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Chapter Text

Choi Beomgyu considers himself a smart person. Beomgyu always gets what he wants and in the way he wants and when he wants it. Thanks to his CSAT score he was even able to study at Seoul National University. He also always manages to convince the people around him, like the time he convinced HueningKai that if he cut onions with his mouth full of water his eyes would not tear, and until this day the younger one needs to fill his mouth with water before cutting the vegetable. It can be said that Choi Beomgyu is indeed an intelligent and astute person in many aspects of his life, however, when it comes to his love life things get more complicated. Everything started to go wrong two weeks ago when his mother called and asked him if he had finally found a boyfriend. Unsure what to say for the thousandth time this year, Beomgyu ended up lying and saying yes. 

In the worst-case scenario, in a month or two he could call his family and say sadly - read falsely - that he was over with his short relationship, which by the way had never existed. At first glance, it was easy to keep up this lie, since his family was in another city, however, as the elders say: a lie has a short leg. Brings Beomgyu to the current situation: sitting at his desk in the corner of his room, mumbling and pulling up his hair, when he heard the bedroom door open. 

"You look like shit." Soobin's voice echoed casually before he even fully entered the room. If it were a normal day, Beomgyu might respond to the offense in the same way -or worse- but now he was not in the mood. Not after getting a call from his older brother. 

Beomgyu took a deep breath and turned around in his wheelchair to face his roommate, who was leaning against the walls of the hallway, taking off his sneakers before stepping into the room. "That’s because I feel like shit.”

Soobin smiles suspiciously. His friend acted like this was not normal.

"What did you do this time?" After throwing the backpack he was holding onto the bed, Soobin asked as he tried to take off the large light blue hoodie with the SNU symbol on it, struggling as usual because he forgot to take off his glasses. It was funny to Beomgyu how someone that size could be so dumb. "Missed another work?"

"No... this time I did it on time." Beomgyu turned around again and stared at his notebook screen. "Remember that I told you that I lied to my mother and said that I had found a boyfriend?

"Yeah," A giggle could be heard, which made Beomgyu roll his eyes even though the other couldn't see him.

"So, apparently my older brother heard about it, and so did the rest of the family." Annoyed with his situation, he again turned to look at Soobin and crossed his legs. 

"And?" Soobin asked genuinely interested, now sitting on Beomgyu's bed, staying closer to the desk.

"Beomsoo just called me saying that he needs me in Daegu because he is going to propose to his girlfriend and wants the whole family there." 

There was a dramatic pause, but Soobin didn't understand why he was so preoccupied with this thing, so he just retorted to the other's intense gaze. 

"And..?"

"And????" Beomgyu exclaimed. "Now he thinks I'm going with my boyfriend. A boyfriend that I don't have!" 

"Just say you broke up."

It wasn't that simple. In the middle of the nervousness of the call with his mother, after the lie had slipped out, Beomgyu was even more embarrassed and as a defense mechanism, continued to tell lies, saying that he was madly in love with a tall, black-haired, charming, intelligent and handsome guy. He had not mentioned names, saying that his boyfriend was too shy and that he would wait to introduce him in person. But now not only his mother, but his brother and probably everyone in their family thought he was having the time of his life studying at a good university and dating a Prince Charming. 

Shaking his head in denial, he continued. "No way, I would rather die than say it was a lie." 

"Then say it was a lie."

There was another pause, Beomgyu seemed to think, and Soobin waited patiently for him. 

Remembering the conversation from earlier, Beomgyu cringed. His hyung, Beomsoo, seemed so happy and excited after hearing the news from Beomgyu. 

"Beomgyu-ah, hearing that is so good! After our mom told me you were dating, I was sure I could propose to Minhee for good. It worried me a lot to know how you were doing after what happened, but since you won't be alone anymore, I'm relieved." 

Beomgyu's family had always been close, so his relationship with his brother was very good. Beomsoo was not only his best friend, but also his protector. Always taking care of his younger brother in every way possible. So Beomgyu understood that he might be afraid to get married and leave his little brother alone after what happened. If Beomgyu were in this situation, he would think the same way. 

"No, that's no good either. I want to die"

"It's hard to help you like this, my friend."

"You don't get it..."

Beomgyu's speech was interrupted by the sound of his phone vibrating on the table and as soon as he picked up the call, the screen said that Beomsoo was calling again. 

They looked at each other. Beomgyu is in panic and Soobin smiles thinking it is funny.

"No, I'm not going to answer it." He held the phone further away from him in desperation. 

"Pick up and tell him the truth soon." Soobin pushed the phone back closer to the other. 

Without much choice, since the phone wouldn't stop ringing, Beomgyu accepted the call and brought the device closer to his ear. He let out a hesitant "Hello" and Soobin, trying to hear what the other would say, leaned back in his chair to be closer and put his ear close to the younger man's phone.

"Beomie, after our call I was so excited I couldn't contain myself." Beomsoo's happy voice came out of the speakers. "I bought two tickets from Seoul to Daegu. You and your boyfriend don't have to worry about how to come." 

With wide eyes, Soobin turned to look at him and the two faced each other in slow motion. 

Beomgyu was so fucked up.

"Wait a minute, you mean you have to get a boyfriend in two weeks because your family thinks you are dating?" Taehyun said, trying to understand the story Beomgyu had just told. 

The four of them were sitting together to have lunch and Soobin told the whole roommate situation to the others.

"And how you are going to find one so fast?" Huening asks, getting an incredulous look from Beomgyu.

"That's the problem, Kai. No one would be crazy enough to date him." After his comment, Soobin was pushed in the shoulder by Beomgyu and ended up spilling the soda he was drinking by laughing, making Hyuka copy his act by laughing back. Taehyun just rolled his eyes with a half-smile on his face. 

"Hey! I called you here to help me, not to laugh at my face," he exclaimed in frustration, crossing his arms and laying them on the table. 

"Do like in the movies and get a fake boyfriend."

Of all the things Hueningkai could have said, this was certainly the dumbest of all, thought Beomgyu raising his head only to send him an irritated look and come back to lay down. 

"What!? I'm serious."  

"Well… He might be right, you know..." Soobin drew attention to himself. "Your family doesn't know who you are dating, you didn't even say a name."

His roommate's speech made him raise his head again. 

"No one would do that, it's the biggest bullshit in the world." Beomgyu deadpans and glares at Taehyun. "Help me here, you're the only one with brains. Please, say something." Taehyun looked concerned. Beomgyu really thought that he would not agree with this idea.

"I think that would be the only option." He shrugged and Beomgyu opened his mouth in a big circle. "You've been looking for a boyfriend since you entered the university and you haven't found one yet, it won't be in two weeks that someone will magically appear."

"That's hurt." Pointed to Taehyun and looked at the others. "And all of you are crazy!"

"It's that or tell the truth." If Soobin opened his mouth one more time, Beomgyu might be able to beat him up for real.  

"Okay. Who of you would be my fake boyfriend, then?" After a minute he asked. "If you came up with this absurd idea, it's because one of you would do it." He leans back in his chair and crosses his arms in challenge, looking at each of them at the table. Soobin continued to eat as if he didn't care. 

Taehyun and Hueningkai looked at each other. The maknaes were also roommates, although they were totally different from him and Soobin. The two friends had a strange bonding, they worked very well together, sometimes Beomgyu thought they could talk just by looking at each other, like they did now. 

"I'm going to visit my sisters, I'm sorry, I can't." Hueningkai spoke up and turned his attention back to his lunch. Beomgyu couldn't ask him to not go see his sisters, so he looked at Taehyun, however, before an answer came out, he was interrupted.

“Taehyun can’t do this.”

Everyone is in shock when Soobin says that.

Beomgyu stare at his roommate with an interrogation in his eyes and Soobin stares back like it's was a obvious thing. Beomgyu didn't know, but they also had their 'telepathic roommate communication' hours like the maknaes.

“You said that you told your mother that you were with a ‘tall, black-haired, charming, intelligent and thoughtful’ guy…. Taehyun is smaller than you and has brown hair”

“I say that?” Everyone nodded and Beomgyu let out a snort. “No man in this world looks like that, what was I thinking?”

It was a rhetorical question. Beomgyu was in complete chaos, immersed in a lie that he couldn't keep doing. He didn't seem to have an answer for it.

“Soobin-hyung is taller than you.” Taehyun said and pointed his head to the taller one.

“And he has black hair.” Hueningkai added as if they weren't looking at the same person.

“Ugh, but he's not intelligent, much less charming.” The words came out grumbling.

Soobin rolled his eyes and pinched him on the waist and Beomgyu jumped out of the chair.

“They would just need to pretend they don't fight that much, otherwise I think it would work out.” Kai says after the two stopped pretending to fight.

“Funny that you think Soobin would accept that.” He deadpans.

It was clear that Soobin would not do this. They were friends, obviously, they had been living together and waking up next to each other every day for almost a year, it was natural that they would become friends. They talked until sleep, played the same games, went together to campus several times, and everything that roommates normally do. However, that was all. In fact, Beomgyu didn't even know if Soobin was attracted to boys. The elder had never brought up the subject - but he had also never complained or expressed a negative reaction when they talked about Beomgyu's efforts to get a boyfriend. He had also never claimed to have a girlfriend or any love interest. Truth to be told Soobin seemed to have eyes only for watching anime and occasionally agreeing to watch a dorama with Beomgyu.

Therefore, Beomgyu knew that it would be impossible for Choi Soobin to accept such a proposal. 

That was until the elder spoke up once again.

“Who said I wouldn't accept?”

Beomgyu was wrong.

A week before the trip, Beomgyu asked Soobin to meet him at a cafeteria near the dorms to settle some things. He arrived thirteen minutes late, apologizing and saying that his teacher talked too much.

When they finally settled down at one of the tables and placed their orders, a silence settled between them.

“So...” Soobin rubbed his hands over his legs in an attempt to stop shaking them and start their conversation, but his efforts were in vain. This was unusual, Beomgyu knew that he only shakes his legs like this when he is embarrassed or anxious.

“If we are going to do this, we can't stay like this.” Beomgyu straightened up in his chair and leaned over the table, approaching Soobin.

Since their meeting at lunch that day, their dynamic hadn't changed, although they had no longer commented on the topic of fake dating. Earlier, when Beomgyu asked him to meet at their point in the coffee shop, they looked at each other without saying anything. Soobin seems to be nervous. That needed to change. “They need to believe that this is real, so we need to be convincing. We will also need to come up with a history. A real story.” Soobin agreed with his roommate with his head while waiting for the other to finish.

“We can say that it was easy to get closer. Since we live together and all, but I guess that's not enough, right?”

“Actually, I had thought of something.” Beomgyu's eyes wide open. However, before he could hear the idea, the drinks they had ordered arrived.

“What?” He sipped his order as soon as they were left alone and saw that Soobin did the same, however he didn't show much satisfaction. The disgusted look on the older Choi's face made him want to laugh. He took a good look at the other's hand and realized that the color of the drink was not right. “Green tea? But you hate green tea hyung?”

“It's a mistake, but that's okay. There's a new guy working here, so I'll just drink this.” The disgusted look was still there, and Beomgyu couldn't help himself and let out a weak laugh. Sometimes Soobin was cute without realizing it.

“Go there and ask them to change it. You hate it!”

“I said that there's a new guy, I don't want to cause him any problems.” He scrunched his nose and continued drinking the wrong order. Beomgyu pretended to believe the excuse and that he didn't know that the main reason was his roommate’s shyness.

So when Soobin put his drink back on the table, the younger man was quick to change the orders.

“You can have my americano, I like tea more than you.” He quickly said, already sipping the drink. As a matter of fact, Beomgyu didn't like this kind of tea that much, but he also didn't think it was bad. Soobin just accepted the idea, knowing better that if he insisted they would fight about it. “So... Back to the problem. What did you think?”

“Mhmm…”

Soobin's ears became redder than cherries. He swallowed dryly.

“We could say that it was me who fell in love first, and I confessed when we visited the Han River last month. We went with our friends, but I called you for a walk alone and declared myself while we watched the sunset. A good story without too many details so it doesn't sound like a lie.”

Oh...

Soobin continued talking, however Beomgyu couldn't pay that much attention.

What he said had actually happened. Not in that way he said. But it still happened. In the month that had passed, Hueningkai called everybody to go for a walk and touch some grass and it was a nice day, they laughed so much that day. Before the sunset Taehyun and Kai had to leave early, since their dorm was further away, so Soobin and Beomgyu were in fact left alone. On the other hand, the confession part was not real, obviously. Deep down in his heart, Beomgyu wondered why Soobin had chosen that day, or even how he had thought of it all. It even looked like something planned very well. It was something so cliché and cute that it didn't seem to be coming from Soobin. Or would it? Would Soobin be that kind of boyfriend? The romantic type who thinks up cute and cliché things to do with his date? Well, none of those questions seemed to have concrete answers, yet Beomgyu should have said something out loud, because the silence as an answer was surely misunderstood.

“Ya! Choi Beomgyu!” Soobin looks pitiful. “Say something, you're making this awkward.”

“Why?”

Soobin tilted his head.

“Why this day?”

“Oh… I thought it would be easier to tell a lie that had at least some truth in it, so when we talk about it, it won't be so obvious that it's not real. We are not real.” He moved his both hands between the two of them to emphasize. 

