Dearly Beloved (chapter 1)
Dearly Beloved
Chapter One
So Much For The Wedding Night
( Prologue)
Okay, so where were we?
Oh, yes, that asshole had just forced me into standing in as Ji Hye.
I never said that my family was perfect. My dad was never around, and when he was, he usually only ever paid attention to his work. He really could have cared less about having a family, but he would never get rid of my sister or myself. Not because he cared, but because Ji Hye was best married off (like she would have been if she had not ran away) and I could carry on the Han name.
Some kind of father, huh?
Anyway, my mother was perfect. Almost (if only she had not married dad). She was beautiful, long black hair and big doe eyes. She, like the rest of our family, had come from some high-society type of background and was betrothed to my father at a very early age. I do not know how she managed to live with the jackass, but she did and I gave her my respect for that aspect alone. I loved her more than anything (other than my sister) and maybe that was the reason why I never left permanently. The old man would not have minded, but my mother would have been devastated and I would hate to make her cry.
You already know a little about Ji Hye, the traitor. I guess it would not hurt to learn a little bit more. She was a beautiful, soft-spoken girl who just so happened to have a shitty father who did not care about her, only his money. I do not hate her for what she did, not one tiny bit, but I really wished she would not have left me alone.
Oh, this has become some sappy shit. Moving on then.
So, I bet you are all thinking, “Why are you complaining, asshole?” I would be thinking along the same lines, too, if I did not know my dad personally. But I do, and I really could care less what you think of me… or him (but I would prefer that you think of him as a jerk as well).
And there is a perfectly logical reason why I am complaining. I was about to be married to some pretty boy rich kid! Thankfully, I never made it to the vows… but that did not get rid of the fact that I was stuck in that dress.
Oh, wait, I am jumping ahead again! Damn. Sorry. I guess I will just start with the wedding day since I bet you are bored out of your mind and waiting for the interesting parts.
“Oh, Jae, you look so pretty,” my mother had gushed when she finally had me in the puffy white gown that was supposed to be my sister’s.
I scowled at my reflection, not because of my mother calling me pretty but for the fact that she was right. I was a guy, I was supposed to be sexy or hot… not pretty! Oh, wait, guys were not supposed to be cross-dressing as their sisters either…
My mother smiled from behind me, her hands resting upon my shoulders, humming bits and pieces of songs I could vaguely recall, and I found my gaze softening. I had been so mad at my father, that I had forgotten all about how happy my mother was about this wedding. Not that she agreed with the arranged marriage (“I was fortunate to fall in love with your father, but not everyone is so lucky,” my mother had once said to a smaller version of myself many years ago.), but she had no say in the matter and would not dare speak against my father’s wishes. Besides, she liked these kind of things, and had even taken it upon herself to make all of the arrangements.
She applied the make-up to my face lightly, her lips turned upwards and her eyes shining happily. I could not help but to smile along with her, watching bemusedly as my mother fussed over my gown… uh, Ji Hye’s gown.
Oh, who was I kidding? I looked hot in that damn dress.
“Oh, I forgot the bouquet,” I heard her mutter to herself as she finished putting on my make-up. “Let me run down and get it. I will be right back.”
She got up to leave, and for some strange reason I felt my stomach lurch, as if something awful was about to happen. (If only I knew.) I grabbed hold of my mother’s dainty wrist, stopping her from leaving the room.
“I love you, mom.”
She chuckled softly, caressing my face with the hand not in my grasp, as she cooed sweetly, “I love you, too, darling. This will all be over soon. I promise.”
I nodded to her, letting her slip through my fingers and out of the room that held me. If only I had known that this thing had only just begun. If only I had known that my mother’s promise was about to be broken…
Maybe I would not have to be sitting here, right now, and recounting these past few weeks with you.
… Moving on again…
My mother had only been gone for a few minutes, but I was so ready to get things over with, that I had practically ran to the door when I heard a light knock. Okay, so I did run when I heard a knock, who cares?
Imagine my surprise, though, when I found two very tall figures looming over me. I lost my voice in that instant, too startled to scream for help or say anything. They took that opportunity to gag me with what tasted like old gym socks (yeah, it was worse than green carpet). The taller of the two quickly picked me up, had me thrown over his shoulder, and then we were in a foreign car speeding away. It had happened so fast that I barely heard the distressed calls of my mother and the shouts of body guards. It was not long before the excitement up the past few events caught up with me, and I blacked out against the man holding me captive in the backseat of the car.
Hold on just a second and let me get my train of thought in order.
