Ri🪶

SUNGHO

the partner privilege you get from him is insane

you could literally ask him for anything and he’d just smile softly at you and agree

values your opinion a lot

he got a new haircut? he needs to know what you think. can’t decide what to have for lunch? he’s asking you for ideas immediately.

overall a hopelessly in love bf who would do anything for you

bonus: he definitely has a sketchbook filled with drawings of you and you only

“Sungho, can I braid your hair?” you ask hesitantly, looking at him from where you’re sitting on the couch.

Sungho smiles softly. “Of course you can, love. Come here,”

That day, the boys come back to the dorms only to get the shock of their lives. In front of them is a dolled-up Sungho with barettes on both sides of his braided hair, and the boys look on in disbelief.

“No way, Sungho. I’ve been bugging you to let me do this for weeks, and you let y/n do it after she asks once? This is so unfair!” Riwoo whines.

Sungho simply shrugs. “Well, you’re not y/n.”

RIWOO

he’s sooo shy

wouldn’t initiate skinship first when y’all first start out, and when you do he literally malfunctions

he’s not really good with his words so he’d express his love for you through other stuff like acts of service or gifts

once he gets comfortable in the relationship, though, good luck getting rid of him

he’s never letting you out of sight (or out of arm’s reach) whenever possible

overall he’d be a really sweet shy bf™ who’s really attentive to your interests and pays attention to whatever you say even if it looks like he isn’t (somebody pls get me a riwoo)

“This place is amazing, Riwoo. We finally did it!” you exclaim, walking around your new house and reeling over the fact that you finally moved in with Riwoo.

“I know, right?” Riwoo smiles, following behind you.

Your hands brush over the walls of the bedroom. “I think we should add some personality to the rooms. What do you think about painting the walls?”

“Sure. We could paint it light green,” Riwoo agrees, looking around. Your eyes widen in shock.

“How did you know I’d want light green?” you ask, genuinely surprised.

Riwoo chuckles affectionately. “You showed me your dream bedroom once while we were playing We’re Not Really Strangers. I think it was a year and a half ago?”

TAESAN

i feel like quiet moments together would be your thing

dates would either be chilling at the park while you read and he plays the guitar or chilling at the dorms

he may not talk much, but quality time is his thing and he’d always make sure his attention is 100% focused on you whenever y’all are together

probably has multiple playlists dedicated to you

overall a quiet but super romantic bf

“What song do you want to listen to?” you ask as Taesan starts pulling out of his parking spot.

Taesan shrugs. “Just look through my playlists and see if there’s any that you like.”

Oh, shit. Taesan realises the implications of his words, and looks over for a second to see you scrolling through his Spotify.

Sure enough, you let out a sound of surprise. One that Taesan would have gone crazy for, but he’s panicking hard.

“Uh, it’s not what it looks like?” he says softly.

“Tae, all the songs in this playlist are all my favourites! That’s so cool, do we have the same music taste?” you exclaim, bewildered.

Taesan chuckles awkwardly, “Yeah, we’re really meant to be, huh?”

Maybe next time he’ll tell you about his uncountable playlists dedicated to you.

LEEHAN

affectionate bf™

he’s absolutely in awe at literally anything you do

you just made dinner? he’s so proud of you. you just lost a game of league of legends? it’s okay, he thought you did absolutely amazing.

would fall in love with you ten times more if you entertained his fish hobby

y’all are the cutest fish parents!

overall the cutest bf who literally loves you and everything you do

“Darling, can we get this angelfish?”

“Hannie, we already have five of those back at home,” you boop Leehan’s nose affectionately, “what if they get jealous of the new addition?”

“Come on, babe, they’d love a new friend! We can call him Angel,” Leehan shakes your shoulder, pouting.

“Angel the Sixth?”

Leehan smiles. “Angel the Sixth.”

WOONHAK

lights up whenever he sees you

i feel like he’d love to rest his head on your lap, too, and put your hand on top of his hair as a silent request for you to play with it (you do. everytime.)

whines when you remove your hand to do something else

he definitely talks about you to no end to the boys (much to their dismay), he just loves you so much

cannot last a minute without interacting with you in some way (physical contact if you’re in close proximity, through text if you’re not)

overall a golden retriever bf who loves you so much (good luck getting rid of him)

“Did you wish y/n a happy birthday?” Sungho asks as soon as Woonhak walks into the practice room.

“Yeah, of course I did! I wished her the moment the clock struck twelve. Wait, how do you know it’s her birthday today?” Woonhak furrows his eyebrows in confusion. You and Sungho don’t know each other, so how…?

“Of course I know her birthday,” Sungho chuckles, “You wouldn’t shut up about it no matter how many times we complained this past week.”

a/n: i hope y’all enjoyed this bc i had so much fun making this!!! ok i should stop getting sidetracked now i need to focus on knocking on heaven’s (your) door ><

The third thing Hanbin learns about you is that you get overly excited about everything. When you arrived at the restaurant by the university for the club meeting, you jumped out of the car too fast. You ended up hitting your head at the top of the car door, at the mere premise of food. 

“Tsk tsk, slowly next time please y/n” he says as he pats and coos at your head. You giggle because he looks so serious, his eyebrows are furrowed as he’s examining the bump that’ll appear on your head. He gets ice from the restaurant and wraps it in a handkerchief, before holding it to your head. 

“Again, you’re a lifesaver Hanbin” you say as you lean your head into his hands holding the ice pack. He’s smiling at you cutely, as you laugh at yourself over this predicament. 

By now, Hanbin is well used to the routine of making sure you don’t hurt yourself. And while you insist that you are more careful now – Hanbin still carries bandaids, tissues, and an empty ice pack in his school bag everyday. Just in case, he thinks. 

So when one day you show up at the school clinic limping, he approaches you with a face that says “what happened to being more careful huh?” But because he is Hanbin, he doesn’t actually gloat. 

Instead, he sits you down on the bench, and bends down to examine your foot. Before he can ask anything, you defend yourself with an “I know, I know, I wasn’t watching where I was going and I ended up missing a step on the stairs.”

Hanbin looks up at you sympathetically and you see your own reflection in his glasses. His lips break into a thin line before saying “well thankfully, it’s not broken. It might just be a sprain.” He makes sure to smile widely, cheek dimples on full display to make you feel better about the situation. He stands up to get an ice pack and some gauze to wrap your foot with and you watch him as he busies himself getting all the supplies to fix you right up. 

When he has what he needs, he bends down again and lifts your foot for elevation, asking you to hold the ice pack to your ankle. In that moment, he notices that you skinned your knee as well. “Y/n you’re bleeding” – he rushes up to get some cloth, water and iodine. When he gets back to you, he blows gently on your wound before dabbing the medicine on it. You hiss, and your leg spasms slightly. 

“Stop moving, it’ll hurt less that way”. He continues to blow on your knee, allowing cool air to relieve the sensation of pain. Though it’s supposed to be painful, you smile softly at a gentle Hanbin who looks so focused on the injuries you caused yourself. He catches you staring at him, and looks right back up at you. 

“I should really be more careful huh....” you begin. 

Hanbin isn’t thinking, isn’t thinking at all when he tucks the strand of hair that fell from your face. Your breath hitches, your heartbeat picks up its pace, and your cheeks start to pink.

“yeah, or maybe just hold my hand so you don’t fall as often.”

There’s a silence, a beat, before you respond with “I’d like that. I'd like to hold your hand often” Even though his ears are bright red, he bravely takes your hand in his. “Okay, we start now” he says it less like a question and more like a fact. 

"Okay, starting now" you repeat, interlocking your fingers together. You watch as Hanbin's eyes smile before his lips are able to catch up, and he tightens his grip around your hand before helping you up. He brings his arm around your waist, supporting you as you both walk out the clinic together.

After that day, he learns something about himself this time – that he really, truly, likes you.

