Only On Paper [ K.TH FF]

Chapter One

         
Summer. Long, hot days with scorching sun and severe heat waves that make frozen popsicles seem like a glimpse of heaven in the daily humdrum of my life.

Summer was the best time. Waking up early mornings, cycling around the outskirts of town, helping Grandma with her small inn in the town of Daegu where we lived, then rushing to school( Well, not anymore since it's been a year since I graduated high school) and then at the end of the day, enjoying sunset at the river banks and then  helping Grandma with the sales.

It was my simple yet peaceful and blissful life. But soon, everything was going to take a drastic turn, if only I knew.
If you ask me what had happened in my life, I would say KIM TAEHYUNG happened.

So, my name is Lee Eunhye. I'm 20 years old. I was happy in my small town where everyone lived as a big happy family but I had some dreams. I wanted to be a doctor and work at a hospital in Seoul. And to fulfill these dreams, it was required of me to leave. But leaving was not an option if you are living with your grandmother, the only left family of yours, who raised you from birth. So I decided to let go of my dreams even though it's hard to suddenly abandon your ambitions.

Just when I was starting to accept my fate, my life took a different turn.

It seemed like one of those usual and monotonous hot summer days. I woke up early, cleaned the house, fetched groceries and was eating watermelons with the neighborhood kids when grandma hurried outside and called out to me,
"Yah!  Eunhye! Stop fooling around with those brats and go fetch some snacks from Yoonsung's store."

"Why? It's so far. I could get some ricecakes from Hyemi's mother's shop.",  I whined. It was so scorching hot outside.

"No. They are rich people. A friend of mine and her grandson are coming over. Go get the snacks and get ready. Hurry!", she snapped at me and rushed inside.

I wondered why she was getting so worked up for a friend she just made over a karaoke party. The days were getting even hotter and grandma wasn't cutting me any slack.
And who the heck were these people?

I literally had to run my ass off to come back home in time, to see a sleek black Mercedes Benz parked in front of my house.

Great! I was covered in sweat and dirt, and my face had turned scarlet from all the running. In short, I looked gross. Here's to first impressions!
I straightened out my cotton shirt and khaki pants as I jogged down the gravel path to the front door.

As usual, the door was unlocked but it made a weird, creaking sound as I tried to sneak in.
Obviously, I drew all the attention to me as three pair of eyes were on me.
Instantly, grandma came to my rescue and introduced me, " This is my lovely granddaughter, Eunhye. She is very beautiful ,right?"

I internally cringed at her words. She had to make me feel embarrassed like that! When you and the whole town know how plain you are but there goes your grandmother boasting otherwise.  It felt like someone was staring holes at me from my right but I didn't dare look. I didn't let them scrutinize my appearance anymore and headed straight to my room. I was beyond embarrassed.

                                                                                       

After getting showered and dressed, I went downstairs when grandma called me. She sounded all serious and straightforward. She seemed different but in a negative way. Come to think of it, I hadn't seen that 'grandson' of her friend.
I see grandma chatting with her friend , who was dressed up as if she was  Meryl Streep from 'Devil Wears Prada'. The Seoul Elite Life, I guess!
But the grandson was nowhere to be seen.
I sheepishly shuffled next to grandma on the couch. I greeted them to which the other lady replied,
"How are you dear?"
"I'm fine. ", I gave a short smile. Even smiling is hard for an introvert like me. 'Am I even smiling right? Or do I look creepy?' were the thoughts swirling in my head as I tried to talk to the warm stranger.
"I've seen you've kept everything together here so well! You would make a great wife.", she smiled at me and exchanged glances with grandma. But I didn't give it much thought because it seemed adults enjoyed talking about marriages a lot. 

Uncomfortable with all the attention on me, I changed the topic.
"Where's your grandson?"

"Oh, Taehyung-ah! He is attending to a phone call right now. You know, my grandson is a very successful businessman. At such a young age, he set up a huge business empire without his father's help.", she chatted away, proudly.  I could see the love and adoration in her eyes. Her eyes gleamed as she related to me how he became a great business aristocrat.
Gradually, his grandmother was able to instill in my mind the image of Kim Taehyung as a really awesome, charismatic and respectable person.

" My Taehyung-ah is so handsome that all the gold diggers are after him. But I want him to marry a decent girl who will love him, not his money or power."

"Okay?", I mumbled, confused as to why she was drowning me with all this information. Does she want me to introduce a girl to them?

"And so, I have come here to ask your hand in marriage to my grandson, Kim Taehyung."

Now this was the crucial point of my life. This decision was going to pivot my life either to heaven or to hell. And what did I choose? Hmm, I'm not going to tell you that.

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A/N:
So, this was the first chapter.

Anyways, how was it ? Did you like it? Please let me know what you think about it in the comments.

And thank you again for reading! Have a good day!