fifteen
Hired Girlfriend
girlfriend, I haven't seen you for days now. let's have a date? —Jinggi
Soojung recieved a message that Saturday morning when she woke up. It was true that they had not seen each other sincethat night. She had been busy and he as well. She missed him. A lot. But she had work that morning so Jinki had to wait till later that day.
pick me up at 5? —Soojung-ee
okay :) —Jinggi
Jinki had the whole day free and so he spent it with his flatmates. It had been a while since the three of them went out together. It was always Jinki-Soojung or Jonghyun-Jinri while Taemin was always left out. They went to Jonghyun's studio and recorded some random and funny songs just to have fun. Then they ordered some pizza and ate lunch there. They had a small talk while doing so.
"Have you asked Jinri out again?" Jinki knew about it. Since the three of them slept in the same room, they would always chat before sleeping, talking about how their day went sometimes even their feelings especially when they had some drinks. Jonghyun would be the most open one. Taemin would always but Jinki wouldn't say much and would just listen. And Jonghyun had been talking nonstop about Jinri.
"Nope. I'm not sure if I should try again. I don't even know if she likes me." Jonghyun said before he drank from his soda can.
"Kim Jonghyun is worried about that? Nonsense! Once you sing a song to a girl, they instantly fall for you!" Jinki patted his back that he almost choked out the soda he just drank.
"Is this based on your experience, Jinki? Did you fall for me when I sang you a song?" Jonghyun managed to joke around.
"Idiot! Just call Jinri. She's probably waiting for you to talk to her again." Jinki suggested.
"Jjong, stop acting like you're inexperienced." Taemin said that made Jinki laugh.
"Look who's talking?" Jonghyun hissed and glared at Taemin.
"What about you, Jinki?" Jonghyun turned to the oldest.
"What about me?" Jinki asked as if he didn't know.
"Soojung? Qian?"
"Fine. Everything's okay." Jinki had not told them(or anyone) about the fact that he had told Qian the truth.
"That's it?" Jonghyun wanted more.
"I'm meeting Soojung for dinner. Why? Do you want to come?" Jinki was acting like he was ignorant.
"Aren't you going to tell her how you feel?"
"How I feel? I feel fine." Jinki was messing with the younger boys but, of course, the two were completely clueless.
"This is useless. Taem, have you got a girlfriend?" Jonghyun knew he wouldn't get any better answers from Jinki so he started bugging Taemin.
"Yup." Taemin replied that shocked the two older males and so they looked at him curiously.
"Emma Watson." Taemin stated and laughed at his own joke.
"Whatever. You should leave after eating. I'm calling Jinri to come over." Jonghyun started cleaning up even if the other two were still eating.
"Finally. Come on, Taem. Let's just go home and cuddle." Jinki then grabbed the box of chicken before he stood up.
"I like that idea." Taemin then took some bottles of soda and wrapped them in his arms.
"Bye, Jjong-ee. Please, don't take advantage of Jinri." Taemin said as he ran out of the room.
"Jinki, are we really going to cuddle?" Taemin innocently asked when they were driving home. Jinki chuckled.
"If you really want to, we could. Oh, gosh, Taemin. You're starting to be like Jjong after Sooyeon left." Jinki shook his head and continued laughing.
"I think you're the one who needs a girlfriend."
"Me?!" Taemin pointed at himself like he was really shocked.
"But I just really want to spend more time with you. Jonghyun had his moments with you. Then Soojung stepped in the scene. When will I have you all to myself?" Taemin complained like a little kid.
"Yep. You're becoming more like Jonghyun. Don't worry, Taem. You can have me till 5."
"What?! For only three hours?!" Taemin was seriously overreacting.
"Then once I get back home tonight and maybe the whole day tomorrow."
"Then can I sleep with you tonight?"
"You're going overboard, Taem." Jinki slyly looked at him.
"Can we, at least, exchange beds? Just for tonight! I really want to make Jjong jealous."
"Yeah, I guess you can." Jinki just wanted for Taemin to stop his craziness and childishness.
After three hours of practically doing nothing but watch TV and banter with Taemin, Jinki finally left to pick up Soojung and have some fun with her. When he arrived at the cafe, Qian was there. So before he went to Soojung, he sat with Qian first.
"Am I on time?" Qian asked before she took a sip from her warm chocolate milk.
"Surprisingly, you're actually a bit early." Jinki grinned and wiped the side of Qian's lips with a tissue since there was a tiny smudge.
"Funny," Qian rolled her eyes and hit his hand.
"Can I have a sip? I don't want to order." Jinki asked nicely and so Qian pushed her cup across the table. Jinki grinned and wrapped the cup in both of his hands and drank from it.
"Wah, really warm." Jinki was so contented.
"Hey, don't finish it though!" Qian hit his hand again.
"Uh, hello." Soojung approached them. She stood behind Jinki and placed her hands on his shoulders. And since Soojung couldn't see his face, Jinki mouthed "what up?!" to Qian with a funny and ridiculous face expression. She just stopped herself from laughing.