“Alright..” It made sense in Beomgyu's head, even if a very weak voice in the back of his head still wanted to know more. “We can work with that, you're right.”

They continued to practice some more details of their little secret. Sometimes they lost focus and got into a discussion about something trivial, but soon returned to what was important. Soobin gave so many ideas that at one point they had to write them down in topics on one of the napkins at the table.

Later that day, before they went to sleep, they kept talking. As usual, Soobin was on his own bed facing his roommate. Their beds were arranged against the wall, one at each end of the room. 

“Soobin-hyung...”

“Mhm?”

“Thank you for helping me. I know it sounds silly, but...” Should he tell him what happened? Should he explain why he feels obliged to have a boyfriend and let his brother live his life in peace, without worrying about him? Would it be less humiliating to talk about his fears or would it be worse? Beomgyu was lost in his own mind, only noticing that he had not continued his speech when Soobin sighed deeply. Through the dimness he watched his roommate get out of his bed and come toward him. Beomgyu understood in two seconds and soon gave him space to lie down as well, opening the blanket to welcome the big body in his tiny bed. They were facing each other now. Very close.

“Look, if you don't want to tell me why this is so important for your brother and your family, that's fine. I don't need to know everything to help you, Gyu-ah.” Soobin's voice was calm and he could also smell the mint toothpaste. Curiously, this calmed Beomgyu down quickly. “I figured it out that this seems to be important for you and I don't want to know the details unless you are ready and comfortable to tell me.”

Okay. Breathe. Apparently his friend could indeed be intelligent and observant as well. Without showing his teeth, Beomgyu's smile grew.

“Thank you.”

Even in the dark, Beomgyu knew that Soobin was smiling too, as he felt the other man's hand ruffling his hair.

“Now sleep, it's late and we have class tomorrow.” Soobin snuggled closer, pulling Beomgyu to lie on top of him and in an automatic answer they laid down like this: the right arm of Beomgyu over the other, hugging him from the side.

“Here? Together?” Beomgyu asked breathlessly, not understanding.

“Yes. We have to practice and pretend that we are used to sleeping together.” He grumbled with his eyes already closed and yawning. “You said there's no guest room at your parents house, so we'll have to sleep together. Get used to me.”

Indeed, he had said so, he just hadn't thought that he would have to practice this so soon. Physical contact between the two was not abnormal, however, it was like fighting or putting his head on the older man's shoulder when they took the bus, not in holding hands or sleeping together. However, the worst thing of all was that Beomgyu could in fact get used to this.

It didn't last long, though. The bed in their dormitory was too small, and in the middle of the night Soobin returned to his bed grumbling, after Beomgyu insisted and kicked him out.

The trip would be in two days. There was a holiday on thursday and the two of them would take the opportunity to go to Daegu in the meantime. Soobin's classes are more flexible than Beomgyu's, so it would be no problem for him to miss one day. On the other hand, Beomgyu had a work due on friday and was desperate to finish it so he could miss the class.

“How much would you want to do and deliver my work for Mr. Kwon?” He asked Taehyun when he arrived for lunch. Luckily for him Taehyun was his classmate and hopefully he would be his salvation. 

“I don't sell homework.” He said unpretentiously without taking his eyes off his cellphone. “Ask Chaewon. Last week I heard that she helps one boy like this.”

“Come on, Hyunie! You are my friend, my partner, my comrade, help me here. I can't ask a stranger, it'll ruin my reputation.”

“What reputation?” He raised an eyebrow and received a little shove. “Sorry, Beomgyu. I can't do yours, because I haven't done mine yet, and I'm not going friday either.”

Now the one who raised an eyebrow in confusion was Beomgyu. “Why aren't you going?”

“I'm also going on a trip.”

If his friend didn't continue his sentence, that meant he wasn't going to talk anymore, so Beomgyu didn't insist on asking. Actually, Beomgyu needed to think of another plan.

As soon as he arrived at the dorm, he spotted his roommate - and future fake boyfriend - packing a suitcase. Pieces of clothing scattered on both beds, shoes on the floor, socks on the table, and a lost Soobin in the middle of everything. As soon as the older man realized that he was no longer alone, he smiled shyly at Beomgyu in greeting.

“What kind of clothes do I have to wear to make a good impression on your parents?” He asked, looking so concerned and Beomgyu laughed. It was cute the way Soobin was caring so much. “Hyuka came to help me earlier, but he messed things up more than he helped.”

“My mother will already like you if you praise her food and eat well.” He pushed a pile of clothes aside and sat down, half lying down leaning with his elbow on Soobin's bed. “My father is an old man who likes to talk about soccer.”

“I don't know anything about soccer.” Soobin gasped in terror. Beomgyu laughed again.

“Relax, hyung! They will like you just the way you are, you don't have to prepare for that.” He watched Soobin standing in the middle of the dormitory staring at the piles of clothes. “But maybe you should take that yellow hoodie there, you'll need it.”

Quickly, Soobin obeyed him and placed the hoodie inside his suitcase. Beomgyu knew that the other felt very cold easily. Even saying that he didn't have to worry about it, the two of them spent a couple of hours choosing clothes. All that choosing almost made Beomgyu forget his damn assignment. He would have to do his research that night in order to turn it in before the trip. So he sat at his desk to do it, but he was so tired and after half an hour staring at the computer screen he could barely keep his eyes open. Damn it! He had to finish it today. It would help if he had a cup of coffee at least. Every time he blinked his eyes it took another second to open them. In one of those, he blinked and lost the battle. He woke up drooling on his pillow the next day without understanding. Beomgyu didn't even have time to think about how he got into bed, all he could think about was that he hadn't done his work and his grade would be ruined. He got up stumbling over the blankets and opened his notebook to see if he could at least send an email asking for more time. The presence of a blue postcard nailed to his notebook screen caught his attention.

Look at your phone.

Soobin's handwriting was familiar. Immediately, Beomgyu returned to bed, picking up his phone and opening the chat with his roommate.

Soobin (SNU roommate)

I finished your assignment.

Your grade won't be the best because there was some math I didn't know how to do, but at least you will be able to turn it in on time

Don't forget to have breakfast.

Have a nice day Beomie!

Firstly, Beomgyu needed to change the name of the contact before traveling. Secondly, why on earth had Soobin done this? Was it Soobin who took Beomgyu to bed? Soobin saw that the other was tired and did a job involving calculus for Beomgyu? Why?

Well, now he could only accept this without question.

From Seoul to Daegu is practically two hours and forty minutes by train. It was a long enough trip for Beomgyu to introduce his entire family to Soobin.

“These are my parents, Choi ByungWook and Choi Guseul.” He showed a picture on the phone of his father and mother, respectively. He swapped to a new one showing a lovely couple. “This is my brother, Beomsoo and this is his girlfriend, Minhee.”

He kept showing some more of his family members that he thought were important. Beomgyu looked for something in the roll of photos. “Here, this is Choi Yeonjun. My cousin and my best friend. Actually, we have to be very careful around him. After Beomsoo he is the person who knows me best in the world. I can fake it well for my brother, but I think that if I lie too much to Yeonjun he will know.”

Suddenly Beomgyu seemed nervous. The air was suddenly too hard to breathe. He hadn't forgotten about Yeonjun, but just now he seems to really think deeply about it. If his cousin found out his lie - which was very possible knowing Yeonjun - everything would be a disaster. When they were kids Yeonjun always knew when Beomgyu was lying and would always tell Beomsoo. If this happened again it would be a catastrophe. Beomgyu had entered his spiral of thoughts and only Soobin's touch on his hand brought him back to reality.

“Hey! We can do it.” Soobin affirmed and stroked his thumb. “Don’t worry, Beoms! This Yeonjun guy won't will not doubt me when he sees that I'm madly in love with you.” He smiles. He’s fucking dimples was showing up to Beomgyu. And fuck… That sounds so real for a moment. However, it was obvious that it wasn't, Soobin was only committed to helping him, as he had said over and over again, only because he is a loyal friend. So Beomgyu smiled weakly. When a silence settled over them, after Beomgyu finished introducing the family members and making Soobin repeat everyone's name three times, Soobin took his phone out of his pocket.

“Did you bring your headphones?” he asked, smiling and showing his dimples again. Is he always smiling like that with Beomgyu?

Ignoring the dimples again, he answered that question by just taking off his headphones and for the rest of the trip they shared the phone, listening to Soobin's playlist that Beomgyu already knew very well.

They arrived at the station and Beomsoo was already waiting for them. Soobin promptly held Beomgyu's hand.

“For the next four days you and I will be the most in love couple in the world.” Soobin's whisper in Beomgyu’s ear. A shiver ran up Beomgyu's spine and Soobin placed a chaste kiss on his cheek.

Beomgyu was in real trouble.

Chapter Text

"Oh my God! My precious, little bear." Beomgyu's mother spoke intensely as soon as she saw the boy entering the house. Guseul held him in such a firm embrace that her son felt as if he would break. His heart tightened, Beomgyu should have come home more often, his mother seemed to miss him so much because she didn't want to let go of the boy. Even his father hugged him tightly. 

The old woman kept kissing and cuddling her youngest son saying things like "I missed you so much!", "It's been a long time." and "I should beat you for taking so long to come home." The Daegu dialect could be a little too hard to understand for those not used to it, as the intonation in the pronunciation of some words could cause some ambiguity, but Soobin seemed to understand very well. Despite this, Beomgyu quickly stood between her parents and her fake boyfriend to introduce them. 

"Mom, Dad, this is Soobin." He said and pointed at the older one. "My boyfriend.”

Guseul sighed, putting his hands together in front of his body, as if thanking heaven. “What a charming boy! Oh my goodness, how tall he is.”

The mother approached his roommate slash fake boyfriend and hugged him as well. After that, Soobin curves at a 90° angle in respect and introduces himself as Beomgyu's boyfriend. So wired to watch.

“It's so nice to finally meet you, darling.” Guseul held up one of Soobin's cheeks and gave it a gentle squeeze. She turned to Beomgyu laughing and said in a whisper. covering her mouth with her hand.

"You right! He has pretty lips." Beomgyu had to agree, for the fakes of course.

“Guseul, stop being so clingy! Let the boys breathe.” His father's voice caught everyone's attention. Out of the corner of his eye, Beomgyu could see Soobin tensing. So hilarious. He looked like it was real, like he's freaking out about meeting his parents for real. So funny to watch. Beomgyu has to annoy him later.

Guseul left the two boys, but not before slapping the younger son on the left arm.

"Ouch!”

“Choi Beomgyu, you are too skinny, is there no real food in Seoul? For God sakes, your face is even smaller.”

“Did you hit me for this?”

“Yes, and I will hit you more if I don't see you eating properly in the next few days.” She spoke so seriously that Beomgyu almost believed her threat. At the same moment his voice softened and she turned again to Soobin. “And you, my dear, you also need to eat a little more, a boy as tall as you needs a lot of energy!”

It was something new to see his mother so happy with a new person. Guseul has a strong personality and it is really difficult to see her like someone that fast. Beomgyu felt bad for lying, but that was the only alternative he had. He snapped out of his guilt when he heard his mother say, "I'll finish out lunch in a minute, so you two can go upstairs and put your things in Beomie's room.”

Taking the hand of her husband, Guseul left with a small smile on her face. They seemed so happy to have visitors.

“When you're gonna tell me you find my lips pretty?” Soobin's whisper came out sweetly behind him.

“What?” Beomgyu’s voice cracked. “You hear that?”

“Neither you nor your family speak in a low tone, you know.” 

Beomgyu rolled his eyes trying to hide his cheeks that were blushing.

When they finally entered the maknae’s room, the owner realized that everything was just as he left it before he left Daegu, except for some boxes for donation piled up in a corner. Other than that, he still had some posters from some movies and bands, several drawings of the little beomgyu and right next to the closet his guitar.

“You play?”

“Oh, that's… Yeah, I know a few songs.” He shrugged. “My father taught me a few things and when I was in school I watched some videos on the internet and learned other things on my own.”

“Wow, that's amazing, Gyu-ya! How did you not tell me that?” Soobin seemed fascinated by it, but the instrument hadn't been played for a long time.

“I don't know. Sorry? In my defense you never asked.” Beomgyu said without enthusiasm. “It's been a long time, it wasn't that serious.”

Soobin's face became sad. “Oh… What a shame, it would be nice to see you play one of the songs we like.”

For half a second Beomgyu thought that it might actually be nice to play something that Soobin likes, if it meant having his roommate smile at him, he would do it. Even if picking up that guitar is painful, he would do it for Soobin.

“Maybe someday, who knows?” The little smirk makes Soobin smile without showing his teeth.

“By the way, I don't think your father liked me.” Soobin sat down on the edge of the bed.

“Shut up! People here have this hard way to talk with strangers, but it's normal.” Beomgyu went to the window to open it. “My mother is able to be more delicate and speak softer to you because she has seen as many Seoul dramas as possible. My father is just shy.”

“You are really a mixture of the two.” The tall one said nonchalantly and Beomgyu became curious.

“What do you mean?”

“Sometimes you dissociate and think too much, it's like you're cut off from the world. The first week we started living together I even thought you didn't like me. You keep staring at me with those huge eyes.” Soobin said as if he was in a serious presentation and fixed his glasses. ”Your father looked at me the same way.”

“l told you already, he's just shy.” 

