Chapter Text
Jake and Heeseung wandered out of the restaurant, with both their stomachs and hearts full. They had been on another ramen date - as the other members called them - and had gotten distracted, eating and drinking late into the night. To sober themselves up, Heeseung had agreed to Jake's suggestion of a walk through the nearby park before going back to the dorm.
They had been walking and chatting for over half an hour when they noticed some silhouettes coming their way. The instinctual fear of being recognised gripped Heeseung, and he pulled the younger back into the trees and off the path.
"Why, hyung, I didn't know you wanted this" Jake made a fake sexy voice, but had a hand clapped over his mouth.
"Shut up" Heeseung whispered with a grin "there's somebody there!"
They heard the voices get louder, and peeked out around the tree, to see a familiar shape had stopped with another, unfamiliar one, further down the path. The lamps had been turned off, the park only illuminated by the clear sky, so they couldn't be sure.
"Is that Sunoo?" Heeseung whispered into his ear.
A laugh rang out in the stillness of the night.
"Yeah that's him" Jake replied "but who is he with?"
Heeseung shrugged "A friend i guess"
The noise stopped, and the pair whipped back around behind the tree trunk and held their breath. When the murmuring resumed, Jake nudged the older, and pointed towards some bushes closer to them.
They snuck over to the bushes and, as quietly as they could, wriggled into them. Jake found it honestly surprising he hadn't heard the rustling, but maybe he had thought it was an animal and ignored it. When he focused his attention back on Sunoo, the younger was pulling back from a hug with his friend. The other man was slightly taller than him, with what looked like light brown hair poking out from under his red beanie. Sunoo let go of him, and they began to walk away from each other, not without waves.
Jake realised too late that Sunoo was heading right in their direction - he would definitely see them if he got to them - and grabbed around for Heeseung's arms before trying to quietly get out of the bush as fast as he could. Heeseung must have caught his leg on a branch, as just as they had almost removed themselves he sucked in a breath and grabbed Jake around the waist, before they toppled to the ground with a yelp.
"Hyungs?" Sunoo whisper shouted, incredulous.
"Uh, hey Sunoo" Heeseung waved from under Jake nervously.
A wave of realisation struck his features as he took in the scene he was presented with "Oh. Those noises were you"
He went pale, before pulling Jake up and turning on his heel.
"Ok. Right ok" Sunoo mumbled to himself, running a hand through his hair continually and not sparing them a glance.
Jake looked at Heeseung, who mirrored his confusion at the younger's distress.
He took them around various paths until they came across the small, old walled garden, where Sunoo stopped to glance around them, then strode in and sat down on a soggy bench. They followed suit. He finally looked up from the ground, and despite the relative chill of the night Jake could see sweat on his forehead.
"Alright, so, you saw" he started nervously, but his voice cracked on the last word and he couldn't continue.
"Hey, don't worry, we're not mad" Jake took his hand gently, though Sunoo wouldn't look at him.
"I know I shouldn't be meeting him where somebody could see, I'm sorry" he seemed to have pulled himself together.
"It's fine!" Heeseung took over "you can meet your friend if you want"
"It's not our business" Jake shrugged. Sunoo pulled his hand away as if burned, and turned away from them.
"Boyfriend."
"What?" Heeseung paused before speaking.
"Boyfriend" Sunoo reaffirmed with a harsher tone. When he turned to look at them Jake noticed his face was set, though his eyes were filled with tears "you could at least bring yourself to call him that."
Jake looked at Heeseung, baffled, but before he could speak Sunoo continued.
"Don't pretend you didn't see, I heard you moving around" he broke off to take a breath.
"Sunoo we didn't mean-" Heeseung was cut off.
"You know, I could understand you being upset at me for meeting him out in the open, I get that it was reckless. But you won't even call him what he is. You can't even look at me!" He shouted, then huffed humourlessly, getting up to leave "I never thought you wouldn't accept me being happy though"
"Sunoo, wait! That wasnt-" Jake shouted, but the younger had already rushed away.
