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lavieinnie · 1 year

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soulmates (theoretically) - ceo!scientist!lee know x reader

˗ˏˋ pairing: ceo!scientist!lee know x gn!reader

˗ˏˋ description: y/n goes to work, goes to lunch, and goes home. there is not a lot of time in their life to date, at least that is what they keep telling themselves. when the company they work for lay off people, y/n actually makes it their goal to get to know new people and possible roommate to save up money on rent. eventually, y/n tries out the newest dating app on the market to find a person they would get along with, a genetics based match programm provided by STAYwm. y/n gets a match and it is better than everything they were hoping for. unfortunately, it's the last person they thought they would ever get along with.

or: fake-dating your imaginary nemesis for money to avoid moving back home. no strings attached.

inspired by: the soulmate equation by christina lauren (which, funnily enough, i never finished reading)

˗ˏˋword count: 28,7k (crossposting on ao3 here)

˗ˏˋtags: pov switches (but only like three paragraphs from minho's pov, it will make sense i promise) ceo!minho, kinda soulmate!au, fake dating, slow burn, one-sided enemies to lovers, mutual pining, misunderstanding, "love triangle with jeongin" (but he won't be sad about it, i promise), only one bed, swearing, angst, trust issues from previous relationship(s), implied cheating mention, fluff, kissing !!, happy ending, changlix in the epilogue, minho is perceived as a grump but he's just shy and has a resting bitch face, i promise it's not bad, he is NOT a meanie, they're just stupid, bff!chan, bff!changbin, loveinterest!jeongin, minsung are platonic soulmates in every universe, even txt gets a cameo, some xh members get a cameo, everyone gets a cameo, the characters in this fic are smarter than me, i'm a humanities major please don't believe anything science-y i say, also when i talk about the lunch breaks i mean "lunch" very losely, you're obviously eating way more than what i'm describing, it's just for plot purposes

a/n: it's finally done. the biggest of thank-you's to tangy for brainstorming some parts of the fic with me and as usual, to astro and my other bestie for beta-reading and helping me translate the stupidest of words. i hope everyone who reads this enjoys this fic of mine. and if you actually read all of this: mwah <3

DON'T REPOST. DON'T TRANSLATE. MINORS AND AGELESS BLOGS DNI!

act zero: participants.

It was quiet when you arrived at the cafe. All you heard was the coffee maker quietly brewing in the back and the slight chatter of the workers behind the counter. Chan and Changbin, your coworkers and the friends you usually had lunch with, did not come in with you today. They had not answered any of your messages either. Most likely, they were still stuck at the office for another few minutes until they were able to take their lunch break and join you. It was not unusual, so you would just sit down and wait for them to arrive.

It had been on you, anyway. It was a nice day out, so you had decided to take your own lunch break a few minutes early to enjoy the sun outside just for a little while. While waiting for them, you decided to sit down at your usual table, so they would not have any trouble finding you when they came. When you put your belongings down on the table close to the entrance, you were greeted with Yeonjun’s warm smile. “The usual?” He asked and you nodded. “Yes, thank you. Nothing for Chris and Bin yet, I got here early today.”

Yeonjun hummed, “I noticed. I’ll ask Kai how long it’s gonna be until the fresh batch is ready.”

You laughed, “Thank you, I’ve been craving this stuff all morning.”

“Though day at work?” Yeonjun asked. Nodding, you agreed,“You could say that, yeah.”

Yeonjun wrote down your order and hummed. “Well, I’ll make sure to use some extra love to make your drink today.”

He winked at you before turning around to join Beomgyu behind the counter to prepare your drink and get your lunch. It was nice to be known by the staff and be able to talk to them so freely, you thought. Especially since the group of guys who worked at the cafe were so warm and welcoming. You knew Yeonjun by association, since he was one of Changbin’s old college friends. They had known each other for years now and when you started befriending Changbin just a mere two years ago, the first thing he did was introduce you to his friend’s cafe. Soon enough, it turned into your new faux lunch spot, even though you only ever ate the pastries Kai made. You would have your real lunch at work later on and sometimes even bring it with you when time would not allow it. What made the cafe so special, however, was the fact that Yeonjun was one of the owner’s of the cafe, along with his friend Beomgyu, who was standing behind the counter beside him. The latter smiled at you when he noticed your eyes on him and you smiled back. Like Yeonjun, Beomgyu and the three other guys who worked there with them, knew you and your friends by name and your orders by heart.

Deep in thought, you turned back around to gaze outside the window. Yeonjun was right, it had been a hectic day at the office. Usually, this would not really bother you, because you were more than used to running around for your boss, just doing whatever he asked you to. It was kind of a given, considering that you currently worked as his secretary and personal assistant. Yet, the reason for your distress today was different. Your coworkers had been talking about a possible layoff all day and had already been discussing who might have to leave. Allegedly, the company you worked for was not as well off as they presented themselves to be to their workers and the general public.

This is why they were currently looking into their stats to check who was doing a good job and who was lacking. They would let these people go and instead, either hire someone new or divide their work and give it to the remaining staff. Partly to cut budgets, and partly to optimise the general workflow. It would help them a great deal, Barbara had explained, all while eyeing you from the corner of her eyes. Even though she was nothing but a bootlicker who, admittedly, did not do a good job, like Changbin said, her words got to you.

You only joined the company about a year ago. Besides, despite knowing that your work was valued by your boss, you still feared that your job would be on the line, too. Especially since Barbara kept hinting at it whenever you were around. When you told Chan and Changbin about her, however, they just called her a bitch. Whether it was out of personal resentment or loyalty towards you, you appreciated it nonetheless.

“She’s just insecure,” Changbin had argued, “She knows that you’re doing a better job than her and all of her stupid friends combined.”

You had pouted, “You don’t even know her.” “I do. Do you remember our office party from like six months ago? She was all over me and tried to get into my pants.”

Chan had grimaced, “The annoying blonde one?”

“That’s the one,” Changbin had confirmed, “And when I rejected her, she told me that I’m too short for her.”

You had only snickered in response, “She’s a bitch, definitely.”

And that was it. You knew that they wanted to cheer you up, and it had worked for the time being. Yet, when you thought about the layoff, you never considered that Chan or Changbin would be in danger of being affected. Their jobs were safe as far as you knew, since their jobs were high ranking and important to keep the company running. They were both heads of their respective sections and rather close with your boss. Even though you were frequently talking to the CEO too due to the nature of your job, you knew from a personal standpoint that he valued Chan and Changbin greatly. The only reason he kept talking to you was because he needed you to run errands for him; and because your office was right in front of his own. You did not belong to any specific section, you were kind of just there. Most of the time, you would only take his calls, plan his meetings, and buy him coffee. And usually, your boss gave you a little extra money to spend so you could get yourself a little beverage as well. It was not a bad job per se, but still enough to feel the pressure behind the layoffs. And it scared you.

“What are you thinking about?” A voice interrupted your thoughts. You jerked slightly and blinked. “Huh?”

“What are you thinking about?” Changbin asked and waved his hand in front of your face. “You okay? You kinda spaced out.”

He and Chan were already standing in front of your table. They had just arrived apparently and took their jackets off to sit down in the seats in front of you. During, Chan greeted Yeonjun, who already started preparing their usual orders alongside yours.

“Mhm,” you answered and nodded. Changbin snorted, “Sure you are. What’s up?”

You groaned and buried your face in your hands, “I think I’m gonna be jobless in like, a month tops.”

Chan chuckled, “I don’t think anything’s gonna happen to any of us.”

“Of course you’re saying that, that man adores you,” you sighed. Changbin clicked his tongue. “They’re all overreacting, especially that Barbara girl. That’s what I’ve been telling you. I’m pretty sure it’s just a rumour. Remember when they all thought the company would close down because everyone was so secretive and weird and it was just because they decided to film part of a documentary?”

Chan winced, “Don’t remind me. I still feel lied to when I rewatch The Office.”

“And even if they decide to lay us off,” Changbin added, ignoring Chan’s comment, “it’s not that much of a loss, anyway.” With this, he ended the conversation and got up to get your drinks and freshly baked cookies from Yeonjun behind the counter. The two guys started talking to each other, while Chan looked over at you.

“We’re gonna be fine. You know that, right?” he whispered and you pressed your lips together.

“I won’t be able to keep my apartment anymore if I lose my job.” Chan looked at you, shock written all over his face, “You could always move in with us. You know we wouldn’t mind.”

“But I would.” - “Y/N…” Chan sighed, already knowing what you were going to say.

“Your apartment is already small as it is,” you interrupted him, “and neither of you can afford to move into a bigger one, even if we split the rent. Thank you for offering, but it’s fine the way it is for now.”

Chan looked at you worriedly, “We’ll figure something out, okay?”

You nodded and took your drink out of Changbin’s hands.

“Yeonjun said Kai made a fresh batch for us,” Changbin said happily and put the baked goods on the table. Chan got one right away and groaned, “This stuff is so good.”

You were about to grab your own, when the sound of the entrance opening made you look up. You saw another regular walking in, someone who usually arrived at the same time as you. It was the guy who was always frowning whenever he came in. He had never once smiled when he came in here, you noted. He was about the same height as Chan and wearing a tight black suit. He looked almost bored to be here. He did not even bother to properly look at your table and just went straight to the counter to ask for his order. You looked at him while taking a bite out of your cookie.

“Six coffees and one piece of chocolate cake, please,” The guy said and Changbin beside you snorted. His eyes had followed your lingering gaze.

“Do you think he has some kind of addiction?” He whispered, “He’s been getting six coffees a day for what? A year now?

You rolled your eyes, “Maybe he’s nice and gets some coffee for his coworkers?”

Changbin shook his head, “No way this guy’s nice. Did you see the way he just glared at Gyu?”

“To be fair, Gyu can be a little bit much sometimes,” Chan interjected, “One time I came in by myself and he started clapping hysterically and congratulated me for existing outside of our lunch hours.”

Changbin and you laughed, “Maybe that guy’s just insane.”

“Beomgyu or the six-coffees-guy?” - “Both,” you said and looked back up, “But I don’t think that Guy said anything to him. He only really talks to us that way, doesn’t he?”

The regular was walking past you now, his entire order in both of his hands, and glared at your table from the corner of his eyes, as if he had heard what you just said about him. He raised his eyebrow the second he noticed your eyes on him and you blushed slightly. You did not look after him when he left, but his eyes had burned themselves into your mind, leaving you completely breathless. They were a dark brown, almost back. He was gorgeous, you thought, and insanely handsome. What a shame that his attitude did not match.

“You’re so flustered,” Changbin teased and Chan grinned at you. “Do you like Mr. Grumpypants over here?”

You huffed, heating up even more, “Absolutely not. Now shut up.”

Both guys looked at each other and laughed, before resuming your conversation. Naturally, they kept teasing you for the rest of the lunch break, all because the grumpy regular had left you so flustered from just one look.

act one: introducing.