“On the other hand, when we finally started to get close, I realized that you are much more like your mother.” Soobin continued ignoring Beomgyu. “Always cheerful and warm, as if nothing in the world could ever hit you. It gives me an inexplicable desire to stay close to you forever, because it just feels good.”

Oh.

Hearing that made Beomgyu feel things. Things like pride for himself, pride for being this person Soobin described. He felt so happy to know that Soobin saw him in that way and, damn, he wishes that this feeling from his roommate never changes, because Beomgyu also saw him as someone he wanted to be this close forever. Soobin could be annoying when he asked to turn off all the lights for them to sleep - when Beomgyu just wanted to spend the whole night playing - but since they became more friends Soobin turned a part of his life that was irreplaceable. He was a really great friend. Well, Soobin was indeed such a good friend, he was even helping him with this fake dating thing.

“See?” Soobin broke his train of thought once again and Beomgyu focused on him again. “You did it again, went into your own thoughts and didn't answer me.”

“I was thinking how much gay you were.” Soobin who rolled his eyes and smiled unwillingly.

“You will never hear anything nice about you again.” Soobin said in disgust and wiped away a bead of sweat that had fallen.

The weather outside was cold, as the weather app said, yet indoors there was no further need for Soobin to wear one of his thousands of hoodies.

“The heater is on, why don't you take this thing off”

Soobin looked at him doubtfully, but he accepted the suggestion and brought his hands to the hem of the clothes. Having seen the scene several times, Beomgyu thought to save himself some trouble and shouted to his roommate/fake boyfriend to stop the movement of removing the garment.

“How can you always do the same thing and never learn?” Beomgyu complained and pretended to be mad. Soobin looked at him without understanding, still holding the hoodie halfway down his torso, while Beomgyu positioned himself in front of him. Even sitting on the bed, Soobin was still a tall person, so they stood at similar heights in that position. Quickly, Beomgyu removed the glasses from his roommate's face, closing them and hanging them on his own shirt. Soobin's face was no longer confused, it was just his normal face. A normal Soobin face looking at him with beautiful eyes. For a moment, Beomgyu allowed himself to take a good look at his friend. His mother's phrase echoed again in the back of his mind. Such a beautiful mouth. A mouth that was half open, because Soobin had this terrible habit of leaving it that way sometimes. Beomgyu tried to steal a glance at it for half a second and it was enough to realize that, yes, it was a very pretty lips. Perhaps Soobin realized that Beomgyu had done it again, once more entering his own thoughts. However, this time he didn't say anything. Which made Beomgyu perceive too late that position and the situation they were in was not very common. 

Very close, Soobin still trying to take off his clothes and Beomgyu between his legs. Almost in his lap!

Not knowing what to do, in an attempt to break eye contact, the younger one also grabbed the hoodie and helped the older take it off. With no trouble this time, since the glasses had been removed. Thanks to Beomgyu.

Two knocks on the door, which was open, scared them both. And as if they were doing something wrong, Beomgyu walked away with a jump.

“What a fuck!?” Beomgyu put his hand to his chest dramatically. “You have no respect?”

“Sorry to interrupt the strip moment, next time you can close the door, but now our mother is calling for lunch.” Beomsoo, the reason for the scare, said laughing. Oh my god, he thinks what?

“Hyung, that's not what you think!” He pointed with his finger as if he were threatening. 

“Sure, Beomie. I know. Taking your boyfriend's clothes off is no big deal.” He laughed once again in a tease way.

“I swear…”

It was too late, the older brother was already out. He looked at Soobin and saw his ears red as tomatoes. As soon as their gazes met they both laughed.

“Let's go, before he tells everyone I'm a pervert.” He put the glasses in Soobin and they went down together.

“This is the best food I've tasted in a long time.” During lunch, after Beomgyu explained the situation to everyone (without much success, everybody laughed at them being caught ) Soobin changed the subject. “Really, Mrs. Choi. This is the best gopchang I have ever eaten.”

The lady smiled broadly.

“Thank you, my dearest! But of course your mother cooks better than I do. You should certainly visit your parents and have a good meal usually. Right?”

Oh, this was a subject Beomgyu had no idea about.

“Not really.” Soobin's Adam's apple was evident as the tall one swallowed dryly. “My parents are in Ansan most of the time, so I haven't visited them for a few weekends.”

“Oh, that's a shame. I see then that it is a couple thing not to visit their parents.” It was his father Byungwook's turn to speak and receive an elbow from Guseul.

“It happens.” Beomgyu's mother spoke in a reassuring tone. “They are young and very busy students, this is okay.”

Soobin had never mentioned her parents, only that they both worked in a big company and never had time for phone calls like Beomgyu's parents did. After that they never got into the subject again. Actually, Soobin never went out on holidays and weekends. Everyone who is from another city takes advantage of dates like these to make visits, however, in the last year, since Beomgyu himself did not come home either, he and his roommate spent all these dates together. 

Lunch continued quietly after that. Beomsoo talked about his new job and Beomgyu talked about how college was going. Later, when Beomgyu and Beomsoo's parents went out to buy some fruits, Beomsoo stayed with the two of them to talk.

“I’m thinking of proposing to Minhee on the day of the street party.”

“We're having a street party soon?” Beomgyu's voice came out extremely excited, and his older brother agreed cheerfully.

“Excuse me, but what is it? “ Evidently, Soobin seemed lost in the midst of all the excitement.

“Oh, it's a party that our neighborhood throws occasionally. It used to be every month, but the people on the street got discouraged with time.” The oldest of them all answered.

“When we were kids the whole neighborhood participated, the street was closed and every neighbor helped by making a dish or a dessert.” Beomgyu added to his brother's words. “Everyone would join just to eat and have fun. It was so good.”

“It's still like that, but once in a while.” Beomsoo spoke nostalgically. “When I first brought Minhee here she loved it, she started to prepared some dishes as if she lived here too, so I thought it would be romantic to ask her to marry me at one of these parties.”

“It is very romantic, yes.” Beomgyu said and his fake boyfriend agreed.

“It seems something that has an important meaning, I think she will like it.”

“Yeonjun told me it would be cheesy.” Beomsoo said with a laugh.

“That's bullshit. Don’t worry, hyung! It's going to be amazing.” Beomgyu put an arm around his brother's shoulders and shook him. “Soobin and I will help you with whatever you need.”

“I already thank you for being here, my greatest joy will be to be able to fulfill this special moment with everyone I love here.”

The conversation started to get too emotional, but Beomgyu knew this would happen. His brother had always had a soft heart and Beomgyu would fight the heavens and the hells for him. Beomsoo was the best brother in the world. All his happiness now means a lot and nothing can ruin it. Beomgyu must do whatever to make this day be wonderful, even if he has to pretend to be in a fake relationship with his best friend for this.

The first item on the list of : from roomies to (fake) boyfriends was: physical contact.

All couples that are on fiction or seen in public make physical contact. Holding hands and caressing each other on the cheek are examples of this, of course. Only lovers do things like that, right?

Well, at first, Beomgyu thought that adding this item was necessary, however, now it didn't seem really necessary to have done so. The family gathered in the living room to talk some more after dinner when Beomsoo's girlfriend had arrived in the afternoon. Soon, Guseul and Byungwook sat in their armchairs, Beomsoo and Minhee cuddling on the couch and on the floor Beomgyu pulled Soobin to his side. Guseul's future daughter-in-law was chatting with the elders in a casual manner. The conversation was boring to Beomgyu, so with nothing to do Soobin's hand and his long fingers were more interesting to the younger than anything in the room. With his head resting against his fake boyfriend's shoulder and his hands holding Soobin's, Beomgyu realized long after he started playing with the older man's fingers that the item was written with no reason. They already do this kind of physical touch in normal days. 

Started naturally, when they watched a TV show together or had to use a notebook to watch a dorama, and for that they sat on the same bed, staying exactly in that position, with Beomgyu's head on Soobin's shoulders, very close to each other. It also happened when they shared the headphones or when Taehyun and HueningKai called them both to go out and excluded them in some way. It was normal. And, apparently, it was great for the fake boyfriend thing, since Beomsoo mocking that they were the disgusting couple in the world. The smile that Soobin gave at this moment showed his dimples, and Beomgyu took the opportunity to touch them and have one more reason to be called a cute couple by his family.

“When did you guys start dating?” Minhee's question caught him off guard, but thanks to god, Soobin's answer came quickly.

“Two months ago.”

“How did it happen?”

The lie they had arranged worked out well. Even though he was not a very religious person, Beomgyu thanked the heavens. Minhee thought the story was beautiful and Beomsoo seemed proud. The mother of the two boys smiled delightedly while the father only murmured in contemplation.

At least this part had worked out well.

Beomgyu smiled directly at Soobin after that feeling genuinely happy for having him there.

The bed in Beomgyu's room was significantly larger than the one in the dormitory, so it was not a problem to share this time. As a matter of fact, Soobin slept like a rock even with Beomgyu lying on him most of the night. But, when the sun's rays came in through the window, Soobin was forced to wake up because of the brightness. Not realizing that the younger one was still sleeping, he stretched out to get his cell phone from the desk beside the bed. He scrolled through social media and liked some pictures that Taehyun posted on instagram and replied to messages from Hyuka. All this while still holding Beomgyu in his arms, who, on the other hand, was already awake, just pretending to sleep some more out of laziness to get up and leave the warmth of the bed. The arm that was under Beomgyu probably started to hurt a little, because Soobin kept moving, disturbing the peace.

“Did you wake up with ants on your asshole?”He grumbled with his face pressed against the chest under him.

“I haven't felt my arm in hours.” He kept pushing with his shoulder to get rid of it. This one was complaining again and holding the bigger one tighter. “Get off, loser.”

“Let me sleep a little longer, just a little bit.” he whined, in a childish voice.

Soobin scrunched his nose and made disgusting noises. “You have bad breath, my Goddess, stop talking. You stinks.”

The two started a real fight, Soobin trying to keep his face away from Beomgyu who was trying to blow his bad breath while almost riding him.

“What have I told you about closing the door?”

The two friends were scared once again by the older brother's voice.

“Fuck, what are you doing here again?” Of course the curse had come from Beomgyu.

“Just close the door if you want to get laid.” He shrugged. “Get up, the old man needs someone to go to market.”

Without saying another word Beomsoo turned around and left.

“They send two college students to do groceries when I don't even know the difference between parsley and cilantro.” Beomgyu's complaint came out in a high tune and Soobin laughed behind him.

“You don't know how to read, Beomgyu-ya?” He picked up a handful of cilantro and dangled it in front of his face. “They have tags.”

“I have eyes, Soobin-ah .” The disrespectful manner earned him a hit on the forehead. With furious eyes, he was ready to strike back the implication when he heard a third person's voice approaching.

“No way. I can't believe what I'm seeing.” A person that Beomgyu was not expecting to meet at the moment appeared in front of both of them. “BG?”

“YJ! What a surprise.” He smiled forced and hugged his cousin as if they were old friends.

“How long, uh?” he said after they separated and Yeonjun focused on Soobin. “And you must be the famous Soobin.”

“Hey! Yes, that's me.” He bowed his head.

“Yah, why are you guys so serious? It even looks like you were arguing before I arrived.” Yeonjun laughed gracelessly at his own comment.

“We were just talking, hyung.” Beomgyu giggled with Soobin, leaning his arm on his fake boyfriend, and Yeonjun raised an eyebrow, but pretended to understand the awkward situation.

“So... groceries, Beoms?”

“Yes, ma'am wants to make her famous dish for the street party with fresh ingredients.” Remembering the party, he had to ask. “You're going, right?”

“Of course I'm going! Beomsoo texted me yesterday to confirm. You know that now he and I are closer after you left me, right?”

This was a joke, they talked by messages and calls, so they just laughed. Yeonjun would never leave Beomgyu. They did the rest of the market together. When Yeonjun observed them for a long time, Soobin would take his hand or come closer than usual. As soon as they were finished, since his cousin lives only two blocks down the street, they walked together

When they finally get back home and are alone again, Beomgyu could breathe.

“He knows!” Even whispering, Beomgyu shouted at Soobin as they took the groceries out of the plastic bags and put them on the kitchen table.

“Beomie, you need to calm down. He didn't notice anything, nothing happened, it was the first time he saw us.” On the other hand, Soobin whispered serenely, trying to calm her (fake)boyfriend down. It hadn't worked very well.

“Are you blind?” His body language didn't help at times like this, his hands were uncontrolled, and if someone came into the room it would surely be a terrible scene to watch. “The look on his eyes was obvious, he was suspicious, he knows I'm lying. Shit, I'm fucked up. We are terrible. This can't be happening. I screwed everything up, goddamn!”

If Yeonjun suspected even the slightest thing, all would be lost, because he would not hesitate to tell Beomsoo. He had done something similar in the past and it didn't end well. To Beomgyu, this wasn't a bad thing. Quite the opposite, Beomgyu knew that it meant that Yeonjun cared about him, but at this moment this lie cannot be found. Beomgyu could not ruin this very special moment of his big brother's life by being a complete mess. The fear he felt at that moment made him get mad at Soobin without knowing. Beomgyu didn't even realize that while he was grunting in anger, there was someone coming into the kitchen. Luckily, Soobin seemed to be aware of it, as he quickly dropped the bag he was holding and took both hands of his fake boyfriend, slipping them over his own waist and making the smaller man hug him. Of course, Beomgyu didn't understand at the time, too absorbed in his own thoughts. He understood even less when Soobin used his finger and thumb to grasp Beomgyu’s chin and lift it slightly, leaning in a little to place a gentle, lingering kiss on the corner of his cheek.

