(AN: here's that husband for hire fic you guys were asking for! I don't anticipate this being super long, but I hope you guys enjoy it nonetheless!)

Kyungsoo has no idea why he stopped in front of this ad. All of the ads in the Spice Market are borderline suspicious, like behind the graphic design is my passion aesthetic they’re trying to lure people into some illicit trade, but this one…

    The ad. A couple, one of them dressed elegantly, the other slightly shabby, both of them standing in the kitchen of a glitzy mansion, and the words Bring some warmth into your home with a Husband for Hire. It looks like those mobile game ads, but made by someone with an actual budget. At the very bottom, in skinny lettering, Monday Blues Matchmaking Agency, and an address Uptown. So, they had to be the real deal to have a physical location in the most luxurious neighborhood of San Myshuno. Kyungsoo snaps a picture with his phone, mostly because he intends to roast it in the group chat with his friends, but also because maybe, just maybe, he’s a little bit curious.

    Curious enough to look them up when he gets home. Everything seems to check out; they’re a legitimate matchmaking agency, with very high reviews, and there are glowing articles written about them in Vogue and the San Myshuner. And they match “men on the lower socioeconomic spectrum” with “men of means.” Which is just really fancy bull that translates to matching poor gays with rich gays. Very niche, but also intriguing, because Kyungsoo is a poor gay who doesn’t want to be poor for the rest of his life, working at minimum wage to pay off his degree in interior design for the next thirty years.

    And, surprisingly, when he sends the picture in the group chat with a “🤨,” Chanyeol tells him that his friend Baekhyun met his very rich (and very hot) husband through that exact agency. Hm, maybe Kyungsoo is convinced. Now he just needs to build up the confidence to actually go. Wait— no. What is he saying? This is still ridiculous. He’s not convinced. This is all too good to be true, so it has to be a trap or something, right? He also wants to think that he can score a hot rich husband without the help of an agency, but then he remembers he doesn’t know anyone who’s remotely close to the social circle of hot and rich gay men in San Myshuno, so he discards that idea. Whatever, he’ll be noticed by some major designer soon and blow up to stardom and make millions in no time. One day… one day…

~

    Uptown is off limits to people like Kyungsoo. There’s nothing a recent grad with an assload of debt and ty job can afford except the view of the Arts District, and even standing on the street to appreciate that view feels kind of illegal. But he’d made up some excuse about looking for high-grade tea (mostly to convince himself, because nobody was asking), and conveniently ended up outside of the agency’s window. The view is blocked by frosted decals and an added layer of lush plants, Monday Blues Matchmaking Agency in elegant silver letters across the very middle. Kyungsoo takes a deep breath and walks up to the door, hand hovering above the glass. 

    No, he’s not going to do this. He steps back, ready to turn around, but then he realizes that the people on the street will definitely think he’s weirder for leaving before he’s even stepped foot inside, so his anxiety at being judged chases him inside before he can process what he just did. And now he’s staring at the woman at the front desk, who has ears that really stick out (she’s still pretty just…big eared), and a suit so crisp it makes Kyungsoo feel like he’ll cut himself on it.

    The woman looks at him, eyes roaming from his worn sneakers to his cheap glasses, and smiles. “Are you looking for a match?”

    “Um.”

    Well, is he? This is honestly insane. He shouldn’t even be considering this. What if they’re actually human traffickers? What if he’s expected to be an ? Is his debt really worth all of the risk? But then there’s Chanyeol’s friend…and the glowing reviews…and all the other signs that point to them being legit…
    “You have questions, don’t you?” she says.

    “Yes,” Kyungsoo squeaks.

    “Well, come on in,” she says, smiling brightly.

    She leads him to a waiting area with crushed velvet sofas that are wine red with gold accents, a gurgling water wall behind a display of blooming flowers, and an abstract painting on the other wall. He’s definitely feeling out of place, so he sits on the very edge of the sofa, bunching the pockets of his hoodie while he waits.

    He doesn’t wait long.