I made the taxi rush to Soojoo’s place while fervently wishing that time would just speed up. I hated pretending but it was a necessary evil in this world I unknowingly entered in when I was young. Lies were our bread and butter and masks were our source of oxygen. Showing ones’ vulnerabilities was a great tactic to get sympathies, but it was destructive. The world is fickle, one thing I’ve learned from a young age. Looks of adoration can turn into disgust and abhorrence in just a blink of an eye. People who were supposed to be there for you will just turn their backs from you at the end of the day. I’ve learned that only mutual necessity really ensures people’s loyalties.

My thoughts were broken as the taxi arrives in Soojoo’s place. We got here faster than I expected so I pay the driver extra. It will also ensure his silence too hopefully.

I knock on the door of Soojoo’s trendy apartment, basking in the warmth and familiarity of the place. Soojoo had always been one of the few people I could say I was close to and one of the few I deem I could trust. When I thought about the arrangement I had to set up, she was the first person I immediately thought of. No one else could pull this farce better with me than her. She agreed because she could use me too to further her status in the fashion world. We were just using each other, but at the end of the day, isn’t that what friends do anyway?

Soojoo opens the door and I automatically smile at her. My feelings for her might be platonic to the point of being brotherly but there really was affection for her. We were alike in a lot of ways and had the same interests. Plus, we were friends for a long time prior to the arrangement we set up so allegedly falling for her was very believable. Both of us were good actors too and skinship was no problem when we both knew where we really stood with each other. Until this day, I still think she’s perfect for the role of a fake girlfriend.

She leads the way to the living room, smirking all the way. She finally breaks the comfortable silence saying: “Did you enjoy your night loverboy?”, she said in a teasing tone.

I mock glared at her but ended up smirking too. “I did, and it was VERY fun”, I said, drawing out the word “very” and accompanying my words with a lewd wink.

She laughs hysterically, the finesse of a model long gone as she throws herself into her laugh. We finally reach her vast living room and plopped down next to each other on the sofa. She pokes my stomach as her face scrunches up when she says: “Don’t make me feel envious. I haven’t been getting any propositions or even compliments since the news of our ‘relationship’ broke out”.

I smirk at her and pat her head. “Poor Soojoo. So I’m basically the to you getting some action”.

“Don’t patronize me Jiyong-ah. Aurgh. If only it weren’t for my career!”, she huffs, crossing her arms while pouting, and trying to lean away from me.

“I can so sense the love and concern for my well-being too”, I say sarcastically, mentally laughing at how she looked. A grown woman, a model too at that, pouting like a 5-year old.

“Why would I do anything for an ugly brat like you?”, she said teasingly, ruffling my hair.

“Hey. My mom says I’m handsome. And my fans think so too”, I say with a hint of pride.

“Wow. So humble”, she says as she rolled her eyes at me. I just smirk at her as a reply and changed the subject at hand.

“So, did Sajangnim already call you?”, I ask, getting to the substance of why I had to be at her place.

“Not yet. I think he might be giving us ‘privacy’ first”, she says as she waggled her eyebrows. “I really don’t understand why he likes me so much though”.

“Perfect looks. Good image. Complementary visuals. Fashionistas. And the public loved the idea of us turning from friends into lovers”, I held up my fingers one by one as I ticked off the reasons.

She scrunched up her nose at that, seemingly nauseated at the idea.

“True. We’re the perfect couple to outsiders”, she finally admits. “But every time someone says you’re handsome, I just imagine you drunk and wasted and I just drown in the irony”.

“Hey you look bad drunk too you know. You’ll lose all your modelling contracts if I show them the pictures I have of you”, I counter at her.

“Oh great G-dragon, please don’t”, she says as she giggles.

“Since I’m oh-so-merciful, I won’t”, I say, while giggling too.

When the giggles subsided, Soojoo’s expression became more serious.

“Really though Jiyong, are you okay? Going to Ri’s place, ending up feeling like after, why do you do that to yourself? What triggered it this time?”, Soojoo asks, concern written all over her face.

I sigh. Of course Soojoo would be worried. She knew everything.

“Mom, feed me first. I’m hungry!”, I whine, prolonging the inevitable confrontation with her.

She sighs, frustration clearly manifested as she runs her fingers distractedly through her hair.

