101 Ways to Pretend│Taegyu

Chapter 6

Beomgyu spun around in his chair to face a distressed Taehyun, chuckling at how shocked the anchor looked.

"What the hell are you doing here?" he asked, grip tightening on the script in his hand.

"Why? Can't your boyfriend visit you at work?" Beomgyu teased, watching Taehyun's face turn from distressed to straight-up bitter.

"You don't like boyfriend? What should I call you then? Babe? Honey?" he continued, ignoring the way the anchor looked like he was about to blow his head off. Taehyun exhaled a deep breath and started walking towards Beomgyu, who mindlessly spun around on the chair.

"I did not agree to the rumours because I wanted to date you. Alright? You yourself said it would benefit both of us and I don't see any need to go further than what we've already done, so if you could kindly get out- I would greatly appreciate it." Taehyun was fuming at this point, but Beomgyu began to laugh hysterically. Taehyun's face formed into one of pure confusion as the actor struggled to breathe in between his laughter.

"You- I can't believe-" he doubled over with how hard he was laughing. "Oh please honey, I'm not here for you," he wiped the tears off his eyes and got back up.

Taehyun furrowed his brows. "Is this all some sort of joke to you?"

"If you weren't so busy being so mad all the time, you would've noticed that you're supposed to be interviewing me on your show," Beomgyu pointed to the papers in Taehyun's hand, and pushed himself off the chair. The anchor flushed red in embarrassment, quickly turning to look at the ground.

"It's you that's here for me. Not the other way around sweetie," he patted Taehyun's shoulder, before doing a little twirl and exiting the room with a smile on his face.

--

"I'm Kang Taehyun, and this is special guest Choi Beomgyu. Thank you for your time, and good night."

Taehyun breathed a sigh of relief as soon as he saw the On Air sign go off, tidying up his papers and getting ready to leave. The interview was nothing special, just the usual questions he would ask any actor that came into the studio, though he knew his director expected him to do something more. It was quite obvious that he had booked Beomgyu as fanservice, though no one in the studio dared to say anything about it.

Seeing Beomgyu act so professional was new to Taehyun, who had only been used to teasing questions and bullying from the actor. He looked so in his element, and Taehyun kind of respected him for being so competent despite what he acted like off-screen. It was new, but it was refreshing. And Taehyun preferred it much more to the infuriating nuisance that he knew.

Just as he was about to step off the set, an overly enthusiastic Beomgyu stopped him in his tracks.

"Now where do you think you're going? You're coming with me darling," he said, placing one hand on Taehyun's shoulder. Taehyun didn't like where this was going.

"What? I- I have plans," he attempted to weave his way out of the situation, but Beomgyu stood his ground.

"No you don't, I double-checked with Soobin earlier," he countered.

"How did you even get Soobin's-"

"That's a question for later, for now, let's get out of here."

--

And that's how Taehyun found himself in Beomgyu's car on an empty highway in the middle of the night.

"Why did you bring me here? What's this for? Are you going to murder me?" Taehyun rambled, going into a slight state of panic. Beomgyu chuckled at Taehyun's nervousness.

"Relax Taehyun, I'm not going to murder you- I just wanted to get to know you better," Beomgyu reassured, smiling at the younger.

"And how is bringing me to a deserted highway in the middle of the night gonna do that??"

Beomgyu laughed once more, before pressing a button that made the roof of his car retract into the back, exposing the night sky littered with stars. He turned up the volume of the radio with a devilish grin.

"By doing this."

Beomgyu revved his car engine, before stepping on the accelerator with all his force.

Taehyun grasped onto the side of the car in order to try and steady himself. They were going at a speed that was surely illegal, and Taehyun felt like throwing up.

"What the hell are you doing?!" he shouted over the wind whipping past them, and Beomgyu threw his head back in laughter.

"C'mon Hyun! You gotta loosen up a little!" he shouted in response, pushing even harder on the accelerator. "Stand up! Let the breeze take you," he told Taehyun, who looked like he was going green with worry. Also, Hyun? Since when were they on a pet name basis?

"WHAT?! No way in hell am I doing that," he shouted over the blaring music this time, starting to sweat from anxiousness. He saw the line on the speedometer steadily go up, ultimately hitting 190km/h. Taehyun was going to die today.

"Stand up or I'm going to crash the car!"

Taehyun's eyes immediately widened in shock, but he scrambled to take off his seatbelt and stand up in fear of his life. He really didn't know where Beomgyu was going with this, but Taehyun sure as hell hoped he had a good reason for it.

"Close your eyes and spread out your arms! Trust me!"

So Taehyun did that. He closed his eyes and let the soft glow of the moonlight illuminate his face. He let the wind flutter in his jacket, and he 'let the wind take him'. Soon enough, he got used to it, and it kind of felt nice.

And after getting over the initial nausea of it all, he finally realised something. He realised that this was the first time he ever felt truly free. In a stranger's car in the middle of nowhere, Taehyun felt free. With the wind tangling his hair, the sound of the car engine and radio filling his ears, the laughter of Beomgyu from somewhere beside him, Taehyun felt freer than he had been his entire life.

The past few months hadn't been going well for him, if he were to put it lightly. Countless sleepless nights pondering about his self-worth, restless days spent wondering if he ever deserved it all. Taehyun knew that everyone felt like that at some point in their lives, but he wished that the feeling hadn't dragged out for as long as it did for him. Multiple weeks where he had pushed everyone away, wondering if they ever really liked him in the beginning. It all resulted in the loss of most of the people he considered close, bringing loneliness knocking on his doorstep all over again. He hadn't missed the way his coworkers called him an 'emotionless asshole' behind his back in the hallways, and he never missed the cold stares everyone gave him wherever he went. He had brought it upon himself after all.

Then came Beomgyu. Crashing into his life at a million miles per hour came Beomgyu, with his unhinged personality and stupidly gorgeous smile. Beomgyu, with his obnoxiously red car and horrible impulsive decisions. Beomgyu, with his annoying remarks and brazen compliments. Soon the thoughts about his self-worth were replaced with thoughts about the way the elder made him feel, whether it was fury, heartache, or joy- or maybe even all three at once. Beomgyu came as the sun and stopped Taehyun from freezing, without knowing he had done any of it. He came in the form of afterparties and late-night drives, and he distracted Taehyun from it all.

And so Taehyun smiled. He smiled the widest he had in a long time, and it was all because of Beomgyu.

Maybe his obnoxiously red sports car wasn't so bad after all.

"Yours," he spoke in a normal voice. Beomgyu turned to Taehyun, clearly not having heard him.

"What did you say?"

"Call me yours."