jiae sighed as she slung her bag over her shoulder, crossing her arms over her chest as she walked side-by-side with sosuke. the school hallways wasn't extremely busy, since most students had already filed into their classrooms. the pair decided to take a quick coffee break and held their vending machine drinks as they slowly made their way to their classes.

"and then he tried to kiss me." jiae concluded, having told sosuke all about her little idol rescue mission from the night before. he'd kept a stoic expression for most of the story telling, but once she was done, jiae spotted a small smirk tugging at the corner of his lips.

she smacked his chest with the back of her hand, laughing. "what's so funny?"

"nothing," sosuke laughed back. "i just imagined you smacking him in the face to keep him from kissing you."

jiae's cheeks pinked at that. in a way, he wasn't entirely wrong. still, she said, "you're entirely wrong! it's not like... i mean..." she lowered her voice a bit as the approached a curve in the hallway. "yeah, he's an idol, but he's still just a guy, you know?"

"dating is weird." sosuke summed simply.

jiae nodded along. "dating is weird. idols are weird. haechan is weird. everything is weird."

they'd almost reached their classroom when jiae felt a quick tap on her shoulder and turned to see a few of the girls from another one of her classes. she wasn't too familiar with all of them, but the girl who tapped her, hyunseo, was her english partner the year before.

jiae smiled at the group, stopping outside of the room. "oh, hey, hyunseo. what's up?"

"you have a boyfriend?" hyunseo asked immediately, and jiae's mouth went dry. "that's so cute! do you have any pictures? can you tell us about him?"

jiae's fidgety gaze flicked between the group in front of her and sosuke as she stammered for a reply. "i, um, sorry? where did you hear that?"

hyunseo's smile was so sweet that jiae couldn't tell if she knew she was being inappropriate it not. "sorry, we didn't mean to, but we overheard you and your friend here. something about haechan? that he looks like him, or something? do you have any photos?"

"i, uh—"

"because after the whole dating scandal," another girl said, "it would be really uncool of you to joke about something like being his secret girlfriend. and kind of pathetic, honestly."

jiae was so taken aback that she could barely form a coherent thought. her immediate reaction was to defend herself and her credibility, but that was impossible given the fact that she was his secret girlfriend.

before she could stutter out an excuse, she felt sosuke toss an arm around her in a leisurely manner. she couldn't see his expression, but every one of the girls in front of them tensed up.

"she said she wishes she's dating haechan. it's my fault, i didn't get the right coffee out of the vending machine this morning, right babe?"

the lie was so smooth, the pet name so casual, that it took jiae a second to process that he was directing it towards her. without a second to waste, jiae nodded confidently and let her arm fall naturally around sosuke's waist. "yeah. idols would never."

the group stood around for a moment, looking rather awkward, before hyunseo spoke up again. "oh, sorry. that makes sense. here we were thinking we solved a dispatch scandal! my god, we probably look like such desperate idiots right now."

jiae was about to accept the apology when sosuke gently pushed their way through the group. "if you'll excuse us, ladies, i've gotta get my girlfriend to class."

yuxi
JIAE GOT ATTACKED AT SCHOOL??

jiae
ohh boy

yuxi
WHY DID NO ONE TELL ME??

renjun
wait JIAE GOT ATTACKED
AT SCHOOL??!

jiae
i did not get *attacked*

jiae
i was simply questioned on whether
or not i knew haechan that's all

soyi
knew him romantically maybe

jiae
SNITCH

soyi
IM SORRY i had to save myself

jiae
i tell you these things in PRIVATE

soyi
only because hyeyeong's
phone wasn't on 😔

jiae
true but STILL

jaemin
are you okay??

jiae
yes i'm fine it wasn't a big deal

jiae
sosuke helped me 🫶

miles
ooooooooo isn't my husband so cool 👨‍❤️‍💋‍👨

jiae
the coolest 👨‍❤️‍💋‍👨💗😋

sosuke
..

jaemin
ooo sexy sosukee 😂

sosuke
bye

soyi
no cause jiae said sosuke told them
all that he's her boyfriend and that they
should piss off and leave them alone 🤤

jiae
that is NOT what i said 😭😭

haechan
um HELLO??

haechan
are you okay jiae?

jiae
yes i'm fine 😭😭

jiae
sosuke and i are going to the
convenience store to get some
studying snacks if you wanna
meet us there?

haechan
yeah text me the time and i'll be there

jisung
i wish i was a student so i could
eat all the snacks i want 💔

miles
literally send me a list and
i will get you all the snacks

jisung
dude bet

jiae and sosuke sat in the back corner of the convenience store, munching on their lunch as they read over some notes and waited for haechan.

"do you ever regret switching your major?" sosuke asked after swallowing a bite of his food, causing jiae to shrug. "not really. i'm happier learning things i want to learn. my grades are better, too."

sosuke nodded but didn't say much more. she opened her mouth to ask how his dating life was going when the little bell jingled on the door, signaling a guest.

glancing over her shoulder, jiae lit up when she saw her masked and hoodied boyfriend approach their table. "hey," she greeted, standing to give him a quick but tight hug before sitting back down. sosuke didn't look as pleased to see him, but she chose not to say anything.

"so, what really happened?" haechan asked, his dark eyes glimmering with concern as they stayed trained patiently on his girlfriend.

jiae sighed through her nose and glanced at sosuke, who was enjoying his shrimp chips. "nothing bad. we were just approached by some students who thought that maybe i was your secret girlfriend."

haechan waited for a moment before turning his head toward sosuke. "and then what?"

