"$30 says she isn't real." Sehun declared as Jongin walked into the empty classroom that was being used by the newspaper club after school.

 

"Who isn't real?" Jongin asked, setting down his backpack. 

 

"See, Jongin doesn't even know who she is." Jongdae laughed. After a bit more prodding, Jongin finally got his first question answered. 

 

"That girl you posted a picture of on Facebook last night." Minseok said helpfully. Jongin swallowed.

 

Yesterday, Taemin had spent the night at his house. Taemin had been Jongin's friend and next door neighbor since birth, and at three AM they had come to a situation where a pink-faced Taemin had a pink bow in his long brown hair, which of course called for a picture and the caption "isn't my girlfriend pretty" on Facebook. Which then called for Taemin hitting him on the arm quite a bit. However, Taemin had been homeschooled for life, and none of Jongin's school friends knew him.

 

"Even if she was real, there's no way Jongin could score someone as hot as that chick." Jongdae declared. Half of Jongin wanted to burst out laughing—the other half was quite indignant. The latter won over, Jongin asking

 

"And why not?"

 

"Because you're you, and she's hot." Sehun responded. 

 

"Well, she is real, and she is my girlfriend." Jongin declared, jutting his chin out. 

 

"Bull." Jongdae declared brashly, raising his eyebrows. 

 

"Her name is Lee Tae...yeon. Lee Taeyeon." Jongin quickly felt the urge to bury himself in the ground as he saw the devilish grins growing on both Jongdae and Sehun's faces. 

 

"Want to bet?"

 

Before Jongin could respond, the three of them had turned away, pulling out their wallets. 

 

"Minseok and I have about $200, and add that to Sehun's $30... $230 says you don't have a girlfriend." Jongdae said. "If she's real, the money is yours. If not, we get $230." Jongdae smiled. "Each."

 

"But..." Jongin quickly did the math "That's $690! I don't have that kind I money!"

 

"But you do have a girlfriend, right? So no problem."

 

Jongin turned to Minseok. As the oldest, he was usually the voice of reason in their ridiculous little group. 

 

"Hey, I'm always up for getting $230." Minseok shrugged. 

 

"If you do have a girlfriend, then take this Lee Taeyeon out on Saturday, and convince us that you're dating. If not, empty your pockets."

 

.

 

 

"Hey." Jongin didn't really knock on the door anymore, striding into Taemin's house. His friend was sitting on the couch with a bag of chips, looking down at the phone in hand. He didn't answer the greeting, Jongin going and sitting next to him, attempting to take a chip. Taemin swiped the bag away.

 

"I'm still mad at you for putting that picture on Facebook." He grumbled. 

 

"Come on Taemin, none of them even know who you are." Jongin responded, snaking an arm around Taemin and successfully nabbing a chip. Taemin huffed, leaning back and trapping Jongin's arm around his waist. 

 

"I'm not a girl though. Do you really think I'm that feminine?"

 

"Well I don't," Jongin said "but my friends think you're really hot, if that makes you feel any better."

 

It did make Taemin feel better, shifting in his seat and leaning on Jongin's side, Jongin holding Taemin's hip more comfortably. After a few moments of comfortable silence, Jongin spoke up again. 

 

"Taemin, could you do me a huge favor?"

 

Taemin immediately became wary, leaning away to squint at him and asking "What is it?"

 

"Well, my friends took that girlfriend picture seriously, and..." Jongin explained the entire situation, watching as Taemin's face got less and less amused at him, closing with "So do you think you could pretend to be my girlfriend?"

 

"No! What the hell were you thinking?"

 

"Please Taemin?"

 

Taemin crossed his arms. 

 

"You would get half of the $230." Jongin tried. He really, really did not want to go to Joonmyun and beg for money, especially not $700. Not again.

 

"...fine."

 

"Thank you, thank you, thank you. I love you." Jongin said dramatically, pulling his friend into a clingy and relieved hug. 

