Archive of Our Own

Chapter Text

“You forgot what? “ Sungho gapes at him, his coffee still untouched.

See, it all started when Myung Jaehyun finds himself in a bit of a predicament. 

As it is, it isn’t the first time he’s experienced this, far from it. And although he likes to stay in denial of it, he knows it won’t be the last time either. 

This is how the story goes.

Myung Jaehyun is seven when he gets his first pet. 

For his birthday, his parents gift him a small betta fish. He calls it Rocky, as seven year olds do. Rocky isn’t really from an exotic species - in fact, he's probably from the most basic and boring fish species with how exceptionally bland he looks (and his intelligence must match his looks too, with the way he keeps eating his own poop), but Jaehyun loves him to death anyways. 

His seven year old eyes are wide and sparkling as he watches Rocky swim everyday, and he gets so fixated on watching him eat his fish food that he ends up forgetting to eat his own human food in favor of feeding him. 

He skips his lunch to feed Rocky. He skips his supper to feed Rocky. Two days later, his stomach is grumbling when he finds Rocky floating on the surface of the water. Myung Jaehyun is seven when he overfeeds his beloved fish to death.

Myung Jaehyun is fifteen and getting screwed over by his math homework when he remembers  Valentine’s Day, the day he’s been planning on asking Han Jiwoon out. 

She’s pretty and charming and he always ends up staring at her in awe when she laughs, eyes crinkled with her silky hair fanning behind her. He’d been working up his nerves for the past month now and was planning on sweeping her off her feet with a giant bouquet of flowers. 

But it’s now 10 pm, and it’s raining outside, and there’s no more flower shops open, and he actually spent all his money to hang out with her at the karaoke for the past two weeks. So he spends the rest of the night looking through different bushes until he manages to gather three pitiful tulips that look as pathetic as he feels. 

He goes back home soaking wet to the bones, and wakes up the next day with a high fever, in a near-delirious state. Myung Jaehyun is fifteen when he misses school on Valentine’s Day. When he goes back the next day, Jiwoon had started dating Lee Jiseok from the neighboring class.

Myung Jaehyun is twenty when Park Sungho tells him “Jaehyun, I don’t think this is going to work out.” 

In retrospect, there’s nothing much to work out anyways. It’s not like they were dating - as much as Jaehyun wants to pretend otherwise. He had a hard time hiding his eyes, expectant, and his heart on his sleeve, full (so full and always expanding until he constantly feels the need to swallow the words threatening to spill out of his mouth). 

It’s been two months since their kiss at Woonhak’s birthday party. Two months since they’ve fallen into sheets together from time to time. Two months Jaehyun’s been wishing for more but doesn’t know how to ask for it, waiting patiently and giving his all in return. It only occurred to him now that Sungho might not have been on the same page. 

He continues before Jaehyun gets to open his mouth. Maybe he knew that what would come out of his mouth wouldn’t even be a question of why, but rather, a desperate plea to stay. 

“You missed your exam last week because you spent the whole night helping me with my interview. You skipped two of your student council meetings because my practices were running late. You took a rain check on your monthly visit to your parents to come see mine instead. And you know what’s the worst part? It’s that I’ve only heard of this now!” 

Sungho is running his hand through his hair frantically, practically tearing some of it off as he sighs exasperatedly. He’s frustrated. Jaehyun wishes so desperately he can do something about it, but the other seems to recognize that and holds his palm up. 

“Don’t. I can’t keep up with this, Jaehyun. I can’t be the reason you ruin yourself. You can’t destroy yourself like this for others.” 

Myung Jaehyun is twenty when he realizes, still rooted to the ground and looking at the door Sungho left through - as if he was waiting for him to come back, that love can suffocate someone instead of helping them. 

And the most recent case:

Myung Jaehyun is twenty-three, and isn’t sure how to react when he sees his girlfriend cheating on him. He sees her through the window pane at the coffee shop they regularly frequent, smiling and holding hands with another guy before leaning over and kissing him on the cheek. 

“Maybe it’s just a relative!” Jaehyun insists, as Sungho looks outraged on the tiny window screen in the corner of his phone (in the end, they still managed to stay friends, although things were stilted for a while. Even if there weren’t any romantic feelings at play anymore, Jaehyun still loved him and couldn’t imagine actually severing their friendship over his own broken heart).

“You said all her relatives were currently on vacation, Jaehyun! You can’t seriously continue trying to defend someone cheating on you - this is a new low, even for you!”

Jaehyun scoffs. What did Sungho know about him anyways?

“Do not scoff at me Myung Jaehyun. You’re probably planning on forgiving her if she has a good excuse   for it, aren’t you? You’re thinking you’re the one who might’ve been at fault, aren’t you? You’re willing to continue on as if nothing happened to not ruin your relationship, aren’t you? You think I don’t know you? Tell me right now, how long has it been since you caught her cheating?”

Alright, never mind then. 

“Three...”  he mumbles.

“Three days?”

“…Three weeks.”

Sungho now looks downright affronted at that. And although he appreciates having a friend that can call out on his bullshit, there’s a part of Jaehyun that finds the whole situation unfair, a part of him that thinks Sungho shouldn’t have the right to call him out on his relationships when he left theirs and never looked back.

There’s a part of him that’s still raw and hurt, that wants to snap and lash out at others, but he pushes that part deep inside and masks it with a laugh and a smile. It’s only reasonable, since it wouldn’t help to be bitter anyways (and he can’t be the one to ruin his relationships again).

In the end, he wasn’t even the one who confronted her about the cheating. His girlfriend was the one to break up, a week later, saying that he was trying too hard to please her to the point where their relationship didn’t feel equal anymore. 

“It didn’t feel like you were my boyfriend.” She says, as she slides over the silver bracelet worth a month of Jaehyun’s overtime work at his part-time job. 

“It felt like you were my dog.” Those are her last words as she leaves, and he sees her getting into the car of the guy he saw her kissing before.

