It was supposed to be a one-time thing. And then it was supposed to be just a two-time thing. And before anyone expected it, Jaemin's number and his fake trophy boyfriend services were circling through the ring of wealthy international and national students, jumping from phone to phone as people crammed to get him to accompany them on their next double date, next business gala, next ballroom dance.
Areum had always had a feeling that his charming, charismatic and sometimes ruthless personality would eventually draw everybody towards him, so electric and magnetic that she couldn't help but want to know him, make friends with him, be close to him. From the moment she saw his introduction post, she had long guessed it was only a matter of time before everyone on campus knew his name.
Imessage
27 September 2020, 19:41.
Areum:
dinner at your favourite
chinese restaurant? we could
get strawberry yogurt together after?
Jae‼️:
Would love to but I've got plans with the Lee's, gotta accompany Kay to her family's business gala.
Jae‼️:
Also I do not like strawberry and you know it, stop teasing me about it already god.
Areum:
Another day I guess, remember
to get them money asses.
Jae‼️:
Yes ma'am, gotta blast. Take care.
The sight that escaped her dry lips was slow, her eyes remained fixed on the phone, sighing she jutted her bottom lip out, redirecting the air-flow to her long bangs. For that brief moment her blackish-brown hair fanned upwards before resettling just over her eyes.
She misses him dearly and she wonders if he misses her too.
Imessage
19 October 2020, 15:48.
Areum:
You free my guy? I need help
with Mathematics homework.
Jae‼️:
I can't right now broski, Eun's taking me shopping to find more fancy suits for other galas with her friends, sorry mate :/
Areum:
It's cool, I'll just solve it on my own I guess
or I could just sleep and ignore that.
Have fun shopping!
Jae‼️:
Nah I'll come over with your favourite cookies and brownies, I'll help you with the math problems.
Areum:
Thank god.
Jae‼️:
Aight, got to go. TYYL.
He lied, for the first time he lied. Jaemin didn't come over and surprise her just like how he always does and she hates how she misses him. Maybe he has reasons for not showing up? She isn't being selfish, is she?
Imessage
19 October 2020, 22:39.
Areum:
Didn't you say you were coming over? What happened to my cookies and brownies :(
Jae‼️:
Sorry I couldn't make it, I had a last
minute date I had to attend to.
Areum:
It's all cool, busy guy, treat yourself
well with the money you earned, yeah?
Jae‼️:
You're mad at me aren't you?
Areum:
Of course not, not at all, run along
okay? Sleep early if possible, yeah?
Jae‼️:
Will do, goodnight my lady.
read, 22:41.
Areum's flow dies in her throat as her face sag into pure boredom, then in the second that air is empty she starts sighing about how messed up and blessed her life is again. By the end of the night, her thoughts and feelings are so compacted she felt like her chest would go supernova.
Imessage
30 October 2020, 07:53.
Areum:
Good morning.
Areum:
Are we still up for a movie
night before halloween?
Areum:
You leave our friendship tradition of buying candies and snacks at crunch time to die.
Areum:
We still have to stuff candy corns in our mouth and choke each other to death on my couch...
Imessage
30 October 2020, 15:29.
Jae‼️:
Shit I just saw this, my bad but uh... Sooa wants me to attend her family's halloween party later... I'm not sure if I can make it though.
read, 20;34.
Imessage
31 October 2020, 01:47.
Areum:
Sure, have fun. Thanks
for informing me.
It's no fun watching all of Conjuring by herself, she realised this Halloween although she'd normally be up for getting drunk and dropping it low, she just isn't in the Halloween spirit this year. She's only up for watching horror movies with him and stuffing food into each other's mouth, a pity he couldn't make it.
She shuts her laptop and decides to go to bed early. Early being midnight, but it's early for her and that's all that really matters, provided with the fact that her insomnia doesn't act up and instead lets her stay wide awake all night. She has no clue why shems being such a stick in the mud this Halloween. It's always been one of her favorite holidays, never one to pass up free candy nor the option to dress up, but this one has been particularly lame.
She doesn't have a costume, her local drugstore is out of M&M's and doritos, and she doesn't have someone to spend the night with. Realistically, she has no reason to be sad that Jaemin isn't available tonight, besides he's just a friend. It's not as if spending Halloween together is some ancient tradition from birth that binds the two of them together.
She did it for the first time as freshmen, and she was foolishly hoping to do the same thing as seniors. It's not a tradition if it only happens two or three times. She gazes in the bathroom mirror, stained with a red lipstick marking she drew and was unable to wash it away. He has every right to prioritise his current and only source of income over a night spent lounging on the couch doing nothing.
It's not as if she hasn't seen her best friend in over a month and this was the only night she both had free time. Jaemin drops by after every single event he goes on. Every single one. He stands outside her door dressed in a fancy suit, or a silk button down, leather shoes and expensive chained necklaces or rings bought for him by the girls he goes out with and sometimes with the money he received from them.
No matter the time, he knocks on her door and says hello, steals a cup of americano with 8 shots or counting, stalls time by playing with her puppy and steals a bit of her heart along with it, before bouncing out of the living room and off to his own apartment. He doesn't stay the night anymore, doesn't worm his way underneath her duvet and refuses to move until morning comes. It's hard to tell if she's grateful about it or not, but most definitely she wasn't.
Sluggishly, Areum peels off her clothes and wash her face, changing into some old sweatpants Jaemin had given her since he no longer fit and an oversized t-shirt she had stolen on her way home from his apartment. This Halloween, she's dressing up as an insomniac lonely university student who is going to bed early on Halloween night because she has nothing better to do and no other options.
There's a knock on her door.
And she keeps her mouth shut, instinctively picking up a baseball bat by her bedside.
Then, she hears.
"You aren't watching Penthouse without me are you?"
YOU ARE READING
escort | njm
Fanfictionin which, she denies her feelings for her best friend and he has someone else. - friends to lovers! , slowburn! idiots to lovers!, best-friends to lovers! jaevre - completed.