 

"Yeah, of course you do." Taemin shook him off. "I just need to call a friend, and then we'll be all set."

 

"Who?" Jongin asked. 

 

"The person we'll be getting my clothes and makeup from."

 

 

 

It was Saturday morning, the day of the date, Taemin's mother driving the two of them to the apartment of one of Taemin's friends. Jongin didn't know what kind of people he expected, but it definitely wasn't two young men with chocolate brown hair, one's hair spiked up, the other half shaved. They both pulled Taemin into an excited hug, leaving Jongin standing uncomfortably in the doorway.

 

After the one with the feline features looked him up and down and said "I've heard a lot about you," he was ushered inside. 

 

"Jongin, these are Kibum and Jonghyun." Jonghyun still had an arm around Taemin. 

 

"I thought you said these friends were helping you get, you know, girlified." 

 

"Don't underestimate me." Kibum said. Then he turned to Taemin. 

 

"I didn't think any of my things would fit you, because I have a bigger than you do and you know how girl pants are," Taemin nodded in agreement, "So Jonghyun got some of his sister's outfits for you."

 

They ventured into the bedroom, where there were clothes strewn out on the bed. 

 

"You have two options: jeans and leggings. Leggings would be good because you have very nice legs, but they aren't very good at...hiding things. Jeans might fix that problem, but the crotch area is very small on skinny jeans, and the pocket sizes are a reason to riot—"

 

"Thanks Kibum." Taemin cut him off, grabbing an outfit from the bed. Then all of the heads in the room turned to Jongin. 

 

"What?" He asked. 

 

"Get out. We need to start the transformation." 

 

"Why do I have to leave? It's not like Taemin hasn't changed in front of me before." Jongin reasoned. 

 

"This isn't Taemin anymore. It's Taeyeon. Now get out."

 

So Jongin did. After about an hour and a half, Kibum's bedroom door opened. 

 

"Well? How do I look?"

 

Taemin had on leggings, flats, and a sweater dress, a clip in his hair to pull back his bangs, and a good amount of makeup on. Not a garish amount, but it was noticeable. 

 

"You look cute."

 

"Shut up Jongin." Jongin couldn't tell if the blush on Taemin's face was genuine or manufactured. 

 

"I'm serious! You have a lot of makeup on, but..."

 

"Well Lee Taeyeon needs a lot of makeup, or she looks like a guy." Taemin hiked his leggings up, making Jongin laugh. "You ready to go?"

 

Jongin nodded, and they all got into Kibum's car. On the way, Taemin tried out a bunch of high pitched voices, but all they succeeded in doing was give Jongin the creeps, so he decided to stick to his normal voice. 

 

When they got to the movie theatre, Taemin groaned. "What rom-com are we going to have to sit through?" He asked. 

 

"We're going to sit through that slasher flick you wanted to see," Jongin said, proud of the way his friend's face lit up, "and I'll buy you all of the overpriced movie junk you want. It's a date, after all."

 

Jongin didn't end up spending too much, and he actually enjoyed the movie, he and Taemin sitting away from everyone and making amusing commentary to each other in hushed voices. They were still giggling as they left, Jongin almost forgetting why they were there until he saw his friends exiting the movie as well. Poor Minseok looked green in the face. 

 

"Quick, hold my hand." Jongin hissed. 

 

"Jongin, what—" 

 

He grabbed on to Taemin's hand, holding it awkwardly. "My friends are behind us."

 

"Oh." Taemin immediately became stiff. "What should we do?"

 

Jongin pointed to the food court. "You hungry?"

 

"Sure."

 

They bought lunch, just burgers and fries, but Jongin couldn't really enjoy himself or his company with his friends just three tables away. He put his eyes on Taemin, vowing to keep them there, and immediately smiled. 

 

"You smudged your lipstick a bit."