A/N: lil cute scenario to celebrate leader hanbin! also, tips for fluff please ૮ ˶ᵔ ᵕ ᵔ˶ ა

✎ mobile masterlist ✉︎ request

Then again, it couldn’t be that bad if you managed to last long, resisting your flight or fight response every time a customer paid a visit to Café de Vue. In addition to that, rush hours weren’t as common as the ones you’d usually witness at the closest round-the-corner Starbucks chain, so it was bearable and less taxing to your fun-sized level of patience in dealing with people and their varying tolerance to waiting times. 

The pay was decent. It was enough for you to get by and spoil yourself every once in a while. Your coworkers were a riot to work with (the notable ones were Dejun and Kunhang, being the ones who helped you find your bearings amidst the laughter that came with their guidance), and your bosses were surprisingly… nice. Well, you knew right off the bat that Kun hauled kindness around in a death grip. Always so polite, always so accommodating and to be honest, it wasn’t exactly a surprise when he called to tell you that you could start working in three days

Ten, however, was tougher nut to crack, being stricter than Kun whose patience rivaled that of a saint’s. Tough as it was to get on his good side, it really didn’t take you all that long. It seemed all you needed to do was show a little more initiative and it just so happened that your passion lied in pastries.

Being a graduate of the culinary arts program, you couldn’t really help but give your two cents regarding Café de Vue’s coveted sweet and savory treats and safe to say, Ten absolutely loved the new and improved Mille Feuille. Loved it so much in fact that it created this domino effect where the Mille Feuille recipe was completely changed to indulge your tastes, which then led to Ten letting you have free reign of the kitchen to your heart’s content.

(“For a second there, I thought you were just overcompensating for yourself,” Ten sniffed, a contemplative look on his face as he finished the very last bite of the sweet treat you had prepared, your response being a rather awkward laugh. It was a slight jab to your pride after all, but you couldn’t really fault your boss on that. You were a little too full of yourself sometimes.

“Lucky for you though, I’m not that stupid to let talent go to waste.")

The smooth coffee blend was Café de Vue’s signature. Having Kun who possessed a keen eye when dealing with the strict selection of coffee beans—from the liquid bitterness of espresso pouring out of the spouts to the brew filling each coffee pot—it became one of its notable characteristics as the café steadily gained its esteemed reputation. And now that you became part of the crew, de Vue’s pastries had now become the talk of the town, too.

The coffee was great. Everybody who was aware of the café’s existence knew that. But the pastries? Even better.

So yes, with all the factors listed above, you’ve grown used to dealing with customers ranging from ones where it was apparent that it was their first time ordering from de Vue by their hesitance, to the rare appearances of individuals who’d look like they’d spit on any unfortunate barista that forgot they only took soy as a dairy replacement. You’ve grown to handle things on your own without having to paw at the nearest person’s sleeve and ask if the ground coffee beans in the portafilter were pressed properly. Little victories, you supposed.

Now, you weren’t exactly a coffee connoisseur yourself, but you knew enough from observation through your college days of frequenting coffee houses.

Each café had their own aesthetic to stick to with some sticking to the simplicity of beige with a few earthy tones splashed in for color, or something loud and vivid catering to the ones who favored maximalism. You had no opinions on what was considered quintessential for cafés; all you knew was that you’ve always found comfort in the bittersweet aroma of coffee intermingled with the warmth of freshly baked goods, and it always did good in soothing your overworked mind.

At present, however, you were feeling anything but comfort as this was the very last place you’d ever want to be in.

Being enclosed in Café de Vue aroused all tension in your body, had alarms bells in your head going off and everything in you screamed to get the hell out of there.

It was like hell on earth, under the guise of the industrial meets vintage motif Kun and Ten agreed on once the topic of renovation came up. They chose to follow with an autumn-esque palette you simply fell in love with the moment you set eyes on de Vue; the combination of oranges, reds, yellows and browns would usually do its job in filling you up with cozy warmth. However, the longer you sat at one of the tables, the more the colors resembled what the flames of hell would look like.

Even having Jeno, one of your closest friends, sat across didn’t help keeping your disgruntlement from bubbling over either.

Squinting, your eyebrows knit together, still processing what he just said, “who?”

“My roommate.” Jeno reiterated in a rather languid manner, as if he were talking to a toddler. Your lip curled at that. “The person I live with.” Okay, yeah, you knew what he meant by roommate, obviously but—

He has a roommate? “You have a roommate?” You were too confused to even react to the utter disbelief on Jeno’s face as you went on, “since when?”

Jeno began to look more and more unimpressed, “for a while now? Did you seriously think the guest bedroom was just for show?”

“Congratulations on the roommate then.” You said blandly. Jeno leveled that with a blank stare that you dutifully ignored. “to be fair, I did not sense any other signs of life aside from you and your plants you barely know how to take care of. Or your roommate’s a cryptid that only comes out to eat children.”

The guy only stared at you with eyes that you guessed said ‘what the fuck is wrong with you?’ “Okay, so maybe Jaemin—“ so their name is Jaemin. “isn’t as much of a chatterbox like Donghyuck. He—“ a man too. Perfect. “actually knows when to shut up.”

“Good, I’ve always wanted a man that knows when to shut up.” You waved off Jeno’s exasperation. What can you say? You were a patron of the bare minimum and a man knowing his place immediately drew you in like a moth to a flame. “Is your Jaemin the only potential candidate for moi?”

Jeno smiled. At least that’s what you think he was doing. Looking closer, it was more of an awkward stretch of the mouth. A grimace of some kind which did not bode well as you let out a defeated sound.

“Seriously, Jen?” You whined, disappointed by the lack of choices.

“We share the same friend group, Y/N. Literally, what were you expecting?” He had a point, though Jeno did look genuinely remorseful by the limited options, judging by his full lips becoming fuller by the sulky pout. He’s such a good friend.

“Besides, it’s not like you have any other friends to go with your stupid plan.”

You took it back, Jeno’s a shit friend.

“Well pardon me for having actual faith in you giving me more options, asshole,” you grumbled as you lifted the notebook that was idly resting beside your thigh. “Looks like I’m the only one who did my research”— you shook the notebook —“weighed the pros and cons of each of them.”

If this was what Jeno looked like giving his future kids the universal disappointed dad stare, then shit, did he have that look down to a T. 

“You’re insane.” Jeno immediately swiped the notebook from your grasp and flipped it open himself. He seemed to be invested as he read—as you would assume—two paragraphs, his face morphing into a series of emotions the longer this went on before he settled on expressing his astonishment. 

“Y/N, these are just our friends.”

You huffed, “I know.”

“One of them literally just got married.”

Your lips drew into a thin line.

“I know.”

Okay. So. Maybe you weren’t exactly in your right mind writing all that. Clearly.

All that note-taking was unfortunately the end result of guzzling one too many bottles of soju unsupervised and for reasons that involved your already shaky ego, you didn’t want to let Jeno in on your moment of poor judgment. You were supposed to be the cool one here and you were determined to keep it that way.

Though by the looks of it, Jeno’s disappointment could come another time because fortunately enough, he didn’t seem to connect the dots, considering your handwriting looked far worse than usual. Like an even more fucked version of chicken scratch. You also suspected the leaves of paper reeked slightly of the alcohol, yet that apparently flew over his head. Bless him.

“I don’t know why I included Donghyuck either. It would have been a disaster anyway. We’re both competitive as hell.” 

“You also forgot to mention he’s a married man.”

“That too.”

It’s still a shocker that out of everyone, Donghyuck was the first to settle down. Then again, it was also unsurprising that it was his childhood sweetheart he chose to spend the rest of his life with. You always thought he was a little too obsessed with the missus, yet it seemed it wasn’t at all one-sided as she was, more or less, the same. More subtle. Saner too. Maybe true love still existed somewhere. Gross.

“His level of antagonism is unmatched, though,” you sighed, dejected. “I needed him for that.”

“That is true,” Jeno trailed off, then snorted at the next name he landed on. “I see you’ve considered Renjunie too,” He took a sip of his cappuccino. “It just says ‘no’ here in red sharpie.”

“I was not in my right mind, okay?” He stared as if he was saying ‘you don’t say?’ which earned him a light kick to the shin. “I almost forgot that weird… thing he has going on with his enemy? Frenemy? Fuck buddy?”