He doesn’t even get to process the full extension of his emotions before he receives a text. It was from his mom.

Eomma <3: We can’t wait to see you and your girlfriend at Bo-gum’s wedding! You seemed so happy when we last talked on the phone, we’re all so excited to meet her! :) 

He immediately calls her.

“Hello? Jaehyunnie? Are you crying?”

Her voice takes on a deep tone of worry, and he realizes that she’s right when he feels wetness on his cheeks. He tries to wipe it away, though it becomes clear that it wouldn’t be effective. 

“Eomma, there won’t be any girlfriend, I’m sorry.”

“Oh, Jaehyunnie… What happened?”

And he’s tired of it, tired of that sad and sympathetic tone that reminds him that he messed up again. He’s tired of needing his mom’s comfort again as he’s crying. Tired of being seven and crying, fifteen and crying, twenty and crying. Isn’t his mom tired too?

The words slip out before he even realizes them.

“It… I… It’s not going to be a girlfriend, but a boyfriend.”

His mom gasps and Jaehyun mentally beats up himself. He mentally beats up his seven and fifteen and twenty years old selves too. He mentally beats up every past version of himself.

“Myung Jaehyun, were you worried I wouldn’t accept your boyfriend?”

Her voice takes on a softer edge.

“We’ll all be just as glad to meet your boyfriend, my darling. If you’re happy, then we’re all happy. You’ll bring him to the wedding, won’t you?”

He mentally beats up every future version of himself too.

“… Um. Yes. Yes, will do. I, uh, I have to go now though. I’ll… I’ll talk to you later mom.”

He throws a quick I love you before he hangs up. He puts his head in his hands, face still wet.

Myung Jaehyun is twenty-three when he majorly fucks up. He’s twenty-three when he tells a lie about an inexistent boyfriend to make his mom happy. He’s twenty-three and it’s been a week since the phone call with his mom, and the wedding is in less than a week. He’s twenty-three when he realizes he forgot about making the inexistent boyfriend exist.

Honestly, as much as it pains him to admit it, this is pretty on par with him at this point. Sungho staring at him like he lost his mind is pretty on par too.

“I messed up.” He groans, “I forgot I told my mom I'd bring my boyfriend over to my cousin's wedding.”

“Riiight.” Sungho drawls out slowly, “And what boyfriend is that, exactly? Have you been hiding a secret boyfriend - for a week now - since your ex-girlfriend cheated and broke up with you?” He fakes a dramatic gasp. “Jaehyun, have you been cheating right back with this secret boyfriend of yours?”

“Please shut up and eat your bagel already.” He sighs as his friend tears up the bagel on his plate. “The boyfriend obviously doesn’t exist.” 

“No kidding,” he rolls his eyes as he chews and swallows, before pointing the bagel at him, “So what are you going to do about that? 

“You’re here eating a bagel and drinking a coffee at my expense to help me figure that out!”

“I’m here because you came banging at my door at eight am and then dragged me over here,” the other states, but doesn’t actually look that bothered. “Man, I don’t know. Why don’t you just tell her the truth?”

“Right, like,” Jaehyun rolls his eyes, “‘Hey mom, remember how I said I’d bring my boyfriend for Bo-Gum’s wedding? Yeah, when I was bawling my eyes out on the phone. Well he actually doesn’t exist, and my girlfriend also doesn’t exist anymore because she broke up with me-”

“I still can’t believe she was cheating on you and you were ready to let that slide.” Sungho frowns.

“- and I just thought it was too embarrassing to tell you that none of my relationships ever work out for me and that I was tired of always being the one messing up and giving myself so much that the other person couldn’t handle it anymore.’ You think that sounds good?”

Jaehyun immediately knows that he’s gone too far with his self-deprecation joke when he sees guilt flashing in Sungho’s eyes. It reflects back onto him tenfold, and he feels a twinge of panic at the idea of hurting him. After all, he wasn’t trying to make his own issues a problem for others to deal with, and he knows that Sungho was awkward when it came to trying to comfort others. He quickly switches the subject.

“Well, you know. Maybe I should post a Craigslist ad to get a date at this point.” He valiantly makes an attempt at a joke. It seems to work as Sungho’s expression smooths out, and a wave of relief floods through him. “It can’t be that hard, right?”

“That might not be a bad idea actually. Don’t you basically have a fanclub at school? We could make a dating show out of it.” 

“Are you talking about the Economics club? They just like me cuz I help them out,” he considers. “But sure, let’s split the profit fifty-fifty.”

“Wasn’t there at least five different girls that confessed to you? Also, I’ll only do it if I get sixty.”

“You’re eating the bagel and coffee that I paid for and now you want sixty percent of the profit made from my face?” He scoffs. “Forget it, our partnership is over.”

“Why don’t you just fake-date someone?” Donghyun quips in suddenly, appearing from nowhere.

Jaehyun nearly jumps out from his seat. 

Except his foot catches on the leg of his chair, and he stumbles for a bit before he’s sent crashing to the ground. A few heads swivel to stare at him, sprawled over on the ground. 

His face flushes an ugly red. The other two watch him solemnly. 

“Yeah, that’s what the dating show would be for.” Sungho continues instead, taking a long sip from his coffee. 

“We’d need to use up all of our expenses if we did a dating show.” Donghyun argues back. “Why doesn’t hyung just find someone to fake-date? Like a close friend or something.”

“Hmm, you think so?” Jaehyun ponders from the ground. “I don’t know who I’d ask, though. Hey, since when were you here anyways?”

Neither replies to him. Instead, they give each other a long stare, as if they were having a whole conversation without a single word (He hates it when they do that. It’s freaky as hell. And it’s not only with Sungho - Donghyun does it with Dongmin too. That's a whole different kind of freaky though.) 

Right as he plans on putting an end to their - frankly strange - way of communication, they seem to agree on something as both nod in approval before turning back to him.

