Over the following weeks, Yoongi and Alia met up more and more frequently. They found that they actually had a lot in common the more time they spent together, and after a few weeks, they were happy to spend time together, not just because of their arrangement, but because they had actually become good friends. As they had planned, neither of their families had mentioned marriage since the wedding, both of their families just happy to see their children seriously dating. They both felt a little guilty for lying, but every time they felt guilty, they would remember their parents relentless pressure to find a good husband/wife and managed to push the guilt down.

Three months after they started ‘dating’, they were spending time in Yoongi’s home. It was a modest, two bedroom apartment in the outskirts of Seoul. They were both crashed out on a couch each, having just woken up, neither of them really ready to start the day. Alia had taken over the second bedroom in his apartment, Yoongi doing the same in her apartment.

“What time is the party again?” Yoongi asked as he flipped through the TV channels, looking for something for them to watch. “We have to be there by three.” She said as she ran her fingers through her hair, trying to undo the tangles in it from the night before, but feeling too lazy to get up and grab a hairbrush. “We still have a few hours.” Yoongi said with a yawn as he finally settled on a variety show.

“I hate these parties. They're always full of creepy old men and my mother always forces me to wear the most hideous dresses. She refuses to let me dress myself for these things.” She whined as she gave up on trying to tame her hair. Yoongi snorted. “That’s because if you were to pick your own outfit you'd turn up in a pair of jeans.” He teased. She threw a cushion at him, a satisfied smirk making its way onto her face when the cushion hit him squarely in the face. “Shut up. You know that if you had the choice you'd turn up in a pair of jeans as well.”

Yoongi chuckled, it was no secret that he felt much more comfortable in jeans and a t-shirt than in a suit and tie, which he had no option but to wear to these formal events. “At least I can escape the evil that is high heels.” He said making her whine. “I hate you. Who even invented high heels? Honestly! All they do is hurt! They’re overpriced torture devices!” she complained making Yoongi laugh. “I do not envy you.” He said, giving her a sympathetic look.

They fell into a comfortable silence as they watched the show. Eventually Alia headed to shower and get ready for the party, Yoongi jumping in the shower once she was finished. At two thirty, Yoongi stood by her bedroom door. “Come on! We’re gonna be late!” he whined. “How long does it take to get ready?” he said as he knocked on the door. “Shut up!” she yelled through the door making him chuckle. She opened the door a few minutes later and his jaw almost hit the floor. She was wearing a white dress that stopped just above her knees.

“This dress is a bloody nightmare.” She mumbled as she checked the straps, making sure they weren’t twisted. “Can you check the back for me? Are any of the straps twisted?” she asked as she turned around, exposing the back of the dress which was an intricate crisscross pattern which Yoongi figured was probably why it took so long for her to get ready. He reached out and adjusted a couple of the straps, hyper aware of the fact that a lot of the skin of her back was exposed by the dress. “All good.” He said and she turned back to face him, flipping her hair over her shoulder. “Sorry it took so long. Let’s go. The quicker we get there and put in an appearance the quicker we can leave.” She said as she walked past him, her high heels dangling from her fingers.

He followed her to the entranceway, frowning when he noticed that her high heels made her slightly taller than him. “I hate high heels.” He muttered, Alia snorted. “Not as much as I do.” She said as she grabbed his arm so that she wouldn’t break an ankle in the ridiculous shoes as they headed to his car.

When they arrived at the party, they made sure to remember to act like a couple. They introduced each other at their boy/girlfriend, Yoongi kept his arm wrapped around her waist for most of the time, which she was eternally thankful for as the high heels she was forced to wear were ridiculously high and uncomfortable. He also glared at any guy who looked at her for too long or in a way that he thought wasn’t appropriate.

After an hour of socializing with all of her father’s business partners and their kids, Alia excused herself to go to the bathroom, her friend JaKyung, accompanying her. She left Yoongi with his friends, Namjoon and Jungkook. Alia was glad that the bathroom was free of preening girls as she hopped up onto one of the sinks, sighing in relief from being off of her feet. “I swear whoever invented high heels needs to be shot.” She whined as she glared down at her shoes.

JaKyung giggled at her best friend’s complaining as she touched up her makeup in the large ornate mirror behind the sinks. “So how's life with Yoongi?” she asked. JaKyung was one of the only people that knew about her arrangement with Yoongi. Yoongi’s friends Namjoon and Jungkook also knew the truth about their arrangement, only because Yoongi and Alia trusted the three of them not to tell anyone the details of their arrangement.

“It’s going well. My parents haven’t bothered me at all about getting married. Yoongi is the same. They seem quite happy with the fact that we’re together.” JaKyung nodded as she reapplied her lipstick. “So… I've been meaning to ask this for a while.” She said, sounding uncharacteristically nervous. Alia cocked her head to the side, not used to hearing her friend sound unsure about anything. “What is it?” she asked as she rubbed her aching feet through the straps of her shoes.