Jeno snorted, “last one sounds about right. You know he’s too prideful to admit he wants something more than the occasional fuck.”

“Which automatically makes him ineligible,” your nose wrinkled at the possibilities that were more or less disastrous if you sought out Renjun’s services. “He’d be too busy thinking about his situationship to give me attention.” That, and Renjun was someone you deliberately hailed as ‘untouchable’ in a sense that you didn’t want to be on the receiving end of his wrath. Seeing Donghyuck falter against a man significantly shorter than him was enough of a clue-in that Renjun was not to be messed with. Unless you were desperate enough to give up on life.

The architect conceded with a grunt and scanned the page some more, “how about Shotaro?”

“Too late. Shotaro’s seeing someone and he’s determined to make it work,” you explained, frowning at the lost chance. “Shame, he’s really cute.”

“If you’re looking for cute, there’s also Yangie.”

“And have a body pillow as competition? Fuck that.”

He stared at you as if you grew another head, “it’s literally a sack full of cotton. What competition is there? The 2D girl on the pillow case?” Jeno sounded borderline hysterical, “what is she gonna do? Come to life and strangle you to death?”

“Semantics,” you waved him off, “YangYang having a body pillow is already a deal breaker. No matter how cute he is.”

“You’re fucking crazy. I hope you know that—really.” Jeno’s eyebrows knitted together, scanning both pages filled with the messy scribbles with purpose, trying his very best to decode everything until breathing out a resigned sigh when he wasn’t able to find whatever he was looking for, “I’m surprised Mark isn’t on here.”

Your face promptly darkened at the Canadian’s name, and Jeno stiffened. Because It's rare, almost unheard of even, that anyone would hold such ill feelings towards the guy who appeared to have actual stars in those wide, beseeching eyes of his. Also knowing how long your grudges could last, Jeno could only hope that whatever Mark did wasn’t too serious it warranted a possible murder case, a possibility the architect did not want to be part of.

“No, yeah, I considered him, but… no.” You huffed, folding your arms on the table, “I’m not exactly pleased with Mark Lee at the moment.”

Jeno’s eyebrows shot up at your biting tone.

Aside from him, Mark was also one of your friends who you had no problems confiding in and if it was for a good cause (which Jeno highly doubted, being aware of your track record) Mark would have instantly agreed. He’s just nice like that. 

“Why? He’s not mean like Hyuck, sure, but he can fake being so grossly in love with you and you know how much he’d give to help. He’s literally the best choice to be your boyfriend. Something happened?”

“Fake boyfriend, and yes.”

Oh something happened alright, and the recent conversation you had with Mark Lee was the final straw.

‘Why are you even looking for a fake boyfriend?’ One might ask. Why were you wasting precious time searching for a suitable person to fill in a role that would probably be forgotten overtime?

Well, it’s a funny story, actually. Hilarious.

(Read: If you could go back in time, you would have avoided anything that led up to it).

The story began with you clocking out of work after an exhausting day.

It was by far the longest day you’ve had into the year. You had to wake up earlier than normal since Sicheng, your co-worker and the other one who worked in the kitchen, had come down with a flu. It’s not that you minded doing most of the pastry work if it meant that you’d get a break from manning the cashier and/or making the drinks, but baking everything from scratch took out almost every ounce of your energy.

The only thought you had in mind was to have a filling dinner and sleep in. You were granted a day off tomorrow anyway and you very well deserved it. But to have a filling dinner, a visit to the nearest supermarket was needed and it only took a tap on the shoulder for your world to tilt off of its axis.

There were two possible choices of who could be wedging themselves into your bubble despite the fact that you had headphones on, a clear signal that you weren’t actually up for making small talk. It could be one of your friends who took a pause from their own grocery pick-up to say ‘hi’; could be a confused old man or woman asking for directions.

Either way, you had no problems putting up a smiley disposition. You always thought being nice to strangers was common courtesy before getting the brunt of the potential rudeness they’ve been hiding, then would you be a bitch in return.

Upon turning around, however, nothing could have prepared you from meeting a pair of eyes belonging to an awfully familiar face.

“Hey.”

You couldn’t exactly hear the word, music on full blast and all, but you did see it mouthed and you all but scrambled to pause your music, letting the headphones rest around your neck.

“Jiyeon… hi,” you greeted, voice a little shaky at the unexpected meeting with your ex-boyfriend. “I didn’t know you were back.”

Jiyeon let out a laugh that was nothing short of sheepish, smiling awkwardly as his fingers ruffled his hair. “I didn’t know if it was okay to reach out, to be honest.” It wasn’t, though you commended him for knowing his boundaries. You also deleted his number and it would have been downright mortifying to explain that if he did actually try and reach out. Thank fuck you changed your number shortly after. “But hey, you look great! How’ve you been?”

“Good—good, yeah.” God. This is so fucking awkward. “Um, you? How was Paris?”

“Paris was amazing.” Jiyeon gushed and you bet it was if he was very keen on breaking things off with you for it, but whatever. Maybe you were a little bitter and jealous (with the whole studying in Paris thing) so what? “Beautiful. Food was good. Culture was amazing and—oh! Learned a lot too!”

If you were still the woman from two years ago, you would've found the bright grin endearing. After all, it was the same smile that made your heart flutter before the whole Paris debacle came up. Jiyeon was handsome, you’d give him that. He was so handsome that back then, you couldn’t believe you had managed to snatch him right up from the rest of the greedy girls who had their hands stretched out to desperately paw at the lapels of his coat. It was kind of an ego boost too, knowing that someone who was considered unreachable had been yours to love.

Taking him in at this moment, Jiyeon was still handsome as the last time you saw him, perhaps even more refined now that age has caught up with him, but that was it. He was still attractive. Anyone with working eyes would know that, yet the illusion had been shattered the moment you both called it quits. His absence rendered him as just some guy you knew in the past, made it easy for you to move on too as you blocked him on every social media platform he was on so you wouldn’t have to see him living his life in Paris.

That should have been you, you know?

Jiyeon was just some guy to you now. That’s all he will ever be and you were about to make it so, go on with your life and not see him ever again until someone came rushing to latch onto his arm.

And boy, ain’t this day just full of fucking surprises?

“Jiyeon, what’s the hold up—Y/N!”

“Hana,” you said with a tight-lipped smile, regarding her shell-shocked expression with mild interest. “I didn’t know you were here.” You said, gaze unreadable as it shifted from a rather flustered looking Jiyeon to Hana who wore a similar face.

At least Hana was courteous enough to look chastened by the encounter, as if she didn’t want to prolong this conversation either. Although you shared her sentiments, there’s a niggling thought telling you that something was amiss and maybe you were in the mood for some good ol’ antagonism, so you set your full attention onto Hana with a sweet smile; sweet enough to trick anyone into thinking you totally had good intentions.

“Since when was this a thing?” and you found it quite amusing to see them flinch in unison, making you smile wider when Jiyeon all but refused to look you straight in the eyes. “I’m just curious,” both of your hands were raised just to add to the effect. “You don’t have to tell me if you are—ah, uncomfortable.” You shot Hana a meaningful look.

“It’s um, pretty new, actually.” Jiyeon coughed. “We met up a few times after I came back.”

“I was going to tell you, Y/N,” added Hana, “I swear.”

In all honesty, you could care less about your friends going after an ex. Jiyeon was an ex for a reason and it was kind of laughable that they’d be interested in a person you used to date. You supposed it was just a ‘you’ thing then, because as far as you knew, it should have been telling that an ex became an ex for a reason and you couldn’t for the life of you understand just why a friend would be willing to go after someone you’ve let go.

Oh well, that wasn’t exactly your business now was it? Maybe sloppy seconds were her type. 

Both your hands found purchase on your shopping cart, humming all the while, “Oh I bet you were, Hana.”

You didn’t mean anything by it really. It was a poor choice of words on your part, but the second you saw Hana, one of the people you also considered a friend, tense at the millisecond slip of your sweet, unassuming facade, you could tell that there was something more to Jiyeon and Hana simply being ‘new’.

Especially when Jiyeon came to her defense.

