"Look Jisoo, or Joshua, or whatever, here's the deal. I need money and you need no one to see you drunk and stripping in a gay club, so I have a suggestion." A mischievous grin grew on Jeonghan's lips and he waggled the incriminating evidence flashing on his phone screen before the religious boy. The two sat facing one another, opposites in every aspect. Where Jisoo had neatly parted brown hair, Jeonghan's face was framed by a tangle of blue locks. Instead of a neatly buttoned shirt and crisp clean pants, an old leather jacket and ripped skinny jeans clung to Jeonghan's slim frame.
Jisoo swallowed hard and nodded for Jeonghan to continue. Relaxing back into his chair the elder fumbled in his pocket before producing a crumpled leaflet, "There's this study going on at the university, they say they'll pay couples to take part in these tests and interviews and shit like that. That sounds like easy money to me don't you think?"
Following the line of Jeonghan's arm, Jisoo inspected the paper before him.
Romantic Couples Study
You and your partner are eligible to participate if you:
- Are in a committed, monogamous romantic relationship
- Have been dating for at least six months
- Are currently living together
- Are both over the age of 18
For the first time since the strange boy with black nails had pulled him to the back of the library, Jisoo spoke, "You want me to pretend to be your partner?"
"Very good! So you're not just all beauty and no brains, this might be easier than I thought." The combination of Jeonghan's comment and flirty giggle flustered the gentleman. After taking a moment to compose himself the realisation of what he'd got himself into dawned.
"So you just expect me to drop everything and move in with you so you can get some easy money? I don't want anyone to see that video, but I'm not that desperate!" Jisoo was almost laughing that the guy in front of him ever thought this would work, "I barely know you and we have nothing in common, we'd have a better chance convincing them a cat and mouse were dating."
"I'm hurt! How could you say you don't know me, you were very friendly on Saturday." The last words were almost a whisper as Jeonghan leant closer to Jisoo, "I don't expect you to move in with me, I'm a very good liar, you just have to do what I tell you to and everything will be fine. I'll get some easy money and you get to keep your good boy persona."
With a heavy sigh Jisoo finally yielded and agreed to follow the ridiculous plan, "So when does this study start? What's your marvellous plan for all this?", he'd rather waste hours of his life on the study than lose everything he'd established since arriving in Korea.
"I knew you'd come around! Well the first meeting is on Wednesday coming up, so before then I think we should learn the basics about each other, you know birthdays and boring shit like that." Jisoo didn't seem convinced by Jeonghan's barely structured plan and it showed clearly on his face, "Ah don't be like that, it'll be easy peasy. We already know each other's names so we're basically half way done!"
Despite Jeonghan's confidence in his plan he'd underestimated the time it would take the pair to learn the necessary information in order to pass as a convincing couple. By the time their strange study session was over Jisoo was glad to see the back of his new 'boyfriend' and return to his dorm room.
*
With the stress of university life and the mountain of work it provided, Wednesday arrive much too soon for Jisoo. He'd spent the day leading up to what he was sure would turn out to be a nightmare, memorising facts about Jeonghan and fretting over what to wear. Hansol, his roommate, was becoming suspicious to what was worrying him.
"Big date or something?" The younger called from bed, his fingers tapping away at his laptop.
"Huh?" Jisoo's head snapped up at the sound of the others voice, his eyes wide like a deer caught in the headlights.
"You've been staring at your phone all day and I don't think I've ever seen you so bothered by how your hair looks. You've got a date, right?"
Having never considered the thought of having to make excuses to his friends Jisoo simply blinked in response.
"It's okay dude, I was just wondering because she must be cute to make you that nervous." Chuckled Hansol, he returned his focus back to the screen of his laptop and continued typing.
Stuttering over the lie that had been handed to him, Jisoo simply agreed, "Oh, erm, yeah."
*
Room 204 was clearly displayed on the door Jisoo was now anxiously waiting beside, his palms were sweaty and the collar of his shirt felt as though it were tightening around his throat. The meeting was set to start at 6.30 but he'd arrived earlier, hoping it'd help him settle his nerves and get a sense of the other couples. A few strangers were scattered around the corridor patiently waiting for their significant others and 6.30 to arrive. A boy with, what could only be described as, ice cream hair was leaning against the window and another boy with, less dramatic, black hair stood grinning at his phone. Jisoo couldn't help but wonder what their partners were like, wonder if him and Jeonghan would blend in, wonder if the other two could see how nervous he was.
Before his anxieties could convince him to vanish from his spot, leaving nothing but dust in his wake, a bubbly Jeonghan bounced towards him. For a moment Jisoo didn't recognise the rebel he'd learnt to know as Jeonghan. The elder had pulled his wild hair into a neat ponytail, his ripped jeans and leather jacket replaced by an oversized sweater and a pair of blue denims.
"Jisoo-ah, have you been waiting long?" Jeonghan's face was illuminated by a sweet smile, in place of the playful smirk that Jisoo was expecting. All eyes in the corridor were now on them, the two boys curious of the new arrival.
Swallowing hard Jisoo shook his head, "No not at all," was all he managed to muster in return.
"Oh good," Jeonghan moved to intertwine their fingers, "It shouldn't be long until it starts."
Fighting his shock, Jisoo found the energy to turn his head to face his 'boyfriend', who was now gazing out the window innocently. Jisoo didn't know if Jeonghan's excellent acting would make this mission harder or easier than he thought it would be, but he knew it was going to be interesting.
*
"... So that's the basic outline of the study! We'd like to remind you all that you have the right to withdraw yourself or the data collected on you at any point, and all information collected will be kept anonymous and is completely confidential. Does anybody have any questions?"
The oddly bright boy with a bird's nest of blonde hair finished his presentation and stood in silence at the front of the room, awaiting questions from the small crowd of couples. His partner finally stepped forward to break the awkward tension that hung in the air.
"Now you're probably all curious to who we are exactly. My name is Lee Seokmin and this is my colleague, Kwon Soonyoung. We're both fourth year psychology students working towards our degrees and this study is worth a large portion of our grade, we are very grateful to each of you for coming today." He beamed at the crowd, his face an image of pure appreciation, "Now if you have any further questions don't hesitate to contact us via the number or email address provided and please be sure to check your inboxes regularly for updates on appointments. Thank you all for coming today." The charismatic pair bowed to the small round of applause they received and slipped off the stage as the room slowly emptied of people.
Once Jisoo and Jeonghan were out of everyone else's earshot Jeonghan was finally confronted.
"What's all this?" Questioned Jisoo, he frantically gestured to Jeonghan's entire appearance, his eyebrows scrunched in confusion.
"Well I assumed that if I wanted to convince people that I was your boyfriend I better look the part. No one would believe that Jesus boy was dating a smoking hot bassist, so I 'cute-ed' it up." Jisoo wanted the knock the smug expression of the blue haired boys face, but knew that might ruin the façade. 'Cute' Jeonghan was considerably more charming than 'classic' Jeonghan and Jisoo found himself silently agreeing with the other. What had he gotten himself into?
YOU ARE READING
Freudian Slip
Fanfiction"Look Jisoo, or Joshua, or whatever, here's the deal. I need money and you need no one to see you drunk and stripping in a gay club, so I have a suggestion." When Hong Jisoo finds himself trapped in a fake relationship with the bassist of a rock ba...
