Rent A Boyfie

the beginning of the end

You know, when something bad is about to happen, there is usually a calm that comes before it. Like, a calm before a storm, or that eerie silence before the monster jumps the main character in horror movies. You like to think it is a moment of silence of sorts or maybe even a last moment of sanity before all hell breaks loose.

Because as you stand before the door of your childhood home, your fingers intertwined with Juyeon's, the neighbourhood seems... eerily quiet. No one is walking about even though it's the afternoon of a Saturday. Most of your neighbours' houses seem to be devoid of all life forms and for some absurd reason, a chill starts to run down the curve of your spine and you are scared out of your fucking mind. Your hand unconsciously squeezes Juyeon's and he squeezes back.

"Hello! Welcome!" your mother exclaims as she swings the door open before Juyeon can knock. The both of you jump and you can feel Juyeon tense as he sends your mother a charming smile, recovering from the initial fright with ease.

"Hello, Ma'am. I'm Juyeon," he says politely as he bows. Your mother, ever the psychopath, squeals and envelopes the both of you in a tight hug that renders you breathless as you desperately try to save the flowers from being crushed by her.

"Hello Mother," you greet loudly, almost shouting into her ear as you pass her the bouquet. Juyeon frowns at you, surprised by the volume of your greeting. It takes him a while but then, like a light bulb turning on, his eyes light up and he remembers that you told him on Wednesday: your mother is hard of hearing and requires a hearing aid on most occasions.

"Don't need to shout, Y/N," she frowns at you, gesturing to her right ear. "I've got my hearing aid on. After all, this is a special occasion," she continues, grinning up at Juyeon who mirrors her smile.

"I'm glad that I'm a special occasion," he replies with a grin which he directs to you too. When Juyeon's eyes meet yours, sparkling and curled up into the loveliest grin, it feels like the air is completely knocked from your lungs. And suddenly, you are hyperaware of a million things.

Juyeon's palm feels rough against yours and you can feel his thumb drag across your skin in gentle strokes, as if he knows that you're still kind of freaking out on the inside and he is trying to calm you down in the most subtle way possible. Plus, his smile is so bright you can basically feel warmth radiating from it as if he is the sun. But most importantly, this all feels too real. It's been what, a few minutes since you've actually started this whole fake boyfriend thing, and already, it feels too real for you. And maybe it's because Juyeon's acting is deserving of an Oscar, or maybe it's because you have zero experience with love whatsoever, but it feels like he's been here before, and it feels like your mother knows and is comfortable with him and it feels like you've known him for forever. And forget earlier, this realisation has you wanting to run for the hills.

"These are beautiful," your mother says, snapping you out of your internal freakout. You break your eye contact with Juyeon and turn to her as she admires Juyeon's bouquet, gently cupping the blooms with her hand and lifting them up to her nose for a brief whiff.

"Juyeon made them," you say, leading Juyeon into the house by your intertwined hands when your mother steps out of the way and holds the door open for the two of you to enter.

"You're a florist?" your mother asks as she leads the two of you into the dining room. She takes the flowers to the sink where she unwraps the bouquet and begins to trim the stems of the flowers so that she can display them in a vase. The dining table is fully spread, dishes laid out in all their glory and cutlery and plates set neatly in their places. A part of you wonders if your mother had at least the help of your father to prepare this beast of a meal, if he at least set the table, if not cook. But you already know that the answer is that he didn't lift a finger to help at all.