Kim looked around his surrounding, the hall was filled to the brim with people. He did not know all of the people, but he knew that his father must have done business with them at least once. Kim knew that the people could see a scowl on his face, he didn't give a damn. He wanted to anywhere else but there. His usual black suit that he wore every other day seemed itchy and unnecessarily uncomfortable then. Kim usually thrived in crowds but this particular crowd irritated him, the joyful look on their faces wasn't something he liked to see, not at that moment.
"At least to try to smile," his father seethed into his ear. Kim had actually forgotten that his father was beside him, he just wanted to walk out.
It's just for five years, he reminded himself.
"It's your wedding after all," his father, Jang Se Ha said. Kim faced his father then, he had to look down a bit, as at 5'9, he was a bit taller than his father. His father was the only reason why he was in this hall, this church, filled with people, and awaiting his unwanted bride. Jang Se Ha was making him marry a woman, a girl rather, that he was no way interested in because of a favor that he owed her father.
It had taken a lot of threats, begging and even emotional manipulation to make him go this far. At first, he had protested at the idea of marriage. He was still in the prime of his life, he was not ready to be tied down. Kim prided himself with being a reasonable man, and so, after a lot of negotiation with his father, he had reduced the duration of the marriage from forever, to five years, it was the best that he could do.
Kim was quite satisfied with five years of getting married, he knew that he would not form any emotional attachment with his bride as he didn't believe in such, and it was also five years of free, unrestricted sex, without going through the normal processes of a relationship. Not that Kim had any issues with the opposite sex, but he just didn't like all the emotional attachments involved with sex, it will be easy to get rid of all that. It was perfect, his plan was full proof. Everything seemed all good until he met Ariel, his bride to be.
He met Ariel for the first time at a dinner after he had negotiated with his father. His first impression was that she was very pretty, but pretty was not something that appealed to him. Pretty was for school girls, he liked his women hot sizzling sexy. Sure she had big and pretty doe eyes, and had beautiful silky long hair, she hid behind her hair, rather than expose it. It didn't matter that she had cupid bow pink lips, she hid her beauty rather than flaunt it, that was one thing that he did not find attractive.
Ariel was painfully shy, she gave him a smile, and proceeded to stare at her food for the rest of the dinner. Kim wondered how on earth his father expected him to marry someone like that. All the frustration that he managed to soothe about the marriage, reared up again. Kim studied her for the rest of that dinner, she did not talk to him and somehow managed to avoid eye contact with him, which would have been very hard since he stared at her the entire night. After that day, he hoped that she was just shy since she was meeting him for the very first time. He was proven wrong though.
Both Ariel and her father began to mingle with society after then, they attended the same parties, it was painfully clear to Kim that he would be married to a wallflower for five years. She stood at the sidelines of parties, and seemed to prefer to look at people rather than talk to them. It seemed very childish to him, but he reserved his comments of her to himself.
"Can't it be someone else?" Kim asked his father in a last attempt to have the marriage called off. The frown that appeared on his father's face removed all thoughts of cancellation from his mind.
"You know it can't be someone else," his father replied harshly, he was clearly not amused. Kim knew why his father was doing this, it was the noble thing to do even, he just wished he wasn't involved, he just wanted his spot as the President of the company to be as it was, he wanted to sustain it. Richard had saved his father when they were both younger from poisoning by his own younger brother, Kim's uncle. It was a bloody affair, all because of the company, the same company, Kim wanted to protect. His father owed Richard his life, and so when Richard had said he needed stability and security for his daughter, his only child, Jang Se Ha had not hesitated to offer his son's hand in marriage even though the said son didn't want to be offered.
Kim first met Richard when he was younger and his mother just died, when giving birth to his younger sister, Jessica. It was clear to even a young Kim that there was friendship between the two men, but even then Kim didn't trust Richard. The feeling of distrust had died over the years as he saw how his father trusted the man. The feeling of distrust had come up again when KIm found out that he was getting married to Richard's daughter, he didn't think there was enough reason for a union. He knew that he had to be on his guard for the entire period of the marriage.
"I am only doing this for the company, nothing else," Kim said, he felt like he had to reassure himself for the last time. Kim closed his eyes in frustration as the piano began to play, here comes the bride.
With the entire congregation, Kim stood up, and looked at the vision in white that he would be getting married to. She looked even more pretty than she usually did, Kim had to remind himself over and over that he didn't do pretty, that he did sexy rather. He watched her steps as she walked down the aisle with her father by her side, holding on to her. Ariel seemed uneasy in her steps, she was walking with reluctance. The idea that she might not want to get married occurred to him then.
Kim had been so sure that Ariel wanted to marry him because of her father, that she was into whatever plan that her father had cooked, it didn't occur to him that she might have been forced or cajoled into marriage like he had been. His heart went to her then, like souls and all.
Kim stretched forth his hand, as Ariel was handed to him.
She was shaking, he realized, and frowned.
The thought that she had always been shy, and she was probably scared of crowds came to him.
Maybe that was why she was unsteady while walking, he thought, it was probably it.
Kim noticed that her palms were also sweaty, she was clearly nervous. At the priest's instruction, he lifted her veil. The fact that she was nervous was mostly evident on her face. She was wearing an uneasy smile, it was so fake that even a child would notice. She repeated her vows with a shaky voice, but no one else seemed to notice, either that or they didn't care.
Kim recited his vows, keeping it at the back of his mind that he was not going to be with Ariel till death do them part, he was probably going to divorce her at the first chance he got. Kim knew that his voice would sound clipped and cold to their audience, he was also almost sure that they wouldn't care if there were dying or not, it was the wedding of the century after all, the only son of business magnate, Jang Se Ha, and the heir to Jang Enterprises, Jang Kim was getting married. The legendary playboy was finally tied down.
Kim knew that the paparrazi would have a field day, the world expected to get married to the daughter of a business magnate, if he got married at all. Surprisingly, he was getting to married to the daughter of a Chef that had nothing to do with business. Richard was a rich man, rich enough, and he owned a chain of restaurants, but he was not in the same level of Jang Se Ha. Ariel was not the type of woman the world wanted him to marry. The story seemed more like a love match than anything. Kim was clearly getting married to her, not for something as trivial as love, but he was getting married to her anyway. The public would never guess that they were getting married for a business deal.
Kim looked Ariel in the eyes, as he slipped the gold ring onto her fourth finger, her hands were shaky and sweaty as she tried to wear his own ring on his finger. Her hand slipped, and the ring almost fell to the ground, but luckily, he caught it.
Kim placed the ring carefully back on her hand, the second time, she seemed more careful and placed the ring on his fourth finger, the metal felt heavy on his hand. It felt like he was wearing handcuffs instead of a simple ring. Kim knew it was because the marriage will be some sort of cage on him. And he did not like it all.
"I declare you husband and wife," the priest pronounced in a loud voice. Kim felt dread in his chest as it felt like his fate was sealed.
"You may now kiss the bride." Before the ceremony, Kim had what he would do in his head, it was simple, he would kiss her cheek. He did not need to put on a show for anybody, but at that moment, his eyes met Ariel's and it seemed like she was her namesake, the little mermaid and she was singing to him. Kim could barely help himself, he held on to her face and softly placed his lips on hers. Kim realized what he was doing the moment he started, and he pulled away immediately. The moment was enough to feel the softness of her lips though, it was enough to want to taste her again.
"May I present to you, the latest couple in town," the priest declared, and Kim forced a smile. It seemed that surviving five years with Ariel would be much harder then he thought.