Between Two Choices

Chapter 3: The Unwanted Presence

The day of the family gathering had finally arrived. Liana had prepared everything carefully, making sure everything looked perfect. Arga arrived at her house a few hours before the event started, wearing a white shirt rolled up to his elbows and simple black pants. His appearance was clean, yet still carried his signature casual aura.

“How do I look?” Arga asked, turning his body slightly in front of Liana.

“You look... pretty good,” Liana replied, trying to hide a small sense of admiration.

“Pretty good?” Arga raised an eyebrow, pretending to be offended. “You know, I can do better than just pretty good if I want.”

Liana just shook her head and laughed lightly. She didn’t want to admit that Arga actually looked much more attractive than she expected.

They spent the last few minutes adjusting their plan and making sure their story had no gaps. When the doorbell rang, signaling the arrival of family members, Liana’s heart began to race.

“Let’s start our drama,” Arga said, grinning, offering his hand to Liana. “Ready to be the perfect couple?”

Liana rolled her eyes but still took Arga’s hand. They opened the door together and greeted the extended family with faces full of curiosity.

That evening, everything went smoothly. Arga played his role perfectly. He not only introduced himself confidently as Liana’s boyfriend, but also managed to lighten the mood with his signature sense of humor. Even some of Liana’s cousins began to like his presence.

However, that calm only lasted until the front door rang again. Rina, Liana’s sister, walked in with a group of friends. One of them immediately caught Liana’s attention.

Dimas.

The guy wore a dark blue shirt that looked neat, paired with gray pants. His posture was upright, his face radiated calm, and his slight smile made the atmosphere in the room change. Dimas’s gaze swept across the room before finally resting on Liana.

“Liana, these are my friends from college,” Rina said, introducing her friends one by one. When it was Dimas’s turn, Rina cheerfully added, “This is Dimas. He’s a senior at my college. Really good at design.”

Dimas nodded, smiling. “Nice to meet you, Liana.”

Liana could only return the smile awkwardly. She felt there was something different about this guy, something she hadn’t felt when she first met Arga.

Arga, who was standing beside Liana, quickly noticed the change in her expression. He glanced at Dimas with a evaluating look, then whispered quietly to Liana, “Who’s he? Why do you look like you just saw your favorite movie star?”

“He’s just Rina’s friend,” Liana quickly replied, trying to cover up her nervousness.

But throughout the night, Liana’s attention kept drifting back to Dimas. Despite her attempts to focus on her conversations with Arga or other family members, her eyes always returned to Dimas, who looked at ease talking to others.

“Liana, your boyfriend is pretty cool, huh?” one of Liana’s cousins suddenly said, startling her.

“Huh?”

“Your boyfriend, Arga,” her cousin repeated. “He’s really nice. But it seems like you’re not paying enough attention to him. You’ve been looking at that other guy more.”

Her cheeks instantly flushed. “No, you’re seeing it wrong,” she protested.

But deep down, Liana knew her cousin wasn’t wrong.

As the night grew late, Dimas approached Liana while she was alone in the kitchen, preparing drinks for the guests.

“You’re Liana, right?” Dimas asked with a warm smile.

Liana turned around, a little surprised to see him standing so close. “Yes. You’re... Dimas, right?”

Dimas nodded. “Rina talks a lot about her older sister. I didn’t expect to meet you tonight.”

“Oh, really? What did she say?” Liana asked, trying to sound casual.

“She said you’re hard-working, smart, and... a bit hard to approach,” Dimas said, laughing softly.

Liana chuckled. “She tends to exaggerate.”

The brief conversation went smoothly, and Liana started to feel more at ease. Dimas wasn’t just handsome; he also had a friendly personality and was easy to talk to. For a moment, she forgot that Arga was waiting for her in the living room.

But that moment didn’t last long. Arga suddenly appeared in the kitchen, his eyes locking on Liana and Dimas talking.

“Hey,” Arga greeted casually, but Liana could see a slight tension on his face. “You’ve been in here a while. Everyone’s looking for you, Li.”

“Oh, sorry,” Liana replied nervously, placing the glass on the table. “I was just talking to Dimas for a bit.”

Arga glanced at Dimas, then extended his hand. “I’m Arga, Liana’s boyfriend.”

Dimas shook Arga’s hand with a polite smile. “Dimas. Nice to meet you.”

There was a brief, awkward pause before Liana finally decided to go back to the living room with Arga. But for the rest of the night, her thoughts kept drifting back to her brief conversation with Dimas.

As the guests began to leave, Liana and Arga returned to the living room to clean up the remnants of the evening. The atmosphere between them was quieter than usual.

“Are you okay?” Liana finally asked, feeling that Arga seemed more subdued.

Arga paused before looking at Liana. “You know, I don’t have to care too much about this because it’s all just pretend.”

Liana swallowed, feeling like this conversation was heading toward something she feared.

“But last night, I felt like I was starting to be forgotten as part of this plan,” Arga continued, his voice calm but firm.

Liana didn’t know what to say. She couldn’t deny that her mind had been distracted by Dimas’s presence.

“Arga, I... I didn’t mean it like that,” she said finally.

Arga just nodded slightly. “It’s okay, Li. I just wanted to remind you. If this is starting to make you uncomfortable, we can stop.”

Liana fell silent. There was something in Arga’s tone that made her feel guilty. She didn’t want to hurt him, but at the same time, she knew her feelings were in turmoil.

“This won’t affect our plan,” Liana said finally, trying to reassure herself more than Arga.

But deep inside, she knew things wouldn’t be that simple anymore.