Chapter Text
"I need a boyfriend," Hwanwoong sighed and put down his phone, locking it. His search through the contact list hadn't been productive and by the third time he was scrolling it he was ready to bend down some rules, such as don't talk to your exes or don't date anyone from the dance group.
"I didn't know you were that desperate for a relationship," eyed him Dongju, licking the yogurt-stained spoon.
"I don't need a boyfriend for a relationship," Hwanwoong lowered his head onto his crossed hands that were resting on the table. "I need him so that my mom would stop inviting me home only to be a matchmaker," his voice was muffled by the fabric of his long-sleeved sweatshirt but by the loud snort coming from Dongju he knew his friend heard him.
"Tell her you're dating already"
"That's exactly the problem that I'm facing," Hwanwoong raised his head and looked at Dongju pleadingly. "I told her about it and now she wants to meet my beloved."
Dongju burst out in laughter and even though he closed his eyes, he still managed to escape a hit from Hwanwoong which was definitely unfair.
"You'd think that having accepting parents would relieve you of problems," Hwanwoong grumbled. "But it feels like I have even more problems now."
"Why don't you ask someone from our group?"
"She knows everyone in one dance group. And also I don't want to make it awkward with anyone, we still have three years to study together."
"Hm," Dongju placed the spoon on top of his lips. "I suspect that bringing a complete stranger home is also not an option"
Hwanwoong shook his head. Even though he was pretty desperate, he also didn't want to endanger himself by outing to the wrong people. His mother may be accepting but that didn't mean that everyone else was.
"I'll ask Dongmyeong. Maybe there's someone in their music studies who could be suitable to be your boyfriend."
***
Phone call vibration cut through the music with great difficulty but Youngjo managed to hear it before the caller hung up. He paused the song replay on the computer and answered.
"Dongmyeong, hello, good to hear you. It's good that you called, I'm finishing the song we've talked about, I was about to send you the file."
"Oh, it's great, hyung," Dongmyeong paused, "that's not why I was calling you about, actually"
"Oh?"
"Hey, uh… it may sound weird but… um," he hesitated for a few more seconds and then started anew, as if changing the topic entirely. "Do you know Yeo Hwanwoong?"
"Your roommate? Of course"
"It's just that you don't visit often so I thought you might not remember him. Anyway," Dongmyeong sighed. "He might need a little favour from you."
"Okay?" Youngjo said with a questioning tone.
"He needs someone to pretend to be his boyfriend for a day. Dongju asked if I know anyone who… fit the role, so to say."
Youngjo let out a small laugh. "And you thought of me," he said, voice full of endearment.
"I just know that you're a good guy. You're very kind and I think this is someone Hwanwoong needs."
"I thought you said this is just for a day. It sounds like you want us to date for real," Youngjo couldn't stop smiling.
Dongmyeong laughed as well and then the topic of the conversation changed to the song Youngjo almost finished producing.
After the call ended Dongmyeong sent him more details about the most intriguing part of their discussion.
From: Son Dongmyeong
Come with me tomorrow after classes we'll pick Donju and Hwanwoong from the first floor. You'll have a chance to meet :)
Youngjo smiled at his phone. He had never received a proposition like that. He couldn't even imagine receiving the proposition like that, if he was completely honest. Because not only Youngjo was never anyone's first choice for a fake boyfriend, he wasn't even people's popular choice as a real boyfriend. A couple of short-lived flings in the past that he clanged on to and called them relationships probably wouldn't even count compared to other people.
Maybe also compared to Hwanwoong.
Youngjo saw him a couple of times but he was almost certain that the guy didn't remember him. When the Son twins accompanied by Hwanwoong moved in together, Youngjo was the one helping them transport and carry their stuff because Geonhak was away that weekend. Later he met Hwanwoong at the party that the dance group threw but there were quite a lot of people, pretty much the whole music department students were invited and some of the arts students as well.
Youngjo didn't blame Hwanwoong for not remembering him. He was quiet most of the time, hunched his shoulders and didn't bring much attention to himself. And Hwanwoong was a complete opposite, as it seemed; he was short and yet energetic, loud, and also very pretty.
He was even prettier when he danced. A flash of memory from the party came to his mind and Youngjo smiled to himself. He remembered being stunned by the way the boy moved as if he was a main dancer on stage and not in some random tightly packed living room with half-drunk and blackout drunk dance majors all around him.
He would like to know Hwanwoong better, Youngjo concluded.
***
The melody coming from the speakers was immediately followed by students shuffling their belongings into their backpacks and pouring into the hallways.
Dongmyeong caught him by the sleeve of his jacket.
"Are you coming with me today?"
Youngjo nodded.
They ran down the steps from the third floor all the way down and merged with the crowd, weaving their way to the dance studios.
He noticed Dongju first when they entered the class but upon looking at the person standing next to him Youngjo involuntarily smiled, recognizing Hwanwoong. He was dabbing his forehead with a towel, looking out of breath but his whole demeanor showed that he was in a great mood.
