Chapter Text
At last, it was Friday. Prom night. The much awaited day.
Khun was conflicted about it, of course. On one hand, he got to go to prom with Bam, as his date. On the other, it was all a farce and it’d be over after tonight.
There was something awfully bittersweet about it. These past days had been really nice. Any moment spent with Bam, as best friends, was already great but there was something particularly distinct when they were together dating. It was about having an excuse to lean more towards each other, like it pulled them yet closer together. It was like getting a different angle—a most delightful one—on the relationship they’d built and treasured all this time. And if Bam’s attempts at acting like the classical boyfriend didn’t make him combust on the spot every time, he’d say that he liked them, actually. They were sweet. But he’d enabled his little crush on Bam too far, completely failing to stifle his feelings. What was their relationship going to look like afterwards then?
He sighed.
Regardless, at the very least, one thing he could be entirely sure of was that he was going to look good this evening. He’d spent the past week agonizing over what to wear. Fortunately, he already what Bam would be wearing so he could coordinate something complimentary.
He’d settled on a black suit to match Bam but opted for a powder blue undershirt (one had to stick to one’s brand after all). For the hair, after much internal debate, he’d decided to just sweep it back.
From the corner of his eye, he caught his phone getting bombarded with messages from their group chat.
Endorsi had pushed for the girls to get together and get ready for prom together. Shibisu had encouraged them to do the same but given that almost all of them were going with each other, his plan didn’t go through (Hatz and himself agreeing on something for once) so he simply decided to live-message his whole getting ready process.
Khun glanced at the time. He didn’t have forever to prep. He’d offered to be the one to drive them over to the school. Bam had declined at first, knowing how much he didn’t like having to ask his parents to use one of the cars, but they didn’t have that many options. Besides, he’d already sneaked off with the keys to Eduan’s favorite sports car at that point, leaving little room for argument.
His asshole of a father probably wouldn’t notice but Khun kind of hoped he would if only to piss him off.
As soon as he was satisfied with his outfit and hairstyle, he grabbed the keys and anything else he’d need. His hand stopped at that tiny box, the thing he’d bought over the weekend. Throughout the week, he’d thought of getting Bam flowers or some other textbook romantic gesture but the box already felt like way overboard and he wasn’t even sure he’d give it.
Another minute passed.
He bit his lip.
Fuck it.
He pocketed it, just in case. He was in the habit of being prepared after all.
Khun drove over to Bam’s efficiently, sorting in his mind how he pictured the night would go. A simple mental exercise to help him keep his shit together. They’d meet up with their friends, Bam would do some embarrassing boyfriend thing that would doubtless make him helplessly flustered, they’d dance, take pictures, and eventually it’d be over.
He’d survive. Probably.
He parked on the curb and texted Bam that he was outside before approaching to ring the bell.
He had, of course, accounted for the possibility that Jinsung Ha, Bam’s adoptive father, would be the one to greet him at the door. When the idea that Jinsung would know that he was dating his son—albeit falsely—first came to him, he had to sit with his head in his hands for a while. Bam had assured him that it’d be fine but still, Khun was hoping not to see him.
Luck wasn’t on his side tonight, apparently.
Not only was he the one to open the door, but the man just stood there instead of letting him in or calling Bam over.
“Excuse me? Is something wrong?” he asked after a moment, keeping a perfect poker face. He was not going to give the other any ground.
“Khun…” Jinsung started and Khun could already tell from his tone that this would not be great. “Listen, kid. I know you. You’ve been friends with Bam for ages now. And I’ll even go ahead and say that I kind of saw this coming. But I just need to make sure you understand very, very well. If you hurt him, I will know and then being a Khun won’t be enough to spare you of the consequences, you get me?”
A shovel talk. Jinsung Ha was giving him a shovel talk. Khun filed the “I kind of saw this coming” part away neatly in his mind under “Things I don’t think about because I WILL go crazy” and scoffed.
“Bold of you to assume I would even let myself be near Bam if I hurt him but okay.”
Jinsung scowled but by then Bam had come over.