It had been a week since that lunch break and so far, nothing had changed at your job. The only thing that stayed were the whispers about possible layoffs, which became more frequent as time went on. It made you more nervous than it did before, even though you tried to keep your thoughts locked up as best as you could. The only thing you were looking forward to now was your lunch break, hoping that it would give you some peace and quiet in between the chaos.

When you went back to the cafe with Changbin and Chan the week after, just like you did every day, everything was just like it was before. You walked to the cafe together, sat down at your usual table, and Soobin already got your lunch ready for you. The only difference was that it got harder to ignore the elephant in the room. Not even Chan could argue against the layoff rumours anymore, especially since the vibe at the company turned so tense all of sudden. Everyone was more than aware that not so secret meetings with individual employees were taking place already and no one knew what they were about yet.

Sitting down, you had a perfect view at the entrance. This was why you saw the handsome regular coming back in with someone else this time around. The second guy was chatting along happily, all while the one with the frown on his face just listened. Not even a guy as excited as him could light up his sour mood.

“This place is so cool,” you overheard the second guy say and looked into their direction. The regular was wearing his usual tight suit. It fit his body well, you noted again, and he looked gorgeous, just like he always did; if it were not for the frown on his angelic face. The guy beside him was wearing regular jeans and a shirt with some sort of logo on it. It was simple and yet, he still looked almost as handsome as the guy in the suit. You tried to catch a glimpse at the writing on his chest, but he turned back around just when you were about to.

“You’re staring again,” Changbin teased and you groaned. “Am not.”

“Definitely are,” Chan chirped in.

Your lips fell ajar in defence, “I just wanted to see what the other guy’s wearing. He’s pretty cute.”

Changbin rolled his eyes, “Of course that’s the one you were ogling.”

“I wasn’t ogling anyone!” you argued back and snatched Changbin’s snack right out of his hand, “If anything, I only have eyes for you?”

Chan made a gagging sound, “How’s that any better?.”

“Yeah, I just wanted to talk about your boyfriend’s boyfriend.”

“Not my boyfriend,” you interrupted them again, “I just can’t believe that he has friends with that attitude.”

“Well, you’re you and we’re still sitting here,” Chan said. You turned into his direction to glare at him, while he put his hands up in the air in defence. Changbin laughed and gave him a high five.

“It wasn’t even that funny,” you grimaced. Chan chuckled, “We’re just teasing, you know that.”

“Whatever,” you said, feeling at ease at his words now, even though you knew that they both were still completely convinced that you were fancying the grumpy regular,, “I just want to know what their deal is.”

“Maybe he pays him to spend time with him,” Changbin joined your tattling again.

“Like a sugar daddy?” You asked and Changbin grinned. “Yeah, you should try the same.”

You hit Changbin’s shoulder and he feigned being hurt. Yet, you allowed yourself to entertain his idea a little. Your eyes wandered back to the two guys standing in front of the counter, now placing their order. The younger guy was still laughing, seemingly telling a joke based on his own reaction. And then, you saw it. The guy in the suit was smiling slightly. Utterly mesmerised, you stared at him. The smile suited him, you thought, watching his eyes crinkle in amusement.

“Anyway, you mentioned that the big boss wanted to talk to you?” Chan ripped you out of your daydreaming.

“Uh, yeah,” you answered and blinked a few times. Changbin grinned at you maliciously, “I know that we’re all talking about a layoff but I’m hoping for a little promotion, actually. At least a raise; Like I said, if I don’t make more money soon I might have to move back home. Just my luck, they raised my rent again.” The guys looked at you pitifully.

“You know that you can always move in with us, right?” Changbin started again, but you shook your head.

“Chan told me the same the other day. I just don’t think that it would be a good idea.”

Flashbacks of their apartment filled your brain. Their entire apartment looked like a man cave and even smelled like one; you still saw Changbin’s dirty underwear when you closed your eyes. All they had in their fridge was chicken breast and, even though you had made a joke about their addiction to the latter and their protein shakes before, there was truly nothing else at their apartment sometimes. Despite their gentle nature as people, their apartment still haunted your nightmares.

“I mean, you could always try to find someone to date? A partner to move in with?” He suggested and wiggled his eyebrows, “You would save money and loosen up a little. Maybe you can ask the grumpy guy you’re so obsessed with? Pretty sure only rich people wear a suit to work every day.”

Just when you were about to tell him to shut up, someone else joined your conversation.

“You guys are looking for possible partners? Then I have what you’re looking for.”

The three of you stared at the owner of the voice. It was the second guy from earlier; the one who had come in with the regular you had just been talking about, as you usually did. The latter was standing a few feet away from your table with six coffee cups and two pieces of chocolate cake in his hands; his face not showing a single emotion whatsoever. The younger guy, not impressed at all by your stares, continued.

“We’re currently developing an app to determine a genetic soulmate. If you’re tired of Tinder, Bumble, and every other dating app out there, and want to find someone based on scientific facts, we’re your guys. My name’s Jisung and here’s our info.”

He took a few cards out of his pocket and put them on the table. Chan picked one up and looked at the name. Your eyes were still on the guy who had just spoken and now that he was standing in front of you, you noticed the shirt he was wearing. It was completely black and had the words STAYʷᵐ written across his chest in a basic white font.

The guy was smiling widely when he noticed Chan’s interest. “We’re still pretty new and not officially out on the market yet. We’re still looking to expand our sample size to give more than a hundred people an accurate match and hopefully soon enough, more than a million. The bigger the sample size the better.”

“That sounds interesting,” Chan told him and Jisung’s face lit up again. The guy in the suit stepped right behind them. He looked at all of you and sighed. “If you’re interested, just give me a call and we can discuss it in more detail. But for now, we really need to leave. It was… nice meeting you.”

He hit Jisung with his elbow, who turned around with a pout on his face. The guy in the suit looked at all of you again, his eyes lingering on you. You felt yourself grow a little warm and avoided his gaze, until he and Jisung eventually left the cafe again.

Changbin whistled, “Honestly, I thought he wanted to invite us into a cult or something sexual, but this actually sounds like fun if it’s real. I need to look it up online later.”

“You want to give someone who approached you in public your DNA for free?” You asked and shook your head, “That sounds like a bad idea.”

“It’s only a bad idea if you’re boring,” Changbin replied and you rolled your eyes, “Plus, it could be the solution to your problem if it’s real.”

The both of you kept nagging each other on your way back to work, all to the suffering of Chan, who was just begging for some peace and quiet before his lunch break was over. Changbin absolutely loved the idea of finding a genetic soulmate, and even if it only meant finding someone to hook up with. Chan was very indifferent to the idea, but claimed that he would join Changbin if he went to the company, not wanting to leave him all alone in case he would get murdered, even though the internet had suggested that the project actually existed. You on the other hand did not quietly believe in it and were still worrying way too much about the possible danger this entire situation could hold.

Back in your office, you looked at the card in your hand. Lee Minho, it said on the front. He was the CEO of the company and probably the grumpy guy in the suit. Why he had been so against the idea of his coworker approaching you when he was the one who owned the company was a mystery to you. You sighed and put the card deep inside your work bag, pretending today did not happen. Then, you turned your computer back on to check your E-Mails. There were still things you had to get done until you were able to call it a day, and you were hoping to finish everything up soon.

That was, until you saw an email your boss had sent you while you were on your lunch break. He had requested for you to set up a meeting between the both of you in a few days, not disclosing the topic. You sighed and stared at your computer, your thoughts running wild. The possibility that this was about a layoff was high, considering that you were not the only one your boss wanted to talk to. He had set up some of his own meetings this time without telling you what they are about. If this meeting was layoff related, you would lose your job, your only income, and your apartment. Just to move back home, if you were not able to find a new job anytime soon.

Sighing again, you leaned back in your chair and closed your eyes. Maybe Changbin was right for now, you thought, maybe it would be a good idea to meet someone. Especially since the universe had presented you with the possibility on a silver platter. A legit one, you hoped. It would be a good opportunity to split rent and maybe even to loosen up a little, in one way or another. And if not, you could still sue them for fraud and get money that way. You took your phone out of your pocket and opened your text message.

“I hate to say it, but maybe Changbin is actually right,” you texted your friends in your shared group chat, “Maybe we should call these guys and make an appointment.”

Changbin texted you back right away, “I told you so.”

He added a grinning emoji and you groaned and put your phone away. He would never let you live this down.

act two: touring.

It did not take long for Jisung to answer the call. Chan ended up being the one who called him, since both you and Changbin got cold feet the second you were actually putting your plan into action. However, Jisung was ecstatic to hear from you. He invited the three of you over to the company the following day, promising that everything was already ready to introduce you guys to the concept in more detail.

“No worries,” he had said, delighted that the three of you were interested in the first place, “Everything is already good to go. Jeongin will welcome you, give you a little tour of the company so you guys get a feeling for our work, and you can always decline if you’re still having doubts after that. No strings attached.”

More at ease, the three of you decided to drive up to the company together after work. It was quiet in the car on the way, since Changbin seemed to share your nerves at this point. He kept twiddling with his fingers, almost anxiously waiting for you to finally get there. On the contrary, Chan was humming along to the music while driving. He did not ask you why you decided to change your mind all of sudden, but he kept glancing back at you through the rearview mirror, almost as if he was waiting for you to either tell him what was wrong or to ask him to turn around and forget about it. But you did not plan to do either. You would do this for yourself, you had decided, and even if you ended up not finding your perfect match, you still went out of your comfort zone and tried something new. At any rate, Changbin would get to meet new people through this one way or another. So even if doing it for yourself would not suffice, you would do it for your friend. And that was enough for you, at least for now.

As promised, the three of you were greeted by who you assumed was Jeongin when you left the parking lot. He was standing in front of the entrance, his build was slightly taller than Chan’s and he was seemingly younger than both of your friends. He was wearing some comfortable clothes, similar to Jisung’s outfit. The same logo decorated his chest and he appeared to be whispering to himself excitedly. The smile on his face only grew when he noticed the three of you walking up to him.

“Hi, I’m Jeongin and your guide on this fine day,” he introduced himself, confirming your assumptions, “I’ll show you around and explain the entire process to you.”

He offered all of you a smile and a slight hand shake, before he opened the door and pointed towards the building as an invitation for you to go inside. Hesitantly, you followed Chan, who was still very calm about the situation. Jeongin walked past the desk at the entrance and picked up some flash cards.

“This is where you’ll usually find me,” he explained and offered each of you some of the candy he had stacked up on his desk, “I work as the receptionist, basically, but I also do the tours when everyone else is too busy working on finding love.”

The three of you offered Jeongin a polite laugh. He smiled warmly in return.

“We were all very excited when Ji told us about your possible applications,” Jeongin started softly, “As you can imagine, not a lot of normal people join experiments like this.”

“Normal people?” Changbin asked and raised an eyebrow. Jeongin blushed lightly. “Oh, are you guys scientists too? I thought you were, you know.” He gestured between all four of you. Chan hit Changbin’s side with his elbow and he immediately groaned dramatically in return.

“We’re not scientists. We were actually pretty surprised that we were asked to join. I read about it online and so far, most of the applicants have been from similar research fields?” You and Changbin both stared at Chan, who did more homework on this experiment than the both of you combined.