___

“Will you please please please fake-date me for my cousin’s wedding in a week?”

Riwoo - Sanghyeok - stares at him blankly. 

What? His face seems to be asking.

“What?” He asks.

It doesn’t take long for Jaehyun to explain the whole situation a second time, although it doesn’t make it any less embarrassing. He can feel the tip of his ears flush as the other scrutinizes him while he’s talking. 

See, the thing with Lee Sanghyeok is that he never really shows what he’s feeling. Sure, he’ll crack a toothy smile, fangs poking out, when he makes a dumb dad joke. And yeah, he’ll widen his eyes like a skittish rabbit when he gets surprised. 

But he’s not particularly expressive. And despite the other being one of, if not the, closest friend he has, Jaehyun knows he can’t rely on his facial expressions to know what he’s thinking. 

That used to be one of the many factors that created an awkward distance between him and Sanghyeok - back when they were first introduced to each other. 

Jaehyun became quick friends with Woonhak when he bumped into him by mistake at some sort of orientation for freshmen, which basically meant he’d co-parent him with Sungho, which meant that Dongmin was going to protest and defend his position as the youngest’s favorite hyung, which meant that he’d also be dragging along Donghyun (“because wherever Taesannie goes, Leehannie follows” he cooed, as the latter held back the former from desperately trying to claw his face off).

And along with Donghyun came Lee Sanghyeok, face all serious with a quiet demeanor. Out of everyone, Jaehyun had the hardest time forming a connection with him - let alone a friendship. Initially, he was even certain that the other hated him. After all, Myung Jaehyun relies on what he can see and hear - he reshapes and molds his reactions based off of those tiny social cues. 

When he met Riwoo, he barely had anything to work with - the other facing him impassively with a quick nod and an unsure, but firm, handshake. He tested the waters back then by being overtly friendly, giving teasing touches and a lighthearted shove when the rest of the group would crack up jokes. 

By the end of the conversation, Riwoo’s face went from impassive to downright stony, and Jaehyun could barely stop the way his expression fell when the other scooted a bit further away from him. 

“He hates me.” He lamented to Sungho back then.

“He's just a bit shy around new people.” Sungho replied.

“He hates me and he's cursing my mom and my dad for giving birth to me!” He wailed.

That was the day Jaehyun convinced himself that there were some people that would just never like you, no matter what you did. And unfortunately, Riwoo just had to be at the frontline of those people.

He was dead set on this new theory of his - right up until he tripped over himself after getting jumpscared by his own shadow (in his defense, he didn't know one's shadow could look so diabolical) and Riwoo had laughed, bright and unfiltered. That was the first time Jaehyun noticed the small mole under his right eye and the sharp canines that peeked out from his opened mouth. 

Later on, upon further reflection of the past events (and upon the repetition of Riwoo’s laugh playing nonstop in his head), he apologized to Riwoo for barging into his space. He had a tendency of being touchy around people he felt close to, and although he and the other had just met, there was a certain magnetism that made him feel drawn to the other. 

Which made it even more embarrassing how quickly he got into the other’s space. 

Riwoo didn’t seem offended at all, though. His solemn stare had melted into an amicable expression. He accepted the apology, though he bashfully told him there was no reason to apologize in the first place.

“I never hated you.” Riwoo had reassured him, and Jaehyun knew immediately that Sungho snitched on him. See if he ever rants to him ever again. (“I’d actually prefer that,” Sungho told him later on. Jaehyun pretended not to hear him.)

“I'm just a bit shy around new people. And I'm not too used to those who are… more physically affectionate. So please be patient with me.”

And that was the day, with a flash of an amused yet slightly coy smile thrown by the other, that Jaehyun convinced himself that he would never put Lee Sanghyeok through an uncomfortable situation ever again.

But, well. Desperate times, desperate measures. 

Once he’s done explaining, he watches Riwoo muse for a bit, while he fidgets and flashes a bright smile back at him, albeit a tad awkwardly. He understands the other needs some time to intake everything. He’s not going to try and make it worse by showing his jittering nerves. He’s so cool and chill about this. He’ll even scrutinize the grass intensely to show how cool and chill about this he is.

His staring stops as soon as the other starts talking again after what seems like a million years, with his head snapping back so fast he winces from the force of it. Not good. 

“So you decided that I’d be the best choice for your… fake-dating plan?” Riwoo goes through his words slowly, and Jaehyun winces again before throwing himself into an explanation.

“Consider the options here. Dongmin and Donghyun are out of the way because they’re-” he grimaces, “- dating and disgustingly in love with each other, you already know that Sungho and I had that past thing so it would be weird to ask him for this favor, and Woonhak is, well. Woonhak.”

Despite giving a series of perfectly logical and rational arguments, Riwoo still doesn’t offer much reaction. He only continues staring at him, a single eyebrow raised with an unimpressed look on his face. He crosses his arms.

“You’re friends with practically everyone at our school. You’re telling me there’s no one else you could’ve found to help you with all of-” as if not knowing how to describe the whole situation, he makes a vague gesture towards him. “-…this?”

“Careful,” Jaehyun mumbles petulantly under his breath, “a bit more enthusiasm and I’m going to start thinking you actually want to date me.” He stops grumbling and turns his eyes back to him. 

“I talk to other people too, but no one would fit the role as perfectly as you. It’ll only be for a week!” And because Myung Jaehyun is not above begging, he clasps his hands together and offers his pleading puppy eyes, only because he knows how weak the other is to them. “Just help me out this once, please.”

The pleading eyes strategy must not be as effective this time because Riwoo’s actually starting to look a bit uneasy as he shifts his weight from side to side. As a matter of fact, he avoids looking Jaehyun in the eyes and scratches the back of his head. Not good, again. Not good-er. 

The other pauses. Takes a breath. Opens his mouth.

Jaehyun blurts out.

