A rhythmic tapping could be heard in Hana’s new study that Sehun had set up for her. She was leaning on her elbow with her fist curled under chin and her right hand outstretched on the glass desk. Her long fingernails were tapping in a rhythm as she re-read her Father’s email for the fourth time.

Daughter,

A conference will be held in a fortnight announcing your engagement to Oh Sehun. Attached is a script written for you. Memorise it thoroughly.

Byun Youngjae, CEO KNN

Hana pinched the bridge of her nose and sighed. It’s really happening, she thought.

“What am I going to tell Sehun?” she mumbled. Ultimately, she felt sorry for Sehun. He was the unfortunate soul to be into her family drama and now that they have to be wed, she didn’t want him to end up hating his life. Or hating her for the rest of his life. She was fond of Sehun, he had a calm and confident presence and she thought him a friend. But she was worried that by confining him to a marital life, he would soon wither away into bitterness and despair.

Sehun found Hana in the kitchen silently chopping vegetables with a dazed look in her eyes. He could tell that something was amiss when she accidentally sliced her finger instead of the carrot she was holding.

She muttered a curse under her breath and the kitchen tap to run her finger under it.

“Hey,” he said casually.

“Oh, Sehun, hi. Just nipped my finger,” she said a bit startled.

“I’ll grab the first aid kit. That looks deep,” he said and quickly retrieved said kit from the bathroom.

Sehun sat Hana down in the kitchen and held her finger up to see more blood oozing down the cut. He pursed his lips and took out disinfectant and a cotton swab and pressed it on her finger. Hana hissed as the disinfectant stung her finger.

“Something on your mind?” Sehun asked looking at her. Hana didn’t make eye contact which he knew meant she was hiding something.

“No, not really,” she said.

“Hana, we haven’t been together long but I know when you’re keeping something from me,” he said as he checked her finger to see of the bleeding had stopped.

“Aren’t you observant,” she said with a hint of disdain.

“So. Spill.” He took out a small gauze and replaced the swab with it. Taking some bandage tape, he wound it around the gauze to keep it in place.

“Thanks.” Sehun cocked his head to the side and waited for her to continue. He could tell Hana was worried. She kept nibbling on her lip.

“I got an email from my Father today,” she started.

Sehun could already tell that he was not going to like what he was going to hear.

“He wants us to make the engagement public. There’s going to be press conference in a fortnight to announce… the wedding date…” she whispered that last part. Sehun froze for a moment, simply shocked at the reality of the situation. For the past two weeks, they had been living comfortably which made them forget the situation they were in.

Neither of them were in control of their lives. That was what brought them together and they clung to each other and created their own little bubble that helped them cope. But it also made them forget their reality. They were going to get married.

Sehun blinked before he stood up. Hana kept her head down because she knew how much Sehun desperately wanted to be free. And because of her, he would never be.

“Sehun-ah! It’s good to hear from you! To what do I owe the pleasure of this phone call?” Luhan's cheery voice was heard after the second ring.

“I’m getting married Hyung” Sehun said solemly.

“… Well that’s great! … Isn’t it?”

Sehun sighed and looked at the fading pinks and oranges of the evening sky.

“It’s an arranged marriage”

“Ah. I see.”

“With Baekhyun’s sister”

“Byun Hana? She’s back?”

“Yep.”

“I’m guessing Mr Byun dragged her back. You don’t like her?”

“She’s a great person. She’s kind, caring, attentive, it’s like we’ve been friends for a long time.”

“So… what’s the problem? It’s doesn’t sound that bad.”

“Hyung, I don’t love her. And you know how much I’ve wanted to just pick up and go. But seeing Hana do exactly that and still have people controlling her life… It just means there’s no hope for me”

“I think you’re looking at this the wrong way.”

“What do you mean?”

“Hana IS your ticket to freedom.”

“But we’ll be married. That’s not freedom.”

Luhan chuckled, “ah you’re still so young Sehun-ah”

“Hyung” Sehun whined

“With you and Hana as CEO’s of your own companies, it means your parents are going to retire, therefore, theoretically, handing the reins over to you. And because you’re man in the relationship, Hana has to do whatever you tell her to. It may not be the freedom you’re looking for, but you will have control over the decisions you make in life.”

Sehun pondered about the implications of what Luhan had just said. It made sense to him and for the first time in a long time, he felt a glimmer of hope for his future.

“I’ll have to think on that a bit more Hyung, but you have made a compelling argument. However, I don’t agree with controlling Hana’s life. She’s been a victim of this mess as much as I have.”

