It’s been almost a year since the last time Chaeyeon went on a double date with her friends. Actually, it’s been almost a year since she went on a double date at all.

When Chaeyeon was still dating Minju, her now ex-girlfriend, they were so wrapped up in the love and always being together, to the point where everything outside of that took a back seat. It ended up being toxic because the only time Chaeyeon left the house was only to see her girlfriend and to go teach at school.

In retrospect, it seemed very unwise of her to dedicate her whole life to being with one person. She should’ve listened to her friends. And they had been adamant about it, too.

But Minju was her first real girlfriend. At that time she didn’t know how real relationships worked. She was just going with whatever felt right in the moment, common sense be damned. Regardless, at least it was a good learning experience on love for Chaeyeon.

Now though, even if their relationship is fake, Chaeyeon is determined to do it right in every other aspect.

The morning of their planned brunch for the double date with Yena and Yuri, the teacher took it upon herself to call her friends. It was one of the ways that Chaeyeon is making sure things go right. “Please be cool, she’s just like any other person. Forget that she’s a celebrity, that means, don’t gawk at her.”

Chaeyeon hears a loud laugh through the phone. “In my defense, Yuri is the one who gawks. But don’t worry about it, Chae. We’ll be so aloof, Eunbi is gonna think we hate her.”

Leave it to Yena to interpret Chaeyeon’s request so very differently than what was intended. And it was too early in the morning that the teacher couldn’t reply with anything else except for a loud grunt. “Ugh, why did I even agree to brunch? Bye, Yena,” she says and ends the call, cutting off Yena’s cackling on the other end.

Chaeyeon checks the clock in the living room. It was just nearing 7 am, which was way too early for her or Eunbi to be awake, especially with Wonyoung still staying with her other mother. The teacher wonders if she should just go back to sleep.

Very, very quietly, Chaeyeon walks back into her shared bedroom with Eunbi, careful to not let the door make the slightest creak. The singer was still asleep, lying on her side, facing the empty space beside her. With the agonizing speed of a sloth, the teacher manages to get back into bed without waking up her fiancee.

Once again the teacher glances at the clock on the bedside table. She’d have to face Eunbi’s wrath if she woke up the singer. So no matter how bored Chaeyeon was, she had to find another way to entertain herself that didn’t involve disturbing the singer’s beauty sleep. In the end, Chaeyeon opted to play a game on her phone until Eunbi’s alarm wakes her up.

Although her focus was on her game, Chaeyeon couldn’t help but sneak glances at the sleeping woman beside her. The singer looked so peaceful, a state that Chaeyeon loves seeing. Eunbi wasn’t the type to show her stress or foul mood in the house, not with Wonyoung around. But no matter how hard Eunbi tries to hide it, the teacher could still see traces of it.

So in moments where Eunbi looked happy, peaceful or content, Chaeyeon, too, feels the same.

Until she gets into her game, that is. Damn this bot! Chaeyeon grinds her teeth to avoid making sounds that could wake her fiancee. Minutes passed, and so many rounds were lost. When it was beginning to look pathetic, Chaeyeon finally gives up. She sighs loudly and locks her phone.

Apparently with Chaeyeon’s attention fully occupied with the game, she hadn’t realized that Eunbi was no longer asleep. When the teacher turned to sneak another glance of her fiancee, Eunbi was very much awake, while resting her head on her hand. The singer was staring at Chaeyeon with an amused smile on her face.

The teacher had been obviously startled and almost fell off the bed. “Geez! You scared me.” Chaeyeon put her hand over her fast-beating heart. “How long have you been awake?”

“Long enough to see you get consecutively beaten by a bot.” Eunbi broke out in thunderous laughter.

“Hilarious,” Chaeyeon remarks dryly. “I’m glad my pathetic losses has entertained you.”

Eunbi suppresses a giggle. “I’m sorry, but you were super focused on it, and I was rooting for you too. But then you just kept losing so very badly.”

The teacher crosses her arms. “I’ll win the game one day, you’ll see.”

