boyfriend for rent • kim yohan

014

"So...." Jiwoo asked Yohan once the two reached home after a comfortable silent walk home. "Wanna tell me what that was about?"

Yohan heaved out a sigh. "My mom thinks I still work at a part time job I found at this cafe by the corner of the streets. It was an old cafe, and no one ever goes there, so it went out of business. Such a shame, really, the owner was really nice. The sad part was that the pay wasn't enough for me to go through high school, so I dropped out."

"Let me guess," the girl interjected. "Your new job is at Boyfriend for Rent?"

"Yeap." He nodded, settling down on the white couch. "But I don't really want to tell her that. It's..." His voice quieted down a little. "It's not exactly my proudest job, but it pays well."

Jiwoo sat down next to him, her eyes softening at the conflicted boy. "But you're doing a great job at it."

He gave out a bitter laugh, very different from his usual carefree ones. "Please, we both know I make one shitty boyfriend."

"But you make one great son."

That simple statement made Yohan's eyes trail up from the table in front of him to the girl next to him. "What?"

Jiwoo gave him a soft smile, putting a hand on top of his in hope of giving him comfort. "You took this job in order to pay for your mom's hospital bills, right?"

Yohan nodded slowly, looking at his friend's hand atop of his. "My dad passed away when I was a child, so she's a single mom." He took a deep breath. "Now, she has cancer." He gulped, and Jiwoo squeezed his hand gently in reassurance. "The doctor doesn't know if she's going to make it, but the hospital's trying their best."

"And so are you."

"Yes," he decided to put his head on the girl's shoulder, closing his eyes and taking in her lavender shampoo scent. "I don't want my mom to worry about me, so I told her I got a scholarship."

Jiwoo smiled at the contact. Yohan was in fact a touchy person once she got to know him in contrast to the Yohan that was afraid of physical contact when she first got to know him.

"So thank you." Jiwoo blinked at Yohan's sudden gratitude.

"Wait, what? Why?"

"Because of you, it's guaranteed that I'll graduate." His finger instinctively reached up to play with a strand of her loose hair. "Otherwise, I don't know if I'll be hired by the next person to be a boyfriend in a high school or not, or if I would be hired at all."

"No reason to thank me." Jiwoo was actually flustered that her contract extension was this important to Yohan. She felt a little appreciated, a feeling she thought was indeed refreshing. "You're a great friend."

"I told my mom you're my girlfriend, you know?" A smirk played on Yohan's lips.

Jiwoo immediately jumped in her seat, causing the boy's head to slip from her shoulder. "You what?" She shrieked loudly and Yohan covered his ears.

"Chill, dude, I was joking." He gave her his signature bunny teeth grin.

Jiwoo gave a relieved sigh, then curiosity took over. "But why did you decide to introduce me to your mom?"

"Well..." A slight blush ran across his cheeks. "I thought you were pretty important..." His words became softer as he started mumbling. "So I decided to introduce you to my mom, I guess."

"Awww," Jiwoo cooed. "You thought I was important enough?"

Yohan playfully pushed the girl away. "Oh shush. I also thought that you wanted to talk to a parent figure."

Jiwoo's smile immediately faltered. "A parent figure?"

He nodded. "It just seemed like you missed your parents but didn't like to talk about it, so I just wanted to remind you how important family really is."

"Oh." Jiwoo really didn't know what to say, so she decided to hug him, resting her face on his chest. Yohan almost jumped in surprise, but leaned into her warmth and hugged her back. "Thanks." She said.

Yohan scratched the back of his head. "I really didn't do much."

"And also for telling me more about yourself." Jiwoo added earnestly. It must have been hard for him to open up about his past, but he still did it.

Pink tinted his cheeks. "Well... you are important to me."