Love After Marriage

I did not expect this. Never in a million years, would I have thought that my parents would keep a promise that probably means nothing now anyway. This is the 21st century for goodness sake. Who makes such a ridiculous promise anyway? This is just another debilitating factor that stifles my growth. I am not mature enough for this. I am barely eighteen. You can even consider me to be seventeen years old. I was born in December for goodness sake. Is this even legal, you ask me? Apparently, it is. I just need the consent of both parental units and I am all good. How about my own rights as a human? In case anyone was wondering, I am an eighteen-year-old(seventeen still but who cares) who was minding her own business and was told a little over a month ago that I was going to get married. I, Sandra Rachel Park,was a single woman and I had just completed my first year college examinations.I was looking forward to hanging out with my friends and finally enjoying myself after having studied my life away for the past year. Imagine my surprise when I was told that I’d have to put a stop to all my plans and get married to a stranger. Of course, I went through a phase of denial and even accused my family members of taking part in some MTV prank show. I went radio silence on my parents and they pleaded with me to give him a chance. They cannot expect me to marry this man who I hardly knew. Could they? I had not even met the guy. The only thing I knew about him was that he was “handsome”. Yeah right. Besides, if I marry this guy for his supposed good looks and wealth, I might as well be labelled a shallow gold-digger. So, this was the deal. My great grandfather was a great soldier during the civil war in Korea. He made some old age promise to his best friend that they would marry off their children to become one big family.I really do not know what went through their mind when all this was going down.Was there not a war for them to focus on? Unfortunately for me, both sides were only blessed with males for two generations and me being the unlucky fellow just had to be born without that extra piece of skin and muscle, if you know what I mean. I have always been super close to my grandfather and I absolutely adored him. After some time of convincing me, he fell sick. He told me that it was his last wish to keep the promise that his father had made,and he hoped that I would fulfill his wish for him. I was reluctant, of course, butI decided that I would at least give it a try for his sake. I did not want him to pass away being unhappy or not having had his wishes fulfilled. So, I made the difficult decision to keep their promise and marry him. My grandfather passed away shortly after and I knew there was no turning back for me. Due to his sudden passing, we had to postpone meeting his family and today was the day that we had agreed to meet. Their family was told to come over for dinner and“he” would be there. At least the parental units had the courtesy to let us see who we were marrying. I am just relieved that my prospective husband was raised where I was raised. At least I would not have a language or cultural barrier which could make it even more difficult to cope with the whole situation. According to my mother, his family love me, and they are excited to meet me. She also warned me against doing anything that would tarnish the reputation that she had built up for me. “because no matter what, you cannot get out of this marriage.”  I do not think that she was totally psyched for it either, but she felt very indebted to my grandfather for having taken care of her family when they were in need. I looked up at the clock and realised that I had zoned out for way too long. It was already 4 pm. I got up and started getting ready for the dinner date. I threw open my wardrobe and contemplated on what I should wear. What does one even wear for such a peculiar event? I decided on a pair of dark jeans with a baby pink blouse and then paired it with my plain black Vans. Satisfied with my laid-back look, I started dabbing on some makeup.I winged my eyeliner and was putting on my pink lip tint when my mum came in with this massive fabric. I eyed her suspiciously. My mother pushed the material into my hand and told me to put it on. I gave her my most respectful 'WTF' look. Upon closer inspection, I noticed that it was a massive gown that was inspired by the famous Korean Hanbok. 'Don't worry Rachel, it is a modern Hanbok. Not a traditional one. So, you won't look out of place' she said like it was the most obvious fact. “What is wrong with what I am wearing?” I whined,gesturing to my jeans and blouse. “Don’t be sill Rachel. This is a formal event. You cannot be seen looking like that. They will think that you have no respect for them” she scolded. “What did you expect?” I muttered under my breath,rolling my eyes at her statement. “What?” she asked sternly. “Nothing…” I quickly answered. “Could you leave the room so that I can change?” I asked, batting my eyelashes at her. She sighed, knowing that I was being difficult on purpose. However, she let it go and left the room. I tugged and fiddled with the dress and applied the rest of my makeup. I looked at my phone and was relieved to find that I still had 30 minutes to spare. I went downstairs and into the back yard to get some fresh air. We lived in a house with a very pretty and big backyard. We were well to do. My grandfather ran his own successful designer shoe company before passing it down to my father. Maybe that was why I could not get out of this marriage. It was also for the benefit of the company. I heard that the family I was being married into owned a successful business too and it was supposed to help us expand our business. I had my quiet corner in the backyard where I always escaped to when I was feeling down or lonely. I even contemplated hiding so that I could get out of this 'forced' betrothal. However, my parents and my late grandfather were too important to me. They gave me everything and never asked me to do anything. I owe it to them that I at least grant them one favour. I sat down in the garden swing, making sure that my attire was not ruined, and began to play the events of the past month and pondered on what was to come. I wallowed in my self-pity and I started to tear up. I missed my grandfather and I missed my friends. I knew everything was going to change when I got married and I hated that. “Ahem”. Someone cleared their throat. I quickly wiped away my tears and looked up expecting to see my father. Instead I was met with a very kind pair of eyes that flickered with a tinge of concern. I was so consumed by my thoughts that I did not even notice this man that had been standing so close to me that if I had swung further, I would have smacked him right in the gut. This man, who ever he was, was well built; not too muscular, just enough to make you feel comfortable, broad shoulders what amazed me most was his sharp features. He had a strong jaw and an air of confidence to match. I did not realise that I was staring until he spoke in the sexiest voice“Are you okay, beautiful?”