Nayeon, is currently on a call with her sister Chaeyoung. Now, that she thinks about it, its been weeks since she had a chance to speak to her.

“Nayeon-unnie, did you forget about this? I know it’s been around 3 months, but this is important.”

The thing is, Nayeon did forget. Its clear, Nayeon thought she was called a Pabo here and there but she never believed it. Now, maybe not so much.

She doesn’t admit it out loud, but Chaeyoung gets it. They are sisters after all. She can feel the disappointment coming through the phone when Chaeyoung sighs and Nayeon winces, already trying to think about excuses.

“How could I possibly forget that?” she attempts lying, poorly though.

Chaeyoung is amused to say the least, and doesn’t buy Nayeon’s lying for a second. Her minor in Drama and Acting has not prepared her for lying to her sister, she thinks.  

Now, the thing is that Nayeon knows what Chaeyoung is talking about. She promised her mother few months ago that she will be present for her cousin Jisoo’s wedding, which her mother was ecstatic about. Because that way Nayeon can visit home as well. And it was RSVP, and Nayeon’s mother is very particular about those. So, her presence was now a mandate.  

She watches as Mina silently sits through the chaos happening in front of her, where Sana and Momo are in a Heap wrestling to get a bite of the last cookie left. Well, mina has one in her hand but no one is going to fight her for it. Or maybe SaMo are just way to soft for her, she ponders.

“So, you’ll be attending, right?” Any thoughts that Nayeon has about SaMo’s love for Mina evaporate into thin air. God, how is she going to get out of this one?

“I’ve been really busy with my projects for the past few weeks,” she starts but Chaeyoung cuts her off. Nayeon gives up any hope she has about avoiding this.

“You promised Mom, and you can say no to me. But I am just trying to get you out of talking to mom about this. You won’t be able to avoid this one, unnie” Chaeyoung states.

“Ya, Okay Fine. I’ll be there!” Nayeon says with a tilt in her voice. It comes out louder than intended, because she is frustrated to be honest. Her voice was loud enough that Jeongyeon finally pokes her head out of the Bedroom where she was folding Nayeon’s laundry. After, Nayeon pouted her way out of it.

“Hey, c’mon you know….” Chaeyoung tries to continue but Nayeon cuts her off. “I know, I am sorry. I’ll be there. It’s been a while since I’ve seen your short self anyway”. She jokes and hears Chaeyoung laugh, her sister’s laughter warms her heart. She misses her dearly but life has gotten in the way. Chaeyoung continues to tell her about her new friend Tzuyu or something, a new transfer student in her High School.

“Oh, and before I forget, Mom said you’re bringing a date with you Unnie, which was surprising cause as far as I know you weren’t seeing anyone.” Chaeyoung continues. Well, . Nayeon thinks, when she promised her mom about this, she did have a person in her mind. She was actively going on a few dates with this guy Jin, now that she thinks about this, it was premature of her to think that she would go to a wedding with this guy in the near future. To sum it up, they pretty much stopped seeing each other after their fifth date or so because it seemed like they’d be better off as friends than anything. They still talk sometimes and last time she checked Jin was dating someone, although she has no idea who.

She went out with this other guy after Jin, she doesn’t even want to think about his name. They dated for two months, and he was such a perfect guy, Nayeon was swept off of her feet with his grand gestures. Turns out, this scumbag was a textbook cheater. Honestly, Nayeon should’ve known but it didn’t hurt her any less. Jeongyeon held her as she cried when she found him kissing another girl in a café they frequented. She smiles as she thinks about his broken nose, the next time she saw him. Jeongyeon is very protective of her loved ones, to say the least. Nayeon has no remorse for his broken nose, but she does feel bad about Jeongyeon’s knuckles though. She took care of it though by putting on Band-aids and Jeongyeon recovered fast.

But she cannot say no, her mom will hear about her not having a date from Chaeyoung and set her up with someone and she will have to go through this bull and moreover her mom will go off on a rant that Nayeon needs to find somebody or she will end up alone living with her dogs in some ty apartment in Seoul.

“I have a date Chaeyoung-ah. You will meet them when the time comes. Now, don’t you have homework to do or something?” Nayeon says. Chaeyoung agrees and promises Nayeon to pass on the message to their mom so she doesn’t call Nayeon for this and hangs up. As soon as she hears the buzz, she screams and lays down on the sofa.

That brings the trio’s attention to her. “Hey,” Mina sits next to Nayeon on the couch. “Are you alright?”

