You invited yourself to some snacks and a drink from his kitchen as you rambled on about how horrible your date was. Seungcheol finally looked up from his studying so he could watch you make yourself comfortable in amusement. Watching you binge on all of his junk food was always something he never got tired of.

“You’re telling me talking about games didn’t make you want to just rip your clothes off?” he teased. “A bit picky, aren’t you?”

“You’re one to talk! Didn’t you reject a date because her fingers weren’t pretty?”

“They were dirty, dry, and her cuticles were flaking. It’s basic hygiene, _____! If she couldn’t even take care of her hands, who knows what else she neglects!”

“Fine, so we both have impossibly high standards, but it’s because both you and I are too good for anyone.”

“At least we can both agree on that.”

“How long have you been studying?”

“Since four.”

“What!?” Upon hearing that, you jumped up from your slumped state and pulled two bottles from his fridge. “Alright, time for a study break, my friend.”

“I can’t, I have a midterm on Monday -”

“You always overwork yourself, ‘Cheol. Take a break and talk with your best friend once in a while, will ya? You know, your brain retains information better if you take breaks.”

“Oh, yeah? Does the alcohol help with that?”

“No, it’s your incentive - a completely separate element.” You handed Seungcheol a bottle before closing all of his textsbooks for him. He sighed loudly, fully knowing he couldn’t fight you. But he took the bottle graciously with his cute, cheeky smile that you loved so much. You two clinked your bottles together to begin his break.

“It’s been a while since you and I have just hung out together,” he noted to you.

“Yeah, guess whose fault is that?”

“Don’t use that tone with me, missy. I’m sorry I can’t help that our midterm schedules conflict with each other.”

“You know that’s not what I meant.”

The real reason you and Seungcheol haven’t spent time together recently was because he occupied nearly all of his free time to his new girlfriend. They’ve only been dating for about two months, but they never leave each other’s side! When you wanted to eat lunch with him, she was there; when you called him on the phone, she would always answer; and when you asked him to pick you up after a night out, she was the one driving.

At first you thought it was because she was jealous of how close you two were, but it was the opposite. When Seungcheol told you it was because she was kissing up to you and wanted The Best Friend Approval, you almost didn’t believe it because it sounded completely ridiculous. Needless to say, she was already off to a bad start, considering it’s been two months since you and him had more than two minutes of alone time together.

“I’m surprised she’s not sitting on your lap as you study.”

“Ha ha… I told her to stay home tonight because I can’t focus when she’s around.”

“Ugh, I don’t want to know the reason why,” you groaned. “At least she finally gave you some breathing room after two months.”

“If you don’t like her ~” he trailed off, hinting he could end it with her any moment.

“No, no… She’s tolerable… And she makes you happy, so I guess she can get half of a point from me.”

“So generous of you,” he quipped, kicking you from under the table.

“Just because I’m lonely and unlovable doesn’t mean you should have to suffer like me.”

“Aw, don’t talk about yourself like that!” Seungcheol scoots his chair over to you and pulls you into a good ol’ knuckle sandwhich. “You’re not lonely and unlovable! You have me, and your Mom loves you.”

“Good one, Cheolie.”

“Wow, you haven’t called me Cheolie since freshman year. Are you drunk already or do you miss me that much?”

“No. I’m just feeling nostalgic, that’s all.”

“Sure you are.”

You and Seungcheol spent the rest of the night drinking whatever alcohol he had left in his apartment. It wasn’t much, but it was enough that you felt tipsy. The two of you used to spend countless nights just hanging out and talking with a drink or two all of the time in your early years of college, but as graduation was approaching, those nights became less frequent, and even more less frequently now that he has a girlfriend. So tonight, you were going to cherish this time you had with Seungcheol.

“I’m going to die alone,” you cried dramatically as you laid your head down on his kitchen table. The past couple of hours, you and him were just talking about the old times and past relationships and Seungcheol just had to remind you about that you haven’t been in a committed relationship for three years now and that you’ve only been coasting through the dating scene.

“No, you won’t. You might just… get married really late?”

“I bet by then I won’t be able to have children.”

“Don’t talk like that about yourself, _____. Do you remember how long I was single for before I met Yunah?"

"Twenty three years."

"Exactly! Your three years doesn't even compare to my twenty three. Besides, I bet the guy out there that was meant for you will be worth the long wait. He'll have to get through me first, though."

"But what if it's taking me so long because no one wants me?" you pouted, taking another swig at your drink.