“Fine. I’ll get my maid to whip us something. Let’s go to the dining room”, she says, pulling at my arm to get me to stand up. I begrudgingly stand up from my comfortable position and trudged after her. She leaves me at the dining table to talk to her cook and maid, giving me my much needed time alone to collect my thoughts. Millions of excuses run through my head, each one sounding lamer than the one before. But well, I owe Soojoo for agreeing with this crazy plan I concocted, and for always being there for me when I couldn’t turn to anyone else. The least I can do is tell her the truth.

Soojoo later returns with her maid and the food in tow, and my stomach rumbles in anticipation. Comfortable silence descended between us with only the clinks of the silverware on the plates being the indication of each other’s presence. I break the silence though, as I remember something important.

“Crap. We haven’t posted anything in our social media accounts about each other for around 3 weeks now”, I say to Soojoo.

She nods. Understanding the implication of my words. “Are people getting more and more suspicious?”, she asks.

I chew my bottom lip before I respond, “Yes. There was already an article that we might have broken up.”

“Let’s take a picture then and quash all those rumors then. But people might just tell you to ‘break up’ with me seeing as I’m not pretty now”, she says while laughing, at the same time patting my arm in comfort, knowing just how much I hated mediaplay in my social accounts.

We took the damn picture and uploaded it in my Instagram. Another lie to comfort the world. Another pretense to ensure that everything Gdragon worked hard for will still be in place.

Soojoo tried to keep the conversation around safer topics after that but we both knew she was itching to go back to the question I didn’t answer.

When she started talking about the weather, I knew she was already at her wits end and laughed to interrupt her monologue.

At this point, we both knew each other well enough for her to know that I was ready to talk about it, so she just stays quiet, waiting for me to speak up.

“It was that damn pizza place. The one we usually went to when we were trainees. The one where I took him out first”, I say, looking down at my plate while unconsciously playing with my fork.

“Oh”, she says, nodding mutely after, waiting for me to continue my rant.

“And it’s been weeks since I last really talked to him you know. People were trying but failing to subtly keep us from being alone together. And he was there with me almost every single day because we had to record  songs for the new album coming out. Of course he talked to me when he needed to but aside from that he treated me like I was just part of the equipments in the studio. And it was driving me insane. The urge to provoke him, to see if I can still get a reaction out of him was rising inside of me. I couldn’t control it. My thoughts always turned to the fact that it was it’s unfair that the mere truth that he’s breathing and existing affects my entire being, while he can live so much happily without me”, I say angrily while tears started forming in my eyes.

Soojoo reaches out for me and brings me into her arms. The motherly action opens up the floodgates in my eyes, allowing me to finally let out all my frustrations and insecurities.  

“And then I saw the stupid pizza place and everything just became too much. And I found myself already texting him before I could stop myself”, I say, while chuckling lowly, only being able to do so after having calmed myself down.

Soojoo just sighs. “You’re hurting yourself and him Ji”, she says, eyebrows knitted in disapproval.

“Haven’t we always been this way?”, I say.

Soojoo lets go of me and goes back to her chair. She looks at me dead in the eyes and says: “That’s why we’re in this right? To help you break that destructive cycle?”.

I just nod while inwardly laughing at the irony of the situation. This was almost déjà vu in the sense that here were Soojoo and I again, sitting opposite each other, my head full of thoughts of Seungri, and Soojoo trying to calm me down after me crying. Just like the night when we started this arrangement. Just like the night when the fiction of Soojoo as my girlfriend all began. 

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A/N: 

Sorry if there was no Seungri in this chapter. I had to introduce Soojoo for the benefit of the story and I have to warn you guys that the next chapter will include her too. I don't want her to be a villain in people's minds because I love Ji's friendship with Soojoo in real life. 

Honestly, I haven't figured out how this story will go. I have a few vague events in my head and I'm still trying to tie them all up together to the end that I see. This will still be about NyongTory's messed-up relationship though, and we're all in for a bumpy ride. 

The timeline will usually be in the present with sporadic glimpses of past events which I think will be important to the GRi relationship. The way I wrote the first 2 chapters prevents me from doing an actual replay of the events in Seungri and Jiyong's lives through a chronological representation of it. So if it seems disjointed, I apologize sincerely. 

I hope that people will be interested enough to keep on reading this. But it would greatly help me if you do comment your thoughts and observations. Thank you so much for the 31 people who have subscribed. Each and every one of you is precious. *Gives you all virtual pizzas* :)