Til Death Do Us Part

"Jyeon, take her hand." Jyeon's mother picks up his hand by the wrist and forces it into mine, stopping me from venturing into the open doorway of the ballroom, where she's standing guard for our arrival. I squirm, hating that we are constantly forced to interact this way, pushed together, and made to act like young sweethearts. My face flushes with heat, and I chew on my inner lip.

"Yes, mother." Jyeon does as he's told, his blank tone and non-reaction, sliding my tiny hand into his and holding it loosely. His noticeable coldness in his manner, like always, since we got into our young teen years, and my heart sinks. His skin contact and warmth don't remove the chill from the air between us, and I look away from him, gazing at my feet in downhearted depression. I cannot remember the last time he looked upon me affectionately or gave me any kindness, even though I've known him since I was born.

"Sohla, lift your chin, smile. You two look beautiful together, as always." She chirps at us, tweaking his bow tie and smoothing his lapels before turning to me and fixing a strand of my hair.

"Yes, mother." I do as I'm told, lifting my face to meet Jyeon's mother's eyes on mine. Calling her the title she prefers, given that I will be her daughter-in-law someday. I try to correct my posture and stand tall because I know she hates my slouching. She's stern as a mother figure and doesn't tolerate slackness.

"Where’s your brother, Jyeon?” She turns back to him, irritation in her tone evident, and then glances over us at the filling hallway with guests arriving.

“Following. He’ll be here shortly.” Jyeon doesn’t move. He awaits her approval before we get set free to join the others inside.

“That boy. You need to get him in hand. You’re older and should be showing him how to behave.”

“Yes, mother,” Jyeon answers robotically, knowing that his brother is not a handful at all and his lateness will not be his fault. He’s a sweet and caring boy who looks after me continuously, even though he’s a year younger. I miss him right now, standing here with this awkward tension.

“Okay, go inside. Remember to keep Sohla on your arm. All eyes are on our future heirs. Enjoy your birthday.” She leans in, air kisses him, and then finally lets us move past her. My body sagged slightly with relief, and I caught Jyeon giving me a side-eye.

“I hate that dress.”

It’s all he says to me. Looking down at the overly childish sequin dress his mother bought for me, although I agree, it wounds me to the core. My heart aches, and I swallow a knot that forms in my throat, nodding his way without showing him that his words always hurt me. He reluctantly leads me into the crowded room, and our appearance causes a minor reaction from the guests.

Some rush forward to say hello, smile, and raise glasses, but the affair is entirely fake. I grin and bear it and play the part of the young wealthy daughter of the Kim family, knowing my place well.

“The big sixteen…. Your parents are really going all out for this one.” Bryant, Jyeon’s best friend, slides between us from behind, shoving me aside while unlatching our hands. “Don’t worry; I’ll save you both from forced romantics. Your parents like to shove it in everyone’s faces that the Parks and the Kims will continue their joint supremacy by marrying off their kids to keep their corporation undented.”

“Please tell me there’s an escape route.” Jyeon relaxes his stiff posture, loosening up his naturally broad shoulders, and quickly darts a glance around for his father or other watchful eyes. I am drawn to watching his mannerisms, which have changed from an awkward child into a bro type of demeanor over the past year. He’s grown taller and filled out, and his naturally handsome dark looks have lost puppy fat. Next to a smaller and fairer Bryant, Jyeon is mysterious, sophisticated, and starting to look like his father.

“Bide your time. Hang out here for an hour or so until the old folks get drunk and push off to their VIP lounge upstairs, and then we young uns can get a party started.” Bryant winks, moving to stand in front of us, and turns to face us. Eyeing me up and frowning with instant dislike.

“Sohlly Bolly …. What are you wearing? You look like a ten-year-old in that.” He disapproves as much as Jyeon does, and I glare back.

“I didn’t pick it….. Jyeon’s mom did, and I’m thirteen, not ten.” I stick my tongue out at him and slap him on the shoulder. Sassy initiated from deep inside when away from the watchful eye of the seniors, and Bryant leans in and pinches my cheek. Grinning at me before rubbing my head and messing my hair. He’s always been like an older sibling that loves to rile me at every opportunity.

“Oooh, attitude, missy. And here I thought all these lady lessons you were getting had culled the tomboy spirit and turned out something tolerable.” Bryant tries to poke me in the face, and I slap his hand away with instinctive impulses.

“Stop it.” Jyeon elbows me and nods towards the far right of the room where my parents have turned this way. My eyes follow his gaze, and I catch my father’s cold and intense stare. That I’m behaving in a manner he disapproves of.