Suddenly everything around was only Soobin, and the sensation of receiving a kiss, even if on the cheek, left Beomgyu very confused.

However, as soon as he heard the murmur of his older brother complaining about the two of them being extremely clingy, he understood the reason for his roommate's act. From the angle that Beomsoo had of the door, Soobin seemed to be kissing Beomgyu. And, of course, Soobin was really shameless to fake an apology to Beomsoo, saying that Beomgyu was extremely cute and that he couldn't control himself. As soon as his brother was out of sight and Soobin let go of his body, Beomgyu felt incomplete. A feeling of emptiness and missed the warmth emanating from the other. Soobin cleared his throat.

“Stop looking at me with that face, we agreed on this before.”

Sure, yeah, when they met in that coffee shop "kissing on the cheek" was an item on the list of from roomies to (fake) boyfriends .

In fact, this topic was one of the reasons for one of their discussions.

(“On the cheek ok. Forehead no.” Beomgyu said after Soobin asked about the topic of kissing .

“What's the difference? On the forehead is the most obvious to you and me.” He tried to argue. “You are shorter than me, it would make sense, and would be cute for a couple.”

“On the forehead is too intimate. I don't want to.” He crossed his arms and pouted as if he were a child.

“What hell? Of course it isn't! The cheek is so much closer to the mouth than your forehead. That's totally nonsense.” the shape of Soobin's mouth was more evident when arguing, not that Beomgyu noticed it, it was just too obvious sometimes.

Annoying cupid’s bow.

“Cheek kisses can be used as greetings, but forehead kisses aren't given when you say hello to another person.”

“You are the most stubborn person in the world. Has anyone ever told you that? Why do you have to go against everything I say?”

“If you can't defend your point, give up, Soobin-hyung”).

And he really did give up, so much so that this happened now. A stupid kiss on the cheek.

“I'm not making any face, I'm just surprised. It was too close to my mouth, you idiot.”

“I warned you. Didn't I?” He shrugged and smiled victoriously, Beomgyu wrinkled his nose in anger. “Anyways, don't worry, Beoms.” Soobin went back to the counter and continued unpacking. “Yeonjun won't suspect a thing, I promise.”

Maybe Beomgyu wasn't so fucked up.

Chapter Text

As soon as they got back to the bedroom, Beomgyu remembered to close the door. Living in a shared room with Soobin for months, made him lose the habit of closing the door since the two of them lived together. Well, obviously it was natural that he didn't have to pay that much attention to having privacy once he was sleeping and waking up next to his annoying roommate every day. However, remembering his brother's two warnings, this time he didn't let it pass. Bad idea, since when he saw the inside of his door, he realized that he had forgotten a small detail of his room. The polaroid photowall - a dozen pictures stuck on the wood frozen in his door.

Pictures of his family, some friends from high school, his favorite kindergarten teacher, and more family. Photos of people that are too important. Probably because of the weather or the time that had passed some of these pictures were loose, almost detached from the door by losing their glue. He ran his hand over each of them, trying to fix them somehow. Later he would have to apply some glue so that none of them would fall out. He couldn't lose any more of these that were here, the hole in the middle already indicated that one had been forcibly removed.

“Did you take all of them?” Soobin's question came out shyly from behind him. Beomgyu answered only by nodding his head in a yes. “Cool…”

At first it seemed that Soobin said this only out of politeness, however, he realized that the older man was genuinely interested when he approached and looked at them picture by picture.

“I had a habit of wanting to register and keep a photo of all the people who were or are important to me before college.” He scratched the back of his neck absently when Soobin looked at him.

“Oh… That is-”

“Cringe and very childish?” He guessed, and Soobin made a disappointed face.

“I was going to say very cute and lovely of you, but you are an idiot, so I won't say it anymore.” They both laughed, and Beomgyu thanked him for the compliment. “There's one missing here, did it fall off?”

His roommate's long finger pointed right at the empty space and the smile he still had on face immediately broke. Soobin must have realized that the question was rather personal, because his face also changed in fear.

“No, it didn't, I took it off.” He swallowed dryly.

“Oh…” 

Soobin visibly entered a dilemma, at the same time that he seemed to regret asking, he was also curious. Beomgyu liked that in Soobin. Even if he wanted to know about his life, he would not ask or force him to tell. Then he remembered the early morning when they had talked about the fake dating thing. "I realized that this is not a silly subject, and I don't want to know about it if you're not ready and comfortable telling me."

Both the photo and the whole fake dating story were correlated. And maybe Soobin deserves to know what had happened because he was doing so much to help. Maybe Soobin will understand him. 

Beomgyu was gathering the courage to tell him everything when Soobin’s phone started ringing and HueningKai's contact appeared on the screen via facetime. Soobin answered on the third ring and pulled Beomgyu by the wrist to sit on the bed.

They talked with their friend for almost an hour and a half, tried to invite Taehyun to call as well, however, they didn't have any answer. Beomgyu talked about everything that had happened in the last few days and how happy he was to see his family. Therefore, when Kai ask how the fake dating history was going the two replied at the same time that everything was great and received a dubious look from their friend, which soon passed as Beomgyu took the cell phone from Soobin's hand and made a funny comment about his fake boyfriend drooling in his hair when they slept together on the first night. The moment when the subject changed to something that only Beomgyu and the other inside the phone found interesting, Soobin felt uncomfortable in his sitting position. Must be a difficult life having the height of a giraffe. With that, Soobin straightened himself up in bed by lying down between the pillows. A few moments passed and Beomgyu also began to feel uncomfortable in that position, but he refused to lie on the other side. Sitting up and holding the phone, Beomgyu shifted while talking to his friend, and Soobin, not having the patience to keep watching, got up just enough to pull the other one by the arm and make the younger one lie down as well. If Kai noticed that Beomgyu's head was lying on Soobin's chest after that, he made no comment (thanks God). So, as the call ended, Beomgyu thought they would get out of that position however, Soobin seemed to have other plans, as he made no effort to get up and took his phone back, opening instagram.

“It may sound crazy, I know, but did you notice how the pictures Taehyun posted yesterday have the same location as Kai said he is with his sisters in Jeju

“What?” Beomgyu lifted his head, leaning on his chest and stared at the big guy in pure confusion. Ignoring that fact they are closer (too much closer!!) than normal once they have never been in that position before.

“Look…” He pointed to his phone where he could see Taehyun's profile on social media and the location of the last publication. “Earlier Huening said he was there too.”

It seemed that man was saying something obvious, but Beomgyu could not understand it yet. Soobin rolled his eyes and finally realized.

“They are together. Together in Jeju. Kai Kamal and Kang Taehyun.”

“How can you be so sure? It could be a coincidence.”

“Taehyun didn't take the facetime because it would probably show that they are in the same place.”

Half a minute of silence settled between the two of them. This idiot might be right.

“Oh my fucking god! That's why he told me he couldn't do my work and didn't say where he was going.” A click clicked in the back of Beomgyu's brain. “They traveling together.”

“Yes, that is exactly what I am talking about, genius. Now, why they didn't tell us they went together I don't know.”

This was really strange, so much so that the day he had asked his friend to do his work he had waited for the younger one to say where he was going and this never happened. Surely the subject would be a topic for monday when everyone went back to university.

“How did you think this up all by himself?” Soobin was not stupid, he knew that, however, he could not let the implication pass. “I didn't know you had the brains for it, hyung.”

“Did you know that there is a field in journalism that is called investigative journalism and that I am great at it?” He sneered at the younger man and pinched him lightly on the waist. “I'm not like you architects who play at drawing houses.”

“Well, well, sherlock holmes. Next time do your research and see if I asked for your opinion.”

Per day Soobin could only answer one or two of Beomgyu's implications, so the big guy just laughed at his answer and gave up arguing, using his stupid big hands to make Beomgyu’s head lying on his chest again. 

Hiding his own smile, Beomgyu thought of how he liked to make Soobin laugh like this.

“The missing picture on the door was of my ex-girlfriend.” The courage to tell what happened came later, with the two of us still in bed. “We were friends in high school and in senior year we started dating. She seemed to like me at first, but it didn't last long.”

It was hard to tell someone about this without feeling like a complete idiot. Anyway, Beomgyu managed to continue when he felt Soobin's hand encouraging him by stroking his shoulder.

“She started treating me differently sometimes and acting as if I wasn't worth her time. Everything started to get bad and she pulled away too much. I didn't want it to end, so I didn't do anything.” At that time, looking back now more maturely, Beomgyu saw how he had created an emotional dependency on the girl and how it had affected him. “I continued in that situation blindly because I thought I needed her. That's when Yeonjun-hyung realized that something was not right and ended up finding out that she was cheating on me.”

“Is that why he is so suspicious of me and everything?” Soobin seemed to understand better now, but this was not even the main cause.

“Actually, that wasn't even the problem.” He laughed bitterly. “When we broke up and she told everyone, I was the wrong one in the story for all of your friends. And at some point I felt wrong too. Everything became a mess. I stopped eating and I stopped going to school.”

It was precisely this part of the story that Beomgyu was ashamed of. Was ashamed that had been so weak and sensitive because of it.

“One day, when I went to spend the night at my aunt's house, I fainted in front of Yeonjun. My family didn't know that all this had happened and he ended up telling Beomsoo and my parents, only then everyone realized that I was physically and emotionally ill. My family took care of me, but after that everyone saw me as someone fragile.”

Remembering all this was terrible. That time was terrible. Beomgyu almost got anemia from not eating properly, his anxiety increased, and he still had his family worried about him after Yeonjun told everything.

“That's why I chose to go to SNU. I could have gone to college nearby, but I was too embarrassed. That's also why it took me so long to come home.” Beomgyu sighed deeply. “That's why I'm pretending to find someone who loves me, so they'll think I'm okay and that I'm over her.”

And he was indeed over her. When his health returned to normal and Beomgyu went to university, everything changed. At first it was difficult, he was in another city, alone and ashamed of what had happened, but without knowing everything, Soobin was one of the reasons for getting better soon. Soobin helped him the most in this process. After meeting his roommate and his new friends, every day he spent there he thought less about his old relationship and everything that had happened. Of course, remembering things still hurts, however not in a bad way, this episode just stays as an unhappy memory.

“I'm sorry for all that you've been through, Beomie. You were young and it wasn't your fault.” Soobin hugged him tight. “But you are not a fragile person and I doubt that your family thinks that about you. They love you very much and probably they were just worried about you.”

Soobin's words were strangely comforting. Hugging Soobin was strangely pleasant. Soobin's fingers stroking his hair also gave a sense of security. The 'Soobin' as a person was such a relief to Beomgyu.

Not knowing what to say, the two of them continued lying there together in the bed cuddling. After talking about everything that happened, Beomgyu thought that he would be seen differently by the elder, however, everything seemed normal. He had not judged Beomgyu the way he thought he would, on the contrary, Soobin comforted the younger. The air entering his lungs now seemed cleaner. It was good to have Soobin.

“Can you help me with this?” Soobin asked gracelessly, holding a contact lens on his index finger.

Beomgyu nodded and guided his (fake!) boyfriend to sit on the bed. The older one leaned on his elbows and threw his head back so that Beomgyu would have better access to his face. This situation has already happened two or three times before. One time Taehyun even tried to help the bigger one, though he couldn't. It seemed that only Beomgyu had the magic to make Soobin not blink. Normally, his roommate only wore his contact lenses when he wanted to look cool. Taking a good look at his fake boyfriend's clothes, Beomgyu realized Soobin was trying to look good.

“You don't have to make such an effort to dress up like this for the party! Is not something formal, Soobin.” He said while putting the lenses in one eye.

"Have you noticed how sometimes you forget that I am your hyung and don't call me in the right way?” One lens was gone, now the other was missing.

“Why should I be respectful to you if we are almost the same age.”

“Does it hurt to respect me once in a while?” Soobin said smiling, because truth to be told, he didn't care, Beomgyu could call him anything and he would always answer.

“Soobin-ssi , you are so annoying that you don't even deserve to be called hyung.” He said in a childish and annoying way after he finished putting on the second lens.

“Is there a way to talk to your boyfriend, Choi Beomgyu?” Soobin's voice sounded serious, but his eye smile on face said something else. “Since you don't like hyung, how about calling me baby ?"

Fuck, fuck fuck! What a fuck???

This provocative Choi Soobin was the worst of all, Beomgyu’s face must be burning.

And holy shit, Beomgyu forgot about that. 

(“Hyung, if we are going to pretend to be boyfriend, we have to have cute nicknames.”

Disappointment stamped the older man's face. “Beomgyu-ah, let's take it easy. Not all couples use nicknames.” He tried to look serious and sipped his coffee.

“Only couples that have been together for a long time. New lovebirds do this.” He pointed to the napkin with two months of dating written on it.

Soobin took a deep breath. “Fine.” He crossed his hands and leaned his elbows on the table, staring at the smaller one. “What would you call me then?”

“I didn't think about it.” He panicked. “You first.”

“Honey?” The name came out funny from Soobin's mouth, Beomgyu denied it with his head. “Love?” Beomgyu feigned nausea and Soobin rolled his eyes. “Sweetheart?”