“I don’t have a date for this wedding I promised my mom I’d attend. And really, it’s my own fault but now that I’ve said I’d bring a date, I kind of have to cause if not then my mom will set me up with anyone. And I don’t want that”. Nayeon whines. Honestly, Nayeon loved weddings but as she grew up, she just grew tired of them. Its really annoying how the family members pester her by trying to know all about her life during these events and then brag about their own children.

“You’re Problematic, also really does your family set you up with people? What are you a kid?” Sana announces loudly and Nayeon snorts. Momo continues “Maybe, you shouldn’t have lied and there won’t be a problem”. Nayeon groans loudly. She hates this, Jeongyeon would defend her if she was here. She is Nayeon’s saviour and angel.

“You guys are not helping” Nayeon grumbles.

Speaking of angels, Jeongyeon enters the room. She settles right next to Nayeon on the other side and drapes her arms on her shoulders. Its natural, all this touching between them. Jeongyeon is not a touchy person in general, she gets a lot of from Sana about it but her body seems to gravitate towards Nayeon a lot since the start of their friendship. Its all so natural, and nobody bates an eye to it anymore, it’s like nobody notices it.

She relaxes under Jeongyeon’s arm and looks at her. With one look shared between them Nayeon feels better already even though there is problem which is dying to be solved.

“What’s going on?” Jeongyeon asks quietly, her nose brushing under Nayeon’s ear. Nayeon struggles to formulate a sentence but in brief explains the whole predicament to Jeongyeon. It would be useless for her to act like it’s okay cause Jeongyeon doesn’t need words, she understands Nayeon like no else does. They share the same brain cells after all, as Mina had joked once. “She is a ,” Sana states quietly.

“You could hire someone, like that dumb Netflix movie whose name I Forgot” Momo suggests.

“Momo that is a very bad idea, it could end up being a creep” Mina added looking at Momo. She has no malice in her voice, and if anything, her tone was way too sweet. Momo smiled and called Mina from the sofa where she was sitting on the other side of Nayeon. Mina moved and sat next to Momo, and even before she could settle in Sana came running towards them, crashing on the other side of Mina squishing her between them. It was very cute, but Nayeon has other things to think about.

“Just ask a friend,” Jeongyeon suggests calmly. Nayeon knows for a fact, that they are polar opposites of each other but in situations like this, she appreciates it more. Nayeon is loud and expressive in every sense of the word while Jeongyeon neutralizes the atmosphere with her warm and calm aura. The Debate continues while everyone suggests what friend Nayeon should take to the wedding. She needs to sell this to her family; she needs them to understand that this is long term and not just some fling so they stop setting her up with random people. Her family is aware of her Biuality so even if she asks one of her girlfriends it wouldn’t be a problem. All her college friends or office friends are not close enough to do her this favour, which leads to the conclusion that she has to ask someone present in this room. Well, great that’s not how she thought her day was going to be when she woke up today.

They all discuss the options; Sana is way too sarcastic towards Nayeon for anyone to believe they are dating. Then there is Momo who cannot lie to save her life, she is way too pure for her own good. And then there is Mina, but her family knows Mina already. They are more like sisters than anything. Also, this weird Momo, Sana and Mina thing is going on, which she knows nothing about but she doesn’t want to complicate it any further.

“Well, it has to be me then.” Jeongyeon offers, while smiling. And Nayeon looks at Jeongyeon properly, there is no doubt in her gaze and to be honest Nayeon is really flustered but what else can she possibly do, she is desperate. They are wrapped around each other and Jeongyeon starts playing with her fingers, its distracting. And Sana announces loudly from her own cuddle puddle “Look, they don’t even have to try. Trust me, this is the best choice.” Mina and Momo nod and provide their approval for the idea.

“Okay then, its settled. Jeongyeon is going to be my date for the wedding. We can pull it off”. Nayeon states as she and Jeongyeon share eye contact and she knows it will all be okay as long as its natural just like now. Jeongyeon presses a kiss on the side of her forehead confirming the plan. She just prays that all of this works out in the end.

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

They are around 30,000 feet above the ground. And, the plane is flying steadily in the night sky but Nayeon is unable to settle down. She is nervous and her tummy is acting weird maybe the fluttering has something to do with Jeongyeon sleeping on her shoulder or maybe she is just really out of it. They have a lot of time before they reach Seoul. She snaps a picture of sleeping Jeongyeon just because she can. Oh God, who looks this good while they sleep. In Nayeon’s opinion and call her biased but she thinks that Jeongyeon has the best candid pictures. She is going to save this one in her extensive Jeongyeon gallery.

Having Jeongyeon with her is comforting, she knows that this whole ordeal is going to take a lot of energy from her and who to better spend it with than Jeongyeon. They just connect with each other in a way that Nayeon has never had with any other friends. Nayeon has known Mina, Sana and Momo since High School while they still live together in their huge condo apartment but nothing comes close to this feeling of comfort she gets when Jeongyeon is around. Her other friendships are special in some other ways.

