Luna

Book II - Chapter 1

Chapter 1 - A Perfect Man

Description of a perfect man

Iris Rose typed each letter with precaution as she was afraid one of her roommates might see. People might think she was overreacting. But what do they know? One couldn't be extra very overly cautious when it involved her whole life and reputation, wasn't it?

Thus, aside from sneakily putting her back on the wall (to prevent anyone from looking over her laptop screen), she also spread out some work-related tally sheets on the side of her desk. Along with the phone on her ear, and her pen on her fingers, this created a perfect image of a diligent girl working at home during the weekends. This impression, of course, was what Iris was aiming for.

She wanted to look perfect. There was nothing in this world that she aspired for other than being perfect.

Back when she was in school, Iris would stay up the whole night studying just so she could have perfect scores on her exams. In the morning, she would spend hours in the mirror just to look perfect. Not a hair out of place, she would then walk in the classroom with a worried look while pitifully saying "I fell asleep last night so I wasn't able to study. I hope I can remember the lessons".

During her speech for their graduation where she took the highest honor, she portrayed a great image of an excellent, beautiful and inspiring youth while talking about the "dreams and aspirations of the youth; how can they contribute to our society". Inside her mind, however, she was secretly thinking "Ha! I BEAT you. You are now the forever 2nd honor. In your face, Oscar!"

During her first day of work when her new office mates asked her about her hobbies, she answered "I play the piano and read books during weekends". However, the truth was, saturdays and sundays were manga days and unless absolutely necessary for her carefully crafted image, no one and nothing could bring her away from her manga collection.

People saw her as a beautiful, educated, talented and elegant lady.

Men wanted to pursue her. Women dreamed of being like her.

Yes, Iris Rose was perfect.

Perfect in being pretentious.

Which leads to the current situation. You see, her grandma just gave her a call asking whether she would visit home on the coming holiday.

I don't want to visit home on the holiday. Iris Rose thought as she thought of a perfect excuse.

"Grandma, I would love to return and see you. But... I'm sorry. I have previous engagements." She sweetly replied.

"But my dear..I miss you." Was the only reply of her grandma. Naturally, she was the loving granddaughter in her grandma's heart. A loving granddaughter would always place her family first.

I miss you and your cookies too, grandma! But it gets too tiring whenever I return. I would need to act perfect 24/7 and my annoying cousins would be there to judge my every move. Iris Rose thought.

"You know I really miss you too, grandma." She said softly. "But my previous engagement, my... my ...boyfriend will be hurt if I suddenly cancel it." She added.

"So that's why. How's your boyfriend, my dear?" Grandma's gentle voice said.

Her grandma knew about her boyfriend, of course. A perfect girl needed a perfect man. So, to add on the list of her pretenses, Iris Rose also created "stories" about her "boyfriend".

"He's really sweet, Grandma." She said. "He's bringing me somewhere on the holiday. I'm also clueless where."

"That's really sweet, dear." Iris Rose could feel her grandma's smile as she said that. "Do you think he will pop the question?" Her grandma chuckled.

Question? Grandma.. you're not thinking I'll marry my imaginary perfect boyfriend, right?

"Grandma.. we just started dating.." Iris pretended to stutter like a shy teenager.

"He was pursuing you for a year and you are together for seven months. That's not 'just started dating'. Your cousin, Mika, is already engaged! Her fiance went on his knees and asked her the question last night in front of the 'Goddess' statue. I heard it was romantic." Her grandma gushed.

What?! That b*tch is engaged? And she was engaged before me?!

Mika Howell was Iris' cousin and number one competitor/enemy. The number of times they competed in the past cannot be counted anymore. Ofcourse, Iris mostly won. Thus, it was completely unacceptable for Iris to let Micka win.. especially in terms of getting married first!! Who knew she found a man so fast? She totally let her guard down!

"Micka is... getting married?" Iris asked her grandma in a sweet voice while her eyes flickered in an abnormal manner.

"Yes. She is. They had been dating for four months when Liam popped the question. So you see my dear.. dating for seven months is totally not too short especially if the guy's heart was captured...." She is dating that Liam? The son of the governor who is also a prominent lawyer? Liam.. my childhood crush?! "..so you see, my dear. You should learn from your cousin and capture the heart of your boyfriend." Her grandma continued.

Me learning from Micka? Unacceptable!

"Grandma.. now that you talk like this.. actually.. I got something to tell you.." Iris started while her competitive mind was clearly clouded by a strong desire to be superior.

"It's like this.. I hope you won't be mad.. Grandma... actually.. I'm also engaged. My boyfriend.. he wanted us to get married but I always think that we should meet the family first." Iris nervously said while thinking Oh no.. I really said it.