boyfriend for rent • kim yohan

009

"What's wrong?" Jiwoo asked, placing a comforting hand on his.

"What do you mean?" Yohan replied, the exact same way he did before dinner.

"Don't play stupid with me." She took her hand back and ran it through her hair. "Why are you like... this?" The girl asked, vaguely gesturing to the boy in front of her.

Yohan simply raised an eyebrow and that somehow made Jiwoo even more irritated.

"You're all quiet and unresponsive! When I ask you a question, you give me simple replies. Our classes together are so boring now because you won't talk to me! And don't get me started on the atmosphere in this house. It's so dark and gloomy all the time." She took a deep breath, momentarily stopping her rant. "I just miss our jokes and talks, you know?"

Yohan looked shocked for a while, confusion clearly written on his face. "I just... wanted to be a good boyfriend for you." He whispered with his head down.

What? Jiwoo looked at the boy in front of her. All this was because of what she demanded in a stupid form for a boyfriend?

"Look, Yohan. You're a good fake boyfriend." With that, he smiled a little, probably out of amusement of the word fake more than anything. "And to some other lucky girl out there, you're going to make a great real boyfriend. You're caring, great fun to talk to, and you have a cute smile. But I don't think that the person is me."

Silence stretched across the room and Jiwoo immediately felt bad, but she didn't want to lie, either.

"You're a great friend." The girl continued when the boy wasn't saying anything. "Yuvin and I are so attached to you after just three weeks and a half."

"You guys..." Yohan said softly. "You guys mean a lot to me, too. I just don't want to lose either of you."

His nose turned slightly red but he stayed strong, his tears never falling from his eyes. Jiwoo's heart broke into pieces at the sight and she felt the urge to cry starting to take over her. The girl stood up from her seat and walked around the table, engulfing the boy in a tight hug that she hoped would make both of them feel better. He returned it with an equally tight one.

"You won't." She promised.

———
Two days before the end of the contract, Jiwoo went to the headquarters of Boyfriend For Rent.

"Welcome, welcome!" The man dressed in white- and she had the suspicion it was the same guy who had greeted her the last time (she was never good with faces)- said enthusiastically. "What can Boyfriend For Rent do for you?"

"My name is Park Jiwoo." She said from the other side of the counter, watching as the man's face disappeared behind the large thin-screened computer.

"Park Jiwoo." He muttered as he typed in the name, his tongue sticking out as he went through the list of names. "Ah! Found you."

The man looked at her profile once, then twice, before dropping his mouth in shock. He slowly raised his head to look at her, his eyes meeting hers with guilt. Jiwoo immediately raised an eyebrow. Clearly something was wrong.

"Ma'am. It seems like we sent you the wrong boyfriend." He finally admitted after a long silence.

What did that mean? Yohan wasn't the right one?

"Explain." That word clearly came out harsher than she thought because the man seemed to cower behind the large screen.

"You see, we sent you the wrong boyfriend. They have the same surnames, so somehow with miscommunication, the wrong boyfriend was sent to you. We sincerely apologize, and we will offer you full refund."

She didn't know how to feel at the moment, but curiosity took a better hold of her, so she decided to ask a question. "What's the name of the supposed 'correct' boyfriend?"

"Kim Wooseok."