Rent A Boyfie

be careful what you wish for, lest it come true

"I'm glad I invited you too, Juyeon. And I'm even more glad about the fact that you might become a part of our family. I hope Y/N treats you well. If she doesn't you just come straight to me. I'll make sure she never does a single thing to wrong you," your mother replies, sending him a beaming grin. You roll your eyes. Your mother never misses a chance to be dramatic.

"Oh no! Would you look at the time! I think it's time for Juyeon to go! Didn't you say that you have a flower delivery to make at exactly five forty-three? What a shame. Come on, get your coat, I'll walk you down," you exclaim in faux disappointment, snaking your hand into Juyeon's palm properly so that you can pull him up with you. Juyeon, always so nice and obedient, stands up with you and trails behind you as you lead him away from the coffee table.

Surprisingly, as you hand Juyeon his coat and take your own, your mother does nothing at all to stop the two of you from leaving. Instead, she silently follows the two of you to the door and watches the two of you leave after saying goodbye to Juyeon.

"Thank you for cooking. It was lovely," Juyeon says as he hugs your mother goodbye. She presses a kiss on each cheek before letting him go and smiles at him sweetly.

"I'll cook for you whenever. Just tell Y/N."

"Okay, let's not agree to anything without me now," you interject before Juyeon can say anything more.

"I'll just walk him to his car," you tell your mother before turning around and making your way to the lift lobby. As the two of you walk with your backs being watched by your mother, Juyeon's hand finds yours and he interlaces your fingers.

The warmth of his palms seems to travel up to your cheeks and your chest, so uncomfortable and intolerably hot that it pulls sweat to the surface of your skin, clamming up your palms and making your feet sweat. You very suddenly and very desperately want to rip your jacket off because of how hot you are feeling but you remain calm and beg your body to calm down. It does not listen and your heart begins to pick up speed and you have to remind yourself for the nth time that this is all merely an act. Juyeon isn't holding your hand because he wants to. Juyeon isn't here right now because he wants to be. Juyeon is not your boyfriend because he wants to be.

When the two of you enter the lift, you expect Juyeon to let go of your hand and retreat to the other side of your lift, far away from you. But he doesn't. He keeps your hand securely tucked in his and stays right next to you, shoulders brushing, your knuckles ghosting the material of his track pants.

"Juyeon?" you call softly, not quite sure if you'd want to ask the question that has been weighing on your mind since you'd woken up. You pause for a while to ponder your thoughts but decide to ask anyway.

"When I woke up, you were holding my hand," you start, gaze shifting from the lift doors to look up to Juyeon.

"Yeah?" Juyeon answers a little too breathless for his liking. He can feel his cheeks grow hot and his palms grow sweaty. Holding your hand shouldn't bother him, especially not when he has a perfectly good explanation for it. But it certainly doesn't help when you're looking up at him like that, eyes wide and earnest and innocent, looking so pure and good and pretty that it makes something in him short circuit.

"Why?"

God, does he not want to answer that question. It'll make things awkward and tense and weird because his reason behind holding your hand isn't really that good of a reason now that he thinks about it. And you'll definitely look at him weirdly after you find out because if he didn't have a single ounce of affection for you in him, he wouldn't have held your hand. But if he tells you, you'll realise that Juyeon actually has a little bit of a soft spot for you. And it's not like he doesn't find you attractive, he does. But, he doesn't know. It'll just make things awkward and he doesn't want to tell you.