Chapter Text
01
"STRIKE two for today," hwang yeji said, picking up the energy drink that rested beside seungmin and handing it to hyunjin, who, disgustingly, had sweat dripping from his forehead. she sighed, shaking her head. "you know there's this thing called wiping your sweat off so it doesn't land on innocent bystanders called seungmin and yeji."
hyunjin rolled his eyes, snapping open the can. "who gave this this time?" he asked, ignoring yeji's comment. the can was nearly empty when hyunjin looked back at his two friends.
seungmin then shrugged. "it didn't say on the note. all it had was for hyunjin with a heart on it."
hyunjin shrugged, shaking his head, though he had one person in mind already. "anyway, i still won the bet, yeji," he said, putting his hand out. "pay up."
"pay up my ass," the blonde said, scooting closer to seungmin who was already giving them a confused expression. "that's strike two and the day hasn't ended yet."
"it's literally practice hours!" hyunjin exclaimed. "the bet was three things before the day ends. and now that practice is finished, the day has ended. so you lost the bet."
"you're dumb sometimes aren't you?" yeji said, hiding behind seungmin just in case hyunjin decided to pinch her. "it's 6:45pm. there's about six more hours before the day actually ends."
"what did you two bet on this time?" seungmin asked, shoving yeji away from him, making her pout.
"your best friend over here made a bet saying if i received three things today, i'd pay her money good for two meals," hyunjin said, finally using the towel around his neck to wipe the sweat from his face. "and it was supposed to be until classes are finished today!"
yeji put out her index finger and wiggled it sideways. "no one said that, and you still agreed," she said.
it wasn't new for seungmin to see his two best friends bickering like the siblings that they were. and that isn't even the case. hyunjin and yeji weren't even related. sure, people doubted it, considering they shared the same last name, looked like each other, and had the common interest for dancing. but yeji was way more calm and collected, while hyunjin had to be reassured most of the time and was more annoying than her. at least, that's what seungmin thought.
it was another normal day for hyunjin. sophomore year had just started, and he finally became roommates with his best friend kim seungmin. and since they never allowed girls in the same dorm building as the boys, that left yeji out, which made the latter pissed every time they had a movie night without her. while seungmin and hyunjin got to talk to each other every night before the day ended, yeji had to endure being roommates with choi jisu. she wasn't that bad, yeji had said. she studied most of the time and was quiet, which contradicted yeji's talkative nature.
another thing that became normal to the three friends was the occasional gifts and food given to hyunjin by an admirer or two. you can always just give the food to us, seungmin had once said. but it wasn't the food hyunjin was concerned about. it was the people who gave them. one used to be choi soobin, a political science major hyunjin met during their freshman year. soobin had mostly stopped asking hyunjin out since sophomore year started. but that didn't mean no one would replace him.
this year, his name was na jaemin. he followed hyunjin everywhere and always wanted to give him food and gifts. he was too clingy and showy about his liking for hyunjin, too. besides, hyunjin thought. i'm not even gay.
"pay up yeji," hyunjin groaned as the three of them walked out of the practice room. the blonde stuck her tongue out at him in return. "no can do, hwang," she said. "six more hours."
"there's no one else on campus!" hyunjin exclaimed.
"can you two just shut up?" seungmin interrupted. "you guys are giving me a headache. besides, whether or not one of you win the bet, i'm sure we're gonna get more food from—"
"hyunjin!" a voice called from in front of them.
"shit," hyunjin muttered.
"hmm, i think seungmin and i have to go ahead," yeji said, already smiling. "you enjoy your talk with your admirer while we work on a project."
"a project—?"
it was too late for seungmin to protest. yeji had already started dragging him away from hyunjin, smiling at jaemin as they passed him by.
•
"welcome back," seungmin said the moment hyunjin entered their dorm room.
hyunjin groaned, placing down a plastic bag of food on the shared table they had. "why am i being chased by a guy!" he exclaimed as seungmin examined the plastic bag. he then whistled. "does this mean yeji wins the bet?" seungmin asked, already smirking.
"ah fuck, you had to remind me," hyunjin said, getting up. "now i'll never hear the end of this."