Jeongin hummed in response. “Yes! We’re only slowly opening this to the general public, because the opinion on it is still a bit diverging, I’d say. Plus, the majority hasn’t heard of our app yet, because our marketing isn’t really the best yet.”

Bashfully, Jeongin ran his finger through his hair. You smiled. “Jisung did a great job. Is he not part of the marketing department?”

Jeongin laughed, “He is, but he’s usually too busy trying to keep the boss in line. I heard you guys already know Minho?”

You nodded, “He’s at the cafe we go to usually.”

“Oh, you’re Y/N, right?” Jeongin asked. Surprised, you nodded again. “And they’re Chan and Changbin,” you added.

Jeongin smiled with a knowing glint in his eyes, “Then I’m more than happy to welcome you today.”

Jeongin continued his tour through the main building. When you walked past the lab section where your DNA would be analysed, you saw two guys inside the room.

They were standing in front of a screen with their backs towards the entrance. They were in a heated discussion about something shown on a screen, something you did not quite see, which is why Jeongin decided against talking to them. The guy standing on the left was taller than the other one beside him. He had a lean build, similar to Jeongin. His hair was long and black, and he was excitedly talking about different samples, while his hands highlighted every word that came out of his mouth. The guy on the right was smaller and had freckles all over his face. He was attentively listening to what his coworker said and laughed at some of his outbursts. His voice was deep, you noticed, deeper than what you would have assumed for a guy with his looks.

“These are Hyunjin and Felix,” Jeongin introduced them, before shushing you away from the door, “They’re currently discussing matches. Beside Minho, they’re the heads of the science department, basically. They’re the ones who give the final say on almost all matches we put out, especially the high percentage ones.”

This made you peak up. “High percentage matches?” Jeongin nodded excitedly.

“We have five different types,” he explained and showed you guys the way to the cafeteria, “I’ll explain it in a minute, but what about we take a break for now?”

After each of you got yourself a beverage, the four of you sat down and listened to Jeongin explain everything a bit more. He explained the general gist of what exactly happened at the lab and what you were to expect from the app. Then, he told you about the different types of matches one person could have.

“First of all, if you guys decide to join, we will ask you to spit into a tube to get your DNA. It’s all secured, we will keep everything in our system until you either find a match you feel works or want to delete your data. No strings attached and no, we won’t sell your data to anyone.”

Chan snorted, “Can you say that again? Someone didn’t believe us.”

You rolled your eyes, “Is it my fault that I value my privacy?”

“We value yours too!” Jeongin said smoothly and you groaned, “I hope so. This sounds super interesting.”

Jeongin nodded, “We won’t only work with your DNA, though, we’ll also ask you to fill out a form with all of your dating preferences to assure that the match will work out - scientifically and emotionally. You tell us what you look for in a partner, like their gender, their hobbies, whatever comes to mind. Then, the scientists, like Hyunjin and Felix, will do the rest to find the best match possible suited to your genes and your needs.”

“Please don’t take this the wrong way, but how do we know that the matches will work out? Or which ones to choose, given that we get more than one? I thought we would only get one match and that’s it.” Changbin interjected. Jeongin nodded appreciatively.

“That’s a valid question,” he said, “We have five different types of matches, like I mentioned earlier. They all depend on how well you match, basically. The higher the percentage the more likely it is that the person we found might be the one for you. The first type of match is a base match. It includes matches from seven up to 24 percent. It basically means that the both of you will most likely feel attracted to each other, and the rest is up to you! From what I heard, these matches are usually used for, well.”

Jeongin took a sip from his cup and raised his eyebrows. Changbin licked his lips. “So we will all get at least base matches, right?”

Jeongin nodded, “Basically. That was one of the goals and so far, it’s working out for everyone. But it isn’t the only type of match we want to offer. The next one would be the silver match. It includes matches from 25 up to 49 percent. It is thought to be similar to the base match, but it is a slimmer dating pool and they will fit your criteria even more. The other three matches fit in the upper fifty percent category.”

Chan pressed his lips together, “So for the record: The higher the percentage the smaller is the dating pool?”

Jeongin nodded again, “Exactly.”

You exhaled loudly, “So this isn’t a soulmate type of thing but rather a glorified Tinder?”

“I mean, not really, but I guess so? Except that with our app, you know that you guys will be attracted to each other in the best case scenario. Plus, we offer somewhat of a better safety than other apps do.”

“So my chances of finding the one are…” - “They’re higher the more people join,” Jeongin chimed in and you sighed. “I don’t know how I feel about this yet.”

Jeongin smiled again, “You don’t need to. But we are working on finding good matches for all of you, like I said. Beside the matches from the lower fifty percent, we also want to offer matches that are even better for you. Gold matches, for instance, are all about people whose match percentage is between 50 and 65 percent. Then, there’s the platinum match, for people who fit together from 66 up to 80 percent.”

Chan whistled, “That’s an insane number. Have you guys had matches like this already or is it all in theory, still?”

“We have had a decent amount of gold matches,” Jeongin admitted, “And only two platinum matches so far. Again, the lack of participants is not good for our data.”

“And everyone else?” You asked, more interested now.

“That would be the titanium match,” Jeongin replied, “It’s the highest percentage we think we can reach, it’s from 80 percent upwards. So far, we haven’t had one of these matches yet, because the chances to find two people who suit each other that well is still slim in our dating pool, but again.”

Jeongin waved his flash cards in front of you, “If you sign up with us, you have a better chance at finding your titanium match eventually. It’s our final goal to offer everyone their titanium matches, given that we eventually have the data to reinforce it.” It was quiet for a moment, before you asked, “You’re really into all of this, aren’t you?”

“Gah,” Jeongin squealed and hid his face behind his flash cards. His ears and cheeks turned pink when he answered, “I think this app is a great thing, honestly. I’ve seen the guys work on it since we started, I mean. I’m only the receptionist, but I’ve been a personal friend of everyone involved for years now. They really love what they do and I mean, who doesn’t want to meet his soulmate?” Yeah, who doesn’t?

You leaned back after taking all of this information in, your mind feeling slightly overwhelmed from the possibility of this being something so much more than you anticipated.

“And the matches,” Changbin asked, “Can we choose which ones we see?”

“You can decide which ones you want to see on the app,” Jeongin explained again, “and swipe on the ones you agree with or want to get to know.”.

Chan shook his head, “This is all mad impressive, I can give you that.”

Jeongin beamed, “Thank you. If you’re interested in more of the DNA work, our CEO occasionally gives lectures at universities about everything involved. He has a few in the following weeks, I can give you a copy if you want.”

“Sorry, do you guys mind if I go to the bathroom real quick?” You interrupted him suddenly. The amount of information made you feel a bit lightheaded, truth to be told. The three guys looked at you while you got up.

“Do you know where it is?” Jeongin asked and attempted to stand up, too, “I can show you the way.”

You shook your head, “I saw it on the way in, I just need a minute.”

You felt Chan’s eyes on your frame and shook your head, letting him know that you were fine. He did not seem to accept your answer, given that you could still feel his eyes on you on your way out of the cafeteria.

You walked past the labs again on your way to the bathroom, the same one Hyunjin and Felix were discussing something in. All while you were thinking about what Jeongin had explained about the different matches. It would be fun to find the one, you thought, but would it really be worth it if your time in this city was this limited? You would rather find a friend than a lover and maybe you would be lucky enough to find someone who shared that sentiment, too. Breaking someone’s heart was definitely not on your list.

When you walked by the lab this time, however, Minho had joined Hyunjin and Felix in their conversation, and you tried to ignore the relentless thumps against your chest when you spotted him. The regular you saw in his suit on a daily basis was now wearing a lab coat over his attire. On top of that, he wore glasses. They had a thin black frame and looked flattering on him. It made your heart beat a little faster inside your chest. He was so handsome, you caught yourself looking at his frame for a few more seconds than needed. It took your mind off of your racing thoughts about love, replacing them with new ones of admiration. New thoughts spread inside your head, thoughts about matching with him, the guy that always plagued your mind. The guy that always caught your attention at the cafe, despite his casual glares. Then, you heard one of the guys in the lab speak.

“Why did you invite them in if you didn’t even want their sample sizes?” The voice asked. It belonged to Felix. “I thought we wanted a bigger data pool?” Minho huffed. He sounded unhappy when he answered, “Jisung invited them in because we want a bigger sample size if we want to get the app out. I guess even participants who are below our average should have the chance at this now.”

Below average participants? You thought, taking a step back. Was he talking about you and your friends? Jeongin had mentioned that you were one of the first participants who were not part of the scientific field to join this experiment. Part of the reason was because they wanted to expand their service. His words did not make any sense. All they did was break your heart, little by little, and you were not sure why. Hastily, you found your way to the bathroom and cleaned yourself up, before you went back to the cafeteria where the guys were sitting. In the meantime, Felix scolded Minho back in the lab room.

“What do you mean, ‘participants below our average’? You sound like a jerk.” Minho groaned, “You know what I mean. I think it’s still too early to let people like them in. They’re not scientists and don’t know anything about what we’re doing. I’m pretty sure they wouldn’t understand what we’re trying to do here, anyway.”

“That’s what Jeongin is for,” Hyunjin argued, setting his pen down, “I think you’re just too scared that your app will flop.”

“Flop?” Minho furrowed his eyebrows, “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“It means that I’m spending too much time with Felix and should be on my break.”

You did not hear the follow up of their conversation. Instead, you joined your friends and Jeongin in the cafeteria again, trying to ignore the sinking feeling in your chest with Minho’s words still clouding your mind. The guys were still talking about the app, more interested than they were before. Your own excitement for the possibility of finding your roommate or soulmate vanished now that you knew what Minho was really thinking of you. But it was not fair to Jeongin, you noted, who had been so sweet to all of you the entire time you were there.

“There you are,” Jeongin lit up the second he saw you. You smiled at him bashfully, your sour mood still prominent on your face. Chan raised an eyebrow when he spotted you, but you ignored him for the time being. You sat back down and waited for Jeongin to speak up again.

“So, as I was saying,” he started right away, his attention now all on you, “You don’t need to give us your samples just yet. If you’re still worried or don't want to join us at all, that’s also completely fine with us. Just let my boss know that it wasn’t because of me.” You smiled weakly.

“I would be down to hand in my samples right now,” Changbin said and Chan nodded, “Me too. It sounds interesting, I’m up for it.”

They all looked at you now.

“I think I want to wait a little longer before I decide, I’m sorry,” you said apologetically and Jeongin shook his head immediately. He touched your hand that was lying on the table and squeezed it. It sent a tingle down your spine.

“Hey, I meant it when I said that you don’t need to feel obligated to do anything. Just do whatever you feel comfortable with. I know that this can be a lot, don’t worry.”

You smiled at each other. Jeongin told Chan and Changbin to get back to one of the waiting rooms with him, so they could fill out the application and give them the necessary data. You joined Jeongin at the reception while you were waiting for your friends to finish up and talked about some mundane things to him. Then, he looked at you a little more seriously than before.

