Work Text:
today was valentines day. which, usually, jisung wouldn’t care about at all; but, a cafe a little ways off campus was giving out free drinks to couples who came in. jisung wasn’t one to pass up on anything free, the only problem was that he was painfully single. so, unless he could somehow score a boyfriend by the time the cafe closed, he was out of luck. he didn’t think he’d have much luck with that one, though. he’d been on this earth for nineteen years without any luck with dating, the odds weren’t in his favor for that to suddenly change in a day.
he'd never even been to this cafe before, it was way too expensive and he was way too broke to be able to buy anything and still be able to live with himself. everyone he knew that had gone though said it was to die for, that it was definitely worth the price. he'd heard someone talking about the event from someone in his first and figured it must be some sort of fated deal.
so, he decided to do what any sane person would do in this situation. find a fake boyfriend.
he wasn't someone who could live with himself if he half assed anything other than his homework, so it had to look believable. he didn’t think the the employees at the cafe would really care enough to try and figure out if people were actually dating or not, but he didn’t want to take any chances. so the obvious choice was to bother his friends about it and see if one of them would date him for the day.
despite some of his friends best efforts, they were all still single, so at the very least they were at least available. and really, free drinks plus the opportunity to date him. it was really a win win situation, if you asked him.
he easily ruled out changbin and chan, the latter being way too much of a dad figure for him to feel okay about asking him to be his boyfriend. and no offense to changbin, but jisung wouldn't date him even if it was just fake.
jeongin was out of the question since he was still in high school and not close enough to them anymore for random unplanned hang outs.
which meant he was left with his fellow 00 liners. they were probably his best bet anyways, so he couldn't complain too much. unless he ended up with seungmin as his fake boyfriend, then he might have his work cut out for him.
404! groupchat name does not exist! (4)
right leg: so who needs a boyfriend
left arm: what
right leg: a boyfriend
right leg: who needs one
left leg: depends
left leg: who's the boyfriend
right arm: if it's you, im good
right leg: rude /:
right leg: but yeah it is me
right leg: so who needs a boyfriend
left arm: ill pass
left leg: well im down
left leg: why so sudden tho
right leg: that cafe off campus is giving free drinks to couples today
right leg: i want a free smoothie
left leg: today????
left leg: i can't then /:
left leg: i have a tutoring session in the library after classes /:
right arm: im free today but i just don't want to
right arm: i have very important plans to do absolutely nothing today and im not cancelling for anything
left arm: man ):
left arm: i would've done it for the free drinks but im busy too
left arm: i booked extra practice time in the studio bc of the showcase
left leg: like you even need the practice
left leg: you're like
left leg: the most prepared for it out of all of us
left leg: except minho hyung but
right leg: dang /:
right leg: do you think theyd question me if i said i was dating myself
right arm: for sure
right leg: shit
left leg: sorry sung /:
right leg: it's good
right leg: ill just have to find another way to get a boyfriend
left arm: alexa
left arm: how do u find ur friend a boyfriend
right leg: do any of u know anyone who likes to cuddle and enjoys free things and deceit
right leg: figured id ask before i started propositioning random people on campus
left leg: …. actually
left leg: i might know someone who fits that description very well
left arm: is it who im thinking of bc
left arm: he's perfect
left leg: without a doubt yes
left leg: we'd have to ask him though
left arm: he's pretty chill
left arm: enjoys having a good time
left arm: i think he'll be down for it
right leg: who
left leg: minho hyung!!
right leg: oh god
right leg: oh no
right leg: you can't ask him
left arm: why not????
right arm: the same reason he always refuses to meet him
right arm: jisung can't function around pretty boys
left arm: he functions fine around me /:
right leg: ive known you for too long
right leg: remember when u first started learning to use makeup?
right leg: because i do
right leg: and seeing some of the looks you tried…. oof
right leg: i also gave you a black eye once and that really took away from the pretty person impact
left arm: ….
left arm: that's fair but u didn't need to say it
left leg: anyways!!!
