By Zephyria 
===
“Have a safe trip, Eun-won.”
“Yes. I’ll be back soon….”
He wished time would move a little slower, but the moment to leave the house arrived all too quickly. Eun-won stepped out of the house with heavy feet. After exchanging one last greeting with the madam who had come to see him off, he got into the car. The driver confirmed the destination once more and drove away from the estate.
“…….”
It’s okay. I can do this. Meeting someone isn’t that difficult. There’s no need to be nervous…. It’s not like I’m going to my own wedding, so why am I so tense?
Trying to relax, Eun-won took a deep breath, exhaled, and closed his eyes, attempting to calm his mind before glancing out the window. A sudden thought crossed his mind: he felt like he would have been more at peace back when he was working part-time jobs dealing with all sorts of nightmare customers.
After about a 30-minute drive, they arrived at the Sewon Gallery. Since it was a gallery on its closing day, it seemed like a better place to meet than somewhere with too many prying eyes. A single employee was waiting in front of the gallery.
“Hello. It is an honor to meet you. I am Lee Woo-jae, secretary to Executive Director Cha Se-jin.”
“…Ah, hello. Uh… I’m Seo Eun-won.”
“I will escort you inside.”
“…Yes.”
After stepping out of the car, Eun-won followed the secretary, who guided him with a kind smile. It seemed the man called ‘Executive Director Cha Se-jin’ was the person he was meeting today. It should have been an unfamiliar name, but he felt as if he had heard it somewhere before.
Where was it…. Where did I hear it…. It felt like it was on the tip of his tongue, and he wanted to search for it, but given the situation, he couldn’t. All the way to the meeting spot inside the gallery, Eun-won kept chewing over the name Cha Se-jin.
The secretary led him to a cafe on the 5th floor, the highest level of the gallery. It seemed the entire floor consisted of a cafe and a restaurant. All four sides were made of transparent glass, allowing the bright afternoon light to flood in and sparkle throughout the interior.
It was the first time in his life he had seen such a beautiful place. For a moment, Eun-won forgot why he had even come here, taking in the sight of the cafe, which was empty save for a few essential staff members.
“The Executive Director arrived about 30 minutes ago.”
At the secretary’s words, Eun-won, who had been walking while gazing at the light streaming through the windows, shifted his gaze forward. Beyond the secretary, he saw the back of a man sitting at a window table.
“…….”
In that instant, a wave of tension suddenly enveloped his entire body again. Eun-won took a deep breath and pressed his hand firmly against his chest, over his heart.
“Executive Director, I have brought Mr. Seo Eun-won.”
The secretary, having reached the man’s seat, delivered the message. Overwhelmed by nerves, Eun-won dropped his gaze. He saw the man stand up and turn toward him. Eun-won quickly bowed his head slightly to greet him first.
“…Hello…. I am Seo Eun-won….”
“You should look at a person’s face when you greet them, Darling.”
The voice falling from above sounded strangely familiar. Suddenly remembering the man at the convenience store who had said and done such strange things, Eun-won quickly looked up.
“…….”
“Why did it take so long? Did you hate the idea of marrying me that much?”
Eun-won stared blankly at Cha Se-jin’s face, squeezed his eyes shut, and opened them again. He wanted to confirm if the person he was looking at was truly that nightmare customer from the convenience store.
He thought it was impossible, but no matter how many times he blinked, nothing changed. That face, looking down at him with a smirk… was indeed the man who had popped a candy into his mouth.
“…Why are you… here….”
“What do you mean why? I told you. I said I’m getting married soon.”
“…….”
“Ah, did I not mention that it would be with you?”
The word ‘flustered’ could not fully describe his current state of mind. Unable to say a word, Eun-won simply took in the words Cha Se-jin poured out so casually, as if it were nothing at all.
“Sit. It must be hard to keep looking up at me.”
Cha Se-jin pointed to the seat opposite him and sat down first. Watching him, Eun-won moved his feet—now for a different reason—and sat in the opposite chair.
“What do you want to drink?”