“Yeah, Sohlly. Your dad will send you away to reform school if you don’t behave. Listen to your husband.” He jests at me, sticks his hands in his pockets, and looks at his feet when Jyeon glares coldly at him. Visually shutting him down and making it clear he doesn’t find that term amusing.

Jyeon hates this whole arrangement, although he’s never verbally said it to me or around me. Ever since we were told, when I turned eleven, that our future had already been mapped out and we would be officially engaged when I turn seventeen, he’s turned aloof and cold towards me. What used to be a warm and sometimes fun sibling relationship turned sour, and he avoids me now when not forced into proximity.

Our family decided when we were born that they would put us together for the sake of our company, to keep the shares and money as one, even when our parents were no longer here. I can feel his efforts to keep us apart. The lack of emotion when he’s close and the rebellious aura when he’s made to take my hand. He’s obedient to a fault though, and would never refuse what’s expected of us. Jeon will obey.

“Where’s Yoonie, anyhow? Isn’t he late for your formal soiree?” Bryant changes the subject fast and looks around for him, taking the icy hint. “It’s not like him to be AWOL when there’s cake.”

“He got side-tracked by my grandfather. He’s twelve now, so he’s expected to start shouldering some responsibility for being a Park son.” Jyeon moves to a passing waitress and picks up two fruit cocktails, handing one to me first and the other to Bryant before picking up his own, and we stand cradling them.

“Sixteen and on the juice….. being rich sucks. The housekeeper’s kid had a blowout sixteenth at a skateboard park where half of them had to be carried home because they smuggled out half their father’s liquor cabinet. How come we have to wear tuxedos and hang out with your family’s business associates? This isn’t a birthday party; it’s a social engagement to create valuable contacts.” Bryant has always been rough and ready, not suited to high society life, and I giggle at him. He is the most annoying person I know, but he’s fun, and Jyeon acts half-human when he’s around. Despite appearances, I like Bryant.

“You’re shocked by this? I’m sure even my twenty-first will benefit my father in some way. It was never about his eldest son’s birthday.” Jyeon’s tone is bitter, and he raises his glass to his mother across the room, who has now taken her place among the glamorously dressed grown-ups swarming around the hall nearer the band.

I’m accustomed to this lifestyle, so it’s nothing new or intimidating, and I’m bored.

“Hey…. Did I miss anything?” Yoonah slides in beside me, immediately pushes his arm through mine, and leans his head against my shoulder despite my being taller. He’s slower to hit puberty than Jyeon ever was and still looks like a cute little tanned and pudgy Park boy. All big brown eyes and pouty lips, and he has a softness that melts your heart. This is the baby brother of my life, even though I’m an only child, and I adore him more than anything in the world.

“Your brain?” Bryant jests and pokes him in the forehead.

“I’ll always be smarter than you, even without a brain, Bry!” Yoonah jests right back at his brother’s best friend used to these quips and jokes from him.

“Dad’s coming; stand up.” Jyeon slides his arm around my back, out of sight, and pushes his brother off harshly so he flinches away. Constantly aware of how we should behave and present ourselves because our lives depend on it when it comes to our parents. He yanks me closer to his side, away from Yoonah, and then lets go of me completely. His hand falls back by his hip between us, but my stomach still tightens at the contact.

Deep down, I have always had some feelings for Jyeon, which are undefined, and his brief touch makes my insides flutter when it happens. I don’t know why, as he makes no effort to have any relationship with me anymore.

“You all look very nice tonight.” Mr. Park saunters to us and pats his eldest son on the shoulder. He’s an intimidating, tall, and muscular man, who doesn’t look like he’s in his fifties, but more of a handsome thirty. Jyeon takes after him entirely, with black hair that looks nice styled up or messy over his forehead and somehow boyish, deep darkest brown eyes and sallow skin.

Jyeon is his mini-me. He stands like the master of the universe, with a perfectly straight posture, and has an intimidating quality, especially when dressed in a black tux. If Jyeon ends up like him as a full-grown man, then OLO Corporation needn’t worry about having a commanding CEO at the helm to continue our family’s joint legacy. Intelligent, with killer instincts, and despite the classy and smooth appearance, Mr. Park is known as a demon in business and should never be crossed.

We all nod and smile, and I immediately fade into that nervous girl who starts fixing her appearance whenever he appears. Mr. Park is not someone who seems warm and loving when you know him well, and despite being my father’s best friend, I have never really built any bond with him.

