To Put On An Act [bxb]

Chapter 4 - VIBE CHECK

Eleven days ago, Leia Zhang had thrown her delicate silver bracelet on the floor in front of Alex' feet, stomped on it once, and underneath the soles of her vegan Doc Martens, the small heart shaped pendant that had held their initials cracked, along with Alex' longest relationship.

Ten months wasn't a lot. In twenty years, if he made it that far, Alex would've long forgotten about this relationship, only remembering it as a highschool fling. But, Alex and Leia lasted about ten times as long as Alex' previous relationships, and they'd last about ten times as long as his next. Ten months, for highschoolers, was basically like being married. And eleven days ago, Leia had finally filed for divorce.

It hadn't left Alex heartbroken, nor Leia. Both could see the end coming from miles away, and it was just a matter of time until one of them finally snapped and broke up. Their hearts had been broken a couple months ago when the illusion of love started to fade away. Now all that was left was pettiness.

Eleven days ago, Leia Zhang had told Alex how pathetic he was, and how he was a nobody, and how not a single person would ever care about him again, and how he was simply unlovable, and that he would never move on. And with this she had, of course, not hurt Alex in the slightest, and he didn't care about her words at all, and he wasn't affected by a single thing she had said.

That's why he had instantly answered that he was in fact super lovable, and super attractive, and he could have anyone he wanted, because that's how someone unaffected by a breakup would react. And to prove how over it and totally unaffected he was, Alex decided to turn this into a competition.

Eleven days later, Alex had won, or at least he was on his way to winning this competition that Leia wasn't even aware of just yet. Eleven days after the heart shaped pendant cracked, Alex was already as in love as he'd never been before. Or at least he was pretending to be. And now he was on his way to pick up his pretend boyfriend to show how in pretend love he really was.

Alex promised to be there as soon as Youngbin's biology class had ended, and then the two would have lunch together and use the opportunity to introduce Youngbin to all of Alex' friends. Everyone needed to know about this. The news of Alex having a pretty new boyfriend had to spread faster than any rumours Leia would start. And if there was one thing Leia was phenomenal at, it was talking shit about people she didn't like and making everyone believe it.

Of course, Alex had kept his promise to Youngbin, and he had arrived at the biology classroom a good five minutes before the end of the lesson. Leaning on the wall next to the door, he crossed his arms, put on his most pissed off expression, glancing toward the door every ten seconds.

He was already imagining it. The door would open, and Alex would prop himself up, and look at each student walking out, and as soon as he'd see Youngbin, he'd smile. And then say something like "Hey, Babe!" or maybe "What's up, baby?" or perhaps "Hello, boyfriend that I totally love and admire and enjoy being around way more than spending time with my ex!" or something along those lines. And he'd say it really loud, so everyone would hear it, and maybe someone would gasp, and then Alex would pull Youngbin closer and look at whoever gasped, and say "You got a problem?" or something. Maybe someone could snap a picture and send it to everyone in the school, including Leia, and then she'd explode and die, maybe.

Fuck, Alex was gonna be so damn good at this.

So good that he missed his cue, and the door to the biology classroom had opened like a minute ago. Students streamed outside into the hallway, some not paying any attention to Alex, others stumbling over their own feet when they noticed him standing right there, with his arms crossed, quickly looking down to the floor as soon as their eyes had met his.