"Hey," Seungcheol nudged you to look at him. When you lifted your head, he had his arms out wide open, telling you to come in for a hug. You slowly scooted your chair towards him and laid your head on his shoulder lazily as he rubbed your shoulder assuringly. "Anyone would be crazy not to want you. You're an amazing friend, and I bet even a more amazing partner."

"You're the only man in my life that likes me, can you believe that?"

"Unsurprisingly, I can."

"Honestly, I don't think I'll ever find someone who will like me for who I am more than you."

"You better, or else you'll actually never marry."

As you both sat in silence, your thoughts flashed through many moments you've shared with Seungcheol. You two have watched each other grow up over the years and you knew each other like you knew the backs of your hands and that included Seungcheol knowing how badly you wanted to get married. You used to talk to him about your infinite Pinterest boards about cakes, dresses, and venues and how you wanted him to be your Man of Honor, and all of the details in between.

Seungcheol never asked you about what kind of man you wanted to marry. He knew your type, or at least the superficial parts of it, but never what you looked for in a husband and to be quite honest, you've never thought about it, either. At least until now. Sitting next to your best friend, a bit intoxicated, and emotionally thinking about the inevitability of your relationship status got you thinking.

What kind of man did you want to marry?

Well, he had to be handsome, of course. And a good sense of humor was always a requirement. Intelligent, kind, and playful were all necessary, too. You wanted to marry someone who would support you no matter what and would only build up your confidence, never tearing it down one bit. You wanted to grow together, even if it meant falling down a couple of times. They sound like the basic elements of a husband, but for some reason, you could never find all of those qualities in a single man.

Except Seungcheol.

Well, besides the fact that he was handsome… Seungcheol was average on a good day.

“Cheol-ster,” you slurred as you struggled to sit up properly to face him. You hadn’t had the chance to get a good look at his face the past few hours, but you now noticed how red his cheeks were. You forgot he turned red easily when he drank. “Let’s make a deal.”

“Ok.”

“You don’t even know the deal yet…”

“Doesn’t matter.”

“What if I asked you to marry me, you’d still agree?”

“Very funny.” He stared at you for a solid ten seconds to realize you weren’t kidding. “Oh, my God, you’re serious. _____, I have a girlfriend -”

“Not now, you idiot!” you scolded, hitting his arm. “I mean later. Like, way later. Like if we’re both single by thirty-something, both hate dating people like five years younger than us, both hate our lives, and just want to settle down with a dog or two or three.”

“Marry each other as a desperate attempt at life?”

“Yes!”

“How romantic…”

“But think about it! Think of all the benefits that come with being married to each other. We already know what we’re like around each other, I practically live with you already so we got that situation out of the way, we can be each other’s emergency contacts - there’s no downside to this!”

“We might as well be celibate.”

“Oh, shit,” you cursed. You forgot about the whole sex part when it came to marriage… “Ok, so there’s one downside, but don’t the pros outweight the cons!?”

“Why are you like this all of a sudden?”

“Because now that you finally have a girlfriend, I can see how you are around her and it makes me jealous in a way that I miss having that, you know? You’re the one person who knows how much I want to get married. I just want to secure something because at this rate, I really will be single my entire life.”

“So I’m your last resort?” he pouted.

“Oh, come on, don’t act like that! You know I’d love to get married to my best friend!”

You gave Seungcheol the puppy eyes that he could never say no to. Even when drinking, he knew that this wasn’t the brightest idea ever, but how could he turn your lonely self down like that?

“… Fine.” He covered his ears instinctively when he heard you screech with joy. “But I’ll only agree if you agree on three simple conditions.”

“Shoot.”

“One, this is if and only if we are both single by thirty.”

“Deal.”

“Two, if I cook, you have to do the dishes.”

“You’re pushing it, but that’s completely fair, I get it.”

“And three, I get to rap at our wedding.”

“No, absolutely not.”

“It’s all or nothing, _____.”

“I refuse to let you rap your vows to me.”

“Take it or leave it,” he threatened.

You couldn’t believe that this was his ultimatum to you, but he was just as serious as you were about his whole ordeal.

“Ugh, fine!” you groaned, caving in. “I hate you.”

“Don’t hate me too much, you might have to deal with me for the rest of your life.”

“I have reached a new low.”

As a silent agreement, Seungcheol raised his almost-empty bottle to you. You clinked yours against his begrudgingly and chugged whatever was left in your bottle.

“Cheers to the next seven years. Let’s see where life takes us,” Seungcheol said.

