(Ship and concept requested by yzayqt)

(Concept: Jin and Nayeon had sort of an arranged marriage, but Jin is not entirely committed)

(Nayeon POV)

We've been doing this for almost a year now. I thought he'd change, but he obviously isn't putting in as much effort as I am. I'm just trying to give him a chance.

The first day we met was the same day we got married. It was an arrangement our parents made, and they dragged us into it.

My first impression of Jin was that he was handsome, and he was pretty nice to me, but I think that was just an act he put on for the wedding to make his parents happy.

We spend time together like a married couple, but he's never really enthusiastic about it.

"I prepared dinner if you wanted to eat with me."

"Okay."

With that, we would eat at the same table, seated across from each other, in complete silence.

The only time we kissed was for the wedding. It seems like he's my husband, but he's not my love.

I would tell my parents about this, but they'd just tell me to wait a few longer. Give him some time. How much time? I don't have forever.

One day, I got fed up with it all. I had enough of being ignored and overlooked. I couldn't do it anymore.

"Jin-ah, do you maybe want to spend some time together this weekend? We could go out."

"I can't. Sorry." He said before closing the door on me.

My heart had felt that sinking pain too many times. It was too familiar.

That night, I wrote him a letter, telling him how I felt and that I couldn't do this anymore. I told him I needed some space, and if things didn't change, I'd want a divorce.

I stayed with some friends for a few days, and I thought Jin had forgotten all about me, but about a week after I left, he came through.

He texted me one night.

He explained everything. He waited to talk to me because he wanted to give me space. He felt guilty about everything, and he apologized.

But the last part of his message had me shocked.

He said he loved me. He's...never said that before.

J: I never meant to hurt you. It just takes time for me to warm up to people. I was unprepared when our parents threw us into this situation, and I didn't know how to act. I understand that you want to leave. Just know that I'm sorry, Nayeon.

I never knew he felt that way.

I guess it was the poor communication from both of us that got us here. I never thought about why he acted the way he did. I just assumed that he was very interested in me.

I came back and we talked things out. We talked about how we felt and what we expected for the future. Our goals seemed to line up almost perfectly. 

"I was scared and shy. You make me nervous because you're so outgoing."

"That's where I misunderstood. I thought you were ignoring me."

"What?"

"I just...I thought you didn't want anything to do with me."

"I'm sorry, I never meant to hurt you in any way. I do care about you and I wanted to get to know you, I just couldn't get myself to speak up."

"That's probably a good place for us to start. We need to communicate better."

"How do we do that?"

"Like we're doing it right now."

Now that we both knew how the other felt, we could start over. We started from the very beginning, acting like we were meeting for the first time, properly.

We were willing to give this marriage a second chance. That's what we vowed to do at the altar. We'd stick together and work things out through thick and thin.

After a few weeks, things were different. I wasn't the only one putting in the effort anymore.

He would be there to welcome me home from work. He made it a point to say goodnight to me every night and eventually, that "good night" turned into a good night kiss on the cheek. Another few weeks later and that kiss on the cheek turned into a real kiss.

This was a new side of him I'd never seen before. His new mentality gave me the courage to try some new things as well.

I started off slow, trying not to make him uncomfortable. I held his hand and he didn't let go. Then I tried hugging him when I got home from work and he hugged me back, I was surprised. 

He was still pretty timid about saying "I love you", but he didn't have to say it. He showed me instead.

He seemed like an entirely different person from a few weeks ago. I like this version of him better. He lets me love him and he's a lot more grateful. He puts a lot of thought into the things he does.

The arranged marriage part probably had us both in an awkward situation. We were complete strangers before that. I never understood why he acted like that until now. He never meant to hurt me.

All it takes is a few words.

I guess it was just a simple misunderstanding.