“…….”
“The kid’s completely spaced out.”
Clicking his tongue at the sight of the vacant Eun-won, Cha Se-jin told the waiting secretary to bring a white chocolate frappe and cake. The secretary bowed and stepped away from the window.
“Get a grip. I understand you’re surprised, but now you need to wake up so we can set a date. Are you going to miss out on me by zoning out like that?”
“……How… how did this happen?”
“It’s exactly as it looks. I came here to marry you, and you came here to marry me. I went to see you because I was curious about who I was marrying. And you didn’t know who I was.”
“…I, I… didn’t come here to get married.”
At the trembling words that barely escaped his lips, Cha Se-jin crossed his long legs and leaned forward.
“Then why did you come?”
“……Because they said they wanted me to meet you once……”
“Just to meet?”
“Yes……”
Seeing Eun-won’s passive and terrified demeanor, Cha Se-jin slowly tilted his head. This wasn’t just a casual meeting. It was a meeting arranged for the couple to introduce themselves as marriage partners. However, Eun-won seemed completely unaware of the meaning of this encounter.
“Right, well. Regardless of the meaning, a meeting is a meeting.”
Cha Se-jin took a sip of the coffee he had ordered first and stared quietly at Eun-won, whose already pale face had turned even whiter. He probably had eaten and slept better since gaining wealthy parents, but for some reason, his face looked a bit thinner than when he had seen him at the convenience store.
Usually, a thin face looks sickly or haggard and becomes unattractive, but not in Eun-won’s case. A sense of fragility and purity had been added, making him prettier than before. He felt like he could never get tired of looking at that face for the rest of his life.
“You heard, right? That we’re getting married.”
Flustered by Cha Se-jin speaking so definitively about ‘marriage,’ Eun-won’s lips quivered. He couldn’t say he hadn’t heard, because he knew the Sewon side wanted an arranged marriage. Yet, he hesitated to say he had heard, as it would sound like he was also insisting on the marriage.
“…I believe it hasn’t been decided yet….”
“Is that so? Then we can just decide today before we leave.”
“…I… I don’t think this is something to decide… after meeting once….”
“Why?”
“It’s… important…. It’s not just anything, it’s… marriage….”
Uncrossing his legs, Cha Se-jin now rested his chin on his hand and nodded openly.
“Yeah. But I want to do it with you.”
“…Why…?”
“Your face is my type.”
Eun-won was speechless at the incredibly frivolous answer. He had come to this meeting thinking the other person might lose the will to marry upon seeing how ordinary he was, and he was still in shock that the convenience store pervert was here; every time he heard marriage discussed so lightly, his head buzzed.
“…How can you marry someone… for a reason like that….”
“You’re forgetting something, Darling. This isn’t just any marriage. It’s an arranged marriage.”
“…….”
“We’ve come this far because the conditions both sides wanted have already been met, and coming this far means we have no choice but to marry.”
“…….”
“Since we’re marrying anyway, I like your face, and obviously, you’ll like mine. There’s nothing bad about it. It’s so important that the face I see every day is my type.”
And I don’t really like having sex with someone face-down where I can’t see them. For that, the face is fucking important.
He had more he wanted to say, but he didn’t voice it, fearing that the twenty-year-old, who was pale and stuttering, might actually run away.
“Here are your drinks. If you need anything else, please press the call button. I will be waiting outside so you can speak comfortably.”
The employee brought the drinks and cake Cha Se-jin had ordered, placed them on the table, and left the cafe. Cha Se-jin pushed the drink in front of Eun-won a bit closer.
“Drink.”
Looking at the drink, Eun-won gripped the tall glass with both hands and put the straw to his lips. The white chocolate frappe that traveled up the transparent straw moistened his mouth, which had gone dry from tension and shock. After drinking something cold and sweet, the chaos in his head cleared up a little.
“…I haven’t been back at my father’s house for long, and I… don’t know much about these things. You’ll probably find me… very frustrating.”
“That’s why I like it even more.”
“…What?”