Chapter Text
Jeongguk was never the type to shy away from admitting he is single and happy. He always told his fans that he is not necessarily looking for a relationship, and if it is to happen, then it will, but he’s not actively looking. However, as time passes, his fans keep asking the same question, — “Are you still single?” — even though the answer is always the same — “Yes, single and very happy.”
His answer seemed to please only half of his fans, the ones that think that they’ll end up with him, leaving the other half somehow frustrated because it’s been a few good years since Jeongguk has become a pretty popular streamer and yet he’s still single.
But still, every single day he streams, his chat is full of the same question, and Jeongguk has already become tired of it. He slowly starts to feel like his fans only care about his private life and not about his games anymore, and he almost wants to make a video about the topic only, but he quickly decides against it, and decides to try to ignore the questions.
It doesn’t work. He tries streaming new games, he tries streaming with his friends, almost all of them — Hoseok and Yoongi and Seokjin and even Yugyeom and Eunwoo — hoping that his fans will focus on that and not on his non-existent boyfriend, but it doesn’t work.
He tries to play some interactive games, to do some giveaways, some lives where he talks with fans, he tries everything. Nothing gets his fans’ minds off his private life and it already starts to annoy him so much that he sometimes even closes the chat or purposely doesn’t go live just so he can avoid the question.
It’s a late Sunday night when he decides to say something about it, and truth be told, it was not something smart.
“I actually have a boyfriend guys,” Jeongguk announces one late night, something said quickly and out of annoyance, because damn, for the past 15 minutes his chat has been full of the same repetitive question.
He curses himself as soon as he finishes talking, but doesn’t back down. “Yeah, it’s a pretty new relationship so I wanted to keep it a secret, but guess now the cat’s out of the bag, huh?” he chuckles nervously, clicking randomly on the screen, his mind everywhere but on the game in front of him.
He avoids reading the chat for a while and avoids his calling phone right now, knowing that his friends are probably watching his live right now and are half panicking.
“Yeah, we’ve been together for almost a month! He’s camera shy, but I’ll try to get him on the stream with me tomorrow, so look forward to that! I’ll end the live now since it’s pretty late, but see you tomorrow everyone! Good night!” and with that, he turns the live off and leans back on his gaming chair, letting out a loud and long sigh.
“What have I done?” he mumbles to himself, completely aware of the fact that he screwed up big time now, and there’s no turning back from this, except from finding someone to be his fake boyfriend. But who? His fans know all his friends, especially because he was desperate enough to go live with each and every one of them, and now he doesn’t have who to ask to be his fake boyfriend.
His phone keeps buzzing with messages and missed calls, and he turns it off before deciding to go and take a long shower to calm himself down, because his muscles are so tense and teeth clenched so hard that he feels like he might explode any second now.
Of course, the hot water running down his body does not help him think about anything else but the stupid idea he had, but at least it does help his tense muscles. He feels himself relaxing as he slowly washes his hair, and he finds himself making a mental list of all possible people that he can ask to help him, and he sadly but not surprisingly finds himself with an empty list.
Despite being a popular gamer and online influencer, Jeongguk doesn’t have that many friends. Mainly because he doesn’t find a purpose in having thousands of fake friends and he likes to stick with only a few around, but mostly because everyone thinks he’s a little bit of an asshole, which completely baffles Jeongguk, because he knows damn well he’s not.
But he thinks that the black clothes, the tattoos and eyebrow piercing does it for him, and he’s honestly not that affected to try and change how people see him.
He soon snaps out of his thoughts and continues to mindlessly wash himself, before stepping out of the shower and wrapping a towel around him, walking straight to his room, where he almost has a damn heart attack at what he sees.
“What the fuck?” he exclaims, placing his hand on his beating heart, ignoring the wet skin and instead choosing to huff at the three people splayed on his bed. “What are you three doing in my room?”
Hoseok shrugs and leans back on the bed. “You haven’t been answering your phone, and you’ve got some explaining to do.” he says, opening his arms so Yoongi can lay down with him.
“There’s nothing to explain.” Jeongguk mutters, ignoring Seokjin’s piercing gaze and walking towards his closet. “I lied, and now I’m in big trouble.”
At his words, Hoseok murmurs a small “i knew it” under his breath, only to be quickly shushed by Yoongi. It’s Seokjin who asks, “Why did you lie though? It was so sudden,” to which Jeongguk shrugs again.
