Author's Note:

So I have a casual job starting tomorrow, for a whole week and its a 24/7 kinda thing. So I apologise if I don't update until then :)) Hope you guys enjoy this chapter though.

Proposals are usually planned out very thoughtfully; Down to the time and place, what you’re wearing, and most importantly, the ring. Chaeyeon has been proposed to at least 4 times in her adult life. All of which were by men that only cared about having her as a trophy wife or to marry into her father’s company. Or both. 

They’d put on the fanciest suit or tux they had, take Chaeyeon out to a very overpriced yet non-filling dinner, and proposed to her with the biggest diamond ring they could buy. Of course, Chaeyeon had turned all of them down.

Which is why it’s very ironic that the only proposal Chaeyeon has ever accepted came from Eunbi. The singer was dressed in her regular clothes, and she proposed in a quiet cafe, without a ring in sight. All very spontaneous. And what’s more, they weren’t even in a relationship, not even a semblance of friendship either. Yet somehow, Chaeyeon finds Eunbi’s proposal the most sincere out of all the others.

Unfortunately, sincerity doesn’t fool the government. And faking an engagement proves hard when Eunbi’s job came with her being in the public eye. Only last night did they realize they were faced with that particular complication.

At 10.29 p.m. the night before, the two women found themselves under the duvet, with Chaeyeon marking homework and Eunbi on her laptop. After the first month of living together, they got into the rhythm of working on their own separate things in comfortable silence.

At least until Eunbi broke it. “.”

When Chaeyeon turned to look at her fiancee, the singer had eyes that looked incredibly annoyed. “I didn’t do anything,” was the only response Chaeyeon could come up with.

Eunbi rolled her eyes at her fiancee’s absurdity. “Look.” The singer turns the laptop so Chaeyeon could read the article about herself that she came across.

Chaeyeon reads through the article and studies the pictures of Eunbi waving to the camera. Besides Eunbi looking effortlessly beautiful, Chaeyeon didn’t think anything stood out from the picture. She turns to see Eunbi looking expectedly at her. Chaeyeon didn’t really know what could possibly elicit the profanity that came out of the singer’s mouth. So the teacher took a guess.“Was it the lipstick? I do think it’s a bit too red. But other than that you look great.”

“Not th–Wait.“ Eunbi had to pause after processing what Chaeyeon said about her lipstick, feeling offended. “We’ll get back to that later. But that’s not what I meant. Look at my hand.”

Chaeyeon silently raised her eyebrows, still confused.

The singer rolls her eyes at her clueless fiancee. “It’s ringless, Chaeyeon. People in the comments are wondering why I’m not wearing an engagement ring.”

“You do know that I don’t exactly have the money for an engagement ring. Besides, you’re the one who proposed. Where’s my ring?” The teacher crosses her arms and huffs like a child. Chaeyeon wasn’t even surprised when Eunbi smacked her. Honestly, she had it coming.

“I have time off tomorrow. We’ll go ring shopping after school. Goodnight, Chaeyeon.” Eunbi paused just before she closed her laptop. “I happen to like that shade of red.” Without another word, the singer puts away her laptop and turns of the lights, forcing Chaeyeon to stop grading and follow Eunbi to sleep.

Chaeyeon chuckles at the way Eunbi was affected by what the teacher said about the lipstick. Especially because she was just bluffing. “You know I didn’t mean it, right?”

“What?”

“Any shade looks good on you.”

Eunbi was grateful for the room being dark. It was the only thing hiding her obvious blush from being seen. “Go to sleep, Chae.” She could barely hide the smile from her voice.

“Goodnight, Bi.”

It was why on a Thursday afternoon, the two women stood hand in hand with little Wonyoung on Eunbi’s side, holding onto her mother’s hand, as the three walked to the direction of the Tiffany and Co. store, ready to start browsing for diamond rings.

Eunbi stopped them just before they could walk into the store. She looks to her fiancée and tip toes slightly to whisper directly into Chaeyeon’s ear. “Let’s get this over with.”

“Oh honey, you say the sweetest things.” Chaeyeon sarcastically says aloud, but replies in a whisper, “Don’t worry. I’ll just choose the cheapest one.”

The teacher was already moving forward only to be pulled back by Eunbi who stood her ground. “That’s not what I meant.”

Chaeyeon tilts her head to the side.

“We should find one quickly so we can leave before the press finds us here.”

The teacher was slightly taken aback. “Oh. Okay.”

They walked together into the store with smiles on their faces. Thankfully, both women were skilled in fooling people. At least, for Chaeyeon, as long as they weren’t government officials, she knew how.

They broke off to different sides of the store to cover more ground, much faster. Wonyoung, of course, followed her mother in complete awe. “They’re all so pretty, mommy.”

“Yes they are. See anything you like, Wonnie?”

Meanwhile, the employees were ready to help the two women, immediately flaking their side and following Eunbi and Chaeyeon as they looked around. It took awhile before either of them found any ring that they liked. They went back and forth but couldn’t agree on one ring that would sit on Chaeyeon's finger.

“The band is too wide…”

“The diamond is too big.”

“Why is it square?”

Until finally, from the corner of her eye, Chaeyeon was blinded by a light. Like an accident, it came out of nowhere, but it was hypnotizing that she couldn’t move away. Instead, Chaeyeon walked closer to inspect the ring. It wasn’t the most expensive of all the collection, she could tell. But something about its’ simplicity kept Chaeyeon’s attention on it.

“This one looks nice.” Chaeyeon points to the ring that caught her eye inside the glass case.

The employee attending to the teacher smiles brightly, “Ahh, yes. Excellent choice!” She opens the back of