"Shit. Oh fuck we've fucked up" Heeseung spoke what Jake was thinking, pale faced.
"They must have kissed or something and we missed it while we were getting into the bush" the younger continued "oh fuck what have we done. I was just realising what I'd said when he went off on one. To be fair I would if I were him, we were pretty shit"
"We need to find him" Heeseung rushed out, then got a strange look in his eye. "Obviously we don't mind him having a boyfriend"
Jake didn't miss his wariness, and smiled widely, patting him on the shoulder "of course we don't. We're thrilled for him!"
Heeseung nodded, sniffed, and led the way out into the park.
They searched around for Sunoo for 20 minutes, but after no sign of the youngest of them, they called it a night, and went back to the dorm. Both of them texted him apologies and a promise to speak later. Sunoo wasn't there when they got back, but Jungwon appeared and told them he'd rang and said he was staying with a friend he had met up with since it was late. Jake exchanged a worried glance with Heeseung, but went to bed all the same.
Jake could have collapsed with relief the next day when he woke up to Sunoo sitting in the kitchen, chatting and laughing with Jay.
"Morning" he said quietly, but Sunoo just gave him a cold nod and went back to talking with the older like he wasn't even there. He didn't even greet Heeseung when he eventually stumbled into the kitchen in his usual zombie-like state, slumped down next to Jake and stared at the counter.
"Morning Sunoo-ah" Heeseung started slowly once he had gained some consciousness "I missed you last night"
"Oh, I just stayed the night with the friend I was meeting up with since it got late" Jake noticed their gazes meet one the word 'friend', Heeseung's soft eyes catching Sunoo's hard ones.
"Anyway, I need to get dressed" the younger said curtly, and left.
For the rest of the day Sunoo would barely look at either of them, and would answer them coldly and in as fewer words as possible. Jake tried to find a moment to get him alone, and eventually his prayers pulled off as Sunoo decided he was staying back for 20 minutes just to get some specific part of the choreography down before going home.
"Ah, I think I need to practice that part too" he looked at Heeseung meaningfully, who thankfully took the hint and herded the other out of the room quickly.
"Sunoo, I'm so sorry" he said as soon as the others were out of earshot. "What I said yesterday wasn't what I meant"
The younger shuffled over and sat next to him, leaning against the wall. "It's more what you didn't say. Hyung, I thought of all the members to be open minded it would be you. But you just went silent" the coldness was gone, and he just looked sad.
"Sunoo, please, I swear I support you. I was just surprised, because I just saw you walking along with him"
"Don't try and ignore it!" He sounded harsh.
"Whatever you think we saw we didn't, we must have missed it getting into the bush!"
"Oh." His lip wobbled, but he took a deep breath and kept talking. Jake desperately wanted to hug him, but he wanted to give him space.
"I was only quiet because I was confused. Please know I support you. I'll walk you to your dates with him, I'll pay for hotel rooms, I'll patrol the perimeter" he was on a roll now, and he finally got a smile from the younger.
"Ok, that's maybe a bit excessive." Sunoo put his arms out, and Jake scooted into them as fast as was humanly possible. He didn't mention the wet patch he felt on his hoodie.
"Sunoo you know I love you. And you know the others will feel the same"
"No!" He cried and pulled back "can we just keep it between us right now?"
"Of course" Jake sighed.
They sat wrapped around each other for a while, and finally Sunoo pulled back.
"What about Heeseung-hyung?"
"What about him?" Jake wished Heeseung had stayed back with them, speaking for him was difficult.
"He was there too, and just as shocked as you. I know times are changing and most young people are open minded, but we're still conservative" he shrugged, in a bad attempt to play off how much the words hurt him. Once again Jake hesitated, and cursed himself the moment he did it.
"Oh. Send you to talk in his stead." He looked at the floor.
"We didn't plan this, we just decided we wouldn't crowd you. He wants to tell you the same thing"
"But how can you know that?" His distress was reaching his face again, and Jake was reminded how much he cared about the opinion of his elders. "He's not here, and he hasn't looked at me all day."
