Bargain Wedding

Extended Family And Bad Seeds

Axel scurried away and began the preparations. She had ordered ice cream tubs via food delivery and was cleaning the bed when Jona came out of the shower. The older smiled, looking at Axel all excited. He blithely moved towards her and stood right behind her, crossing his hands tardily, and leaned forward a little. "What are you doing?" He whispered.

Axel flicked her hair up that was on her forehead as she stood straight, startled. "I am - I... Making space for the laptop and snacks," she replied quickly as she took a step back. "We are not watching the movie on TV. I like it on a laptop more."

Jona affirmed by nodding his head once with a whimsical smile on his lips. Axel was already captured by the fragrance of cherry blossoms and roses singing in the surrounding air. The knock on the door caused her to promptly make a beeline towards the door, thanking the one who had knocked. "Ice cream is here," she beamed with her teeth displaying a beautiful sight to the older.

The maid walked in and put the packets along with crockery on the small breakfast table that Axel had set on the bed. While Jona's eyes were keen on her, Axel was making sure that everything was perfect.

When the maid returned after setting things, Axel patted the space on the bed for Jona to sit. The man slowly trudged towards her and got on the bed while she quickly flounced to the switchboard to turn off the bright lights. "This is perfect," Jona appreciated the efforts that she had put in. He sighed as he sat on the bed. "It seems like a good day to fall in love. Thanks for the date." He added slowly as Axel walked back to bed.

"Did you say something? Sorry, could not catch it."

"Nuh-huh..." Jona denied it and looked at her with tilted head as she started to tuck her legs under the covers and did the same for Jona.

They began to watch the movie. Jona was fully focused, too, just because he wanted to feel the same passion as Axel did for those movies. Half an hour down, Axel had already finished eating everything on the table. They set the table aside and the cherry-haired female moved closer to Jona.

The older's breath hitched as Axel put her head on the same pillow as him, their skin in contact. At this point, Jona had lost all interest in the movie and just felt Axel against his body, but her passion when it came to superheroes was other worldly. She didn't notice how Jona was silently marveling at her.

Minutes passed, and the movie came to an end. When Thanos said 'I am inevitable', Axel squirmed and held onto her pillow tightly to brace herself from what was going to come. No matter how many times she had watched this scene, it made her cry without fail. Nothing made her ready for this, and she knew that nothing would ever make her ready. She would always cry while watching this end scene.

When Iron Man delivered his next dialogue, 'And I... am... Iron Man', Axel's layered sobs surfaced, and she broke into tears, which made Jona silently wrap his arm around the crying woman. Axel snuggled into Jona, hiding in his chest while the latter whispered sweet nothings into her ear. "I am sorry that it had to end this way. I wish they had given him an alternate ending, but Iron Man made the sacrifice, proving every notion about him wrong." He consoled.

On his words, Axel as if got electrocuted back to life. She looked up to see Jona with bewilderment, realizing everything all at once. Never before had she thought about Jona's actions or asked herself reasons. Her eyes shone with a new emotion. His words oddly gave her satisfaction. No one ever said the right thing or understood Axel's love for Iron Man. It was always 'it was just a movie' or 'it was just a character that died' or 'RDJ is still alive, so there is no need to cry' or 'are you a kid that you are crying over fiction?'

Not a single person understood that it was a character that she fell in love with. It was the idea that the story would do justice to her favorite character's ending that gave her hope. It was the memories she curated along the journey to a keepsake for crying and laughing. Of course, Axel was not a child and she understood that nothing was real, but someone understanding the passion she felt for something which was not real, really meant a great deal to her. "Thank you, Jona." She hugged the man as she uttered the words slowly and sniffled softly. Somehow, Jona's words gave her closure to Iron Man's death four years after the movie's release.

While Jona kept comforting the 20-year-old by slowly stroking her hair, Axel fell asleep with her tear-streaked face. Jona smiled as he held her face up by the chin and could not resist. Her pouty lips were screaming to get kissed, but Jona slowly pressed his lips on Axel's head instead.

He laid her down properly before setting aside the laptop and then joined her to take a nap.

☘

Jona woke up first and saw Axel hugging her hug pillow. He got up from bed and looked at the clock. It was almost dinner time. He would have loved to see Axel sleeping for a few more minutes, but his uncle was coming for dinner tonight. He needed his little wife to be up and about. "Axel," he called from the side of the bed, but he also knew it was not that easy to wake her up.