“You know, we would be really lucky to have someone like you working with us on our project.”

“Someone like me?” You asked surprised and Jeongin nodded. A warm feeling spreads inside your chest at his words.

“Yeah, I feel like having you with us here would really change things up.”

act three: spitting.

You were still thinking about what Jeongin had told you the next day at work. The same way you were still thinking about what Minho had said about you. It made you feel lighthearted and tense at the same time. It was a shame almost, you thought, that you considered this opportunity as a sign from the universe, just for it to turn out this way. The same way you were ashamed that you entertained the idea of matching with Minho.

You shook your head to ignore all of the negative thoughts coming your way. No more soulmate science, you told yourself, only your own work right in front of you. Which brought you back to your original problem. You had yet to set up a meeting between yourself and your boss, his E-Mail still looming over your head like a bad omen.

Sighing, you opened your boss’ calendar to check his availability. You considered dragging the meeting out as far as possible, but you knew that he would scold you if you did. Even though your unemployment might be near, you still wanted to do a good job; just in case you might still stay.

Just when you were about to put a meeting down, you saw someone storm out of your boss’ office. It was Barbara from your floor, the same one who had planted your anxiety into your head in the first place. Tears were streaming down her face as she silently walked to her desk to take her belongings out of drawers. An unpleasant atmosphere spreaded across the floor, every employee trying their best to look busy and ignore the very obvious thing that just had happened. At least Changbin would be delighted to hear about what happened.

Everyone tried to give her space while she packed her things, and you sighed to yourself again, now more worried than before. It was like the layoffs just started and you were about to seal your own destiny with the meeting you were setting up. Your mind wandered back to Jeongin and the soulmate situation he had told you about. Maybe you had nothing to lose after all. The least you could do is get free meals out of it, beside enhancing scientific data, or whatever Jeongin had called it. You took the card Jisung gave you out of your wallet again and looked at it. Minho’s name looked back at you.

Even if he did not deem you worthy of finding love, you were at least worthy of finding a roommate or getting a free meal out of this to save up money just in case, right?

Lunch came later than usual. It felt almost endless to watch Barbara pack her things and bid her goodbyes quietly. Everyone had the same tense look on their face, because everyone thought the same. Everyone had heard about the rumours about different people in the department and now, everyone thought of them to be true.

You left the office before anyone could talk to you. You were not keen on hearing about the layoffs again and just wanted to get your mind off of everything. You knew that Chan and Changbin would have to stay in during lunch today, so you decided to get them a coffee and their pastries to go. This way, you would have an excuse to leave the building and they would still have lunch. The best of both worlds.

Yeonjun greeted you the second you walked through the door. He was his usual happy self, but as soon as he sensed your uneasiness, he furrowed his eyebrows.

“You okay?” He asked while he started working on your order and you shook your head. “Don’t worry about it.”

“I always worry when it comes to you,” He said, half cheekily and half earnestly. You smiled tiredly at him, the sinking feeling in your chest slowly disappearing. “Worried that I won’t come back?”

Yeonjun snorted, “I know that you love Kai’s cookies way too much to never come back. Now tell me, what’s up?”

Your smile fell. “Someone got fired at work today. There’s been rumours about layoffs and I guess I’m just worried that I’m one of them now.”

“I’m sorry,” Yeonjun grimaced, “I’ll manifest that everything goes well for you.”

You snorted and took your stuff out of his hands.

“Manifesting? You’re the best,” You blew him a kiss and he jokingly caught it.

“But in all seriousness, though. You’re gonna be fine. I can’t lose my favourite customer.”

You smiled again. “Thank you.”

The both of you stood there in silence for a few seconds, before you added, “I wanted to sit down for a minute and get some stuff for the guys before I head back. They can’t make it today, is that fine with you?”

“Everything you do is fine with me,” Yeonjun said with a wink, right back to his usual cheekiness. You shook your head in response, but could not help but smile.

You sat down at your usual table and sipped on your drink, all while thinking about everything and everyone that occupied your mind these days. Just as you were reliving the words Minho said about you, the same man walked through the door. It made your stomach drop. He was wearing his usual suit without the glasses, you noticed. He had only been wearing the glasses in the lab, you had never seen him with them before, and were now wondering if he usually wore contacts.

Minho seemed to feel your eyes on him. His own wandered into your direction and you briefly held eye contact. Despite trying your best to fight the feeling, your heart jumped in your chest, the same way it always did when he locked his eyes with yours. His eyes were dark and beautiful, and you almost felt yourself getting lost in them again. Almost.

What a shame that he’s such an asshole, you thought, looking back down at your hands in front of you, he’s way too pretty for all of that.

Minho got his own order, six coffees and a piece of chocolate cake like he always did, and you wondered if he might have gotten one for Jeongin, too. They seemed to be close from what Jeongin told you, and you wondered if they were close enough for Minho to bring his receptionist a coffee every day.

On his way out, Minho glanced at you again. You had still been looking at him, your longing eyes glazed over while being deep in thought, unbeknownst to yourself. His lips twitched slightly when his eyes landed on you. When you felt his gaze on you after a few seconds, you just blinked a few times and huffed before looking away. Minho seemed to be dumbfounded by your reaction. He blinked a few times himself and furrowed his eyebrows. Then, he shook his head and left before you noticed any change in his demeanour.

Hastily, you finished your own lunch and asked Yeonjun for the guys’ order, but he had it already ready for you. He gave it to you with a smile.

“Hold on tight, yeah?” You nodded and offered him a smile back, before you left the cafe yourself. Only on your way back did you notice that he had added your favourite pastries of Kai’s into the mix and the sweet gesture made you tear up.

When you arrived at the company, you still had time left from your own lunch and decided to spend it entirely at the guy’s office. They were more than happy to see you and the lunch you got for them. You sat down with them while they were eating, still somewhat caught in your own thoughts.

“Barbara got fired today,” you said eventually and they both looked at each other.

“Good. I heard she was shit at her job, anyway,” Changbin answered smugly and you shrugged.

“Does it matter? That probably means they’re actually laying people off now.”

Chan furrowed his eyebrows. “Do you really have anything to worry about if you’re doing your job right?”

You shrugged, “Who knows. I know I’ll only be able to sleep at night when all of this is over. Speaking of.”

You sat up straight and inhaled slowly, “I think I want to send my samples in too.”

Changbin clapped and cheered, resulting in a side eye from Chan.

“That app is amazing, I’m telling you. They already had my matches ready to go for me this morning and I already have a date set up for tonight.”

“Already? What type of match was it?” Chan laughed and Changbin rolled his eyes. “It was a base match, but does it really matter? I just want to hook up with someone. I don’t care how well we match. And if I actually end up finding my person with all of this, how bad can it really be?”

“Romantic,” you said drily and took a sip out of your water bottle. Changbin stuck his tongue out at you.

“As if you’re any better. Let me guess, you’re still looking for a roommate?”

You rolled your eyes, “Mind your business.”

Chan grinned, “You know, you can always move in with us, right?”

“No matter how many times you tell me this, I always see Changbin’s nasty underwear in front of my inner eye,” you answered dramatically, “Barbara dodged a bullet when she rejected him.”

Changbin huffed.

“You’d be grateful to see me in my underwear.”

“I’d be grateful to never see you ever again,” you joked, to which Changbin pouted in response. You cooed at him and now it was Chan’s turn to roll his eyes at the both of you.

“You’re so annoying.”

“Did you get a match yet?” Changbin asked Chan and Chan nodded.

“I got a silver match,” He said proudly and Changbin whistled.

“Hear, hear. Maybe I’m in need of a roommate if this goes well?”

Chan’s ears turned red, “Well, I haven’t really texted them yet.”

You hit his shoulder, “Idiot. That’s what the app is for?”

“I will do it soon,” Chan said and rubbed his shoulder, “I’m trying my best, okay?”

“I know,” you said and leaned back in your chair, “I guess we all do.”

After that, you called Jeongin and sent your samples in on the same day.

act four: waiting.

A few days had passed since you had talked to Jeongin. He received your samples and your forms already, but you were still waiting to have any confirmed matches. Whereas it took your friends less than a day to find someone new to talk to, it had been days and your app was still as empty as ever. Jeongin had mentioned that everyone got at least a base match one way or another. It started to make you feel nervous that something went wrong, as you anxiously opened the app again and again throughout your days.

While waiting for your soulmate app to work, you had finally set up your meeting with your boss. You gave yourself a few days until you actually had to face him, just enough time to check out some of your matches for a possible roommate to ease your nerves for the worst case scenario. Yet, since your matches did not come in, you were growing even more nervous than before.

The meeting with your boss was set for tomorrow and you were mentally already preparing for the worst. Even though Chan and Changbin were doing their best to ease your nerves by telling you how good of a job you were doing, you still felt hesitant to say the least. Maybe the non-existent matches on a genetic soulmate app were a bad sign. At least that is what you were telling yourself while you were staring at your computer screen, ignoring your incoming emails for now, waiting for your lunch break to finally start.

It did, eventually, and you made your way to the cafe with Changbin and Chan again, just like you always did. Soobin was behind the counter today, together with Taehyun. They were both tall guys and close friends with Yeonjun and Beomgyu, the owners of the cafe. You were usually very happy to see them, especially since they took less shifts these days to focus on their studies. But today, nothing seemed to excite you.

Soobin greeted the three of you with a kind smile. He and Taehyun got your regular order ready while the three of you sat down. The cafe was empty. You guys were the only guests today, which meant that you finally had some peace and quiet. That was, until the door opened and two guys walked in.

One of them was Jisung, whom you recognised from last time. He looked somewhat dishevelled. Jisung had another guy with him, about the same height, with short black hair and a sweet smile on his face. Both of them bickered about something, until Jisung’s eyes fell onto your frame.

“Hi!” he called out for you and the three of you looked up at him.

“What’s up?” Changbin greeted him back, while you just gave him a slight smile. Chan nodded.

“I was just wondering if you got our E-Mail?” Jisung asked, while the other guy got their order with Soobin. That means Minho most likely will not come in today, you noted, feeling your heart fall at the thought. Even though his words had hurt you, you still liked seeing him at the cafe every day. It was a constant in your life; one you did not know how much longer you would be able to keep.

“Your message?” You asked, stopping your daydreaming. You furrowed your eyebrows, “What message?”

“We have a meeting later today and wanted to have you there. We sent you an E-Mail, but we didn’t get an answer?”

“All of us?” Chan asked and before he could ask something else, Jisung already interrupted him. “No, only Y/N.”

Your friends looked at you, while you kept your eyes on Jisung’s face. Your heart dropped. “Why?”

“There’s something we wanted to talk about. Nothing major, just something...” He waved his hands in the air, while his friend came back to stand beside him. He had an entry tray of Kai’s pastries in his arms and waited for Jisung to finish.

“Ji, we have to go,” he said and nodded towards the door. Jisung looked outside and squinted his eyes.

“Oh god, yeah. See you later!” He bid his farewell, while his friend beside him just waved awkwardly, trying not to let the pastries fall all over the floor. The same way they appeared, they vanished, and your friends kept staring at you.