I woke up sometime later, we had been driving for what seemed like hours but in reality it had only been thirty minutes since I had fainted. The man was still holding me, his gaze ahead, as he conversed with his accomplice quietly. My mind was still too foggy for me to comprehend what was being said, but it must have been classified because they automatically quit speaking when I shifted in the man’s arms.
“Hey, are you awake?” the one holding me asked, shining a flashlight in my eyes.
My first impression of him: asshole.
I shook him away the best I could manage at the time, still tied up and gagged with the nasty sock that I could not spit out.
“Yoochun! Stop torturing her already--and are you trying to kill her? Take your sock out of her mouth,” the driver ordered, his eyes glancing at us through the rearview mirror. I think I might have heard him mutter “idiot” under his breath, and I could not help but find myself liking this guy. Well, if I looked past the whole kidnapping part.
“Aye, aye, captain,” the guy holding me (presumably Yoochun) said dryly, causing me to roll my eyes, as he carelessly jerked the sock out of my mouth.
I spat immediately after getting the vile garment out of my mouth. Whoever caused that thing to reek so bad might have wanted to look into bathing every once in a while as well as washing their clothes. It might be beneficial to everyone in a whole, not just their kidnapped victims. I struggled with the man holding me, biting his arm so he would let me go and I could get off of him.
He flipped me off, nursing his pained arm delicately, as he barked at the driver, “Why the hell did we have to do this, Yunho? This girl is a bitch!”
“I’m not a girl,” I spoke up, my arms folded over my chest and my dark eyes settled into a glare.
Both of the men turned their attention to me, shock evident in both of their faces. The one sitting beside me began sputtering nonsensical things that neither the driver nor I could understand. The driver, Yunho, was just as much shocked, but he did not say anything. I really was beginning to like that guy more and more the less he talked.
“Are you sure…? You kind of look like a girl to me,” Yoochun said, lifting up the ends of my gown.
I kicked his hands away, holding my dress down, as I snapped, “Girl or guy, you are not going to lift up my skirt!”
Yoochun mumbled “touchy” under his breath and before I could hit him once more, the other guy started speaking again.
“So, you’re not Han Ji Hye…?” Yunho asked me, his eyes focused on my form through the rearview mirror. I
shook my head no, and the idiot in the seat beside me said, “Well, you look a lot like her… What are you to the Hans?”
The question did not catch me off guard. I knew at some point they were going to wonder why I was cross-dressing as Ji Hye. Before I knew it, the lie tumbled off of my lips, and I was wondering how I could do something like that so easily. Then again, I had never truly felt like a Han, so… Maybe that was why it sounded as believable as I wished it was.
“I am a servant for the Hans. When their daughter disappeared,” (there really was no reason not to tell them that the bride got cold feet), “they kindly asked me to take her place until she could be relocated and brought safely back to the manor.” Okay, so I might have been exaggerating quite a bit on the whole “kindly asked me” thing, but no one else knew what an ass my father was… Plus I was role-playing as a servant, and how convincing would it be if I started talking impolitely about Korea’s number one family.
They seemed to buy my lie. I reasoned that either a.) I was a kick-ass liar, or b.) they were far too gullible for their own good. I like to think that it was the former.
“What’s your name?” Yunho asked as he pulled into the driveway of a beat-up apartment complex, and at that moment I realized that I had no clue as to where I was or how to get back home.
“Hmm?” I asked absent-mindedly, fingering the lacy material of the white gown.
“You’re name, genius,” Yoochun deadpanned, moving out of the way of my well-aimed kick.
I could not possibly tell them that my name was Han Jaejoong. They may have been gullible but (hopefully) they were not that stupid. So, I used to the first name that came to my mind.
“Kim Jaejoong.”
“Jung Yunho,” the driver introduced, smiling widely at me from his seat. “And he’s Park Yoochun.” I turned my attention to the grouchy man beside me.
I began to wonder what kind of kidnappers they were. What criminal introduced themselves to their victim so easily? Especially one that would bolt at their first opportunity. They must have not thought this through so well…
They were idiots, but I began to like them… Maybe that was where I messed up. I almost felt bad about lying to them… Almost.
That was until I found out that Yunho had been lying to me, too.
Asshole.
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Pictures of Characters and Banner are ( here!) Preview of chapter 2 and new story can be found ( here!)
So, what do you think of this chapter/pictures? Do you like the story being told from Jaejoongs's POV? I hope I am doing him justice. :P He's a fun character to write for in this story!
Please comment and tell me what you think!
Oh, I am pleased with the feedback that the prologue received! I am very happy to post this next chapter, thanks to all of your kind words! :) I have never been this excited about posting something in my life haha. I hope that you all like this chapter as much as you did the prologue (hopefully more!)