Be My Pretend Girlfriend

Narrator

Later that afternoon, even though it was nearing the end of office hours, not Chris nor Jihyun stopped their work. Jihyun wasn’t lying when she told her mother she'd had her hands full. As for Chris, on the other hand, he was trying to juggle and settle a few pieces of paperwork as his father was interested in buying a new piece of land in Beijing, China.

“Chris!! Oppa!! Where are you?” the younger female yelled as she entered the office with Luke tailing behind her. Disturbing the peace in Chris’s quiet office, they left the door wide open. Not once caring to close it or wait for Jihyun’s return.

“Wait…Aliaa? Luke?” Chris looked up from his papers, shocked by the sudden noise. He frowned when the female happily skipped towards his couch and slumped down. “Hiii!” she beamed, making Luke chuckle.

Staring at them for a few moments, Chris tried to see if his eyes were playing tricks on him, but it was futile when Aliaa giggled at something Luke said. Sighing, he put down his pen and tried to gauge the reason for their abrupt visit.

“What are you two love birds doing in my office?” Chris raised an eyebrow at them, arms crossed and not moving from his chair. “There’s something we want to tell you,” Aliaa happily sing-sang as she stared at him with her big doe eyes. Excitement and happiness were evident in her eyes. If it was possible, he could feel it radiating off of her. It made Chris’s stern look soften. 

“That and we have some favor to ask of you… so if you could please?” Luke added and sat next to her. His best friend gestured towards Chris to sit with them so they could talk. As much as he hates having bumps when working, he sighed again and sat with them. “How did you enter my office? Where on earth is my secretary?” He whispered the last sentence and made himself comfortable on the single settee. 

His cousin snorted when Chris looked annoyed, “Your secretary was not at her table, so we just came in,” Aliaa simply informed as she heard him. Her words made him stare back at her and nod, then he recalled Jihyun’s daily schedule. Or at least, what he knows she should be doing at this time of day ever since they still haven't hired a new hotel manager.

Chris then realized Jihyun was probably doing her rounds to check in with the staff at the HR department. It looked like the time of the day. “Then again… I have never really looked for her… she’s always looking for me for work, lunch, and stuff… then again, I don’t see her that much in a day…” he chuckled inwardly.

“Why is your secretary always not at her table when we come to visit?” 

Luke’s question snapped Chris out of his thoughts. He wasn’t sure why he had thought of Jihyun’s whereabouts suddenly. Never before did he wonder where the woman was. It’s usually Jihyun who came to him, and he never needed to look for her.

“What?” trying to act as if he wasn’t paying attention, the couple looked at him weirdly. Aliaa repeated the question and Chris nodded. “My assistant hotel manager quit a few months back and we haven’t found the perfect time to look for a new one yet… so she’s been helping here and there. So yeah, that’s why.”

Chris’s explanation had the couple nodding and looking at each other in understanding. Suddenly going into complete silence, Chris wasn’t sure if he should roll his eyes or chuckle at their look-alike acts.

“So, mind telling me what this visit is about?” Chris boringly asks, breaking the silence they created. The two shared a look as they snapped out of their silent spell and as much as Chris hates it when people do that, he let it slide. After all, it was his best friend and favorite cousin he was dealing with right now.

“We’re... Getting married?” Aliaa hesitated to say. “Oh, Ok........ Wait… what?! Are you serious!?” Chris got up from his seat with a baffled look. He glared at his best friend and then moved his gaze to do the same to his cousin. 

She is only 23, a student and they started dating not too long ago. If he wanted to be exact, a year and a half. Although he knew about the secret love they had for each other, Chris was never the one to say yes to them as he only wanted to protect her. Plus, in his eyes, Luke was a bit too old for Aliaa. But what could he say? The two were already head over heels for each other even before he could stop their love from blooming.

“Chris, calm down,” Luke held his arm and pulled him back to the seat. Chris gazed at them a little longer and sighed. Giving up on trying to intimidate them into getting out of it, as he knows, he knows his cousin all too well. 

Once Aliaa wanted something, she would do whatever it takes to make sure she gets it. Luke was the only example he needed or the one he had kept in mind ever since. Even though they had a noticeable age gap, she didn’t mind and still wanted to be with him. 

“And that’s how she got him…” sighing, he looked up to the ceiling as if he needed the strength to fight to stay sane, to not lose his temper in front of his favorite cousin. ”Oh my god… why are they doing this to me…?”

“Do your parents know? How about the preparation? How about your studies? I’m not even going to ask you, Luke, because I know your business is going well. I do trust you can take care of her, but I-” Chris exhaled deeply and pinched the bridge of his nose tiredly. “I’m just asking them questions… but thinking about it already tires me out… my god Aliaa, you are the only cousin that drives me crazy…”

His sudden bullet-like questions caught the couple off guard. Aliaa and Luke shared the same look again before bracing themselves to answer them patiently. Hopefully, to pacify his hidden temper. They knew they had to tread lightly if they wanted their plan to work in their favor.

“Fine! I see you have all of it settled!” he huffed and rolled his eyes when Aliaa giggled. “Of course, we did. How else did you think I was preparing myself to see you for this?” at Aliaa’s statement, Chris bit back his tongue from saying he wouldn’t bless the wedding, but then kept his temper at bay. She looked too happy for him to ruin it for her.

“When did you propose? And what is the real reason you came here? I doubt me asking all those questions were in it,” he gave up for the second time when they got most of the hard ones out and Chris noted how Aliaa looked proud. As if she had just achieved a medal for answering his first round of inquiry.