He puts his underwear on, not minding his hyungs at all since there’s nothing they haven’t seen, and then slips on an oversized t-shirt that he once stole from Seokjin.
“It was getting annoying, I guess,” Yoongi replies for him, tilting his head. “The questions, I mean. It must have been annoying to be asked the same question over again.”
Jeongguk nodded at his words. If only they knew, how annoying and frustrating it is to be asked the same question again and again and again with no break.
“So you decided to lie?” Hoseok asks, genuinely curious, because he has no idea what's been going on through Jeongguk’s mind lately.
Jeongguk sighs and walks towards the bed where he lays down, half on Seokjin’s lap. “It was the first thing that came to mind,” he mumbles. “Which was a stupid idea, like stupid as fuck, cause how am I supposed to find a fake boyfriend in like, what, not even twenty-four hours?”
Seokjin hummed, and started caressing his hair, mindlessly playing with it. Yoongi was silent, thinking about a solution, so it was Hoseok who said, “You can ask Jimin,” with a shrug.
Jeongguk almost flinched at his reply, looking at his hyung as if he just said something dreadful. “Park Jimin? That Jimin?” he said, almost not believing that Hoseok even thought about it.
But his hyung only bummed and nodded, a serious expression on his face. He wasn’t kidding.
“Hyung, with all due respect, but are you insane? That boy hates me with every fiber in his body.” the younger said, astonished. His hyungs frown but don’t scold him, knowing that he’s somehow right but not really.
“He doesn't hate you!” Hoseok replies. “He just...has strong feelings against you.” he adds in a murmur, to which Jeongguk huffs.
“Yeah, strong feelings of hate. He literally fake gags every time he sees me.” he mumbles, burying his face in Seokjin’s thigh. “That boy would never say yes to this. Imagine him acting all lovey dovey with me? Never in a million years.”
Seokjin nods and tilts his head. “He’s right though,” he says towards Hoseok. “Jimin has repeatedly reminded Namjoon how much he dislikes Gguk.”
“I still don’t understand how your boyfriend can be friends with him,” Yoongi mumbles. “He seems like such a brat.”
Jeongguk nods rapidly at his words, “He is!” he exclaims. “He really is.”
“He’s not,” Seokjin replies. “He’s actually a sweetheart and not mean at all, from what Namjoon told me. It’s just something he has against Gguk that makes him act like that.” he explains, to which both Yoongi and Jeongguk squint, not really believing his words.
Only Hoseok seems to be able to agree with him. “From the only two dance classes I had with him, he seemed really okay. Till he found out I knew you and I was suddenly invisible to him, but that’s okay.” he says with a shrug, not really affected by Jimin’s actions.
Jeongguk groans and covers his eyes with his arm. “I still don’t know what his fucking problem is,” he mutters under his breath, sighing. His head is already starting to hurt and he wants nothing more but to go to sleep for a few weeks. But sadly, tomorrow he has to show up with a boyfriend, and he currently has 0 possible fake boyfriends, so sleep is not an idea.
“You could still try, though,” Seokjin says softly, caressing Jeongguk’s hair gently. “You can just do this two or three times and then tell your followers that Jimin doesn’t want to be on live anymore because he’s camera shy or some bullshit. Just two or three lives and that's it.”
The idea seems appealing to Jeongguk, because he knows that he could deal with Jimin for two or three days, but he also knows that Jimin couldn’t. He doesn’t even know if the boy would accept his proposal, let alone know for how long.
“I don’t even have his number,” Jeongguk murmurs, because it currently seems the only acceptable excuse for not texting or calling Jimin right now.
“I have it,” Hoseok says as if it’s nothing, and is already pulling his phone out when Jeongguk is frowning at him. The older man raises his eyebrows and shrugs. “What? You’re in desperate need of a fake boyfriend and as we all know, you have no other options.”
The younger sighs defeated at that. “Just text me it and I’ll call him later.” he huffs.
“Later when?” Yoongi asks, checking his watch. “It’s already one in the morning.”
And Jeongguk almost chokes at his reply, staring at him with wide eyes. “One what?!” he honestly thought it was around 11 p.m., but in no way 1 a.m. It seems like he spent more time in the shower than he thought.
