"So, why are we hiding out in the stairway of the Central Library again?" Kierra questioned after biting into her milk bread.

After classes were done for the day, the cousins ended up meeting at the Central Library's stairwell due to Linna and Melanie's urgent messages. Kierra and Serena had no clue what was going on, but they brought over snacks.

"Because the girls found out I'm dating Sunghoon."

"Because the girls found out I'm dating Jake."

Both Linna and Melanie responded with a defeated sigh yet continued to eat their jam-filled bread, absentmindedly.

"You mean that they found out the two are you fake dating, right?" Serena corrected, confused.

"No. They actually think we're dating, dating, for real." Linna explained as Melanie continued.

"Now they're teasing us for saying 'I told you so' and 'about time' that things happened between the four of us."

Both Kierra and Serena laughed out loud at their sisters' predicament

"How?" The older two chorused.

The younger two shrugged, giving different answers.

"Maybe because of Jake?"

"Maybe because of Sunghoon?"

"Like, there has to be some way they found about it all though, right?" Kierra reasoned as Serena listed possible people.

"Hmm, maybe Kim Nara or Choi Rika mentioned something and it spread?"

"No way." Melanie disagreed.

Serena's face lit up, teasingly.

"Or maybe our friends finally caught the two of you holding hands to classes and saw the new keychains on your backpacks."

"Which is hella cute by the way." Kierra commented with a look.

"Could y'all ask them where they got it?"

Linna and Melanie just eyed her as Kierra laughed.

"Okay, okay."

"Anyway," Serena got back on track.

"How long are y'all gonna plan on hiding out because they're blowing up the chat."

Serena flashed them her phone as the group chat with their friends kept updating with responses and hasn't stopped since they found out about Linna and Melanie. Melanie and Linna groaned again as Serena chuckled, chewing on her melon bread and sipping a strawberry milk carton.

"I guess y'all are gonna have to confess now, yeah?"

"No way." They declined with widened eyes before Melanie cast them with a look.

"Besides, Jake and I aren't like that compared to Linna and Sunghoon even though we're both in the same boat with the whole situation."

Linna scoffed.

"He doesn't even know that it was me that wrote him those letters yet we're in this fake dating situation bit."

Melanie scoffed, too.

"I didn't even write Jake one, but people think I did and now I'm in that situation, too."

"I mean, I'm surprised this is still going on." Serena commented, amused.

"Like, the plot thickens and y'all are living out one of those drama series."

The younger two scoffed, not enjoying it. Serena tried to think of this logically.

"Look, Linna, you like Sunghoon. Maybe this could work in your favor if you confess to him since it seems like Sunghoon doesn't mind hanging out with you and even pretending to aate."

Serena looked at her sister.

"And you, Melanie, maybe Jake likes you or something. I mean, you suggested a fake breakup, but he kinda dodged the question. Anyway, even though you say that you don't like him, but you don't mind going along with all this fake dating and now being tutored on top of it, too."

Serena looked from one to the other with a worried look.

"Then again, y'all really need to have that talk before this goes on further. I mean, we've seen how fake dating goes in movies, shows, and even within books, but like this is real life with real feelings. One or both or all of you may end up getting your feelings hurt one way or another."

Kierra agreed as she gave her sister and younger cousin a knowing look.

"Just like Serena said, but what are y'all gonna do now then?"

They both shrugged while eating their own bread. Serena looked at them before speaking with a small smile, trying to ease the situation.

"So if the girls found out, then maybe the boys have, too? This would actually make another nice short story to write soon."

The younger two groaned as Kierra laughed then frowned when she caught Serena's mischievous eyes.

"What?"

"Don't act like I didn't know about you finishing that photobook."

"What photobook?" The younger two inquired as Kierra sighed, not wanting Serena to come after her, too.

"For Jay's birthday gift, I gave him a photobook of all the photos I took for assignments relating to him."

"Ooh."

"Lovely."

Kierra groaned in response as the younger two asked if she had a copy that they could see, too.

"I have a digital company at home without Serena's extra bit."

"Which adds a nice touch that you missed out on. By the way, I have pictures of them if you wanna replicate it just in case."

Serena smiled, but Kierra made a face.