"i mean, there's nothing wrong with having an admirer, you know," seungmin said, turning away as hyunjin started undressing himself.
"yeah, but it would have worked much better if it were a girl," hyunjin said as he made his way to the bathroom. "i need a way for him to stop appearing all the time, especially when i least expect it! i don't want people to think we have something going on."
seungmin silently laughed at himself and how funny this experience was for his best friend. "just leave him be. he'll probably eventually stop when you show you're not interested. besides, have you even told him you're into girls?"
"yes!" hyunjin's voice was muffled due to the running water from the shower, but seungmin didn't need to know the answer anyway. he knew hyunjin like the back of his hand.
meanwhile, hyunjin burned all his braincells thinking of a way for jaemin to stop liking him. telling him he wasn't gay didn't work, and telling him he liked girls didn't work either. and it was tiring him out, all that thinking. he already had dance and school to worry about. an admirer he didn't quite like should not be in his worry list.
"what if i make yeji pretend she's my girlfriend?" hyunjin finally said as he came out of the shower. seungmin was on his laptop, probably doing homework or reading a manhwa again.
"first of all," the brunette said without even looking at hyunjin. "that's gross. yeji will slap the shit out of you if you suggested that to her." seungmin then looked at hyunjin, who already looked defeated. "and two, come on, man. jaemin knows the three of us are friends. you have to do better than that."
"i'll ask a random girl then," hyunjin suggested.
"no."
"i'll ask you."
"ew."
"seungmin."
"hyunjin."
"random girl it is!" hyunjin exclaimed, rubbing the towel on his head in an attempt to dry his hair. "thanks for the amazing idea, hyunjin. and no thanks to you, seungie."
seungmin paused, rolling his eyes. "you're annoying. i'm trying to help you think of better ways."
"asking a random girl is a better way." the black haired boy plopped on his bed which was across from seungmin's. his bed was much messier than the latter's too. but it wasn't like it bothered him anyway.
"no it's not," seungmin said. "but whatever, do whatever you want. i'm going out for dinner with yeji."
"minnieee," hyunjin whined, turning to face the latter who was putting away his laptop in its bag. "but yeji's going to find out i lost and i'll have to pay for her meal tonight!"
"well, that's not my fault!" seungmin exclaimed, putting on a jacket. he then tilted his head as he stood by the door. "are you coming with me or are you going to starve yourself to sleep?"
hyunjin rolled his eyes, half thinking that maybe it was a bad idea to have seungmin as his roommate. he was like a nagging mom. but after all, he was his best friend, and seungmin was his personal alarm clock. so hyunjin finally got up and put on a decent shirt and jacket and followed seungmin out of the door.
•
yeji had a smug look on her face the moment hyunjin and seungmin got to the front of the boys' dormitory building. she was wearing her usual sweatpants and an oversized shirt with her hair up in a ponytail. and hyunjin swore he wanted to pull—
"pay up hwang hyunjin!" yeji said, extending her arm. "wait, no. today's the last night of the opening festival! you can just pay for the whatever food i like that's there. come on!"
"opening.... ah," hyunjin said.
the opening festival was an annual event the school hosted mostly for the freshmen and the seniors. it was a full week of nonstop activities and recruitments for each of the different clubs for the freshmen, and a getaway for the seniors who were graduating. hyunjin was none of those, so he wasn't really looking forward to the festival this year. even more so with him in shorts and a shirt that has to be washed soon.
as yeji skipped along a few meters in front of the two boys, seungmin laughed. "god, relax. besides, you like girls right? i'm sure there's going to be a lot of them tonight since the music club's bands are playing."
"the music club's bands?" hyunjin asked.
"yeah, i've seen the posters around school," seungmin said. "who knows, maybe you'll find a girl to help you with your little jaemin problem."
hyunjin shook his head. "no thanks, i'll be asking yeji instead."
"you'll get punched in the face."
"ask me what?" yeji asked, making both boys flinch. she stood in front of them, hands on her hips. "what're you going to ask me?"
"nothing."
