The Perfect Match Chapter 24

Yi Jung

So, it turned out, that Min Kyung Hye actually was a very, very, very scary woman and Ga Eul had not been exaggerating.

It was not like she came into the room and threatened everyone’s life or anything, but the point of the matter was, that she was just too intimidating to not be considered scary. Even her frail appearance and age did nothing to suppress her strong charisma.

She had been quite happy to see her grandchildren though, especially Kang San, who she had seen for the first time it seemed.

Lunch could be described as a tense affair at best and she hadn’t even started questioning anyone yet.

Just as that thought formed in my head, the uncomfortable silence in the room was broken as Mrs. Min cleared : “Jun Pyo, is it?”

Jun Pyo remained uncharacteristically calm at being called by the woman sitting at the head of the large table: “Yes madam. I’m Jun Pyo.”

She turned her head fully to look at him, putting down her cutlery and folding her hands under her chin: “How is it that you went out of your way, to such lengths to look for my grandson?”

It looked like everyone else, except for Sang Hee, was holding their breath, waiting for Jun Pyo to respond.

He looked at Jan Di across from him and then straightened his spine, finally turning to look Mrs. Min in the eyes: “Jan Di and I are in love madam.” He paused, looking back to Jan Di, whose eyes had widened comically: “I would probably set out to do just about anything, if it means that Jan Di is happy.”

Again, he turned to face Mrs. Min: “Finding Kang San wasn’t easy, if I’m being honest, but it was nothing in comparison to seeing the two of them reuniting.”

Huh.

I knew Jun Pyo could talk big when he wanted, but he actually seemed sincere this time around. We were all aware that he had fallen head over heels for Jan Di and apparently she felt the same way about him.

Still, it was kind of… disconcerting.

Glancing over, I found Ga Eul trying to suppress a smile and another thought popped into my head.

Maybe it was just me who was anxious.

Maybe my cynicism was just that hard to get rid of.

“And what does your mother think about that?” Mrs. Min’s voice rattled me out of my thoughts again: “As far as I know Kang Hee Soo, she wouldn’t be so pleased about your relationship with Jan Di.”

Jun Pyo swallowed: “You know my mother?”

A tiny smile graced the old lady’s face: “We are both parts of the business world. It’s impossible to avoid each other.”

“Grandma.” Jan Di, who hadn’t said anything until now, finally spoke up: “Actually, Jun Pyo’s mother initially was opposed to us being together, but recently Jun Pyo’s father recovered from his illness and auntie is like a different person nowadays. She told us a few weeks ago that she has accepted our relationship wholeheartedly.”

Well, we’d all heard of that miracle already.

As long as I could remember, Jun Pyo’s mother had not been a very pleasant person to be around, but Jan Di was right. Since Jun Pyo’s father had recovered from his illness a few months back, she had been very different. Some would even go as far as to say that she was… nice.

“Is that so?” Mrs. Min’s raised eyebrows betrayed her doubt at Jan Di’s statement, but nonetheless she said: “If that is the case, then I have no objections either.”

Finished with this topic, her eyes wandered over to Woo Bin sitting right next to me: “Just so you know, I am also aware of your relationship with Hee Young.”

Hee Young nearly choked on her food the instant she heard those words.

Ga Eul patted her back and this time she was barely containing her laughter.

Next to me, Woo Bin just stopped breathing.

This wasn’t good.

I kicked his leg under the table to get him back to this world and maybe he would be able to salvage his relationship with his girlfriend.

He flinched, in some oxygen before facing Mrs. Min: “Going by your expression, I guess you don’t approve?”

The woman smiled, and I swear she looked even more intimidating than before: “If this happened last year, then that is what I would most probably do. But a lot of things changed in the past few months and so did I. Of course, I know what your father does, but I will not judge you based on that.” She took a deep breath: “So no, I don’t disapprove. Besides,” she looked over at her four older granddaughters: “My girls are all very independent. I trust their judgment and the choices they make.”

Something clattered onto the table, and I turned to see that Ha Ni’s spoon had slipped from her hands and all the girls’ faces wore varying expressions of shock.

Ha Ni had ceased all movement, Ga Eul’s mouth was agape, Hee Young’s eyes were almost bugging out of their sockets and Jan Di was a mix of the other three.

I had a feeling that their grandma did not give out compliments all too often.

Author

The girls could not comprehend how their lunch- they had expected a disaster- had ended up being, well, not a disaster?

They were huddled into a corner of the living room, watching, horrified really, how their grandmother exchanged pleasantries with the F4.

Were pigs actually flying? Was the world coming to an end?

“Girls.” They jerked up from their hunched positions hearing their grandma’s voice and went over to the sofas where the boys and she were seated: “Why aren’t you ready yet?”

