It felt like the day had completely disappeared for Alia. She had caught up with all of her paperwork from the day before, finished everything she needed to do for the day, and had even started organising all of their old files that were no longer of any use. She needed a way to keep her mind distracted. She had slipped up in the middle of the afternoon, clicking onto Instagram, seeing a selfie JaKyung had posted of herself and Yoongi. She had to force down the urge to throw her phone across the room.

She sat on the floor of the filing room, looking through all the old manuscripts of the books her company had printed. She had decided to redo the organisation system, a job which she could have easily passed on to one of her many interns, but she was so desperate to keep herself busy that she started it herself. She had become so engrossed in her work that she didn’t notice Yoongi standing by the doorway, leaning against the doorframe as he smiled down at her.

Eventually he cleared his throat to get her attention. “Having fun?” he asked as she looked up at him through the towers of manuscripts around her. “Hey.” She said back as she stood up, her joints stiff from sitting on the floor for so long. “You almost done for the day?” he asked as he checked the time on his watch. She copied his action and nodded, knowing that she couldn’t hide in her office much longer. They were meeting his parents for dinner and she didn’t want to offend them by not turning up or by turning up late. “Sure. Just let me go get my things from my office.”

Yoongi waited for her while she grabbed her things before leading her to his car. On the drive to the restaurant, she resisted the urge to ask him about his date with JaKyung. She had several missed calls and even more unread messages from her friend, but she had put off answering them, not wanting to hear about how much fun she had had with Yoongi. Yoongi picked up on her strange mood, but didn’t question her about it. He figured that she was probably just tired and probably still not feeling one hundred percent.

When he pulled up outside the restaurant, he cut off the engine and turned to face her. “Hey, if you're not feeling up to this we can cancel.” He offered, his warm eyes searching hers for any sign that she would rather just go home. She shook her head as she looked away from him, guilt poking at her for being angry with him when he hadn’t actually done anything wrong. They had agreed that they were allowed to look for a boy/girlfriend during their time together. “I’m fine, let’s go. We don’t want to be late.” She said with a forced smile as she opened the door and got out of the car. Yoongi let out a quiet sigh before getting out of the car, linking his arm with hers as she approached him.

His mother jumped to her feet the moment they appeared together, immediately pulling the two of them into tight hugs before fussing over Alia, asking her how she was feeling. Yoongi sat opposite his father after bowing to him. Alia and his mother eventually took their seats, Alia sitting by Yoongi’s side. Yoongi's mother kept the conversation flowing easily, just like Alia’s mother, she was a master of making small talk, managing to pull the other three into conversation. Yoongi noticed that Alia didn’t eat much and that she was quieter than normal. She replied to his parents whenever they spoke to her, but she was missing her usual spark. He grabbed her hand under the table, giving it a squeeze. She gave him a brief smile before pulling her hand out of his, reaching for her glass to give her hand somewhere else to be. Yoongi felt his frustration grow at her strange attitude. Hadn’t everything been fine this morning? Why was she suddenly acting this way towards him? He could tell that even his mother was struggling a little to gloss over her attitude.

Half an hour later, Alia excused herself to go to the bathroom. She splashed cold water onto her face, looking at her reflection in the large mirrors behind the sinks. “What the hell are you playing at?” she mumbled to herself. “You’re supposed to be madly in love with him, step up your game.” She said to her reflection before letting out a bitter laugh. “Love… that’s the real reason I’m acting like this.” She whispered as the bathroom door swung open. She gasped as Yoongi entered the bathroom, locking the door behind him. “Yoongi! What are you doing in here?” she asked as she spun around to face him. “What’s wrong?” he asked, his eyebrows furrowed, his expression serious.

“You're in the girl’s bathroom.” She said, making him roll his eyes at her. He stepped closer to her and she stepped backwards, the sink pressing into her lower back, stopping her from moving further away from him. “You know that’s not what I mean.” He said as he stopped right in front of her, his intense gaze locked onto her. “You’ve been acting really weird since I picked you up…” he said, his voice trailing off at the end. Alia couldn’t look away from him, she felt like a deer caught in the headlights. She could feel the sweat beading on her forehead at his too close proximity, her breaths becoming more shallow as he reached out and cupped her cheek.