"to be his pretend girlfriend so jaemin would stop trying to pursue him," seungmin said, making hyunjin immediately put a hand over his mouth.
there was a pause after that. yeji looked at hyunjin with an expression he couldn't read because god why are girls so complicated that way?
"look, it's just—"
yeji then burst out laughing. "dude!" she laughed again. "i can't do that. i already told my cheer team that you're my brother."
"you what!?" seungmin and hyunjin chorused.
yeji laughed again, this time clutching her stomach. hyunjin wasn't sure what was funny about the whole situation, but there was something about yeji's laugh that seemed to be teasing him. "we gotta keep out stories in line."
"you told people that without asking me?" hyunjin exclaimed. "you're unbelievable!"
"i did it so none of them would try to court me. i told them you're scary and mean, too," yeji smiled.
hyunjin rolled his eyes. "great, thanks for ruining my image."
"that's alright," yeji said, stepping in the middle of her two friends and linking her arms in theirs. "it isn't like jaemin's going to stop liking you anyway. now come on. stop stalling already. i'm hungry."
hyunjin wanted the night to end fast. while seungmin and yeji were taking pictures of each other and the whole event, hyunjin spent half of the time trying to look out for jaemin. he didn't really hate the guy. but every time jaemin saw them, he made sure to be by hyunjin's side until they actually had to go back to the dorm. he was like a leech hyunjin just couldn't get rid off.
a whole meal after, and a few more pitstops because of yeji's craving for various kinds of food, the three friends found themselves by the performance stage where the bands were going to play. it was already crowded, and most of the people were girls. hyunjin found this as an opportunity to look for someone he could ask to pretend to be his girlfriend just until jaemin stopped liking him.
"yeji," he nudged the blonde, who was supposedly busy taking another photo of seungmin by the stage with his camera.
"what do you want?" yeji said, nudging him back. "hold on, just another pic."
"that girl over there," hyunjin continued, pointing at another black haired girl at the other end of the performance area who was standing silently as her other friend kept talking. "do you know her?"
"choi jisu," seungmin answered instead, taking the camera from yeji. "she's a law major."
hyunjin squinted, looking at seungmin. "now, how do you know that."
seungmin rolled his eyes. "there's this thing called clubs. we're in one together."
"she actually has time for clubs!?" yeji exclaimed. "all she does in our room is study!"
"your room?" hyunjin asked. yeji then slapped his arm. "you're both not listening to me when i speak and it shows," she said. "she's the roommate i was talking about who doesn't speak to me so much and tells me i'm too noisy."
"do you think she'll agree to be my fake girlfriend?" hyunjin asked.
"uh no," yeji almost immediately said. "she barely even has time to talk to her roommate."
"it's just going to be for like five minutes!" hyunjin exclaimed.
and before the three friends could engage in another argument, the emcee stepped on the stage and started speaking into the microphone. "hi everyone, good evening!" she said in a cheerful voice. "welcome to the last night of the opening festival. tonight's first band is going to be... Pacemaker! please give them a round of applause!"
the crowd cheered as four students stepped on stage with each of their instruments in hand. one was a girl who headed over to the drumset and put her hands up in the air, making the crowd cheer louder.
"do you know them?" seungmin asked hyunjin, and he shook his head, saying "maybe they're popular."
"hi everyone, i'm chan," the vocalist said into the mic. "we're pacemaker and we hope you enjoy our set tonight."
a few more seconds of cheering and the band started playing. hyunjin remembered them doing well, and that the girls all seemed to scream for their lead guitarist who barely even looked up at the crowd and focused on his guitar, occasionally walking towards the drummer to make faces at her.
"hey, yeji!" hyunjin yelled over the music. "are you sure you can't ask jisu to help me just for a quick sec?"
yeji, being herself, ignored her best friend's words, or maybe she just didn't hear him. but she grabbed hyunjin and seungmin's hands and started dancing like a child, rendering her two best friends speechless at how embarrassing she was becoming. but it didn't matter to yeji. tonight, they were supposed to have fun, and she wanted hyunjin to forget his problems for a while and enjoy the music.
just like he did during their freshman year's opening festival, when his favorite band played his favorite songs, which conveniently, pacemaker was doing as well that night.