left leg: come ooonnn
left leg: we've been trying to get you to meet him since FOREVER
left leg: you'd literally get along so well
right arm: even i've met him before
right arm: even jeongins met him
right arm: he's not terrible
left arm: thank you
left arm: seriously though
left arm: would you rather finally meet minho hyung and get the boyfriend you need and ur smoothie
left arm: or
left arm: have to find a random stranger to fake date you
left arm: which we all know you'd hate
right leg: listen
right leg: he's too pretty and im too much of a wreck and WILL embarrass myself
left leg: it's okay
left leg: hell think its cute
right leg: is that supposed to make me feel better
right arm: it means that even if you do embarrass yourself he isn't going to mind
right arm: so
right leg: but i mind
left leg: well too bad
left leg: because i already texted him to ask
left leg: its out of our hands now /:
right leg: i'm sorry
right leg: you did what now
left leg: and oh! he said yes!
left leg: i gave him ur number (:
left leg: good luck jisungie (:
left arm: those smiley faces are mildly unsettling
right leg: status: feeling unsafe /:
it didn't even take a minute before his phone vibrated softly in his hand, telling him he'd gotten a text from an unknown number. no doubt it was minho, and he should definitely look at it, but he couldn't bring himself to.
after debating with himself for another minute, he locked his phone and started making his way towards his second class of the day. he'd get there a little earlier than usual, but he needed the time to collect himself before answering minho. doing yesterdays homework thirty minutes before it was due and sitting through an hour lecture on music theory should do the trick nicely.
while he was definitely glad he didn't have to resort to trying to find a totally random stranger, he couldn't shake the nervousness about doing this with someone he didn't already actually know. as much as he did actually want the act to look believable, a major part of the reason he wanted one of his friends to do this with him was so that he would be with someone he was comfortable with.
he wouldn't say he was shy, and he definitely liked making new friends; but it was hard to enjoy it when his anxiety would spike up when he was in unfamiliar territory. and, unfortunately, meeting someone for basically the first time and going on a fake date with them without anyone else he knew around them was not really his idea of comfortable and familiar.
he didn’t doubt that minho was a good person, he knew he was. he’d heard so much about the guy from all his friends that he felt like he already knew him. he knew he was nice and caring, and he knew he wouldn’t do anything to purposely make jisung uncomfortable. he was grateful, really. minho wasn’t the worst person his friends could’ve tried to set him up with and he was glad that he at least knew about minho. his friends adored and trusted him, so it wasn’t hard for jisung to trust him either. and he didn’t dislike what he’d heard about minho either, so not liking him wasn’t really a problem either.
for as much as jisung knew about minho, he was still unfamiliar and uncomfortable. and he was pretty. really pretty, which only served to make his anxiety about the whole situation even worse. jisung really, really did not do well around pretty boys. especially not earth shatteringly pretty boys like minho.
his second class ended and he had too much time between the ending of this class and the start of the next to pretend he was too busy with his classes to reply to minho. stalling as much as he could, he made sure to pack up his stuff as slowly as possible and took the long way back to his dorm room. he was happy to have been blessed with a single dorm so he didn’t have to worry about anyone being here to witness his pathetic display of nerves. so, with as much courage as he could stand to muster up at the moment, he opened his messages.
unknown: hi!
unknown: felix told me about the deal the cafe is having and i’m totally down to be your boyfriend for the day
unknown: i only have one condition, you have to let me hold your hand
unknown: what time do your classes end? mine are over at 2, so i’m all yours after that
unknown: this is minho btw, if you couldn't figure that out
jisung: my classes are over at 1
it took a few minutes for minho to answer, which both calmed him and made him get sucked even further into his own head. just from the texts minho already seemed more comfortable with jisung and he was with minho. he hoped the older couldn’t tell just how uncomfortable he was from how he was texting. maybe he should’ve said more… he should say more.
just as he was about to type out another message, a new message from minho popped up.
minho: alright
minho: do you wanna just swing by the dance rooms around like 2:30
minho: so we don't have to go when im all disgusting from dance
minho: unless you’re into that (;
jisung: um
jisung: 2:30 is fine
minho: okay!