"I swear he supports you just as much as me, we talked about it" Jake could feel himself starting to panic, their wires were getting crossed again.
"Then why isn't he here?" Sunoo cried "why can't he speak for himself?"
"He's scared he'll mess it up again! We didn't want to overwhelm you!" Sunoo was pulling back at the raised voices.
"Tell him he has to do it himself, and stop conspiring about how best to deal with me" he hissed, and walked towards the door.
"Sunoo, wait!" He got a fleeting sense of deja vu, overridden by panic. And in his panic, his words got confused.
'Heeseung hyung loves that you have a boyfriend! Of course he supports you liking boys. We're both so pleased for you getting to date'
...was what he meant to say. But what came out was:
"Heeseung-hyung has a boyfriend, of course we support your liking! We date!"
"What?" Sunoo sounded choked, and slightly hopeful "did you just say?"
"Fuck I messed up my words, I meant to say-"
"Of course you did." The hope was gone "that's not funny" and he left.
Jake screamed into the empty air, frustrated at his lacking articulation It was cathartic, in a way, and gave him a plan. A totally insane one, but a plan.
"I need you to date me" he stared at Heeseung, who coughed up his iced latte. He had marched the eldest off to the local coffee shop and sat him down in a booth as soon as he had gotten back to the dorm. Heeseung had been totally lost the whole time, and underdressed, as Jake hadn't given him the opportunity to even put on a hoodie before leaving.
"You what?"
"I need you, to date me. For Sunoo" he spoke more slowly.
"I'm going to need some more context here"
He explained their conversation. "So it was sort of good and bad. But then I fucked it up with my stupid sucky Korean and ended up saying what sounded like a horrible joke, so now we have to prove to him that it wasn't a joke."
"Or you could explain you just got in a mess?" Heeseung suggested.
"Because that went so well last time."
"Fair enough. Ok, let's do it" his face was set in determination "Jake, will you be my pretend boyfriend to convince our little brother that we still love him and the confusions came as a result of your big mouth"
Jake pushed him "yes I will be your pretend boyfriend. But might I remind you that as my boyfriend, you kiss this big mouth"
He watched Heeseung flush to his ears at the comment, and ignored the happiness it gave him. He was just on a sugar rush from his vanilla cream frappe.
They spent the next hour planning their fake relationship, and how to reveal it to Sunoo sneakily. As luck would have it, the members had texted the group chat earlier saying they were going out to eat, texting the name of the restaurant, while Jay had messaged Heeseung privately to say Sunoo wasn't feeling great, and he was going to stay back with him if they wanted to go. Heeseung had replied saying they were going to sit this one out, and keep Sunoo company, and they had their opportunity. Their hasty exit from the dorm came in handy as well - Jake handed Heeseung his jacket to keep him warm in his thin shirt. Obviously borrowing clothes wouldn't prove they were dating, but it was an added detail.
Jake had to keep shaking out his nervous energy as they walked back to the dorm. He knew he wasn't the greatest actor, and that this plan was bloody stupid, but he had to make it up to Sunoo.
"Alright, you ready?" Heeseung said once they were in the elevator.
"Yeah" he nodded, looking up at the elder "I shout to see if they're there, you say something obvious, we walk along holding hands, we pray Sunoo appears."
"And contingency plans?"
"Look through the gaps in the door as best we can, if the others are still there we mess up our hair and wait it out. If he doesn't appear, you stub your toe"
"Great. Ok, ready to go, baby?" Jake felt himself blanche at the term, but pulled himself together.
"Guys? You still about?" He shouted into the empty dorm.
"Of course they're not. Come on, we haven't been alone here in ages" Heeseung said far too loudly to be normal. They listened out, and sure enough the muffled sound of what was likely the tv playing stopped.
"Ok, shit, Showtime" he whispered, and threw his arms around Heeseung's shoulders, who let out a quiet "oof", but quickly got into character and held Jake around his waist. They had decided Sunoo walking in on them hugging and staring at each other would be a good first step.
He buried his face into the oldest's shoulder, and whispered.
"Is he here yet?"