Jona walked around and sat beside the sleeping woman. "Baby, get up... We have dinner." He spoke with a mesmerizing smile. The endearment was only for him to hear. He needed to know what it would sound like to call Axel by nickname. So far, he had never done it except when he was in the hospital, or the one time when Axel got drunk in a bar.

Jona cleared his throat and spoke louder. "Axel... Get up, we will have dinner with Uncle Norin and Aimi."

Axel did not budge, of course.

Jona caressed her cheek and leaned in to speak in her ear. "Axel?" The soft voice and the lingering fragrance made the younger one open her eyes a little.

Axel immediately got up to get away from the intimate position she was in.

"Uncle is coming over for dinner," Jona spoke yet softly.

"I remember," Axel nodded while her eyes fluttered close in a sitting position.

Jona chuckled. "Get up, get up, get up..." He moved towards Axel and ruffled her hair before holding her hand to drag her away from the bed.

She opened her eyes and silently let the man drag her into the walk-in closet.

She stood right behind Jona without making a noise and looked at her husband going through the wardrobe. "All you have is either black, gray, or white. I need to buy you some colors," Jona talked slowly and found something in crimson red. He took it out from the wardrobe to take a better look at it. "This one... I think I bought this for you before the wedding." He turned and showed the dress to Axel.

She nodded, her eyes droopy with sleep. "Axel, you need to give them a try. You will look good in them."

"I will," the girl replied. "This is a good start. I should start wearing all the clothes Jona has gotten for me."

Jona tucked the dress back, but Axel stopped him. "I will wear that for dinner."

"You would?" Jona pulled it out again, looking at it unsurely. When Axel nodded, he said. "Good then, I will wear my contrasting blue."

At the words, Axel suddenly felt a wallop in her stomach. Jona might not have said it intentionally, but her mind thought about the traditional Korean custom of marriage. A wedding proposal from the groom's parents was signaled by blue and red silk threads being sent to the bride's house.

What Axel didn't know for sure was that Jona assuredly bought these clothes in the same faith. The man was traditional.

The indication was clear to her that she had a red one and Jona had a blue one. It meant that Jona was purported to be a groom who would satisfy the bride by taking care of her emotional, financial, mental, physical, and s****l needs. Oftentimes, Axel thought about her s****l needs. She has never been involved in intercourse before. Now that she was standing under the bright ceiling light in a closed closet with her husband, thinking about this augury, she got the answer. "Jona..." She spoke without thinking and when her husband turned around, she didn't say anything.

Jona kept the dress on the recamier that was placed in between the two wardrobes of the opposite walls and walked towards Axel. "What's wrong?" His gentle whisper asked.

Axel shook her head, "how do you know something is wrong?" She smiled a little and drifted her gaze from the man's chest to his face.

"I can see you, Axel," Jona raised his hand and caressed her head. "Tell me, do you not want to have dinner with uncle?" Jona keened his eyes at her to not miss any sign of her discomfort.

"I am happy to meet your family. Don't worry about that. I just... I don't know. I feel like red is not really my color. Will you be willing to swap colors with me?" She spoke hesitantly and inwardly, she knew she didn't want the blue.

"Axel," Jona looked at her with a smile that was suggesting amusement. "You have cherry-colored hair." His smile now transformed to a goofy grin, and he licked his lower lip before biting it in momentarily and releasing it.

"I- Just forget about it," Axel quickly turned to flee but found her wrist being held back by the older person.

Her heart trembled at the touch, and the memories of the wet dream came flooding back in. She didn't know when her heart started to beat and belong to Jona, but it did in the process of hating him. Was it when Jona didn't go for her lips on the wedding day? Was it when they had their first dance together? Was it when Jona defended her? Was it when they shared their first kiss? Was it when she lost herself in Jona's embrace and felt safer than ever? She didn't get the answer, but her eyes welled up in the vulnerability of truth.

"Do you really want to wear blue?" Jona asked again, genuinely confused.

Axel shook her head and blinked away the emotion-filled tears before turning around and smiling at the older adorably. "It suits you more," she replied earnestly.