She had no idea why, but there was an urge to tease the teacher. “If you’re going to make it a mission to win the game, it makes me wonder if you’ll have any attention left for me to spare.”

Chaeyeon’s response came almost immediately. “I can assure you, I’ll give you more attention than any game I’m playing.”

If Eunbi was taken aback by what Chaeyeon had said, she didn’t show it. Instead, the corner of her lips quirked up. “How generous,” Eunbi says, before placing a brief kiss on her fiancée’s cheek. 

But before Chaeyeon could question her fiancee about it, Eunbi had already walked off to the direction of their bathroom. Leaving Chaeyeon with the warm, tingling feeling of said kiss.

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Brunch ended up being held at the married couple’s backyard. They were sitting under the sunny sky, slightly covered by the shade of an apple tree. Eunbi was glad they decided to have brunch where she didn’t need to cover her face with a cap or a mask while spending time with her fiancee’s friends.

“So how’d you guys meet?” Yuri asked. Surprisingly so, Chaeyeon’s friends had acted incredibly normal in front of Eunbi. Their gazes didn’t even linger awkwardly, and they certainly didn’t gawk. Chaeyeon was relieved.

Eunbi had been the one to answer the question, she always took the lead in times like this. “We met at the parent teacher meeting. Chaeyeon was so awkward and cute, I couldn’t help but ask her out.”

Somehow, Eunbi’s answer raised a few bells for Yena, she couldn’t help but ask, “When was that?”

“A year ago,” Eunbi answers casually, oblivious to the mistake that she just made.

Two women froze, though for different reasons.

Chaeyeon had frozen because she noticed Eunbi’s mistake too late, and it was partially her own fault. They should have gone through this beforehand, but evidently they forgot. .

Yuri had frozen in mid-action of cutting the layers of pancake. She was doing math. Her brain had taken in what Eunbi said and panicked. Because a year ago, Chaeyeon hadn’t been single. Yuri couldn’t imagine Chaeyeon to he the cheating type. No, not Chaeyeon… she wouldn’t.

Yena, on the other hand, had dropped her fork and butter knife on the table very dramatically. She was the only one who could voice her thoughts at the moment. “Wait! Chaeyeon,” she faces the woman in question, “weren’t you dating Minju back then?”

Still rooted to her spot and her thoughts, Chaeyeon couldn’t even open . Sweat started to trickle from behind her neck, and her heart was beating rapidly. Chaeyeon couldn’t help but think, Is this how we’re gonna get caught? By Yena, of all people??? 

Thankfully for Chaeyeon, her fiancée was able to think on her toes. She put her hand over to Chaeyeon, as if to say, It’s gonna be alright, I’ve got this. And she did. “Okay. The truth is, Chaeyeon shot me down because of her girlfriend, a year ago. But we texted here and there. And when she finally broke up, I tried my luck again 6 months ago. And here we are.”

Yena was about to intercept, but Eunbi had been quicker to speak again. “You must understand that people would object to us marrying after only dating for 6 months. Especially my parents and my ex-wife. It’s exactly why we’ve faked the dates. We’re choosing to tell people that we’ve been dating for a year because, simply put, we’re in love. And we want to marry each other as soon as possible.”

Well, damn. If ever Eunbi’s singing career ended, she should go into acting. Or playing poker. Because as far as Chaeyeon was concerned, her lie was brilliantly executed. Her expression didn’t even falter. Hell, Chaeyeon was good at lying, but not that good.

It was a brilliant lie, Eunbi knew—at least for one thought up on the spot. But she was nervous all the same. Especially with Yena and Yuri glancing at each other, likely trying to figure out if they should believe the singer. It felt like an eternity passed as Eunbi held her breath. In reality, it was 5 solid seconds.

Seemingly, anticlimactic responses had been a running theme with their “big” reveals. Yuri smiled widely. “I love love,” She says with a dreamy sigh.

At the same time, Yena comments, “that’s cute.” And just like that, they b