“Enough, this won't work.”

“Darling?” Soobin's english was funny, so they both giggled, but he kept saying names like “cutie” and “my dearest” making them laugh even more because of his mispronunciation. It was really fun to see Soobin speaking these disconnected words, however, all fun ended when he tilted his head and called: “Baby?”

Son of a bitch, Choi Soobin, his friend and roommate, called him baby and Beomgyu’s heart felt strange sensations.

Surely Soobin noticed, since the next second Beomgyu felt his cheeks blushing, a smile formed on the other's lips. That smile that Soobin doesn't show his teeth, wrinkles his nose and a dimple appears.

“You liked 'baby!” he said excitedly, pointing with his forefinger. “You like being called baby. My baby, hm ?”

Shaking his head and getting rid of Soobin's smile, Beomgyu denied it by implying something random.

In the end, they decided that using nicknames would be a last resort, so as not to get weird and arouse suspicion).

That's why Soobin used that phrase now. That freaking bastard! Just as Beomgyu's answer was about to come, someone's voice interrupted them both. The door, which was ajar, opened to reveal Yeonjun.

“Your mother asked me to call you. We need help downstairs.”

Why does Yeonjun only appear at times like this? Since when was he listening to the conversation?! Beomgyu would collapse if this happened one more time. Soobin even tried to reassure Beomgyu by caressing him with her pinky as they walked down the stairs with Yeonjun, but he was scared.

All the neighbors of the street were helping to decorate and set things up for the event that was to take place after sunset. As soon as they came down, Beomgyu was pulled along by his brother. It had been quite a while since he had helped Beomsoo put the linings on the tables that were already set up in the right places when he spotted Yeonjun and Soobin from afar together, carrying more tables into the street. If it were humanly possible to turn into a bird and go over to them to listen to what they were talking about, Beomgyu would surely do it now.

“This boy seems to really like you, Gyu.” His hyung said when he realized that his brother was staring too much at his (fake!!!)boyfriend. “I'm glad to know that now you have someone like that. You deserve it.”

Beomsoo patted his younger brother on the arm with a smile and walked away. His brother was so happy about all this. The engagement was probably the main cause, however, the thought that Beomgyu no longer needed to be watched and cared for because he had someone who would do this, should also be a relief for him.

Beomgyu sighed deeply and ran his hands through his hair, messing them up. This was so fucked up.

Still from afar, he watched as his father called Soobin, probably to help hang some lamps because of his height, and Yeonjun came toward him with a table. He straightened his posture and unfolded another liner.

“You know, Beoms…” Of course something was going to come up. “Why didn't you tell me anything at all about this guy before?”

Beomgyu didn't dare to stare into Yeonjun's eyes, he continued to arrange things on the table without making eye contact.

“You know…” he shrugged. “He is very shy. I wanted to tell, but he wanted to announce only in person, so we waited.” One lie and one truth, just as you rehearsed. Soobin was really shy in real life, right?

“Funny. Beomsoo-hyung told me that aunt Guseul knew about it before you confirmed that you were coming to Daegu.”

Shit.

“It's just that I was already thinking about coming anyway.” He shrugged his shoulders again, trying to look natural. “It's been almost a year since I went to Seoul, I couldn't stay that long without coming, so I told Ma.”

“Why didn't you tell me?” He emphasized the "me" well, because it made sense. If Beomgyu got a real boyfriend, the first person he would tell about it would be Yeonjun.

He swallowed dry once more and involuntarily looked away.

“I told you... He asked to wait.”

“So what? The Beomgyu I know would tell me everything and give me details of everything, unless I am no longer so important in your life.”

“Hyung, it's not that. It's just that…”

He wanted to say something like: I don't want to feel like an idiot for all of you anymore, I wanted to disconnect from the last memory you have of me.

But just came out one: “It's complicated.”

“I don't think you feel comfortable around him.” 

Ok. This was not expected. A questionnaire about everything related to the fake dating was to be expected. An aggrieved Yeonjun not knowing firsthand about his cousin's boyfriend was to be expected. Now, the realization this serious was a shock.

“S-sorry, what?” The high-pitched sound that came out the next sentence showed his desperation. “Hyung, I like him, what are you talking about?”

The disappointed look on his cousin's face made him panic internally. “Every time I have seen you two, he is the only one to initiate physical contact with you.” He began to list with his fingers. “You call each other only by name. And, I haven't seen you guys kissing. Not to mention that around me you stand still and get all weird. And every time I see you, you look tense or whatever. Like something terrible is going to happen.”

Beomgyu wanted to scream. Why on earth did Yeonjun have to be so observant?

For some reason, Soobin could do a good job pretending to be in love with Beomgyu, but apparently Beomgyu doesn't. He should have been so concerned with making everyone believe - making, especially, Yeonjun believed - that he was in love with Soobin that his acting was weird. For the past two days, every moment that Soobin touched him or interacted with him in a romantic way his mouth turned bitter. Because, deep down, he wished he didn't have to pretend all that to his family. Because in a little corner, deep down inside his heart, hidden inside himself, he wanted it to be true. Yet, still, he was too cowardly to admit it to himself. And now, Yeonjun has interpreted it differently.

There were too many things on Beomgyu's mind, and he got in the way of all of them apparently. Regardless of all this mess, he needed to fix this, or at least try to, what Yeonjun thought. Beomsoo could not know that.

“Aren't you going to answer me, Beomgyu?” Yeonjun's voice brought him back into the conversation. “Are you sure you like this guy?”

“Yeonjun, I-”

His speech was cut off, since they were still in the middle of the street and in the middle of preparing for a party when someone asked Yeonjun to help somewhere else and the older man left just casting him a look ‘We'll talk later’.

Beomgyu sighed deeply once again.

His despair didn't last long. His mother soon called him to help with the dishes and, like an obedient son, he ran into the house.

“We need to talk.”  That's what Beomgyu said to Soobin later, after he was released from the kitchen, and left, tugging at the sleeve of Soobin's hoodie.

His room was too far away and, honestly, climbing the stairs was too exhausting. So he opened the small door to the bathroom and slipped Soobin in.

“Your cousin, Yeonjun, came talk to me.” Soobin said, smoothing the sleeve of his hoodie, which he had messed up while being dragged along by his boyfriend.

“With me too.” Talking to Soobin became so easy that the roommate didn't even have to ask what it was before Beomgyu could continue. “He said that I don't like you, because I don't show that I feel comfortable around you, and now I am absolutely sure that he knows that this is fake. I just really hope that he doesn't say anything today and doesn't ruin the most important day of Beomsoo's life because of us. Because of me.”

He spoke in exasperation and pointed to his own chest, because, frankly, he thought it was his fault. Soobin just stared at him with slightly wide eyes as if trying to calm down.

“I don't think this is the case.”

“What? He said quite clearly that he doesn't believe I like you.l

“But he believes that I like you.” Soobin leaned against the wall with arms crossed.

“What? What do you mean?”

“When we talked, he told me he was worried that I was the only one who liked you.” Again Soobin told it as if it was something obvious and Beomgyu didn't understand. The tall one rolled his eyes. “He doesn't think this is false. He thinks that you are submitting yourself to this relationship because I like you more. Like, maybe you saw an opportunity to be in a different relationship with someone dumb for you.”

Well, that made sense. Either way, Beomgyu didn't know whether to be relieved or more desperate.

“And maybe he is thinking that the same thing is happening again.” That last sentence had come out in a lower tone. “In a reverse way or whatever.”

And, damn it! It would make a lot more sense.

Beomgyu's face must have said he understood, as Soobin continued.

“You should kiss me.”

The request was barely out of Soobin's mouth and Beomgyu immediately choked on his own saliva. “WHAT! NOW? JUST LIKE THAT?”

“Oh my God! NO!” he said with his hands as well. “At the party tonight, when everyone is present and he is looking, you should kiss me.”

“That's not on the list, Soobin.”

“Do you want him to believe it or not?” He raised an eyebrow, and Beomgyu grunted, closing his eyes. When he opened them, the first thing he saw was Soobin's chubby lips. Such lips that opened into a mischievous smile. “Do you already want to try it now?”

Beomgyu opened his mouth in disbelief and he laughed, throwing back his head. The audacity of this guy.

"Are you serious!?" When Beomgyu realized that his roommate was not joking, his smile disappeared.

"I'm dead serious, honey."

"I can't believe it, you must be crazy."

Soobin smirked. 

Beomgyu was definitely lost now

Chapter Text

The street was partially decorated. The most beautiful detail was the row of small lamps scattered and hanging above a huge junction of tables. It was nothing very elaborate, as you could tell by the lack of systematization of the table linings, the different chairs, and the diversity of dishes scattered about the tables in no order. It wasn't a crowd, but there were plenty of people, a large group of children running after each other, ladies talking too loudly, older men gathered to talk about soccer or old people stuff, and the young ones just enjoying a drink.

Beomgyu felt at home.

The proposal came right away. The only favor Beomsoo asked Beomgyu and Soobin to do was for the two of them to try to get the children to stop running and screaming. So when the attention was on his older brother, the request happened. He told some stories since he met Minhee and confessed how happy he felt next to her. The girl, who was wearing a beautiful flowered dress, smiled broadly, even though she did not yet understand what's happening. Nevertheless, when she saw Beomsoo kneeling down and holding out the velvet box, everything made sense. There was much crying and celebration afterwards. Everyone congratulated and hugged the new fiancés. It was a very beautiful moment. Minhee looked at the ring as if it was the fulfillment of a dream and Beomgyu was happy to see his brother happy just like that.

Then, after midnight, the party for the adults really began. The children were put to sleep and the bottles of soju and beer started to become emptied. For a few minutes, Beomgyu forgot everything and just enjoyed the moment with his family and friends from the neighborhood. Soobin was weak for drinks, so he only had one small can of a low alcoholic drink. Beomgyu, on the other hand, was used to, so he drank a few beers. He didn't drink to get drunk, just enough to smile too much. Such a smile that did not last long, for when he spotted Yeonjun looking in his direction and faced with  suspicious eyes

Soobin's request made in the bathroom echoed in his thoughts. You should kiss me.

He and Soobin found themselves not far from the tables, leaning against one of the walls of one of the houses. He finished his third beer that night and placed the can on the sidewalk; on a normal day he would worry about finding a trash can for it, but at this moment he needed to work up the courage to kiss his best friend.

“Remember our conversation in the bathroom?” He positioned himself in front of Soobin and received a pair of eyes staring at him.

“Yeah..” He didn't need to give too many details for Soobin to understand the message. He watched the tall one put his phone in the pocket of his beige overcoat and turned his attention to Beomgyu.

Soobin continued with his back propped up against the wall and left his legs a little apart, making enough space for Beomgyu to fit in. Nothing too obscene, from a distance it looked like just two lovers hugging. Still, he was suddenly feeling Soobin's hands very evident on his waist. Beomgyu's own hands became eager and reached for the upturned collar of the other's overcoat for support.

“Are they watching?” Beomgyu whispered, though only his roommate was nearby. At this, Soobin smiled, showing her dimples, and peeked over his shoulder.

“Ooh, sure! Everybody is looking at your clingy ass.”

Beomgyu wanted to hit him. How could Soobin joke in such a situation? Not knowing whether to laugh or to cry with shame, he buried his face in Soobin’s chest and took a deep breath.

Soobin smelled so good. Those looking from afar were sure to think that Beomgyu was just being a clingy drunk with his boyfriend. Everything for the fake scenario, obviously.

“It's funny, Yeonjun is staring so hard and pretending not to care.” Soobin laughed nasally. “He totally hates me.”

At the moment, the world for Beomgyu was only Soobin. Everything around him was Soobin. He couldn't see who was watching them because of his position with his back to the tables, and it didn't matter either to be honest.

As he lifted his head and faced his fake boyfriend, all he could think was: I wanted to kiss that mouth and it's not for the act.

And so he did.

He moved his hands up to his neck and gradually moved closer. At first it was just a simple touch. A small brushing of lips. Soobin's lips were as soft as he imagined. It lasted five or maybe ten seconds, and when Beomgyu made mention of feeling Soobin's lips with his tongue, he felt the other one tensing. He pulled back far enough to face him with worried eyes. Soobin's gaze was indescribable, he couldn't understand what the other wanted to say. Until, he felt a small tightness in his waist.

“Beomgyu…” Soobin called to him as if it were a warning. His eyes were trying to say something. “This was not in the plan .”

“It's supposed to be more realistic.”

Lie. Beomgyu was becoming a very good liar. Kiss Soobin became a goal for him. He needed to feel him for real, just because he wanted to. 

Soobin stared into his eyes and lowered his focus, slowly, passing by his nose and then stopping at his mouth again. “You sure?”

Beomgyu conformed with a nod.

This time they already met with their mouths a little open and Soobin let him do what he wanted. Beomgyu felt the other's lips and tongue with his own. He tasted everything he could from Soobin's mouth. He held the bigger one by the cheeks and made him lean more to the side, intensifying the kiss and tasting him more. Both seemed to have forgotten they had an audience and a reason. Whether someone is watching or not, doesn't matter anymore. All he wanted now was to keep feeling Soobin's lips on his. Unfortunately, Soobin still was a shy person, and he ended the kiss with a lingering peck before letting go of his roommate's lips for real. He didn't even have time to look at Soobin's reddened soft lips and see the work of art he had done, because Beomsoo arrived hugging him from the side, pulling him away from his (fake?) boyfriend.