"Not yet...Ok I can hear him- fuck laugh at me!" Heeseung put on a smile, and moved to rub his nose against Jake's. He heard a crash from behind him, and jumped out of his arms, pulling down his shirt as Heeseung ran a hand through his hair. To be fair, it was a very convincing performance.
Sunoo was standing in the doorway, water bottle at his feet, gaping.
"Oh, hey Sunoo" Jake did his best panicked but fake casual voice. It wasn't far off what he was feeling, though for different reasons. "I thought you guys were at the restaurant"
"Oh my God. What did I just see?" His voice was pitching higher and higher. "You guys?"
Sunoo gasped, and clapped a hand over his mouth. "You weren't joking"
"Uh, no"
Sunoo screamed, and ran up to them before getting them in a tight hug.
"Why didn't you say? Oh I thought you hated me hyung" he looked at Heeseung as he spoke.
"Of course I didn't. I'm proud of you. At least you had the guts to admit you liked boys" He said it in such a way Jake knew he was telling the truth, and he was squeezing his hand before he could think about it.
"I should have told you earlier Sunoo. We're both sorry."
"Ok. I accept your apology. Water under the bridge. Oh, we could double date!" He clapped his hands together excitedly. "Shit I have so many questions!"
They started rattling off the answers they had prepared, though Jake was thrown for a loop when Heeseung apparently felt comfortable enough to start riffing and just add random details like the flavour of ice cream they shared and the colour of Jake's jacket on the particular day.
Sunoo got a sly look on his face, and put his phone to his ear.
"Yeah I suddenly feel better!...I know weird...yeah I know the place...well then I'll just have dessert Riki!...Ok, be there in 10"
He turned back to them, and smiled widely.
"I'll leave you to it. Don't worry, your secret is safe with me, I swear"
He pulled on his shoes, and waved before leaving.
"And the Oscar goes to...Lee Heeseung!" Jake cried once he knew he'd be gone. "Phew!"
"I wasn't lying you know. I tried to sort of hint it earlier." Heeseung stared at the floor, and Jake wrapped him in a hug.
"I know"
"You're not uncomfortable faking even though I like guys?"
"Of course not, idiot" Jake smacked him upside the head gently "now come on boyfriend, sweep me off my feet"
"As you wish, oh pretend boyfriend" he did a theatrical bow, then hoisted him up over his shoulder, ignoring Jake's screams of protest as he was carried to the couch for a movie.
After finishing their movie, Jake brought up the plan again. They decided they would be normal around the others, but just imply some things that would stick out to someone who knew. Heeseung suggested spraying each others clothes with their respective aftershave, and they spent a good 10 minutes running about the bedroom spraying cans all over each other and shivering as they kept the window open so the smell wouldn't choke the others when they got home.
"You've used up the whole bottle!" Heeseung shrieked when Jake handed the admittedly very light can back to him.
"Sacrifice for the greater good fake boyfriend" he shrugged, turned tail and ran out of the room.
When the other members got back they had exchanged shirts - not that anyone would likely notice, but again, details - and didn't really speak to each other much of the rest of the night. As Jake lay down to sleep, he couldn't help but pat himself on the back for a successful start to the plan.
A few days after they started the ruse, Heeseung ended up volunteering to go shopping with Sunoo. Jay had shouted that they were out of milk, and that he wasn't going to get it because he, Riki and Jungwon were playing just dance.
"Sunoo, have you seen my sweater? You know, the green one Jay says looks like Mike wazowski?" Heeseung screeched from the closet "I can't find it"
It was a lie, he knew damn well where it was - in Jake's bed and bathed in his aftershave.
"Oh, found it! Honestly hyung are you blind, it was right on your bed" Sunoo announced with as little subtlety as humanly possible, though as he winked conspiratorially at Heeseung he couldn't help but smile.
"Alright we're off!"
He shut the door behind him, and could tell Sunoo was dying to speak.
"You need to tell your boyfriend to lay off the perfume"
Heeseung coughed on his laugh. "What?"