“Hey, Khun! You look amazing!” He took some pleasure in seeing that Bam was checking him out if only because he did work very hard to look this good even though he would pass it off as “effortless”.
“You too.” He’d already seen Bam in his prom outfit but god, did he look amazing in it and―oh no, Jinsung was glaring at him. Time to go.
He started turning around when Bam caught his hand. “Oh! Wait a minute. I have something for you. Give me a sec.” And then he was gone.
Jinsung was still hovering in the background looking impassive and unimpressed. Khun returned the look.
Bam was back in a second, a small bouquet in his hands. Khun felt his heart skip a beat as the other handed it to him.
“Oh. Bam, you didn’t have to¬.”
“I know but I thought I’d be nice! I do have to say that I don’t know any of the flower symbolism though. But there’s some blue ones and they remind me of you.”
Well, this was a new record. Not even five minutes in each other’s presence and Khun was already a blushing mess. At least the only one seeing him like this, apart from Bam, was Jinsung but he couldn’t decide if that was worse.
“Thanks. I’m sorry I—“
He hadn’t not brought him anything. But it didn’t feel appropriate to give him that right now, what with his dad right there.
“It’s alright! I was actually worried it’d be kind of weird,” he said, drifting off into a bit of an awkward laugh.
In a flash of genius (or idiocy, maybe), he took one of blue flowers and tucked it in Bam’s breast pocket. It wasn’t as clean as putting on a proper boutonniere but it looked nice.
The other was momentarily stunned but then grinned and followed suit, plucking a cream-colored bloom from the bouquet in Khun’s hands and tucking it in his pocket for him.
“Okay, shall we get going?” Khun prompted, trying and failing to not think about how intimate that had felt.
Jinsung cleared his throat, as if reminding them that he was still in the room. “Wait. Let me take a picture. For the memories.”
With each passing second, Khun felt that the possibility that he’d get murdered by Jinsung next week was growing more and more likely.
They held arms for the photo and he schooled his face into the calmest, not at all extremely flustered, expression he could muster. However their friendship survived after tonight, the fact that there was so much evidence or records of them being a “thing” but not really would haunt him.
“Alright. Well, you kids have fun,” he said and added pointedly towards Khun,”Don’t bring him home too late.”
“You know, when we first agreed to this, I didn’t expect that Jinsung would come to know about it,” Khun said matter-of-factly, once they were on their way.
Bam smiled sheepishly from the passenger seat. “Neither did I. Sorry if that was weird.”
“It’s fine. I’m just really hoping he doesn’t murder me next week,” he replied lightly. Mentioning the after made his mood dip a little. He didn’t know what their relationship would look like after this. But that was terrifying and this was supposed to be a fun night so he stifled the thought as well as he could.
“He wouldn’t,” Bam replied easily, then considered for a moment. “Okay, maybe. But I’d stop him so no harm done.” He looked around the inside of the car and fidgeted in his seat. “Anyway, this car is really fancy. Are you sure you won’t get in trouble for this?”
“Maybe,” he admitted cheerfully. “It should be fine. It’s not like I’m going to crash it. Although, I’m tempted.” Khun liked to think that he was mostly out of the so-called rebellious teen phase or whatever but perhaps his penchant for asshole-ish behavior was genetic.
Their conversation settled into a comfortable lull, generic music from a radio station neither of them bothered to change filling the space between them. It was a kind of calm before the storm that would be prom. Khun was relieved to find that even past the mess of his feelings for Bam, being with him like this didn’t set his heart racing in and of itself. He wasn’t nervous about what to do or say. Bam still felt first and foremost like home. Despite everything, it was still them, Bam and Khun. Hopefully, it could stay like that forever in one way or another.
It was when they reached a stoplight, that he noticed Bam’s eyes on him, golden and curious. The attention was pleasant if not a little surprising.
“What? Do I look that good?” he teased. Bam might have blushed. It was hard to tell with the dim lighting but Khun took it as a private victory. It’d been almost two weeks of Bam constantly making him a blushing mess. He deserved at least a small win.