Exchanging confused looks with one another first, they turned back to her and Jan Di asked: “Ready for what?”

Grandma smiled, once again: “I was informed that the school was holding some sort of festival today. Aren’t you going there?”

Ga Eul was the one to reply: “Kang San and Sang Hee are at home. We can’t just leave them alone.”

“They’re not alone. I’m here, am I not? You girls go have fun and I’ll spend some quality time with my grandchildren.”

The surprises just kept coming.

None of them dared to antagonise her today so they just went up to get ready instead.

Even when they were at the school, standing in the decorated ballroom they still could not wrap their heads around the sudden turn of events.

Min Kyung Hye was nothing like the woman they had seen today.

She was scarier and she judged just about everyone without any kind of hesitation or remorse. She was ruthless and sometimes she could be cruel too. Never had they seen her behave like this; like an actual grandmother who loved them and was not just fulfilling her responsibilities as their guardian.

It was so very strange.

Each one of them proceeded to wonder on their own in silence, while they settled down at one of the fancy tables at the back end of the room and watched as the F4 were surrounded by their fans up front.

About an hour passed like that, in silence and confusion, until the boys finally managed to fight their way out of the crowd and joined them at the table, just not alone.

An entourage of mainly girls and a few boys followed them as well.

Jang Mi, Ji Woo and Jae Si also sat down at the table, Ji Woo speaking up instantly: “Aigoo, sunbae! You all have been going to this school for so many months now, but none of us have had the chance to get know you yet.”

“That’s right!” Jang Mi perked up: “Why don’t we all play a little game to rectify that? You’ll get to know us and we’ll get to know you.”

Oh, Ga Eul didn’t like the tone of that. She really didn’t…

It’s not like any of them actually wanted to get to know their schoolmates.

Since they had started attending this school, there had been nothing but hate mail and mean pranks. That did not indicate any kind of friendliness towards them.

Before anyone could say anything in response, Jae Si was already grabbing for an empty glass bottle on the table: “Truth or dare it is!”

And lo and behold, it didn’t even take two turns for the bottle to point at Ha Ni.

“Well?” Ji Woo demanded: “Is it truth or dare sunbae?”

The girl in question shrugged: “Dare, I guess?”

Jae Si grabbed the opportunity: “Ha Ni sunbae, I dare you to show everyone that envelope you have been carrying around with you for months.”

Ha Ni paled considerably as soon as she heard the words: “I changed my mind. I choose truth.”

“Sunbae, the rules say you can’t do that.” Jang Mi sighed dramatically: “But since you’re playing with us for the first time, we’ll make an exception for you. So, who is the person that you like?”

It seemed, as if everyone in that huge ballroom had fallen silent, just to listen to Ha Ni’s answer.

Jan Di scoffed at the three younger girls: “I knew you guys had nothing good in mind.” She turned to Ha Ni: “Ha Ni, you don’t have to say anything if you don’t want to.”

Forcing a smile onto her face, Ha Ni sighed: “I know, but you also know that I’m not a coward.” Taking a deep breath, she looked across the table: “Baek Seung Jo, I like you. I’ve liked you since the day I met you and I kept on liking you after that.” She paused, rummaging around in her bag before pulling out a yellow envelope and shoving it in his direction: “While we’re at it, let me also take care of the dare. Here is the actual letter I wrote. Isn’t it funny that I never threw it away, even after you tried to humiliate me for the fake one?”

Seung Jo stared down at the envelope with his name written on it in Ha Ni’s neat writing before looking at her, while everyone else in the room waited for his reaction with baited breath: “Ha Ni, can I talk to you in private for a minute?”

The girl in question shook her head: “It’s fine Seung Jo. I already know what you’re going to say. It doesn’t matter if you reject me alone somewhere or here in front of everybody else. I wasn’t expecting you to confess to me or something.” Then, turning to her cousins she said: “I think I’ll leave first. You guys stay and enjoy the rest of the evening.”

With that she slid her chair back from the table, stood up, turned and was out the main door within seconds.

As soon as Ha Ni was out of sight Jang Mi, Ji Woo and Jae Si broke out in peals of laughter, as if they had never seen something so amusing in their lives.

Surprisingly enough, before any of the other girls could say something; it was Seung Jo that took action.

He slammed his hand onto the table, hard, a glare already fixed on the laughing girls: “Get lost.”

Jang Mi, Ji Woo and Jae Si, reading his dangerously calm tone, scattered away in fear, the students surrounding the table following just as quickly.

Seung Jo also stood up, lingering there for a moment, before he snatched the envelope off the table and disappeared through the main entrance, without so much as a word to the rest of the group.

End of Chapter

Author's Note:

Next chapter coming next week. 

Promise!

Have a great rest of the week :)