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Jihoon is in big trouble. His uncle loves to match make and he became the target when his cousins joked about his non-existent love life. He lied for so he won’t be bothered further, but when his parents heard about his supposed to be boyfriend, they forced him to tell the name of the unlucky guy.
He couldn’t think of anyone but Mingyu, one of his closest friends. A guy whose definitely not his boyfriend (even if he secretly wanted to). He’s the first person to cross his mind; his parents knew Mingyu and adored him, so he thought that maybe they won’t be that angry if he told them this lie. Unluckily for him, his plan backfired. Much to his surprise, his parents are chill about it. They even seem to expect that Mingyu and he will eventually be in a relationship. So he can’t back out now that his parents are asking for Mingyu to be present for dinner as his boyfriend.
It’s okay, since Mingyu initially planned to eat dinner with them, but he doesn’t know that he’s supposed to act as his boyfriend. So Jihoon immediately went to Mingyu’s house to tell him about his lie.
“Well, I definitely feel bad lying to your parents, but won’t this be a problem? I mean, we have to act like a couple?” Mingyu asked. Jihoon thought about the lie hard and he came up with a plan.
“We could just pretend for a few weeks then we’ll say we misunderstood our feelings,’ Jihoon easily explained. Mingyu frowned, but agreed to help.
What are friends for, right?
So the upcoming weeks are full of explanations, lies, and throbbing hearts. From small and simple gestures to saying romantic things and actually initiating skinship, Jihoon learned that being secretly in love is just a pain he’ll carry for a long time.
Jihoon have long accepted to himself that Mingyu won’t see him as a potential love interest. Who will like a moody, short guy with a resting bitch face. Jihoon is lucky enough that he got a few good friends despite his facade, but he knew a lover would be far fetched. Mingyu is a really good friend, he wouldn’t want to risk a good friendship for a relationship that won’t last.
So Jihoon continued to lie to his family... and to himself. Few weeks turned into months, long enough that Jihoon had to force himself to wake up and stop living his fantasy.
As planned, Jihoon “broke up” with Mingyu. And Mingyu easily accepted. It is painful, but he’d rather go back to the real friendship with Mingyu than to be in a pretend relationship with him. At least their friendship is true and all that Mingyu does for him is out of his true feelings.
But Mingyu continued to act like there’s still something going with them, the simple gestures that made Jihoon fell in love further with him, so Jihoon confronted him.
“Look, Mingyu. You can stop now. My parents already stopped bothering me about our “relationship”, you don’t have to pretend anymore. We could just go back to being... friends. Again,” Jihoon said, as if he’s not saying hurtful words, as if he’s not hurting himself. Mingyu frowned and took Jihoon’s hands.
“But that’s the thing, Jihoon. I don’t want to go back to being just friends again. I want to be more. I didn’t want to stop pretending that we’re more than friend. But can we stop pretending and make it real? Can you give us a chance?” Minggyu said.
“Pinch me.” Jihoon ordered. Mingyu looked confused for a moment. "I said pinch me, I need to know this isn’t a dream.” Jihoon said Mingyu laughed at him and pulled him close for a deep kiss. Jihoon melted as he tiptoed and wrapped his arms around Mingyu’s neck, pulling him closer.
“Is that real enough?” Mingyu said as they pull apart, breathless and flushed against each other. They shared some laugher, more kisses, and the best moments after that.
Jihoon is finally living his dreams.