The Pretend Wife

Three.

As he waited for Jennie to arrive, Taeyong paced back and forth inside his studio. He had just spoke to her for less than five minutes ago but he already became restless.

He'd remained awake till the small hours of the morning thinking about Yuta's idea the night before. Yuta's suggestion of Jennie as a potential wife had taken him completely by surprise.

It's probably because he'd been told a thousand times that Jennie was off limits. For a variety of reasons, she was untouchable for him.

For starters, she was Chaeyoung's best friend, who was also Jaehyun's wife. She was too close to his circle for things to become too difficult if he ever pursued her and things went wrong. He has no intention of being the target of Chaeyoung's murderous vengeance plots. He'd seen her in action before, and he wasn't in any hurry to see it again.

Another factor was that he had always seen Jennie as a person who was serious about her relationships. He was a cynic when it came to issues of the heart, whereas she was a dreamer and idealist. She was a firm believer in true love, while he was anything but that.

In his life, he had witnessed so many failed relationships that he came to the conclusion that love did not last. He couldn't recall how many times they had argued in the past as they disputed their ideas and opinions on the subject, but they had eventually reached a deadlock and agreed to drop the subject entirely.

Apart from that, Taeyong had to admit that the major reason he didn't pursue Jennie was that she was his best friend—a particularly amazing friend. She was the only person who knew him inside and out besides Jaehyun. He cherished his friendship with her and didn't want to contaminate it with anything as insignificant as love.

But now, as he was confronted with such a life-altering decision, he couldn't help but agree with yuta and the rest of his buddies that she might just be his life saver. for the first time, after being friends for so long, he had allowed himself to envisage Jennie as a lover—someone to spend the rest of his life with.

He pictured waking up next to her every day, sharing coffee and snacks over interesting talks, bringing her out to lunches and dinners, and having her by his side at the museum's galas and formal dinners, and he realized he didn't mind at all.

He didn't mind spending the rest of his life with Jennie. Actually, if he were entirely honest with himself, he was kind of looking forward to it. If only she could see it that way as well.

As he checked his watch, Taeyong sighed for the umpteenth time that day. It's only been ten minutes since he last talked to her. He still had twenty minutes to kill, and if he just stood there and did nothing, he'd go batshit crazy.

He reached into his drawer and retrieved his work apron. While he waited for her, he might as well just get some work done. He'd always found that working with his brushes helped him relax, and he needed that right now.