༄ SAM unlocked the door to her house and let both of them step in before she closed it again. The smell of the Indian food entered her nose as a pleasure, yet also worry Minho maybe wouldn't like these dishes.

"Let's change into normal clothes before we go to my dad," she decided, and motioned at the stairs that were on their right. "Come on."

"Admit the motorcycle wasn't that scary," he said. "Even though you were clinging around me like a koala."

"I was clinging around you like a koala for a reason," she spat, turning around midway on the stairs. That let her know Minho still hadn't moved. "Come on now."

"I get it, I get it— I'm flustered too, but I'd really prefer to act like a gentleman instead of having awesome, by the way, view of your ass— ow!"

She had thrown a random shoe at him. "Follow me and just look down as you do so."

Clearing his throat, he obeyed. Sam told him he could change in the bathroom, while she entered her own room and quickly fixed the mess in her hair (or tried to), then folded the motorcycle so Minho could bring it with him once he would leave.

"Ready?"

He put his hands on his hips. "I'll be a gentleman."

A scoff left her mouth before she opened the door, a slight panic in her chest in case her dad, who knew her the best out of maybe all people, would notice anything wasn't going as smoothly as they normally went in relationships.

"Sam!" Almost immediately, she got attacked by a hug from her dad. But she recovered fast and then didn't hesitate to hug back just as firmly, happy there was at least one parent ready to share hugs with her.

"And this must be Minho." Her father ran a hand through his curls as he inspected Minho for a while, still smiling. "Nice to meet you, Buddy."

Minho shook his hand. "Likewise, Sir."

She nearly lost it at hearing Minho speak like that and sat down at the table, in front of Jeff.

"Yo, man!" Jeff gave Minho a whatever-those-bro-hugs-were-called hug. "Good to see you."

Nodding, Minho claimed the seat next Sam. "Smells good here."

Relief flooded off her chest. He'd like the food her father was putting down right... now. All kinds of dishes with sauces.

"Looks good, Dad." She smiled. Ugh, food. Amazing.

"So." After thanking his daughter, giving everyone food, and sitting down too, he looked around. "How were your days?"

"Good!" With an already stuffed mouth, Jeff held up his thumb. "Dad and I went fishing this morning, Sam."

"That's..." boy-like. "Cool," she ended up saying. "I went shopping and then backpacked on Minho's motorcycle. Never gonna do that again."

The boy chuckled under his breath. "It was pretty cool. Come on."

"Cool it is," her father agreed. "Nice, Minho. And what'd you buy, Sam?"

"Tote bags!"
"One hundred percent books."

Sam looked from her brother to Minho. "Both. Good guesses."

Proud, Minho crossed his arms. Sam quickly forced herself to stare at his face, and not the muscles... yeah. "What books did you buy? And the bag?"

"The bag is purple. Got black letters on it. Plenty of books. I barely even remember."
She certainly did remember what books she bought. But, you know.

Minho's eyes started twinkling as he snickered.

Her father smiled in satisfaction, "And you, Minho? Did anything special today?"

"Not really." He shrugged. "Went for a run and picked Sammy up. This food's awesome, by the way."

Sammy. She felt the corner of her lip move up.

Gratefully, her father smiled even brighter at Minho. "I'm glad you like it." A pause. "How's school been going? I hope mom's not watching you guys too closely, or is she?"

Her smile faded. Eyes focused on Jeff, who immediately spoke about the basketball game next week, and Minho added more to that, since he would obviously be attending the game too.

Well, eventually, they did all stare at her. Most of the time, Sam liked that. With her father, everyone got an equal amount of time to speak and all got asked things.

"Every Monday we have to go run for PE. I like that. And... I finished an assignment for English yesterday. Not much else has been going on."

What else was she supposed to say? Oh, Dad, your wife says she only loves me because she has to, not because she likes me.

Jeff straightened his back. "You're gonna watch our game, right? It's—"

"Outside, I know." She nodded. Then received some questioning looks. Sighing, "Gally texted me if I wanted to watch. He already told me it's outside."

"Gally?" Jeff furrowed his eyebrows. "Are you serious?"

Annoyed, Sam threw her head back. "What's wrong with Gally? Or both of your problems with him, at least?"

"We don't have any problems with Gally."

"Not at all."

"Boys, if Sam likes this Gally and you two don't, that's alright."

"But she's gonna have to watch the game for us, not Gally," Jeff protested. Sam rolled her eyes.

"Yeah," Minho agreed, which made her frown. She wasn't even actually dating him, come on. 

Slightly pissed off, but not trying to overreact, Sam finished her food. Took a few sips of her drink.

Her father looked back at Minho. "Any plans for the weekend?"

"Not really, Sir."

"Call me Sahil." He lay his hands on the table. "I mean, if you don't have any plans, you're free to spend the night here."

Sam nearly choked on her water. What?

"Uh—" Hopeless, Minho shared a glance with her.

"You should, man!" Jeff, excited and completely clueless, encouraged.

"I mostly suggested that so Sam has some company, and not for you to steal her boyfriend, but whatever works."