“I’ll buy you donuts for every day that we fake-date.”

“Okay. Deal.”

He blinks. 

Huh. He hadn’t actually been expecting the other to accept so easily. He didn’t even go through his entire list of bribery yet.

“...Really? Wait - really?”

Riwoo doesn’t respond but shrugs noncommittedly. He still has an unconvinced look on his face, but Jaehyun knows he’s not the type to take back his words. Relief floods his veins as he tries not to show how giddy he feels. 

“You’re making that face again.” the other notes with a plaintive voice.

“What face?” He asks. Jaehyun does not make faces.

“The one where you’re really happy about something but you’re trying to suppress it.” Riwoo answers. Then adds “It makes you look constipated.”

He gasps, affronted. 

“I do not have a constipated face!” He whines as the other lets out a snicker. 

He glares at him and pouts. “Not funny! You can’t be saying that when you’re the one with irritable bowel-”

“Finish that sentence and we’re breaking up right now, darling.”

The term of endearment catches him by surprise, physically demonstrated by his immediate silence and the red decorating his ears. The other notices as well. He embarrassedly tries to backtrack.

“No, I- I mean. If you’re okay with me saying that, of course- sorry, I forgot to ask-” he flusters. His reaction gives him back confidence.

“Riwoo, baby, we’re dating, why wouldn’t I be okay with it?” he replies. The situation is reversed now, the other gaping while his face rapidly changes to deeper shades of red.

“Ugh - I think we should set some ground rules on how this is going to work,” Riwoo groans, still flushed, and Jaehyun can’t help but find him cute. 

Platonically, of course. Nothing weird about finding your friend cute. It’s hard not to when it’s Riwoo - their whole friend group collectively agrees that he triggers the most cuteness aggression. Well, apart from Woonhak, maybe. But Woonhak doesn’t count because he’s basically a baby. Everyone loves babies. That’s just cheating.

“I think you’re cuter than a baby.” He offers, and gets an odd look as a reply. Which, fair. 

He gets back on track. “Sorry. Ignore that. How about meeting up tomorrow at the café Taesannie and Woonhakie works at? We can discuss everything. I’ll buy you your donut and a coffee too.”

“Yes to the donut, but let’s go in early - when Woonhak’s still working at the serving station.” He thinks for a little bit. “And instead of a regular decaf, what do you think about buying me a french vanilla latte, extra whip and foam with two shots of espresso, one shot of pumpkin syrup, extra graham crumbs, a sprinkle of cinnamon, and hmm…” 

“Change the whole milk to oat instead?”

“Perfect.” Riwoo grins and Jaehyun’s heart almost flutters at that. God, his nerves must have been taking a toll on him lately. 

The other throws a quick glance at his watch. “I’d stay a bit longer, but Donghyun invited me to go see the new trick he taught his fishes to do.” 

“The one where they do a sick front flip?”

“Don’t spoil it. You know Donghyun’s going to pout about it.”

“I was just kidding! I didn’t even know you could teach an old fish new tricks.”

“Funny. You’re just fishin’ for a bruising, aren’t you?” he shakes a small fist at him and they both laugh. It feels refreshing. It’s been a while since Jaehyun has smiled so much.

“I’ll see you tomorrow then? Sweetheart? Babe? Fish of my eye?”

“You’re stretching a bit now, don’t go all clown fish on me now.” Riwoo playfully shakes a fist at him, but grimaces after a few seconds. “I think that was even worse than yours. Maybe we should just pack it up for the day.”

Jaehyun nods solemnly. “Guess that really wasn’t your catch of the day, huh?”

“Oh, stop it.” He complains, although he can see him tampering down the grin that threatens to take over his face. He then steps away, and Jaehyun almost catches himself missing their closeness. “Just know that the real reason I’m leaving right now is because I can’t stand you.”

“You love me, darling.” He makes a kissy face and waves as the other starts walking away, rolling his eyes.

“You have no idea how much I want to deny that.” Riwoo sighs, before sending a wave back. “I guess I’ll sea you tomorrow then, my love?”

Jaehyun perks up at that. 

“It’s a date!” Then, “Wait, was that another ocean pun -” 

But the other is already gone, leaving Jaehyun with nothing but a stupid grin on his face and an odd sense of giddiness for the next day.

“I’m going to murder you.” Dongmin, currently replacing Woonhak (unfortunately, the youngest is the only one who hasn’t finished his finals yet), states when Jaehyun finishes ordering. “I’m actually going to murder you.”

He does look like he wants to murder him. He’s probably murdering him in his mind right now. He’s got that murderous intent in his eyes - the one you’d only find in someone working at a seven am shift. If there weren’t any eye witnesses and a whole counter table separating them, Jaehyun thinks he genuinely might have attempted to do so. 

Instead, he pokes at the sleeping beast. 

“If you say it a third time, you might be able to magically manifest it. You know, like Bloody Mary.”

“Oh, I’ll become Bloody Mary once I’m done with you.” 

Jaehyun resists rolling his eyes at that. 

“To clear things up, I’d like to add that this is a group effort. I wasn’t even the one who came up with this evil order! Riwoo was.” 

Dongmin skeptically raises an eyebrow at that. “Riwoo hyung? Where is he, then?”

“Should be here in five minutes. We said we’d meet up at ten. Also, how come Riwoo’s the only one you ever call hyung? I’m older than you too, you know.”

He disregards his last comment. “You guys are meeting up? For what?”

Jaehyun freezes. That’s when he realizes that he and Riwoo never discussed how they were going to announce it to their friend group. 

Should he just tell the truth? Or should they maintain a façade until the whole thing is over? Sungho and Donghyun knew about it anyways - which meant that it wouldn’t be long before Dongmin and Woonhak learned about it too. The curse of having a nosy friend group. 

“Uh. Well, we were going to, uh - we were-” He stammers.