"No way. It was a one time thing."

"Unless you want your own physical copy."

"Maybe."

Kierra sighed as Serena grinned before speaking again.

"Anyway, well, we can't ignore our friends forever. We work with them and have classes with them, too."

They all nodded, understandingly as Kierra remembered something.

"Well, then again, it may be hard as we're supposed to support our friends during their Dance Showcase next month and they expect us to check-in on them from time to time during their practices later, too."

"Oh, right." Melanie commented, also recalling something.

"We promised to be their cheerleaders to cheer them on."

"And design shirts to show off, too." Linna chimed in a second later.

The four munched on their breads and sipped their milk until Kierra checked the group chat and noticed Serena and Seohoo's name began popping up in the midst of the other two's incidents. Kierra cast Serena with a teasing look.

"So, what are you gonna do about your rumor about being Seohoo's girlfriend though?"

"Ah, . I forgot about that." Serena groaned as she facepalmed herself.

"I can't believe he asked you for those photos of him and I pretending to be a couple so that his dumb fangirls would get off his back."

"Well, our friends wanna meet him, get to know him better, and wondered where he came from out of the blue." Kierra commented with a laugh, reading the chat.

Linna and Melanie also checked their phones and began giggling. The other two looked over at them, puzzled. The pair showed their phones.

"Actually, they're wondering if Serena is just playing a bunch of guys and why she doesn't say she likes anyone."

"They know Nicholas and EJ were just joking, but they're unsure about K, Geonu, Jimin, and Seohoo after the boys also shared their photos with Serena being cutesy and lovey-dovey with them, too, claiming that she loves them the best."

Serena groaned again, annoyed.

"This is why I need to not associate with the opposite gender. This is what gets me into the most trouble ever when I accept as friends."

"That's your fault." The trio chimed as Serena just waved off their words before grabbing her own phone.

Serena typed in the chat to let them know that she's not dating anyone, that she's still single as ever, and likes no one.

"Okay, done."

Serena put her phone away and noticed the Melanie and Linna typing as well.

"What are y'all putting?"

"Saying that we're dating the two even though it is pretend, but no one else has to know besides the four of us and those two." Linna reasoned as Melanie nodded.

"Yeah, so that way they can leave us alone for now, but that we don't want to do a group date either though."

"Hopefully that goes well." Kierra remarked as she read through the chat while looking over at Serena.

"They're sad that you don't have a boyfriend."

"Don't care."

Kierra laughed before frowning when their friends started asking about Kierra and if she and Jay would be getting together officially, too.

"Why do they think I like Jay like that?"

"Because y'all got a situationship that needs to be dealt with." Serena remarked with a laugh.

"Because I know there's something between the two of you, but you're just as hardheaded and stubborn as I am. Or a part of your brain has denied it so much that it became some type of truth without you realizing it."

"Stop. I don't need any of that right now. Forget it."

Kierra dismissed her cousin's words as she put her phone away with the other two doing the same.

"Anyway, for now it's okay."

Kierra looked at the others.

"Once summer break starts we can run away back home and from our boy troubles."

"Y'all got boy troubles." Serena corrected, but the other three her.

"You still have to return Heeseung's his suit jacket before then though." Melanie stated as Linna nodded.

"You've had that for quite a while now."

"I'll get to it when I do." Serena dismissed their words nonchalantly.

"Girl, don't act like you haven't interacted with him constantly since winter holiday, too." Kierra stated with a knowing look.

"Besides, don't forget the boys put up those photos from y'all playing basketball that day."

Serena made a face.

"That's not the same. Besides, I sat there and didn't really do anything until they forced me to shoot all the foul shots."

"Actually, it is." Melanie reasoned.

"Just a different route than us three."

"Whatever." Serena dismissed with a wave.

"Let's just go home and we can order in."

The other three agreed, happily.

"Ooh, great idea."

"I want some dakjangjeong."

"We can get pizza, too."

"Anyway, we can also plan our trip back home, too. I'm sure the boys misses us."

"They only miss us bringing back snacks and souvenirs." Kierra stated as the others laughed, agreeing.

The four packed up their belongings and while exiting the building, Melanie and Linna's phone went off as they received a similar notification.

