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» [pretending] «
0:30 ─〇───── 2:39

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word count: 1878 words
type: duo imagine series

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between the sound of your worn-out converse repeatedly hitting the pavement and jungwon's stream of never-ending apologies, you've never been happier to reach home. on a quest to stop yourself from getting further upset, you look down at all the dirt that's embedded in your shoelaces.

at least i won't fret if i accidentally step in a puddle.

you find that your shoes have a charm that's impossible to recreate because of how imperfect they are. plus, they are your most prized possession since your mom gifted them to you on the last christmas that you celebrated together.

"i'm sorry that i kissed-" tired of hearing jungwon apologize for a past mistake, you slap your hand over his mouth.

the feel of jungwon's mouth against your hand makes your mind flash back to how his lips felt on yours. you recoil in fear, while your hand retracts. it falls at the seam of your skirt.

"it's fine, jungwon. it already happened, so there's no point in apologizing now." you say, while rubbing your hand against your skirt.

you draw in a deep breath of air, inhaling the scent of freshly fallen rain, while waiting for jungwon to ruin the harmonious sound of silence.

he's going to try to apologize again.

when the silence stretches out, you study your surroundings. mosquitoes socialize around puddles that have formed on the sidewalk. they seem to be chatting about how more rain is going to fall. the sky is but a mural of awfully-scary gray clouds that are begging to start a torrential downpour.

"i-"

"i've already told you that you don't have to keep apologizing for something that was a mistake, jungwon. why won't you just move on and talk about something else? there are lots of things that we could talk about, like, what our strategy is going forward or why it's been raining so much. if you want, i'll let you list all the reasons why you like nabi."

you hope that jungwon will jump on the opportunity to gush about nabi, but he doesn't. the only thing that he seems to be invested in is pointing out your odd behavior. "we could do that, but i'd rather talk about how you haven't looked at me since we started walking to your place."

"that's not true. i watched you swat at mosquitoes for the past two minutes because you can't stand them."

as soon as you stop speaking, your phone vibrates. judging by the way that jungwon lifts his eyebrows, his does the same. your curiosity peaks, while jungwon's stays stagnant. checking his phone is the least of his worries, as he keeps his gaze fixed on your face.

although you know you probably shouldn't, you pull your phone out of the pocket in your jacket to check your notifications. it's an instagram notification that made your phone buzz, which is odd because you're not very active on the app, so you unlock your phone to view it.

you read the post over and over again until the words are ingrained in your memory. after that nightmare of a situation in the student council meeting, you knew that it was only a matter of time before the couple instagram page would post about you and jungwon. not only did they post quicker than you expected them to, but they also tagged you and jungwon in the post.

"you've probably never had a mosquito bite before, (y/n). so, you can joke about something like that, but i have to protect myself from them because those bites can get pretty itchy." you fall to the ground, while running your hands through your hair. as a result, the soft curls that survived throughout the school day fall. "hey, what's wrong?"

you bury your face in your hands because you're too ashamed to face jungwon, but you know that he's right in front of you.

it's ironic how he's the only person who can comfort you, when he was the reason for your earlier distress. now, all you feel is guilty because you dragged him into this plan. you're losing confidence in it and yourself.

"do you think jake's seen this yet?" you find your voice, then jungwon slips your phone out of your hand and into his.

"yeah," jungwon confirms the unthinkable, while handing your phone back to you.

his minimalistic answer makes your stomach churn.

"how bad do you think this looks to him, jungwon?"

"(y/n), i think that we made it pretty clear that we're dating in the student council meeting. jake was there, so i'm sure that he already assumed that we're together. plus, nabi already gave him the idea that you're taken."

"if he thinks...well, now he knows...everyone in the entire school knows now, so there's nothing that i can do, but..." your inability to finish a coherent sentence lets you know that you're really stressed about all of this.

"(y/n)," jungwon confiscates your phone, but it's too late.

all of the horrid thoughts have seeped into your mind and poisoned your idea of hope.