“About a month ago? It was when we celebrated our anniversary and we were wondering if we could have our wedding at your resort? The one in Okinawa? That’s why we are here. My mom and Aliaa's mother had suggested it and we liked the idea. Even our wedding planners agreed to it.” 

Chris was a bit relieved to hear Luke was the one who answered the question. At least now he knows, it wasn’t something that Aliaa asked of him out of anything. And since his best friend looked just as serious, he knows, Aliaa is in good hands. After he listens to some more of Aliaa’s assurance and Luke’s supporting answers, he really can’t do anything about it. “If these two are ready to wed, then who am I to stop them?”

“So… let me get this straight. The real reason you came here to tell me is that you’re engaged and want to have your wedding at my resort?” trying to act calm and bored, he made eye contact with the both of them, and they nodded in confirmation. “Yes, that was the original plan… but you kind of went a bit over the top with your questions so, yeah,” Aliaa sheepishly replied and Luke just chuckled in reply.

“Only because I wanted to make sure you guys are serious with each other and not goofing about… Marriage is a sacred thing. It’s not something you could just want one day and back out the next,” He sighed at the memory but shook it away. “No… not right now… I can think about my pathetic life when they leave, but not when they are here…” Luke looked at him apologetically and was about to say something, but Chris cut him, knowing his best friend’s appearance all too well. It’s best to stop him before the male can become his personal psychiatrist, again.

“Ok, I’ll tell my secretary to book the resort for… well, how long do you guys want to be there, I guess?” looking at his best friend, the male blinked, surprised at the sudden topic change. Aliaa nudged her fiancée when he took too long to reply and Luke smiled sheepishly.

“Ten days? Is that too much? And if you could, the whole resort for both our families and friends, as my mom wanted to make sure they’d be comfortable with everyone. She thought it’d be best not to have to share with strangers, if it’s not much to ask,” Chris shakes his head and jots down the things in his planner on his phone.

“Not at all. I mean, it’s not like I don’t know how big your family is, just like us Wang’s,” they chuckled at his reason, agreeing, and soon began to fill him in with some of the ideas Aliaa had come up with their stay there. Chris listened to it all and sometimes threw in a few suggestions as to what he knew regarding his resort, making his cousin gush more and he could not help but smile.

“Chris… I just wanted you to know… I invited Cameron as well. You know how close I am to her, right? So how could I not invite her to my wedding?” Aliaa bit her lip as she tried to peek at his expression yet grew nervous when he was all but silent. Calmly jotting down something on his planner, ignoring the words she said. “So… she’ll be there… I should have seen this coming… oh well… it’s not like we haven’t seen each other since… well… I know she and I are no more, so why should I care…”

When Chris took too long to reply, Aliaa wasn’t sure if she should keep quiet or continue. Choosing the latter, she inhaled and began timidly, “I mean… I am getting married soon, so it’s only right to invite her, she’s like a family member to me… you know that, right? Oppa?” her voice at the end began to sound smaller and smaller, and it made Chris feel a tiny bit guilty. “But just a tiny bit… a small payback for this unexpected news.”

Chris observed his cousin, not sure if he was amused by her expression or not. Just as he wanted to clear her of her consciousness and guilt, a knock came along with Jihyun’s small but confident voice.

“Chris! I told you earlier! you need to sign this before you put it on my table! Did you even read it thoroughly? I told you this needs to be sent to HR as they are taking interns for kitchen staff and the front desks soon. It's for next month, remember? You agreed to let the staff take interns to help them?” 

Jihyun came in with a few files without looking up at them. She didn’t realize nor notice the presence of Luke and Aliaa as she talked without stopping and went straight to Chris’s table, but when she looked up, she saw no one.

“It was a miracle she didn’t bump into anything…” Chris held back his sneer as his eyes followed her every move. “Now, where did that giant go to?” She thought confusedly, pouting and biting the bottom of her lips while wondering where in the world her tall boss had gone to. When Chris saw Jihyun, an idea popped into his mind. He grinned like an idiot suddenly, unknown and unseen by the three figures in the same room as him.

“Jihyun, I’m over here,” he cooed while looking at Jihyun’s back that was facing him. Luke and Aliaa stare at Chris weirdly, “Does he not use formalities with his staff? She even called him by his first name like they were friends.” The couple thought as they knew how much he cared about respect. Jihyun heard him and turned around, still face down in the files to face Chris and his two guests. She was mid-way from where he sounded but stopped in her tracks when her eyes landed on the two guests with him.

“Oh! I didn’t know you had guests… forgive me for intruding into your meeting. I’ll just leave these on your desk. Please sign them when you have time. I need to give this to HR first thing in the morning tomorrow,” She bows down, flustered and confused. ”Why did he call me so casually? I thought he said to use honorifics when there are outsiders? And it’s only been a few hours since he put the rule up…”

“Jihyun, come here. I want you to meet my cousin and her fiancée. Guys, this is my one and only secretary, temporary hotel manager, and my girlfriend,” Chris was suddenly beside her and wrapped his hand around her shoulder. He pulled her closer as he squeezed himself into her smaller frame. 

“What... How did he get here? Wasn’t he there just now? What’s he doing?“ She couldn’t fully register what he had just said but the confused looks of his two guests gave her the impression they, too, were confused like her.

“What? You are dating your secretary? Since when?” the female said and had her eyes up and down Jihyun’s figure as if she was in disbelief. Staring back at her, Jihyun’s ear caught the scandalous words, feeling the color drain from her face as her brain registered the words.

"What?! Who’s dating who?!"

Oppa – older brother / the way younger girls or sisters refer to older men or their blood brother and family