Gone was his awkwardness and you could see the subtle way he straightened his posture, making himself appear bigger almost. “Are you seeing anyone, Y/N?” It was posed as a question, just as unassuming as you appeared, too, but you’ve been with him long enough to see past that. You’ve seen a part of him that only came out to play when provoked and the underlying tone in his inquiry was unmistakably vindictive, just a little, and it made you chuckle.

Charming as he was, Jiyeon was also cunning in a way that rivaled your own streak of deceit, and you weren’t the type to falter when presented a challenge either, which was obviously what Jiyeon was trying to do; bait you with a challenge, and hope to see you crash and burn.

It’s how your relationship started after all. From petty rivalry to see who performed the best in the kitchen to respecting each other’s ambitions and drive until it all culminated into both of you sharing mutual feelings for each other, it was kind of obvious that the unspoken tension would have led somewhere.

(A quick fuck in one of the toilet stalls would have sufficed, but you supposed getting a boyfriend who you’d regularly hold hands with was good, too).

You could go on and say that you weren’t exactly looking for anything serious at the moment; say that you weren’t particularly in the mood to look for someone who would only serve as a distraction when you only wanted to focus on your career; you know, a subtle jab—a tiny, but stinging poke to Jiyeon’s fragile ego which likely extended to Hana’s, if the sudden protectiveness was anything to go by. 

However, you knew Jiyeon was going to hold it above your head. If he could have a girl hanging off of his arm 24/7 while balancing a flourishing culinary career, then surely you could as well. Jiyeon would have been just as petty in that regard, and so you went with a different approach, a decision you would soon come to regret once all that annoyance washed off.

“Yes, actually.” You answered with an air of indifference, keeping your face neutral under their curious gazes—mostly surprise on Hana’s part. “Dinner for two tonight. Figured I’d make a short stop for my boyfriend.”

They bought it in an instant. As expected.

You knew Hana to be a little gullible, and not to sound like an asshole, but out of everyone, she was always the easiest one to convince. You weren’t too sure if it was related to her being a complete pushover but whatever, she looked like she believed you anyway and that was all you needed. For Jiyeon’s case, you could tell he was a little aggravated, so it goes without saying that it left his judgment a little skewed, leaving no room for him to doubt anything that left your mouth.

“I see,” Jiyeon nodded, thoughtful and it was beyond you how easily he fell for your lie. “If that’s the case, we could all meet up sometime. Dinner and maybe get some drinks after? Either of the two.”

“Yeah sure.” and it’s also surprising how you could still keep this up when all you wanted to do right now is to fall into bed and scream into your pillow. “They’re rather busy these days—as am I, so I’m not sure if we could set up anything at a sooner date.”

“That’s okay,” Jiyeon smiled. Sweet, almost disarming, but you knew better because the smile didn’t exactly reach his eyes. “I’m sure we can figure something out.”

You couldn’t get out of there any faster.

Really, if it weren’t for the fact that you had to pay for the shit you’ve thrown into your shopping cart, you would have rushed out of there with your tail between your legs. Relieving as it was that you hadn’t embarrassed yourself right in front of the couple, really? Your boyfriend? You didn’t even have a boyfriend! Nor were you seeing anyone that could have easily fit the role!

“—and it’s not like I care that fucking Jiyeon is seeing Hana, you know, a friend.” You ranted as you paced back and forth with a can of beer in hand, “I don’t. Don’t even try Mark Lee.”

Mark raised both of his hands, “‘wasn’t gonna say anything.”

“It’s just—it just felt… weird? They say the whole thing is new, but the way they were hanging off of each other doesn’t seem like it was ‘new’. Whatever the fuck that means.”

It could be just the exhaustion taking effect; making you see things that probably weren’t even there in the first place, but you knew what you saw. Everything you’ve witnessed could have alluded to the possibility of Jiyeon and Hana being a thing longer than they make it out to be.

You weren’t directly talking to Mark, but you were starting to get suspicious when his usual tail-end comments took seconds longer to come out of his mouth. Pausing from your pacing, you heaved out a sigh before turning to your current companion for the night, only for your eyebrows to shoot up at the deathlike pallor of his face, blanched as if he just saw a ghost pass by.

Mark swallowed thickly and both of you winced at how loud it was before he cleared his throat, “I… think I know why, Y/N, but promise me you won’t freak out.”

Now how were you supposed to not freak-out when he said that?

Jeno gaped at the string of information you passed onto him. You almost laughed as what he looked like right now eerily matched the expression you had that night: utter disbelief. 

“Jiyeon was seeing Hana behind your back? While you were dating?” 

A rueful smile tugged on your lips, “so I take you didn’t know either.”

“Didn’t know—of course I didn’t fucking know!”

Jiyeon was two years older than you both, and it went without saying that your ex-boyfriend paid more attention to the ones closer to his age. He saw Jeno as somewhat of an acquaintance, which explained how the architect hadn’t caught wind of the situation, so Jeno had a pretty strong alibi.

And maybe it was because Jeno was closer to you out of everyone else. Of course Jiyeon wouldn’t let him in on the quiet affair. He knew Jeno’s loyalties lie with you and he would be damned if you found out about his dirty little secret through him.

At Jeno’s exclamation, he earned a few concerning looks. Though he didn’t really give them much thought, lowering his voice, “and Mark knew?”

“‘Knew’ is a bit of a stretch. It’s more like he overheard one of his friends—Yeonjun, I think?” Once you were sure that Jeno had calmed down, you continued, “then he ended up not telling me ‘cause he thought it was better to save me from the heartbreak. I mean, it’s nice that he thought of my feelings first but… while we were dating, Jen.” You repeated, not liking how you felt a pinch of pain in your heart. “And I’m gonna be honest, that shit fucking stings still, even if it’s been 2 years”

While the rational part of your mind kept repeating itself that it was all in the past and that there was no use crying over spilt milk, one part of you wanted to do just that. Just a little. It might have been two years since, but the idea of being cheated on—finding out about it too—is never a pleasant experience.

All this time, you thought it was a mutual breakup, one that stemmed from mutual understanding too. As willing as you were to try long-distance back then, you understood that it probably wouldn’t be a seamless transition; from seeing each other almost everyday, to less than frequent video calls that’d last for only a minute or two, it wouldn’t be long until all communication would be scarce—until you both decided to call it quits. Yet now it was clear to you that your ex-boyfriend had other intentions and had finally seen an out.

You scoffed.

Cowards. Both of them.

To think Hana had come to comfort you too, when all this time Jiyeon broke things off for her.

You admit that your emotions had the tendency to get the best of you, and being told that your past partner hadn’t exactly been the perfect faithful boyfriend as he made himself out to be almost sent you into a frenzy if it weren’t for Mark physically restraining you from doing something recklessly stupid; like track down Jiyeon’s current whereabouts and kick his ass; leave him black and blue. Sore all over. A reminder of what could happen if he crossed you again.

Claiming that you had a boyfriend waiting for you at home that fateful night just to get a rise out of Jiyeon, however, was arguably more stupid than you risking to get thrown into jail for assault and battery.

You let out a heavy sigh, “you know what’s even more fucked up? When he was asked what he would do if I caught him, he said ‘Y/N won’t, don’t worry’—I’m not crazy for being hurt over this, am I?” You honestly felt like you were. It’s one thing to feel crushed finding out you’ve been cheated on during the duration of the relationship, but finding it out two years later? You weren’t too sure if you were allowed to be this distraught.

Jeno immediately shook his head, “you’re not, Y/N. You’re allowed to feel whatever you want. I think it’s rather shitty of your—um—friends?” ‘Friends’ was too generous of a term as Jiyeon’s friends were more of acquaintances to you, really, “to let him off the hook. I still can’t think of a reason why they would even excuse cheating. This is all just really fucked.”

“More fucked that I lied about having a boyfriend?”

Both of you shared a laugh, “that’s obviously different. You aren’t hurting anyone, for one.” Jeno took one last moment of skimming your notebook before snapping it close. “And now that I have more context of your little white lie, Jaemin—”

“Right, yes, your Jaemin. I almost forgot about him.”