His frown deepened. “You're burning up.” he said, sounding startled as he removed his hand from her cheek. She almost breathed a sigh of relief until he pressed his lips to her forehead. The tiniest gasp left , her breath completely catching in . He pulled away and frowned down at her. “Yah, why didn’t you tell me you still had a fever?” he chided. Her face felt like it was on fire. “W-what was that?!” she asked, her voice higher than normal. “It’s how my mother used to test me for a fever when I was a kid.” He said, waving it off like it was nothing. “Come on, I’m gonna take you home.” He said as he grabbed her hand and pulled her out of the bathroom.

Alia stumbled along behind him, completely taken aback by his actions. She barely registered anything as Yoongi apologised to his parents, telling them that she was still sick and that he needed to take her home. Her mother made a big fuss over her, offering to take her to hospital or have medicine sent to her, but Yoongi protested on Alia’s behalf, saying that she should just go home and rest. He pulled her to his car, helping her buckle her seatbelt when she fumbled with it. He drove to her home, his gaze constantly sliding over to her, his worry practically radiating off of him, but Alia was to wrapped up in her own thoughts to notice.

She couldn’t shake the feeling of Yoongi's hand on her cheek or the feeling of his lips on her forehead. She felt so stupid for being so shaken for something as innocent as that, but even that simple gesture had sent her mind reeling. She didn’t notice when Yoongi pulled up outside of her apartment. It wasn’t until he gently called her name that she finally looked up. “Oh, we’re already here.” She said, her voice showing her surprise. “I’m sorry that we had to leave early.” She said, her gaze not meeting his. “I’ll be sure to call your mother and apologise tomorrow. Thanks for bringing me home.” She said as she quickly got out of the car.

She started walking towards her building, but stopped when she heard a second car door close. She turned around to see Yoongi walking towards her, a concerned look on his face. He didn’t say anything as he gently grabbed her hand and continued walking towards her apartment. “Yoongi, what are you doing?” she asked, her eyes on their linked hands. “Taking you to your apartment.” He said simply as he pulled her into the building. He quickly typed in the passcode to her apartment and let them in. “Go and get changed.” He commanded. “Yoongi, I’m fine. You should go back to your apartment and rest.”

He frowned at her. “Not happening. Go get changed.” He said, his voice leaving no room for argument. She sighed and made her way to her bedroom and changed into a comfortable pair of pyjamas and tied her hair into a quick braid. When she reappeared, Yoongi was just finishing off making her some tea. “I’ll take your tea to your bedroom.” He said as he grabbed the two mugs and disappeared into her room. She sighed, resigning herself to the fact that he was not going to leave anytime soon. She went into the bathroom and removed her make up before reapplying a little concealer and mascara, feeling stupid for caring so much how she looked.

She went back into her bedroom where Yoongi was waiting, the edge of her covers pulled back, waiting for her. She slipped into bed and Yoongi pulled the covers over her legs and handed her a mug of tea. “Drink.” He commanded. She sipped on the tea, savouring the sweet taste as she relaxed against the headboard. Yoongi watched her carefully as she drank, looking for any signs that she was unwell or in any discomfort. She had barely eaten during dinner, and she had definitely been burning up at the restaurant. Her face looked less flushed now, but he was still worried.

Once she finished her tea, he took the mug from her hands and placed it onto her bedside unit before making her lie down. “You should take tomorrow off work.” He said, his voice and eyes full of worry. “There’s no need. I’m fine.” She protested. Yoongi frowned at her. “You barely ate at dinner, you have a fever, and you’ve been spacing out all night. You should have listened to me and stayed off today then maybe you would actually be feeling better.” She frowned at him, a part of her thankful that he was blaming her strange behaviour on being ill. “I’m fine.” She protested. Yoongi rolled his eyes before lying down beside her.

“We can argue about it in the morning.” He said as he yawned loudly. She tried to wriggle to the other side of the bed to give him more room, but he just followed her, snuggling against her. “Sleep.” He said as he wrapped his arm over her. She looked down at his arm then at his face, but his eyes were closed, his breathing already evening out. She had never felt so confused in her entire life. He had literally been on what she assumed was a date with another girl only a few hours ago but here he was, lying in her bed like it was nothing. It made her furious that she cared so much when she wasn’t supposed to actually be in love with him. It was all supposed to be pretend.

She lay awake for hours, her mind reeling back and forth as she thought about Yoongi. She was now all too aware of the intensity of her feelings for the blond man lying beside her, but she wasn’t sure how to handle them. Having him beside her made her so happy, even if their romantic relationship wasn’t real. That thought made her stomach clench painfully. “It’s all pretend.” She whispered to herself. She bit her lip as she looked at Yoongi’s sleeping face. “I can’t do this anymore.” She whispered, her eyes filling up with tears.

“We need to break up…”