"Hyung, I want you to meet someone," Dongju said. "This is Youngjo, Dongmyeong's groupmate"
"Nice to meet you," Hwanwoong took his hand with his right hand while holding the elbow with his left and bowed.
"Me too," Youngjo responded.
As Hwanwoong raised his eyes to meet his a polite smile on his face changed into a more excited one. "Wait, we've met before, haven't we?"
"Yes," said Youngjo. "A few times"
"Dongju and I need to change, we'll be back soon"
Only then Youngjo realised that he was still holding Hwanwoong's hand and quickly withdrew his palm. He watched as the two dancers disappeared behind the changing room door, put both of his hands into his pockets and started to wait.
***
Youngjo was taller than Hwanwoong remembered, even though he was used to everyone towering over him with their annoyingly long legs.
The guy also had a very gentle voice and Hwanwoong was having a hard time remembering whether he heard it before. He must have, since Youngjo helped them with moving in but he was certain that he would store such a beautiful voice in his memory.
Even though he didn't know him personally that well, he heard bits and pieces about their musical department; and the fact that Youngjo was a close friend of Dongmyeong proved that he was a kind-hearted guy since Son twins had little patience for malicious people and they were always right with their first impressions.
Hwanwoong changed back into his uniform after taking a quick shower and upon waiting for Dongju to style his hair in the handheld mirror they went out into the studio to join the guys waiting for them.
As they emerged on the street towards the bus stop, Dongju and Dongmyeong slowly drifted further, too engrossed in their conversation, and Hwanwoong was left walking behind them with Youngjo.
"So, hyung," Hwanwoong cleared his throat. "I don't know if Dongmyeong has told you already but… I need your help"
Youngjo hummed in response. "He told me."
"Well… what do you think?"
"Tell me more about it," Youngjo smiled with encouragement.
"My mom wants to meet my boyfriend. And, well, I don't have one. But I told her that I do. I'm coming over to her at the end of next week, probably on Saturday but if you're busy I can reschedule that"
"No, it's okay, Saturday works for me," Youngjo nodded.
Hwanwoong was still trying to understand how such a gentle voice could exist and belong to someone just about half a meter away from him. He couldn't help but look at the guy's face, noticing how soft he looked. Pretty.
Of course, the light post decided to appear on the road exactly when Hwanwoong was busy staring at something – someone – more pleasant.
"Careful," Youngjo grabbed him on the shoulders and moved away from the obstacle.
Hwanwoong gave out a tiny shriek, caught by the lamp post in surprise and absentmindedly leaned into Youngjo who kept holding him.
"Thank you," said Hwanwoong when the initial shock disappeared. He fell into the step next to Youngjo and allowed himself to think about how warm his hands were just a few seconds ago. He refused to think about it for too long but the thought itself was immediately stored away for later.
When the bus stop emerged behind the street corner, Hwanwoong decided to get to know his potential fake boyfriend.
"You make music, right?"
"Somewhat like that, yeah"
"Could you tell me more about it?"
Youngjo smiled – such a sweet smile – and began describing what he did in his major, mentioning side projects with Dongmyeong and Younghoon, as well as his experimental stuff with Geonhak. Hwanwoong found himself listening closely, excitedly perking up at the mention of the people he knew and in general being interested in what Youngjo was telling him.
Hwanwoong met a lot of creative people in his life, both in the university and outside of it, and what he unfortunately found as a common denominator was douchebag attitude from such people because they believed what they were doing was going to change the world, even though their stuff was mediocre at best.
Being the friend of the Son twins, Hwanwoong didn't think that Youngjo would fall into the same category yet he was still apprehensive about him at first. However, as soon as Youngjo started describing the songs they were making and the process behind it, Hwanwoong quickly reached a mental conclusion that Youngjo was infinitely better than some people he'd met before.
When Youngjo left their apartment later in the evening Hwanwoong realized that they'd only discussed the pressing matter hours ago and never mentioned it again, straying to other topics of the conversation.
Yet, he wasn't mad about it. The day left him at peace, his cheeks hurt from laughing so much and his brain felt content as if he was flowing through the warm river, only white noise ringing in his ears.
"Dongmyeong, could you please give Youngjo-hyung's phone number? I forgot to ask him," Hwanwoong asked while leaning on the doorframe to his room.
"Of course," Dongmyeong took his phone and promptly tapped at the screen. "I sent it you"
"Thanks," Hwanwoong said.
"What do you think?" Dongmyeong twirled the phone in his hands, barely containing a smile.
"About Youngjo-hyung?"
"Yes"
"He's nice," Hwanwoong nodded.
"Suitable for being your boyfriend?"
"I think so, yeah. I think my mom would like him," Hwanwoong paused. "Maybe she'll even like him too much. What do I tell her when we 'break up'?" he gestured with the air-quotes. "Oh God, I haven't thought of that yet"
"You were asking to get you a boyfriend just yesterday and now you're asking me how to stage your break up with him?"
"Okay, okay," Hwanwoong laughed, "I'll deal with it later"
Dongmyeong shook his head, laughing as well.