“Sohla? Sohla, darling?” My mother beckons to me from across the room, and I exhale with relief, seeing my beautiful savior looking for me to introduce to whatever woman and girl are standing by her and curtsy quickly. An escape route so I can dodge Mr. Park and his suffocating energy.

“My mother wants me.” I make my parting nod of respect his way and walk off at speed, loosening my limbs while escaping from whatever Mr. Park wanted and sliding into my mother’s awaiting outstretched arm. The one soft and welcoming human in my life. My mother is the only reason I’m still sane. She married into wealth and never started that way, so she has retained the kindness and adorable personality of the preschool teacher she used to be. I love my mother beyond words.

“Darling, this is Lily Masters and her daughter Olivia. They’re from England and over here on family business. You two are the same age, and Olivia could use a little companionship for the next two weeks. I thought it would be nice to introduce you.”

I smile brightly at the sweet, freckled redhead, beaming at me with a wide toothy gap in her teeth. She’s a little round in figure and much shorter than me, but she seems genuinely lovely and bubbly. It’s rare in this society to find girls I get along with, so I am always looking for that girlfriend, envious of Jyeon’s’ friendship with Bryant. Most fear my family name and power, and some just want to use me to get close to Jyeon. Every girl under sixteen in this city likes Jyeon because he’s good-looking, wealthy, and has a powerful future.

“How do you do? I’m Sohla Kim. It’s nice to meet you.” I mind my manners and reach out my hand for her to take, smiling brightly, and am met with her mother’s beaming smile, like her daughters. People tell me I am a mirror image of mine. We are so alike that one day we will be twins.

“Ahhh, Sohla, you’re the little one who is set to marry Jyeon Park, right? Olivia was so upset to learn that the handsome boy she met at golf practice last week was already taken. I can see why though; you look very much like your beautiful mother.”

Her words freeze the blood in my veins, and my face stiffens despite keeping my smile in place. Hating how it’s all I am ever known wherever I go. I’m not Sohla Kim, the pretty brunette with bright eyes, a warm, good smile, and a decent IQ. I’m Jyeon Park’s bride-to-be, overshadowed even as a child, and it’s all anyone ever cares about. I am worthless because I’m a girl, and Jyeon is the Prince of this city because his family is ranked as the fifth richest in this country…. I mean, ours is too, but he’s a boy.

“Yes, that’s right. They have grown up together, and we already see Jyeon as our son. Our families are very close. It’s only natural we chose him to keep Sohla happy as an adult.” My mother pats my back and squeezes me, and I am aware of the other girl’s bright and happy face turning sour as she eyes me up and down. I have seen this look on girls many times before. The nasty turn. Once they know who I am and my relation to Jyeon, all friendliness dies.

In our world, girls are raised to seek out the most affluent and influential son to marry and make their families proud while benefitting their wealth and status. It’s almost an obsession for some, and Jyeon would happen to be in the platinum variety of future sons-in-law. No one marries for love anymore; it’s all about money. And it’s a massive personal failure and blow to a girl’s self-esteem to not bag the Jyeons of our world.

“Must be nice to have your future set ready and laid out. You can put your feet up and just focus on staying pretty and healthy.” Her words bite, her tone fake and high pitch cheerful. The other woman acts kind, but her words don’t fool me, even if they pass under my mother’s naive radar.

“I’m not going to be a stay-at-home wife. I have shares in OLO Enterprises as the only child of my family. I intend to pick up my position at my father’s right hand when I finish with school and my studies.” That inner anger that has always lived within me shows face, my tone a little condescending, and my mother clears her throat awkwardly. She is too soft, but I am my father’s child under this sweet face.

“Yes, Sohla takes after her father in the brain department. She’s at the top of her class and very academic. Her father has high hopes that she’ll be the vice president by Jyeon’s side one day.” My mother gushes proudly, being the one of our family who always struggled with school and lessons despite ending up as a teacher. But I am bilingual in four languages, have a photographic memory when it comes to most subjects, and won awards in mathematics at a very young age. I’m not stupid or incapable. I’m ambitious and want to stand in our family company one day, doing something important for its future.

“Not just a pretty one, then. How nice for you.” Lily Masters seems to develop a pinched expression, and her coolness is overbearing. Even my mother picks up on it and gestures to a passing server for some glasses of champagne as a distraction method. I stand tall and proud by her side and catch Olivia glaring at me. The kid is ugly and stupid. Jyeon wouldn’t look twice at her, even if she were the kid from the wealthiest family in this country.

“Mother, Jyeon is looking for me; I must go over there.” I point out my group, several more teens from Jyeon’s friendship circle, and Yoonah looks lost, standing aside while they talk. Looking for an out now the true nature of these women is on display. I don’t waste time on this kind of fake.

