A Mural of You

1- Questionable Haircut

"Please (Name)?" Childe begged. "Just eat lunch with us today! Please?"

"I already told you that isn't necessary." (Name) rolled their eyes, "Why do I need to meet your friends?"

"So that way they believe our.. relationship." He said the word like it was bitter in his mouth.

"I don't understand, why can't you just tell them it's fake?" They were in this situation because of parents, not friends.

"They won't get it!" Childe whined. "You know I would rather not, but we need as many people to believe it as possible in case something goes wrong." 

That actually made sense. If (Name)'s parents or Childe's got suspicious that they weren't actually together, having others to vouch for them might help.

Here's the explanation; Childe and (Name)'s brother, Zhongli, were dating. However, their parents had strict dating rules for Zhongli. He took his studies seriously, and they didn't want any lover to distract him. They had long since given up on (Name) though, so they were free to date whoever. Childe's parents didn't want him to date Zhongli because they thought he was too uptight, they didn't think that he was a good fit for their son. (Name) just so happened to be the perfect middle ground; they were allowed to date, and Childe's parents approved of them. So, if (Name) posed as Childe's partner, Childe could freely come over to their house to spend time with Zhongli, and when they went on "dates" Zhongli needed to be sent as a chaperone. (They just dropped (Name) of wherever they wanted then went on a date by themselves.)

Normally, (Name) would never agree to something so insane, but they knew how much Zhongli loved Childe, and by observing how Childe looked at Zhongli and how his eyes lit up when he was mentioned, they knew Childe loved him too.

"Fine. I'll meet them today and today only," (Name) finally caved. 

Childe pouted, "No, you have to meet them more then once."

(Name) sighed, of course it wouldn't be that easy. "Once a month."

"Once a week."

"No."

"Once a week and I pay you."

"How much?"

(Name) would rather not spend a lunch hour a week with people they didn't know, but if Mora was involved..some exceptions could be made. 

"Hm.." Childe thought on it and (Name) felt a little guilty. Childe was too rich to know how much was over priced. "Two hundred thousand Mora! Is that enough?"

"Two hundered thou-!" (Name) cleared their throat and regained composure. "I suppose that's reasonable." This didn't count as scamming, did it? 

Childe grinned, "I get to eat with you and Zhong- your friends too, right?"

"You only want to eat with them because Zhongli sits with us sometimes."

"Maybe," Childe shrugged but clearly didn't care much. "Can we meet them now? It's only the two of them."

"I thought you said you were popular?" (Name) asked as he dragged them to a cafeteria table occupied by a girl with long blond hair and a boy with purplish hair and a questionable hair cut.

"Shut up," was the only reply Childe came up with. He cleared his throat, "Ahem! I have arrived."

The two looked up at him from where they sat with blank stares. "And I care why?" The blonde girl spoke in a bored tone. 

I like her, (Name) thought, I would say the same thing if I could.

The boy ignored Childe as he began bickering with the girl and just observed (Name). His eyes quickly scanned them over before meeting their gaze. He blinked slowly and looked back to his untouched meal. (Name) took this time to observe him, perhaps the haircut was questionable, but he pulled it off.