Chapter Text
Guanlin liked the autumn months. He liked wearing colorful beanies, long overcoats, and fluffy scarves that draped around his shoulders. He liked watching the leaves change colors and flutter to the ground so that he could step on them and hear those satisfying crunches. He liked sitting indoors, wrapped up in a cosy blanket with a nice cup of hot chocolate and maybe even a pumpkin spice latte if he was feeling extra adventurous.
It was currently the fall break of his senior year in college. He had assignments to catch up on and a bunch of essays that he had previously put off writing (playing basketball with his friends seemed like the better option at the time), so today he had grabbed his laptop and earphones and found a secluded part of the library to work.
He was halfway through his second essay when he decided to take a break. Guanlin pushed his laptop aside and leaned forward on his arms, sighing deeply. Most of his friends had gone home for the autumn holidays, and here he was, stuck doing work in a library. When he complained to his roommate, he had told him (through a mouthful of pizza) that it was all just a part of the College Experience. Guanlin sighed deeply and stared out the windows, watching as the leaves floated with the wind and got stuck in the hair of unsuspecting passersby. There was a pair of birds perched on one of the branches, wings touching. They looked awfully comfortable next to each other. Guanlin frowned.
But before Guanlin could dwell on them further, there was a sudden tap on his shoulder. He turned, finding himself face to face with a boy with slightly lopsided glasses. He raised an eyebrow.
“Seonho? How did you find me here?”
Seonho grinned, teeth showing in a slightly dopey smile. “I asked your roommate, duh. Plus, there aren’t a lot of people on campus these days so it was easy to track you down. Apparently it’s pretty hard to miss a 184cm Taiwanese boy walking around.”
Guanlin took a moment to glance at Seonho’s outfit, a taupe coat over a blue button-down and white pants. It was a strange divergence from his usual basketball shorts and T-shirt, which made Guanlin wonder if he had some fancy event to go to.
“So…” Guanlin said, suddenly noticing the awkward silence between them. Which was weird, because Seonho was never quiet with Guanlin. Or anyone, for that matter. He could talk for hours on end unless somebody gagged him or he fell asleep. “What’s with the get-up? You look...presentable...for once.”
Seonho blinked, looking a bit surprised at the compliment. He scratched his head and glanced around. He looked down at his feet, and it might’ve been a trick of the bad lighting in the library, but Guanlin could’ve sworn there was a light dusting of pink on Seonho’s cheeks.
“..Right. I was was actually wondering if…” He trailed off for a bit before he took a deep breath and pushed his glasses up, staring straight at his friend.
“Guanlin…” Seonho continued, shifting oddly from one foot to the other. His hands were clasped behind his back, and he looked uncharacteristically nervous.
Guanlin swallowed. If he didn’t know any better, he would’ve thought that Seonho was about to confess to him. Memories of awkward confessions and even more awkward rejections behind middle school libraries flashed through Guanlin’s mind, and he found himself getting uncomfortable at the image of Seonho in a skirt and ponytail.
But surely, there was no way Seonho actually had any sort of feelings for him, right? Guanlin was aware of his relatively good looks, but he had never had any of his close friends (much less his best friend) confess to him. He ran a hand through his hair, preparing for the most awkward conversation of his life.
Guanlin was busy running through four different ways to reject Seonho when his friend did something that he was not, in any circumstances, expecting.
He got down on one knee and pulled out a little box from his pocket, lifting the cover to reveal a silver band nestled in dark blue velvet.
“Lai Guanlin, will you marry me?”
Guanlin froze, all rational thought slipping from his mind. Um.
“...WHAT?”
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“It’s really not that funny, Seonho.”
Guanlin frowned at his friend, who was rolling on the grass, clutching his stomach and laughing madly. His outburst had gotten the both of them kicked out of the library, and Seonho had immediately burst into a fit of giggles. When Guanlin snatched the box out of his hands, a closer inspection had revealed that the ‘ring’ was just aluminum foil twisted delicately into the shape of one.
“You...seriously...thought...I was going to actually...propose…” Seonho choked out in wheezes. Guanlin rolled his eyes and started to walk away. Maybe if Seonho laughed hard enough, he would choke on his own spit.
He was a good distance away until he heard panting and heavy footsteps following up behind him.
“Guanlin! Wait!”
He slowed his pace until he was sure Seonho was a few steps behind him. Then he stopped abruptly and whirled around with folded arms, and for the second time in ten minutes, Seonho caught him off-guard. The slightly shorter boy was barreling towards him much faster than Guanlin had anticipated.