 

"What? Where?" Half of the lipstick was off Taemin's lips, and Jongin couldn't help but laugh. Haughtily, Taemin wiped the pink gunk off on to his napkin. "Better?"

 

"Much." Jongin said with a nod. "Your lips are pretty and pink enough."

 

The compliment had been genuine, Taemin did have nice and lush lips—not that Jongin spent time looking at them or anything—but Taemin just gave him a look and took another bite of his hamburger. 

 

A prickle on the back of Jongin's neck let him know he was being stared at, so he turned to Taemin in a quiet voice. "Feed me a french fry or something."

 

Taemin gave him an unamused look, but picked up a fry anyway, Jongin opening his mouth obediently. And promptly was hit in the nose. 

 

"You little—" 

 

Taemin burst into giggles. Jongin resisted the urge to throw a french fry at him.

 

"Here, idiot." Taemin put the fry to his lips this time, but Jongin only managed to bite it in half, Taemin eating the other half with a grin.

 

"Really Taemin?" 

 

"What?" Taemin asked back, mouth full of another bite of burger. "They're my fries."

 

When the date was over, Kibum came to pick them up—Taemin didn't want either of their parents to see him in drag—and they went back to Kibum's apartment, where he could wash up and change. 

 

When Taemin came back, hair in a ponytail, loose jeans and an oversized sweater hanging from his shoulders, Jongin couldn't stop staring at him. 

 

"Taemin is definitely better than Taeyeon." 

 

Taemin gave him a scrutinizing look, pulling his phone from his pocket. "We're not on a date anymore, you can stop pretending you like me."

 

"Okay." Jongin ran his tongue over his bottom lip, averting his gaze as Taemin called his mother. Jonghyun caught his eye, raising an eyebrow. 

 

 

"Fake." Sehun declared, drawing the word out as Jongin entered class the next day. Jongdae and Minseok nodded in agreement. 

 

"What do you mean?" Jongin asked. 

 

"You're not really dating that girl, are you?" I'm Minseok's voice was full of doubt. 

 

"You saw us go on a date." 

 

"And how much did you pay her to go on a fake date with you, huh? Pay up Jongin." Jongdae stuck his hand out expectantly.

 

"Wait! It just looked fake because you guys were following us. She didn't like it." Jongin said quickly.

 

"She doesn't like you." Sehun shot back.

 

"We're dating!" Jongin exclaimed. "C'mon, would I lie to you guys?"

 

They all gave him the same flat look. Finally, Jongdae sighed. 

 

"Fine. You get a second chance, this weekend. And if you can kiss her, then you get the $230."

 

Jongin swallowed. He had to kiss Taemin? "Yeah. No problem."

 

 

"I can't believe you're making me do this again." Taemin sighed. He was in the bathroom putting on mascara, door ajar. 

 

"If I had $700, I wouldn't, but I'm not interested in giving my friends my entire life savings." 

 

"You only have $700 in life savings?" Taemin asked, emerging. His hair was down, silky and straight, wearing a cute blouse and nice jeans. He had on much lighter makeup, just eyeliner, mascara, and lip gloss. 

 

Taemin's parents would be out for the day, so they waited at his house for Kibum to pick them up. 

 

"So, where are we going today, Jongin?" Taemin asked, voice girlish and high pitched. 

 

"Well Taeyeon, how do you feel about ice skating?" 

 

"That sounds like a lot of fun." Taemin said with a smile. "You're actually might be the best boyfriend ever."

 

And it was a lot of fun. Both of them were a little clumsy in their skates at first, but after about a half an hour they were going in laps around the rink, cold fingers entwined. 

 

"We should do this more often." Taemin said. 

 

"Go ice skating?" Jongin asked. 

 

"Go on dates." Taemin held his hand tighter, and Jongin could feel his heartbeat in his throat. "This is fun." He looked at Jongin with a grin. "I might even pay next time."

 

Jongin wanted to kiss him right then and there, but the last thing he wanted was for Taemin to freak out, or slap him in front of his friends. 

