Hold My Hand {w/Chohee}
(➡️➡️➡️)
Hongki’s fingers were tight around his phone. If anyone were to walk by and see his panic stricken expression or his crushing, vice like grip on his mobile, they might jump to all sorts of conclusions. He looked more like a man whose family had been kidnapped and held for ransom than someone who simply had to go on a date. But then again, those people haven’t met Hongki’s mother when she wanted something to go her way.
When he’d finished his speech, Hongki heard the girl on the other end of the line laugh at him and he felt his heart drop out through his stomach. Of course this wasn’t going to work. You’re doomed Hongki, he thought to himself, doomed to a loveless, sexless marriage with 2.4 kids and a mortgage, and-
Talking. Chohee was talking, and Hongki had been too busy imagining his bleak future to pay much attention, but then she said “so, uh…I guess, sure.” Wait, what?
“Sure?” Hongki said, clutching his phone with both hands now. “Sure, does that mean-does that mean you’ll do it? For real?” Suddenly the clouds had parted, and the angels and cherubim had descended to bless him personally. Hongki was glad he hadn’t asked Chohee this in person, because if he had he doubted he would have been able to stop himself from kissing her out of sheer gratitude right now. He told her as much. “Go Chohee, I could kiss you.”
“But uh, why me?” She asked, and then her voice took on a teasing tone. “Or am I the last resort?”
“Well….not exactly. I get that this is really out of the blue, I’m sorry. But well, it’s my mom. If I brought someone she already knew, I’d blow it in seconds. She’d know for sure I was lying! And so I thought why not ask someone from work?”
The truth was, although Hongki’s parents knew what he did, they had never visited his place of work. He had told them it was because of mountains of non-disclosure agreements and the fact that they had to protect the idols from the media, and so outsiders to the company were banned from coming any further than the front entrance. Truthfully, it was because they didn’t know. Hongki hadn’t known for long himself, but his parents were completely clueless to the existence of vampires from what he was aware of, and he preferred to keep it that way.
“And so I was going through my contacts and I saw your name, and I know we’ve only spoken a handful of times but you seem pretty cool.” A little voice in Hongki’s head told him that maybe he should have made it seem more like he chose Chohee on purpose, like she had been his number one all along to make her feel more special, but Hongki had never been one for tact. “I’m not asking for too much, just one dinner at my parent’s house. My father will buy it, easy, it’s my mom I have to worry about, but you’re really smart from what I remember the last time our departments overlapped.”
He was babbling again, he realised, but seeing as Chohee had already agreed to help him, he didn’t think she minded. That was good. It wouldn’t do to have his girlfriend, fake or otherwise, be so easily irritated by his big mouth. That was one less thing to worry about. Hongki bit his lip, and leaned further back in to the cushions. “I just don’t want to have my future decided for me, you know?
“Yes, Yes I will.” Chohee reassured the other calmly, amusement leaking into her voice as she stared out into the distance, wondering if hongki was as anxious as he sounded. The sight, no doubt would be something that would bring laughter to her lips -- or so she assumed. Though, part of her was maybe glad he hadn’t done it in person -- especially at his latter remark. “Oh dear god, I think you’ll find yourself with a bruise and then a rejection then,” she joked, a laugh escaping reflective of the light-hearted tone in her jest. Though if that did happen, no doubt it’d be the first -- a kiss out of sheer gratitude and excitement. Chohee shook her head, hongki was an odd one, but a good one at that.
“ooh I see, the mother.” Chohee mused aloud as everything gradually began to make sense. Though, the more he listened to Hongki explain his current predicament, she couldn’t help feeling the emptiness once more. The frustration of not being able to truly remember her parents. The loneliness of being orphaned, of not having a mother that knew everyone in her life, to pester her to stay healthy and sleep early, and even to worry about her love life. A sigh escaped her lips as she thought to herself: Hongki you don’t know just how lucky you are. “but ahaha, thanks, I’ll try my best to maintain that image of coolness.” chohee joked, footsteps slowly making its way to her office.
“that sounds doable.” chohee agreed with a nod, “but I’m guessing if this is going to be at all believable we’re gonna need to script out all the details of our ‘fake relationship’ before I meet the parents right?” She questioned, sliding into her rolling black chair and propping her feet on her desk. “yeah, I don’t think I could survive marriage with someone I didn’t actually love.” Chohee agreed, “but you’re mom sounds pretty intense -- but I’ve probably met people harder to please than her, so you got the right woman for the job!” she jested, “when’s the dinner though?”