minho: see you then <3
the time between texting minho and making his way to the dance rooms was, in jisung’s opinion, way too long, and it did nothing but drag and make it feel longer than it actually was. the worst was trying to sit through his last class of the day. he had tried to focus on the lesson as much as possible to try and get rid of his nerves for the time being, but no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t stop thinking about minho and their fake date.
caught up in his own head, as soon as he’d gotten to his dorm after class he had only stayed there long enough to drop off his school things before heading out. there was no reason for him to leave this early, was no reason to show up to their meeting spot about an hour and a half earlier than he needed to. yet, here he was, sitting down on the concrete railings of the stairs that lead into the dance building and fiddling with his phone for the next hour.
the only thoughts running through his head were how he should text minho to cancel, maybe say something important came up and that he really can’t make it, and just go back to his dorm for a nap. but he really wanted that free smoothie. and his friends had really wanted him to meet minho, and, unfortunately, he did love his friends and this was the least he could do for them. they’d said time after time how similar they were, how well they would get along, so there was really no reason for him to be as nervous as he was; but he just couldn’t help it, despite how much he did wish he could just will away his nerves. it definitely wasn’t because of a lack of trying, though. his brain just seemed to have something against him just trying to enjoy his life in peace.
the closer it got to 2:30 he the more nervous he got. the longer he stayed here without backing out, the smaller the chance for escape actually was. by the time 2:20 rolled around he knew he was too late to skip out, and he tried to psych himself up for what he knew was coming in the next few minutes. taking deep breaths and keeping his eyes locked on his phone in his lap, doing his best to look like he was busy. nobody needed to know he was just looking at a black screen, phone locked since he was too nervous to actually focus on doing anything on his phone.
he didn’t know what time it was when he felt a gentle poke to his forehead and heard someone say his name. he looked up to find minho looking down at him with a small smile on his face. his hair was slightly damp and he looked a little ruffled, less put together than he was used to seeing him from instagram. it calmed jisung a little bit, seeing minho look so real and human and not so infuriatingly perfect and put together.
“hi,” jisung said quietly, slipping his phone into his pocket and standing up. he was unsurprised to found out minho was taller than him, even with him wearing his platforms.
“hey. you ready?” minho asked, backing up a little and moving off the stairs when jisung nodded in response, the younger silently following.
the start of their walk was quiet, and jisung couldn’t stand it. he was a loud person, he liked talking, he didn’t like to be quiet for too long, and he especially did not like uncomfortable silences. he wasn’t sure if minho was as uncomfortable with the silence as he was, but if he was, he wasn’t showing it. he seemed like the type that didn’t mind the quiet sometimes, and jisung couldn’t help but envy that. he wasn’t sure if he could handle a twenty minute walk to the cafe in this kind of silence.
it wasn’t that jisung necessarily disliked the quiet, but he only really, truly enjoyed and appreciated it when he was by himself or trying to unwind after too much social interaction.
luckily he didn’t have to suffer for too long, because after a few minutes minho broke the silence.
“so, you never said if you were okay with my condition or not,” he said, turning his head slightly to be able to look at jisung.
“what condition?” he asked, looking back at minho.
“if you’ll let me hold your hand or not.”
jisung blinked a few times, having forgot minho had even said that. if he had even registered those words in the first place at all in his mild panic.
“you want to hold my hand?” he asked again, feeling a little caught off guard.
“well yeah, we’re dating aren’t we,” minho answered, winking at jisung. he scrunched his face up at the wink but didn’t bother correcting the older that it wa just fake and they didn’t have to act like a couple at all until they got in eyeshot of the cafe.
in a desperate act to conceal his nerves, he reached over to grab at minho’s hand, locking their fingers together. he was a touchy person, loves to cuddle up to his friends and hold hands, so holding minho’s hand definitely wasn’t unpleasant. it was quite the opposite, really. his hands were a little smaller than jisung’s own, and he couldn’t help but find that insanely cute.
from the look on minho’s face, he looked like he was enjoying it too. so that was nice.