“Your whole family is here, Choi Beomgyu. Don't do anything indecent.” His brother said laughing.

Both of them laughed at the phrase in embarrassment. The night could end there. It would be an extremely good memory even with all the circumstances. However, it didn't turn out that way for two reasons.

The first one happened when Beomsoo continued his talk. 

“Look, I wasn't going to say this right now, but I can't hide things. You know that, don't you, Beomie?” From his choked voice and flushed cheeks, his brother was celebrating the engagement well, drinking heavily. “Minhee and I want both of you to be our best man.”

Beomgyu wanted to die right there.

Beomgyu never thought he would feel this way, but he was missing his small dormitory. He headed straight home pulling Soobin by the wrist the instant Beomsoo left after that absurd invitation. He was exhausted.

“I can't believe he asked that.” He grunted with anger, taking off his coat and throwing it somewhere. “What are we going to do now?”

“Gyu-ya…” Soobin tried to call for the youngest, but was unsuccessful, Beomgyu kept babbling.

“How we going to broke up if he wants you as best man at the fucking wedding?”

“Beomie…”

“He can only be crazy to ask this of someone he met two days ago-”

“Beomgyu-ya…”

“And if I say that we broke up because you had to go to europe.”

“Beomgyu…”

“I can say that it was me who broke up so that you won't be the bad guy in the story.”

“Beomgyu.”

“If the wedding is after the summer, I can say that you graduated and we had to break up because of dis-”

“YA!” Soobin lost his patience and stood in front of him, holding him by the shoulders. “Choi Beomgyu, I'm trying to talk to you, for god's sake. Stop and look at me. Please!”

“What?” He said, wide-eyed.

Suddenly he felt very exposed to Soobin. In a blink of an eye he focused on the older man's mouth and quickly returned to his eyes, stared at the right and the left half lost, as if he was now very alert about what had happened earlier.

They kissed!

They kissed in front of everyone. And good god! Fuck! His friend's mouth was on him minutes ago.

“I…”

And now, to make matters worse, Soobin's gaze also got down a few inches and stared at his own lips. What did Soobin want to say so badly?

“May I please… kiss you one more time?”

Oh.

Oh.

There's no reason to kiss again. There was no audience there. It was just the younger man's room. Just the two of them, and obviously, between them, there was no reason to fake dating. They're partners in crime, they don't need to pretend when they are the only person in the room. Nevertheless, Beomgyu found himself nodding in slow motion. And then they kissed again. Beomgyu was once again graced to taste Soobin, and honestly, he felt in heaven. Without the presence of an audience, it was even possible to notice that Soobin got more enthusiastic. Soobin's hand, which had previously remained static on the smaller man’s waist, moved up to his face and his thumb caressed the roommate's cheek as their tongues met. Beomgyu managed to stand only because he clung onto the other's clothes. Soobin kissed him eagerly, it seemed that his life depended on that damn kiss. Beomgyu’s legs became completely useless and Soobin took advantage of this, they staggered until Beomgyu felt his back hit the wall and Soobin pressed against him with his own body. Everything became hotter. Even at the moment when air started to be a problem, Soobin didn't pull away completely, he left his mouth open, pulling the air still close to Beomgyu's and returning to the act immediately. Addictive. Intoxicating. Ecstatic. And every possible word to describe it. All simultaneously.

“Soobin.” Beomgyu tried to break out of the kiss by pulling away, although the other didn't seem to like the idea, chasing him. “Soobin-hyung, wait.” With the breathless request, he directed his attention to the smaller one's neck and murmured, pretending to pay attention. Soobin was just smelling him, nothing much, yet it was hard to concentrate for as much as his friend's nose rubbing his neck. “We still need to resolve the problem…”

He let the younger go, not before depositing a little kiss in the hollow of his neck and giving him goosebumps as he spoke against his skin. “Even when I have my fucking tongue inside your mouth you can’t be quiet?”He laughed at the comment without knowing what to do.

Since when Soobin gets so hot when cursing? He ignored the crimson tint to his cheeks and controlled his breathing, trying to get back to his original problem, also ignoring his roommate's teasing. “What are we going to do? It was not in our plans for Beomsoo to ask you to be best man at his wedding.”

“I don't mind faking that either.”

He saw his friend turn around and sit on the edge of the bed, his hair was messy and his mouth was red. However, that was not the focus. Beomgyu shook his head, trying to organize his thoughts. Trying to stop thinking about Choi Soobin's stupids lips.

“What? Are you crazy, Soobin?” It couldn't be true. That was another level. “You can't keep pretending to be my boyfriend at my brother's wedding! Shit, this would be awful.”

Soobin frowned and cleared his throat.

“Listen, Beomgyu. I need to tell you-”

“Beomgyu?” The second thing to go wrong entered the room without the two of them noticing speaking together with Soobin.

A total disaster.

“Yeonjun? What are you doing where?”

Of all the unfortunate scenarios the night could end up with, the one where Yeonjun appeared in his room holding the damn napkin written all the items of the lie invented by the two was the worst of them.

And that was exactly the one that was happening.

“I swear I can explain.” His voice comes out broken.

“Explain?” Yeonjun asked sadly. “Explain that you lied to everyone?”

“Hyung, it's not like that.”

“Oh, it isn't?” he repeated in disbelief. “What about this? And what about what I just heard? Do you think I'm an idiot?”

The most unfortunate napkin in the whole world must have fallen out of his pocket at some point.

“I had no choice, when I saw it everyone thought I had a boyfriend and this was the only way.”

“You could have told the truth, Beomgyu. Nobody put a gun to your head and told you to come home with a boyfriend.”

“I... Hyung, please… I can explain, just don't tell anyone.” Even though he was speaking softly and trying to convey calm, the desperation was clear in Beomgyu's voice. “You can't ruin this moment for Beomsoo, please.”

Yeonjun looked away from them and stared at the ceiling, one hand on his waist and the other on his forehead. His posture showed that he was both annoyed and disappointed. He looked back at the two after a long moment.

“I'm not going to do that. I won't tell.” He alternated his gaze between his cousin and then the roommate. “But I don't like him.”

“What?” Soobin looked offended and stared at Yeonjun in disbelief. "Why?"

“I don't think you know what you're doing.” Ignoring the other, he continued speaking to Beomgyu. “I still think it's extremely wrong and that he's taking advantage of you, BG.”

The older man there paused for a second before leaving the room.

“I'm going to pretend this didn't happen and that I don't know anything about it, but this doesn't mean that I have forgiven you two. I am still disappointed.”

With the sound of the door being closed reaching his ears, Beomgyu let out a string of curses.

“What the fuck! Shit, shit, shit, this can't be happening... I have to go after him.”

Before he could leave, he was interrupted by Soobin's hand holding him by the wrist. “Beomgyu, I really need to tell you something right now. It's very important.”

Soobin's eyes pleaded, however, it could wait. His might be an important person to Beomgyu, but, preventing Yeonjun from telling anything about the lie was a priority now.

“I just need to make sure he won't tell anything, Soobin.”

“He said he was going to keep quiet.” Soobin spoke impatiently.

“Please, just let me go and talk to him alone. I promise to listen to you when I get back.” He reached for the doorknob and quickly prepared to leave, but not before making sure of Soobin. “Just wait for me here. I promise”

Finding Yeonjun was not difficult. He made his way through the party's table arrangement and caught up with his cousin down the block.

“Yeonjun!” he shouted for the older man. “Hold on, let's talk for real.”

Even without being convinced, Yeonjun turned around and waited for his cousin to catch up. Afterwards the silence between them was uncomfortable. They arrived at Yeonjun’s house after walking for a few more minutes. His aunt and uncle were still at the party, so his house was empty. Beomgyu followed his cousin into the kitchen like a lost child - even though he knew the place like his own.

“I know you're upset, but that's not what you think.” Beomgyu tried to start the subject. “Soobin is my friend and he's only helping me because I asked him to, he's not taking advantage of it. In fact, he has nothing to gain with that.”

He watched Yeonjun prop himself up with his hands and sit on the kitchen counter. He then copied the movement and waited for a response.

“Why did you have to lie?” the question soon came.

Telling that he felt embarrassed, even if it was to Yeonjun, his cousin slash best friend, was still difficult. So he bit the inside of his cheeks thinking about how to start.

“You don't have to be ashamed of me, Beomie.” Yeonjun sighed wearily. “After what happened you seemed so lost… so far from me, honestly, I don't even know if you still consider me your best friend, because it feels like I'm just a cousin now. And I don't understand that.”

“I was embarrassed, okay?” Beomgyu exasperated, but soon lowered his tone. “There was no way I couldn't be after all that, hyung.”

“I told you, it's all in your head. There's nothing wrong with having feelings, Beomgyu.”

“Yeah, I know…” he began to pull at the small cuticles that were loose around his fingers. “But after that all of you treated me like I was an idiot who couldn't do anything on my own.”

“You got sick, Beomie. For god sakes. That's why everyone was worried about you.” Yeonjun considered fondly, without raising his voice. 

Beomgyu took a deep breath.

And of course, despite everything, that was still Yeonjun and he was still his greatest confidant in the world. Beomgyu could do that. He should tell his cousin.

“I know that too. I'm sorry if I worried you, I just wanted you to…” he paused and tried to find the right phrases to say what he felt. “I just wanted to not be seen as a fragile and sensitive person anymore and I thought that this would only happen if I showed that I got over it by getting a boyfriend or whatever. Most of all, I wanted you not to think that about me anymore.”

Beomgyu didn't usually talk about himself that much. Did he usually talk a lot? Yes, but not about himself. It was too complicated for this. “I know it's an older person's thing to talk about, but every time my mom called me and asked if I had found someone, I felt obligated to actually find someone. Then, one day, I was so disappointed with myself and tired of being such a loser that I said yes. I lied that I had found a boyfriend, because maybe if I pretended just a little bit to have someone, I would find someone.” he sighed wearily and laughed disgustedly. “But, as they say, no one is crazy enough to like me.”

At this point, Yeonjun had already forgotten the main reason of the discussion and approached Beomgyu to hug his cousin from the side.

“I know it was a hard time for you, Beoms, but still, no one ever thought you were a loser.” he stroked the younger man's arm lightly. “Your mother asked that silly question because parents are like that. It's nothing to worry about. Now, I'm sorry if I made you think that of me. You know, to me you are the strongest person in this world, Beomgyu. I never thought less of you because of what happened.”

It was good to hear that. Beomgyu missed Yeonjun's advice. At that moment, he wrapped his arm around his cousin's waist and let himself be hugged tightly. Receiving affection from Yeonjun was reassuring.

“I'm really sorry I lied. I don't know what I was thinking.” he said after a while.

“Actually…” Yeonjun started speaking in a very suspicious tone. Beomgyu knew that behavior well. He got up from the hug immediately and faced the other.

“What? What is it now?”

“Do you really think that this Soobin guy sees you only as a friend?”

He rolled his eyes automatically.

“Seriously, Beomgyu, until I found out it was all fake, I could have sworn that Soobin was in love with you.” Yeonjun's position had changed, the two now found themselves sitting facing each other. “Like, oh my fucking god his down horrendous!”

“'We've agreed very well what to do.” Beomgyu tried to argue, of course. “You saw the paper yourself, there's even a bloody list.”

The mood between the cousins had changed dramatically from how it was a moment ago, Yeonjun's relaxed expression saying a lot. The mannerisms as if they were gossiping also said that the mood was definitely lighter.

“Bullshit!” He snorted in indignation. “There was no kiss on the list and I clearly saw him put his mouth on yours.”

“I was the one who initiated the kiss! And it was part of the plan.” Beomgyu wanted to laugh, this must be a joke. 

“He kissed you like his damn life depends on it. Stop lying to me, Choi Beomgyu.” it looked vividly like they were arguing, but they were just being themselves.

“It's impossible, okay? He doesn't like me.” repeating that made Beomgyu swallow dry. He even seemed to feel sad when he said it.

Strange.

“But what about you?” Yeonjun asked softly. His cousin's sharp eyes could surely read his thoughts. “What is he to you?”

“He is…”

What was Soobin?

Well…For Beomgyu, Soobin was someone necessary. Being around Soobin was good, simply, because it was Soobin. Soobin was his friend and roommate. Soobin slept early and always complained about the light on. Choi Soobin who made a point of trying to keep the room organized, even though he was the one who messed up the most, because Beomgyu complained once and since then he has started to pay more attention to things. Soobin who always listened to his complaints about anything random without complaining. Soobin who smiled cutely and Beomgyu liked to know that it was the reason he showed his dimples. Soobin who liked to talk about everything and nothing at the same time before going to sleep. Soobin who had the same taste in music as Beomgyu. Soobin who gradually became necessary in Beomgyu's life, because the youngest felt at peace around him. Holding Soobin's hand gave him comfort. Hugging the older one made him happy. Feeling that Soobin was listening to what he was saying made Beomgyu happy.

Thinking back, Beomgyu couldn't say when Soobin became necessary in his life. Whether it was before the fake's courtship or whether it was during. The point was, at the moment, living without Soobin didn't seem like a viable option.

“ I think he is necessary.” after a minute he answered vaguely, not caring to receive a confused look from his cousin.

