Imperfectly Perfect 2

23 : Confrontation (2)

"Okay." The council treasurer pauses to give everyone a smug look. "I think... Son Chaeyoung and Chou Nayeon are in it for a fixed marriage. Chaeyoung and Nayeon are engaged."

"Huh?" Tzuyu quickly gives her a confused look.

Chaeyoung bursts into laughter. "Hey. What kind of conclusion is that? Like seriously, what are you saying?"

Mina looks around at everyone with a blank expression, not seemingly sure how to react.

Nayeon hits Jeongyeon's arm. "Babe! So much for confidently proclaiming that you have it all figured out!"

"Huh? Why?" The council treasurer slightly tilts her head at her girlfriend in confusion. "Am I wrong?"

"YES!" The soccer manager rolls her eyes at her. "You got it wrong!"

"Re— Really?" Jeongyeon raises one of her eyebrows. "Isn't that the reason why you did not disclose that you and Chaeyoung are close even before she transferred to our school?"

Nayeon massages her temples. "No, babe. Absolutely not! That's definitely not the reason."

"Then— Then, why did you do that? I mean— Like that shirt that Chaeyoung left in your house. You immediately denied it to be hers the moment I asked." Jeongyeon scrunches her eyebrows in sudden confusion. "I thought— I was actually thinking that your rich parents may have put you in an arranged marriage and you two were already living together at the Chou mansion per your parents' orders?"

The soccer ace butts in while trying to calm herself from her chuckles. "Bro— Hey. How wide could your imagination be, huh?"

Jeongyeon began yelling in both annoyance and a bit of loss of face. "HEY. It's not my fault! That's the most sane answer I could come up with in my head these past days!"

"Ugh!" The soccer manager continued to massage her temples. "This is why I told you babe to listen to me first. I somehow expected you could get the wrong idea like what you're talking about right now."

"Wait, wait, wait. So..." The council treasurer innocently looks around. "Am I actually wrong?"

"Yes, babe! You're wrong! Why would I be engaged?" Nayeon scoffs and faintly shakes her head. "Moreover, to Son Chaeyoung?"

"Hey!" Chaeyoung points a finger to the soccer manager. "Why do you make it sound like it's a bad thing to be engaged to someone like me? I'm a good catch, you know?"

This time, Mina clears her throat, catching the soccer ace's attention. She gives the smaller girl an unreadable expression. "And why do you make it sound like it's a bad thing that Nayeon doesn't want to be engaged to you?"

Chaeyoung awkwardly laughs. "Hey, Minari. That— that's not it. It— It's not like I wish someone else would be glad or feel lucky if they knew they're engaged to me."

"So no one's engaged?" Jeongyeon comments, evidently staying focused on the actual topic at hand. She lets out a huge, deep sigh of relief. "Thank goodness I was wrong! Oh, my gosh. I was so afraid all this time that it may either be... my girlfriend and Chaeyoung are having a secret affair..."

Nayeon promptly coughed the coffee she was drinking while the council treasurer continued blabbering her thoughts freely.

"Or these two soccer girls were put in a fixed marriage. I knew it was a bit stupid to think that fixed marriages like that exist until today." Jeongyeon mockingly laughs. "But, I mean— my girlfriend is from a super rich family so that is not possible! Maybe just a little incomprehensible for a commoner like me. Anyway, it was just a hunch. Thank all the gods that I was wrong."

Mina simply continues sipping her coffee while closely watching Nayeon, Tzuyu, and Chaeyoung knowingly glance, scrunch their eyebrows, and subtly make some faces at each other.

The council treasurer flashes what could be taken as a victory smile after saying and laying out all of her speculations to the table. She finally starts digging into her chicken sandwich that they ordered a while ago.

Everyone else at the table was quiet for a moment.

What isn't visible to the now fairly entertained council president at the moment is that the three mentioned girls that she has been watching are also kicking each other's toes beneath the table they are occupying.

"AHH—" Nayeon purses her lips and looks at the other girls around the table. She shifts on her seat and awkwardly flashes a smile. "Umm... Babe."

"Hmm?"

"Tha— that's not the part that you got wrong."

"Huh?"

Mina comments in a flat tone. "Yeah. I was actually about to ask which part of the statement 'Chaeyoung and Nayeon are engaged' is wrong. That is because I know for a fact already that this girl sitting beside me is indeed engaged."

Chaeyoung quickly gulps and changes her earlier bubbly expression into something nervous. "Mi— Minari—"

"Hu— HUH?" The council treasurer seems to be more and more confused the more they discuss. "What are you—"

"UMM..." Tzuyu finally speaks, her right hand is awkwardly raised in the air.

"Oh, Tzuyu. Why are you raising your hand?" Jeongyeon nonchalantly asks. "Do you suddenly need something?"

The cheer captain looks at the girls seated around the table. "Jeongyeon Unnie. Mina." She also glances at Chaeyoung, then glues her eyes back to the coffee cup in front of her while slowly putting her hand down. "I— It— It's actually me. It is me and Chaeyoung who are engaged."

"WHAT?" The council treasurer suddenly yells, earning some looks from the people around the shop.

Nayeon quickly holds her girlfriend's arm and softly squeezes it in an attempt to calm her. She immediately looked around and slightly bowed to the other customers and staff that she met gazes with as a sign of apology.

Their table went silent again for another while. The atmosphere is obviously uncomfortable. Each one of them is trying to check every individual's reactions and current level of emotions.

After a few more minutes, Jeongyeon lets out a sigh that is too loud and too heavy even the table next to them could overhear. She pauses to take a sip of her coffee, then glares daggers at Nayeon, Chaeyoung, and Tzuyu. "Since when? How did it happen? What's the reason?"