Chapter Text
Baek Saheon was so lonely.
He had forgotten what it was like in his youth when he still had hormones and emotions being in control of his decisions. Now as a mechanic, he was working his days away with no future date in sight.
Surely there must be some way he can get himself out there again. Something easy. Something convenient. Something like a dating app.
But those things don't exist yet.
It was the 1980s and he had to meet people like the good old fashioned days.
Saheon was either in his home or the shop. There was no in between. And so, he decided to ask the only other person who he can discuss this with – Kim Soleum.
His boss from work.
If it weren't for Kim Soleum, Baek Saheon would be in the streets as a beggar. Thank goodness for their fated meeting, lest be another goner in the streets.
One day, he approached his boss. "Kim Soleum," He began.
"I heard of the stories from your youth where you’re constantly sought after by the masses. How did you do it?"
Kim Soleum just stared at him in the eye, baffled. "What masses?"
Maybe he was unaware back then. (He was)
He never knew when someone went after him or asked him out. He tossed out every letter he received in his locker. He threw away all the food that he didn't personally buy – food given to him such as being left on his desk as a gift.
Who would have thought of himself as a popular charmer during their school days.
Certainly not Kim Soleum.
Baek Saheon was suddenly hit with the realisation that Kim Soleum was not even aware of his popularity during their schooling days.
Back to the original topic at hand.
"How do you think I can get myself out there y’know. So I can get a chance at love."
Kim Soleum looked back at Baek Saheon, seemingly very amused with the question.
" Love ? More like a new caretaker."
No matter how much Saheon wanted to curse at Soleum, he couldnt for fear of losing his job. So he went on his days of being a single pringle, unsure of when to mingle.
One day, Saheon’s sister called him. His lovely sister whom he had not heard in weeks.
"Saheon- ah , how have you been?" The voice of his beloved sister was there to help comfort his loneliness a little.
He loudly cried out, "Oh, noona. I’ve been so lonely." His sobs and weeps were heard through the phone by his sister.
“Oh my poor Saheon. How about this? Noona will make it better for you by getting a match." His sister knew how gullible Saheon used to be with love. He was a fan of cliché rom coms during high school and gushed to her whenever he could.
"Ok, noona."
The days after that call with his sister were eventful. Right after that day, Baek Saheon received calls from people he didn't recognise.
"Is this Baek Seonmi?"
That was his sister’s name, not him.
"I think you got the wrong number. Bye."
What a strange encounter. Getting wrong numbers was very common in this time and age (i think). But it continued on, more calls looking for Seonmi, not Saheon.
?
Surely it had something to do with the date his sister was trying to get him. Time to get to the bottom of this.
A week later, Saheon called Seonmi. "Noona. Why do I keep getting calls for you?"
Seonmi immediately caught onto it and exclaimed, "OH! I’m glad they like it."
"Who are you referring to?" Saheon’s heart started sinking.
"Saheon- ah . I signed up for an arranged marriage."
"What the fuck? NOONA!!" No way his lovely sister succumbed herself to loveless relationships instead of a suitable partner whom she picked herself and loved.
"It's not for me, it's for you." Oh, thank goodness his sister didn’t-. What?!
"HUH?"
Baek Saheon almost dropped the phone right there and then.
"You see I put all your details in everything and used my old photo, but noted that I have gotten it cut recently😊." She sounded so proud of herself for this plan. He didn’t want to ruin this happy mood. "Anything for my dear brother. Told you noona will get you someone."
"BUT NOT LIKE THIS, NOONA!" Saheon was enraged by this.
"Do you not appreciate my efforts?" Sulking was heard on the other side of the phone.
"... Thanks, noona."
"There you go. And you’re going to meet them next week."
"WHAT."
"Next week at XXX Bar and 2pm. Alright, bye."
"WAIT!"
Wahhhhhh. Wahhhhhh. Wahhhhhh…
She hung up the phone...
Ok, it's fine. It will be fine, right?
Baek Saheon had not had a date in 24 years. Which was also his age.
They would be able to differentiate him from his sister. Sure, people commented that they looked like twins with how similarly they looked. But Saheon was a guy and his sister was a girl, still. No matter how much hair his sister cut, people would still be able to tell them apart.
But at last, the day still came. Baek Saheon went to the bar. There, lo and behold was the man he was supposed to meet in his sister’s place.
