Chapter Text
“So, how was the date?”
Hong Jisoo practically glared at his best friend as he toed his shoes off at the front door, which only managed to elicit a playful laugh from the blonde boy. Jeonghan was sitting in the living room couch watching some cooking show on the television; why he did so when he was barely even in the kitchen, Jisoo didn’t know, but he couldn’t find it in him to complain at the moment as the brunette wearily dragged himself over to the couch as well. He fell on it dramatically with a soft thud.
“Good, I presume?” Jeonghan asked again, snickering further as he pulled his leg away from the other before Jisoo could hit him. “No need to be violent, Shua.”
“I have never met anyone so narcissistic,” the brunette began to complain, remembering how his blind date went. Granted, his date—whose name he can’t even remember anymore—was good looking to a fault, all chiseled features and impeccable fashion, but it was close to impossible to keep a good conversation. Every few minutes, his date would shift the topic to relate to himself instead, never really giving Jisoo the chance to talk, unless it was to comment mindlessly about the topic at hand.
Jeonghan tilted his head in question, “really? He’s more narcissistic than you?”
“I’m not narcissistic.”
“You won Prom King back in high school once and we never heard the end of it from you.”
“That doesn’t count,” Jisoo said dismissively, snatching the remote from the table counter and changing the channel, despite his friend’s complaints. He’s had a long day, and frankly, he just wanted to pop open a bottle of beer and call it a night. Unfortunately, that didn’t happen as his phone rang a few moments later. He groaned when he read the caller ID. Sometimes he really regretted telling his mom everything that went on in his life.
Next to him, Jeonghan peeked at his phone and laughed.
“Tell her I said hi after you’re done complaining.”
Jisoo got up from the couch and rolled his eyes at the other boy, moving into the adjoined kitchen to take the call.
“Hey, Mom.”
“Jisoo,” his mom greeted, voice filled with warmth even through the phone. “Was today when you went out with that guy your friend set you up with?”
“Yeah,” Jisoo replied, resisting the urge to cut the topic off there, but he found his complaints escaping him despite himself. “It didn’t go very well. He was a lover of the arts, but the problem is, he found himself to be the only art he wanted to look at. It was like going on a date with an audiobook of the guy’s autobiography. I felt like a flimsy magazine next to him.”
“Always so dramatic, Jisoo,” his mom chided him. “I’m sure he wasn’t that bad.”
“You’re right. He’s probably a lot worse than I make him sound.”
She sighed over the phone, but her subtle amusement was not lost on her son, who couldn’t help but smile as they continued their conversation. She asked him the basics—how his work hunt was going, whether he was going on another date soon, and whether she should come over and help him. All of which received answers of varying negativity. After a while, she became a lot more adamant about staying over. Mainly to help Jisoo with his dating problem.
“It’s not a problem,” Jisoo insisted, flustered at his mother’s word choice. “I’m perfectly fine, Mom. Really, I am.”
“You’re getting older. I’m also getting older,” she said, tone wistful. “I just want to see my son happy with someone.”
“Mom, you’re young and beautiful.”
“Still,” she said without a pause. “I have this one friend there who has a lovely daughter—“
“Mom, you know I don’t swing that way.”
“My friend also has a son.”
Jisoo groaned, “Mom, please, I’m fine. I am happy, believe it or not.”
It was at that moment when Jeonghan decided to pop into the kitchen, aiming to grab a quick drink. He stifled a laugh at the exasperated look Jisoo had on his face as he held the phone to his ear, resting on the kitchen counter like he wanted to just climb up and lie on top of it. They’ve lived with each other since their university days and the arrangement worked well with them even after graduating. That also meant they knew each other well enough that Jeonghan could tell Jisoo wanted a way out of the phone call, and fast.
“Have you told her I said hi yet?” The blonde asked cheerfully, before taking the phone from Jisoo’s hand himself and putting it on speaker phone. “Hi, Auntie!”
“Jeonghan? Is that you?” She asked, her tone clearly pleased. “How are you?”
“All good, Auntie. Jisoo’s been taking great care of me.”
“Really? How so?”