“Apparently I was deeply wrong.” Yeonjun, who had been patiently waiting for the answer, dictated. “For a second I thought he was the only one who felt something, but no, you're being a lovesick fool too.”

Beomgyu wanted to laugh again. It wasn't possible that Yeonjun had said that out loud. It wasn't possible. Soobin was his friend and a great roommate, that was all.

Maybe he was funny and stupidly handsome, but that meant nothing.

Come to think of it, Soobin was also a good kisser. And holding Soobin's hand was good too. Spending afternoons and sleeping next to him made him happy too.

Oh no ...

“Fuck!” a bomb of epiphany fell on his thoughts. “I think I might like Soobin…”

“Lucky for you, he's crazy enough to like you too.” he laughed, reiterating his cousin's line from earlier.

“Do you think so?”

Yeonjun's eyes rolled. “Of course! Do you still think he doesn't like you at least a little bit after helping you through all this?”

“He might just be a very generous person.” Beomgyu shrugged.

“Beomgyu, think with me.” His cousin rested one hand on his shoulder and gestured with the other in exasperation. “Didn't he have any action, that the moment he did, you felt he wasn't acting?”

“Hm…” he would be lying if said no. There had been several moments like that, quite a few, even too many. “He was the one who made up the whole story about how we started dating.”

Yeonjun signaled to continue.

“He who proposed kissing in front of everyone.”

“What else?”

“Then he asked for a kiss in my room.” He saw Yeonjun frown and his mouth opened in a perfect 'o'. Beomgyu cringes in embarrassment. “Before you came, we were kind of making out.”

“Are you stupid that much?” The older man was disbelieving. “The boy had spent the last few days declaring himself.”

“What? No! No way.” Beomgyu had to get down and walk around a bit. “That can't be it. Hyung, that's not good.”

Beomgyu paced back and forth taking deep breaths.

“How is it not good? This is perfect, Beoms! You like him, he likes you. I don't get it?”

“What do I do with this information?” he asked himself in despair, stopping in the middle of the kitchen and staring into nothingness.

“I don't know…” his cousin mocked and got off the counter. “Ask him out, you asshole. Really, Beomgyu? What kind of question was that?”

“I don't know if I'm ready to get into a relationship like that, hyung. What if everything goes wrong? What if the same thing happens? What if it was just for the moment? What if I got it wrong?”

“Hey, hey, hey!" promptly, Yeonjun got closer and hugged the other one. “Let's take it easy, okay? None of this is going to happen, you just need to breathe. Calm down.”

Beomgyu took a deep breath as instructed.

“Here's what you do. Sleep here tonight, think about it and sort it out tomorrow. Okay?”

A night away from Soobin would be good, he needed to think and Soobin's presence would be a problem.

A night away from Soobin was all he needed.

Although, Beomgyu was already missing him.

The sunrise came as quickly as the blink of an eye. When they lay down to sleep in his cousin's bed, at first it seemed impossible to sleep, but after Yeonjun calmed him down more and told him about the events of his own life in order to distract him, he ended up sleeping without realizing it.

The mission now was to talk to Soobin.

He left his cousin's house before Yeonjun woke up and ran to his own. He climbed the stairs two steps at a time, tiptoeing so as not to wake anyone. As soon as he opened the bedroom door, his heart stopped beating for a second.

The room was empty. Soobin was nowhere to be seen.

He went downstairs once more, thinking he might have missed something, looked in the bathrooms and the living room once more and saw no Soobin. No sign of him.

“What took you so long to come home, Choi Beomgyu?”

He turned around quickly to realize that his mother had appeared at the bottom of the stairs out of nowhere.

“I ended up sleeping at Yeonjun's by accident.” he approached the lady and kissed her forehead good morning. “Have you seen Soobin around? I can't find him anywhere.”

“He's gone, baby.” Guseul ran his right hand over his son's face gently and left a caress on his cheek with his thumb. “It seems something happened to his parents and he had to go. I tried to call you, but you wouldn't answer.”

Not knowing what to think, he took his phone out of his pocket and realized it was out of battery.

The moment he plugged it in, the messages started coming. Calls from his mother, a missed call from Soobin himself and four messages from the biggest one.

Baby Binnie

beomgyu, im really sorry

i made up an excuse and left

i can explain everything to you later

but now i just need some time

Soobin had left and asked for a time ? A time from their fake relationship? A time away from Beomgyu? Even reading the fucking name saved on the contact made Beomgyu want to scream

His head began to spiral with questions.

Beomgyu's world has fallen apart, Soobin is gone.

Chapter Text

Choi Soobin was a quiet person without friends. A very cliché, right? 

He mind so much only his business that sometimes went unnoticed in places even with his height. Soobin didn't like to try to be noticed, he preferred to live the way that was easiest. If you look closer enough, the most risking choice of his entire life was to go to college. Journalism became an option when he discovered that he could investigate cases and crimes without being a police officer and without working with a lot of numbers.

Unlike Beomgyu, he would never lend himself to the role of trying to convince someone or use his words to get what he wants, in fact, he would be the person to be persuaded. And that's exactly how he ended up in this absurd situation: pretending to be his roommate's boyfriend.

In retrospect, Choi Beomgyu came like an avalanche into his life. When he came to SNU, Soobin didn't expect to have to share a room with such an interesting person.

At first, Beomgyu seemed to be a quiet and reserved person, speaking only to be polite and staying in the room only for the night. Soobin never said it out loud, but some nights, when the whole town was asleep, he could swear hearing some sniffling and very deep breaths, as if the younger one lying face down on the wall was crying rather than sleeping.

For some reason, Soobin was curious to understand more Beomgyu. Even though he was a shy person who would never in his life initiate a conversation on his own, with Beomgyu the situation showed different. Soobin started to strike up more conversations with the boy until they finally became friends. It was ridiculously easy and natural to get closer to Beomgyu. Soobin was able to get to know the person Beomgyu and this hits so hard. When Hueningkai and Taehyun joined their little group, everything seemed to fall into the right place even more, making Soobin believe that he had finding a real group of friends.

Beomgyu then started to talk more, when he got too excited he would shout a lot, he laughed a lot at everything and, the best part, he started smiling a lot. Even when they argued about trivial things like whether or not to leave the window open at bedtime, Beomgyu smiled more and Soobin found himself addicted to making Beomgyu smile.

If someone asked, Soobin couldn't tell when the feeling of curiosity about the younger turned into liking him so much.

So when the fake dating thing came up, to Soobin it seemed like a good opportunity, because maybe - if he pretended well to be the perfect boyfriend for Beomgyu - it could come true someday. And, good god, how he wanted it to be true!

So for the past three days he had been trying to be the perfect match for Beomgyu. The initial plan was simple: see how far this story would go and enjoy every moment.

At first, Soobin's foggy mind saw no problem with enjoying the situation - respecting Beomgyu's choices, of course. Still, kissing his roommate was a risky and very miscalculated move. Beomgyu didn't make it easy on him when he asked for more truthfulness, and at that moment, Soobin wanted to scream and run far away from his roommate for realizing the fucking situation he had put himself in. However, Soobin was a weak man.

And the problem wasn't even that it had been bad or that the other had acted strangely afterwards. It was a great kiss, to be honest. The problem? It was when Beomgyu agreed to kiss him again, and this time without an audience, without having to pretend, without a reason, just because he was asked. That damn kiss had been the best experience of his life. Soobin lived that moment as if it was everything to him and it really was.

Beomgyu's response had even made him think he had a chance that the feelings flowed both ways.

So that night Soobin thought about declaring himself once and for all. However, what he wanted did not come true.

With Yeonjun's unexpected appearance there was no time to do anything.

Beomgyu seemed so desperate to convince his cousin that it was all a lie, and to make it clear to the other that he had no feelings for him, that it could be heard the pieces of Soobin's broken heart falling to the floor as the boy left the room.

Don't blame Soobin for being a sensitive person, anyone who has the slightest bit of feelings would be upset in that situation. Leaving, however, was an impulsive move.

With no Beomgyu for the next few hours and the end of the party approaching, he ended up feeling extremely lonely. Before they traveled, Soobin looked on the website to see if he could advance his ticket if something went wrong. Then, as soon as the memory came back in his mind and he realized it was possible to run away, he packed his bags and sneaked out into the night.

To complete his disgrace, he found his roommate's mother in the kitchen and ended up lying once again saying that his father had called and needed to go home with urgency. Watching the lady's consideration, Soobin felt guilty again. His mind had fallen once again that night. Soobin's family was distant, his parents never treated him the way he saw his friend's family in the past days. His parents worked hard and so he had everything money could buy, except the presence of his parents. Considering all the variables, Beomgyu was right, lying about it and continuing that lie was unfair and illogical to this family. Yeonjun was also right to dislike Soobin, considering what he had done in the last few days. Above all, Soobin was unfair to Beomgyu himself.

He was so ashamed of everything and everyone for what he had done that his primary reaction was escape.

Choi Soobin, who had been in love with Beomgyu from day one, put himself in the worst situation. Every time he looked at his friend over the past few days his heart ached, so Choi Soobin had left.

Soobin felt like a coward.

The dorm without Beomgyu was empty and very quiet, colder than usual too. Soobin had arrived only an hour ago and the sun was already rising.

He sighed deeply, leaning against the doorframe. Was expected that Beomgyu would arrive in a few hours and they would definitely have to talk.

Soobin then had two options:

1) Stay and wait for his roommate so they could talk.

2) Leave while there is still time and avoid Beomgyu as much as possible.

Obviously, he ended up choosing the second option. He called Hyuka who promptly answered and informed him that she had already arrived from her trip as well. With that, Soobin now found himself lying on the youngest's bed telling him everything that had happened in the last few days. Taehyun as a roommate was also there, so he ended up hearing everything the same way.

“Wait a minute, did you kiss?”

“Out of everything I've said, out of everything I've told you how bad I feel about it, you only heard this part, Kai?” unbelievable, he thought.

“But this part is important, Hyung.” The two younger boys were sitting across from each other on Kang's bed, Kai, however, seemed more engaged in the story as he moved around a lot when talking. “Why did he agree to kiss you when you were alone?”

“Because… I asked him to...?”

“With all due respect, Soobin-hyung.” says Taehyun. “If you asked me, I wouldn't accept.” instantly, Kai feigned a retching noise as if disgusted at the thought of the scene.

“It's different, Beomgyu is my friend…”

“Hyung, we are your friends.” Taehyun continued after emphasizing the pronoun and pointing at himself and Hyuka. “Beomgyu-hyung hasn't fit in with that for a while.”

“You have to understand that Beomgyu will never see me that way.” he sighed deeply. “He'd rather ask one of you to be the fake boyfriend first than me.”

“Hyung…” Taehyun tilted his head to the side impatiently. “When he described the supposed boyfriend, Beomgyu literally described you .”

Oh.

It made sense, the description matching Soobin's, since that was one of the factors that provided the little feat of fake dating.

“But then, why wouldn't he say anything to me if he really had feelings for me?” 

If they were in a cartoon, Soobin's character would have a big question mark over his head.

“For the same reason you didn't say anything.” Taehyun answered.

A frustrated sigh came out of his mouth again and he took off his glasses to rub his eyes tiredly.

“Why is dealing with feelings so complicated?”

“Because you're friends. The whole friends to lovers thing always leads to this mess.” Huening got on the subject once more and Soobin might have been in crisis over his situation, however, he didn't miss the small smile and wink Kamal gave to his own roommate.

“I should go talk to him, right…?”

Taehyun and Kai answered "yes" together.

The way back to his dormitory was like an embarrassing walk. He walked the whole time with his head down and kicking the stones like they are the reason for every mess in his life.

Sighing deeply, he placed his hand on the doorknob and took another breath.

As soon as he opened the door and entered the room, his heart beat faster than healthy.

“Beomgyu.” his voice came out weak and blended with his roommate's as they spoke together. “Soobin.”

The two of them smiled dully.

Once again they spoke together and in the room reverberated two phrases: "You're back!" and "You've arrived."

The mood was strange. Not even on the first day, when they are still strangers to each other and found out they would be sharing the same room was it this awkward.

Soobin felt exposed to Beomgyu's big brown eyes. 

His friend was staring at him so bad it was almost suffocating. To make matters worse, the younger had that look on his face: the one from when he is in his own thoughts as Soobin had already pointed out the habit before.

Normally, trying to guess what Beomgyu was thinking was funny, sometimes exciting, but, at this moment, right now it was scary. 

Was he angry? Upset? Had Yeonjun fought with him so much that he now realized that Soobin had taken advantage of the situation? Did Beomgyu really like Soobin as the maknaes claimed?

There were so many questions and looking at Beomgyu made him nervous enough to take his voice away.

Soobin wanted so much to know what he thought. If it were possible to read minds, Choi Soobin would give everything he had to know what was going on in Beomgyu's head.

“Beomgyu-ya, I'm sorry....” he began without knowing exactly what he was apologizing for. “The truth is that I like you and I took advantage of the situation when you asked me to be your fake boyfriend and when I realized what I had done, I was very embarrassed and left.”

He spoke so hurriedly that he barely noticed when he was interrupted by Beomgyu. The latter came running towards him (which wasn't very far considering the size of the small dormitory), grumbling and feigning fury while throwing little punches and shoves at his chest.

