Seok

I seriously had to wonder what was going on in my mind.

Why, exactly, was I revealing all this information to Selena?

But, before that, I had another pressing concern...

Why didn't it hurt when she touched me?

Thinking back, I remembered that this wasn't the first time I hadn't been hurt by the touch of another. The first time had been when Selena was six and had threatened my life if I did not agree to marry her once we were old enough.

I had been five at the time and she'd knocked me to the ground, flat on my back. She'd growled at me when I told her to get off me. She'd been very angry with me. Yes, thinking back, Selena had always hated that I showed no emotion. It drove her crazy...for a reason I could not fathom.

She'd been trying to force me to refer to her by 'Lena' instead of her full name. I, of course, refused. What was the point of giving someone a full name, but only refer to them by a shorter version? I never called people by 'nicknames'.

Selena had tackled me down to the ground and I'd been too shocked to quite register at the time that her touch didn't hurt me. She'd proceeded to try and find my ticklish spots, which I'd been surprised to find I had. Even more, I'd started laughing in reaction to her touch.

"Either call me Lena or marry me, Seok!"

Her childish voice was just as clear as day to me now as it had been then.

Mathew must have seen that little scene then, I realized. Is that why he put in a part specifically about Selena? It must be.

Blinking, I pulled my mind back to the current moment. Selena's skin against mine had been...soft, warm.

It had made part of my chest hurt, though why I didn't know. Even as I'd told her not to touch me, a part of me had wanted to reach out and pull her close.

Perhaps this was a bad idea...

Perhaps I should stop all of this now before anything else odd happened.

"Yo-your wife?!" Selena's voice came out in a breathless gasp. 

I stared up into her wide brown eyes. "Yes, my wife," I confirmed.

"...Seok, that's the worst joke in history."

"I agree wholeheartedly," I nodded. "But it is the truth of the matter. Marry me and you'll gain more money than you'll know what to do with."

She stared at me, still dazed. "I-I n-no," she shook her head quickly.

I let out a low exhale. A lessening of the tension in my limbs swept through me and I nodded my head. "Good. I didn't actually wish to be joined in holy matrimony with you. Especially since it would have to last for three years before you would get your...reward."

She did a double take, her jaw dropping again. "Three years?" she repeated.

I nodded. "Yes, three. If we got married, you would be twenty-one before you could gain access to the money."

She stumbled back, reaching out to lean against the closed bedroom door. "It's not instant? I'd never marry you then," she shook her head firmly.

"Alright," I observed. "The deadline is midnight, December 31st of this year."

She blinked, her expression telling me that she was completely overwhelmed at this point. "By the new year?"

Rising to my feet, I moved to sit back down on the bed. "Those are the requirements. Though, if you don't want the money, I suppose I'll have to find someone else," I added.

As soon as the words were past my lips, I wanted to take them back.

Seok Kim, what are you doing right now?

I had absolutely no reason to confess as much as I was. I had no reason at all to tell Selena just what she could gain or lose, depending on if she agreed to become Selena Kim for three years or not.

Even so, the words slipped past and I had no way to take them back.

I did not like this. My body and mouth seemed to have a mind of their own and I'd never had that happen to me. I was always ruthlessly in control of myself.

Here I was though, 'spilling the beans', so to speak.

"So, let me get this straight," she panted out. Her hands reached up to run through her bangs, bunching up the auburn locks in her fingers. Her brown eyes stared directly into my own, studying me closely. "If I marry you before the end of this year and we stay married for three years, I get a ton of money?"

"Correct. If you do not and some other woman agrees to marry me for that time period, she will gain the money instead." There was no point not telling her everything at this point.

Very slowly, her posture straightened and she crossed her arms over her chest. By the look on her face, she was beginning to calm down. "How much are we talking about here? What, thirty thousand?"

I shook my head. "No, five million dollars, to be exact."

Her knees gave out and she sank to her grey carpet floor. I did not make any move to help her up. I saw no reason to. "Five million?!" she whispered weakly.

"Five million for you, and two million for your mother and sister to split," I told her. "It was meant for when I was older than I am now. I assume Mathew knew no woman would marry me willingly and wanted to ensure I at least had a shot at something he saw as a 'happy' life. As the final clause of his will, he added in a special condition.

"'If by the end of the year of my—Mathew Thomas Kim's—death, my son is married, I will grant both he and his wife an inheritance. There are several conditions that must be met before this inheritance will be granted.' " I quoted from the memory of hearing Mathew's will be read aloud to me one time.

"'First, the marriage, as stated above, must happen before the end of the year I pass. Second, the marriage must last for an absolute minimum of three years before the inheritance is granted. Third, if the marriage is annulled before the three years are up, the inheritance will be granted to charities instead. Fourth, if the woman who marries my son, Seok Kim, is not Selena Arnold, the amount of inheritance will be lowered. Seok will only gain five hundred thousand dollars and his wife two million dollars. Fifth, if the woman who marries my son is Selena Arnold, Seok will gain seven hundred thousand dollars and Selena five million dollars, as well as her immediate family to gain an extra two million dollars. Sixth, if Seok is not married by the time limit at the end of the year of my death, he gains no inheritance and the money will be given to charity.' "

Selena's hands rose to cover her face. "I...this is crazy!" she breathed out in confusion. "How can this—?"

Staring down at her, I felt a burning sensation in my chest and behind my eyes.

It's only because of her childish behavior that Mathew put into motion this ludicrous plan of his. It's all her fault.

Rising to my feet, I took a few steps forward and leaned over her huddled form on the floor to reach the light switch. Flipping it off, I returned to the bed, making sure to turn on the bedside lamp. Crawling into the bed, I pulled up the blankets and grabbed hold of the body pillow.

"I will leave it all up to you. But I would like a firm yes or no by October first. That will give me two months to search for some gold-digger. I don't wish to be married to anyone, but even I am not foolish enough to turn away potentially half a million dollars or more. For now, though, I am going to go to sleep. As I said before, I have a long day of work cut out for me tomorrow. Good night, Selena." I made sure to place the body pillow at my back as I moved to the far side of the bed.