Chapter Text
Is he staring at me?” Hyunjae asked.
Haknyeon took a deep breath before his fork down comically slow. “Of course not! He’s looking at Younghoon, he’s behind you”
Oh, Haknyeon was tired.
Haknyeon loved his friend, he would give his life for Hyunjae, he would do anything for him but he was driving him insane. Hyunjae had a painfully obvious crush on Chanhee, but of course, his love wasn’t reciprocated. Turns out Hyunjae likes Chanhee, Chanhee liked Younghoon and Younghoon has been dating Juyeon for months now. Haknyeon thought everything was overly complicated, in his mind, it was as simple as his friend inviting his crush out and making him forget about Younghoon. But no, for Hyunaje, it was more complicated than that. Years ago, Hyunjae did ask Chanhee out, only to be rejected by the younger guy, but those were different times! Back then Younghoon was single so at least Chanhee had a chance which was impossible now but that particular event had scarred Hyunjae for life and he swore to never follow any advice Haknyeon gives him regarding his love life.
At the end of the day, it didn’t really bother him to hear his best friend complain for hours about his unrequited love, he simply thought it was annoying that the solution was right in front of him and Hyunjae wouldn’t even try to ask Chanhee out anymore in fear of being rejected. Haknyeon also understood that his friend didn’t want to be rejected by someone like Choi Chanhee (he had found him intimidating since the first day they crossed paths, although after some short conversations he figured out he was a pretty nice guy), but he wouldn’t say Chanhee and Hyunjae have some sort of friendship that could be put at risk in the case of them losing what they (could) have together, there’s not really much to lose but there is a lot to win! There were a lot of things that Haknyeon did not understand about Hyunjae, he tried helping but it had become impossible after so many attempts, he had just given up and accepted his place to listen to his best friend talk for hours about how perfect Choi Chanhee is and his resemblance to Piplup, important stuff.
And that’s how he got to the spot where he was, sitting in front of Hyunjae, lost in his thoughts barely keeping track of whatever his friend was babbling about, he just wanted to finish his food in peace!
“Haknyeon, are you even listening to me?” Haknyeon suddenly looked like a deer who got caught in the headlights, he obviously hadn’t been listening to his friend for a while now but the eldest still let out a big sigh to prove his disappointment in his friend, “Oh come on Hyunjae! I love you but I can’t listen to you whining about Chanhee for another second!” Haknyeon had noticed how his friend got visibly upset after that, he didn’t mean to be a bad friend but he simply couldn’t stand this whole situation anymore. He slid what was left of his choco pie to Hyunjae as an apology and he took it, but he still looked upset.
It was time for Haknyeon to intervene.
-
Back at home, Haknyeon had spent the rest of his evening trying to figure out a master plan to make Chanhee fall in love with Hyunaje, or at the very least acknowledge his existence.
He knew better than sticking his nose in situations that he was not part of but he had the need to at least try to help his friend and this could end two ways; with Hyunjae wanting to kill him or being forever thankful to him, and at the point of the situation he thought taking the risk was worth it.
As much as he tried thinking of a solid plan, he could not figure out one. Pretty much everyone who knew Hyunaje knew about his crush on Chanhee but the guy swore that no one knew, he was no one to break his fantasy bubble so he decided it was not his place to ask someone for help if it meant that he had to give someone else the (not-so) juicy details of Hyunjae’s love life, so he was on his own in this one.
And suddenly the answer was right in front of him, Ji Changmin.
The bright orange hair guy! Chanhee’s best friend! Someone possibly as equally as tired as him of hearing about an unrequited crush!
He had never really spoken to him, he had seen him around but never shared a full conversation but to his amazing luck, they had a single class together this semester. He had never heard anything bad about Changmin either! Maybe that he could be a little crazy from time to time but that did not matter a bit when he was about to become insane because of his friend, he was willing to take any possible risks of Changmin being possibly insane. His luck only got better when he realized there was an assigned group project coming up in the class, the perfect excuse to gain his attention without being unnecessarily weird. For once, he had been lucky enough and all the pieces of the puzzle to align together, all he needed was the main piece, Ji Changmin.
-
The day to see Changmin had finally arrived.
How bad could anything go? Ji Changmin was just like any other guy, right? So far the day was amazing, Haknyeon got up early enough to be able to get some fresh baked goods and coffee on his way to class, he even got Changmin a pastry in an attempt of advanced gratitude, the day was beautiful, sunny but with a cool breeze of air that wasn’t overwhelming, everything seemed perfect so why was Haknyeon feeling suddenly so anxious?! He knew it wasn’t a big deal, the worst that could happen was Changmin not being willing to help and then he would have to figure out another plan which wasn’t terrible but he still couldn’t help but have that strange gut feeling.