Jeno gave you the stink-eye from being interrupted, but still continued, “Jaemin will be the perfect boyfriend—actually, where does the boyfriend thing come in again?”

“Fake boyfriend,” you corrected, “and you know how fragile Jiyeon’s ego is, Jen. He’s a prideful man and I kind of want to crush that as revenge. That’s where the boyfriend thing comes in.”

“Okay. Then Jaemin definitely fits what you’re looking for,” and Jeno looked pretty pleased with himself too, talking about his roommate as if you had any idea what he was like, as if you knew what you are going to work with. You literally haven’t even met the guy yet, but you’ll take Jeno’s word for it.

“Why’s that?”

Jeno grinned and somehow, the eye smile you have come to adore over the few years you’ve known the architect felt a little off. Normally, the uber sweet expression only Jeno was capable of pulling off would have put you at ease. He just had that overgrown puppy that was eager to please disposition going on and like Mark, it was just as hard to think badly of Jeno.

However, taking it in now, it gave you the urge to run for the hills and hide until Jeno himself told you that it was okay and that he wasn’t going to do anything that would make you cry out of fear, even if you knew he wasn’t capable of hurting a fly if he wanted to.

“You’ll see,” is what Jeno settled on before handing the notebook over, “Jaemin will meet you here tomorrow.”

“Tomorrow?” you parroted, eyes wide like a deer caught in headlights because the thought of meeting a stranger (is he one considering he’s your best friend’s roommate?) was a little terrifying. You didn’t know what to expect and for all you knew Jaemin could in fact, be a cryptid that ate children for breakfast. There’s no way you wouldn’t have been aware of his presence. What if he was a creature who could mask it? “Already? Couldn’t you’ve at least given me a 3-day notice? Or—I don’t know, set this up when I’m mentally and emotionally prepared?”

Jeno shrugged, “it’s either that, or I force you to meet him in our apartment right now. He probably wouldn’t mind if I pulled him away from his work.”

That was an immediate no from you. “Fuck no. I don’t want his first impression of me to be ‘the woman who distracted me from work’, thanks.”

You did not want this to be an ‘enemies to fake lovers’ situation. The whole fake boyfriend thing was already a headache in and of itself, thank you very much, and you needed Jaemin to like you. At least enough to tolerate being around you. “You’re lucky I prefer the public setting. Meeting him in your apartment would feel way too intimate and honestly, I don’t think I’m sane enough for that right now.”

The laugh Jeno let out did nothing but further your nerves on this one. Even his cute eye smile wasn’t doing it for you. “You might as well get used to the ‘intimacy’ since he’ll be your fake boyfriend anyway. Gotta make it believable for Jiyeon, y’know?”

Right. 

Make it believable. 

If you were able to trick the cheating fuck that Jiyeon is and Hana into believing you were in a healthy relationship with an idealized man that reached the unrealistic standards you had, then you could fool them into thinking that Jaemin, the potential man you’re gonna have to latch onto for an indefinite period of time, is your loving boyfriend.

If it meant it would bring Jiyeon to his knees once you've successfully eviscerated his ego, then by all means you’d take anything Jaemin could offer. All in the name of revenge.

Regulars made up most of Café de Vue’s profit.

You’ve not formed any emotional attachments to the frequent faces, but you had come to recognize which ones sought out de Vue as a place for them to unwind, pick out which exact ones had an unhealthy obsession with either the drinks or pastries the café served or deduce the ones who regularly dropped by de Vue just for their caffeine fix before facing the world head on.

Each of them might have different reasons to visit the café, but the one common denominator they all share was that they had fit dropping by Café de Vue into their own routine; a discovery that left you aflutter. It felt nice knowing that you were somehow a part of someone’s day-to-day life even if the most you did for them was take their order, engage in a little small-talk and serve them the drink or pastry they had asked for.

Seeing a handful of your regulars has always brought you that sense of comfort you get when you’re around something within the range of familiarity. You were used to their presence. You knew how to act accordingly. You had no reason to panic when you knew what to anticipate.

With newer faces? Well, let’s say you were a little more reserved, and this particular one had your shoulders rising to your temples from how stiff your entire person became.

The reason was simple, really.

It was a face you had never seen before, alright, and dare you say it, he was possibly the most gorgeous out of every single patron that had ever walked in here; completely stealing the title from Dejun and Kunhang, as you did consider them unreal until the very first five seconds of Kunhang opening his mouth to say the most fucked greeting—inappropriate on all levels considering you were new to the crew and followed by Dejun scolding him with a mess of expletives you didn’t know even existed.

Needless to say, the starry-eyed look you gave them on your first day was immediately dulled to something akin to pity, mostly directed towards Kun who looked like he was barely clinging onto life by the kitchen door.

At this point, you were so wound up that even a measly thing such as a poke could set you off, but you held onto yourself tightly, all for the sake of Café de Vue’s cleaner than clean image.

The stranger’s presence was domineering in a way that he commanded every lick of attention the very moment his shiny boots stepped through the glass doors.

Exaggerated as it sounded, that was simply what went on right before your eyes. The whole thing was like a scene out of a movie; every single head in the café—each having varying levels of surprise etched onto their faces—turned at the twinkling of wind chimes above the glass doors.

Dramatic as it all was, you really couldn’t blame anyone for their reactions. You had functioning eyes and you knew when to appreciate a pretty face when you see one.

But there was something very intimidating about pretty people, and you could only be so strong. Why did you have to serve the handsome stranger? Having him on the other side of the counter only worsened the mental turmoil you were going through. Couldn’t he have gone to Starbucks instead? He didn’t look like the type to go to cafés that weren’t Starbucks, so you were a little confused as to why he was in de Vue.

You soon got your answer.

His face was set into what could be considered the median between ‘bored’ and ‘pissed’, adding onto the already unnerving air around him, which was fine. You had a mean resting bitch face that could rival his anyway, only, he made his RBF pretty, something you thought was a little unfair. He probably didn’t need to do much for that matter either.

Once he noticed you, well, his whole demeanor smoothed. All traces of harshness gone just like that.

The scholastic front did a complete 180, in exchange for a smile on his face and wow was that a big mouth. His megawatt smile would have probably been labeled as ‘charming’ in loud, bold letters to any witnesses. To you though? All you saw was a grin that resembled a shark’s, much similar to that one shark Dory and Nemo’s dad had faced—too many teeth that were straight, sharp looking, perfectly dangerous that for a second, you thought he was simply there to eat you alive and go about his day.

(Also, you had no idea how long you both stood there just sizing each other up. Probably too long if the pointed huff one of the newer employees, Heeseung, let out when directing the customers to his counter was anything to go by).

Clearing your throat, you donned your best customer service smile, “hi, welcome to Café de Vue. What can I get you?”

Much to your relief, the grin dimmed into something that was more approachable, “yeah, can I get an iced americano?” Jesus even his voice was something to write home about. Deep, rumbly, had a languid cadence and he seemed to slur some of his words a little— “with six extra espresso shots—” what the fuck did he just say?

You cut in with a hiss as if hearing the request burned you. “No,” then to save yourself and the cafe’s reputation when the guy’s eyebrows furrowed at your refusal, you elaborated, “I mean, I really can’t do that. It’s Café de Vue’s policy to limit the extra espresso shots to just a maximum of three per customer. Per customer.” You repeated, “not per drink."

His face morphed into something that looked as if you told him you were going to sacrifice his first born. Might as well since what sane person asked for six espresso shots, what the hell? “Wait, you can do that? Starbucks doesn’t have that policy.”

He didn’t sound angry. Confused maybe. You weren’t too sure if other hole-in-the-wall coffee houses had a similar policy, so you understood him to some degree. Then again, Kun and Ten had a good reason to make the limit a thing.

“Well, sir, unlike Starbucks, we do care about our customers’ health and it’s—um, written here, see?” You then pointed to the small chalkboard that said ‘maximum of 3 extra shots per customer ONLY’ in white chalk, sitting idly next to the cash register.

The man’s eyebrows—thick and strong eyebrows framing his face perfectly, goddamn—furrowed, eyes darting back and forth between you and the chalkboard. “I feel like there’s layers to this,” he drawled, pointing to the sign.