As he considered his next move, Jisoo blamed the terrible date he was on for the way his thought process went at that moment. There was also the overall fatigue in his bones and the way his mom’s incessant nagging was ringing in his head. One moment he was blanking out after listening to his best friend talk to his mother over the phone, and the next, he was struck with what he considered a brilliant idea. Before Jeonghan could reply, he snatched the phone back.
“Mom, I’m dating Jeonghan.”
There was a tangible silence both from the phone and from the other boy in the room, both of which Jisoo promptly ignored.
“That’s why I haven’t really been trying during my blind dates,” he continued to lie, feeling his friend’s own confusion grow along with it. “That was the last time I’m going on one, only since Seokmin had insisted. I’ve decided to go public with my feelings for Jeonghan. You’re the first one who knows, Mom. I hope it’s okay.”
The silence continued long enough for Jisoo to snap out of things, realizing with a start what he just told his mother and his best friend, who was staring at him from across the kitchen counter with an unreadable expression. He was just about to take it all back, deciding it was probably a bad idea to lie to his mother after all since she was extremely perceptive, he thought to himself, when Jeonghan ended up grabbing the phone from him again.
“That’s what I mean, Auntie,” he said with a chuckle, winking at Jisoo as he did so. “We’ve been meaning to tell you for a while now, but you know how Shua worries.”
There was an audible tsk from the other end, before Jisoo’s mother spoke again.
“He made me go through all this worrying of my own for nothing,” she said. Something in her tone sounded relieved as she continued, while Jisoo was still processing how his mother seemed to take everything so well. She didn’t even question it in the slightest. “Don’t think this doesn’t mean I won’t come over. I haven’t seen both of you boys in so long. Would it be alright if I stay over there during my stay in Seoul?”
“Of course,” Jeonghan answered for the both of them. “We can’t wait to see you this weekend!”
“Thank you. See you then. Tell Jisoo I love him.”
“Love you,” the brunette said into the phone as it was thrust into his face. “See you, Mom.”
When the line went dead, Jisoo turned to his best friend, who was still sporting a playful grin on his face. He knew Yoon Jeonghan well enough to know that it was never a good thing when he had such a look. Most of the time, it involved reckless plans that only brought both of them trouble. However, Jisoo couldn’t really consider himself blameless in the situation. It was his lie, after all. He should have been glad his friend went along with things so easily.
“We’re dating, huh?” Jeonghan said, grin widening. “Were all those mornings of making me breakfast your way of winning my heart, Hong Jisoo? You could have done better.”
“Shut up,” Jisoo said without much bite, rolling his eyes. “Between the two of us, we both know you’re the one who wants to win my heart.”
“I think I’ve already won it,” the blonde replied, sticking his tongue out, before erupting into a fit of laughter. Jeonghan laughed so hard that he had to hold onto his stomach, which eventually made the brunette break into a grin. The situation really was quite funny. Out of all his other friends, Jisoo didn’t think he’d end up in a pretend relationship with Jeonghan, but it also made sense that it was with the blonde.
They already lived together, so it wasn’t that hard to believe. Not to mention, despite their close group of friends, it’s always been the two of them who banded together. It felt a lot like they were partners for every and any situation thrown their way; Jisoo has helped Jeonghan out of a few messy situations himself, so he should have expected his best friend to ride with his lie just as quickly as it left his mouth. They worked well together, he mused.
“We’re gonna have to prep this place, then,” Jeonghan said after he finished laughing, wiping at the tears that formed on the corner of his eyes. “It reeks of how terribly single we both actually are, you know.”
“Those fake plants of yours don’t help?”
The blonde gave an exaggerated gasp, “don’t you dare attack my succulents again, Hong Jisoo.”
“Fake succulents,” Jisoo replied, staring at the one they on the kitchen counter in particular.
He remembered the day they went out to buy them in the first place, a whole three years ago, when they first decided to buy the apartment together. Jeonghan was adamant about how they needed to pick out decorations that gave the place more life, while the brunette just wanted some minimalist pieces to match his own sense of style. In the end, the blonde won only because they played rock paper scissors to decide.
It was easy living with Yoon Jeonghan, Jisoo mused to himself.
Surely pretending to date the other boy wouldn’t be so hard, either.