Minho cleared his throat. "Okay, I'll stay here. If Sammy agrees— at least. Otherwise I would've spent my time at school anyways, and I'm already spending my time there the whole week."

Three pairs of eyes on her. "Uh— okay. Sure, Minho can stay. I'd like that."

"Then that's settled!" Still smiling, her father got up. "I'm gonna make a dessert ready. You three go do something else for a while."

"Wanna—"

"He's busy. Sorry, Jeff." Sam pulled Minho out of the room by his arm, and motioned for him to follow her upstairs. "You want the answers to those tests, right?"

"Uh... I guess," he muttered as she pushed him inside her mom's little at-home office, and closed the door behind them.

"You guess?" She stopped. Turned around. "It's yes or no."

He hesitated, his Adam's apple bobbling. "It feels wrong."

"Yeah— it is wrong." She leaned against the desk. "But we're not fake dating for nothing and this is one of the few chances we're gonna get, Minho. So what will it be?"

"Fine," he decided. A grunt left his mouth. "I've got maths and biology soon."

Sam started opening drawers and looked through papers for any sign of the answers, which she really hoped to find, because otherwise, Minho would no longer have a benefit in fake dating and she wasn't sure if he wanted to help her anymore.

"I got biology!" She held the paper up for him to take, then continued searching. "Tell me if you see or hear anyone approach."

"Will do."

She continued looking. After a good five minutes of that and feeling her heart beat in her throat, she found not only maths, but also a version of history.

"Got it." With heavier breaths, she got up.

"I think I heard—"

Before Minho could even finish or she had the chance to hand him the papers, the handle of the door got pressed down.

"Shit," she cursed, and let the answers fall on the ground.

Sam had no idea what possibly got into her, but in order to save them from getting caught stealing answers, she let them get caught in... another way.

Pinning Minho against the wall, she slammed her lips onto his. Started making out, and forced his hands on her waist before he slid them down himself.

Damnit, this was crazy. Either her brother or her father was standing in the doorframe and she was kissing the shit out of Minho, while he seemed surprised, yet went with it.

"Sam, Honey, there really wasn't a possibility to wait after the dessert? And in your mom's office, really? I mean— you're free to... whatever is going on here, you're almost nineteen, but uh—"

"Right. Sorry." Now breathing even heavier, she apart her lips from Minho's.

Holy shit, her body was on fire. Embarrassment? Definitely. Enjoyment? Well... it was pretty cool to experience fake dating in real life. Butterflies? Maybe a few.

"Dessert's ready. No one replied when I called," her father spoke, "so that's why I came to... check up. I'll keep in mind to never do that again."

"I'd recommend you to do so, yes. We'll be downstairs in a second."

Nodding, her father disappeared out of sight and Sam turned back to Minho.

Her face was bright red as she let go of a breath, and let her head fall against his chest. "Sorry," she mumbled, groaning.

She could feel his unsteady breaths and heartbeats. Slowly, he removed his hands off where he had decided to place them. "Let's just go downstairs before Jeff starts bullying me."

Sam nodded. "Yeah, let's do that." She stopped touching him too. As casually as possible, she walked out of the door. Fixed her clothes and hoped the blush would disappear off her cheeks before anyone would see.

The dessert was amazing, though Sam didn't dare to look at Minho during the whole meal. Her father didn't even seem to care about what he had seen, but the tension between the couple stayed thick.

"Sir— I mean, Sahil?" Minho cleared his throat. "Where do I sleep tonight...?" 

"Wherever you want, Kid."

His eyes only rested on Sam for a second. "I'll take the couch. I don't want to make Sammy uncomfortable."

Her mouth opened, but no sound came out for a while. "Maybe Jeff would like it if you stayed with him."

"Of course."

"Okay, awesome." Minho nodded. "Thanks."

When they finished eating desserts, Sam went upstairs. Buried her head in her hands, not really motivated to study, but knowing she had to. She'd rather train the spines of her books, read, and journal or something.

She sighed once she sat down and got work. But first, she wondered what would happen if she failed a test. If she got a B, instead of an A.

Her mom would call her things. She'd spat out words. Just words. Words could do a lot to people, but as long as Sam knew Jeff and her father loved her, she felt... untouchable. Sure she didn't like being called a failure and it definitely made her insecure, but if she just stopped caring.

If she kept telling herself whatever her mom told her was a lie and that she wasn't a failure as long as she tried... Trying was more than getting A's. Better, and maybe even healthier.
She'd pass with different grades too. And she'd survive without her mom, genuinely.

"Hey."

A yelp almost escaped her mouth when Minho suddenly appeared in the doorframe.

"Sorry, didn't want to scare you." He smiled awkwardly, running a hand through his hair. "Just... thanks for the answers. I appreciate it. And I'll try to work a bit harder myself," he promised.

Her lips shifted into a smile too. "You're welcome. Night, Minho. Let me know if Jeff is too annoying."

He chuckled. "I'm sure it'll be fine, but thanks. Good night, Sammy."