𝙿𝚊𝚛𝚊𝚍𝚒𝚜𝚎 || 𝐅𝟒 𝐓𝐇𝐀𝐈𝐋𝐀𝐍𝐃 (editing)

twenty one

chapter twenty one

one week
———

"What the fuck?"

Kavin and MJ practically sprinted to the railing where Vincent was. Kavin's hands still rested on his cheeks in an attempt to cover up the fact that he was still slightly blushing from Lia's comment earlier. They looked over at the lower level of the cafeteria where Thyme was running away from Gorya who was hitting his shoulder repeatedly. Although, it looked more light-hearted than an actual violent punch.

"More trouble over there, huh?" Ren said slowly approaching the three of them. He walked at a slower pace than usual out of consideration Lia — who very clearly had shorter legs — who was walking alongside him. Ren chose to sit on top of the railing with his duffel bag slung over his shoulder. His other hand was lightly holding onto Liliana's waist since the girl was practically hanging off the second story to wave at their two friends below, "Guys! Ren's back!," she screamed excitedly.

"This school is just as chaotic as it was before,".

Thyme and Gorya stopped their bickering to look up at them. Gorya's feelings came rushing back as soon as she met eyes with Ren once again. After a while, her eyes trailed over to his fingers comfortably playing with the hem of her best friends shirt.

Everything sort of felt like a blur after that.

Perhaps that's why she panicked later on when Ren lifted his hand to caress her cheek. Of course, he never touched her. But that didn't stop the mischievous smile from forming when he saw her reaction. Thyme had to urgently explain that the two were dating. As Gorya began to protest Ren cut her off, "Really? I'm happy for you guys,".

His smile was just as striking as she remembered.

"Now that Ren's back, we should have a reunion as F4,".

The other members walked off. Kavin had slung an arm over Vinny's shoulders... or at least he attempted to do so. In truth, Vincent was taller than Kavin so it just sort of looked like Kavin was putting him in a headlock.

"What are you doing?," Ren asked leaning down to meet eye-to-eye with Gorya, "Aren't you coming?".

"Ren," Thyme called out, "this is exclusive to F4. No girlfriends allowed,".

Instead of arguing against Thyme, Ren decided to follow along. He didn't exactly want to mention to Thyme that Vincent wasn't exactly a member of F4 but he supposed that another guy wouldn't do any harm. But when they reached the door Thyme suddenly turned around and began to yell out "Lia! Come on you're so slow," Thyme whined. Lia grumbled and threatened to kick him in the shins just so he could see how it felt being the slower one.

That's when Ren realized how important the two new members of their friend circle had become. It also made him feel a bit guilty as he realized that they left Gorya alone in the cafeteria with no one else to chat with.

It was nighttime and the flower shop was closed. Gorya and Kaning were busy cutting off the leaves of the stems of roses in preparation for the following day. Gorya was currently scrolling through her social media as she took a five minute break from work when she stubbles upon an instagram story from MJ. MJ always posted videos of his "romantic" and lavish lifestyle but this video caught her eye. The camera slowly panned over to Kavin and a girl chatting away on the couch which was a normal reoccurrence. Thyme and Vincent were shown playing some form of card game on the couch. It looked an awful lot like go fish but Gorya couldn't quite tell.

The part that stood out to Gorya was when the camera showed Ren and Liliana. The two of them were sitting on a coffee table in the back corner. Lia was laughing and raised her glass to take a sip of champagne. Ren's face haunted Gorya. His eyes were looking at Lia with such adoration that it audibly made her gasp. He was hanging on to her every word with his lips parted slightly open. Ren's hand was resting comfortably on Lia's knee.

"Kaning! Look!," Gorya began to yell as she showed her phone to her friend next to her. "Take a picture, hurry! Zoom in!,".

Unfortunately for her, the phone died for what felt like the hundredth time that night. As Gorya rushed to get a charger she felt conflicted on what she had just seen.

Since when were Ren and Lia that close? Didn't he go to France to get together with Mira? And why did she feel kind of okay with the whole situation?

Liliana was tired and wanted to go home. Though, she knew better than to interrupt Vincent when he was gambling. Even though it was a simple game like go fish. So instead of complaining to Vincent she was sitting with Ren. Earlier that day he had pulled her aside to confess to her something that not even the other F4 boys knew about.

Ren had told her about Mira's boyfriend. He told her everything that happened in France and she couldn't help but sympathize with him. That's when Ren asked her something.

"Hey Lia, do you think we could act like a couple? Just for a week though! I just want to get over Mira as quickly as possible,".

Lia was caught off guard by his proposal. On one hand she hated the idea of dating someone just for the fun of it — especially when they were her friend. On the other hand, she knew how much Mira meant to him. Wasn't she technically saving some poor girls heart from being stomped on since she was volunteering to be Ren's rebound? Plus, nothing would really be harmful about it. They weren't actually dating. They would just act more flirtatious with one another compared to before.

"Only for one week..."

———a/n

My mind is all over the place in this chapter pls send help i'm in need of sleep but i have an art piece that's due soon ._.