Haknyeon got to class earlier than usual, he wanted everything to go right that day, and being late wasn’t a chance he was willing to take. Five minutes until class started and he was nowhere to be seen. He was trying to convince himself that the guy would arrive within that time span but time passed by and there was no Changmin. There was a feeling of disappointment growing in him, it really wasn’t that big of a deal, but he wanted his plan to work, he really wanted to help out Hyunjae. He finally gave up the moment that the professor closed the door and said his greetings to the students. Haknyeon sighed and accepted his fate of not seeing Changmin that day, he was in no mood to actually give his attention to the class so he zoned out pretending he was paying attention.
It had been no longer than fifteen minutes when someone burst into the classroom interrupting the class, which made Haknyeon search for the source of the distraction. A tall guy, bright orange hair and a distinguishable long neck, it was the one and only Ji Changmin!
Haknyeon felt a weight off his shoulders when he saw him. Apparently, he had gone to the library and took some extra time there from what he was able to hear from the explanation he gave to the professor. Haknyeon couldn’t keep his eyes off him as he walked up the stairs to an empty seat.
The class went on and Haknyeon only had one thought in mind, get to Changmin before he was able to run off class. He kept staring at the older guy to the point where it would be surprising if Changmin didn’t notice him yet. He gave up on trying to pay attention to class from the moment it started but the word “work in pairs” caught his attention making him turn all of his attention to his professor immediately. He tried to pay attention to the instructions given by the professor about the project but if he was honest with himself, Haknyeon did not care, he was ready to jump off his seat and pick Changmin as his partner as fast as he could. It wasn’t convenient that they sat on almost opposite extremes of the room but that was not a problem, the younger would run if it was necessary, this was now his personal goal, to talk to Ji Changmin.
It was almost the end of class when the professor finally announced to pick their partners, Haknyeon was sure the professor almost forgot about that part but that was not the point. He was the first to get off his seat as soon as the instruction was given, probably earning him some stares from the students around him. Among many apologies and “excuse me’s” as he crossed the room he finally reached his destination. There he was in front of Ji Changmin, with his bag on his shoulder and a small box of pastries in his hand. It was a confusing sight, especially since they’ve have never had a proper conversation before. Changmin was intrigued, to say the least, looking up at Haknyeon with his bright eyes and head slightly tilted, the curiosity behind his eyes was obvious as he expected the man in front of him to speak.
“I need to talk to you,” Haknyeon said, out of breath.
“Yes we do need to talk about the project” Changmin replied with a smile peeking on the corners of his mouth.
“Pffft, not about that,” Haknyeon sat on the empty seat next to Changmin, “We need to talk about your best friend”
“Chanhee? What’s up with Chanhee?” Haknyeon felt an intense need to pat Changmin’s head by the way he acted like a curious puppy, but he needed to be civil, he couldn’t go around patting puppy-like peoples’ heads.
“Let me keep it simple, my friend Hyunjae is chronically in love with Chanhee and I’m sick of hearing him talk about him all the time! And Chanhee is not fooling anyone, I know he used to be obsessed with Younghoon, he needs to let that go, plus I’m sure you’re sick of it too!” Changmin took his dear time trying to process the information that was just given to him, so much time that class time had ended and they needed to leave.
“Don’t you think it should be up to them to decide to keep suffering like that?” Changmin asked as he stood up from his seat and made his way to the exit, with the younger following behind him.
“I would if I wasn’t involved! But sadly, the moment my friend decided to mope around for years it became my business” Haknyeon stood in front of Changmin to make him stop walking away. He put on his most convincing puppy face. “Please Changmin. I even bought you sweets” he said as he placed the small box in front of him and the older wasn’t a monster who was able to resist that pouty face.
“Okay, fine!” Haknyeon couldn’t resist wrapping Changmin in a hug that caught him by surprise, he wasn’t used to having someone as extroverted around him. “But what is your plan exactly?”
And there, Haknyeon froze.
He didn’t think of a plan.
More like he did, but he thought it was ridiculous and way too embarrassing to say out loud. Changmin must have noticed the sudden change of mood in the atmosphere because his expression changed drastically to appear serious.
“Would you mind being my fake boyfriend?