Taming the Green Eyed Monster

The Dating Rules

"For our first official date, I figured we all meet up together," said Si Woo, smiling. It was a Saturday, nearly a week after that night when Jong In had agreed to Si Woo's ridiculous terms of dating. All three of them were sitting at a café, Si Woo next to Jong In and Ye Jun directly across from him.

Only Si Woo seemed to be in a good mood. Beyond the expected greeting, the other two had not spoken a word to each other. Meanwhile, Ye Jun continued watching Jong In openly as the latter continued to avoid his gaze.

"Since neither of you have supplied any suggestions, I figured we go see a movie," said Si Woo, unbothered by the tension. "There's one I have been wanting to see. I hope you two like horror films. I don't personally like them all that much but I feel like it might set the appropriate mood."

"I'm fine with it," said Ye Jun and Jong In simply nodded.

"I also figured that we can spend this time going over the terms of this unusual dating agreement."

"It's only unusual because you made it so," Jong In mumbled, meeting Si Woo's eyes.

He laughed and reached out to brush aside a stray eyelash from his cheek.

A noticeable bang of a cup hitting the table caused them both to look up. Ye Jun was looking at them with open irritation.

Jong In flinched and looked away.

Si Woo tsked. "I know you're new to this," he said with evident amusement, "But there is no need to be jealous when we haven't even started." He leaned back on his chair. "And that brings me to that topic of how and what this agreement entails."

He pulled out his phone and tapped on the screen." I've sent you both a copy of requirements and expectations. You can read them on your own time. This is mostly to ensure that everything is fair. We'll have a group date like this once or twice a month and once a week, a pair will have an individual date - Ye Jun and Si Woo, Jong In and Si Woo, and finally, Ye Jun and Jong In. What we do on the paired dates is up to the individuals involved however, it must be, without a reasonable doubt, a date. For every group date, there will be time included for physical intimacy and each individual date must not go beyond the limits of what occurred during the monthly group dates."

Jong In looked up, "What do you mean – physical intimacy?"

"Physical intimacy," he replied slowly, "is skinship, which can include hugging, kissing, petting, tongue, sex..."

"As a group?"

"Well, if you want." He looked at the other two and winked. "I'm not opposed to a threesome." He laughed at the look on Jong In's face. "However, that wasn't my intention. This type of relationship isn't exactly easy to maintain fairness. That is why while I say what you do in your own personal dates is up to the participants, the group date will follow the rule that all actions must be performed equally with each participating pairs.

"So if, for example –" He reached over and grasped Ye Jun's hand, rubbing his thumb across the back of the palm, "if Ye Jun wants to kiss me," he then reached over and did the same to Jong In's hand, "then Jong In and I will need to kiss and," he brought both their hands together. Ye Jun tentatively grabbed ahold of Jong In's, who jerked at the touch, "you two will need to kiss."

Si Woo released both their hands and Jong In's immediately retreated. "It's easiest for us to maintain this rule on the group date because well... I don't trust you two to take this seriously."

"Is this really necessary?" Ye Jun asked.

Si Woo took a delicate sip of his iced americano. "I know for a fact that you two won't ever progress otherwise. And I agreed to do this only on the condition that it is fair."

"It doesn't affect you though," Jong In replied, his voice slightly higher due to agitation.

"That may be true but it's something I must insist on."

He went quiet then. "Are we going to do something like that today?" he asked after a moment.

Si Woo shook his head. "No, I don't think so. Our first date should be pretty innocuous – we'll watch a movie and have dinner. Next time though, we will begin that part. We'll continue this until the end of the semester or if anyone reciprocates the feelings of the other at which point, we will dissolve this relationship."

Si Woo looked at his watch, it was 10 minutes past 3. "Shall we go?" he asked the others, who were still awkwardly sitting in silence. "The movie will start in 15 minutes."

~

Twenty minutes later, Jong In found himself in a dark movie theater sitting between Si Woo and Ye Jun at the insistence of the former, who claimed that since Jong In was the smallest, they would all be more comfortable with the additional arm room.

The movie was, as Jong In expected, full of jumpscares and bloodied scenes, neither of which affected him, while the men beside him jumped and clung to him unknowingly. Jong In sighed. He knew that it was stupid for him to have gotten himself involved in such a relationship. But when he had woken from the end of his drunken state, he had heard Ye Jun say words that he never thought he'd ever witness.

He had confessed to Si Woo, a man and one who wasn't him.

Not that he was ever vain enough to think Ye Jun would ever date him even if he was interested in the same gender. It was just that, all these years of holding back was all because Ye Jun had shown no interest in guys. Jong In had been jealous of his girlfriends and all the other women but there wasn't much he could do about that. He had had to convince himself that their friendship was as far as Ye Jun was capable of giving him. And now...

It was already over for him. Jong In hadn't even had the chance to confess.

Jong In had always assumed he had to give up because Ye Jun was straight. So it had hurt to find out that Ye Jun could never reciprocate his feelings not because he was a man but simply because Jong In was Jong In. Ye Jun had confessed to Si Woo all the while Jong In was mere inches away.

It was unusually cruel of Ye Jun to have asked Si Woo out while Jong In was there. He had always, throughout their lives, been unusually thoughtful when it came to Jong In and Jong In knew that it was partly because Ye Jun had guessed at Jong In's feelings for him. He had, after all, told him countless times that his face was like an open book. It would have been stranger if Ye Jun had not known. Jong In was not deluded enough to think that the main driver for Ye Jun's actions was anything more than pity.

Yet despite the pain and even a tiny feeling of betrayal, Jong In had taken Si Woo's offer. It had been a spur of the moment decision. Jong In knew that it had bothered him, not feeling anything for his girlfriends beyond simple companionship, if at that, and he was certain that those previous betrayals by his ex's must have hurt him to some extent. He may have even wondered if he was capable of loving someone. And that was why he had agreed to it, despite it meaning that he was going to put himself in a painful position.

It wasn't wholly selfless however, Jong In was also hoping that doing this could lead him to finally let go of Ye Jun so that he could move on.

Suddenly, he felt a hand grab ahold of his, intertwining their fingers into a tight grip, and Jong In froze. He turned to his right, Ye Jun was watching the screen with wide eyes, likely not even conscious of the touch. It drove home the disheartening fact that irregardless of whether he could end his love or not, he would still do all that he could do to make sure Ye Jun was happy.

Jong In closed his eyes tightly just as the ghostly woman on the screen splattered the blood of her latest victim.

"Are you scared?"

Jong In began to shake his head but then paused and nodded. Perhaps he could be forgiven this one transgression, this one lie.

Ye Jun's fingers tightened around his, a reassuring gesture and Jong In's heart clenched as he too gripped tighter in a comforting yet sad response.