đ° rental boyfriend!âstruggles of yj (sm + written)
Yeonjun tossed and turned around, sleepless, yet again. partly because resigning from the only place that had been his sole provider for over two years had been tough. Rent-a-bf wasnât glamourous. It wasn't something he put on resumes or told his parents about. But it had paid for his tuition when his scholarship fell through. It had kept the lights on in his tiny studio apartment. It had meant he could eat more than instant ramen for weeks at a time.
And now it was gone. His choice. But gone nonetheless.
Partly because the fact that getting to (fake) date the heir of seo empire just didnât feel real enough.
With yet another sigh, he shifted on his bed, laying wide awake with nothing but his own thoughts.
The ceiling of his studio apartment had a water stain that looked vaguely like a bunny. He'd named it Mochi two years ago. Mochi had gotten significantly larger since then, which was probably a building code violation, but landlords who responded to maintenance requests were a luxury he couldn't afford.
His phone sat on the pillow next to his head, screen dark.
Not that he was expecting any. The contract was signed. There had been silence from yn since then save for some texts here and then. It had already been, almost a week since he met you at the cafĂ©, all in your wake. He still couldnât get it out of his system. He thought when Soobin approached him with your situation, heâd be met with a rich narcissistic snob, which you had every right to be looking like that.
But still, he noticed how you were just like him.
The thought had crept in somewhere between the second and third sleepless night. He'd been replaying the cafĂ© conversationâthe way your shoulders had tensed when you mentioned your family, the way your voice had dropped when you said don't be a trouble maker, please. Not like a command. never.
Like a question. Like a quiet plea.
Before he could spiral further into it, his phone rang. The screen lit up, casting strange shadows on Mochi the water stain.
âBoss babyâ It read. Yeonjun blinked, once, twice and by the third blink he sat up straighter. It was what? Almost one in the morning and the heir of Seo empire that he had just spent the last ten minutes thinking about, was calling him. Shit does manifestation really work? He asked himself in disbelief.
On the fourth ring, he answered, the phone pressing close to his ear. âhello?â he tested.
âyeonjun? Hi, Iâm so sorry to call you this lateâ I probably should have texted first. Or waited until morning. You must have been sleepingâ sorry. This is weird. Iâm being weird.â
He leaned back against the headboard, a slow smile tugging at his mouth. âyouâre apologizing, to me?â
You paused at his words, âyes. thatâs what I did.â You said confused.
âdo you always apologise this much or am I that special?â
You took a pregnant pause this time. When you spoke again, he observed you voice had shifted now, less flustered and drier. âIâm hanging up now.â âHow dare he use his fake boyfriend tactics on meâ was what yeonjun concluded you would be thinking now.
"No, no, wait." He laughed softly, tucking his free hand behind his head. "I'm just surprised, that's all. People with your schedule don't usually call broke college students past midnight."
ârich people schedule, doing rich people things, with other rich people. Very little time for people like us.â
You went a little quiet on the line, shit did he say too much. Hurt your feelings? But then, "People like you?" you asked in a small voice.
"Charming. Humble. Exceptionally good-looking."
You made a sound â not quite a laugh, not quite a scoff. Something in between. Good save. He said to himself. "Noted. Can I ask my question now, or do you need to finish your stand-up routine?"
Yeonjun grinned. "Go ahead. I'm listening."
"Right. Well." You started, drawing in a breath. "I wanted to ask if you'd want to meet up tomorrow. To talk. About the... arrangement."
He raised an eyebrow. "tomorrow? that'sâ" He checked his phone. "technically today. In a few hours."
"âpedanticâ? you and your rich people language also, I'm not being pedantic. I'm being accurate. There's a difference."
"The difference is that you're annoying."
"And yet you're still on the phone with me." He let that sit for a beat. "Where did you have in mind?"
âthereâs this cafĂ© near my place where I always go. Oh! And it also has a private booth so no need to worry about privacy. What do you say?â you asked, eager.
Yeonjun went quiet for a moment and then sat up straighter.
"No," he repeated. "I mean â" He chose his words carefully. "If we're going to sell this to your family, we should probably have a story that sounds real. And 'we met at an exclusive cafĂ© near your office' sounds..." He trailed off, not wanting to offend.
"Sounds like me lying," you finished flatly.
"Okay," you said. "What do you suggest?"
He relaxed slightly. "There's a place I go to between classes. small and kind of ugly but it's the best tteokbokki in the city. No one there cares who you are or where you're from."
"Tteokbokki." You repeated.
"Don't say it like that. It's good. So good. If your family asks where we met, wouldn't you rather say somewhere normal? Somewhere that sounds like two people actually ran into each other, not two people who were set up through a..." He almost said rental app.
"You're serious." You teased albeit curious.
"I'm always serious about food."
"That's not â"Â you laughed. âokay, send me time and the addy, kay?â âaddyâ? how cute.
But yeonjun blinked. "Really?"
âwhy do you sound so surprised, I eat street food okay?â
âI never said you didnât..â
âyou implied it though.â
"I implied that your version of a casual meeting spot is a private booth in a café that probably charges thirty thousand won for water."
"That'sâ" You stopped. "Okay, fair point, send me the address."
He grinned, reaching for his water bottle to hide the fact that he was smiling like an idiot. "I'll text it to you. Don't get lost."
âexcuse me? I donât get lost. I know my way around Seoul.â You defended your dignity.
"Do you? Or does your driver know?" he quipped, grinning like a fool.
"You're enjoying this way too much." That, He was.
"Maybe." He let the word hang there. "Or maybe I just like the idea of watching you eat tteokbokki in a plastic chair."
"you're the one who called me at one."
You made a soundâ not quite a laugh, not quite a scoff. Something he wanted to hear again. "fine, don't be late."
"I find that hard to believe."
"Good, stay wounded until tomorrow."
"Would you prefer 'your majesty'?"
"I would prefer you hanging up now."
"Okay, okay." He settled back against his pillows. âI wonât be late tomorrow, I promise.â
You smiled at his compliance. âgood, itâs a plan then.â Yeonjun opened his mouth for a goodnight, but something else came out instead.
The words hung in the air between you. Yeonjun's heart stuttered, it was too much, too close to the line maybe? But you didnât call out, didnât even bother to even correct him.
"...yeah," you said finally. "I guess it is."
Then you hung up. And yeonjun wished for the night to stretch shorter.
choi yeonjun x gn! reader
one day mother dearest gave you an ultimatum to find your the one and only before the next family dinner. what happens when you stumble across jun from the rentabf under different circumstances?
ellievsbear
janainaart
jbbartram-illu
pixelskylines
origamiaround
annaxmalina
titsay