“Why do they want to talk to you?” Changbin asked, while Chan kept his eyes on you.

“I don’t know,” you answered honestly, suddenly a little bit uncomfortable. You shifted around in your chair, “Maybe because the app isn’t working for me.”

“Not working for you?” Chan replied, “Why would it not work for you?”

You started to feel more uneasy now, the nerves from earlier this morning settling back into your stomach. “I don’t know? It’s definitely not helping.”

“Maybe they made a mistake,” Chan said carefully, “It worked for us the day after. I’m sure there’s a reason for it. Maybe the DNA sample wasn’t good enough?”

You shrugged. “Possibly.” Then, you leaned back in your chair, closing your eyes in the process.

“I just can’t believe that stuff like this keeps happening to me.”

At that moment, you heard the bell ring again, indicating another customer entering the cafe. You opened one of your eyes and were greeted with Minho standing in front of your table, glancing over at you the same way he did last time. You furrowed your eyebrows and looked back at him this time, wondering why he actually did come in today when Jisung had already been here.

Minho noticed your eyes on him and held your gaze for a few seconds. You were still lost in your own thoughts and did not notice how red his ears had turned, and how shily he turned around after he noticed that your eyes were already set on him. All you could feel was the uneasy feeling settling back in your chest. The corners of his lips twitched again.

He got his regular order, six coffees with a piece of chocolate cake, all while the guys and you were still talking to each other. You tried to ignore everything occupying your brain, and asked your friends about their mixtape instead. Chan and Changbin loved working on music together in their free time and you loved listening to them talk about whatever they were producing at the moment.

That was, until Minho was about to leave the cafe again. He struggled to open the door by himself this time, so you got up and offered to open it for him instead.

“Thank you?” He said, rather a question than a statement. His lips twitched slightly.

You licked your own before saying: “The meeting today, what do you need me in for, if you don’t mind me asking? Because I’m kinda busy at work right now.”

Minho furrowed his eyebrows at your words and stood up straight. “The meeting?”

You held his gaze, not knowing what to say next. Your nerves settled back in as you looked at him.

“Our company meetings are a private matter. We usually don’t discuss our findings with our participants unless it directly affects them,” he said slowly, taking one step towards the door.

“Thank you for holding the door open for me, by the way.” And with that, he disappeared.

“Why do they keep doing this?” You complained, falling back down in your chair. Changbin chuckled.

“Maybe it’s because you stress them out.”

“Not doing anything,” you defended yourself, taking a sip of your drink, “I just want to know what they want me in for.”

“I mean, you could always read the E-Mail,” Chan suggested and you rolled your eyes at him.

“Leave me alone.”

“Yeah, cut your boyfriend some slack,” Changbin chimed in. He barely escaped the hit that came his way this time.

“Maybe they’re inviting you because you got a high match with someone,” Chan said dreamily, “That would be soo romantic.”

“Or no match at all,” you mumbled, your mood going back sour.

Changbin rolled his eyes, “What did we tell you about living a little?”

act five: matching.

You went back to STAYwm right after your shift ended. Your boss had wished you a good day when he saw you leave, and you sighed internally at the thought of your meeting tomorrow.

The way to the company was uneventful. You kept thinking about reasons why they asked you to drop by again. Maybe they wanted to offer you a job, you thought, maybe they saw that you were a receptionist on your spreadsheet and wanted to hire someone to help Jeongin out. Despite knowing that this most likely would not be the case, you wanted to entertain the idea a little while longer, considering that the realistic possibilities would most likely put a damper on your mood. You did not want to think about the idea Chan had had, that they had called you in for a high level match. It sounded silly to think about, especially since the odds were so low.

Jeongin greeted you right when you entered the building. He had his usual smile on his lips, his eyes turning into crescents the second he saw you. It made your heart flutter.

“Nice to see you again,” he said and walked towards you from behind his desk. You smiled at him nervously and waited for him to show you where to go.

“Do you know why they asked me to come back?” You asked him quietly and Jeongin grimaced.

“You know that I’m not allowed to tell you that, right?”

You sighed, “It was worth trying.”

Jeongin led you towards a meeting room. It was filled with everyone you met during your tour. You saw Jisung and the guy from earlier today sitting beside each other quarrelling about something you did not quite catch. Hyunjin and Felix, the scientists who worked at the lab with Minho, were sitting beside them, absorbed in their own conversation. Both had a stern look on their face, almost worried.

All four men looked up when you walked through the door. The conversations stopped and you glanced over at Jeongin, looking for reassurance. Jeongin noticed and carefully touched your back to lead you into the room, announcing your presence.

Everyone in the room greeted you with either a nod or a hello, except for Jisung. He got up and smiled at you widely to offer you a hug, which you hesitantly accepted.

You sat down beside him, Jeongin on the other side of you, and waited for someone to speak.

“I’m sure you’re wondering why you’re here,” Hyunjin started. You looked at him with an awkward smile on your lips. “Yeah, I guess you could say so.”

Hyunjin looked at Felix, who continued speaking.

“You have heard that we are working on finding different types of matches for everyone, right?” Felix began carefully. You nodded, “Yeah, Jeongin told me when I first came here.”

Felix and Hyunjin glanced at each other, “So you also know that we are trying our best to find high percentage matches for everyone participating?”

You nodded again, “Yes.”

“Good, good,” Felix said and Hyunjin continued, “And out of all matches, we had yet to find a titanium match.”

“Mhm,” you said, not sure why they were telling you this.

The guy sitting beside Jisung was sliding a small stack of documents towards you. You grabbed them and looked through the data. It was interesting to see what they were able to do with just some spit and a form, you thought. The amount of information in front of you was sheer endless, and before you could ask them why they were showing you this, you saw your own name on one of the documents.

“Why is my sheet in here?” You asked. Felix and Hyunjin both looked at you.

“It’s because you have a titanium match.”

Your breath hitched. “With whom?”

“The meeting’s started already?”

It was Minho. Your heart dropped. You did not even notice that he had opened the door and just stared at the documents in front of you.

Beside you, Jisung got up and walked towards Minho.

“About that.” He took Minho by his arm. Minho just looked at you confusedly and let Jisung pull him out of the room.

“Sorry, we didn’t get to talk to him about this yet,” Jeongin laughed nervously. You stared at him, your heart rapidly beating inside your chest.

“Isn’t he the one who usually works on high percentage matches, too?”

“Not this one,” Felix said, “Because we used his sample.”

Silence.

“Shouldn’t he be the first one to know?” You asked carefully.

Silence.

“Is this real?”

Felix was the first one who nodded, “It is. And it’s a wonderful opportunity. Not only for you, but for us, too.”

“I don’t understand,” you mumbled, your eyes finding Felix’. How could you be the perfect match for someone who did not even want you to participate in the first place?

“We’ve been looking for a match like yours for years now,” Hyunjin began. Jeongin sensed your uneasiness and you felt him look for your hand under the table to squeeze it gently. “This is really important to our company and if you allow us too, we would love to document your journey together.”

“You want to monetise my love life?”

“No!” The guy whose name you still did not know said, sitting up, “We just want to advertise it.”

“That’s not what we wanted to say,” Hyunjin groaned and Felix beside him sighed defeatedly.

“We want to show our future participants that the titanium match isn’t just a theory, but a possibility. It’s what we were striving for all these years, and with your help, we can find hundreds, thousands, maybe even millions of people their titanium match.”

“I don’t know -”

“You don’t need to decide just yet. Just know that this would be our breakthrough. And isn’t the possibility of a high match what made you sign up in the first place?”

You grimaced and locked eyes with Felix again. “I guess so.”

His eyes lit up at your answer, “So does that mean you will give it a thought?”

Outside the door, Minho glared at Jisung. The both of them were standing just outside the room. Jisung had been the one who decided that they would keep this match a secret from Minho, at least until he was in a headspace to receive the news. Unfortunately, the work on his desk kept piling up until Jisung had no other choice but to call you in for a meeting himself, since you started getting worried about having no matches shown on your app. Chan had texted him about it.

“What’s going on?” Minho asked and Jisung took a step backwards.

“It’s nothing bad.”

Minho took a step forward again, his heart beating rapidly. “Then why are they here?”

“They have a titanium match.”

Minho blinked, his mouth feeling dry. “A titanium match? With whom?”

“With you.”

A silence spread between both men. Minho felt his heart thumping even faster inside his chest.

Then, Minho whispered.

“With me?”

Jisung nodded, carefully putting a hand on his friend’s shoulder.

“This could be great for you.”

Minho huffed, “Great for the company.”

“Hey.” Jisung squeezed his shoulder gently, “I don’t care about the company. I know that -”

“You should care about the company,” Minho interrupted him, “I will. You want us to date for publicity, yeah?”

Jisung nodded, his hand falling back to the side of his body, “Yeah.”

The corners of Minho’s lips twitched.

“I know that you’re nervous, but -”

“No more buts,” Minho mumbled, walking past Jisung, “I need to handle this professionally. I can’t let my feelings get in the way every single time.”

Jisung just sighed as he watched Minho disappear in the room again.

“We should do it,” Minho’s voice interrupted your conversation once again. He went back into the room with Jisung by his side, who looked more stressed than you had ever seen him.

“Date?” You asked, grimacing again.

Minho huffed, back to his stoic demeanour, “Obviously.”

“You want to date me?” The disbelief in your voice seemed to not pass by everyone in the room. They all looked at Minho, whose jaw clenched slightly.

“I mean, for the experiment, yes.”

Jisung sighed and Felix said: “We’ll let you guys talk. Just call us back when you’ve decided on something, alright?”

You nodded and so did Minho. Jeongin beside you squeezed your hand once again before he let go and left the room with the others. It made you feel a bit more at ease, which you were grateful for. Jisung whispered something into Minho’s ear, who pressed his lips together in response. Then, Jisung left too.

“I think we should date,” Minho said again, “It will be good for the company.”

You huffed, “Why would I care about your company?”

It was a simple question. Despite feeling butterflies inside your stomach whenever you saw him, which you would never admit out loud, you were scared. You still felt tense and your heart felt heavy when you thought about what he had said just a few days ago.

“Because we will pay you.”

Your ears perked up at his offer. Your mind wandered to your meeting with your boss that was set for the day after, and suddenly, this seemed like a whole new possibility for you. An opportunity that could possibly be even better than finding a roommate.

Yet, you remembered the words Minho said just a few days ago when he talked to Felix and Hyunjin at the lab.

“Are you sure that you want to be seen with me?” You asked, looking directly into his eyes. Your heart started beating a little bit faster again. So did Minho’s as he looked back at you confusedly. “What?”

“What was it you said? My DNA is below average?”

Minho’s ears turned red. “This is not what I meant.”

“It’s what I heard.”

He sighed, “Listen. We will pay you. We really need this to market our app. It doesn’t even have to be real, just…”

Minho took a step back, “I’m not looking to date now, anyway. We can play pretend and in return, you’ll get paid.”

“How much?”