“Hey babe, are you done ordering?” a familiar voice cuts in, and suddenly, Jaehyun feels a body slinking to his side. He finds Riwoo next to him, the other tilting his head up to search for his face, before sending a wink and turning back to the third party member. 

“Good morning by the way, Dongmin. Are you replacing Woonhak?”

Dongmin’s jaw drops open. He looks like an idiot. 

Jaehyun almost bursts into laughter at his expression, but manages to stop himself.

“Constipated face.” Riwoo whispers to him, which actually does make him laugh out loud, wheezing frantically as he clings unto the other, who merely grins.

Dongmin narrows his eyes at that. “Okay, what the fuck was that. No, really, what the fuck was that?” 

Riwoo continues his act. “I think the seven am shift is getting to him, babe.”

“You think so, baby? He seems the same as usual to me.”

He scrutinizes both of them. “You guys are fucking with me, aren’t you. Did Woonhak put you up to this? Is he trying to mess with me? This is what I get for trying to be nice and do him a favor for once.” He mutters. 

“Chill out Taesan, Woonhak didn’t do anything.”

“Right. Of course he didn’t. So then, why are you guys acting like…that?”

“Like what?”

“Like.” He shoots them a look of disgust. “A couple.”

Riwoo gasps. “Han Dongmin! Don’t tell me you’re homophobic?” He shakes his head in fake disappointment. “Didn’t expect such discrimination from you.”

“I’m literally dating a man!”

“He avoided the question. Must be homophobic.” Jaehyun tuts. 

Dongmin is crossing his arms now, decidedly ignoring their jabs. “There’s no way you guys are actually dating.” He says, disbelief clear on his face.

“Is it really that hard to believe?” Jaehyun interlaces their hands  and leans affectionately on Riwoo, who melts in return. 

Honestly, he’s been absolutely delighted at how well Riwoo’s been keeping up with him word for word, action for action. It was like they already both knew what the other was going to do, and either one was ready to follow up smoothly. 

He wasn’t even expecting them to put on  an act in front of their friends, but it seems like they’re much more convincing than he initially believed. And they haven’t even discussed anything yet!

“No, it’s just-” A conflicted look passes through Dongmin’s face as his eyes linger for a second on Riwoo, before turning his gaze back to him. The action makes the shorter one stiffen a little. But when Jaehyun looks down at him, he quickly throws a reassuring smile. 

“- It’s just so sudden, and - well, you-” Dongmin pauses, before shaking his head. “Never mind. Ugh, I can’t believe I owe money to Leehan now. Thank god for couples' joint bank accounts.”

“Wait - you bet on us?” He exclaims as Riwoo follows up with a curious “If you guys have a joint bank account, what’s even the point of betting?”

“It’s for the love of the game.” He shrugs. “When did you guys start dating anyways? Did you tell the others yet? Wait, am I the last one to know?”

It was time to make their escape. 

“Less talking, more latte-making, Taesannie.” Jaehyun sing-songs. People were starting to line up behind them, and it’s not like he and Riwoo could actually answer any of his questions. Yet. “Don’t forget - oat milk instead of cow!”

Dongmin scowls and flips them off as they walk away, Jaehyun purposefully swinging their arms together to piss him off even more. 

They settle at a seat in a quiet corner, at a respectable distance from any nosy suspects. 

“Alright.” Jaehyun composes himself as they sit down. “Let’s get down to business.” The other nods.

“So, how long is this whole thing going to last?” He asks.

“Just until the end of my cousin’s wedding, so -” he quickly calculates, “- in four days.”

“And what’s the plan?”

“We’ll meet my parents at their house tomorrow for lunch, so that I can introduce you to them,” he continues. “But we’ll probably stay there for a night, with the wedding rehearsal and dinner being the next day. It’s closer, so it’ll be more convenient.” 

Riwoo tilts his head. It’s cute, Jaehyun notes. He’s like a curious otter. “The marriage is on the fourth day, right? There’s a free day between the wedding rehearsal and the actual wedding, then.”

“Yeah,” he acquiesces, “Wedding rehearsals are usually planned the day before the wedding, but there were less people available compared to the previous day. It works out in our favor though, we’ll get an extra day to prepare ourselves before the wedding and - wait, do you even have a suit? We can always borrow my dad’s if you don’t, but…” The sizing might be a problem. 

Jaehyun’s dad is a bit taller than him, and despite the years starting to catch up to him, he still has a solid figure. Compared to Riwoo, who possessed a smaller build and lithe muscles from dancing, the suit would make him look like a kid playing dress-up. 

He refrains from saying all of this, though the other seems to understand anyways.

“I’m pretty sure I have something in my closet.” He confirms. Which is great! One thing solved, only fifty more to go.

“Right. So after that, it’s the d-day. We survive that, then we’re all set!”

“Sounds good to me.” He agrees, then ponders. “How do we end things, though?”

Jaehyun doesn't need to think about it for too long. “We won't have to do much. I'll probably mention we had an amicable break-up to my parents once a bit of time has passed.” 

They live far enough that they wouldn't catch any inconsistencies. He'll just tell them that he and Riwoo decided being friends was a better choice. It wouldn’t be the first time that it happened to him anyways, so it isn’t all that out of left field.

“Apart from them, we're announcing our relationship to people I barely ever see,” he discloses. “It’s not like we’re the main attraction anyways. Everybody’s just there to have a good time. They might not even remember about it by the next time we see each other.”

He snorts. “I heard there’s going to be an open bar. They’re definitely not going to remember anything by the end of the night.”

The news seems to reassure Riwoo. “And our friends?” he inquires. 

“They already know - or are going to know,” he clarifies, “Sungho and Donghyun were the ones who suggested the whole thing, actually. And if they know -”

“They'll tell it to Dongmin and Woonhak for sure.” Riwoo sighs, then quirks a questioning eyebrow. “So you're telling me I didn't need to lie to Dongmin earlier?”