“Do you have any feelings for Yoongi? I mean like as more than a friend?” JaKyung asked, turning to face her. Alia’s brows furrowed. She had never thought about Yoongi as more than a friend since they had met at the wedding. Even though they pretended to be a couple in public, the furthest they had gone was to hug, hold hands, and Yoongi had kissed her hand a couple of times (usually when her mother was present). “Alia?” JaKyung said, her friend’s silence making her nervous. Alia blinked, her train of thought broken. “No, I mean we get on really well and everything, but were just friends.” She said, making sure to keep her voice low, just in case anyone could hear their conversation.

JaKyung nodded, a relieved smile making its way onto her face. “Really? Ok, cool. That’s good.” She said as she fussed with her hair. “Do you like him?” Alia asked, surprised by her realization. A slight blush made its way onto JaKyung’s face. “You do, don’t you!?” Alia said as she slipped off of the sink. JaKyung nodded, “Yeah. I've had a thing for him for ages.” She admitted. Guilt suddenly washed through her. “Oh my god. I had no idea! JaKyung I’m so sorry!”

“Don’t be silly!” JaKyung said, turning to her friend. “You didn’t know! Plus it’s not like you're actually dating him, right? And you two agreed that if you meet someone you’ll end your fake relationship, right? So don’t worry about it.” JaKyung said cheerfully. Alia nodded, “Yeah…” a strange feeling began to settle in her stomach as JaKyung linked arms with her and led them back out to the party.

She felt guilty that she had started her fake relationship with Yoongi without knowing about her best friend’s feelings for Yoongi. But now that she knew about JaKyung’s feelings for Yoongi, and the fact that she was most likely going to act on them, she suddenly felt protective of Yoongi. She couldn’t understand why she suddenly felt that way. She was sure that she didn’t feel anything more for Yoongi beyond mere friendship, even though it was obvious that he was incredibly attractive and they got on really well.

She felt Yoongi wrap his arm around her waist as he leant in close to her. “Hey, you ok?” he whispered in her ear, noticing that she seemed to be distracted. “Yeah, I’m fine.” She said as she caught JaKyung’s eye. She suddenly felt like she was doing something inappropriate by being in Yoongi’s arms in front of her best friend. Yoongi frowned as Alia moved out of embrace, but he didn’t say anything. He didn’t want to cause a scene at the party. He made a mental note to ask her about her strange behaviour later.

For the rest of the time they were at the party, Alia kept her distance from Yoongi, not enough to raise suspicion from the people around them, but enough to make Yoongi feel frustrated and confused. He couldn’t work out the reason for her sudden change in behaviour. When the party finally began to wind down, Yoongi excused himself to go to the bathroom. JaKyung pulled Alia to the side. “Hey, this is going to sound really bad, but do you mind if I talk to Yoongi, alone?” she asked hopefully. Alia’s hands clenched into fists, suddenly angry at her friend’s request, even though she technically had no claim over Yoongi, the thought of JaKyung spending time alone with him left a bad taste in .

“Yeah, sure.” She said, failing to come up with a good excuse to stop her friend from talking to Yoongi. “Thanks, Alia! I know you came with Yoongi but your parents are getting ready to leave, you can just catch a ride with them, right?” Alia nodded dumbly, the dismissal clear in her friend’s words. “Yeah, of course.” JaKyung smiled brightly at her before hugging her tightly. “You're the best. I’ll call you later, ok?” Alia nodded and went over to her parents who were preparing to leave. She told them that Yoongi had business to attend to after the party, obviously not able to tell them the real reason why she was suddenly alone.

As she made her way outside she saw Yoongi return from the bathroom. JaKyung was standing with two drinks in her hands, handing one of them to Yoongi as he approached her. Alia turned away and headed into her father’s waiting car, the driver holding the door open for her. She sat in sullen silence the whole way home. The driver dropped her off at her apartment before taking her parents and sister home. She let herself into the apartment, kicking off her heels the second she opened the door.

She huffed loudly, feeling completely frustrated. She linked her phone to her wireless speakers and turned the volume up to the highest setting as she struggled to get out of the ridiculous dress. She ran herself a bath, pouring in way more bubble bath than she should have and poured herself a glass of wine. She lay in the almost burning hot water, not caring that she still hadn’t removed her makeup. She couldn’t stop thinking about JaKyung and her feelings for Yoongi and why it made her so frustrated to think of the two of them together.

“Why am I getting so worked up? It’s not like Yoongi and I are actually dating. If she likes him and he likes her, then who am I to stand in between them?” she mumbled to herself. “I mean it’s not like I even like Yoongi that way, right? We’re just pretending to date and he's a friend. Nothing more.” She said as she finished the rest of her wine. “I’m probably just being grumpy because if they start dating then it means that Yoongi and I will need to break up and my parents will start hassling me about going on blind dates again. Yeah, that’s probably it.” She said as she got out of the bath and changed into some comfortable clothes. Proud of herself for working out the reason for her frustration.