 

Eventually they decided they were much too cold to do this skating thing any longer, Kibum driving them by Starbucks to pick up hot chocolate on the way home. 

 

"I had a really good time." They were standing in front of Taemin's door, Taemin tucking a strand of hair behind his ear as he spoke. If that hadn't convinced his friends, Jongin didn't know what would; that had felt like a date, even to him. 

 

Jongin was about to say "See you later," or something equally stupid, when he caught sight of Minseok's car out of the corner of his eye, Sehun's face pressed against the window. 

 

If you can kiss her, you get the $230.

 

Too afraid to see Taemin's reaction, Jongin shut his eyes, taking a step closer. 

 

Taemin's lips met his carefully, fingers tangling gently with his, and Jongin briefly wondered if Taemin could hear how loudly his heart was beating. 

 

Taemin took a breath, then kissed him again with more certainty. It was just about everything Jongin had spent the past few months thinking it would be, aside from the remnants of strawberry lip gloss that kept their lips from sliding smoothly. Jongin pulled back. 

 

Taemin was looking at him curiously, and Jongin was ready to run into his own house and never leave his bedroom ever again when Taemin grabbed his hand, pulling him inside.  

 

Jongin wanted to wash Taemin's makeup off and kiss him again, kiss him harder. Once the door was closer Jongin leaned in, getting only a peck before Taemin pulled away.

 

"We need to talk."

 

"About what?" 

 

Taemin sat down in the couch, taking his shoes off. "I'm not going to dress up anymore. If we're going to do anything, you're going to have me as I am."

 

Jongin's eyebrows knitted in confusion. Did Taemin think he liked Taeyeon? "Taemin, this was just a show for my friends, I—" 

 

He was cut off before he could complete his explanation. "But you kissed me."

 

"My friends, they were down the street..."

 

Taemin's face slowly sank into a cold expression. 

 

"Jongin, I think you should go."

 

"Taemin—"

 

"Jongin." Jongin knew the look on Taemin's face—get lost of get hit. Not wanting to chance the latter, Jongin said farewell and slipped out the door. 

 

 

 

That next Monday, Jongin was awarded with $230, and "Nice kiss," from Jongdae. But Jongin didn't want the money. Taemin wasn't talking to him, or answering phone calls, and his text messages were unread. It had only been a day, but it was driving Jongin crazy. 

 

On Wednesday, Jongin had an apology speech and explanation put together. He knocked on Taemin's front door. 

 

It was only open for a second, Taemin looking him over, saying "Taeyeon isn't home." before closing the door in his face. Jongin knocked a few more times, but to no avail. By Friday, he officially missed his best friend. 

 

"Hey." Jongdae nudged Jongin at lunch, pointing to a poster on the cafeteria wall. "You should take your girlfriend to prom."

 

That was a perfect idea, and Jongin told him so, using some of the newly squired money to buy two tickets. Nearly skipping with excitement, Jongin went next door and knocked. 

 

"Sorry, but Taeyeon isn't home." Taemin said again. 

 

"Good, because I wanted to talk to you." Jongin said quickly. Taemin stopped, leaning on the doorframe. 

 

"Alright. I'm interested."

 

Jongin took a moment to take Taemin in with his eyes. He was in a baggy t-shirt, collarbones peeking out the top. His sweatpants hung loosely on his hips, and he had his bangs clipped up and out of his face. He looked beautiful.

 

"I...I'm an idiot. I like you, okay? You. Lee Taemin."

 

A small smile was growing on Taemin's face. 

 

"And, now that I have $230...would you like to go to prom with me?" Jongin finished, pulling the extra prom ticket out of his pocket and handing it over. Taemin took it, a full, teeth-revealing smile on his face now. 

 

"Thanks Jongin."

 

"For what?"

 

Taemin just smiled, catching Jongin under the chin and tilting his head up for a kiss.