“Well - no. But honestly, it was worth it just to see him lose his mind. Did you see his face?”

The other laughs. “He's going to be so mad when he finds out .”

The conversation continues flowing smoothly, both of them becoming more comfortable as time goes on. They discuss how they met and decide to stay as close to the truth as possible - which is to say, through their friends. 

“Let’s keep it simple.” Riwoo declares. They’d just gotten their food, and he steals a sip of Jaehyun’s coffee, which Jaehyun thinks is a bit unreasonable considering how he risked his life earlier to get the other’s custom heinous drink. “Our friend groups agglomerated together, and even though things were rocky between us at first, it allowed us to get closer. We slowly became friends, then even more than that, until we decided to date. Opposites attract, or whatever.”

Jaehyun shifts awkwardly in his seat, before bringing the topic up. “And that’s before or after Sungho?”

Riwoo blinks at him. “You think I would’ve tried sabotaging your relationship?”

“No! No, I was just wondering. And it wasn’t much of a relationship anyways,” he mutters under his breath.

“But it was still something that felt real to you,” the other states it as if it was a fact. Which -

“Yeah,” he exhales, “it was.”

His and Sungho’s not-relationship never got shared to anyone, because that’s what it was - not a relationship. It was an on-off thing that never got defined, never even left their own mouths until it got broken off at the end. 

It didn’t stop other people from noticing, though. Their friend group - who had only recently formed at the time - was awkward in treating the subtle, but definitely present, tension. It took the both of them pretending everything was fine, as well as a bit of time to heal, before the dust had eventually settled.

“That was a long time ago, though.” He shakes away the creeping memories of the past. “It’s a good thing we’re over it now.”

“Are you really?” Riwoo inquires, and the truth is - not really. He doesn’t feel romantic feelings towards Sungho anymore, nor his ex-girlfriend for that matter. But there are so many questions of what if that he still wonders about, whispers of doubt, and regrets still haunting him. 

He wonders if it'll ever leave.

He doesn’t really want to further elaborate on it though, so he just nods. The other doesn’t seem to fully believe him, but he doesn’t push either.

Jaehyun switches to a lighthearted tone, forcefully changing the morose atmosphere.

“Baby, you know you’re the only one in my life now!” he makes a kissy face and Riwoo groans, before they move on to the next point.

They both agreed to keep their “relationship” low-key since it would be relatively short anyways. So no announcement on social media or anything.

“Dude, I forgot but you’ve got like. So many followers.”

“You’ve got plenty of followers too.” Riwoo points out. He takes a bite out of Jaehyun’s blueberry muffin even though Jaehyun can see he’s only eaten half of his donut. “More than me, actually.”

“That’s just because people use my tracks as audios for their own stuff.” He gives up on his pastry and tears a piece of it, before popping it into the other’s open mouth. “It’s always the ones that I hate too. But you post actual good performances. Or like - the most insane dance covers I’ve ever seen.”

“I guess people like it.” He shrugs. 

“Like it? Some of these comments are basically worshipping you!” Jaehyun starts going through them.

“Ur so cool and insanely talented I could throw up!!!” 

“I watch this video every morning after I wake up and every night before I go to sleep so I know my day will start and end well.”

“I thoguht I knew what peak lookd like whrn I got high as hel and cried to King Fu Psnda 2, but after watching yuor perfdrmance, I realized nothnig cuold top this!!! I volunter astribute tho.”

“With three fire emojis," Jaehyun finishes reading. “God this guy’s bad at writing. Wait, what are the chances though? I also watched Kung Fu Panda 2 once after smoking.”

He then shakes his head disapprovingly. “Kind of inappropriate behavior from a stranger though. Make sure to be careful of these weirdos on the internet.”

“Jaehyun, all these comments were written by you.”

“Oh.”

Their list of things to address dwindles down as their conversation starts coming to an end, finalizing with a discussion of how they should interact with each other. Jaehyun goes down a checklist of physical interactions to see what the other is comfortable with.

“Hugging?”

“You already do that.”

“Holding hands?”

“You do that too.”

“Cuddling?

“I think you’d actually blow up if you couldn’t cuddle someone during movie nights.”

“I definitely would.”

Riwoo nods. He holds up his latte, waiting for Jaehyun to take a sip. He does, and winces. It’s really fucking sweet. “You’re just too physically affectionate,” he mulls over.

The sweetness in his mouth turns to a bitter aftertaste. He tries to swallow it down. “Did it- Does it ever bother you?”

The other tilts his head. “I wouldn’t be here if it did.” Which, knowing Riwoo - who easily shuts down things that test his boundaries - is true. 

Reassured, Jaehyun continues in a lighter tone.

“Okay, let’s try another way. Is there anything you’re not comfortable with?”

The other thinks for a second. “No kissing on the mouth,” he declares. “That’s crossing the line of friendship for me. Same thing with sexual stuff.” Which Jaehyun thinks is more than fair, so he immediately acquiesces. 

“What about other places? For kissing, I mean.”

Riwoo raises an eyebrow questioningly. “What exactly are you thinking of, Myung Jaehyun?” He throws him a look, and it takes a few seconds for the insinuation to settle in. He sputters.

“Yah - you just said no sexual stuff!” he protests, then immediately pouts when he sees the other crack a self-satisfied smile. 

“You’re making fun of me. You know what I meant - like cheeks, forehead -” he leans down to imitate a kiss on the other’s hand, “- hands, places like those.”

Riwoo giggles as he snatches his hand away. “Cheesy, but I’ll accept it.” He presses his lips amusedly. “We’re going to become those super PDA couples, aren’t we?”

“Oh, we so are.”

They finish things as Taesan comes to their table to give a heads-up that he’s leaving, his shift having just ended.

“Already? You didn’t even come see us during your break!” Jaehyun tries to pout, but the intended effect gets ruined when Riwoo spoonfeeds him another bite of cake. 

