jimin thinks it's crazy but I have my reasons. Jungkook had been trying to reach me nonstop since the time I should've arrived at the venue. The only reason I didn't pick up was because I was sure he'd cuss me out for doing this to him and on our wedding day. Yes, I'm late to my own wedding but I wasn't backing out. I had been clear that this was my only way to protect Taehyung and I was committed to keeping him and myself from harm. I was running late due to a pre-wedding interview. It's not my fault but he's not going to listen.

"You're an idiot!" He punches my arm. It was harder than I expected and it hurt. Jeon was visibly frustrated with my lack of response earlier.

"I told you I'd be here. I'm only half an hour late. It's not a big deal. People always run late during these things."

There was no use in reasoning with him but I could see that this marriage was far more important than I was lead to believe. Whatever the reason may be it helped me cover up my indiscretions. Jungkook is willingly saving me because we both have something to lose.

I should consider myself lucky because this handsome man is my soon-to-be husband and he's been dominating this crazy entertainment business for almost ten years. Jungkook probably thinks he's getting the short end of the stick and he probably still thinks of me as a leech. His perception of me may never change and I've come to terms with it.

Everything was happening quickly in our made up relationship but no one could see it that way. They believed our lies of love and friendship. We have managed to con all these people. I wonder how many more celebrities do this and how many of those are actually open about it. Yet you never hear anyone say anything about a contract marriage because one person knowing was enough for damnation. The audience couldn't be happier for us but they wouldn't be if they knew the truth. They would be the first to criticize and bring us down— that's the way it works.

"Let me remind you we aren't ordinary people. We are close to royalty for these people and expect perfection and nothing less. Let's go." He takes my arm. He gives signal for them to begin the music again.

"You're anxious to become Mister Kim," I tease to which he just rolls his eyes. I'm only trying to ease the tension he's built.

"I already told you that I'm getting my name hyphenated. You've got to consider yourself lucky that I didn't make you get my last name." He's still upset over the last name. It wasn't my fault that he would risk giving up his last name, I'd take his last name or hyphenated mine if he asked. He jokingly said he would take my last name during a meet up. I guess, someone took a video of it which ended up being viral and that's how he ended with the decision of last names. Mine would add to his.

The room we entered was elegant, sophisticated just like the planner himself— Jeon Jungkook. The man had done a good job of planning this wedding to his taste and satisfaction. This wedding was to his stature— the soft lighting, the colors that popped, the flower arrangements and everything around us seemed to garnish him. He knew the effect he wanted this day and he accomplished it. Jungkook is the man leaving everyone in awe. I, myself, couldn't deny that he managed to make my heart beat louder.

"That was exhausting." He said as soon as I stepped inside the suite. I carried him over the threshold for the heck of it. There was no one in the hallway but I'm sure there's cameras. Perhaps, I'm overthinking it but you are kind of on edge when you're trying to maintain a low profile. Some fans do crazy things just to obtain something first hand. You never knew who could hack the corridor cameras. But that didn't make the struggle any easier. Fuck, he weighed more than I expected. I let go of him as soon the door closed behind me.

"Ouch!" He whined.

"Sorry," I said playfully. I couldn't let him know I struggled to carry him inside.

He looked at me as if not believing my apology and honestly I wasn't truly apologetic. He needed to calm down, it wasn't anything serious. He never seemed to have any fun or enjoy any of the small things. I couldn't do much besides shrug my shoulders and wait for instructions. I'm sure there's something he wants to say.

"Let's sign a contract." And it's the last thing I expected to hear.

May 06, 2019
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