“You always look that good,” the other replied, rolling his eyes. “But yeah.”
Fuck.
Khun gripped the stirring wheel harder. He wondered if Bam knew how smooth he actually was.
“You know, Bam. You’re very good at this fake dating thing.”
“Am I?” he asked, having the audacity to sound surprised and Khun couldn’t even be certain if it was intentional.
“Mm-hm.”
“Huh, well thanks. I think you’re too. And thanks for doing this with me. Like I’ve said before, you’re the best.” If it was coming from any other person, he might have dismissed the compliment as empty flattery but getting it from Bam felt better than any other reward.
He repressed a dry laugh. It was incredible. He’d set himself up for this, set himself up for what was going to feel like the biggest heartbreak in the entirety of history. Was it even worth it? It’d have to be.
“Of course. No problem,” he replied.
Shibisu, Hatz, and Endorsi were waiting there in the parking lot when they arrived.
“Hey you guys are late!” Shibisu called out as they approached. “Ooh. I like the flowers. Very romantic. Whose idea was it?”
“Khun—” started Bam.
“It was a collaborative effort, Isu. And we’re not late,” Khun amended before noticing the other guys’ attire. “What happened to you two? You’re disheveled.” Hatz’s hair was just about as messy as usual but both of their suits were awfully wrinkled. His friends might call him out for being nitpicky but standing beside Endorsi, who had clearly spent no little time and effort in her appearance tonight (a sentiment he could relate to), made it worse by contrast.
“Don’t get him started,” Endorsi said exasperatedly. She was about to run a hand through her immaculately made up face before thinking better of it.
“Oh, nothing.” Shibisu started, utterly delighted at being asked. “It’s just from Hatz picking me up in his bike as we had a romantic night ride here, isn’t that right?” He nudged the other’s shoulder.
“Shut. Up. You’re so annoying. Find another ride home,” he replied but there was an underlying fondness in his voice.
“No way,” the other said, face beaming.
If there was a betting pool on those two, Khun was considering getting in on it, if only as reparations for being bet on himself.
“Aren’t we going in?” Bam asked. “Are we waiting for someone?”
“Everyone else already went in. I’m waiting for my date,” Endorsi explained. “She didn’t want me to pick her up.” Khun was surprised to hear the slightest hint of worry in her voice. He didn’t know who she’d ended up picking as her date but they had to be quite someone to leave Endorsi of all people waiting.
“We can wait with you,” Bam offered.
Endorsi laughed. “No need. Besides, you would be crowding in on my grand entrance. Go on ahead.” Bam insisted that it was no trouble but she just shook her head and pushed them away. “By the way, you clean up very well, Bam. Nice work, Khun.”
They returned the compliments and followed somewhat reluctantly behind Shibisu and Hatz towards the entrance. Bam reached for his hand and their fingers intertwined easily. Khun hadn’t ever been too bothered by the cold, but Bam’s hand was a tender reprieve from the cool night air. God, he was going to miss when there wasn’t a reason for them to hold hands anymore.
“I’m kinda worried about Endorsi,” Bam said as they walked. “She looked pretty nervous a few days ago when she told me she was asking out the person.”
“You don’t know who it is?” The other shook his head. “Well, don’t worry too much. She’s tough. And if her date does happen to be a jerk we can always hatch a revenge plot,” he said, cracking a grin.
Bam laughed. “Right.”
Prom was being held in the gym, the noise getting louder and louder as they approached. Despite himself, Khun couldn’t help but feel a bit nervous. This was the culmination of all these past days, the whole reason they’d started fake-dating. It would all be over after this night.
“Ready?” asked Bam right before they entered, squeezing his hand.
This is it.
Khun looked at Bam, the most important person to him in the whole world. He looked at his gorgeous face and thought of his boundless kindness and courage and ridiculous selflessness. He desperately wanted. So much so that it hurt.
But he cared about Bam above all things, and if that had to include his own feelings towards him so be it.
Whatever happened, he’d try to at least make the most of tonight.
He took a breath and smiled.
“Yeah.”