The neutral expression on Taesan’s face transforms into one of repulsion. “I sensed the general vibes you guys were emanating.” He wrinkles his nose. “Did not want to get involved.” 

“And Leehan was texting me, so you know,” he shrugs. “Priorities. Also, ew. I just realized you guys are like. Those super PDA couples.” 

He contemplates for a second. “Huh, but you guys are like that usually too. Nothing even changed,” he grimaces. “I can’t tell if that’s worse or not.”

Jaehyun and Riwoo give each other a look, not sure if they should come clean about their act when the third party seems to be fully convinced of their lie now. 

“Weren’t you demanding answers from us just a few hours ago?” Jaehyun questions. 

Dongmin smirks at him. “Nah, Leehan told me you guys already gave him the details, so I’ll just ask it from him instead.” He checks his watch. “I’m actually leaving to go see him right now.” 

He backs away and salutes them. “See you suckers later.”

Once the other has fully left, Jaehyun decides to break the silence.

“He’s going to be so mad.”

“So mad.” Riwoo murmurs solemnly as he shakes his head.

“So…” Jaehyun sticks his thumb towards the door. “Wanna go on a date?”

___

“Haven’t been here in a while,” Jaehyun declares as  they walk into a large room filled with neon lights. A multitude of games present themselves to them, blinking lights and synth music blasting through their tinny speakers.

“At the arcade? Really?” Riwoo asks curiously, though his eyes are already exploring the surfaces of every machine.

“Mhm. I used to come here often. But, you know, things got busy. What about you?”

His eyes flit back to him, as he tilts his head.

“I only remember coming here once or twice as a kid.” He ponders, then shrugs. “I don’t remember a lot of it, though.”

Jaehyun takes that as a cue to pull on his arm and start dragging him to the first machine he sees. “Well, what are we waiting for, then?”

A few minutes (and a lighter wallet) later, they find themselves in front of a shooting game.

“It’s those zombie survival type games” Jaehyun explains as he hands a gun prototype to the other. He imitates a few shooting poses he found cool in some action movies he’s seen. Riwoo stares at him, unimpressed, but he can see the corner of his mouth twitching, so he takes it as a win.

He plays a solo round first to demonstrate the main mechanics of the game, and wins eventually by a close shot. He can feel himself perking up when Riwoo laughs and claps, face brightening at the praise.

They then set the game’s settings to two players as they stand side by side. Before starting, Jaehyun tries to help Riwoo out.

“So you just aim the gun at any zombie’s head and you pull this part here-” He shows the trigger on his gun, but the other looks clueless so he leans forward to show it to him. “No, not there, like, here - wait -”

He gets into the other’s space and holds his hand from behind his back, body enveloping him as he closes his grip on the handle. In the small space they share, Jaehyun ends up speaking right next to Riwoo’s ear. Every time he talks, the blond shivers a bit - and for a few seconds, Jaehyun wonders worriedly if the air conditioning is turned on too high. 

It’s only when Riwoo turns his head towards him, lips parted only a few centimeters away from his own, that Jaehyun realizes the compromising position they’re in. 

He barely feels in control of himself when his gaze drifts to his mouth. He sees the other doing the same, before making eye contact with him again. Then he blinks - and suddenly, whatever was there breaks.

Riwoo shifts a bit, and Jaehyun stumbles as he quickly moves away, then offers him a wide smile to avoid any lingering awkwardness. His heart is hammering for some reason, but he attributes it to the adrenaline from his previous game.

“S-so, um. Yeah, that’s how you do - how you do it.” He chokes a bit but covers it up with a cough. God,  he needs to get a hold of himself. Like, right now. “Not sure if you caught all of that though, with how much you were staring at me. You liked what you saw?” He’s saving this so hard right now. His smirk only twitches twice. 

Riwoo smirks back at him, though his doesn’t twitch and seems much more confident. “How about I answer that question if you win?”

He then presses the flashing button, effectively starting their game. Jaehyun’s surprise rapidly grows into horror as he watches the other easily kill enemy after enemy. His posture is stable, his gaze is fixed, and his aim is perfect - contrary to his own standoffish and panicked one, as he struggles to catch up to him. 

Unfortunately, the gap between them only continues to grow.

Double kill! Triple kill! Killing spree! Killing rampage!

Jaehyun’s never even seen those terms before.

His jaw drops to the floor and he feels utterly defeated by the time the large Lee Sanghyeok wins! flashes across the screen. 

Huh? his mind provides.

“Huh?” he asks, intelligently. 

It’s the sound of Riwoo’s loud laughter that snaps him out of his dumb stupor. 

“What the hell!” he whines as he stomps his feet, vaguely aware he looks no different from a five year old throwing a tamper tantrum. Which he actually relates to, right now. “This is insane. This is madness. There’s no way you haven’t played this before. You lied to me. Even my own mom has never done that!”

Riwoo grins at him, unshed tears of laughter still clinging to his lashes, and fuck. Jaehyun can’t even find it in himself to be mad anymore. 

“Ugh.” He groans, dragging his hands across his face. “My fake-boyfriend’s a lying, deceiving, conniving, dirty little cheat! And I can’t even get mad at him!” He points at the other accusingly. “This is the effect you have on me, Lee Sanghyeok. What are you going to do about it? Take responsibility!”

He cracks up again, but seeing Jaehyun still pouting, he explains. 

“I’m not lying,” he protests, then scratches his head and smiles sheepishly, “but I often play FPS games at home. Like, a huge amount. Holding a gun and shooting by hand is a bit different, so I had a bit of trouble at first - ” Ah, so he wasn’t faking his confusion earlier. “- but other than that, it’s actually pretty similar.”

He then proudly adds. “I’m basically the Faker of our friend group.” Which is incredibly dorky. But unfortunately, it’s also incredibly endearing to Jaehyun. Still, he feels a bit cheated on.