Minho closed his eyes, “I’ll talk about this with the others again. If you have an amount in mind, I’m sure we can meet in the middle somehow.”

You thought about it again for another second, before you nodded.

“Fine, I’ll do it.”

Minho sighed and opened the door. Jisung and the guy who was sitting beside him stumbled inside the room. It made Minho massage the spot between his eyes and you laughed slightly. Whether out of disbelief or genuine fun was hard to tell.

A few hours later, Jisung had the first copy of the contract in his hand. Everyone sat back down at the table and started talking about the possibilities of this relationship. Or whatever it was, that is. Words you did not understand were being thrown around, they talked about different events the both of you would have to visit together, and eventually, they offered you money. Different amounts, until you looked somewhat pleased. The money they offered would be enough to cover your rent for a few more months. So even if the meeting with your boss would go well, you would still get some extra money for your savings. You read through the entire contract once, and then again.

“Is this gonna affect my actual job in any way?” You asked as you put the pen down. Jisung shook his head, “We’re gonna handle it. It shouldn’t interfere with what you’re doing and we will make sure that you won’t accidentally go to jail for tax evasion.”

You looked up at him and then back down with a sigh. If you went to jail for this with him, at least your roommate would be funny. Eventually, you signed the document without giving it another thought.

“And that’s it,” Minho said, leaning back in his chair. He looked exhausted, just like you did, and his eyes told a story that you did not quite understand yet. The both of you locked eyes with each other for a brief second, before the meeting was declared over. It made the butterflies return and you tried to ignore them as best as you could.

Jeongin got up first and showed you the way back to the entrance. Minho looked after you when you left, his eyes lingering on yours for a few more moments, until you disappeared out of his sight.

“I think it’s great that you’re doing this,” Jeongin said when the both of you were out of earshot from the others.

You snorted, “I think it’s great that I get money out of it.”

“I believe you,” Jeongin laughed. The both of you slowed down and stood in front of the door all by yourself. It was already starting to get dark outside and you felt the light breeze on your skin.

“Minho isn’t all that bad,” he added after some moments of silence. You nodded, desperately hoping that he was right.

act six: planning.

You were supposed to come back the day after. Before that, though, you still had to attend your meeting with your boss. You arrived at work early that day, partly because you wanted to make a good impression and partly because you wanted to clean your desk up a little, just in case. It was not long until your boss asked you to see him.

Sighing, you got up. You could feel the eyes of your co-workers on your frame and the quiet whispers that followed. When you went into your boss’ office, he asked you to close the door.

“There is something I need to talk to you about,” he started right away. You cleared your throat and nodded.

“As you might have heard, the company is planning to let go of some of our employees, now,” when he saw the scared look in your eyes, he shook his head, “This isn’t one of those conversations. Don’t worry.”

To say that you were relieved was an understatement. You looked at your boss and he smiled at your reaction.

“The reason I mentioned this is because I need you to schedule these meetings for me. I have a list of people I’m supposed to meet with for layoffs and promotions and that’s what I need you for.”

He put an entire stack of documents right in front of you. The first one was a list of everyone who was supposed to get fired in the near future. Hastily, your eyes scanned every name on the list, your heart beating inside your chest. Chan’s and Changbin’s names were nowhere to find and you exhaled quietly. They were safe, just like you had expected.

Your boss told you about the specifics and when he would need to see which employee. He went on and on about the specifics, and you noted everything down. Then, he added, “And after we’re all done, I need to schedule an official meeting with you again.”

“With me?” you asked, slightly more nervous than before. Your boss nodded.

“Can I ask what it is about?”

This time, he shook his head, “It’s still somewhat undecided, but we will definitely have to officially meet up one way or another.”

His words sounded ominous, which made you sigh internally. Your fear of getting fired would live on, you thought as you left his office again. Your coworkers stared at you when you walked back to your desk and everyone visibly relaxed when you did not start to clear your desk.

This just meant that you would still keep Minho’s offer to date him. It was not like you were able to get out of it now anyway, since you already signed the contract. The same contract you would discuss again with him after work. The thought of it made you sigh again.

After work, you went right back to STAYwm to meet up with Minho, the stress about your own possible layoff still not leaving your head any time soon. Just like the last few times you came over, Jeongin was already waiting for you behind his desk at the reception. He offered you some sweets right when you walked in, which you gracefully accepted. Then, he showed you the way to the meeting room where Minho was waiting for you.

“Have fun,” Jeongin teased with a wink and your head rolled onto your chest.

“I’ll try.”

Jeongin patted your back before he left, his cheeky laugh still chiming in your ears.

When you opened the door, Minho was sitting at a bigger desk. He was wearing his glasses again this time around and took them off the second he noticed your presence. Minho straightened his posture and stood up, offering you a hand to shake.

“Is this how you greet someone you’re dating?” You joked and Minho frowned, letting his arm fall back to his side.

“We don’t even know what our partnership entails yet,” he said and gestured for you to sit down. Awkwardly, you did and were immediately greeted with your second stack of documents of the day.

“I know that we already talked about what our contract includes, but I wanted to talk about everything in detail with you again, if you don’t mind.”

You nodded in agreement and looked at everything in front of you again.

“What do we have here,” Minho looked through his own papers.

“I was already set to have guest lectures at different campuses all across the country. Originally, I wanted to explain the theoretical aspects of the app, but now that we have you here, we can dive deeper into the practice.”

“The practice?” You joked, “What were you planning on doing in practice?”

“Oh, you know, just telling them about - oh god, don’t.” Minho groaned and rolled his eyes at you. Yet, he could not hide the slight blush that made its way on his cheeks. You laughed lightly, his reaction making your heart soar.

“What do you want me to do on that tour?”

Minho coughed, “We just need you there, I guess. Just tell everyone how happy you are to have joined the app and got to meet me and let me do the rest.”

You hummed and Minho added, “I would visit about five campuses. Would that be alright with you? We will pay for the trip, everything included.”

You nodded, “That sounds fine.”

Minho marked something on his page and turned it around.

“We’ll also have to do an interview together.”

“An interview?”

“Yes, to show the general public that high percentage matches actually exist. I don’t think that they’ll understand the general gist of our actual work, so promoting it in the basic way is the way to go. Which brings me to another point: We’ll also have to post each other on social media from time to time. Just to make it seem more believable. I’m more or less part of the public eye, so it would definitely look suspicious if the founder of a dating app wouldn’t post his partner he’s publicly advertising.”

You smiled again, “So you agree? You’re monetizing your relationship?”

“Not a relationship,” he reminded you somewhat harshly and your smile fell, as did your heart.

“And last but not least, we’ll also have to film an advertisement. Jisung and Seungmin said that it would help and they want us to be a part of it, since we’re advertising the app in person anyway.”

“Sounds like a plan,” you mumbled, unsure how to feel about this. The money, you reminded yourself, you like money.

“And what are we gonna do after?”

Minho frowned, “What do you mean, ‘after’?”

You shifted in your chair, “You know, when this fake relationship is over.”

“We can’t tell anyone that we are dating to promote the app,” Minho said immediately. You huffed, “I gathered that much.”

“Titanium matches don’t guarantee a relationship completely. You can always match with someone else and like them more. This is just about restricting a possible dating pool, not guaranteeing a genetic soulmate.”

“So even when we break up after…”

“Even then we’ll still be able to show that the app is working. Matches can end up being platonic, too.”

“Even for us?” You asked, dreading to hear his answer. Minho paused.

“That’s what we will tell everyone, anyway.”

Later, Minho was still sitting at his table and looked after you as you left, his heart feeling heavy seeing you leave. Jisung came into his office soon after and both men looked at each other.

“Are you sure that you’re okay with all of this?” Jisung asked and Minho clenched his jaw.

“It’s good for the company.”

“But is it good for you? I know that you have fe-”

“Enough.” Minho exhaled, “I can’t put my own needs over the company, how many times do I have to tell you that?”

Jisung pressed his lips together.

“I’m just looking out for you.”

Minho looked up, a sad look across his face.

“Thank you.”

Outside, you yourself ran straight into Jeongin when you closed the door.

“Hi, you’re still here?” He had some more sheets of paper in his arms, probably about whatever Minho had planned to do with you. You looked at him and sighed, closing your eyes for a brief second.

“I’m so tired.”

Jeongin smiled, “So, you match with the boss? How do you feel?”

You sighed again, more dramatically this time.

“It’s whatever. Money is money, I guess.”

Jeongin perks up at that, “So you’re not really interested in dating him?”

“Not really,” You shook your head, a weird feeling settling inside your chest, “And neither is he, if his weird reaction is anything to go by. I doubt that he likes me in any way, shape, or form.”

Jeongin hummed and licked his lips.

“Does that mean you would be up to go on a date? With me?”

He was nervous. One of his hands was playing with the sheets in his arms and his eyebrows were adorably furrowed. You smiled at his gesture. It came as a surprise to you and yet, you were definitely not against it. Jeongin was a great guy and you appreciated him dearly. At least this would take your mind off of Minho.

“Of course I would. Just tell me when and where and I will be there.”

The next day came and with that, you were back at the cafe. Since you skipped lunch with the guys the day before, they were now more than curious to know more about your meeting at the dating company. The three of you were sitting at your usual table, like always, right beside the entrance. Your drinks were already done and the fresh batch of pastries was already sitting in front of you.

“Soo, how did the meeting go?” Changbin asked you again and you hummed.

“I hate to say it, but you guys were right.”

“You’re unlovable?”

You rolled your eyes at Changbin’s words, “I have a match, dumbass.”

“Only one?”

“Only one I know of, yes.”

Chan raised his eyebrow, “Why would they only tell you about one?”

“Because it’s a titanium match,” you hummed and took a bite out of your lunch. Chan and Changbin gasped in unisono.

“A titanium match?”

“Mhm,” you replied and looked at their shocked faces.

“Wasn’t that the super rare one?” Changbin asked in disbelief.

Chan leaned closer towards you, “Who is it?”

“Not telling,” you teased with a cheeky smile, even though you were dying to let your friends know what you were up to. Just as you were about to come up with some fake story to tell them, Minho entered the cafe at the same time like he always did. He had a frown on his face and looked around the cafe. When he spotted you, he sent a smile your way. It seemed almost genuine; the way he crinkled his eyes, and the way his lips curled up at the sight of you. Then, Minho waved at you shily. It was almost comical to see the guy who rarely showed any emotions on his face be so sweet to you. Not that you minded it much, the smile suited him. He looked sweet and it woke the butterflies up once again.

You waved back, although awkwardly, and your friends stared at you. Minho turned his back to your table to order his coffees and his piece of chocolate cake, his usual frown back on his face, as if the moments before never happened.

“Why is he so nice to you?” Changbin whispered and you were almost certain that Minho had heard it, judging by the way his shoulders tensed under his suit. You shrugged earnestly in response. Chan’s eyes jumped between you and Minho. He counted two and two together and snorted. Unsurprisingly, Changbin did not and kept nagging you.

Just when Minho was about to leave the cafe again, he stopped at your table. At first, he said nothing. He was still frowning, just as he was before.