“felix talks about you a lot,” minho suddenly said after a moment, face softening a little from the almost smug smirk he was sporting to something more neutral but still gentle and open.
“only good things, i hope,” jisung joked.
“don’t worry, it was. i don’t think he’s really capable of saying anything bad about anyone.”
“he talks about you a lot too. so does hyunjin,” jisung said, tension slowly but surely leaving his body. “you like, their god or something. they worship you, man. it’s almost a little weird.”
“good, as they should. i’m glad my brilliance is truly being appreciated.”
“you’re so humble,” jisung said, rolling his eyes.
“i know, right? aren’t i just the total package? you couldn’t have picked a better fake boyfriend, really,” minho winked again, and jisung felt a smile creep onto his own face.
“you’re absolutely perfect, baby,” jisung said, winking back at minho and feeling delighted at the quiet giggle he pulled from minho.
jisung was starting to think he got why all his friends had been so pushy about getting him to meet minho now.
his favorite kinds of people were the ones he instantly could feel himself getting comfortable around, and it seemed like minho was shaping up to be one of those people. which was really fortunate for jisung, both because that would mean this scheme of theirs would inevitably go perfect, and because he gained a new friend that all of his other friends already know and love who definitely seemed to be riding on the same wavelengths as jisung (he still needed more proof for himself on that one, but from what he had seen so far, and what his friends have said… he felt confident about it).
minho’s pretty person impact was definitely still present, and definitely a problem for jisung, though. there was no denying that minho was way more attractive than possibly anyone jisung had ever seen before in his entire life. which meant that jisung was going a little stupid in the head because of it, and couldn’t think straight. he knew from experience that the pretty person impact doesn’t hit as hard after you’ve known someone for long enough, but he’s never encounterd someone as pretty as minho. so he wasn’t sure if the regular pretty person impact rules still applied to him, or if there were a whole new set of rules he had yet to read, reserved for those who were beyond being just pretty. maybe there were no rules and he was just doomed to suffer. he thinks though, that he might not mind the suffering too much if it meant being able to look at minho’s face this close up all the time.
“so, you’re a music production major?” minho asked after a few more beats of a now more comfortable silence. “felix showed me some of the stuff you’ve made with chan and changbin. it’s really good.”
“ah, thanks,” jisung blushed, always getting a little embarrassed at compliments but still basked in the praise. “i’ve seen some of your dancing too. you’re good too.”
“thanks, baby,” minho smiled, giving a squeeze to jisung’s hand. “you’re cute when you blush, by the way.”
jisung didn’t bother giving a verbal response to that, but silently cursed himself at the way his cheeks were no doubt getting more red than they already were.
by now they were about a street away from the cafe and jisung’s nerves had almost completely dissipated and he was feeling pretty comfortable in minho’s presence, if a bit flustered. even though they had been holding hands this whole time, they still had a good amount of distance between them. wanting their act to look as believable as possible, and maybe for his own selfish reasons too, he moved in a little bit closer to minho, their shoulders now brushing as they walked. jisung couldn’t help but notice how good minho smelled and felt his brain stop working for a moment.
minho didn’t seem to mind the sudden closeness either, if they way he moved in even closer so that their shoulders were now completely pressed together said anything.
despite the fact that he was fairly confident this would work, he still felt a miniscule spike in his nerves. he bit his lip as they walked across the street and up to the shop door. just before they actually got to the door he felt minho’s hand slip out of his and his stomach dropped as he turned to look at him, but the older was instantly slinging his arm around jisung’s shoulders and tucking him agaisnt his side.
“we got this, baby,” minho smiled and reached out with his free arm to open the door of the cafe as jisung wrapped one arm around minho’s waist, hand gripping a loose fistfull of his tshirt. his other hand came up to hold minho’s that was resting on his shoulder, pulling on it slightly to be able to tuck himself even more against his fake boyfriend, keeping their hands connected even after he was comfortable. he shifted his eyes away from minho, but not before seeing seeing the soft look he had at jisung cuddling up against him.
“oh god,” he mumbled once they got inside and saw that the employees were asking people to prove their relationship with a kiss. there really should be some kind of rule against that, he thought.
