Will you marry me?
The girl's words kept ringing over and over in his head as he drove away from The Regal Hotel towards his home.
"Will you marry me?" He echoed as he drove.
After hearing those words, he had just gaped at her like a goldfish on dry land. Seeing that he didn't immediately reject her offer or agree to it, she followed up by saying that she didn't need his answer right now, but for him to give it some time and to think about it.
"How considerate," he thought sarcastically. At the time, he wanted so much to reject her offer. But the thought of the many people that he could save by his small sacrifice ate at him so much that he wasn't able to give her a well-thought-out negative reply.
Is she for real? Hyun-Shik stopped at a red light and leaned back in his seat. Not only she was willing to give the best years of her life to him, mind you she's only twenty-three years old, she even said that they don't really have to care for each other like normal husband and wife. No child rearing, no lovey-dovey stuff. Nothing. She will support him, and his family's company, and make them all successful. The only thing she wanted out of this, besides her projects being recognized, was for him to act as her shield from other arranged marriages. He would guess the chances of her being sought after when they divorce would be a little less dramatic, but still...
This was the answer to all of his family's problems, right?
The answer was YES. But that would mean that his freedom and his lifestyle would be sacrificed. Should he really go for it?
Make no mistake, that Ji-Eun girl was really pretty, natural, and smart, he thought. Also taking into account that she's rich, an heir to an empire and that she has her own business, she's bordering between simple and elegant, and one could only wish they had a girlfriend or wife of her caliber.
He sighed.
Maybe this would have been easier if-
He just started on another trail of thought when he heard his phone ring. He looked at caller ID and frowned as he picked up the call and put the phone on speaker.
"Yuri?" He answered the call.
"Hi, Honey! How did your business meeting go?" a bright, cheerful voice wafted into his ears and he relaxed a little.
"It went very well," he answered, adjusting his voice naturally. "Are you at the office right now?"
He looked at the time on the dash of his car and noticed that it was only a little past two in the afternoon. She should be out by 3:00 pm.
"Uh, yeah." The girl answered from the other line. "Do you want to meet up for a movie or dinner?"
"Can't really do dinner tonight," he answered as he slowly started to drive. The light turned green and there was a honk from behind him. "I have some stuff to discuss with the family."
"Oh... Hmm..." she voiced out. Isn't she family too? Why couldn't she be there?
As Hyun-Shik could easily read her thoughts, he reassured her by saying, "It's just boring stuff about some projects. You don't really want to be in the middle of it."
"Yeah, I guess..." her voice trailed off.
Hyun-Shik tensed up a little.
"How about this?" He started. "I can go over to your office right now and wait for you to come out. We can grab a quick bite and then I'll take you home. What do you think?"
He could just see her facial expression change as she hurriedly answered, "Yes! That would be just great!"
He smiled. Count on her to be just in time to save him from his dizzying thoughts.
"Okay," he said as he changed lanes. "I'm coming over right now."
"See you in a bit!"
"Yeah," and he hung up.
Slowly, his facial expression changed from relaxed to really annoyed.
Yes, that's right.
He thought to himself as he made a right turn at the intersection that would take him to The Little City.
Maybe this would have been easier if he didn't have a girlfriend in the first place.