"i already know what you're going to say, jungwon. you're going to say that this means that our plan is working, which is a good thing, so we'll be dating our crushes in no time, but i'm scared. today has been a rough day for me, and it's all because of this plan. i want to believe that this'll work, but what if it doesn't? what if we end up dying alone, jungwon?"

you blink back the tears that are threatening to spill. as if he senses that you're seconds away from losing your mind, jungwon removes your hands from your face. despite the fact that you can't check, you're sure that your makeup is smeared.

using nothing but a curved index finger, jungwon lifts your chin. his eyes lock themselves on yours and you feel so vulnerable that all you want to do is hide behind the nearest tree.

"i won't let that happen, (y/n). i promise you that this plan will work. by the end of the semester, you'll be jake's girlfriend and I'll be nabi's boyfriend."

never, not once in your entire life, have you ever been left speechless, but that changed the moment that you watch jungwon's eyes sparkle and he sculpts his face into an image that can only be seen as boyishly beautiful.

wow, has his smile always been this spellbinding?

you don't have time to think, when he grabs your hand and pulls you to your feet. during the rest of the time that you spend walking to your house with jungwon, you think of the brilliance of his smile.

like a gentleman, jungwon opens the door for you. with a flourish, he guides you inside of your house.

you laugh at unfailingly charming he is, but something feels wrong. looking around the house, at all of the pictures and decorations that have been rearranged, you realize that your dad is home.

"(y/n), what's so funny? you sound like-" your dad is stunned by jungwon's presence.

he nearly drops the glass of water that he's clutching in his right hand, but he recovers from the shock of seeing jungwon rather quickly. you try not to laugh at the effort that it takes for him to train his face into a neutral expression.

"dad, what are you doing home so early? i thought you didn't get off work until six o'clock."

"yeah, there was a change of plans at work, sweetie."

"alright, well, i should probably start working on my homework. you know how teachers are with assigning homework during the first week of school." you turn to look at jungwon, to tell him goodbye. "i'll see you tomorrow, jungwon."

"you should go." you mouth to jungwon, and he tries to head for the door, but your father makes him stop in his tracks.

"not so fast, (y/n)."

"dad," you stall, while trying to give jungwon the time to get away, but he stays right beside you. "i really do have a lot of homework. so, i should probably get started on that sometime soon."

"i see what you're trying to do and it won't work. i can see your friend, since he's standing in my house, so he needs to introduce himself to me." your father looks at jungwon like he's done something wrong.

"it's nice to meet you, mr (y/l/n)." jungwon extends his hand to your father. your father shakes it. "i'm yang jungwon, i'm (y/n)'s boy-"

you step directly on jungwon's foot to make him stop talking. he yelps, then you clarify what he is to you. "best friend! he is my best friend, who happens to be a boy, dad, and he offered to walk me home."

"yeah," your dad takes a generous sip of his water, then he scratches at his beard. "i guess that explains why you two are holding hands."

your dad has always been quite the jokester, so you think he's joking about this, but you can't deny the truth when you look down at how your hand is so entwined with jungwon's that your fingers are interlocked in the spaces between his.

wow, i guess i haven't let go of his hand ever since he helped me up. how is it possible that i've been holding on to his hand for all this time and i didn't even know until my father pointed it out?

"sometimes, her hands get cold. she was just telling me about that on the way here, so i figured that if i hold her hands, it might warm them up." jungwon explains, but your father's stare has gone from mild to deadly.

"so, you've been holding my daughter's hand for the past forty-five minutes?" your father downs the rest of his water, then he walks over to the circular table that's in the center of the living room, and slams the glass on the table.

due to your father's intimidation tactics, jungwon's left with no choice but to shake his hand free from yours.

"dad," you try to get your dad to be nicer to jungwon, but that doesn't work.

"my daughter says that she's got a lot of homework to do, so you should probably get going." your dad crosses his arms over his chest, then he eyes the door.

"i'll see you tomorrow, (y/n)." jungwon says, but he avoids looking at you."it was very nice to meet you, sir." he says to your father before exiting the house, but you know that he only said that because he felt obligated to.

your eyes jump between the door and your father before you rush off to your bedroom. even though your father made a rule that you can't slam any doors shut, you slam your bedroom door shut and lock it, so that your father knows that he's upset you.

i know that i'm his only child, and he wants to protect me from being heartbroken, but he can't treat jungwon like that.