“well. i hope your the type that likes to kiss on the first date,” minho laughed, obviously trying to make the best of the situation and keep the atmosphere as comfortable as possible.
but all jisung could think about was that he was going to have his first kiss with a boy he barely knows and who is way too pretty for him and he never read the rule book for boys this pretty.
“guess i’m gonna have to be today,” jisung said, trying to act and sound more confident than he was.
“we don’t have to, if you don’t want to.”
“no, we can. i came here for a free smoothie and i am going to get my free smoothie even if it kills me,” jisung shook his head, determined despite his nerves.
“i like your attitude. don’t worry, i’ll make sure it’s a good kiss,” minho joked, bumping his hip into jisung’s. the younger didn’t doubt for even a second that the kiss would be good. not that he really had any basis for what a good kiss was like, but he wanted to have faith.
they moved slowly through the line, watching all the couples before them kiss and order their drinks with ease. lucky for them, the employees seemed pleased with just a simple peck, so at least jisung wouldn’t have to make out with minho in the middle of this coffee shop. really lucky, because if they did have to make out, it would definitely blow their cover.
jisung definitely wasn’t as calm as he had wanted to be by the time they reached the front of the line, but there wasn’t much to do but roll with the punches now.
“hi, welcome! are you two here for the valentines day deal?” the girl at the counter asked, smiling way too brightly.
“yup!” minho answered with a smile while jisung nodded at his side.
“alright! can you please verify your relationship with a quick kiss and then i’ll get your drinks?” she asked.
jisung turned to look at minho and lifted his head up slightly, the older meeting his eyes with a quick wink before leaning down and easily pressing a kiss to jisung’s lips.
jisungs doesn’t know if he wants to kill or kiss felix for giving this opportunity to him.
after the girl was satisfied, they quickly gave their orders and moved to stand at a different part of the counter to wait for them. jisung let his hand fall out of minho’s and drop back down to his side and immediately buried his face into minho’s shoulder out of embarrassment.
“oh, c’mon. it couldn’t have been that bad. i have it on good authority that i am a great kisser,” minho said, reaching out to pat at the top of jisung’s head.
“i’m sure you are, but that was my first kiss,” jisung mumbled back.
“like ever?”
“yeah, like ever.”
“that’s really hard to believe, wow. you’re really cute, why wouldn’t anyone want to kiss you?” minho asked.
“that’s a question i don’t really think i want to hear the answer to,” jisung said, feeling himself relax a little at the laugh minho let out.
“fair enough. for what it’s worth though, i think you’re very kissable and i’m honored to be your first,” minho said quietly, and before jisung could respond their drinks were getting set out on the counter in front of them.
neither jisung or minho removed the arms they had wrapped around each other, opting to reach out and grab their drinks with their free hands before moving away from the counter completely.
“did you want to stay here and drink these, or go somewhere else?” minho asked.
“let’s just stay here. were already here and i want to get the full experience of the place if i’m never going to be coming back,” jisung answered, pulling them into an empty booth in a far corner of the shop. jisung let go of minho to slip into one side of the booth, expecting the older to sit on the other side. he was surprised when minho didn’t hesitate to slide into the booth next to him, keeping his arm over his shoulders. jisung wasn’t about to push him away though.
“why wouldn’t you come back?”
“this place is way too expensive for me as a broke college student. so this deal was really like fate or something,” jisung laughed.
“we could always do this again next year, that way you can come back,” minho winked.
“you just want an excuse to kiss me again,” jisung said, his tone teasing as he was the one to wink at minho this time.
“maybe so,” minho smiled, not looking flustered at all despite the small confession.
jisung didn’t have the word to respond, so he just rolled his eyes and let a comfortable silence fall around them.
“so. felix said you have cats,” jisung said, starting the conversation first this time, tired of being quiet, while he tilted his head to look at minho.
