Having Jinyoung as a boyfriend had made my school life a tad bit more interesting. I was not the girl who went around unnoticed any longer. Even if the student did not know my name, they actually knew my status as Jinyoung’s girlfriend. I went from ‘nobody’ to ‘somebody’ overnight. It was not something to be proud of, though, especially when the relationship was actually a plan with a completely different objective. And the objective was to get another person. The plan was completely insane.

Jinyoung had been busy with his trainee schedules; which consisted of dance practices, vocal training, cover shoots, etc. I was left lonely without his company most of the time. Not that I minded anyway. I was used to being alone. New rumours about our relationship surfaced every now and then. Some were saying that we had broken up, that Jinyoung was sick and tired of me. I did not even bother about them anyway. How could we break up when we were not even in a relationship? Nevertheless, the rumours bothered me as it brought unnecessary attention towards my poor being.

Days turned into months. No dates, no physical contact. We were merely contacting each other through our phones. Text messages and phone calls were exchanged. Phone calls lasted for no more than one hour but the text messages kept coming during his breaks; which was usually late at night. Jinyoung told me that he could barely stay awake during lectures and tutorials. His body was getting weaker and weaker by day. His eye bags probably weighed more than a rice sack. I laughed it off, most of the time. I did not know he was a whiny baby when we agreed on doing this together. Jinyoung started to get a little too clingy at times.

And that bothered me.

I started to think that Jinyoung was not taking this fake relationship seriously. He was starting to act that the relationship was not even a plan. It seemed so real. That was when I started to question my own feelings.

Have I fallen for Jinyoung instead and finally gotten over Jaebum?

The thoughts began to cloud my mind and I started to feel uncomfortable about myself. I did not know who to confide into about these feelings. My sister was already staying with her boyfriend, making it hard to have a heart-to-heart talk with her. When the thoughts popped in my mind, I began to feel anxious and to relieve the anxiety, I cried myself to sleep. Swollen eyes and runny nose would accompany me the day after, but nobody cared anyway. I pretended nothing happened the night before.

About 3 months after our meeting (I refused to call it a date), Jinyoung called me to meet up with him at a park near the company’s building. It was a chilly night since it was drizzling almost the whole day. Puddles of water reflected the alive streets of Seoul and I, in my Converse high cuts, could not resist myself to step on those tiny little pools of water. The ripples whenever a raindrop fell on it had never been that interesting. Therefore, the child side of me decided to sit on a bench near a puddle of water, wiping the seats dry with a few pieces of tissue paper.

A buzz on my vibrating interrupted the silence of the night. Jinyoung’s name lit up my phone’s blank screen. My chest tightened, a sign I get whenever I was feeling anxious and nervous. I slid the phone’s screen and put it on my ear.

“Yah, are you deep inside the park?” Jinyoung shouted into his phone.

“Hello, Jinyoung! Where are you?” I responded sarcastically.

“Hyerin-ah, I’m being serious. What are you doing deep inside the park?”

“Just a 5 minutes walk, Jinyoung. It’s not that far.”

“That’ll be around 2 minutes walk for me since my legs are longer than yours?”

“Shut up, Jinyoung!” I hang up the phone abruptly.

At that moment, I just wanted company. Being alone in the park at night might be the scariest thing I had experienced yet. I was not really scared of ghost then, but I was more afraid of the uncertainties. I rubbed my hands together as I tried to calm myself down, brushing the anxiety away. The sound of footsteps made me turned to the direction where it came from. I was met with a smiling Jinyoung who was holding up two plastic bags of snacks and drinks. What frightened me more was the person behind him. Jinyoung brought Jaebum along.

Jinyoung came closer to me and trapped me inside his tight embrace. My face was buried in his chest while my arms, made their way around Jinyoung’s waist. Jinyoung did not even put the bags down; I could feel the two plastic bags behind me.

“I’m sorry to keep you waiting, Hyerin baby,” Jinyoung pouted.

He pressed my cheeks together with his two hands, making me look like a pufferfish. Not cute, Jinyoung. But at least, his hands were warm, making me feel all comfortable inside. While he was doing so, I grabbed one of the plastic bags and rummaged through its contents. Unsatisfied by the items inside, I pushed his hands away.

“Yah, where’s my yogurt drink?!” I shouted at him as I continue searching for my favourite drink.

“Oh, it’s here.”

To my surprise, it was not Jinyoung who said it and handed it to me. It was the other guy, Jaebum. Jinyoung was surprised with my sudden outburst, and he was still blinking his eyes continuously.

“Oh, thank you,” I slightly bowed my head as a sign of gratitude.

My heart was beating so quickly and my pulse rose. I thought my veins and arteries were going to burst, which was super unlikely. As I poked the straw into the drink, I contemplated whether I should start a conversation with him. Jinyoung was already having a chat with his best friend while I was gobbling down the crackers and snacks that they have bought. I was not sure about the topic of their conversation but I was pretty sure it lied between the lines of the idol’s lifestyle. A sudden Pepero suddenly popped in front of my mouth. I looked up to see Jinyoung poking it into my mouth. Jinyoung was trying so hard to make Jaebum believe this relationship. Look at this traitor Jinyoung; cheating his own best friend. I gave him a genuine smile and bit half of the stick.

“So, Jaebum, how are you and Suzy doing?” I started a conversation.

“We’re busy with our own schedules. You know, idols,” he explained. “We can’t really spend much time with each other. Consider yourself lucky, Hyerin-ah.”

I chuckled.

I’d be luckier if I have you instead of Suzy.

“Yeah, I’m lucky to have this whiny and bratty Jinyoung,” I joked. “How did I even fall for him?”

A sudden slap met my knees and I flinched. Jinyoung was clearly giving me his annoyed face. He would sulk any second now. That was until I pat his back, signalling that he should not overreact. It might become too obvious then.

That night was filled with conversations between chatterbox Jinyoung and the almighty Jaebum. I was there as a calefare, laughing at their jokes and giving reactions. Maybe it was just me but I thought I saw Jaebum looking at my direction a few times when he was talking to Jinyoung. I could also be deluding about it since I was in love with him.

But something scared me.

What if Jaebum knew that Jinyoung and I weren’t together? What if he knew that everything was a lie since it was too obvious? What if… What if…  

a/n

This chapter might be kindda boring since it was mostly Hyerin's thoughts. lol, Hyerin thinks too much. And Hyerin has yet to meet Suzy. (which might be as soon as Suzy has no schedules. HAHAH! Nevertheless, enjoy reading. Hit the subscribe button to know when I've updated. You, subscribers and readers, rock! \m/