“This isn’t fair.” He continues on pouting. “You omitted that detail. That’s lying by omission. I want a re-match.” He shakes his head. “Actually, never mind. You’d just win again, those skills were insane.”

Riwoo returns a sweet smile, which does nothing to absolve him of his crimes and does absolutely nothing to Jaehyun’s heart. 

“How about we compete in other games, then?” He offers.

“Oh, you’re on.”

Two hours later, and Jaehyun is not on. As a matter of fact, he’s quite off. The most off a human can be.

They played a hoop game, and Riwoo won. “I used to play basketball back in high school,” he said, “I was part of the team, actually.” Which sounded absurd to Jaehyun. Wasn’t there a rule somewhere that people under 175 cm weren’t allowed to play or something? Apparently he was really good at three-pointers, though. Whatever that means.

They played a crane game, and Riwoo won. Well - he was the only one that managed to get a prize. On his first try. While Jaehyun spent an amount of money he doesn’t even want to remember. “Oh, these are pretty easy once you learn a few tricks,” he said, “I watched a few online videos about it once.” Which also sounded absurd to Jaehyun. Like, who even does that in their free time?

They played a racing game, and Riwoo won. “I’m basically a god at Mario Kart,” he said. “Driving’s a cinch.” Which not only sounded absurd to Jaehyun, but also made him promise himself never to let the other near an actual steering wheel.

They played DDR and, well- There’s no surprise that the dance major won.

“I can’t believe this!” Jaehyun wails into Myngmyng’s fur. It’s the prize that Riwoo had won - a cute plush of a wolf with big and round shiny eyes. Despite being the one who won it, he gave it to Jaehyun, claiming that it resembled him. In exchange, Jaehyun let him name the plush, and bought him another donut, which he was currently chewing on.

“And I can’t believe you’re such a sore loser.” He takes another bite, bunching up his cheeks even more. He looks a bit like a chipmunk. Affection swells up in Jaehyun, and it takes everything in him to resist squeezing them.

Instead, he groans as he stretches his arms above his head. The sun’s starting to set, soft golden rays surrounding the spot they’re resting at. He closes his eyes for a second, relishing in the warmth caressing his skin. It feels nice. He really enjoyed himself today. 

He smiles and opens his eyes again, half-lidded, and sighs in contentment.

He then glances over to see Riwoo staring at him intensely, unmoving - as if entranced by something. He had stopped chewing.

“You alright?” he asks, a bit self-conscious at the way he was staring at him. Maybe there was something on his face.

The other widens his eyes a bit from getting caught, but he doesn’t seem too embarrassed.

“You look good like this.” he answers, “Relaxed.”

Jaehyun’s not sure how to respond to that. 

“Woah there.” he jokes, “You’re making me sound like some kind of workaholic.” 

Riwoo looks at him as if to assess how serious he is. “Jaehyun, that’s literally what you are.” he deadpans. “The last time we saw each other was three weeks ago despite being in the same friend group and being dorm neighbors.”

He doesn’t have a good argument against that. 

“You’re so obsessed with me, Lee Sangheok.” He accuses him as shakes his head and sighs. “You must’ve really missed me, huh?”

“You and your smart quips?” He raises an eyebrow at that. “I could never.”

But Jaehyun knows that he did. It’s something he’s learned from observing the other. Riwoo doesn’t overindulge in sentimentality - he always states things bluntly because he knows he has control over it. He won’t say something if he can’t say it confidently.

That isn’t to say he doesn’t feel these things, since there have been so many past experiences that have proven that Riwoo always cares so much. Jaehyun has been a recipient of it more times than he can count.

So he reaches forward to interlace their fingers and presses his lips softly on the other’s right hand. 

“I missed you too,” he confesses. His mind wanders through the events of the day. 

It’s been a long time since he’s had such unadulterated fun. Jaehyun and Riwoo are close friends, definitely. Amongst their friend group, Jaehyun knows that Riwoo would be the first one to indulge him, to join him, in whatever dumb plan he wants to do. 

“If you can’t stop them, join them,” the other had once told him, grinning as they stole all of Woonhak’s left socks and put them in Sungho’s drawer. 

It’s freeing to completely let go of yourself and goof around with someone else. But all of this was always done within the vicinity of their other friends. Their group is tight, which is something Jaehyun wouldn’t trade for the world, but it makes it rarer to hang out with only one of them. Unless it’s a brief encounter, like walking someone to their class, or meeting up for a few minutes to get lunch together. Or unless you’re a couple, like Taesan and Leehan.

But throughout the day, Jaehyun found himself learning more about the other. Not Riwoo, the timid but witty guy of the group, but rather Lee Sangheok, the person who gets competitive and bickers constantly with him. 

The one who, on one hand, admits to having ragequit League of Legends so many times that his keyboard has a permanent dent, yet on the other, contains all of his emotions to unleash them as an expression of himself through the most ethereal dance performances. 

The one who immediately shared some of his desserts with him because “this is so good, you have to try this, Jaehyun,” who didn’t even hesitate when handing him the plush currently sitting on his lap.

The one who’s once again staring at him, mouth slightly opened . 

“I really had fun with you today,” Jaehyun expresses, with all the sincerity in his heart. “We should hang out like this again, even after this whole thing’s done.”

Riwoo’s eyes dart around, as if trying to avoid directly looking at him. By now, Jaehyun can easily recognize that he's flustered, trying to find a reply. His gaze eventually rests on him again, scrutinizing his face. 

He has a complicated look on his face. His eyebrows are furrowed, and his mouth is pinched - like he’s stopping himself from saying too much. Jaehyun can’t decode much from his facial expression, but he can see it in his eyes. 

Then Riwoo blinks. It breaks the tension for the second time today.

“I- Okay,” he breathes out instead, conceding. His eyes don't change, but he smiles. “Okay, yeah, alright. I’ll hold you to it, then.”