“You know, you always move your left leg when you’re nervous” Jeongyeon states with her sleepy voice. That surprises Nayeon, “, I am so sorry. Did I wake you Up?” she apologizes. Jeongyeon shifts from her shoulder and gives her a lazy smile which she returns except hers is gummier. Jeongyeon once told her that she loves her smiles and specially her bunny teeth, it helps her confidence a lot. Her teeth were an insecurity once, they haven’t been anything else than an asset since Jeongyeon entered her life though. She doesn’t fall short on compliments about Nayeon’s smile. Nayeon is really grateful for that. “Its Okay, what are you so nervous about?” Jeongyeon asks.  

“Everything about this wedding, you and me and how will we pull this off.” Nayeon counters with a pout. “I know that you don’t want to talk to half of the people that will be present but trust me, I’ll try to make this easier for you. We got this, you trust me, right?” Jeongyeon answers her.

Nayeon smiles “With my life, and the only reason I am not dreading the coming days is because you’re there with me. I haven’t had a chance to thank you for even agreeing to this. Thank you for being my fake girlfriend” she laughs with sincerity laced in her voice. Jeongyeon just hums and softly grabs Nayeon’s hand to play with it. “Sleep now, we still have some time left.” Jeongyeon commands and she agrees, now that she has talked to Jeongyeon she can feel the nerves calming down in her bones and to be honest preparing for the wedding has exhausted her. She puts her head on Jeongyeon’s shoulders and drifts to sleep.

They decide to take a rental, and as soon as Jeongyeon starts driving them to their destination Nayeon starts thinking, this is happening. She feels guilty about lying to her family, and Jeongyeon is acting calm but Nayeon knows her enough to know that she is nervous as well. She is repeatedly brushing her hair and as much as Nayeon loves Jeongyeon’s hair and her ministrations with it, it’s a habit for when she is nervous.

Jeongyeon must’ve noticed her being quiet which was unusual. “Hey, we will be okay. We don’t have to do this if you don’t want to. I’ll still be there for you as a friend.” Jeongyeon promises. And if one thing Nayeon has known since she has become Friends with Jeongyeon is that she keeps her promises.

“As long as you’ll be there, I think we will be okay. Just stay with me at all times, okay?” Nayeon states.

“Of course, where else will I be as your girlfriend”? Jeongyeon casually states.

Nayeon is taken aback from the sound of it, yes Jeongyeon is her girlfriend for the sake of this wedding but instead of any awkwardness she feels her heart fluttering. She like the sound of this, she decides.

When they pull up to the Ims Estate, Nayeon is completely out of it, as if Jeongyeon senses it she takes her hand and whispers a “I am here” in her ear. That pulls Nayeon out of her stupor. It’s a little chilly in Seoul, Nayeon notices now. They take their bags and enter the home, it’s late, and Nayeon doesn’t want to wake anyone up but to her surprise the sight of her parents in the living room greets her after she enters the home. She drops her bags on the side, and greets her parents. Jeongyeon follows her after dropping her bags as well.

To Nayeon’s surprise, her mom greets Jeongyeon with a strong hug “Its so good to meet you, I am so glad Nayeonnie has someone to take care of her” she continues. Nayeon is embarrassed to say the least. While Jeongyeon is greeting Nayeon’s dad, Nayeon’s mom whispers “She’s very pretty” to Nayeon with a mischievous smile. She is grateful for the support her family provides her and considers herself lucky. She nods towards her mom confirming that yes, Jeongyeon indeed is very pretty.

Jeongyeon comes near Nayeon and sits next to her and puts her hand on her lower back and Nayeon relaxes and notices that this is going great she has nothing to worry about. They retire to their respective rooms for the night after exchanging pleasantries. Nayeon goes towards her room first and Nayeon’s mother also retires to her own room. As Jeongyeon is picking up her luggage from where she left it earlier, she sees a shadow cast on her. She looks and sees Nayeon’s father who is trying to be as intimidating as he can be, cause from talking with each other earlier Jeongyeon is sure that Nayeon’s father can be anything but intimidating but she plays along.

“If you hurt my daughter, there will be consequences” Nayeon’s father announces. Jeongyeon, politely with absolute certainty in her voice also announces “I’ll never hurt her, sir”. Nayeon’s father feels the sincerity and gives his fatherly smile “Then, you have my blessing. You’re family now. Good night Jeongyeon” he retreats towards his room leaving Jeongyeon with her bags and an open mouth. Jeongyeon feels at home alr