"and then sosuke helped me convince them that i'm not." she added simply. she didn't want haechan to feel guilty in any way, but she could tell by the way he played with his fingers that there was more on his mind.

reaching over to cover his hands with hers, jiae gently leaned forward and brushed her thumb over the back of his hand. "it wasn't your fault. there wasn't anything you could have done, okay?"

haechan's shoulders sagged. "i hate that you're in this position, though. and it is my fault. my fault for being an idol and not being able to protect you."

"i know she's your girlfriend," the sudden sound of sosuke's rather deep voice grabbed both jiae and hyuck's attention. "but she's my best friend. treat her right. bring her flowers and send her good morning texts and shit. and if you hurt her, i'll fucking kill you."

"sosuke!"

"respectfully," he added begrudgingly. "respectfully, i'll fucking kill you. celebrity or not."

part of jiae wondered if haechan would take genuine offense to this or not, but when she glanced over, she could see his smile in his eyes.

"wow," he mused. "i wish i had a friend like you. but don't worry, i'll do everything i can to make sure nothing happens to jiae." he looked at her when he said her name, and jiae felt butterflies thrashing around in her stomach.

unsure of what else to say, jiae sighed and smiled. "you guys... you're too much."

"well, as a thank you for pretending to be my girlfriend's boyfriend, i think i owe you a melon bar." haechan said as he rose to his feet.

sosuke pursed his lips and nodded, staring at the empty chip bag in front of him. "i'll take two."

yuxi
be honest

yuxi
be 100% honest with me cause
i know when you're lying

soyi
😅 should i be scared

yuxi
what's going on between
you and chenle

soyi
OH GOD JUMPSCARE

soyi
kidding lol nothing why?

yuxi
YOU ARE A TERRIBLE LIAR.

soyi
IM NOT LYING ?!

yuxi
soyi

yuxi
my love

yuxi
😊 he's got a thing for you

soyi
no he doesn't

yuxi
yeah he does

soyi
nuh uh

yuxi
yeah huh yangyang told me

soyi
wait you're friends with yangyang?
congrats babe 😋

yuxi
I KNOW RIGHT???? LIKE THIS IS
LITERALLY A DREAM COME TR

yuxi
you. are trying to distract me

soyi
🤗

yuxi
tell meeeeeeeeeee i swear i'll
keep this only between us

soyi
and by us you mean you and miles

yuxi
. fair

soyi
ugh. nothing is going on

soyi
it's just been a little awkward

yuxi
why awkward?

soyi
idk i think it changed
when i switches jobs

soyi
we used to hang out every day
i was scheduled and now i never
see him

soyi
it's like i don't know what's
going on in his daily life so i can't
relate to him anymore

yuxi
if you say you're ending your
friendship i'm throwing you off
of sm building (real)

soyi
i'm not ending anything 😭
i just miss how things were

yuxi
soooooooo do you see that he
has feelings for you and are choosing
to ignore them or are you oblivious

soyi
it's complicated

yuxi
omg

yuxi
YOU LIKE HIM TOO

soyi
yuxi 🙁

yuxi
it's not complicated omg if you
both like each other why not just
be together?? make my dreams
come true??

soyi
it can't happen okay?

yuxi
but why?

soyi
because

yuxi
because what?

soyi
because if we date and it doesn't
work out, i lose my best friend. and
i'm not willing to risk that :/

yuxi
why are you assuming that
it won't work out?

soyi
relationships require a lot more
time and effort than friendships
and time is something he doesn't
have. neither of us do okay?

soyi
i feel like if we tried to date and
it didn't work, chenle and i could
make a joke out of it and be fine

soyi
i'm just worried he won't feel the
same and let it cloud his judgment
or smth

yuxi
nahhh this is CHENLE

yuxi
this guy is not afraid to speak his
mind to the point where his openness
and confidence scares me lowkey

yuxi
plus he and miles have this battle
for jisung thing so if anything were
to happen chenle would probably
bully miles more than break off his
friendship with you ????????

soyi
i'm a student with a full time job
and he's an idol. our friendship is
special enough, why risk it?

soyi
plus i'm totally in love with jaehyun 😝

yuxi
😞 this is making me so sad

yuxi
you're scared and i get that but
i really think you'd both be so much
happier as a couple

yuxi
i mean look at jiae and haechan!
they're in a similar situation and
seem closer than ever

soyi
jiae almost got attacked at school
because some people heard her
SAY haechan's NAME like ????

soyi
it's not simple okay? if i were to
date chenle, his fans and antis would
have a target on my back

yuxi
why is being his friend any
different? people get caught in
scandals with friends all the time

soyi
i don't want to talk about
this anymore. i'm sorry

yuxi
:/ okay

soyi
... you're sure yangyang said
he has a crush on me?

yuxi
I HAVE THE EVIDENCE
AND EVERYTHING

soyi
okay FINE. you can ft me

yuxi
FUCK YEAHHH 🎉🎊🥳🥳🎉🥝🎊🥳

soyi
wanna get chicken?

soyi
with me i mean

soyi
like romantically

chenle
to order and eat somewhere
or to go out

soyi
might be too risky to go out lol
someone might start rumors

chenle
i don't care

chenle
i know a nice chicken place that
doesn't get too many customers
after 11

chenle
midnight chicken date??

soyi
wait you're actually
obsessing over me rn

chenle
yeah and?

soyi
😳 midnight works for me

chenle
okayyy i'll pick you up

soyi
okay haha it's a date

•
idk this made me happy to write so hopefully you guys liked it :')