“Can I see you tonight after work?” He asked calmly. If you did not know any better, you would think that his words almost carried some shyness. Your friends’ eyes fell onto your form again. While Chan was giggling into his coffee, Changbin gawked at you.

Minho seemed to notice the confusion at the table and added, “I just wanted to take you out on a date.”

Changbin’s mouth opened while he kept staring at you and Minho. Chan was now almost fully hiding behind his coffee cup, while you tried to stop yourself from acting as fluttered as you felt. Instead, you smiled up at Minho, who was looking at you with a deadpan expression. It was impossible to read what was going on in his mind.

“That would be great,” you said, watching him visibly relax.

“Great,” he answered, taking a step closer towards the door. He nodded towards your friends, before he said, “I’ll text you later. See you!”

Then, he left.

Changbin turned fully towards you now, while Changbin started laughing.

“What the hell was that?”

You took your own drink into your hands and took a sip out of it, awkwardly trying to change the topic but to no avail.

act seven: dating.

As promised, Minho texted you to let you know about the meeting he had set up for the both of you the same night. It was less of a date and more another opportunity for the both of you to get to know each other. Yet, the day of you still decided to drop by at the cafe before you went over to get both of you something to drink and a piece of chocolate cake for him. The same one he always ordered for himself whenever he came over. If Yeonjun noticed anything, he did not comment on it. He only smirked when he handed you your order and wished you a nice day.

When you arrived at the company building, Jeongin was, for once, not sitting at his desk. He must have been on a break or running some errands. The both of you had not talked since he had asked you out on a date. Yet, you did not think too much of it, since the both of you were busy, anyway. You made your way over to Minho's office and knocked on the door.

You went inside and saw him sitting at his desk again. He was not wearing his suit jacket this time. It hung neatly behind him on his desk chair. His eyes behind his glasses were scanning the screen of his computer in front of him and he stared at it with a serious look on his face, somewhat irritated, even. When he noticed you in his office, he looked up.

“Hi,” you greeted him. Minho only nodded for you to sit down in the chair opposite of his.

“Give me a minute to finish this, please.”

You nodded and did as he asked, deciding to ignore the thumping inside your chest. After that, you studied his expression while he was typing. His eyebrows were slightly furrowed. There were creases on his forehead and his pinkish lips were slightly ajar. He was wearing his glasses with the black frame, the same one he wore the first time you saw him at the lab. As you were studying his face, you noticed that he looked slightly younger than you thought he was. He was just a man in his mid-twenties, an attractive one at that. You could barely believe that someone as beautiful as him was supposed to be in your life, if science did not play a cruel joke on you.

“So,” he interrupted your thought process and focused on you again, “You’re here to discuss our first campus presentation again, correct?”

You affirmed his question and put your drinks and the piece of chocolate cake on top of his table.

“I didn’t know how long this would take, so I got us a little something, if you don’t mind.”

Minho glanced at the cup of coffee and the piece of chocolate cake and right back up into your eyes. There was something sincere about his confusion when he said, “This is not a real date.”

You felt your face heat up and stared down at your hands.

“I know, I just thought it would be nice. You don’t need to accept it if you don’t want to.”

A silence spread between the both of you, until Minho cleared his throat.

“Thank you,” he declared eventually, “Let me know how much it was and I’ll send you the money later.”

You shook your head, “It’s fine, it’s my treat.”

“Thank you,” The corners of his lips perked up slightly. Neither of you said anything else after that. Minho was skimming through the sheets on his desk, while you took some sips out of your drink, not noticing his longing glances in between his searches.

“I hope I’m not overstepping when I say this, but don’t you think we should get to know each other before we present ourselves in public together?”

Minho fully looked up at what you said. “Huh?”

“I mean,” you shifted on your chair, “Wouldn’t people be able to tell that we’re not dating if I can’t even tell them what your favourite colour is?”

“Why would anyone ask you for my favourite colour?”

“It’s,” you sighed, shaking your head, “It’s whatever. What did you want to tell me?”

Minho hesitated, “I wanted to show you my notes and maybe post something on social media already?”

“What did you have in mind?”

Minho shrugged.

Suddenly, he said, “I’m sorry.”

“What for?” You furrowed your eyebrows.

Minho shifted in his chair uncomfortably. “I’m sorry for what I said about you.”

“Oh,” you answered, pressing your lips together, “I don’t care that this isn’t a real date.”

He leaned forwards in his chair, looking at your face.

“I didn’t want to apologise for that,” he said softly, his eyes still on yours, “I wanted to apologise for what I said in the lab when you visited.”

“That I’m below average?” You pressed your lips together.

Sighing, Minho answered, “I didn’t mean it like that.”

“Sounded like you did.”

Silence.

“We just haven’t had the chance to open our app to the general public yet.”

“Then why did you allow Jisung to recruit us?”

Minho huffed, “He kinda has a mind of his own, in case you couldn’t tell.”

“Whatever,” you said, looking away, “I know that you didn’t want me to join because you think I’m below your average and now we’re here. So what’s the point in arguing?”

Confusedly, Minho stated, “You’re not. You’re perfectly average.”

You rolled your eyes and replied, “I’m sorry that I don’t know how any of this science stuff works. I’m just trying to afford being alive, one way or another. I’m not here to impress you or actually date you, don’t worry.”

You stood up, “Just send me everything via E-Mail again or send me a text. I’d prefer to leave now.”

When you left, Minho just looked after you.

On your way out, you ran into Jeongin

“You’re back already?” He asked excitedly, but stopped in his tracks the second he saw your sour expression.

“Minho?” He added instead and you nodded, rolling your eyes.

“I feel like this was a bad idea.”

Jeongin smiled lightly, “Do you want to talk? I’ll buy you a drink later and you can tell me how awful my boss is.”

You nodded, “This is exactly what I need right now.”

At the same time, Jisung walked right past you into Minho’s office.

“What did you do?” Jisung asked him right away. Minho looked up from his desk, his chocolate cake half eaten in front of him.

“Pardon?”

Jisung sat down on the same chair you had sat on just moments before.

“I asked you what you did, dumbass.”

“Nothing?”

Jisung rolled his eyes dramatically, “Then why is your titanium match planning to get drunk with Jeongin?”

Minho pressed his lips together. “I don’t care what they’re planning.”

His best friend leaned in closer, watching the corners of Minho’s lips twitch.

“Liar. You’re nervous. What did you do?”

Minho sighed, pushing his jealousy away, “I tried to apologise for being an ass and it kinda backfired. Because I’m not only an ass, I’m also stupid.”

“What did you say?”

“I told them that they’re perfectly average.”

Jisung groaned, “That’s like, the last thing someone you’re in a relationship with wants to hear.”

“Not a real relationship.”

“Dumbass.”

When Jisung tried to kick Minho under the table, Minho kicked back and Jisung winced.

“I didn’t mean it like that. They overheard me talk to Hyunjin and Felix about the new samples. We saw them walk past the lab and they looked very dishevelled to say the least. All I said was that I’m not sure whether we should include samples from the general public yet and they misunderstood me. It’s not my fault.”

Pulling his feet under his chair, Jisung asked, “Do they know that?”

Minho rubbed his eyes, “Why do you need to make everything more complicated than it is?”

You waited for Jeongin to finish up in the parking lot. He had offered to drive you to the bar, which you gratefully accepted. While waiting, you got a new notification on your phone. Minho had tagged you in his Instagram story, it said. Hesitantly, you opened it and were greeted with a picture of the chocolate cake you had bought him. The caption read "My favourite from my favourite” with a red heart at the end of the sentence. You smiled when you saw it, a warmth spreading inside your chest as you read his words. Then, you remembered the fight you just had. It wasn’t real, you told yourself, shaking your head as Jeongin approached you. He’s just doing all of this for appearances.

“Are you ready to go?” Jeongin greeted you and you nodded with a slight smile. The both of you did some small talk until you reached the bar. Inside, Jeongin ordered you and himself something to drink. He sat down beside you and smacked his lips.

“Care to share what he did?”

You took a sip out of your drink. “Remember the first day my friends and I came over?”

“Clear as day.” Jeongin confirmed.

“When I went to the bathroom while you guys were talking, I walked past the lab, the one Hyunjin and Felix worked at.”

You considered what to say next and played with the drink in your hand for a few seconds. “Minho was there with them. He talked about how even ‘below average participants’ should be allowed to find love. Considering that you mentioned that we’re one of the first non-science people to join, I’m pretty sure that he was talking about Chan, Changbin, and I.”

Jeongin hummed, “Did he mention you directly?”

“No,” you shook your head, “but he apologised for it earlier.”

“He did?” Jeongin appeared surprised. You nodded.

“He called me ‘perfectly average’, whatever that means.”

Jeongin took another sip out of his drink and snorted in response.

“Are you sure that you were talking about the same thing?”

“What else would he be talking about?”

It was silent, before Jeongin answered, “Minho can be somewhat peculiar at times. Not sure how else to say it, but he likes to talk with his big science terms and I know that he seems cold at first, but I promise, if you give him a real chance, he can be a good friend.”

“Are you saying this because you’re working for him?”

“I’m saying this because he’s one of my best friends,” Jeongin insisted.

You apologised, “I’m sorry, I didn’t know.”

“That’s why I’m telling you,” he smiled at you in response, “If we’re being completely honest, I’m barely qualified for this job. I heard about the app in one of his very early guest lectures, back when the app was only a theory and not a practice, and I was immediately sold. I wasn’t smart enough to work in the lab with him, but Seungmin and I still wanted to help out. That’s why he got both of us a job; me at the reception and Seungmin is part of the marketing department now. We believed in him and in return, he believed in us. We got a lot closer, too. This job helps me finance my studies. I’m currently working on my masters and I wouldn’t be able to if it weren’t for him.”

“I didn’t know,” you admitted, but Jeongin shook his head, “Minho is a good guy. He even buys us coffee every single day out of his own pocket and he never asks for anything back. The second you break through his initial cold demeanour, you will realise just how wonderful he actually is.”

“I guess so.”

You thought about what Jeongin had just told you. Part of you still believed that Minho had insulted you, whereas the other part wanted to believe that it was a misunderstanding. After all, this was the guy who matched with you almost perfectly, one way or another.

“But enough about him,” Jeongin mused, “I don’t think I ever asked you, but did you find out about your other matches too by any chance?”

You shook your head in response, “They never updated my app. I just assumed that Minho was the only one.”

Jeongin smiled shyly and took his phone out of his pocket. He opened the dating app on his phone and showed you your profile. It was a picture of you and your name, your general interests, and the number 64 right above your head.

“We had a match?” you asked surprisedly, suddenly feeling shy, and Jeongin nodded.

“A gold match. I didn’t know if you knew, though. And I don’t want you to think that I only asked you out because of the app, I really only saw it this morning. I rarely ever check it if I’m being honest.”

“Wow,” you answered, peeking at his phone again, “That’s such a high number?”

“We don’t need to do anything about it,” Jeongin assured you immediately, “I just really like spending time with you.”

You smiled shily, “You’re a great guy to be around, Jeongin.”

“But?”