"What were you two talking about?" Soojung asked ignoring Qian's doing.
"Nothing really. But we were just drinking some warm chocolate." Jinki tilted his head a little and looked up at her.
"If you wanted some chocolate milk, you could've asked me." Soojung was acting more caring and it was a bit strange for Jinki. He didn't know whether she was doing it for the money or because of jealousy of some sort.
"Nah. Your working hours are over anyway. Let's just go. Bye, Qian. Talk to you whenever." Jinki tapped Soojung's hand and held it before he stood up.
"We can meet up tomorrow. If you don't have plans with Soojung, that is." Qian suggested and raised her eyebrows.
"No, we don't have plans although... Taemin wants me all to himself tomorrow. You can stop by our apartment tomorrow, if you want." Jinki suggested and so Qian smiled.
"See you tomorrow then." Qian waved at Jinki first before she teasingly waved at Soojung.
As soon as they were out of the coffee shop, Soojung gazed at Jinki in a very mad and puzzled way. She pulled her hand away. She didn't understand why he and Qian were acting like good friends again. Jinki was just looking ahead and whistling like he wasn't seeing Soojung's face.
"Lee Jinki, since when did you two start acting normal again?" Soojung finally opened to speak.
"Who? Qian and I? But we've always acted that way."
"Not recently though." Soojung shook her head.
"We just had a talk a couple of days ago. I told her I still like her and she said she likes me too. The end." Jinki giggled like an evil kid. Soojung hit his arm really hard knowing he wasn't telling the truth.
"We just talked. Period." Jinki said as he rubbed his arm.
"So, girlfriend. What do you wanna do tonight? Let's watch a movie then have dinner at Buongiorno. How's that?" Jinki put his arms over her shoulders.
"I lost the want to do anything tonight. Let's just go home." Soojung pushed his arm away.
"All of a sudden? You're jealous over Qian again?" Jinki put his hands on his waist but Soojung just continued walking.
"Hey, Jung Soojung, Qian has been my friend for over four years before you and I even became friends. You can't make me stop hanging out with her just because you think it's wrong because it's not wrong in the first place. And you're not even my real girlfriend." Jinki was only acting mad but his last words just hit Soojung really hard that she almost fell down. Literally. Soojung stopped from walking and breathed in very deeply stopping herself from blowing up and telling him how she really felt. She turned around and faced him with really furious eyes.
"You're right. I'm not your real girlfriend. And you know what? I'm tired of being your fake girlfriend. I'm tired of pretending because I really want to be your real girlfriend! I like you, Jinki!" Soojung exclaimed and Jinki's mouth just formed an O. Soojung was expecting a better reaction than that but he wouldn't even mouth anything.
"I quit. Here's your ugly necklace!" Soojung pulled the lace off her neck and harshly threw it on the ground before she angrily walked away. Soojung counted to three hoping that Jinki would follow and stop her. 1, 2, 3. She turned her head but Jinki was already out of sight. The space he was occupying earlier was then empty. Soojung smirked and shook her head in disbelief. I really thought he liked me too. She just ran off.
...
Jonghyun called Jinri at 6. He was supposed to call her four hours ago but he didn't have the guts to do so. He would just pick his phone up, scroll down his contacts to Jinri's name, hesitate to click the call button, lock his phone screen and throw it on the couch. Then he'd the whole routine again and again until he finally decided to really call her.
Jinri thought she should face him. There was nothing she should hide from. She knew she had to tell him how she felt though still she wasn't sure what it was. She knocked on the open door before she went inside seeing Jonghyun cleaning up the whole room. She helped him a little before they sat down and talked.
"So, Jinri, you're probably wondering why I asked you to come here." Jonghyun started.
"No. I know the reason why." Jinri said with a timid smile.
"Oh,"
Jonghyun became silent again. He wasn't sure if he should continue or not. He then shook his head thinking that he shouldn't hesitate anymore since she was already there. There was no turning back now. It was then or never.
"So..." He started once again.
"If you know why then what do you say?" Jonghyun shyly glanced up at her and waited for her to speak.
"Well, you have to tell me what it is because maybe, I'm wrong." Jinri covered with the back of her hand as she giggled.
"Okay... then... would you like to—" Jonghyun kept pausing that was why he was even cut off by Jinri's phone ringing. Jinri declined the call and looked at him.
"Please, continue."
"Would you like to... go out... with me?" Jonghyun was so scared of Jinri's answer.
"I—" Jinri was going to answer but her phone started ringing again. She looked at the name. It was Soojung.
"I need to take this. Sorry." Jinri turned her back on him and answered her phone.
"Soojung, why are y—"
"Choi Jinri! Meet up with me, please. I'm sad." Soojung didn't even let her finish.
"Do I really have to—"
"Yes! Because I need you!!! Leave Jjong for a second for me. I'm your best friend!" Soojung used the 'best friend' tactic.
"Okay, okay. Where are you?" Jinri sighed. So she hung up once Soojung told her where she was and grabbed her things.