“It’s actually half past one, so you better hurry up and text him to see if he’s awake,” Hoseok tells him after pressing send, Jeongguk’s phone not even vibrating when receiving the text that might change everything.
“What even am I supposed to say?” the younger asks in despair as he fetches his phone from the desk, opening it to over one hundred notifications. “My phone is about to explode from the notifications,” he groans, barely able to open Hoseok’s message because of how his phone is blowing up.
“First and foremost, check if he’s awake,” Yoongi suggests. “If he’s not, then…” he chuckles before continuing. “Good luck with that.”
Hoseok poked his boyfriend and frowned at him, to which Yoongi only huffed and pouted. Jeongguk ignored them, already accustomed to them and their relationship, and instead focused on typing out a text for Jimin. His thumbs are lingering over the keyboard when Seokjin says, “Don’t overthink it, just text and ask him if he’s awake, and don’t forget to mention it’s you.”
And with a deep breath and a nod, Jeongguk started typing.
jeongguk, sent 01:46 a.m.:
hi, it’s jeongguk. are you awake?
It only takes two seconds for Jeongguk’s phone to buzz, and he looks up at his hyungs with wide eyes. “He’s awake,” he whispers.
“What are you waiting for then? Ask him!” Hoseok encourages, sitting up straight on the bed, feeling fidgety for Jeongguk, who just nods once again and gets on texting.
Park Jimin, received 01:47 a.m.
why are you texting me?
jeongguk, sent 01:48 a.m.
i really need your help with something.
Park Jimin, received 01:48 a.m.
no.
jeongguk, sent 01:48 a.m.
please, i’m desperate
Park Jimin, received 01:49 a.m.
i don’t give a shit. i already said no.
jeongguk, sent 01:49 a.m.
please, just help me this one time
Park Jimin, received 01:51 a.m.
do you not understand what ‘no’ means?
i already knew you’re dumb, but damn…
jeongguk, sent 01:52 a.m.
jimin…
i really really need your help, you’re my only hope
Park Jimin, received 01:54 a.m.
you’re making me repeat myself and i hate doing it.
but as i said, i don’t give a shit. no.
jeongguk, sent 01:55 a.m.
i’ll give you anything, just name it. i only need your help for two days, please
Park Jimin, received 01:55 a.m.
goddammit, you’re so annoying
what the fuck do you want?
jeongguk, sent 01:56 a.m.
be my fake boyfriend for two days.
jeongguk, sent 01:58 a.m.
jimin? *message not sent*
hyung? *message not sent*
you blocked me?? *message not sent*
you’re unbelievable *message not sent*
Dropping his phone on the bed, Jeongguk shigs. “He blocked me when I asked him to be my fake boyfriend.”
At his words, Yoongi can’t help but giggle, before pressing his lips in a thin line to stop himself, but he can’t. The whole situation is so funny he can’t help but erupt in a fit of giggles, making Hoseok and Seokjin laugh as well, mostly because of the situation, but also because of Jeongguk’s lost puppy-like face.
The boy is now pouting and sulking because one (1): the only person that could save his ass from embarrassment blocked him, and two (2): his hyungs are laughing at him. Which if he really thinks about it, he kind of deserves it, but still.
“Stop laughing and give me your phone!” Jeongguk mumbles towards Hoseok, his hyungs giving him his phone without thinking too much about it.
“What are you going to do?” Hoseok asks in between laughter, missing the way Jeongguk frowns at him.
“Call him,” the younger says nonchalantly before pressing the call button next to Jimin’s name and stepping out of the room, leaving behind three shocked hyungs.
The phone only rings two times before Jimin picks up, his voice raspy and low. “Hello?”
And Jeongguk needs two seconds to think about what to say so Jimin won’t hang up in an instant, before saying, “Please don’t hang up.”
And it’s probably not a good idea, because he’s met with silence on Jimin’s end, but when he checks, he sees that he didn’t hang up, which makes Jeongguk let out a long breath. “Please, just hear me out,” he begs, and he’s sure that Jimin can hear the desperation in his voice, which is probably the only thing that makes him listen.
“I’m listening,” Jimin says, his voice cold and unwelcoming, but Jeongguk shivers at the sound of it.