"." They both responded upon reading the message as their sisters looked at them, worried.

"What?"

"Jake wants to go on a pretend date this Friday."

"Sunghoon wants to go on a pretend date this Friday."

The pair answered while letting out a deep sigh.

"Sounds fun." Serena cooed in a playful manner.

"Might as well build up the fakeness to a genuine one or y'all can just decline and end the fake relationship now."

"I said go." Kierra reasoned.

"Just go have fun and see how they're are."

"If Jay asked you to hang out, then you'll go?" Linna countered as Kierra shook her head.

"No."

The younger two scoffed as Kierra laughed, shrugging.

"Honestly, I dunno. I said that now, but who knows in the future though."

"Anyway, we can't go. We work that day." Melanie informed them as Serena pointed to herself and Kierra with an easy-going smile.

"We can work it instead. I'll message Eunah later today to settle it. She doesn't mind as long as we let her know of any shift change. Just go on that lovely date."

Melanie and Linna still made a face about the whole thing, but reluctantly responded back to Jake and Sunghoon and agreed to go on the date. They put away their phones again before looking at their sisters.

"Anyway, let's start working on the design for our shirts and stuff."

"Yeah, so that we can at least calm them down from asking us about our love life with them."

"Hmm, since our colors are gold and white, we can do a white shirt with gold font." Serena suggested while clicking through images on her laptop that was hooked up to the TV for better viewing.

"Or maybe a golden shirt with white font?"

She stared at her sister and cousins while clicking through the slides.

"Or we can do something like a black shirt with red font instead that's not our school colors."

She glanced at the others as they sat around their living with art materials around them to decorate their clothes and banners.

"It depends on what y'all wanna do. I on the other hand like silver font on black, too."

The images showed the shirts with either the writing of 'Go HU!' or 'Go HU Dance Team!', depending on what the cousins wanted to write. These were supposed to give them an idea on what to write on their own shirts for their friends' dance showcase.

"As for banners, I was thinking that they can be the basic banners and stuff people hold for concerts, but of course, we'll make them small and just noticeable enough without being a hindrance for others around us."

"Hmm, either one is fine." Kierra said with a shrug as the other two liked them all.

"They're all nice. I can't choose."

"Hmm, yeah, me too, but I dunno if I wanna do a shirt or banner. Maybe both?"

"Oh yeah, true."

"Anyway, I don't feel like doing it just yet." Melanie said with a laugh.

"Let's do something else."

"Oh, let's look at the digital version of the physical photobook that Kierra made for Jay." Linna suggested instead.

"I don't feel like it." Kierra declined.

Serena laughed, exiting her programs, shutting down her laptop, and turning off the TV.

"Just show them." Serena said as she closed her laptop.

"It's not like you also included all the photos for Jay's photobook anyway."

"Ooh yeah, show them all to us." The younger two urged as Kierra sighed.

"Ugh fine."

Kierra got up, went to her room, returned with a photobook and then a larger booklet-like binder, and set it down in front of her sister and younger cousin.

"Here, but ignored all of Serena's captions and short stories. She added her own copies without my knowledge."

"You know they added something special to it." Serena remarked with a laugh, joining the pair to go through the images.

"I'll share the recent one you made for Jay later though."

"Fine."

"Ooh, these are quite lovey-dovey and couple-esque, Kierra." Linna remarked,  flipping through the photobook as Melanie agreed, but flipipng through the booklet.

"But these one are even more romantic like."

Melanie cast her older cousin with a teasing expression.

"Like, are you sure you and Jay don't have something going on?"

"No, we don't."

"But look at these photos!" Linna exclaimed as she flipped through the bigger album, leaving Melanie with the photobook instead.

"This, this, this, this, and even this!"

She cast Kierra an incredulous look.

"I mean the others weren't bad, but these give off such couple vibes."

"It was just an assignment. So I'm glad it's convincing to y'all."

"Nah, you and Jay got something going on for sure and are just not telling us." Melanie stated with Linna nodding.

Kierra caught Serena's eyes as a teasing look appeared on her face. Kierra made a face as Serena just smiled, pointing out one of the captions she had written for one of the pictures. Still, Kier