“Seungcheol, I need your help! It’s an emergency!” you panicked when you opened the door to his place.

His eyes were glued to the TV screen when he gave you a nod of acknowledgment. You sat beside him on the couch and watch him vigorously play a game of Fornite with his headset on.

“I’m half-listening,” he said.

“This is going to sound ridiculous, but I need you to pretend to be my boyfriend.”

“What!?” Seungcheol was so shocked by your proposal that the one second he looked away from the TV to look at you, his character died instantly.

“Hear me out before you say no! So you know my cousin’s getting married, right? He’s making me the only person in the family who is unmarried and single and I cannot face my entire family unless I bring a date.”

“Why can’t you ask Jeonghan, or something?” he asked, starting up a new game.

“See, that’s where this gets difficult…” you smiled sheepishly. “Don’t hate me, but I kind of have been pretending you were my boyfriend for a whole year now…”

“What!?” Oops, he died again. “A whole year!? Why didn’t you tell me!?”

“Because I was hoping I’d have a boyfriend to bring to the wedding by now and then I could lie and say that you broke up with me!”

“Unbelievable… You are hopeless.”

“I know, that’s why I need you to pretend with me! Please ~! They think I’m lying! Well, I mean I am, but I want to prove myself to them for once, you know? Think of it as practice for when we turn thirty!” You begged again, using your famous puppy eyes that you’ve been using to your advantage way too frequently lately.

Seungcheol groaned loudly, throwing his head back in defeat. “You owe me big time. Like a three-course meal once a week big time.”

“Yeah, totally, whatever you want!” You lunged at your best friend and gave him the tightest hug. “Ah, you’re the best!”

“So when’s the wedding?”

“… This Sunday.”

“What the hell, _____, that’s in like three days!”

“Sorry! I completely forgot about it until my Mom texted me an hour ago!”

“You’re so lucky my anniversary is the day before.”

“Oh, yeah, I forgot you have another woman in your life that isn’t me,” you snorted. “How long have you two been dating now?”

“Six months.”

“Ugh, it feels like it’s been three years.”

“Don’t be like that. Now leave, she’s coming over in an hour and I haven’t seen her all week.”

“Wear protection, my friend,” you said as you ruffled his hair playfully. “Try to look decent on Sunday.”

“Same to you.”

Normally, you don’t care much to impress your family with the way you look or how you carry yourself. But tonight was a big deal for you. Being one of the youngest in the family, it was natural that you would be one of the last ones to get married, but when you found out your youngercousin, who has been with his fiancé for nearly four years now, was getting married before you, you decided to get your shit together and show your family that you were totally capable of maintaining a relationship.

You stumbled outside of Seungcheol’s apartment struggling to walk in your heels. After knocking vigorously on the door, Yunah opened it up for you with a bright, fake smile.

“_____!” she squealed, pulling you into an awkward hug. “You look so pretty!”

“Ah, hey, Yunah! Thanks, you too, as usual.”

“Oh, stop it ~ Come on in, Seungie’s almost ready.” You cringed at her nickname for him when she turned around and went back inside.

“Thanks for letting me borrow him. I don’t know what I would do if I showed up to a wedding without a date,” you sighed.

“It’s no problem at all! I always feel bad that I take him away from you so often. He needs to spend time with you once in a while.”

“I’m not a child,” Seungcheol said as he walked out of his room straigtening his tie. “You guys act like I’m the son of divorced parents…”

You gawked at your best friend as he walked towards the two of you. He wore all black, from head to toe, and even fixed his messy, fluffy hair a little bit. He looked like he was ready to walk the red carpet, and you’ve never seen your best friend look so stunning before.

“Hello?” he called, snapping his fingers in front of your face. “Earth to _____.”

“Huh? Oh, hey…!”

“I know, I look sexy in all-black, huh?”

“You look presentable,” you lied.

“Don’t listen to her, you look very handsome ~” Yunah gushed before she pulled Seungcheol in for a deep kiss.

The scene in front of you made you want to throw up and throw yourself down the stairs. This wasn’t the first time you’ve seen them kiss, but it gets worse the more you witness it. “Ugh, gross…”

“Ok, let’s get going. I want to make it there before the open bar closes.” Seungcheol gives Yunah one last parting kiss before you both leave his apartment.

“You look dashing tonight,” he teased. “I haven’t seen you in a dress like this since freshman homecoming.”

“You know I hate wearing dresses like this. I’m only wearing it because I need to look like an adult with her life together in front of my family.”

