Chapter Text
One day. That’s how long it had taken for Hyuntak’s world to turn upside down (see what i did there). Don’t get him wrong- his life had already been [crap] before, but everything had only taken a turn for the worse when he was given a proposition. Then, his ex-best friend’s younger brother went missing. Park Humin- Baku, as he liked to be called, was, at the very least, devastated.
When Hyuntak had been given the news, he wanted nothing more than to smother Humin in hugs, blankets, food- anything the boy could dream of. Unfortunately for Hyuntak, however, Humin had (impossible as it may seem) drifted away from the other. To make matters worse, it seemed like the rest of their quintet had followed Humin’s lead. And now Hyuntak was dating his arch nemesis, Seongje.
It was [messed] up. Geum Seongje- the lackey of the one who had literally crushed Hyuntak’s dream to pursue taekwondo. It was the furthest thing from easy, having the hands that oh-so brutally beat him black and blue caress his skin with such gentleness (it wasn’t Baekjin, though, thankfully).
It only went downhill from there.
Though now, he should probably explain how, exactly, he began dating the brute that was Geum Seongje.
It was a surprisingly tame day at Eunjang, and Hyuntak had opened his locker and found a messy scribble on a yellow sticky note.
meet me at the underpass after school :-)
Honestly, he had originally assumed that Humin had been the one to write the message, probably wanting some time to themselves. But then, Hyuntak realized that Humin’s handwriting much more resembled gibberish (or hieroglyphics) than a considerably neater scrawl, not that the mystery person’s handwriting was any better.
So, since this was quite obviously not Humin, it would’ve been smart to be careful. The result of this meticulous observation did not affect Hyuntak’s decision to go. The others would have scolded him for making such irrational choices, or “being a moron,” as Sieun stated once.
But to be fair, Hyuntak remembered that Humin, along with Juntae, Sieun, and Suho, had been a bit distant towards him as of late. He would exit school and look ahead, noticing that the four had already begun walking. Normally, when any of them was further behind, they would wait or back up. Heck, Hyuntak had even walked past them, and they hadn’t acknowledged him. It hurt him a lot more than he would like to admit. That same night, he had bumped into a girl at a nearby convenience store. She looked like an utter wreck, like her friends too had abandoned her for each other (a bit like him).
They hit it off almost right away. Her name was Son Bo-young; she had a shoulder-length cut and wispy black hair, like an idol’s (if he told her that now, he would never hear the end of it). She was fox-eyed, and her eyelashes glinted gorgeously in the bright lighting of the store. Her mascara stained her face, and Hyuntak had noticed a used tissue stuffed in her pocket.
After they had purchased everything, the two had exchanged numbers and separated.
Now, as Hyuntak headed toward the underpass, he thought about her. Since that fateful day, Bo-young had become something like a best friend (or a second sister, he didn’t know). He wasn’t exactly sure why, considering he had only known her for a week or so, but there was just a shift that occurred when she was with him.
They ranted to each other almost daily about all the complaints they had about their lives, such as Hyuntak attempting to make conversation with Humin and the other brushing him off. Or how Bo-young’s parents kept nagging her about studying abroad.
There was nobody there. Hyuntak had been waiting for nearly ten minutes, and there wasn’t a single soul in sight.
Maybe some [jerk] thought it would be hilarious to mess with me, he thought bitterly. It sure as [hell] wouldn't be a first.
Hyuntak knew he wasn’t the most appealing person to approach, let alone talk to in private. He was also not an idiot- he had promised his parents he would focus on his studies (after they had scolded him over dinner), and he did not want to break their trust. Whenever his parents got angry, it usually turned out to be more irritating than all that intimidating. Because of this fact, the little [douche] of his younger brother- Minho- had been trying to muffle his delight in the form of the fakest coughs Hyuntak had ever heard. All he had the urge to do in that moment was reach over to the twelve-year-old and smack him, and since he was unable to do so in the presence of his amazing parents, Hyuntak settled on a glare.
The instant he turned to leave, a figure emerged from around the corner. Hyuntak got one good look at the boy and internally let out his inner demons.
Out of anyone that could have possibly written him the note, did it have to be the singular guy Hyuntak had prayed and naively wished to never set eyes on again?
