Chapter 26

It had been a week since the incident with James' father and while he was still in no mood to see him, his mother assured him he had gone on a business trip to Shanghai.

He strolled into the house down the same long hallway and expected to say hello to his mother in the kitchen but saw she wasn't there. Instead, he saw more kitchen staff than usual cooking and bustling around.

"What's going on? Where's my mom?"

They didn't smile or look him in the eyes. They pointed towards the dining room and continued cooking.

Confused, he walked into the next room and all eyes immediately were on him. Both of his parents stared back at him; his mother with a look of guilt and his father with a look of annoyance.

"Look who finally decided to show up," he snorted.

Across from them, were a couple who looked vaguely familiar, but he couldn't remember where he had seen them before. In front of his empty seat, was a woman a little younger than him he had never seen before. She was pretty enough, but too flashy for his tastes.

"I wasn't expecting to see you today," he muttered to his father. He glanced at his mother who smiled faintly at him but quickly shifted her gaze downwards. He realized she probably felt guilty about lying to get him to visit but he couldn't blame her. His father was hard to say no to, partially because he wouldn't let you.

"Take your seat," he gestured towards the empty chair beside the mystery woman.

"This is Ms. Tiffany Koo and these are her parents Mr. and Mrs. Koo. I've known them for a long time. This, is my son James Kim."

James smiled politely at them both and stuck out his hand towards Tiffany.

"Nice to meet you, Tiffany."

She smiled in return, but it was the same one he was giving her. The one they used for appearances.

Dinner would've been delicious but given the situation, everything tasted like cardboard. Questions were being asked and he replied in as few words as possible. He tried to be polite but wanted to subtly let them know that he really had no interest in whatever they were selling.

Tiffany seemed to be doing the same, but none of the adults took notice. Or pretended not to anyways. The two of them quietly cut their steaks while the world around them seemed to be moving at a snail's pace.

 "Why don't you two go and check out the newly renovated garden?" said Mr. Kim.

"I'm sure they have one just like it at home," James responded flatly.

"Nonsense, Tiffany would love to see it," Mrs. Koo gave her daughter a look and shooed them away. She sighed and got up from her seat.

"Yes, I would like that very much James. Would you show me?" she put on a forced smile and grabbed his arm.

When they were finally out of range and out of the house, she let go of his arm and walked ahead. She whirled around with her arms folded.

"I know both of us have better things to do and don't want to be here right now. But did you really have to make it so obvious? It's written all over your face."

"Well, sorry for being so honest," he replied sarcastically.

"Unless we come up with something, we're going to keep having these dinners."

"The old geezer has been trying to set me up since I was in high school. You think I want to marry someone I barely know?"

"At least we're on the same page. Look, you seem like an okay guy but you're not my type. I'm already engaged so…"

"Wait, what?! So, what are you doing here?"

"Same reason you are, probably. They didn't like his background and wanted someone with better connections. Not caring about my own feelings. That's what happened to you, isn't it?"

"My mom just wants me to be happy. My dad's an asshole."

"That's better than me, mine both want me to be miserable."

"What do they want from you though? You're already engaged to the guy!"

"I have less than a year of school left and have job offers from big companies already. I'll be working with my dad's rivals, but he can't do anything since they're higher up socially. But I need them off my back until then. That's where you come in."

"Me? What can I do?

"Think about it. What'll make them stop breathing down our necks?"

She leaned forward, waiting for James to realize. He thought for a moment and widened his eyes.

"HELL NO! You know that never works!"

"Keep your voice down!" she quickly covered his mouth while he stepped back.

"Sorry, but pretending to be in love always makes things worse. Our partners end up misunderstanding or get the wrong idea."

"Life isn't a Korean drama, don't be so dramatic. We only have to pretend when we're with them. We don't have to spend time outside of that. You won't hear from me otherwise and I don't expect to hear from you."

James still wasn't sure, but he did seriously think about it.

"Your dad will stop harassing you and maybe, he'll stop having people checking in on you."

"Okay…but we need to set some boundaries! We are NOT kissing and no touching any inappropriate places."

Jessica was offended.

"Like I'd want to touch you! Only my baby can touch me."

"Glad we understand each other. You have a deal."

They held out each others' hands and shook on it.

----------------------------------------------------

Rylie, Joel and Cameron returned to her house the day after to start painting the house. They had succeeded in decluttering and removing all the garbage bags.

While the three of them became friends again, things were still different. It wasn't a bad feeling, just…different.

"I think this room would look good in orange," said Cameron. The other two looked at each other and shook their heads.

"Who's ever heard of an orange kitchen?" Joel laughed.

"Oranges are orange and they're food," Cameron shrugged.

"That' not how it works," Rylie chuckled. He smiled cheekily in response.

"We're going with a pale salmon."

"Oh, so you'll go with salmon but not orange?"

He raised an eyebrow to mock her. She slapped him lightly on the shoulder and they all burst out laughing.

"Ry, who are you with?"

"Em!" she ran towards her and embraced her tightly.

"Who's that?" whispered Cameron to Joel.

"Emilia, Rylie's best friend. She has a boyfriend, so don't even think about it."

Cameron was offended.

"I wasn't…! How could you even…!"

"Relax Cam! I was half kidding. Just wanted to give you a heads up before you started doing anything," Joel slapped his friend's back and laughed.

"What are you two laughing at over there," Rylie eyed the boys suspiciously.

"Nothing, babe. Just teasing Cameron."

The guys got up and everyone introduced themselves to each other.

"So, these guys are who you've been talking about…" said Emilia with her hand on her chin. The boys looked at each other confused, then eyed Rylie.

"What have you been telling her?" They said in unison.

"Nothing bad, I swear! Right, Em?"

"Right!" she made the motion of zipping her lips.

The rest of the day flew by quickly. Maybe it was because they were having too much fun painting with each other.

"Achoo, achoo, achoo," Emilia sneezed while yelling in frustration.

"That's the 10th time you've sneezed like that today. Someone must really be thinking of you," laughed Joel.

"I hope it's nothing bad," she sighed.