ᴄᴏɴᴛʀᴀᴄᴛᴜᴀʟ ᴍᴀʀʀɪᴀɢᴇ ≠ ᴘᴀʀᴋ ᴊɪꜱᴜɴɢ

♡ four

[ahn jihyeon]

I was about ready to give up, when I got a message from an unknown number, my hopes sky rocketing. I grabbed my phone, almost breaking a nail in the process, but my adrenaline was too high for me to feel pain.

"Hi, this is Jisung. Can we talk about the marriage thing?"

I read out, almost rolling of my mattress on to the hardwood floor. I immediately replied with a 'Sure, where?' getting an instant reply suggesting the library. I agreed to his suggestion and went out of my- or well our- room and told Minjee.

"Ooh, I'm so excited for you to leave!" She clasped her hands, teasing me. I mimicked her as I put my shoes on. "Update me, Kay?" She called out and I replied back yelling out a 'yess.'

On the bus, I realised I had no idea what this man looked like.

"Jisung-ssi, I don't know what you look like."

"Don't worry I know what you look like I'll meet you there."

Stalker much ..? I thought, suddenly worried. "He's probably just your classmate," I shushed myself, mentally so as not to attract any attention from the old ladies on the bus.

_

Getting of the bus, I advanced to the university's library that was accessible any time of the day. I walked in and looked around, there was just one guy sitting there, and he seemed pretty shy.

"Is that him?" I asked myself. I remained silent and stood at my place until he lifted his hand up, motioning me towards him.

Walking over to him, I bowed my head slightly just in case he was a senior. When in doubt, it's better to give more respect instead of less.

He bowed his head back as I sat down. "I'm Jisung," he introduced himself, scratching his ear softly. "I'm Jieun," I replied back.

"Oh, didn't I see you earlier today?" I asked, recalling his face. He nodded and opened his mouth to speak. "So, what's the process for this .. thing?" He asked, making awkward hand movements. I laughed softly and replied back, "Well, we'll need to get married. But since we aren't of age, we both need legal permission from our parents," I explained, seeing his face drop for a second.

"My parents .. uh, they aren't around," he said, sheepishly. "Oh! I'm so sorry, I had no idea," I replied, my eyes widening immediately. "No no, how would you know," he shook his head, "I can get permission from my guardian," he told me.

"What's the amount of money, though?"

"It's around $20,000 dollars, a little here and there depending on how much we have in our account."
"That's not much on my part," he replied to my statement. "Don't worry, it's the same on my behalf," I assured him.

"So, are you down?" I asked him. "Sure, why not," he nodded. I held my hand forward, and he shook it, locking in the deal.

_

In a few days time, I had broken the news to my parents. They didn't take it that well, but soon came to accept it, though God knows how. We had gotten the legal allowance and what not covered, and just had to finalize the papers.

Here Jisung and I were, having known each other a few days, and were finalising our marriage papers. "We're doing this?" I asked. "I guess so," he nodded, as we signed the final blank line.

"Here, you can take your marriage registration pictures," the photographer said. I looked at the orange haired boy as he shook his head. "Come on, it's just for memories," I urged him silently. He sighed, giving in and sitting on the little bench that was used as the back drop.

"Come on you two, move closer! You're a married couple," the photographer told us and we shifted a bit closer together.

"What, it's not like this is some sort of contractual marriage!" He joked and the two of us widened our eyes.

We let out a few forced laughs and shifted close together, he put his hand on my leg and my eyes widened, as soon as he took the picture.

"All done!" He said, taking the photo put and putting it in a decorative folder, handing it to Jisung.

We thanked him awkwardly, leaving the building as soon as possible.

_

"Well, we're married now," he said as we entered our little, but large enough apartment.

"What the fuck have we done?" I said.