“Well then I’m sure she’d be going through the same thing. Perhaps, you’ll be companions on your journey to freedom” Luhan laughed, “either way, you can always divorce her.”

“True. Thanks for the talk Hyung, I really needed this”

“Anything for you bro. I better get an invitation to your wedding.”

Sehun chuckled, “of course, you’ll be my best man.”

“Say WHAT? YOU ONLY TELLING ME THIS NOW? I HAV-“

“Bye Hyung”

“DON’T HANG UP ON M-“

Hana started to feel the panic rising. She curled her hand into a fist to keep it from shaking and felt tears prick the corner of her eyes. She liked Sehun, she didn’t want him to be mad at her but she knew that it was because of her that his life has been turned upside down. She felt that the past two weeks meant nothing now that they had to actually get married. She didn’t like the thought of getting married to a man she barely knew and she didn’t have the composure to make it seem believable.

Hana knew her Father expected her to put on a good show, make the people of Korea believe that she loved Oh Sehun and that she would gladly marry him and take over her Father’s company.

At that moment, something snapped inside Hana. It wasn’t just her that was suffering, it was Sehun too. If only I wasn’t here, none of this would have happened to him. This is my mess, and I dragged him into it. This is all my fault, if I didn’t come back, he would be able to live the way he wanted to.

Hana took shaky steps into the kitchen. Her head was roaring with her Father’s voice, screaming at her to be better, to do better; her brother’s voice telling her that she had ruined everything. That she was a coward for running away and her own, screaming that if only she hadn’t existed, everything would be ok.

The tears were streaming down her face and she was starting to get dizzy. Her vision blurred and she couldn’t get in a proper breath. She was crying so hard, she could hardly hear her whimpers as she reached for the kitchen knife hanging over the stove.

She let out a choked cry as she stared at her reflection in the shining stainless steel before she lowered the blade onto her wrist and pressed down on her skin.

“I’m so sorry,” she cried before she started to run the blade through. She winced in pain but gladly accepted it as she watched a thin stream on blood form on the cold metal.

All of a sudden, a hand ripped the knife out of her grip and it was thrown across the counter. Strong arms wrapped themselves around Hana’s shaking body and held her as she wailed.

“NO! I SHOULDN’T BE ALIVE! EVERYTHING WOULD BE BETTER IF I WAS DEAD. JUST LET ME DIE!”

“YOU PROMISED YOU’D STAY WITH ME” Sehun held her in his arms, she was struggling to free herself.

“Hana, please,” Sehun didn’t know what to do. He was heartbroken to see her try to kill herself.

“I’m so sorry I ruined your life Sehun,” she was suddenly limp in his arms and her wailing turned into quiet whimpering.

Sehun loosened his grip on her but didn’t let her go. He turned her around and held her arms as he led her out of the kitchen, up the stairs and into his bedroom where he carefully sat her down in his bed and knelt in front of her.

“Hana,” he squeezed her arm so that she would look at him. The sight of a beautiful but broken girl crushed his heart and he felt so ashamed for thinking he could just divorce her for his own selfishness.

“I’m so sorry Sehun,” she said as more tears flowed down her cheeks.

“Please, don’t be sorry. This isn’t your fault,”

“It is! If I had just never come back this wouldn’t have happened. Or if I hadn’t run away then we wouldn’t be in this mess” she cried.

“If you hadn’t come back you’d be abandoning your brother and he’d never forgive you. And if you had stayed, the same thing might have happened anyway. Our parents are friends right? We still could have been arranged. Hana, I’m not blaming for any of this. We are both victims in our parents’ struggle for power. And you promised me that you’d be by my side.”

Hana lowered her head, ashamed of her actions.

“I will marry you and you will become my wife. I’ve gotten to know you these past few weeks and I’ve learnt that I can count on you to be my partner in a world where everyone seems to be against me. And I hope you can count on me to be there for you too.’

Hana looked at Sehun in surprise. She didn’t think he’d still trust her enough to go through with the marriage.

“Are you sure?”

“Very. So what do you say? You and me against the world?” Sehun smiled.

Hana choked through a laugh and couldn’t help but smile back.

They didn’t love each other, but they were all each other had.

“Ok Oh Sehun. I’ll marry you. And we won’t let anyone control us ever again.”

“Exactly. Once we have our family companies to our name, nothing can stop us. And besides, I like having you around. It’s not so lonely anymore.”

“Thank you, Oh Sehun”

“Thank you, Byun Hana”

Hana wrapped her arms around Sehun’s neck and sighed in relief.