“i do!” minho answered, his entire face brightened at the mention of his cats, already pulling out his phone and opening his gallery. “soonie, doongi, and dori! ill show you a picture.”
one picture turned into minho showing him an entire album on his phone of pictures and videos of his cats, and before jisung knew it they’d been at the cafe for over an hour and both of their drinks were now gone. they’d moved on from the topic of minho’s cats to start talking about anything they could think of. he’d found out minho’s hometown and listened to him talk about how he got into dancing, how he wanted to be a choreographer in the future, how they had a shared love of mint chocolate ice cream and shared fear of heights. he’d be lying if he said he hadn’t developed a bit of a crush on the older boy throughout the day. not that that meant much, since, if he was being really honest with himself, he’d had a crush on minho since felix and hyunjin first started talking about him.
once they realized how long they’d actually been at the coffee shop, they gathered their stuff that at some point ended up spread out across the table before standing up from the booth. they tossed their empty drink cups in the trash and made their way outside of the cafe, falling into step next to each other as they started their walk back to campus. their hands quickly found each other without either of them really noticing, their fingers lacing loosely together.
“everyone was right, that place was totally worth the hype,” jisung smiled, glad that he hadn’t backed out at the last minute like he had so desperately wanted to.
“it was. i’ll for sure be back once i’ve got the money to spare,” minho nodded. “and, i had a really good time with you. you’re nice to be around.”
“yeah. i wish i would have gotten over myself sooner and just met you when felix and hyunjin first asked,” jisung said, laughing shly and once again cursing himself internally.
“you don’t have to answer, but… why didn’t you want to meet sooner?” minho asked, looking down over at jisung, the look on his face almost sad.
jisung knew minho deserved an answer, especially since their friends had been trying for months to get them to meet without any cooperation on jisung’s end. he had constantly given excuses as to why he couldn’t meet minho, why he couldn’t hang out, and he knew at some point that minho had to have figured out that jisung wasn’t really just that busy. that it wasn’t just bad timing. he felt really bad for it now, knowing that minho was such a good person, especially know that he knew that from his own experiences with him and not just stories from his friends.
he was just beyond hesitant to actually tell minho why he never wanted to meet him before, knowing that the reason was incredibly embarrassing. he didn’t think minho would make fun of him for it or anything, but lowkey confessing to having a crush on someone and avoiding them because of it was sure to get some type of reaction that jisung knew would just embarrass him even further.
but he figured that disputing whatever made up reason minho had in his head was more important than him being a little flustered.
“you’re very pretty and it made me very nervous,” jisung admitted quietly, looking anywhere but at minho. “i’m not good at being a human in front of pretty people; and i didn’t want to accidentally do something stupid in front of you that would make you think i was like weird or something.”
“that’s cute,” minho cooed, confirming felix’s belief that he would think jisung being embarrassing was cute. “you’re cute. i don’t think there’s much you could do that would really drive me away like that.”
“that’s nice to know, but it doesn’t really stop me from being an anxious wreck over it,” jisung shrugged, but smiled up at minho, ultimately thankful for his words even they didn’t do much to ease his worries. “now that we’ve met i’m not really as hung up on that anymore though, so it’s okay.”
“good. i don’t want you running away from me anymore. i meant it, i had a really good time today and i hope we can hang out more,” minho said, starting to swing their hands back and forth between them. “and, i’d like it even more if next time we hung out, it could be a real date instead of a fake one.”
“did you just ask me on a date, like a legit date? like not a pretend real one, but like a really real real one,” jisung asked, blinking up at minho in shock, a flicker of hope dancing in his eyes.
“yes. you’re cute, funny, your hands are nice to hold, and you give good kisses,” minho nodded. “so, what do you say, baby?”
“hell yeah.”
( 404! groupchat name does not exist! (4)
left leg: so jisung
left leg: i heard your date went well
left arm: we TOLD you that you’d like minho hyung
left leg: so whens the next date
right leg: next week
right leg: were going ice skating
left arm: wait what
left arm: like for real
right leg: yup
right arm: congrats
right arm: about time, i dont want to have to listen to hyunlix whining about it anymore
left leg: IM SO HAPPY
left leg: good !!!!!!!!!!!!!
right leg: (:
right leg: thanks )