SETTING. a dinner event, post pr disaster.
WITH @exitsignflicker.
mirae knows uncomfortably little about park rinu, which is also an uncomfortable contrast from the others who have been swept into this role before. his parents liked to choose candidatesātargets, franklyābased on their likeliness to play the part, receive their payouts, and walk away with little trouble. the whole arrangement was mortifying, so mirae liked the finality. he liked never having to look any of them in the eye again afterwards.
so, then, his regular connection to park jinu had already posed an inconvenience from the start, before any of this shitshow even happened. back then, he didn't even know rinu's name, only that he was the face he saw at the rose quarter's reception every few months he stopped by with someone new on his arm. rinu minded his business throughout it, never pried about why mirae was there with someone new so often, never questioned if he was some sort of deviant or player or maybe both like some of the tabloids say, and for all of that, mirae had started to think favorably of him. park rinu could keep quiet, a trait that could balance out the fact that they crossed paths more often than mirae would have liked.
then, the slip. the stupid little mistake, which had happened because his most recent companion hadn't been vetted thoroughly enough, because mirae didn't do his own research like he usually did, because he was behind on grading papers, because there was a tightly-packed week full of events coming up, because he was supposed to somehow wrangle his brother to all of themāso, really, is this all jiho's fault?ābecause of all of this, they had failed to catch the fact that his last pretend-companion was already in a resonance of their own. one day after pictures surfaced of mirae slipping into the rose quarter with them, another set surfaced of that same person holding hands with someone else on the street, their marks happily thrumming together.
then all of the gossip. so they weren't bonded to each other all along? why pretend? isn't the whole point of lovebug to find the one you're meant to be with? why is shin mirae sabotaging another fated relationship? is this really what lovebug endorses?
no, he had answered on autopilot, the reason that they had been pretending was to cover up for his real partner, who wanted to stay out of the spotlight all this time. of course. and they'd eaten it up, that's so romantic, he just wanted to make sure his soulmate was safe, and the tide turned overnight, and his parents were satisfied enough that they stopped making threats to write him out of the company and drag his brother out of exile to take his place. his brother, who mirae wants to grab by the throat and thrash until the loose blocks in his brain fell into the right spots, but who will always be his little brother to him, the one he virtually raised himself when their parents couldn't separate from the company long enough to do it themselves.
anyway. mirae can't imagine jiho trapped in a corporate office for forty-five hours a week, so there's no other way around it: park rinu is his new "soulmate" for the foreseeable future.
how long will this one last? none of the others were needed for more than two or three weeks, but there's too much scrutiny this time. mirae's afraid that it's going to be a month or more. even throughout tonight, a simple dinner for one of lovebug's philanthropic ventures, they haven't had a single second alone.
the balcony only empties out because it turns networking hour, and everyone flocks to the open floor to talk to each other. mirae manages to pluck two glasses of champagne from a passing server and escape through the double doors unnoticed. one step into the cool evening air, he pauses to exhale. it feels like the first time he's done so all night. then he crosses the balcony to join rinu at the railing.
"i give it another fifteen minutes before we can leave," he says by way of announcing himself. "i didn't know what you liked, but it was the only thing they're serving. i'll take it if you don't drink." he offers the second glass of champagne, taking a solemn sip from his own. he's been sober through far more of this whole ordeal than is humane.
rinu is wearing the ensemble that he had a driver deliver over that morning. he looks different, borderline strange, in these clothes and this light, which is nothing like the fuzzy lighting of the rose quarter's lobby.
mirae tears his gaze away to look down at the sprawling city beneath them instead. in the dark, each glowing window looks like a burning star in the sky. "did you get a chance to meet my brother yet?"
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