“Oh, yes. Go on then, and don’t keep him waiting. Tell him I’ll come and wish him a happy birthday soon, my darling.” My mother lightly hugs me and sends me on my way. I walk proudly towards my little Yoonie to save him from isolation and catch the sight of the parks and my father heading my mother’s way. All three smile at me with genuine affection and pass by without interference.

“Ahhhh. Sohlllllllyyy Bollly. Here you are, my sweet chicken. You look cute.” I’m grabbed around the shoulder with a muscular arm and hauled into a broad chest while my face is pinched, and I struggle to get out of Avery Wyatt’s annoying grip. Struggling and squirming while he pokes at me and pulls me around. He crushes me and laughs heartily at my protests—another of my self-appointed big brothers.

“Avery, stop it.” I push at him to no avail because he’s a sixteen-year-old powerhouse with the body of a much older man on steroids. “Let me go, you brute.” He’s dumb as hell but has a good heart and an overbearing expressive way of showing affection. He does not care about where we are or how to behave; as usual, he is the fooling around and chaotic energy in Jyeon’s group.

I’m yanked out of his arms and pulled against a warm, hard, wall-like body, straightened up so fast that it makes me dizzy, and I lose my footing. I am caught by the person who has just pulled me over. I turn just enough to see Jyeon eyeing me over my shoulder, and he doesn’t look impressed. He pats down my dress, gestures with a chin nod at my hair, and coldly pushes me off him.

“Go fix yourself. My mother will go ape shit if she sees you guys acting like kids. Your finishing school classes are seeming pointless lately.” His expression is sour, and I scowl at him, sneering in an unladylike manner.

“I am a kid! I’m allowed a night off from being a flat and boring lady while I’m still only a child!” I pout back at his frosty tone, the urge to kick him in the shin mighty today with how cold and superior he’s being. This is how we are sometimes, and I think he hates that he does not intimidate me in the slightest.

Jyeon narrows his brow, his handsome face seemingly more mature when he gets all serious and sulky, and I bite my lip, anger rising because he can always make me feel so crap with very few sentences.

“Can you try not acting like this for my birthday? I don’t want to babysit. I do it all year round.” He lets me go and pushes me slightly away, slicing my heart with his words, and I swallow the sudden urge to cry. Hating him for always making me feel like a nuisance child around him when he used to be the one who carried me on his back and put band-aids on my cut knees. Jyeon used to be the one to lift me over fences, hand me food, take care of me, and protect me from everything in the world.

If I was never pushed onto him in this manner, then maybe we would still be close, and he wouldn’t constantly be separating us with his glacier mountain that he’s put between us.

“Don’t worry. I’ll take Yoonie and stay out of your way. We can hang out together, and you’ll only have to babysit yourself.” I swing away and grab Yoonah’s hand, aware of the wide-eyed baby way he’s watching us with that little crushed expression. He hates when we bicker and is too sweet and soft to know how to intervene. For a twelve-year-old, he’s more like a kid half that age sometimes, and I pull him with me protectively. Using him to get away from Jyeon and simmer my lousy mood caused by that arrogant attitude.

“She’s turning your brother into a little cry baby who follows her around like a puppy.” I hear one of his friend’s voices as we walk away and curb the urge to turn round and shout something insulting back. Pulling Yoonie, who follows without any resistance and heads towards the buffet. I am aware of eyes on us, so I stand taller and prouder, pushing down the immature and bolshy me.

“Shut up. Leave them alone. Yoonah is fine; she cares about him like he’s her kid brother. She’s doing me a favor by taking him away. They’re closer in age than we are, so he naturally wants to be around her more than me.” Jyeon’s voice soothes my temper a little, and I get a reminiscent glimpse of how caring he used to be. Before responsibility and hormones hit him.

Being sent to a public all-boys school to focus on his future hardened him, but occasionally the deeper him shows face, especially if someone insults his little brother. He will never stand back and hear one bad word about Yoonie. Or me, at times. Jyeon is the only one allowed to be an ass to me, as he doesn’t let anyone else be.

I glance back at Yoonah’s crestfallen expression, having heard them call him a cry baby, and give him a bright smile and pat him on his head lovingly. Putting on my most radiant expression.

“Come on, cutie. Let’s get you some chocolate cake and ice cream. Then we can eat it in the greenhouse and watch the fairy lights on the fountain.” I tug him along, glad to see the sadness break, and he beams and speeds up his walk to follow me to the food.