"You left your sweater in his bed, stupid! And it smells so much like him its ridiculous. Like, seriously"
"Hey, he smells nice" he put his hands up in surrender "I'll just get him to use mine"
Sunoo retched at his wiggling eyebrows. Admittedly, Heeseung was enjoying this con - it was really quite fun to make up little details and drop tiny hints that were actually totally fake.
They trailed around the store, picking up various snacks Jay had instructed them not to get as they went along, and Heeseung felt curiosity get the better of him.
"So...your boyfriend?"
"Yeah" he could see Sunoo's smile behind his mask "he's great. We just fit you know? We don't see each other very often though. But in a way I guess that's hard for you and Jake-hyung, because you're always hiding, and can't enjoy the time you have together."
"It's alright, I still get to see him" the sappy words were out of his mouth before he could think about them, and he internally scrambled to talk about something they had planned out the other day. "We're alone for our ramen dates"
"Oh my God they are dates! Trashy, but weirdly romantic" Sunoo remarked cheekily. Heeseung just pushed him, and changed the subject.
Jake had been tempted to go after Heeseung and Sunoo on their shopping trip, but he figured the eldest might have wanted some time alone with the younger, and Sunghoon had threatened to watch the latest episode of their current drama without him, so the decision was made.
"Someone come help with the bags" Sunoo announced himself, and Jake sprung up - Sunghoon was scrolling through his phone, and didn't appear to even have registered the words.
"Coming!" He shouted back, and made his way to the hopefully empty kitchen.
"Hey" he hugged Heeseung from behind, smooshing his face into the cold sweater.
"I'll leave you to it" Sunoo whispered, then strode away. Jake could hear him shout for Sunghoon in the other room.
"Come dance Rasputin with me, bitch"
And stomping footsteps, before a door slammed and the iconic music rang out amid the cheers of the other members. Jake stayed latched onto Heeseung until he was sure Sunoo wouldn't appear again, then pulled away.
"Mission accomplished" Heeseung saluted "sweater found in bed, stinking of you. Seriously, I feel like I've been living inside your armpit for an hour" he wrinkled up his nose.
"Yeah, all I can smell right now is you" Jake gestured to his jumper "I think we may have gone overboard"
They had definitely gone overboard. Literally everything Jake owned reeked of Heeseung, and vice versa. Jungwon had even remarked on it, returning a t-shirt, but Jake had just laughed it off saying he'd borrowed it and hadn't realised how strong it was. It was a dumb lie, but the truth was even dumber. He could smell it in his jumper as he settled himself into the back of one of the cars to take them to the hybe buildings, and was soon joined by the man himself, in his usual morning zombie state.
"Hey"
"Hey"
2 familiar shapes snuck in just as they were about to leave. Sunoo and Riki.
No less than 5 minutes into the journey and Riki had fallen sound asleep, even with his earphones in, leaving the pair of them under the scrutiny of Sunoo. Jake felt like he had to do something, since Heeseung was so out of it, and was drifting off himself.
"What?" He whispered when the younger wouldn't stop giving him wide eyed looks.
"You guys can do pda, I don't mind. I'm just going to look out the window and listen to my music, none the wiser. I don't even know you're in the same car as me"
"He might hear! Or see!" Jake gestured quickly to the maknae and the screen separating them from the driver. Sunoo held up a finger, cleared his throat, and shouted.
"Riki!"
No response.
"Touche" his lifeline hadn't paid off, and now he had to pray that Heeseung had the presence of mind to play along. Sunoo had put his earphones in, but he knew he was still listening out, and likely watching in whatever reflection he could find.
Jake was wrong - Sunoo was actually drifting off to sleep, and hoping his hyungs would actually get to be true with each other, if just for a car journey.
'Please don't blow this' he chanted internally, and decided English was his best bet.
"Heeseung-hyung? Are you awake?" He took his hand and laced their fingers together.
"Huh?" He was bleary eyed.
"Do you want to rest on me? Sunoo doesn't mind" he widened his eyes on saying Sunoo's name, and bless him, Heeseung got the message.
