pick me, 1 0 1

21. Kim Jaehwan | Fake Date

https://prettywordsyouleft.tumblr.com/

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"Not a chance," you told him, shaking your head as you didn't lift your eyes to meet your friend in front of you. Jaehwan let out a whine and cupped his hand around the other, soon holding up his index finger.

"Come on, Y/N! It's not like I ask many favours of you. I wouldn't even ask you for this if it wasn't serious!"

You finally looked up at the boy, raising your eyebrow at him and tilted your head. "Who got you into this mess?"

"Me but-"

"And who should solve it?" you continued, Jaehwan pouting at you excessively. You shook your head again. "Your charms don't work on me."

"Please Y/N; just pretend to be my date! Think about it this way, you get a free dessert and movie out of me, hm?"

You couldn't hide the fact that it was slightly tempting when he put it that way. But you still didn't want to pretend to someone's date. It made you feel cheap.

Especially when deep down you wanted to be his actual date.

Still, you reasoned with yourself that you could take Jaehwan up on the offer and have a good time. And there was a movie out that you really wanted to go see.

"Anything I want to do?" you bartered and he broke out into a successful grin, nodding away happily.

"Of course!"

"And all I have to do is pose for a few photos to get you through this ridiculous bet?" you confirmed and he nodded again. You sighed heavily but on the inside, you were already planning out your outfit. "Fine, pick me up at seven. Don't be late."

He had arrived before seven, and you watched him from the window of your room,

grinning as he appeared a little nervous, seemingly giving himself a pep-talk before he hit the steering wheel of his car playfully and got out to knock on your door. You appeared shortly after and the ride to the entertainment complex was light and comfortable. Although you had been in the same classes through high school and now at university too, you wouldn't class yourself as a very close friend of Jaehwan's, so you hadn't known what to expect. But it felt all too easy to laugh at his jokes and even slip your hand into his once out of the car. He took a photo whilst holding your hand as proof before heading in to buy tickets to the movie you wanted to see. With popcorn and drink in hand, you went into the darkened room and got settled into your seats.

The movie was interesting, but admittedly you spent too much time trying to decipher Jaehwan's position beside you. He couldn't exactly show proof whilst the movie was going yet he was closer than he needed to be, and he seemed to be offering his shoulder for you to rest into. And when you did, well, it felt like you should have chosen to accept earlier on. It was all too overwhelming in a good way to be next to him like that and your attention on the movie waned, enjoying the warmth of his body instead.

It made your heart flutter when he wrapped his arm around you when you left the theatre to go to the ice-cream parlour down the road, your mind forgetting all about snapping more photos together for the sake of the bet he'd made. Conversation flowed, much did your sharing of the icy treat with one another and you were too immersed in having fun with Jaehwan that you weren't ready for it to end.

Your feet dragged as you walked back to the car and the silence between you made you wonder if Jaehwan was kind of sad it was ending soon too. You wanted to suggest going to an arcade or something but it was too late to do anything else when you had classes early in the morning. Going home to study sounded so unappealing now.

"I had a lot of fun," you started once you were back in the car and Jaehwan nodded softly, staring at you for a moment and then smiled weakly.

"Don't start ending it yet, I have to drive you home first."

You knew then he didn't want it to end. Had he forgotten all about the bet too? You blinked back your emotions and then gestured for him to pull out his phone for another photo. He posed beside you and just as he was counting down to take the photo, you turned to kiss his cheek, pulling away quickly to examine his expression once the photo was taken. He looked stunned, but a smile spread slowly across his face before he bit it back.

You coughed awkwardly. "Surely that will help you with the boys, Jae."

"Hah, uh yeah."

Conversation picked back up once you settled from your impromptu kiss and he finally pulled up outside your house, cutting the engine of his car.

You watched him for a moment and then undid your seatbelt. "Well, thanks for the movie and ice-cream. You're a lot of fun, you know."

"I'm glad you enjoyed it," he mentioned warmly and you nodded again.

"I'll see you in class tomorrow?" you asked and he agreed, before turning in his chair.

"I uh, have something to say."

"Oh?" You blinked; this was the first time he looked so serious all night. He then rubbed at the back of his neck awkwardly and you held your breath, you were certain he was going to confess to you.

"I like you, Y/N."

Oh god, you were right.

"So much that I might have made the bet all up."

You blinked once. "I'm sorry, what?"

"I mean, you just seemed like you wouldn't go out with me on a date if I asked you for real since we've been friends for so long so I came up with the idea to act like this was a fake date to see if you would actually enjoy my company enough for it to become a real thing in the future."

You heard his words, you did. But you were also very much so stuck on his first admission. "You like me?"

He nodded.

"And you went to all this effort to get me out on a date with you?" Jaehwan smiled encouragingly. You smiled too and he relaxed.

And then you hit him, hard. "I cannot believe you toyed with me like that, Kim Jaehwan! Why not just ask me out in the first place I would have said yes!"

"Because you're always so – wait, what?"

You heaved a deep breath as you narrowed your eyes on him. "You stupid boy."

"You would have said yes?!"

"I admit, you're clever for going to that extreme but I was so worried that you were actually going to get into trouble!"

"You were worried?" He was far too happy now and it irked you when his face broke into a lazy grin. "You worry about me?"

"You should be worried," you warned, shaking your head at him. "I'm going to make you pay for–"

He cut you off with his lips, kissing you hesitantly. You were frozen as he moved his mouth slowly against yours, waiting for you to melt and kiss him back. You eventually did, and after a few minutes of kissing together, he pulled back from you, his eyes warmer than they had ever seemed before.

He brushed the hair away from your face and smiled. "Can I pay you back like this?"

You hadn't expected to fall trap for his plan but you had to admit, free ice-cream, a movie and his lips on yours made for a pretty good first date.

You couldn't wait to see what happened on the next one.

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