My job here is almost done. I sorted the files, answered e-mail and phone calls, made sure that there were no corrupted data in the computers. Actually, I'm forgetting just one thing: I have to print a thing. Something personal, intimate. You may think, 'You could just print it at home.' The point is, my printer is broken.

This is why I have to make do with doing it here. However, I must hurry up, before someone else does. I immediately press "print" and, voilà, here it is! I'm about to pick the paper when that prick of Choi Seil rushes before me and snatches it from the machine. Blood is boiling in my veins as he reads the content of the note in front of everyone.

1. Telling Mom and Dad that I broke up with Lee Yena (they're going to be so happy! Yeah, because they never took my feelings into account) ✓

2. Leaving Yena behind and moving as far as possible from her (not easy, but I found a nice place) ✓

3. Making sure that Yena and I are still in good terms (easy peasy) ✓

4. Making sure that I'm still also in good terms with Yena's friend, Jo Hyejoo (harder, but it's still worth it) ✓

5. Listening to Mom and Dad pointlessly ranting about my poor dating choices (as if they knew better than me who's my ideal type) ✓

6. Drowning myself into work to ignore them as well as snatch the title of Employee of the Month from Won Pyeonghwa (no offense, but it's time I step up!) ✓

7. Bearing with Mom and Dad trying to force me into marrying Ma Gyuim (excuse me?)

8. Making up my mind about developing feelings for this girl (honestly, I'm not even interested in her)

9. Making up my mind about being mocked for having to marry this girl

10. Hiding out of embarrassment

I have to be honest, I kind of expected everyone else, starting from Seil, to make fun of me. Ma Gyuim is no match to Lee Yena and is anything but interesting. And, no, I'm not talking out of prejudice.

Mom and Dad once made me take her out for dinner and she spent most of the time telling really bad puns and complaining about my lack of enthusiasm, as if faking it would've made things better. To add insult to injury, I had to pay dinner for both, even though she had a lot more money than me, instead of splitting the bill between the two of us.

Nonetheless, I can't defy my parents unless I want to be disowned. If I have to marry such a shallow girl without loving her, then I shall do it. If things won't work, as I predict, then we'll divorce and we'll never even see each other. That is, unless they insist that we are "soulmates" or similar bullshit.

I never asked my parents to arrange marriage plans for me behind my back, and I'm extremely unlikely to forgive them for that.

***

Although Gyuim and I have been married for five years and a half, we act as if we were total strangers. We barely talk to each other and we even sleep in separate rooms most of the time. The lack of comfort is hindering our relationship so badly that I feel like I'm living in a prison.

That is, until I check my Instagram account for the first time in three years. My phone is flooded with notifications, mostly coming from Yena. The thing that shocks me the most, by the way, is seeing her cheering for my marriage to Gyuim. How she accepted this situation has always been a mystery to me.

The other thing that surprises me is that Seil—yeah, him—sent me a direct message where he admits that he envies me. How come? He is the one who usually hits on women, he is the popular one. And, to be honest, he has been a prick to me for a while. Probably he just feared me, but I don't think so.

Maybe it's time I start re-evaluating Gyuim. She doesn't seem bad. She may look a little awkward, but, deep down, she has feelings I've ignored for years. Also, I deeply regret not giving her enough love, hurting her.

Since today, I, Yu Mingi, will work my way into being a loving husband.

[736 words]