"Ok baby" he mumbled, half mimicing his accent, and settled down to rest his head on his shoulder, still holding his hand. It was, though Jake didn't like to admit it, cute.
Once they were actually at work the could go back to acting normally, and after ending up in different cars to one another, Jake didn't really spend any time close with the oldest after their nap in the car. He tried to help Jay cook in the kitchen, took the piss out of his American accent while Jay did the same regarding his Australian one, and they all gathered for a group movie night. The next few days went by in much the same fashion - any time the 2 of them were with Sunoo, somebody else was also there, stopping them from having to do anything coupley.
Eventually, Jake and Heeseung found themselves alone in the dorm, and took it upon themselves to do some planning. Heeseung had even produced a notebook, and was in the process of writing down some code words for them to use if they couldn't remember one of their pre-decided stories. Jake himself was typing out the chronology of their pretend relationship in a locked note on his phone, adding in any details they had made up in the spur of the moment over the past few days.
"Alright, so if you say any massive or easy to debunk lies, type them in the note, and I'll know"
"What's the password" he looked exhausted when he met Jake's mirthful eyes "God's sake"
"Heh."
"Anyway" he ripped out the sheets of paper and laid them on the bed "code words. And here are some Korean dating things you might not have learnt from those cheesy dramas you watch with Sunghoon"
The sheet of paper in question had Phrases To Romance Your Fake Boyfriend written in bright red pen at the top.
"Subtle" Jake remarked, and laughed. They were so noisy in their sniggering that they didn't notice the door open, or the footsteps coming down the hall.
"Hyungs?" Sunoo announced as he opened the door, and Heeseung made a split second decision. The evidence was glaring, there was no time to dispose of it, so he would have to distract him.
Jake heard Sunoo speak, before the breath was knocked out of him by Heeseung pushing him back onto some of their notes and pressing their lips together.
Sunoo screamed - he might have apologised, Jake was too focused on the shock of being kissed - and slammed the door.
Heeseung pulled back as quickly as he'd started the kiss.
"Sorry, I knew he'd see the paper" he rubbed the back of his neck nervously, and Jake was distracted by his tongue flicking over his lips "I couldn't think of a better distraction"
"Fake Boyfriend of mine, you are a genius" Jake proclaimed, slapping him on the back, then gathering up the now squashed plans and hiding them under his mattress.
Jake could barely look Sunoo in the eye at dinner, and every time they spoke he had to fight back a blush. Which he knew was stupid, because it wasn't like Sunoo had actually walked in on them, Heeseung had just done the best he could with the situation. But it was like the kiss was playing on repeat in his head - the way his stomach had swooped at being pushed back, the warmth of Heeseung above him. He told himself to cut it out, and went to talk to Sunghoon to distract himself.
Jake continued to almost ignore Sunoo out of embarrassment for days after the kiss. He had decided it was adrenaline that had made the kiss stand out to him, and if you thought about it the whole situation was actually quite funny. Really. It wasn't until Friday when Jake agreed to do a vlive with Sunoo that they properly spoke alone.
They were just setting up when Sunoo asked him a question that made him choke.
"Is it weird kissing somebody who looks like you?" He said casually.
"Is it fucking what?" Jake coughed out.
"Weird to kiss somebody who looks so much like you"
"Are you seriously asking me if I'd fuck my clone right now?"
"No! Well sort of but that's not the point because I know the answer" Sunoo shrugged and kept talking "I meant with Heeseung-hyung. Everyone knows how similar you look. And obviously you kiss so."
"Um" of all the questions about his fake relationship with Heeseung, this hadn't been one he had expected "I mean I can see it but we're not identical. I think I'm a bit preoccupied when we're kissing anyway"
He said it like they hadn't shared their first and only kiss 3 days ago in blind panic.
"Cute. That's what he said as well." Sunoo smiled sweetly, and Jake ignored the hot blush that started to creep up his face.
"Oh don't be a prude hyung" he had clearly noticed the blush, and hit him gently on the arm "I'm just being silly"
"Yeah I know" he forced out a laugh, and changed the subject "anyway, I don't think this is an appropriate conversation for a vlive"
Sunoo just kept laughing.
