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“I’m already dating someone!” Namjoon blurted, his voice cracking slightly as Chaein raised a skeptical eyebrow.
“Oh yeah?” she said, arms crossed. “Who?”
Namjoon’s mouth went dry, his brain spinning. Then he told a big -a really big- lie.
“Kim Seokjin.”
Chaein blinked. “Kim Seokjin? As in, Seokjin Seokjin? Theater Seokjin?”
Namjoon nodded, sweating through his uniform.
“Okay then. Sure,” she scoffed, walking away with a laugh. “Can’t wait to see that.”
And Namjoon thought the crisis was over.
Until Taehyung slapped his tray down on the table and said, wide-eyed and grinning, “Hyung, is it true you’re dating Kim Seokjin?”
Namjoon nearly choked on his rice.
“What?”
“Jimin said, Chaein told him that you said you were dating Seokjin,” Hoseok said.
“I- what? I didn’t say- okay, I might have said… oh my god... What the fuck did i do?”
Yoongi raised an eyebrow from across the table. “You really picked the most obvious lie possible dude,” he said, laughing.
“I panicked…” Namjoon muttered.
And of course, because his life was a highschool drama, that was when Kim Seokjin walked up.
“What’s this thing about me dating Kim Namjoon?”
When everyone turned to him, Namjoon wanted to die.
“So,” Seokjin said later, cornering him near the library, “you lied and said you’re dating me?”
“I...I didn’t mean to. I just... Chaein kept asking who I liked, and I... I panicked, okay? I didn’t think anyone would actually believe me.”
Seokjin looked amused. “Honestly, same.”
“What?”
“I’ve been trying to get Chaein off my back since last year. If we’re both fake dating… maybe this solves both our problems.”
Namjoon blinked. “Wait, you’re not mad?”
“Nope.” Seokjin sipped his milk. “But if we’re going to do this, we have to convince people.”
Namjoon stared. “You’re serious...”
Seokjin grinned. “Let’s fake date, Namjoon-ah.”
The first week was pure chaos.
When Seokjin held Namjoon’s hand in the cafeteria, Namjoon tripped over a tray and knocked over three milk cartons. Taehyung asked if they were planning couple outfits, Jimin was laughing, ALWAYS laughing, Jungkook nearly fainted from cringe and Hoseok and Yoongi side eyed them the whole time.
Seokjin, of course, was too natural. He threw his arm around Namjoon’s shoulder in the hallway, called him “Joonie” in front of teachers and even left a note in his locker.
You still owe me fries, btw. –Jinnie ♡
Namjoon, meanwhile, could barely make eye contact without combusting.
Not because he was embarrassed.
But because he wasn’t faking it.
Not really.
One day after drama club, Seokjin found Namjoon waiting for him under the willow tree near the gym.
“Hey…” Namjoon said.
Seokjin smiled, brushing petals off his blazer. “Let me guess... You want to cancel the charade.”
“No.” Namjoon stepped forward. “Actually… I want to stop pretending.”
Seokjin froze.
“I meant what I said,” Namjoon admitted. “Not at the time but I mean it now. I like you. I think I’ve always liked you.”
Seokjin stared at him for a long, quiet moment.
Then murmured, “Good.”
Namjoon blinked. “Good?”
Seokjin laughed, stepping closer. “Because I’ve been faking it way too well and it’s exhausting now.”
Namjoon just smiled.
The next day, when they walked into school holding hands, nobody batted an eye.
Except Taehyung, who whispered to Jimin,
“Do you think they still think it’s fake?”
Jimin snorted.
“Honestly? I think they forgot it ever was.”