☘

Axel was prancing in the living room and Jona was sitting at the dining table, looking at his wife as she moved here and there. "Axel," Jona called to stop her.

She turned around to Jona with a curious gaze. "You are not going to believe what happened today." He patted a chair beside him. He leered her in. She quickly walked and sat there. "I found out something about you that you never told me before."

Axel started sweating instantly in panic.

Jona pulled out a red handkerchief from his blue coat's upper pocket and dabbed it gently on her face. "Why are you sweating? Is there anything that you are hiding from me?" Jona asked, his eyes staring at his wife as if he could smell her soul in its naked glory. At least Axel felt like that.

Jona never intended to ask, but those were the words that chose to come out of his mouth unknowingly. He just wanted Axel to stop panicking, but the bodily reaction from the younger made Jona feel bad about his approach. Nonetheless, now that the words were out, it also burned a few questions in his mind. "When are you going to talk, Axel? When are you going to tell me everything yourself?"

The conversation was cut short when a young woman, the same-aged as Axel, and Norin Suzuki walked in with cheerful smiles and choruses. "Brother!" The young woman beamed and Jona stood up, withdrawing his hand from Axel's face, and slowly tucking the small red handkerchief back in his pocket.

Axel also stood up, but her mind was way too skewed to welcome the guests properly. Jona took Axel's palm and walked away from the dining table towards the couches. "Aimi! I am so glad you both made it," Jona chuckled fondly as they stood face to face.

Aimi's face remained directed at Axel as she anxiously waited to be introduced officially. "This is Axel," Jona's hand left Axel's palm and traveled up to her back to sit there gently," And she is my cousin, Aimi. She is your age. Just two months older." Jona told Axel.

The cousin lurked ahead to hug her. "It is so nice to finally meet you, Axel. I have seen the wedding album, but it is really different seeing you in person. You are very pretty and cute." The cousin chirped and Axel smiled faintly. Her heart and mind were busy wondering what Jona might know which he stated earlier. "I was so intrigued. This was the first arranged marriage in the family. I missed it." Aimi tsked, causing Jona to awkwardly smile at the ground and grip Axel tightly.

The words and Jona's touch resonated inside the young wife's mind, and she felt like it was not fitting how the obvious was stated. Aimi, however, also immediately realized. "Shush now," Norin Suzuki hushed his daughter and proceeded to hug the youngest. "We meet again." He guffawed.

"Uncle Norin," Axel hugged him back and they remained in that position for a while before it was Jona's turn to hug his uncle and he led them inside.

"I apologize. I tend to get excited, and I talk a lot," Aimi whispered in Axel's ear as they were making their way to the living room.

Axel flashed her a small smile. "It's fine. Why weren't you at the wedding?" Honestly, she would not even remember if Aimi was present or not, given the circumstances of how the wedding happened.

"I broke my left wrist in the US. I was supposed to come but due to my accident, Dad had to travel there, and it just got very problematic," Aimi flashed a tight-lipped smile as they all sat. She felt intimidated by Axel. Albeit they were the same age, Axel was more composed than she was, even taller by a few centimeters with a perfect figure as per society's standards.

Axel carried the persona of a mysterious noble while Aimi was more of a chatty girl. She had worn a multicolored tank top with black jeans and complimented pumps as that of her top. Looking at Axel's red dress, she thought she could never pull off one solid color like her. She knew how perfect a pair Axel was for her brother.

Four of them chatted while Obasaan made an appearance and brought in the maids with refreshments. Lohan and Hana joined them later in the living room.

Aimi nervously handed a gift she had brought for Axel, a late wedding gift. "You didn't have to." Axel shook her head and smiled.

Jona didn't say anything. It was between his cousin and his wife, so the younger had to deal with it alone. Axel accepted the box, having no idea what was inside, and shook it to make a guess. "Can we go outside?" Aimi suddenly asked, looking between Axel's hands and her face, hoping she wouldn't face rejection. "I hope you don't mind, brother." She quickly looked at Jona.

"Not at all, go ahead."

Jona smiled at her and then Axel. The cherry-haired woman handed the box to one of the maids to be put in her room and stood up slowly.

Norin Suzuki shook his head. "Aimi doesn't know how to sit still in a place for more than five minutes." His chuckled remark made Jona also laugh as they watched the young women walking out.