The Arranged Marriage

Chapter 5: Confession

Ever since Bobby confessed his feelings, the awkwardness between us could not get any greater. It hit me hard. I was totally unprepared for this. I always believed that I hated him and he hated me and nothing other than pure hatred could be between us. We had not been talking to each other for days and the atmosphere between us was tense whenever we met. Then I thought, 'I am not going to lead such an uncomfortable life because of this trivial matter. I have to do something.'

One day after dinner, my mom was doing the dishes while my dad was showering. I caught hold of Bobby, who was heading back into his room.

"We need to talk," I said.

"Sure," he replied.

"Not here. Let's go outside."

I walked out of the house as Bobby followed closely behind. We headed to the nearby park and remained quiet for a quite some time. We kept strolling along the pavement until Bobby finally spoke up.

"So... What is it that you want to talk about?" He asked.

I looked up from the ground. "About that day, when you said you liked me."

"Yea... What about that?"

"I don't know but recently I've been thinking about it a lot," I said as I stopped in my tracks. "Were you serious when you said that?"

Bobby stopped as well. He turned to face me and looked at me in the eyes.

"Of course I was serious," he said. "I like you."

I could feel my face getting warm. Thankfully the sun has set and I assumed that Bobby could not see my blushing face.

I walked over to the bench at the side and sat down.

"But why?" I asked as Bobby sat down close to me, our knees touching.

He gave a confused look. "What do you mean?"

"Forget it," I sighed. "So since when did you developed such feelings or found out you had such feelings towards me?"

He remained silent. It was so quiet we could hear clearly the crickets chirping.

"You know I hated this relationship between us," I continued. "When you came into my life, I hated it. I despised the idea of arranged marriage. I felt annoyed at the thought of not being able to choose my other half myself and that my love life is set for me by someone else."

I paused for a while. I glanced at Bobby to make sure that he was listening before continuing.

"I told myself I would not fall in love with this guy. If I fall in love, it would mean that my parents win and I don't want them to feel that it is okay for them to decide my life for me. I want to show them that this marriage is a mistake and it won't work,"

I stopped to catch my breath.

"I was so happy at first when you said that you hated this marriage as well when I first met you. I thought that we could both prove our parents wrong. But things didn't turn out the way I wanted."

I stood up and looked down at him.

"I was starting to feel a bit uneasy as time went by. Whenever you were close to me, I could feel my heart beating faster than usual. I thought that maybe I liked you. But I can't like you. I can't lose this battle against my parents. I want to deny those feelings. I-"

Before I could finish my sentence, Bobby stood up and pulled my face towards his. He pressed his lips against mine. I froze. That was my first kiss. I never knew how a kiss would feel like and this one was so overwhelming I could barely take it. I closed my eyes as warm tears streamed down and wetted my face.

After a while, Bobby slowly pulled away. He looked at me. His gaze was so comforting.

"You can like me. You don't have to fight that battle. I will make sure that your parents chose the right person," he said softly.

I smiled. Bobby threw his arms around me as he held me tightly in his embrace. I placed my arms around his waist and leaned against him.

"Bobby," I called out his name.

"Yes?"

"You're going to pay for that kiss."

Bobby immediately pushed himself away. "What? No!"

Just then, a cold gust of wind blew against us and sent us shivering.

"We should go back," I said before I sneezed.

"Yea right. Let's go!" He took off, leaving me behind. "Last one home is a pig!"

"Ya! Kim Ji Won!" I shouted as I, too, sprinted towards him.