Heeseung felt guilty about kissing Jake. It had been spur of the moment, but it had been effective. It was the guilt that was making him think about it so much - as well as Sunoo's clone fucking question. Happily they would never actually have sex, given this was all fake, so he didn't need to worry about having an identity crisis.
Things had been fine between them, they'd been getting on as usual, but he still wanted to apologise. He found his opportunity after Jake finished his vlive with Sunoo.
"Hey" he grabbed his sleeve and dragged him into the bathroom "I wanted to apologise. I know its a few days late, but I'm sorry about just kissing you like that."
"Oh my God I thought it was something serious" Jake was hunched over laughing "don't apologise for being a genius!"
"I still didn't ask you first though"
"Well consider this full permission to kiss me when necessary, fake boyfriend" Heeseung mimicked the kissing noises he was making.
They were cut off by a knock on the door.
"Whomever is in there hurry up, I'm dying out here!" Riki shouted through the wall.
"Mess up your hair!" Jake hissed at him, while he unbuttoned his shirt further. He did as he was told, grabbing at it and pushing it in all directions.
"Sorry riki" Heeseung breesily opened the door "just had to help Jake spot a mole on his back. He was convinced it was dangerous" he mimed crazy, and laughed harder when Jake hit him.
"Ew, too much information. Just Google it like a normal person" Riki gave them his famous side eyes as he shut the door.
They collapsed into giggles, Heeseung more laughing at how red Jake had gone, and walked bumping shoulders to the kitchen. Sunoo hadn't been there, but better safe than sorry.
It had been at least 2 weeks since they started their facade, and yet the intense hilarity of calling Heeseung his fake boyfriend in his head made Jake smile every time he thought of it. What was the best part was that they could still joke and have their actual relationship the vast majority of the time, then sneak in an innuendo only 2 people would get, and move on with his day. Additionally, Sunoo had seemed far less troubled now somebody knew his secret.
"Hyung, I need a favour" Sunoo started apprehensively as the 2 of them walked back from donut stand in the park.
"What's up?"
"Can you and Heeseung-hyung cover for me while I meet up with, you know" he was uncharacteristically shy, and Jake pulled him into his side.
"Of course. But why both of us?" He wanted to smack himself the moment the words were out of his mouth, idiot.
"Hah hah very funny" Sunoo deadpanned "I figure we say we're going out, we part ways for an hour or 2, we meet back up, everybody's happy"
It turned out Sunoo had waited until the final hour to set out his plan as he had intended to meet up with his boyfriend this evening. Jake hadn't even been able to brief Heeseung, he had just taken his hand and dragged him out the door as Sunoo shouted they were going out to try some sort of food.
"What's happening" Jake felt rather than heard Heeseung whisper against his ear as Sunoo led the way.
"Whereabouts are we going Sunoo?" He asked en lieu of a response.
"Just round here!" He pointed to a hotel, and hugged them goodbye when they got there. Jake hadn't let go of Heeseung's hand since they left.
"Enjoy your date!" He whispered "I swear I'll pay you back for this!"
"Wait, take some fake selfies first!" Heeseung suggested with eager round eyes, and whipped out his phone with his free hand.
"We'll find something weird to eat and take some pictures" Jake added when the were finished. Heeseung nodded along.
"I'll pay you back for this! I swear!" Sunoo shouted, then laughed as they shushsd him, and made his way into the hotel.
"Well we've committed now." Jake shrugged. Heeseung sniffed primly, and looked the other way.
"It is our 2 week anniversary week of our pretend love. And you won't even take me out to dinner of your own accord." He cracked at the end of his sentence and laughed.
"And where would you like to go, sweetypie" Jake drew out the pet name as Heeseung's nose wrinkled.
"Hmm, I think something odd that would be picture worthy" he giggled, and pulled his hand out of Jake's grasp to make a thinking face. They headed off back in the direction of the station to get to one of the best places for street food, while Jake wondered at why his hand felt cold, despite the warm evening.