Ah, you loved telling this story. “Long story short, we’ve had a regular who always asked for extra shots, went on a rampage when we refused due to a shortage and destroyed public property. We suspected it was the caffeine’s doing and they’re banned from stepping foot in here.” You explained with an apologetic smile. “So yeah, six is definitely a no-go, sir.”

“Oh,” he breathed out, “damn, even with a generous tip, it’s still a no?” and you thought this whole situation you’ve found yourself in, a handsome customer almost begging—bribing you with eyes that could have put Bambi to shame for additional espresso shots, was so off-kilter that it startled a laugh out of you. How did he make them glimmer like that?

“It’s still going to be a no, sorry.” you ducked your head slightly in apology again, letting a soft laugh slip when he pouted. “But I would appreciate the tip. So, one iced americano with three extra espresso shots?”

With an exaggerated sigh, the guy nodded, “yeah, okay. A large, please.”

Coyly grinning through a hum of affirmation, you plucked one of the large plastic cups along with a marker, “large, sure thing. Is that all?” Another nod, “mhm, and what’s your name, sir?”

He tilted his head, an easy smile slipping onto his lips, “it’s Jaemin.”

Jaemin’s smile only grew wider once you had almost let the cup and marker slip from your grasp, as if he just knew what was running through your head once your wide eyes shamelessly gave him a once-over.

Yeah, the world was definitely laughing at you right now. Of course it’d give you someone who looked as if he just walked straight out of a cover shoot.

“Ah,” you began, hoping there was no waver in your voice because you had no time to be embarrassed at work of all places. You had Dejun for that. “any chance that you’re not the same Jaemin my Jeno is living with?”

Jaemin laughed, “I’m the exact same Jaemin that our Jeno is living with. It’s nice to finally meet you, Y/N.” Then he was back to grinning like he was going to sink his teeth into you the next second you blinked. Some fucked up part of you found that a little attractive, irresistable even that your heart did a little flip. Shit.

“Say, your shift ends in thirty minutes, right?” How he knew that, you didn’t want to find out (probably Jeno), so you acknowledged that with a stiff nod, willing the heat that was slowly crawling up from your neck to stop and stay where it was. “Great! I’ll wait for you then.” Jaemin winked.

Fuck. Lee Jeno was so going to get it.

“Goddamn, Y/N, who was that guy?” Kunhang soon asked once Jaemin had paid and left a generous tip for you. “Your boyfriend?”

Kunhang meant it as a joke of course as he knew your game was so close to dropping to a measly 4 from how you were functioning as of recently. But, you couldn’t exactly tell him that Jaemin was going to be your fake boyfriend. Letting more people in on the… odd arrangement would risk blowing your cover so—

“Eh… sort of? We’re still figuring things out.” You settled on saying, focusing on mixing Jaemin’s death drink. He must have seared off the last of his taste buds if he could stomach what was essentially a biohazard to many, seriously. Three extra shots were already pushing it but six? You wouldn't be surprised if his blood stream consisted of caffeine too.

Though you didn’t know anyone else who’d willingly drink that much coffee, you were willing to put up with it if Jaemin was willing to go with your audacious plan.

Kunhang only snorted, hip-checking you, “better ‘figure things out’ soon then ‘cause I can see plenty of people in here wanting to snatch him up for themselves.”

Somehow, the look he gave you said that it included you, too.

Staying true to what was said, Jaemin did wait for you (and entertained himself by unabashedly watching you at work) and now you were both seated at the same table you and Jeno sat at yesterday; Jaemin already halfway through his heart-attack inducing drink and with you out of the apron that was required to wear on the clock, nursing your hot chocolate.

“Mm, this is really good coffee,” Jaemin hummed, pleased. 

“Thanks, I made it.” You wanted to smack yourself. Of course. He saw me make it.

“You did yeah,” he said with a solemn nod and you were relieved he was courteous enough to play along. “so, a plan centered around revenge?”

You winced, wrapping your fingers around your warm cup, “yeah, saying that out-loud makes me sound like an evil bitch.” and you were. Sometimes, with reason.

Jaemin quickly stopped you on that with some level of understanding showing on his face, “no, no, it’s interesting. I’m interested. I thought you were just looking for a pretty face”— he made an intricate gesture around his face for emphasis —“to bring to a wedding, or something. You know, get the nosy parents and relatives to back off, that sort of thing—but this is far more intriguing. Am I allowed to ask for the back story?”

And who were you to say no to someone who was visibly invested in what you have to say? Especially when this silver-haired dreamboat was asking, damn.

Jaemin gasped once you told him everything he needed to know. You may or may not have upped the victim card a little bit to earn even more sympathy points, though you weren’t too sure if it was from genuine surprise or if he was dramatizing just for show. Either way, you appreciated his unwavering attention. Patron of the bare minimum, remember?

“With the same girl? He was seeing her behind your back and now he’s out and about with her?” He looked scandalized by the tid-bit too, rightfully so. Jaemin was kind of giving ‘the nosy auntie that lived two doors down’, and you were kind of into it. Unfortunately.

The thought brought a slight smile to your lips, huffing out a laugh when Jaemin noisily sipped his coffee which just furthered the gossip-obsessed auntie image, “trust me, I’m still shocked as you are.” You joked.

It stung less now that you were talking about ‘the affair’ for the second (third?) time and you didn’t want to make him feel as if he had to do it, disregarding the fact that you kind of made yourself a tad pathetic in that regard. And it’s not like you weren’t expecting for all that to work, so it was surprising when one of Jaemin’s hands reached out to rest on top of yours.

“Oh, Y/N,” and you looked up, blinking when Jaemin stared at you with round eyes filled with something akin to… pity? No, whatever it was, it didn’t make your skin crawl, nor did it push you into raising your walls to keep him out. It was closer to sympathy, maybe. “I’m so sorry you had to find out that way.”

It was rather sweet, though. The steady out pour of compassion wasn’t exactly on the list of what to expect out of this conversation, much less coming from a person who was essentially a stranger to you, but it did help soften the initial cutthroat impression he had left when strutting towards where you were, dark eyes set with purpose.

The Jaemin then intimidated the shit out of you, and that was coming from someone who had been called that most of your life. He strode in with that self-assured gait, face set into a blank slate like he just knew the world would be watching him and Jaemin wasn’t exactly far off, not when everyone in de Vue almost broke their necks for the sake of getting a good look and well, Café de Vue was a world of its own, so to speak.

This Jaemin however… you were kind of starting to see why Jeno said he'd be perfect for this.

Jaemin listened to every word with rapt attention with the straw stuck in his mouth, only taking a sip whenever you paused from talking. That meant he was very attentive. Check. He smiled as if he were a little in love, like it was second nature to him with how he made it easy to feign adoration. Check; it showed in his eyes too, full of featherlight fondness that you wondered if there were people who had fallen a little in love at the sight of them—if they had fallen a little in love at the mere sight of Jaemin himself. Check.

And pleasant as Jaemin had been so far—pleasant than what you had initially expected from a social recluse—you couldn’t help but let your apparent distaste show towards the slew of words he’d vocalized with a dismissive snort.

“If you can find a way to get my ex to tell me that, then you won’t have to be my arm-candy,” you said with a crooked grin. “but since it looked like he didn't care—not that he knew that I knew—well, here we are.”

“Here we are.” Jaemin echoed, a smile still present and maybe you did kind of melt a little, but nobody needed to know that you were kind of a sucker for pretty smiles in general, to the point that the confidence you had displayed when lying about being in a steady relationship was nowhere to be found.

Lack of confidence aside, you refused to let yourself be dumbed down to a bumbling idiot in the presence of someone who was essentially close to being a real life Disney prince, clearing your throat as if that would help quell the warmth of embarrassment from traveling neck up.

Though you figured your face probably gave away your nerves and if Jaemin picked up on that, he didn’t comment on it. “You know, sitting right here with you just made me realize how crazy this is.”

