"I-I have a girlfriend, okay? A-And her name is... Yeseul!"
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"If you'd never looked my way,
I would've stayed on my knees
and I damn sure would've never
danced with the devil."
— would've, could've, should've (taylor swift)
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FLASHBACK
YESEUL
"Will you please tell me now why in a span of a second, I suddenly have a boyfriend?!" Yeseul says once the phone pressed to Niki's ear was now down to his lap.
There was a guilty look on the face of her classmate, an expression that obviously showed how he struggled to find the right words to say to her. She couldn't quite understand why of all names he had to say, he just had to mention hers. Although she had to admit it, of all the people that studied in her huge school, by far, it's Niki whom she has known the longest because they go way back to middle school. But even with that fact said, never had they once spoken to each other except for the occasional glances or small talks such as 'excuse me' or 'sorry'.
Niki guiltily gazes away from her for a second before looking back at her. "I'm sorry! You were the first person I saw and I-I wasn't thinking at all!"
"What were you expecting to happen when you said my name?!" She soon realized that she was raising her voice at someone she didn't even know hence the softening of her once tense body. A precautionary measure to calm herself and avoid any unwanted actions from her. "Alright, let's get this straight, what are you planning to do now that you've said my name?"
"I-I'll take back what I told my sister, I promise. I really am sorry for dragging you into my business." He says, apologetically, stimulating the girl to sympathize with him.
Her eyes softening, Yeseul heaves a sigh. "It's fine, as long as you'll clear it then we're good."
Yeseul couldn't help but notice how his eyes gleamed like a little child once hearing that even after what he did, involving her into something she had no business to be at, they were all good. There was an awkwardness to them after, one was unsure what to do after and the other could not help but feel the same as the former. The idea of walking away seeming more plausible than ever, she chooses to do that and simply gave him a smile and an excuse before she walks away.
"I guess I'll see you later." She mumbles nervously, offering a thin smile.
Niki does the same, still looking apologetic and nervous at the same time. "Right." He replies before both returned to their own worlds where none of them was a part of.
Yeseul stares down at her camera and noticed she had been recording the whole conversation. Turning it off immediately, she makes her way to the cafeteria where she buys herself a drink all while she looks back at the sudden conversation she shared with the person she never thought would notice her.
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To say the least, Yeseul thought her day would end peacefully or rather, as ordinary as the past days had been despite the fateful encounter with Niki early that morning. But when his familiar tall figure chased after her as she made her way to the exit of the building, suddenly every transient thought in her head transformed into a chaos of confusion.
"Wait, Yeseul!" Niki calls for her.
Turning her head, both their eyes meet in the midst of the growing crowd in the hallway. She stood still, while he ran towards her to close the vast distance that was located in between them. "What is it?" She had asked once he was close enough.
"Date me."
Her eyes widened. The crowd surrounding them felt as if they had disappeared and the only presence she could now see and feel was Niki, who in front of her had a face with a mixture of determination and nervousness. She, on the other hand, even without a mirror she knew her face was painted with perplexity. Her heart was beating fast, her hand that had been holding the straps of her bag, now soaked with her sweat.
"Me?!" She didn't mean to sound so surprised and offended when she asked that, but without her control, it came out that way. "Are you messing with me right now?"
The people passing by them were looking at them weirdly, sparing Niki a glance then Yeseul, who seemed like the most unlikely person for someone of his standing to talk to. Niki, seemingly noticing the stares both were receiving, pulled her to the side, a corner that was far less noticeable than the middle of the hallway. The distance between them was slightly less than the one from earlier, and she swore he could hear him breathe because of it.
"I know I promised I would fixed it, but I couldn't not when my sister is only going to have an excuse to make fun of me." Niki sighed as he began to explain what he meant asking her out like that. "So let's make a deal. Date me for two months, help me fool my family, and in exchange i'll buy you anything you name."
As soon as he was done speaking, Yeseul began to voice out her thoughts. "Do you really think I care about—" She paused. "Wait. Did you say anything?"
"Anything." He emphasizes the word.
"Price limit?"
"None."
"What if it's a limited edition?"
"I have my ways." He shrugs, almost arrogantly and normally she would be annoyed by it but since she was thinking deeply of what she could ask of him, that bothered her less than it should. "So, what's your answer?"
"I'll agree, only if you buy me a brand new camera." She tells him, pertaining to a camera she had her eyes on for so long but was too expensive for her thin wallet. "No price limit."
"Deal." Niki didn't even think about it, especially when he extended his arm to her direction. Not thinking about it also, she accepts his hand and held it to lightly shake it in order to seal the deal. "Here, put your number there. I'll give you a call." He says, opening his phone and giving it to her.
Typing into his phone her number, Yeseul hands it back to him. "So that's it, from this day forward and up to two months from now, we're officially fake dating."
He smiles. "Right. And two months from now you'll have your new camera." That thought excited her too much.
She smiled eagerly.
Suddenly, the man she has known the longest was now her boyfriend for two months for the sake of fooling his family and probably including everyone part of their tiny worlds.
She realized now that they were a part of each other's worlds from now on, and there was no escaping it, even after their two months has finally come to a conclusion.
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That same night Niki called Yeseul's phone, and she answered immediately, taking any chance to ignore her homework. Leaning on her chair, she presses answer on her phone and placed it next to her ear.
"Hey." His deep voice spoke from other line. "Sorry for calling you this late, I was preoccupied earlier." He quickly apologized for something she didn't even realize.
Yeseul takes a look at her window and noticed the sun was fully gone, indicating that the country was deep into the night for the next remaining hours. Yet rather than sleeping that she should ought to, her very precious time was being wasted by her stupid mathematics homework. Sometimes she wonders why she hadn't been born smart as most people in their school, if that had been the case she would've been long asleep by now.
"No, it's fine. So what's our game plan?" She asks.
"Hm I figured we should get to be familiar with each other first. I suddenly realized how little I know about you despite knowing you for so many years." He says and she found the idea good because that had also been the case for her.
"Sounds good. As my officially fake boyfriend, I think you should know I like filming and very much allergic to eggs and this math homework in front of me." She said, earning slight chuckles from the other line.
"And as my officially fake girlfriend, I think you should know I have two sisters and very much allergic as well to the math homework I threw at the garbage can." He says, hearing the smile on his voice.
"Are you the oldest?" Yeseul asked. "And might I say you're a bold man for doing what you did to our homework."
"Nope, the sister who I was talking to on the phone is the oldest. I'm the middle child, how about you though? Any sibling I should know?" Niki replies.
"Just me and my parents. No more, no less." She tells him. "Which reminds me, do we start tomorrow? Should we start acting like a couple or should we do it on the day of the event?"
"Has to be tomorrow, my friends would be there and I can't risk any of them telling on me." Niki talks about his friends and immediately she knew the group he was pertaining to.
A day where she'd have to actually interact with them had been one she never thought would come. Now that it did, suddenly it came crashing down at her that the person she was pretend-dating had been someone part of the group of people she had once called 'out of her league'. Was she now part of that circle of people? Why was it that she's only thinking of all this now? Perhaps everything could be trailed back to her enthusiasm over a camera she was going to get if she accepts this deal.
"Alright... So what are we going to do? I really haven't done this before." Yeseul says, trying to mask the nervousness of her voice.
Niki was quiet after, as though he was thinking of what to say to her. "Just pretend like we're closer than close friends, after that we can figure this out together."
Together.
Yeseul guessed she ought to get used to being grouped with Niki in the term 'together'. Two months were no mere days, it was a whole lot of time. And a whole lot of Niki.
She breathes. This is just the beginning.
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AUTHOR'S NOTE :
midterms hell