She reached out and pulled me into a hug. "I'm not going to force you. I'm going to leave it all up to the both of you. You have to decide if you'll agree to the terms. If not...well, it was a nice dream, but that's all it'll be. A little fantasy we had together. I know I'm going about this horribly, but if you honestly hate and can't stand Seok, don't agree to Mathew's crazy terms. No matter what; money or no money, Seok or no Seok, you're my little girl."

Swallowing, I wrapped my arms around her, trying to breathe through the confusing mass of emotions filling up my mind and heart. "But it's so much money." I choked. "You're right. It would make Maria's future, mine too. And you wouldn't have to work nearly as hard for a while. If nothing else, you could set it aside for when you retire. Heck, you could retire early," I tried to laugh a little.

"Why not try to get to know Seok over the rest of your summer break? If you think you can handle three years with him, you just tell me. I'd prefer if you have some sort of..."

"Mom, I can never love that robot," I swore. "He's too cold and distant for that."

"Maybe try to be something like friends then?" she squeaked hopefully.

Sighing, I pulled back to glare up at her. "...Maybe," I agreed reluctantly. My cheeks flushed as I remembered he was still in the bed in my room. "Um, is it necessary for us to share a room?" I asked hopefully myself.

Now she sighed. "I mean...no," she admitted in a grumble. "But, as I said, I'm hoping that if you two spend as much time as possible together...I don't know how to put this quite right. But when you share your life with another person that isn't your family...Sometimes you develop this strange sort of connection," she cleared her throat.

"There's a weird sort of intimacy that comes from living in close quarters with another person, especially in the same room. I'm not just talking about physical intimacy though," she shot me an amused little smile at my deepening blush. "I felt like if you two shared that with each other...I was hoping it would speed along what might happen naturally over the course of a longer time-frame," she sighed.

Swallowing, I glanced down, my fingers fiddling with each other unconsciously. Realizing what I was doing, I clamped them together tightly to try and stop my nervous fidgeting. "I—"

"I'll sleep on the couch, if you'd like," Mom offered quietly. Her hazel eyes were filled with love but also worry. Plus, she looked so guilty...

Ugh, how does she make that perfect guilt-trip look?

Letting out an annoyed huff of breath, I shot her a dirty look. "Fine!" I muttered. "I'll at least share the room and bed with him!"

As soon as I spoke the words, I had to wonder what was wrong with me.

Was I just completely insane? Why would I ever agree to share my life with Seok in such a personal manner? But even as I thought it, some of the words he'd said earlier to me came back and a thread of sorrow began to wrap around my heart.

"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."

Even his father thought he was a horrible human being? I whispered brokenly in my heart. Seok's words made it very clear that he viewed this whole situation as a last-ditched, pity-filled effort by his father to make his son's life more 'normal'. Even his father didn't want to have to deal with Seok?

"I'm used to sleeping in make-shift, mildly-cramped surroundings."

I felt like my heart was breaking just by a few words of his. Why did I have to be so sensitive? It was a trait I'd inherited from my mother and I honestly despised it sometimes. It often made my life much more complicated than I ever needed it to be.

Mom was staring at me in surprise, but her face quickly filled with relief. "Oh, thank you, sweetheart!" she gushed as she pulled me into another hug.

Pushing her away, I shot her an irritated glare. "Don't keep secrets like this from me again, okay? I won't forgive you a second time," I warned her. Sighing, I glanced down at myself again. "I'm going to bed. It's nearly midnight and I'm exhausted. Oh, right," I turned to glance back at Mom over my shoulder after brushing by her. "Seok mentioned something about a job?"

"Yes. Cedric came by for a little personal interview after his lunch break and agreed to hire on Seok temporarily. Depending on how well he does, Cedric said he may keep him even when school starts up," Mom explained.

I raised an eyebrow. "Yard work?" My mind flashed an image of Seok in the stereotypical 'rich person's' gardener scenario. Shirtless, out in the sun, flushed with sweat, hair slicked back with it...

Face flushing, I rushed out of the bathroom and to my room. Closing the door, I sucked in a shaky breath. My heart was pounding in my chest...

How am I going to survive this? I asked myself in a small wail. My own fantasies of his body are going to make me die of a heart attack!

I paused, glancing over at his shadowed form under the blankets. The table lamp was still on, granting me some light to see by. Swallowing nervously, I quietly tried to get to my dresser, going around the bigger bed than I was used to. Biting my lip, I winced when one of the drawers let out a little squeak. Turning my head quickly, I saw that he hadn't moved an inch.

He was still softly snoring away, knocked out completely.

Letting out a breath of relief, I gathered up some pajamas and clean clothes. Going back into the bathroom, I quickly changed, placing my dirty clothes straight in the large hamper in the laundry room. Coming out of the laundry room, I passed by my mom. She tossed me a small smile before reaching out to grab my arm and stop me. "Yeah?" I whispered, trying to be mindful of Maria and Seok.

"Please keep your door open when you two are in the room together," she whispered back. "I forgot to tell Seok. I'm trusting you both to behave, but I think the open door will help remind you two that Maria or I could walk in at any moment."

My cheeks flushed faintly, but I nodded. "Yeah, okay. Good night, Mom."

"'Night, Selena," she murmured as she leaned up to kiss my cheek.

Passing her by, I continued into my room. Leaving the door open, I very cautiously moved back the covers and climbed up into the bed. Shifting, I tried to get used to the feel of it. Once I was comfortable, I peeled the covers closer to Seok away enough to see that the black body pillow was against his back. It really was a big and thick pillow. Looking at it helped me feel slightly safer to be so close to him.

Nervous, I reached out and turned off the bedside lamp. With the bedroom door open, a small amount of light from the automatic night light in the bathroom filtered through, since I'd left the bathroom door half-cracked. Even so, I was mostly surrounded by darkness. Leaning back, I rest my head against the new, strange pillows. Closing my eyes, I tried to relax...but I was so tense!

Seok made a soft, odd noise in his sleep, something close to a groan, but more like a growl. I jumped at the sound, tensing even more, freezing up on the bed. He shifted, turning on his side to face me. Blinking in the darkness, I turned my head to face him as well. I couldn't see anything.

Swallowing, I stayed still and silent for what felt like hours. I knew it couldn't be more than a few minutes, but it felt like I'd been lying there for almost half a day. Seok mumbled a little again, but he didn't move anymore. After a few more seconds, his breathing evened back out into a more peaceful sleep. Shifting, just slightly, I tried to calm down.

He was about a foot and a half away from me on the bed, with the body pillow taking up six inches of that space. Even so, I could feel the warmth he let off from his body heat. I felt the warmth soak into the blanket and sink into my own body. My consciousness began to feel heavy. My own exhaustion began to pull at my body.

Just sleep...I told myself tiredly. If you wake up and he's done anything, then you can stab him with a knife.

I almost felt a little amused at the thought, my lips lifting in a silent chuckle. It was a funny thought, really.

Though...Why was it funny?

Don't...know…