You knew it was. Anyone in their right mind would agree, but Jaemin didn't appear to be put off by the fact. The dead giveaway being the impish glint alight in the deep pools of his eyes. You had no clue what that could possibly entail, yet the way he looked right at this moment gave you this strong urge to shove a fist into your mouth. You didn’t. You looked stupid enough as is and you refused to further soil your reputation.

“That makes two of us then,” Jaemin said, voice low and rumbly as he rested his cheek onto his fist, blinking slowly. “Maybe I’m just as crazy if I came all the way here to hear what you have to say. Jeno did make a compelling argument.”

Did he now? He didn’t make you sound desperate, did he? “It was the eyes, wasn’t it?” Jeno had this habit of using his eyes to his advantage, mostly as a last resort if he thought words wouldn’t be enough to persuade. Most of the time, they worked, otherwise the puppy dog eyes wouldn’t be as popularized as it was in this day and age.

Jaemin’s slow smile was already an indication that the assumption was true, pulling out a fond sigh from you. “Right. What’d he say?”

“Oh, something about a pretty girl possibly needing my help,” Jaemin shrugged, his gaze straying to the side for a moment or two before it trained back on you. You burned underneath the intensity of his eyes, even more at the passive compliment (?). God, you don’t make them like that anymore, do you? “Lucky for you, I’ve never had the heart to say ‘no’.”

You blinked once. Twice. Three times before letting out a breath. That’s a yes, if it wasn’t already obvious enough with Jaemin’s riddle-speak that you somehow had no problems working your way around. Even with all of that, you still wanted to hear what Jaemin had to say. You were asking for too much after all, and you were more than ready for him to decline.

“You really don’t have to say yes,” but some part of you wanted him to. Why? You didn’t know either. “I did tell you it’s a stupid plan and I’m giving you an out. You at least deserve a choice.”

“And I already made my choice, Y/N. Are you really going to say ‘no’ to a willing participant?”

The laugh you let out was a little crazed. Whether it was a reaction towards the unwarranted use of the pet name or Jaemin’s earnest, it still left you feeling a little delirious. Like you starred in a sitcom where you were the character that took the brunt of comedic humiliation.

“You’re crazy.”

“Mm, I think we’ve already established that part.”

“I don’t even have the details laid out yet!”

“What, like being a boyfriend is hard?” He arched an eyebrow. “I just gotta listen to you. Maybe let a lovesick smile or two slip to keep people complacent and act a little obsessed with you. People eat that shit up these days. I would know. I have Tiktok and seeing comments of people wanting to kill themselves over a couple healthily in love means they’re doing something right.”

At the mention of the godforsaken app, you figured Jeno saying Jaemin was a total social recluse was a farce, or else the way he was running his mouth about grossly in love couples on Tiktok was just a hallucination. It wasn’t. Jaemin was still making a point as if he was the one trying to convince you to be his fake girlfriend. Good to know he was comfortable with you, or you would have probably found some other way to transcend into the afterlife so you wouldn’t have to do this.

But no, you’ve already committed to it, committed to showing your ex that you were thriving with a pretty boyfriend hanging onto your every word. He didn't explicitly mention it, but you could tell that he wanted proof and Jaemin was literally quite there, offering himself as proof on a silver platter.

Gods, what has your life come to? Seriously.

“Okay, okay,” you raised a hand to cut him from his tangent, “what’s in it for you if you do agree to be my fake boyfriend?”

“The experience,” Jaemin said with utmost eagerness. You gave him a bland look for that.

There was no way this guy didn’t date around. Nope, you refused to believe it. Jaemin probably got bitches left and right just for batting his ridiculously long eyelashes women would kill for. He completely ignored your silent judgment though. Touché.

“What? It’s not everyday that I get my Wattpad moment—“ Wattpad moment. What the fuck. “—getting asked to be someone’s fake boyfriend.”

Yeah, ‘cause they probably asked you to be their boyfriend for real instead.

Not minding how your face darkened, Jaemin went on, “so the experience is a must. Also,” his eyes sparkled, gazing at you like you held the secrets to the universe, “free coffee! You do work here. What’s the point of having a barista girlfriend if she doesn't give me free coffee?” 

“If you’re thinking I’m giving you six extra espresso shots for being my fake boyfriend, it’s still a hard no.”

“Don’t I get some kind of privilege being your eye-candy?” Jaemin pouted, “at least an extra shot to make it four?” The pout was then followed up by his eyes becoming rounder and shinier the more you stared. He jutted his bottom lip out further. God you could only take so much.

It really didn’t take you much time to completely fold. “I could do that, it's just—don’t you want anything else worth more than that? Like financial compensation?”

“I know I’m irresistible and all, but being an escort isn’t exactly my line of work.”

You choked on your drink.

“You know what I mean!” You exclaimed in between coughs, earning a few pairs of concerned eyes.

Jaemin barked out a laugh, handing you a napkin to which you gratefully swiped from his hand. “I’m just messing with you—and really, just the extra espresso shot is enough.” 

He took a moment to observe the doubtful expression twisting your face as he hummed a short, low tune before shrugging. “But if you insist, I’ll cash in a favor from you once I think of something.”

“Okay, that’s fair.” You could only hope that he won't rope you into doing something weird. From the time you’d spent talking to him, getting to know him while at it, it would be more than likely. “So that’s a yes? Once you say yes, there’s no going back.”

“It’s a yes,” he nodded. “unless you’d be able to find someone better than me?”

You shook your head.

Other than the handful of people within your circle, any other names were lost to you the moment you closed that god forsaken notebook of yours, more so that you had finally had a face to a name. Plus, Jaemin seemed very eager with the setup, giving you some level of reassurance, but you surmised that as him being desperate for a ‘Wattpad moment’ when you both knew damn well it was your moment, so to speak.

That aside, you really didn’t have a choice as Jaemin, was in fact, the best choice for this matter, as Jeno said.

“You’re all I have,” you mumbled, peering at him over the rim of your mug.

That was a mistake. You didn’t mean for him to hear that and when Jaemin all but stared at you with his eyes widened a fraction, you considered high-tailing out of there to hide in the kitchen until he took the hint and left. Before you could even plant your feet firmly on the ground to do just that, a smile soon slipped through, softening Jaemin’s face, which in turn alleviated the initial panic.

A breathy chuckle escaped him, cocking his head with his smile growing significantly wider as he gently patted your hand.

“Then you’ll have me.”

Then you’ll have me.

As embarrassing as it was to admit, the phrase had been stuck in your head for hours now, repeating itself like a broken record that you almost went insane. There were plenty of times where a part of a song would essentially do the same thing, but having a man’s words echoing in your head was new and It didn’t exactly help that the way Jaemin went about agreeing with your plan sounded like a confession, a vague confession that was sort of on brand for his riddle-speak.

“I’m going to kill you, Lee Jeno.”

One laugh from the man himself and you wished you were in his space right now to strangle him. The scowl didn’t even faze Jeno as he snickered while you settled into the soft confines of your bed, making sure you were at least presentable on FaceTime.

“You talked to Jaemin then?”

“Isn’t that the reason why you called?” you shot back, narrowing your eyes at the faux innocent smile pulling at his mouth, “shouldn’t you be talking to him? Gossiping about how much of a mess I am?"

Jeno’s lips pressed into a thin line, “Jaemin’s working right now. He’s been working the night-shift recently.”

“Does that explain why I don’t like, see him around that much?” You paused and took a second to correct that, “at all?”

“He’s a creature of the night, so maybe you weren’t too far off with the whole cryptid thing,” he joked, shrugging while earning a snort from you. “And yeah, he ends up coming home really tired too, so he’s in his room most of the time. Though that’s expected since he’s a doctor.”

Pause.

“He’s a what?”

“Jaemin’s a doctor,” Jeno repeated. “he’s a surgical resident—are you okay?”

No, you were not.

You might as well be clinically insane at this point in your life that you’re starting to get visual and auditory hallucinations; that or you were abducted and put into a simulation where everything was catered to your list of expectations.