“Good thing I’m here then. I’ll be your personal hypeman.”

“I should rent you out to bring to family functions more often.”

“That’s a large price to pay.”

The two of you arrived at the wedding around the same time as everyone else did and the venue was packed. Half of it was full of aunts, uncles, and cousins from across the world that you haven’t seen since you were a little girl and the other half was the fiancé’s side of the family. There had to be at least three hundred people here.

On top of that, all of the decorations were so beautiful and detailed. Your cousin had the type of chairs you wanted for your wedding, large center pieces at each table, and hundreds of twinkling lights hanging from the ceiling. The inner desperate and younger you was squealing at all of the wedding galore.

It only reminded you of how alone you really were.

“Quick, to the bar,” you guided, taking Seungcheol by the wrist.

“We don’t even know where we’re sitting yet!”

After getting a couple of drinks for each of you, you wanted to sit at your table as quickly as you could. Maybe the reception would move faster that way. Your seats were located near the dancefloor and the bridal party’s tables, right where your parents and a few other cousins sat.

“You didn’t tell me I was meeting your parents!” Seungcheol hissed to you.

“Did you think they weren’t going to be here!?”

“I don’t know, I didn’t prepare anything! We didn’t prepare anything!”

“We’ll be fine! It’s not like you don’t know anything about me!” You plastered on the biggest smile on your face when your parents got up to hug you. “Hi, Mom, Dad.”

“_____, I’m so happy you came! And with Seungcheol, too! We’re so happy to finally meet you!” In her ecstatic state, your Mom hugged Seungcheol even tighter than how Yunah does.

“Nice to meet you both,” Seungcheol said, clearly nervous from the way your Dad eyed him suspiciously.

“I can’t believe he’s real!” One of your cousins snorted. “And he’s hot!”

“Hey!” you scolded.

“No offense, but we all thought you were fake.”

“Yeah, she warned me about that.”

Throughout most of the dinner, you were so nervous that you were almost sweating. A situation like this wasn’t even serious, even if Seungcheol were to slip up, but the wedding atmosphere just really made you anxious. The drinks only helped a little bit. It was mostly your parents who asked the two of you questions about your relationship. They asked basic things, like how he asked you out, what was your first date like, does Seungcheol wear condoms - you know, basic things…

But as dinner moved forward, you started to relax a bit. Seungcheol was answering all of the questions quite impressively and it made this whole fake boyfriend thing look very much believable. You were surprised with his acting skills - who knew Seungcheol would make a great boyfriend?

“Tell me, Seungcheol,” your Dad began. Oh no, this sounded like it was going to be one of those Dad questions… “What do you like about our daughter?”

“Dad!” you hissed.

“C’mon, can’t her family wonder what this boy thinks about our precious daughter?”

“You’re so embarrassing!”

“Yeah, Seungcheol. Tell us all what you see in this little brat,” your cousin teased.

“What do I like about her?” Seungcheol repeated.

You slowly shrunk in your chair. This was it, this was how your whole family was going to find out about your fake boyfriend and how you’ll be single forever…

“When we first met, she was the closed-off girl on our residence floor. She always hung out in her dorm, and when she wasn’t, she was in the community room in the corner couch with her headphones in. When the rest of our floor was out having fun at parties, she would finally prop the door open to her dorm room and blast her music. One time, I stayed back because I had an exam the Monday after and I just talked to her the whole night. At first, we made it a weekly thing to hang out, but it gradually become more frequent. During those times, I’ve gotten to know her a lot more. She was cold, but she opened up her heart to me so easily. We were friends for a long time before we started dating, so I came to her for anything and everything and she came to me, and it was all the more reason to like her. In those past four years, I’ve seen her be kind, intelligent, gentle, angry, sad, frustrated… I’ve seen it all at this point, but it’s part of the infinite reasons why I love her. And even after all of that, I still can’t take my eyes off of her.”

Throughout his whole speech, you looked at Seungcheol with wide eyes. You couldn’t stop staring at him even when he finished. You thought that he was going to tell them a fake story about how you met at a coffee shop or something, but he told them a story full of truth, one that you kept in your heart. The day you met Seungcheol was when your life changed for the better and hearing him repeat it back to your family in a way that made your heart flutter brought tears to your eyes.

And to your Mother’s…

“And you two have only been dating for a year?” your cousin asked. “It feels like you guys have been married for ten years.”

“Oh boy, you made her mother cry!” your Dad chuckled as he teased your Mom. “That story deserves a drink. Let me buy you one.”