Seonho’s eyes widened and waved his arms in an attempt to stop himself, but unfortunately his clumsy legs had other plans. He crashed straight into Guanlin, sending them toppling onto the grass.
Guanlin shut his eyes at the impact of his back against the ground and groaned at the weight on top of him.
“Ow, ow…” he heard Seonho mutter. He opened his eyes, ready to scold Seonho, but the words died on his tongue.
Seonho’s face was mere inches from his own, and for the first time in his life, Guanlin noticed how big Seonho’s eyes were--he could see his own bewildered reflection in Seonho’s irises. He also had really long eyelashes that fluttered whenever he blinked. Seonho’s glasses started to slip off his face, and as if his arm was possessed, Guanlin lifted his hand and pushed the frames back onto the bridge of his nose.
That one movement seemed to effectively snap Seonho out of whatever trance he was in, as he rolled quickly off of Guanlin and turned away, brushing the grass off his coat in hurried movements. Guanlin got up as well and checked his head for any injuries. He was lucky his scarf softened the fall, or he might’ve gotten a nasty bruise.
“Haha, sorry about that, hyung.” Seonho turned around to face him, cheeks red, and Guanlin chose to attribute the color to the chilly weather.
“Right,” Guanlin said, continuing on his walk as if nothing had happened. He let Seonho jog up to match his pace. “Care to explain the thing in the library?”
Seonho chuckled, slipping his hands into his coat pockets. “So you see, I got a letter in the mail today.”
“A letter?” A leaf fell onto Seonho’s shoulder and Guanlin absentmindedly plucked it off.
“Mhmm. I know, kinda old-fashioned, right? But anyway, it was from my old high-school chem tutor. You remember Minhyun, right?”
Guanlin snorted. “You mean the hot college guy you were hopelessly in love with for three years? Yeah, I remember him.” He laughed as Seonho elbowed him in the ribs.
“Shut up. Anyway, it was an invitation. He’s getting married to his boyfriend of seven years next week.”
Seven years, Guanlin mused. That was indeed a pretty long time to be dating someone. It probably meant they were high-school sweethearts or something. Guanlin scratched his chin, contemplating the idea, but he didn’t think he had anyone to consider as a high-school sweetheart, having transferred in an awkward time when people weren’t very willing to let new kids into their carefully crafted friendship groups and cliques.
“That’s nice and all, but I still don’t get how that has anything to do with this.” He held up the aluminium ring on his index finger.
Seonho grinned. It was a very mischievous grin, with the corners of his mouth upturned, and Guanlin started mentally debating whether or not to break off into a sprint and run far, far away from him. He had vowed a long time ago not to ever get involved in another Seonho Scheme™.
“Well, my dear Linlin. You wanna hear a fun fact?” he poked Guanlin in the stomach, and he flinched. “I bet you wanna hear a fun fact.”
Guanlin sighed, but before he could nod, Seonho continued. “Apparently, autumn is the most common time for people to get married.”
He paused, smiling proudly. Guanlin replayed the sentence in his head, not quite grasping what Seonho was getting at.
“So…?”
Seonho rolled his eyes exasperatedly. “You’re so dumb, hyung. Peak wedding season means…”
“Increased prices for wedding dresses?” he guessed. He had definitely spent too much time on that one economics report.
“No!...I mean, yes...but that’s not relevant! I’m talking about wedding cake.”
He spoke with a shimmer in his eyes, the same shine he got whenever the lunch bell rang back in high school, or when Guanlin said he would treat him out for a snack.
“Peak wedding season means that there are a lot of cake shops expecting engaged couples to come in and taste wedding cakes. And I just so happen to have a cake craving, so-”
“You want me to be fake engaged to you so that you can eat a bunch of wedding cakes for free,” Guanlin finished.
Seonho smiled brighter, slapping his palm against Guanlin’s back in a violent pat. “You are so smart, Guanlin-hyung! So...what do you say?”
He looked down at Seonho, who was clinging onto his arm and giving him googly eyes. Guanlin knew that rejecting Seonho would just lead to a week of him sulking and moping around like a big baby, which was always an unpleasant experience for everyone. Plus, free cake didn’t seem so bad. It also meant he didn’t have to work on all those essays. There really wasn’t any downside to the situation.
“Sure,” he answered, and Seonho burst into a grin so sunny, Guanlin thought he was blind for a solid three seconds. Pretending to be his best friend’s fiancee for one afternoon seemed simple enough, anyway.
Piece of cake, right?