A man named Choi.
That's it.
Just Choi.
Baek Saheon heard from his sister that he was a violinist. He had won awards for his compositions. But as he got closer to Choi, Choi saw him and gave him a revolting look. Turned out he instantly recognised him.
"BAEK SAHEON?! WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?!"
???
"Um. What do you mean? I’m Baek Seonmi." Saheon gave a corny grin, trying his hardness to stay calm.
Choi was ready to pick a fight. He got up from his seat, lunged his body forward and grabbed Saheon by the collar from across the table. "No matter what, I will not forget what you did to Jaekwan."
"Jaekwan?"
Who was Jaekwan?
He did not know a Jaekwan.
Who is this Jaekwan?
"Didn't you see the photo?" Saheon tried any option he could to defuse the situation.
"YEAH I DID. I CAME HERE FOR YOUR SISTER, NOT YOU."
"Eh yeah. I should mention that everything in that file is about me, not her..." Baek Saheon noticed the file between them on the table. The photo of his sister smiled back at him, as if to cheer him on.
"WHAT?"
"My sister put me on the application in hopes of getting me a date..." He explained, hoping to convince Choi.
Choi’s eyes widened with this revelation. "Did your sister not tell you this is the actual thing?" His tone was more harsh, clearly more furious at the new revelation.
"What?"
"WE ARE ACTUALLY MARRIED!! YOU STUPID!"
"WHAT?!"
Somewhere in the distance, Baek Seonmi was happy with herself for getting her brother a husband. Better someone than no one, she thought.
"What marriage? My sister told me nothing. She told me about a date. NOT MARRIAGE?" Now that he thought about it, she told him. She mentioned it briefly, but he did not think much of it. Wait a minute…
"How did she even get me married???"
(Don't question the plot, Baek Saheon)
"I was expecting a girl who instead i got the guy who FUCKED UP Jaekwan's life"
"Once again. WHO IS JAEKWAN????" No memory came to Saheon’s mind.
"Jaekwan, the guy whom you rejected back in high school."
"Huh? What?!" He rejected who now.
"I rejected him back in high school? I did. Me. You’re talking about me right???"
"Yeah. If not, who?"
Baek Saheon had never received a letter at all. How could he reject someone?
"I have never received any confession before. Are you sure it's me?"
"Yes. It had his name and everything and he put it in your locker."
"Locker???"
Ah, no wonder.
Baek Saheon had no locker back then in school. He had to share with Kim Soleum. That explained why. Kim Soleum threw all the letters away...
"That was a misunderstanding, ok? That locker I was using wasn't entirely mine. I shared it with someone named Kim Soleum. Ok?"
"Kim Soleum?"
"yeah."
"Who's that?"
How could Baek Saheon explain this to Choi.... "Kim Soleum, you know the hotshot in school back then."
"I was not in school then. Who is Kim Soleum?" His sister did say Choi was on the older side of their generation…
shit .
"Let's just say he's a very oblivious person. He does not like things that weren't his to begin with. Other than my stuff, which he made a divider within the locker for and I had to label that those were mine. He threw away all unnecessary stuff that wasn't his."
"He calls it being tidy."
"So what? He happened to throw away Jaekwan's letter."
"YES THAT. EXACTLY THAT." Please believe him. That was the truth.
"... Are you sure this is not some bullshit story?"
"NOO ITS NOT."
A brief silence before Saheon opened his mouth. "So I heard you played the violin?"
"This conversation is not over. I'm married to a guy and my mother is expecting to meet you this weekend. She was the one who signed me up."
Baek Saheon wanted to add something but was unsure of what.
"I don't know what to do either. My sister put me in this arranged marriage without telling me either. In a way, I'm just as clueless as you in this whole thing too. Maybe we can work something out from this."
"Work what out? with the guy who broke Jaekwan's heart?" Choi was now never going to Baek Saheon live this down for being the guy who was Jaekwan’s first love during high school.
"Once again, it was not on purpose. And who is he to you by the way?"
"To me, Jaekwan is- ... He's a little brother."
A stutter.
There was certainly something more going on there between them, but Saheon did not want to know.
"Alright now. We have to get a divorce somehow."
"How do we do that?"
"I don’t know either."
And so, they had to find a way to divorce somehow.