Geum Seongje, in all his glory of nothingness, sauntered over to Hyuntak. The [bastard] had the audacity to grin at him like his boss or leader hadn’t been the one to stomp on Gotak’s knee like Baekjin was playing a game of Dance Dance Revolution.
It honestly baffled Hyuntak how somebody could be as arrogant, blockheaded, and sadistic as those two. It was extremely difficult to refer to Geum Seongje (or either of them) as a “man” when he was so clearly far from crossing that line. Honestly, Hyuntak’s father, who was practically the manifestation of his recliner (seriously, he was attached to that thing more than he was his wife), was more of a man than Seongje.
Although I suppose Dad is more of a coward. Hyuntak pursed his lips.
“I see you got my little note,” said Geum Seongje, ambling towards the other with frustrating laziness. Hyuntak wanted to castrate him.
Wait, how did he even get into the school to give me the note? He isn’t even a student at Eunjang.
“Cut the [bull], you jerk. Why do you need me here?” huffed Hyuntak. If he actually had to see and interact with Seongje again, he would like it to be within a six-foot distance.
“Such cruelty, didn’t you miss me?” Seongje grinned, teeth and all.
Hyuntak stared at him with the most deadpan expression he could muster, the look that cut most people off of whatever [junk] they were spewing. It seemed to be somewhat effective, seeing as Seongje rolled his eyes and said nothing more on the matter.
“Look, I know we’ve had our differences-” he began.
Hyuntak scoffed. “Differences? You [freaking] used to beat me up on a weekly basis.”
“-but I want us to put them aside.”
He (Hyuntak) hummed for a moment, as if pondering on his response. “Why so suddenly? You’ve never had an issue with me hating you. In fact, you seem to like it.”
Seongje sighed and shook his head, muttering inaudibly under his breath. “Tsk, tsk. Listen, if you hear me out, I’ll do anything you ask.”
That got Hyuntak’s attention.
“Anything, you say?” The corners of his lips twitched upwards.
“Goodness,” he heard Seongje whisper. “Yes. Anyways, my parents are returning from their business trip soon. Before they left, they ganged up on me and told me that if I were to keep on getting into fights, I should at least get a girlfriend to make up for the disappointment. Normally, I wouldn’t give a [damn] about what they say, but they’re kinda right.”
“Get to the point, you oaf.”
“My dad would also pummel me like [heck] if I didn’t. I need you to pretend to be dating me.”
Hyuntak gaped at him. “This is what you need me for? Are you- have you lost your mind?! You could have asked literally anyone else, and you chose to ask me?! Do you think I look like a girl? Not that there’s anything wrong with looking like a girl, but seriously? You f-“
Seongje groaned loudly, “Oh my gosh, do you ever shut up? Yes, I’m asking you. None of the chicks here are any fun, and you look the closest to a girl than everyone in this damn place. Besides, all the other guys that look like girls are too wimpy.”
This was surprisingly not the strangest thing someone had said to him, but it was a close… twentieth, maybe. Fake-dating was an interesting subject for Hyuntak to contemplate, but it, too, was far from the weirdest thing he had experienced (it would never come close to that one time a man tried to hit Gotak and Bo-young with his car after they refused to leave with him).
“And… you said you would do anything, correct? Well, I have just one condition to that.”
“Which would be…?”
“You do anything I ask for three months.”
Seongje scoffed. “Why would I do that? That’s way too long, and who knows what type of chaos you’ll get yourself into during that time?”
Hyuntak had a semi-perfect answer. “Well, it took around that time for my knee to heal, and guess what? It’s still lousy.”
“One month.”
“Two months,” countered Hyuntak.
Geum Seongje grimaced and kicked a few pebbles aside. “I suppose I could take that offer,” he drawled. He already seemed as if he was deeply regretting allowing those words of favor to exit his mouth.
“Okay. You have a deal, you [bastard].” Hyuntak said.
Goodness, how would he be able to hide this from his parents? And he could only wish Minho would never find out, which was unlikely considering how nosy the kid could be. Hayun, their baby sister, was becoming too much like Minho already. Oh dear.