boyfriend for rent • kim yohan

027

Murmurs and chattering immediately filled the cafeteria, full of students discussing the news the livid girl in front of Jiwoo had said.

"Yoon Jinah," Wooseok said, his voice as smooth as ever, and the loud whispers of the students immediately quieted down. "Long time no see, you look well."

Jinah gritted her teeth in pure animosity. "Don't you dare Yoon Jinah me. I've never been as heartbroken as I was when you left. I really thought...," she stopped for a second, and Jiwoo couldn't help but feel sympathy for the girl whose vulnerability showed, only if it was gone as soon as it appeared. "I really thought you loved me."

"I'm sorry." Wooseok whispered out, and even if his face was straight, Jiwoo knew better. The boy was hurting as much as the girl was.

Now, Jiwoo knew why Wooseok kept pulling her away from the cafeteria and classroom. He wanted to keep a low profile and escape the eye of the majority, because he knew that Jinah would be able to recognize him. It was then that Yohan, the other quiet boy, understood Wooseok's urgency in his actions when he dragged Jiwoo out of the classroom. This was one of the confrontations anyone would want to avoid.

Because it wouldn't end well.

"He gets paid to act like someone's boyfriend. How pathetic is that?" His apology flew right through her head. "Is that what it is? Do you enjoy going around kissing girls and making them fall for you, and then oh wow, here's a job that pays you to do that, so you took it?"

Wooseok swallowed the lump in his throat. He had a lot of things to say to her, but his voice wouldn't come out. He wanted to say that he didn't enjoy breaking girls' hearts. He wanted to say that he never meant to flirt and act like a playboy. He simply wanted people around him to be happy, so he sold dreams.

And what he had also done was selling a little part of who he is every single time he was rented.

"Let me guess," Jinah's eyes drifted to the girl beside her ex-boyfriend. "You're the one who rented him, right?"

Loud whispers filled the room once again. Park Jiwoo wasn't exactly the most popular kid in school, but she was known to be the rich girl who had the kind of lifestyle everyone had always wanted. But that was only because they didn't know about her life.

Even so, Jiwoo had never let the words bring her down, even if some people said her family paid the school director to let her stay despite her failing grades. Now, what were they going to call her, a girl who paid a company to have a boyfriend? A girl who used money to solve everything?

"Yeah, I am." Jiwoo replied, her eyes silently challenging Jinah. Deep down, she was scared. She was scared that her reputation would be worse that it already was. She was scared of the stares that will be sent her way, all the low whispers around every corner of the hallway. She glanced at Yuvin and Jyunhao, then Yohan.

But more importantly, she was scared of being judged by the people she love.

"You're just going to get yourself hurt." Jinah warned her. "I'm telling you because I don't want you to end up like me."

Jinah didn't seem like she wanted to humiliate Jiwoo and was simply warning her out of good will, but at that point, Jiwoo didn't care. Jinah had the nerve to publicly humiliate Wooseok, and as his friend, Jiwoo could never let that slide.

"I-" Before Jiwoo could lash out, Yohan's voice interrupted.

Yohan's hard eyes that lacked its usual liveliness were directed to Jinah, and when he spoke, his voice was so low and cold that it sent chills down Jiwoo's spine.

"Who do you think you are?"