just pretend (catnipz)

4. surprise visit (written)

amongst the hustle and bustle of snu's campus, minji's heart raced as she approached the entrance to haerin's dormitory. clutching some takeaway she got from a nearby restaurant, she hoped her surprise visit wouldn't catch haerin off-guard too much.

after walking four flights of stairs, minji, with a deep breath, knocked on haerin's door, trying to steady her pounding heart.

the door swung open, and there stood haerin, her cat eyes widening in curiosity. "minji? what are you doing here?"

minji gave her a warm smile and extended the takeaway, oh how she loved haerin's eyes. "i thought it'd be nice to eat lunch together, it's been a while anyway. well, that and i want to talk about the whole fake dating thing."

haerin blushed, however it went unnoticed. "thank you, min. you didn't need to come all the way here to talk though. your apartment is like a 30 minute walk from my dorm. you could've just texted."

"like i said, i wanted to eat lunch with you. i missed you anyway." minji replied, like it's the most obvious thing in the world.

"it hasn't even been 24 hours since the last time we saw each other in person." haerin laughed.

minji feigned a look of pain, "what? a person can't miss their best friend anymore?"

"come inside, idiot." haerin grinned at her best friend's antics.

haerin opened the door fully, allowing minji inside. taking off her shoes, minji heads towards the kitchen, already knowing where everything is due to the fact she's been over countless times already.

approaching the familiar light brown wooden table in front of her, minji sets the takeout, yubuchobap, onto the tabletop. the takeout's aroma filling the surrounding space.

"yubuchobap!" haerin squealed, like a kid on christmas day. it's haerin's comfort food, after all.

"how could you tell?" minji chuckled. 'god, haerin's too cute for her own good' she thought.

"you're talking to yubuchobap's #1 fan, don't underestimate me." haerin stuck her tongue out. reaching forward to take a piece into her mouth, minji stops haerin.

"slow down, wash your hands first."

"okay mom."

☆⋆｡𖦹°‧★

they settled on haerin's cozy couch, a clean cream colour with potted (read: fake) plants surrounding them. minji cleared her throat, her nervousness creeping in despite her attempt to stay composed. "so, about this fake dating thing... what's the plan?"

haerin placed her hand on her chin thoughtfully, she hadn't really thought of this yet. she only thought that 1. post a picture together, 2. grab danielle's attention, 3. make danielle head over heels for her. boom, done.

"let's set some ground rules to make this believable and drama-free." haerin finally says out loud after contemplating.

minji nodded, "sure, that sounds smart. what do you have in mind?"

haerin began ticking off the points on her fingers. "first, we should establish a backstory. how we met, how long we've been together, you know."

minji chimed in, "like what you texted earlier? just make it seem like i'm courting you?"

"exactly that." haerin agreed.

"i'll just say that i only just recently started courting you, but we've been lowkey for a while... that's believeable right?" minji suggests, unsure of herself.

haerin nods and smiles at minji, reassuring her. "next, let's talk... physical affection. holding hands, hugging, maybe a peck on the cheek for the cameras. but we'll keep it subtle, just enough to sell the story."

minji chuckled, "sounds good. we don't want to overdo it."

that's a lie, minji wanted to so badly overdo it.

haerin's smile was mischievous. "i can be convincingly sweet."

"i have no doubt about that," minji replied. "what about our friends? should we tell them it's fake?"

"no," haerin said firmly. "i mean, i love them, but what if something spills? too much risk."

"right," minji agreed. "so, only hyein knows apart from us, basically. to everyone else we're just haerin and minji, snu's 'soon-to-be couple.'" minji air quoted with her fingers.

haerin nodded, her enthusiasm now showing. "i like that. this feels pretty secure so far."

minji leaned back, her eyes forming into crescents as she smiled at haerin. "exactly. we'll be in control. no unexpected surprises."

haerin chuckled softly. "well, except for your surprise visit today."

minji grinned. "okay, maybe one surprise is allowed."