"B-but, Jinri..." Jonghyun noticed she was leaving.
"Sorry, Jjong. Looks like Jinki did something wrong." Jinri stood up and walked towards the door.
"B-but... but... your answer..." Jonghyun pouted when Jinri had already got out. He failed once again. Then Jinri peeked at the door and smiled.
"I would love to go out with you. Bye, Jjong." She said with her smile even brighter before she went off again.
"Wait, Jinri! When...? Oh, I'll just call her later." Jonghyun grinned at himself showing all his perfect white teeth and started putting his music sheets in his backpack.
...
Jinri went home because Soojung was waiting for her there. When she arrived, her mom had already sent Soojung up to her room so she went straight there. When she entered her room, she saw Soojung sulking on her bed with her head over her knees that were pulled together to her chest.
"Jinri, I'm sad. Hug me." Soojung was pouting like a little baby but Jinri just sat on the edge of her bed and glanced at Soojung with her eyes asking "what the heck is wrong with you?!"
"I don't work for Jinki anymore. I quit." Soojung sulked once again.
"Why? Are you finally dating for real?"
"No. Not even close. I confessed but he didn't say anything so I walked away. He didn't even stop me when I was walking away."
Jinri just laughed at her friend. She didn't know what to tell her since it was her fault. And she was too happy to even care about her best friend.
"Jinri, help me." Soojung crawled towards her across the bed.
"Since you've already told him how you felt, then there's nothing more you can do about it."
"But I think he's starting to like Qian again."
"Then there's nothing more you can do about it." Jinri was being redundant but she couldn't think of anything else to say.
"Don't act so desperate!" Jinri exclaimed then her phone started ringing. It was Jonghyun so she answered in a hurry.
"Is Soojung alright? Should I talk to Jinki about it?" Jonghyun didn't rush to the reason why he called. He pretended that he cared about Soojung but truthfully, he didn't care at all.
"No need. She's just overreacting. I'm sorry if I had to leave you earlier." Jinri was glaring at Soojung but she was also doing the same because of what Jinri was telling Jonghyun.
"Okay... Well, about our date... is tomorrow night alright? We can have dinner at Buongiorno. You like that place, right?" Jonghyun couldn't wait anymore. He was really impatient.
"Yeah, that sounds lovely."
"I'll pick you up at 7 then. Don't worry. I'll borrow Jinki's car. That way we'll be both comfortable."
"Okay, see you tomorrow."
"Wait, don't hang up just yet." Jonghyun stopped her.
"But Soojung's here. I can't talk." Jinri was whispering but Soojung could still hear her.
"Call me when she leaves then."
"I will. Bye." Jinri hung up and put down her phone. Soojung was still looking at her evilly as if she was planning to kill her own best friend.
"Ah, you're no help even though you should be helping me since I'm the reason why you became even closer to him. Plus, he's my sister's ex." Soojung got up from the bed messing the sheets up.
"That's not a problem, right?"
"No, not really but... ah! I'm leaving." Soojung grabbed her bag from the ground before she left the room. As soon as Soojung left, Jinri took her phone again and called Jonghyun.
...
Jinki walked towards his car twirling around his point finger the necklace he gave Soojung then tucked it in his pocket before he drove home with a smile on his face. His plans were working really well even if they were planned in a short period of time.
"I'm home." Jinki announced as he took off his shoes and changed to warm slippers.
"Taem, have you had dinner? Let's eat something together." Jinki looked for the younger boy. Taemin ran out of the bedroom as soon as he heard Jinki's voice.
"Jinki? Why are you home early? Didn't you have plans with Soojung?" He questioned inclining his head to the side a little.
"We 'broke' up so we cancelled." Jinki simply answered and Taemin jaw hung in the air.
"I'll make some tofu soup. Cook rice, will you? Don't tell me you're gonna starve yourself again and ask for food in the middle of the night? Come, come." Jinki pulled Taemin's arm since he wouldn't move.
Jonghyun arrived just in time for dinner. He didn't ask Jinki what he did to Soojung since he was too busy thinking of Jinri. Taemin wanted to tell Jonghyun about it but his mind was somewhere else that he couldn't even hear or understand what Taemin was trying to tell him. He went back to his senses when it was time to sleep and saw Taemin ran to Jinki's bed and lied there.
"No! I want to sleep there too!" Jonghyun complained. He then started acting like a little kid pulling Taemin's feet out of the bed. Taemin just stuck his tongue out as he grasped at the edge of the bed.
"You're messing up my bed. If you don't stop right now, I won't let you sleep there. EVER!" Jinki shouted and so Jonghyun stopped pulling Taemin off the bed while Taemin sat up and started fixing the covers of the bed.
"You can sleep there tomorrow, Jjong." Jinki added as he prepared himself to sleep.
"Ha-ha! I get to sleep on his bed first!" Taemin was teasing Jonghyun so he hit Taemin with his pillow to shut him up.
dear readers
two more chapters to go! ah! I know, it . it's gonna end soon.
But I'm writing a TaeBer so watch out for that.
xdorkyx
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