It was one thing that Jaemin had a face that belonged to a model—well, two since the height he stood at was very much desired by many, though you weren’t exactly keen if his personality was an added bonus. He was nice, yes, but you weren’t sure if it was genuine because there was no way someone was that pleasant all of the time. But you figured he was nice enough to agree to fake-date you out of the goodness of his heart (Jaemin’s words).

Jaemin was quite the strange character too, yet his general weirdness was what made him interesting and perhaps it was the one thing that made him a little less intimidating, more human in the sense that it didn’t make himself unreachable.

Finding out he was a doctor in training to go with all of that? Jeno might as well had sent one of God’s favorites your way because—

“That’s so hot.” 

For a short moment, it went quiet, almost to the point of it being suffocating because holy shit you never meant for that to slip from the dark recesses of the thing you called a brain. Defending yourself was immediately crossed out of your options the moment Jeno had let out the loudest, most grating laugh you had ever heard and you kind of wanted to die right then and there. The sweet release of death was the only thing that could save you from the humiliation.

You could only manage blinking blankly at Jeno’s hysterics through his grainy FaceTime window, waiting until he stops on his own accord, or you know, choke on air as karma intended to those who had wronged you.

“Are you done, shithead?” you grunted.

Jeno, far too amused, didn’t even deign the insult with a response, breathing out a satisfied sigh after laughing his ass off, “it went well, huh?”

You figured Jeno didn’t exactly deserve an outright answer if he was going to keep up that pleased grin of his.

“Silence means yes, Y/N.”

Jeno’s grin grew wider in tandem with your deepening scowl, looking like the cat that ate the canary and washed it down with cream to be even more annoying.

You huffed, training your gaze towards the window.

It was way past the time where you would usually retreat to your room after an exhausting, full morning to late afternoon shift, watching the sky turn from a deep blue, to a warm mix and match of yellows, oranges and reds until the cycle of colors gradually dimmed into a still black, an eerie reminder of your loneliness; a thing you considered a monster that would rear its ugly head every time the silence of your apartment reached deafening levels.

You never gave the negative thought a chance to fully materialize, however. With the set of at-home tasks embedded into your brain, it never found an opening to push you into retrospection (said tasks have always been quick into serving as distractions), much less when you were currently preoccupied with the villain of your life still snickering at your slip-up.

With another pointed huff, you relaxed against the mountain of pillows, fully intending on ignoring Jeno’s toothy smile. “It went… fine.” 

‘Fine’ was one way to put it as it did go well, but you couldn't exactly say that the whole exchange between Jaemin and yourself had put a test to your sanity, now could you? Telling Jeno that you were so close to digging your nails into the underside of your seat as a way of grounding yourself while being graced by Jaemin's unbelievably handsome face was off the list too. 

“You admitted that my roommate was hot, I don’t see the point of you holding yourself back from giving me too much information. That never stopped you before.”

And… well, Jeno’s prodding was enough for you to break.

The longer you ran your mouth about your encounter with Jaemin that afternoon, the initial regret that weighed on Jeno from the first few words of your spiel grew into a gargantuan size that the latter wished he could reach through the small screen of his phone to cover your mouth, shutting you up. But you had a knack for ignoring Jeno and his woes of having an overdramatic best friend, and Jeno would expect no less of the same treatment as you groaned and moaned through your retelling: lamenting his roommate, Na Jaemin’s existence.

“I didn’t know men like that even existed. It was like looking at a Greek god straight in the face and hoping he won't smite me right then and there just for blinking.”

“I mean, I wouldn’t know,” Jeno helpfully supplied. He looked like he ate something rancid after your tangent. “I’m rather preoccupied with my girlfriend to pay attention to Jaemin and his… quirks so—” he shrugged.

“A miracle,” you started, “a miracle actually, that your girlfriend was able to put up with you,” you wondered, snickering when Jeno let out a weird, indignant sound at the jab.

Maybe asking a man’s opinion over another man where the female gaze was vital weren’t exactly congruent factors. From the years that you’ve known him, Jeno was the least viable conversation partner when it came to your conquests for men. Only when you were desperate would you unload all of that onto him. Why didn’t you have more girl friends?

“How’s she doing by the way?”

It was rather cute that Jeno’s face lit up in an instant at the mention of his partner, as if he were a kid on Christmas day coming face to face with a mountain of gifts just for him and if Jeno lent a listening ear to you rambling about his roommate, then you might as well let him go on and on and on about how much he adored his angel of a girlfriend who rendered him a lovesick mess. 

Like right now. Really, if he had a tail, it would have been wagging non-stop just from how happy he was running his mouth about his ‘angel’.

“She’s been so busy though,” Jeno pouted, “she’s handling so many projects and I’m kind of feeling neglected over here.”

You snorted, “and have you told her that?”

“Of course I did! You know how much we value effective communication especially when it comes to our relationship,” yes, you were very aware of the metaphorical shiny badge that said ‘Best Boyfriend’ Jeno proudly wore on the daily and you’d be lying if you said that you weren’t jealous of what he and his girlfriend had. “But I can’t help but miss her. It’s been almost 2 weeks since we last had sex too—”

You cut in with a series of noises, “alright, get off the phone before you say something we’ll both regret. I’ve already had enough of my fill from your roommate. Bye.”

Jeno wasn’t even allowed to say his goodbyes, with you already hanging up.

Letting out a heavy sigh, you peeled yourself from the soft confines of your bed to start on the list of your homely duties. Maybe doing so would help put your whirlwind of thoughts at ease and besides, you were hungry and the leftovers from yesterday were calling out to you.

They (the leftovers) would have made its way to Mark’s front door as usual, considering he really can’t cook a decent meal to save his life and you were more than capable to save his life with your more than decent cooking, but—as mentioned before—you weren’t exactly friendly with him at the moment and only time will tell when your sulking would end, or if Mark himself came groveling for forgiveness knowing he hated when someone was mad at him. For now, Mark can live with his go-to instant ramen or take-out.

Halfway into your meal, your phone buzzed from where it laid on the coffee table.

nana (boyfriend) (REAL): hey

nana (boyfriend) (REAL): 😍😚😜😋🥰😘

Your spoon fell into your deep dish plate with a clatter. Whether it was from the abruptness of Jaemin reaching out or his thing for using emojis like they were their own coherent language (like, what the hell was he trying to say with that combination?), you were still surprised all the same.

You

arent we supposed to be convincing

nana (boyfriend) (REAL) doesnt seem convincing 😐

u couldve just saved it as nana with the emojis u sent

nana (boyfriend) (REAL)

(  •̀ - •́  ) !!

I think its fun n quirky ! ☹️💔

Ppl r into ‘fun n quirky’ these days yk

You

i dont think my ex would snoop thru my phone

but wtvr u say doctor na 👍🏼

nana (boyfriend) (REAL)

D-DOCTOR NA???

😳😳😳

WHO TOLD U 😩

You

Jeno duh?

I was talking to him before u texted lol

nana (boyfriend) (REAL)

damb Jeno’s already stealing my girl huh 😔

he’s after my little macaron ☹️

You

macaron .

what.

nana (boyfriend) (REAL)

since u work at a cafe :3

isnt it cute ? (ΦωΦ)

You

,,,im not answering that

why are you harassing me doc?

nana (boyfriend) (REAL)

oh right lol

are you free any time this week?

👉🏼👈🏼🥺🙏🏼🙇🏻‍♂️🧎🏻‍♂️💬

You

?

can u just use words like a normal person

nana (boyfriend) (REAL)

bold of u to assume im normal 🥴

You

,,

right my bad 🗿

AUTHOR’S NOTE — one thing I can say is that I was really going through it when writing this 💀 like... down bad and for what LMAO and I really wasn't lying when I said that this fic is just an excuse for me to wax poetry abt Jaemin 🗿 anyways, lemme know what you think! Likes and reblogs are much appreciated &lt;3

profiles. / profiles 2.0 / profiles 3.0

ep 1. — the one with the moving in (pilot).

ep 2. — the one with momy looking for a daddy.

ep 3. — the one with too much workloads.

ep 4. — the one with donald duck.

ep 5. — the one with the hotline.

ep 6. — the one with the ppg leader, blooming.

ep 7. — the one with the style note.