“I did something stupid today on the stream and I said I have a boyfriend because everyone is bombarding me with the same question over and over again and it’s annoying and tiring because they’ve been asking the same thing for over six months and I feel like my fans don’t even watch me for my games anymore but only to find out about my private life and tonight I got annoyed and said I have a boyfriend but we were a secret and I stupidly promised that tomorrow I’ll go live with him but I’m single cause everyone thinks I’m this mean asshole and I only have like five friends and I can’t ask them for help cause they’ve all been on live with me and you’re my only option so please please—”
And it’s only then when he figures that Jimin hung up a long time ago and he has been talking to himself for God knows how long. He’s shocked, and his eyes are wide open, staring at his phone in disbelief, not wanting to believe that he talked for some good three minutes to no one. And when the phone buzzes in his hand and sees Jimin call, his heart almost stops and he almost drops the phone.
“Hello?” he whispers when he picks up, his voice small and sounding almost fragile.
“Are you done talking?” Jimin asks, and he sounds so done with everything that Jeongguk almost wants to hang up and hide under his couch.
Jeongguk replies after a few seconds, a little bit unsure of himself. “...Yes?”
“Good,” Jimin exhales on the phone. “I don’t want to hear you rambling nonsense, I don’t care.” he says, and Jeongguk doesn’t even breathe in the two seconds break Jimin took to breathe out. “What do you want me to do?”
At this exact moment, Jeongguk wonders what he did in his past life to be so lucky now. Probably saved a cat from a tree, or something.
“You—You’ll help me?” he asks in disbelief, and he has to sit down on the couch because he feels like his legs might give up on him soon.
“That depends on what you want me to do,” Jimin says, before there’s only silence between them. Jeongguk thinks for a few seconds, he himself unsure of what Jimin would need to do, but he thinks that they can talk more about this tomorrow.
“Just, pretend to be my fake boyfriend two times on two different lives. We can play some games or just talk or I can play and you can sit around — I don’t know, just something like that. Maybe some hand holding or a hug to make it more believable.” he explains, working his mind to think about what one would do in a relationship, but it’s two something in the morning and he’s exhausted.
“Okay”, Jimin replies almost in an instant. “When’s the first live?”
“Tomorrow,” Jeongguk breathes out. “One tomorrow and one in a week or so. And then we can say that you’re camera shy or something and you don’t want to appear in my lives anymore.”
Jimin exhales, and nods, even though Jeongguk can’t see him. “Deal,” he mumbles. “But I want something in exchange.”
Jeongguk has honestly expected this, so he’s not surprised at Jimin’s words. He just nods and breathes out a quick ‘anything’.
However, he does not expect this to be Jimin’s request. “I want you to answer a question for me.”
He thinks he must have misheard at first, but there’s nothing he can think of that sounds similar to Jimin’s request, so he just frowns and hums. “...a question?”
“Yes,” Jimin breathes out. “When we’ll be done with all this charade, I want you to answer a question, honestly and truthfully. That’s all I want.”
And Jeongguk doesn’t think too much of it. He just nods rapidly and repeats ‘yes yes yes of course’.
Jimin hangs up after muttering a goodbye, leaving a mess of Jeongguk behind. Poor boy is all flustered and happy and anxious and excited that he can only squeal and run up to his room, where he throws himself in the arms of the first person he sees, which happens to be Seokjin.
“He said yes,” he mumbles happily before any of his friends have the chance to say something, and he earns happy and relieved sighs back.
“I thought you were crying,” Seokjin murmurs in his ear before hugging the younger even tighter, happy to know that their plan worked.
The younger giggles and shakes his head while pulling back from the hug. “I’m just really happy he agreed,” he says, smiling at his hyungs.
“Well, I say that if everything is okay, we should go and you should go to sleep. You have a busy day tomorrow,” Yoongi suggests, standing up from the bed and stretching his limbs. The other two quickly agree with him, which leaves Jeongguk to just nod. They’re right, he has a long day tomorrow and he could really use some sleep now.
“I’ll talk to you tomorrow?”
The three boys nod quickly. “Of course, we’re just one phone call away. Call whenever, okay? Good luck, we’ll be watching the stream,” Hoseok says, as Jeongguk lays down on the bed and they open the bedroom door. They’ll walk themselves out since Jeongguk looks half asleep already, and after wishing their ‘good nights’ and ‘good luck’, the three boys exit the apartment slowly, leaving behind an already sleeping Jeongguk.