“Thanks.” Seungcheol shot you a quick wink before he got up to go with your Dad to the bar.

“I like him,” your Mother smiled as she gently wiped her tears. “I like him a lot!”

“Clearly. I think you and Dad like him more than I do.”

“Even better!”

The rest of the night went on extremely smoothly, which made you even more anxious than before. It was probably because you couldn’t take your mind off of what Seungcheol said about you to your parents. You spent your college years with him mostly teasing each other and only ever said sincere words to each other when either of you was upset or really needed to hear some sort of validation. Maybe it was the wedding fever, but the whole night, you thought about how much you really appreciated Seungcheol and how Yunah was so lucky to have him.

The wedding fever hit it’s high point when your cousin and his now-wife danced alone together on the dancefloor. You could hear a collective, longing sigh throughout the venue from all of the ladies in the room, you included. The dancefloor opened up to the whole room once the lovely couple finished their first dance, and you and Seungcheol were the only ones left at the table.

“How am I doing so far?” he asked.

“You’re way too good at this for someone who has only been in a relationship for six months.”

“Yeah, I had some practice with Yunah’s parents not too long ago, so this was a piece of cake.”

“I bet. Do her parents love you more than she does, too?”

“No, that’s not possible.”

As you sat in silence for a bit and admired the couples on the dancefloor, Seungcheol took this opportunity to look at you while you were distracted. The look on your face wasn’t necessarily sad, but it was something else - like you were longing for something. He hadn’t seen you like this since your last boyfriend broke up with you, and he remembered how devastated you were.

You looked at Seungcheol with a brow raised when he stood up.

“C’mon, let’s dance.”

“Dance? With you? No, thanks.”

“If I don’t force you to, your parents will.” Seungcheol nudged his head over to your parents on the dancefloor who ushered you to join them.

“Fine, but if you step on my feet, it’s over.”

The song was slow and gentle, muttering lyrics about how much the singer loved their partner. Seungcheol bowed to you embarrassingly before wrapped his arms around your waist. Hesitantly, you put your hands on his shoulders.

“This isn’t some awkward middle school dance,” he teased. “Don’t be afraid of me.”

With that said, he forced you to wrap your arms fully around his neck, forcing you to close the gap between the two of you. You two were so close that you could smell his cologne and shampoo. There was something that was pulling the two of you even closer together - like a magnet. So close that your noses were almost touching. You never noticed how long his eyelashes looked, how clear his skin was, and especially how soft his lips looked…

Oh no, this was bad, this was really bad! You can’t be thinking these things about him! And why now, of all times, when you’ve known him for four years! What was even worse was that he was looking at you and thinking the same things, too, and you knew it by the way you caught him staring at your lips.

What surprised you the most was that he was the one to lean in and kiss you. You returned the kiss immediately, shocked by how soft his lips were against yours. It was a short, simple kiss, but it was one that struck you in your core.

When he pulled away, he pressed his forehead against yours.

“What are we doing?”

The car ride home was a long and silent one. The air was tense and awkward and it was all your fault! If you just sucked up your pride and just went to the damn wedding alone, you wouldn’t be in this mess! You couldn’t believe you just ruined four whole years of friendship in one, desperate night -

“Hey,” Seungcheol said, shaking you from your thoughts. “I’m sorry about… you know, what happened back there when we were dancing…”

“No, it was my fault -”

“I should have kept my distance -”

“I should have set some boundaries -”

“It won’t happen again, you know -”

“It’d be best if we could just forget about all about it -”

“It was a mistake, and Yunah doesn’t have to know.”

“Yeah…” you breathed out. “A mistake.”

When he pulled up to your place, you were almost too scared to get out of the car. The minute you stepped out, your entire relationship with him was going to change, and that was the last thing you wanted. If you could rewind and prevent that kiss, you would in a heart beat, but for now, you wanted to stay in this moment forever so you wouldn’t lose your best friend.

“This won’t change anything, right…?” you whispered.

“Not unless we want it to,” he reassured. “We just have to pretend like it didn’t happen.”

“Yeah, you’re right. I’ll head on in now. Thanks again. Not just for tonight, but for everything.”

“_____, nothing’s going to change -”

“I know! I just don’t appreciate you as much as I should, you know?”

“You’re a great friend, too,” he said, ruffling your hair playfully. “You still wanna get married at thirty, right?”

“If that’s ok with you,” you smiled.

“Just making sure ~ Good night.”

“Text me when you get home.”