Fakin' it | Haobin

2

Hao woke up to a barrage of notifications. His phone buzzed relentlessly on the nightstand, the screen lighting up with every new message, call, and email. For a second, he considered throwing it across the room—nothing good ever came from that much attention this early in the morning. But curiosity got the better of him.

His fingers trembled slightly as he unlocked his phone, and immediately, his heart sank. His face—plastered all over every major news site and social media platform—was next to someone else’s. Sung Hanbin. There were pictures from last night’s event, and not just the usual red carpet shots. These were… different.

Hao sat up in bed, staring at the headlines:

"New Power Couple? Zhang Hao and Sung Hanbin Spark Dating Rumors!"

What the actual hell?

His pulse raced as he scrolled through the articles. Paparazzi had apparently caught them leaving the event together. Hao grimaced at the photos—one of him holding Hanbin’s arm, another of them walking side by side with enough space between them to park a car, but somehow, they were already being branded as "the next big couple." but then again there's also pictures of them on Hanbin's motorcycle with Hao's arms around Hanbin's waist so he can't really blame the media for assuming things.

It's frustrating, Hao only held onto him as ordered by the younger, he said that he should hold onto him, unless he wants to fall off the vehicle which of course he doesn't want that to happen.

It didn’t make sense. They hated each other. He couldn’t stand Hanbin’s smug attitude, and Hanbin, well… the feeling was mutual.

A knock at the door interrupted his spiraling thoughts. "Hao? You awake?"

Hao groaned. It was his manager, and from the sound of it, she’d seen the news.

She barged in before he could answer, her face a mixture of panic and exhaustion. "You need to see this," she said, holding up her phone with the same headlines he had just been staring at. "What happened last night? You were just supposed to make an appearance, smile, and leave quietly. How did this happen?"

"I have no idea." Hao dragged a hand through his hair, still trying to wrap his head around the mess. "He just helped me to leave the event. People are blowing this way out of proportion."

"Out of proportion?" His manager raised an eyebrow, pacing the room like she was trying to solve a murder case. "This is a full-blown scandal, Hao. Do you have any idea how fast this is spreading? Your fans are going wild, the media’s eating it up, and Hanbin’s team hasn’t responded yet, which only makes it worse."

Hao’s stomach turned. He hadn’t even thought about how Hanbin would be handling this. Not that he cared, of course. But still.

His manager finally stopped pacing and turned to him with a look that made his skin crawl. "Here’s the deal. You’re going to have to address this, and soon. You can either deny the whole thing and hope it blows over—which, by the way, probably won’t work—or…"

"Or what?" Hao asked warily.

She hesitated, then sighed. "Or you lean into it. Play along. You and Hanbin can fake it for a while, just enough to let things cool down. Maybe even spin it into some good publicity for both of you."

Hao’s jaw dropped. "You want me to fake date Sung Hanbin? Are you out of your mind?"

"I know it sounds crazy, but think about it. You two are at the top of your careers right now. A scandal like this could ruin everything for both of you if it's handled wrong. But if you go along with it—"

"Forget it," Hao snapped. "There’s no way I’m pretending to date that jerk."

His manager crossed her arms, her gaze steely. "You might not have a choice. It’s either this or let your career take a massive hit."

The words hung heavy in the air, and for a moment, Hao couldn’t breathe. He had worked too hard, sacrificed too much to let it all fall apart over some stupid misunderstanding. But fake dating Hanbin? The thought alone made his skin crawl. They could barely stand to be in the same room, let alone pull off a convincing romance.

His phone buzzed again, this time with a new notification: Message Request from Sung Hanbin.

Hao stared at it, reluctant to open the message. But when he finally did, his stomach twisted even tighter.

We need to talk. Now.

Great. This was going to be a disaster.