“Why did you leave, dumbass? Do you realize how many things I've thought? I really hate you for making me think about you so fucking much, Choi Soobin!” Beomgyu continued to speak while punching the other, without letting Soobin understand. He wasn't angry, much less did he seem to mean what he said; for what Soobin knows about him, his tone was more relieved than anything else. 

And then, after throwing all the words of the universe at the light speed, Beomgyu calmed down and softened his voice: “I didn't want to admit to liking you for fear of getting hurt again, but then I talked to Yeonjun-hyung and he made me realize everything you did and everything I felt and it all made sense to me, but when I got home and didn't see you, I was so scared. How could you say you needed a break through the phone? I thought you didn't want to be around me anymore and I was so- so afraid of losing you too. I thought, ‘ That damn Choi Soobin left me alone forever because he couldn't read the signs like I didn't because we're stupid. ’ And now you're giving me an ‘I'm sorry, I was embarrassed’?”

Soobin didn't pay much attention to the rest, as Beomgyu continued to complain and comeback hit him. It was such an ironically silly situation that he wanted to laugh. He struggled to hold Beomgyu's wrists in order to stop his "aggressions" and couldn't stop himself when the other man stopped and stared at him in rage, laughing as if he were a maniac. “What are you laughing at, psycho? I've just told you about my whole heart, can you take me seriously?”

“Beomgyu-ya.” The younger finally stopped talking and stared at him. “Do you really like me? Like, for real?”

Beomgyu rolled his eyes and moved to get free of the elder's grip. 

“Of course I do! Wasn't that obvious, you idiot?”

Soobin's smile opened wide. His eyes turned into big half-moons and his dimples appeared. The older man took a step forward, getting closer to his roommate.

“You know, if you were a normal person, you'd declare to me in a cute way, like playing the guitar you promised me in Daegu. Not hitting me and swearing at me like you just did. That's not very romantic of you.” With his right hand, he reached for Beomgyu's cheek and took a deep breath.

“I couldn't bring a guitar on the train.” the youngest visibly gave up pretending to be angry and smiled fondly, snuggling into the other's palm. He whispered the last part to Soobin. “Now this is the time you declare yourself too, hyung.”

“Do I really need to tell you that I like you after all this?”

Beomgyu pressed his lips into a straight line trying to hold back his smile and shook his head in agreement fiercely, like a happy puppy. Soobin rolled his eyes, also laughing.

“I like you, Beomgyu. I like you so much I can't even put it into words.” he brought his other hand up to the little one's face and brought their foreheads together. “I liked you from the first moment, because after I saw you for the first time all I could think about was you . I want to take care of you when you're sad, I want to smile with you when you're happy. I want to watch all the boring dramas you ask me to. I want to sleep next to you every day and I want to play with you until late at night even if I am tired if it means spending more time with you. I want to listen to everything you say, from your sleepy voice at four in the morning to your complaints about college at the end of the day. I want to help you when you need it and I want to kiss you whenever I want, because I like you.”

Soobin hadn't prepared a statement, so he said everything that came to mind. Talking had never been his strong ability, but for Beomgyu's sake he made an effort. Such an effort paid off, as the younger man closed the distance between them and kissed him, taking his breath away.

Beomgyu tasted like mint. Taste like home.

They parted leaving small kisses amid the smiles they gave each other when they opened their eyes.

“Does this mean I can go to Beomsoo-hyung's wedding and be best man too?” Soobin asked, still smiling and rubbing the tip of his nose against Beomgyu's cheek.

“I don't know, I need to know first if you'll be my boyfriend.” he stopped the cuddling just to stare at the other. His eyes seemed to sparkle. Soobin loved being the reason for that. “For real this time.”

And of course Soobin accepted.

When the older man approached this time to kiss his roommate and now his newest and only boyfriend, their mouths were already slightly open and when Soobin made mention of using his tongue Beomgyu gasped in his mouth. Soobin brought his hands up to Beomgyu's face and tilted his head to have a better access, but as he moved, his glasses bumped into the younger man's nose and immediately, Beomgyu, in a split second, moved a millimeter away taking the opportunity to take the glasses from his boyfriend's face, backing to kissing him again fervently.

Not even in Soobin's deepest dreams had he imagined Beomgyu thirsting for him like this. The younger man kissed him as if it were his fucking job. A shiver ran down his spine when Beomgyu managed, after placing his glasses on his study table, to pull Soobin down onto the bed. Somehow, as they stumbled between kisses, Beomgyu got underneath him, which made it easier for him to access the hem of Soobin’s hoodie (because it was obvious that he was wearing one) to take it off.

His hair was messed up after the act, but that didn't stop Beomgyu from messing it up even more as they continued to exchange kisses and sighs. It was getting very hot between the two guys. However, that was until Soobin's phone started ringing.

“Answer it.” Beomgyu's actions contradicted what he had just said, as his mouth remained on Soobin's the second after he said it. And, well, Soobin couldn't have cared less about his phone, he kept responding only to the kiss.

But then, Beomgyu's phone also started ringing, and then knocks could be heard on the dormitory door. Reluctantly, the two moved away. Soobin was in the cloud nine seeing Beomgyu's fluffy lips in a shiny red because of him

With certain anger, Beomgyu took his phone out of his pocket and Soobin copied the other's action, searching for his own phone and putting his glasses back on. They saw Hueningkai call Soobin at the same time as Taehyun appeared on Beomgyu's screen.

“Those motherfuckers!” the younger Choi grumbled, throwing his head on the pillow while Soobin laughed and stood up, refusing the call.

As soon as he opened the door, he found them.

“I knew it! They were making out.” Huening spoke immediately when he saw the situation the two were in as he entered the room. “You owe me money, Kang Taehyun.”

“I can't believe you two worked it out.” the second youngest said in astonishment, throwing himself on the bed opposite the one Beomgyu was still on, taking a breath. “I thought you were too dumb for that.”

“Did you two really bet?” Beomgyu asked, getting out of his lying position and sitting up. In the meantime, Soobin put his hoodie on again and sat down next to Beomgyu.

“Of course, it started the day you went to Daegu.” Kai gave them an answer and continued to laugh, taking his place next to Taehyun. “I said you'd get back together and Tyun said it would take too much longer to work it out between you. So, logically, I won”

Taehyun rolled his eyes: “I swore it would take a while, especially after the conversation with Soobin-hyung today.”

Immediately, Beomgyu looked at Soobin with a questioning look on his forehead.

“You went to talk to them before you talked to me?”

Without understanding, Soobin shrugged. “I needed advice, Beomie!”

“And you went to ask the liars who deceived us?”

Oh, now Soobin understood. Beomgyu was pestering them to find out why the two of them had hidden the fact that they had also traveled together.

The maknaes looked at each other in complicity.

“That's right, liars! We already know that you went to Jeju together. You can go ahead and explain everything.” Beomgyu questioned them both, pointing his index finger everywhere he could, feigning an indignation that made Soobin want to laugh.

“We're dating.” Taehyun said in a single sentence, unafraid of being questioned as if it were the most normal thing in the world. Soobin opened her mouth in astonishment. “Huening needed to tell his sisters first, so we didn't say anything beforehand.”

Beomgyu's eyes were wide too, so Soobin realized that the surprise wasn't just for himself.

“Lea-noona always said that she should be the first person to know about it and if she didn't she would kill me, so I had to wait until I saw her to be able to tell her and only then tell you.”

“Wow, that's…. That's incredible.”Soobin's relationship with his family may have differed from that of the others, but he knew how important Kai's sisters were to the boy and, because of that, he wasn't angry, just surprised. “But when did it start? I had no idea.”

“About two months ago, right, baby?” Kang looked at his roommate, now boyfriend, and confirmed it.

Beomgyu stood up excitedly and ran to hug them both at the same time. “Our children have grown up so fast, my God, how proud I am.”

Soobin smiled at his boyfriend and the maknaes faking disgusted faces.

Summer vacation was approaching. Soobin only had to take one more exam and would be free, so he was reading a damn article lying on his bed, fighting the urge to throw the papers on the floor and get some sleep.

However, all the sleep he was feeling vanished from his body when he was startled by the dormitory door slamming against the wall. The voice of Beomgyu, the person responsible for the fright, appeared before his image, repeating "SoobinSoobinSoobin" a thousand times before appearing in front of his with a wide, visibly exhausted smile and Soobin would have bet he was running seconds ago.

“Hyung!” the younger boy hurriedly took off his shoes and ran to jump into his lap. Soobin welcomed him with open arms, also smiling. “You won't believe what happened.”

Indeed, he couldn't think of anything that would make the other that happy, other than a bad drama or a new song by his favorite band, so he remained silent, waiting for him to tell him. “I got the highest grade in the class with that assignment.” the smile (a small chuckle) remained on the little boy's face as he continued with the second part. “The grade was even higher than Taehyun's.”

“That's amazing, Gyu!” he ruffled his boyfriend's hair affectionately. “but I still don't understand the excitement, you always get good grades.”

“Hyung, it was the work you did…”

Soobin shook his head in disbelief. “What!? You're lying! It took your teacher more than two months to deliver that work?

“Yes, I'm serious. I couldn't believe it, I didn't know you could think of anything but video games.”

That little brat! He hadn't stopped picking on him even after they started dating, and yet Soobin found himself falling more and more in love with him every day.

“I think about other things too, okay?”

“Like what?” Beomgyu challenged him. “Jujutsu kaisen doesn't count.”

Soobin smiled mischievously and whispered: “You.”

“Agh! “ Beomgyu hid his face in the gap between the Soobin's neck and collarbone, then scolded. “Soobin-hyung!”

“What?” he said laughing. “I really only think about you. All the day. All the time.”

It wasn't possible to see Beomgyu's face like that, but Soobin knew that the younger boy was certainly blushing. Whenever Soobin started being flirtatious out of nowhere - now that he could - it caught Beomgyu off guard, making him blush and smile without seeing it.

“Okay, okay. I get it, you love me very much, I know I don't need to saying for you, I've stopped. Don't need to be shy, sweetheart” Soobin says. Wrapping her arms around the younger man's waist and hugging him.

“Mrs. Guseul called earlier today…” Beomgyu started the subject when he remembered.

After spending a long time just cuddling, the younger man let him read his article while he settled down, sitting in the middle of the older man's legs and letting his back rest on Soobin’s chest, fiddling with his own cell phone just enjoying his boyfriend's company.

“She asked if we were really going to spend a week in Daegu. She said she's counting down the days until she beats us.” they both laughed.

Ah, how complicated it had been to explain things. Apparently, Yeonjun ended up telling Beomsoo everything as soon as Beomgyu left and so his boyfriend's older brother had understood the situation without feeling too much hurt. The situation with his parents, however, was a little different. On the following day Beomgyu left, the youngest son was on a phone call for three hours with his mother to explain. For a moment she was very angry and shouting at everyone, but she soon understood her son's feelings and let it go. It became a joke for her to get angry with both of them and now she always threatened Soobin in the middle of calls. Perhaps affection through anger was something common among the Choi family in Daegu.

“Of course we're going. I have to eat that gopchang again.”

Beomgyu smiled at the confirmation.

The trip to Daegu was quick this time. Soobin and Beomgyu shared an earphone for almost the entire route, if Soobin didn't have to take the earphone from Beomgyu's left side when he fell asleep and had to put his head on his shoulder.

They were greeted in the same warm way as last time, but this time with a different feeling, without being lied to. And, gee, how good it was to feel at home with Beomgyu!

Still, there was something that Soobin wanted to do and had been planning for a few days. So he took advantage of the moment when Beomgyu was dragged away by his father to help with something outside and ran up the stairs to his boyfriend's room.

From inside the suitcase, wrapped very well, he took out a package and a roll of double-sided tape. He reinforced all the photos on the youngest's door and opened the package he had brought. There was a photo of him with the maknaes in the campus cafeteria. In the picture Hueningkai was pouting and pretending to be sad, holding the drink with Soobin's name on it, while Taehyun and Soobin were smiling brightly. Beomgyu himself had taken the photo on the day Taehyun paid the bet money to Hyuka.

(“That's not fair!” the crying came from Huening.

“Don't be sad, baby. I'm still buying your drink.” Taehyun said laughing.

“Why do I have to share the money from the bet I won with Soobin-hyung?”

“Because if it wasn't for my dearest Soobinie here, you wouldn't have won the bet.” Beomgyu intervened as if he were the elder's lawyer. In fact, he was the one who came up with the idea that Soobin should win part of the bet because he was the reason the other one prospered.

The idea of taking a photo of the moment came from Beomgyu too and at the same moment the click of the photo was made, a click went through Soobin's mind. 

He remembered the day Beomgyu had told him about having a photo of every important person in his life stuck to his bedroom door and knew at that moment that that photo should be there too).

It was a great memory that deserved to be on that door. 

And so Soobin did.

It was only at night, when Beomgyu finally quietened down and closed the door, that the little one noticed. His eyes seemed to turn into big stars. 

He thanked Soobin with several kisses, asking quietly, "Hyung, how did you know I was going to put that picture up?" in disbelief, and the older man shrugged, just saying, "I think it's because we're soulmates."

After all, Choi Soobin did manage to pretend that Beomgyu was his boyfriend until he became his for real. 

Now, Soobin knows that sometimes in life it's fine to fake it 'til you make it.

'til you do.

'til it's true.