You sighed, suddenly feeling embarrassed again, “But I’m not sure if I’m actually looking to date someone right now. I feel like it would kinda ruin the purpose of my newfound fake relationship with your boss.”

In response, he just laughed, “It’s all good with me. But can I ask you why you signed up for it? If you don’t mind sharing.”

“It’s embarrassing,” you mumbled, shifting in your seat.

“Just tell me,” Jeongin teased you, “It can stay between the both of us.”

Following that promise, you told Jeongin about the layoffs at your work, at your fears of losing your apartment, and your desire to find a roommate. He did not laugh at you once and only hummed at everything you said. Then, he said, “I’m actually looking for a roommate, too. Seungmin’s moving out and I can’t really cover the rent by myself.”

“Really?”

Jeongin nodded in confirmation and you laughed, “Please tell me that you’re offering to move in with me.”

“If you’re up to it, absolutely,” he agreed happily.

Over the course of your date, the both of you got to know each other more. You told each other about your lives, where you came from, your hobbies; literally everything that came to your mind. It was easy to be around Jeongin, you noted. He was easy to talk to and a great friend, but you were missing the spark the app had promised you. It was what he told you, too, when your conversation went back to your match.

“Aren’t matches supposed to be romantic?” You asked him, but he just shrugged.

“Not necessarily.”

Following that, he asked hesitantly, “Can I kiss you?”

It was a simple request, but it made you feel somewhat guilty. You thought about Minho and the relationship you had, that you already treasured despite it being in the weird state that it was. Minho did not like you, you knew that, and everything was fake anyway, so what would be wrong with having some fun with a nice guy you liked? You nodded, shily, after hesitating for a quick second, and allowed him to lean in. His lips were soft. They felt easy against yours. He cupped your cheeks carefully and pulled you in, allowing you space in case you needed it. Jeongin rubbed your cheeks with his thumbs each before he pulled away. It had been a nice kiss, probably one of the nicest kisses you have ever had. And yet, it was nothing compared to what you felt when Minho was around you.

“And?” He licked his lips.

“Nope. You?”

“Nothing.”

You both laughed and he let go of your face. Your heart was beating fast. Whether it was out of guilt or excitement, you could not tell.

“Maybe we’re just a platonic match,” he suggested, “It happens too, but rarely anyone cares about it.”

You smiled at his words, feeling more at ease now, “I would love that, actually.”

The kiss had sparked a more comfortable conversation between the both of you. All previous expectations were thrown out of the window and were replaced with nothing but platonic love from either of you. Plans were made, including both of you talking about moving in together in more detail. It made you feel more at ease with your thoughts and maybe, just maybe, this entire situation was actually benefiting you.

That night, you fell asleep thinking about platonic soulmates. If what Jeongin said was true, you could be friends with Minho, too, eventually. And the possibility of that future was more than enough for you.

act eight: lecturing.

The first campus presentation came just a few days after. It was for a local university, so there was no need for you to travel far out. Minho had offered to take you there, but you still felt awkward because of what had happened, which is why you declined it as nicely as you could. The both of you would meet up in the parking lot insead, about half an hour before the lecture started.

You were wearing a casual outfit like you usually did, since you did not think to dress up for this, but when you spotted Minho, you were scared that you should have. Minho was wearing his usual white shirt with rolled up sleeves and a tie, along with his black slacks and a watch on his left wrist. On top of that, he was wearing his black framed glasses again, which he pushed up with his pointer finger while he was waiting for you.

He looked insanely handsome, you noted, all while trying to minimise your staring. There was an effortlessly handsomeness about him and it was hard for you to suppress these thoughts. You thought about the kiss you had shared with Jeongin for a brief moment, before your mind wandered back to the man right in front of you. The possibility to explore what Jeongin and you felt for each other had been freeing, in a way. You knew that you had felt a spark between Jeongin and yourself and maybe, what you felt for Minho would translate into the same.

“Good Evening,” Minho greeted you the second he saw you. His words startled you and ripped you away from your thoughts.

“Hi.”

The both of you had not talked since the day in his office, beside some casualties concerning the lecture today. The air between the both of you was almost tense, although primarily insanely awkward.

“Do you want to take a picture?” Minho asked out of the blue and you nodded.

“Do you want to give me your phone or is it okay if I take it with mine?”

The corner of Minho’s lips twitched slightly, “Mine.”

He reached into his pocket and handed his phone to you. You still caught a glimpse of his lockscreen, a picture of three cats huddled together. It made you smile.

Minho took a step closer to you, while you took a step back and put his phone over your face.

“On three?” “What are you doing?”

Both of you just stared at each other.

“Do you not want me to take a picture of you?”

Minho’s lips twitched again, “I want to take a picture of us together.”

“Oh.” You turned his phone around and the selfie camera on. Even though both of you were in the frame, you were still standing a few feet apart.

Minho reached out for you, his fingertips barely grazing your hips.

“Is it okay if I touch you?” His eyes fell onto your lips. You nodded, his light touch already sending tingles down your spine.

Minho hummed and grabbed your waist to pull you into his chest. Your breath hitched at the sudden contact. He pressed his cheek against yours, smirking into the camera as if nothing had happened.

His hands were still on you when you took a few pictures, his soft gaze never leaving your face.

“Is that all?” You asked and Minho nodded.

“Can we add a picture with you kissing me on my cheek?” he suggested, his ears turning pink. “I’ll post them on my socials, just to let people know that you’re with me today.”

Right. You were taking pictures as part of the contract you had made with him.

Gently, you got out of his grasp.

“I think we have enough for now.”

Minho only pressed his lips together and nodded.

Neither of you said anything when you made your way around the campus to get to the lecture hall. Instead, you were biting your lower lip thinking about what was to come. It made you nervous to think about meeting a group of people who you would have to lie to, despite not all of it being untrue.

At that moment, Minho’s hand brushed yours. It was brief and barely noticeable, but you appreciated the gesture nonetheless.

“I will do all the talking,” he commented, “You just sit there and look pretty, alright?”

You caught a glimpse of him from the corner of your eyes. Pretty? Instead of interrogating him about what he meant by his words, you just smiled back at him, your heart jumping around wildly in your chest.

The lecture hall was only half as big as you expected it to be. There were only about twenty people in the room, maybe even less, most of them in their late teens and early twenties. Minho greeted the audience in front of him, as did you. He gestured for you to sit down on a chair close to the entrance, before he started preparing his lecture. You did as he asked and tried to ignore everyone’s eyes on you.

It was not long until Minho began to speak. He explained the basis of the app, the basic structure of their research, and eventually told them everything about matches as they knew it. His speech was more difficult to follow than Jeongin’s introduction, you noted. He had a deadpan expression on his face, the way he usually did, except that his lips twitched slightly whenever the silence went on for too long. Eventually, Minho started talking about why he created the app.

“I started this as an experiment to prove that, yes, everyone is compatible with someone else in some way, shape, or form. This app is designed for individuals who might not believe in finding love on their own accord. Individuals who lost all hope in finding someone who will actually match with them.”

Minho hesitated, before he added, “No one is broken. Not when it comes to science.”

The silence after that sentence made your heart ache. His words sounded so sincere, so hopeful, that you were wondering what the truth behind them was.

Minho avoided your gaze when he looked at your section. Then, he started talking about the different kinds of matches in detail again.

“A titanium match is still rare,” he explained, “given that our data pool is still very small, but it is not impossible. I myself was lucky enough to find my titanium match myself, and I have them with me today.”

Minho pointed towards you. It caught you off guard, in a way, and you felt yourself heat up because of the sudden attention on you. In response, Minho just smirked lightly.

After the lecture was over, several students flocked around your fake boyfriend to ask him questions about the app itself and offered to join it themselves. Minho lit up at the chance to explain everything again in detail, and it made you smile to see him be this ecstatic about something.

In the haste, you did not notice that one of the students approached you. It was a tall guy with colourful hair in his early twenties. He offered you a polite nod, before he started to ask you about the app as well. His main questions were about what it was like to date your titanium match. The way his eyes lit up almost made you feel bad for being unable to give him a truthful answer.

“It’s like someone has it all written out for me,” is what you decided on, and the guy just smiled widely.

“I can’t wait to join the research!”

It made your heart drop to your stomach.

Eventually, Minho and you were the last one left in the hall. He appeared to be surprised to see you. Just when you were about to ask him if you were about to leave, he said, “You’re still here?”

“I figured it would be something your partner should do.” You wavered.

Minho pressed his lips together, his excitement from earlier long forgotten.

“Just go.”

You exhaled and nodded embarrassedly and were out of the room before he could say another word. Minho watched you go and sighed to himself.

“It wouldn’t end well, anyway.”

Although the both of you were supposed to go to the company after the lecture to hand in some of your notes, you arrived at different times. You greeted Jeongin at the door, who just waved at you, completely immersed into his work. On the way to Minho’s office, you met Felix. You had talked to him a few times. Although you were not as close to him as you were to Jeongin, you still enjoyed his company greatly.

“Hi, how did the first lecture go?” He asked right away and you sighed.

“He’s so irritating,” you responded and Felix laughed, “He can be. But he will warm up to you eventually, I promise.”

You hummed in response, not quite believing in his words, which made Felix laugh again.

“Jeongin keeps saying the same god damn thing.”

The conversation was interrupted when Jeongin and Minho came your way. Both of them were talking to each other. Jeongin already had Minho’s notes in his arms and was waiting to add yours to the mix.

“Hi!” Jeongin greeted you and you visibly relaxed at his presence. You smiled at him and took a step forward.

“Hi, how are you?”

Minho beside Jeongin tensed at your interaction. He glanced between the both of you, before he went up to Felix. Then, he turned around to address you and Jeongin.

“We have some data to discuss,” Minho explained, straightening his back, “So if you don’t mind, I’d kindly ask you to leave. You can give Jeongin your notes. Good Night.”

Your heart fell at his words. Jeongin turned to you and took your notes out of your hands.

“Are you coming over to mine tonight?” He asked you, just before Minho shushed Felix into his office. You nodded in response and Jeongin lit up.

“Great, I already got snacks and everything ready.”

The both of you bid Minho and Felix goodbye before you walked back towards the entrance. When you were gone, Minho pressed his lips together and turned around to go into his office. Felix’ eyes followed him, partly confused and partly worried.

Jisung, who had been waiting inside Minho’s office, noticed his sour mood.

“Are you okay?”

Minho shook his head, “I’m fine. Let’s get this over with.”

“Are you sure that there’s nothing you want to talk about?”

Jisung looked at Minho and got up. Minho sighed, turning away from his friend.

“There’s nothing to talk about.”

Hesitantly, Jisung put his hand on Minho’s shoulder. He did not move it away.

“There’s nothing going on between them.”

Minho huffed, “I don’t care.”

“I think you do.”

It had been a few days since you and Jeongin had talked about moving in with each other. Today would be the day you were supposed to help him pack his things, so he could bring some of his belongings over to your apartment already. Additionally, and as promised, Jeongin had bought all of your favourite snacks as a thank you for helping him move. They were neatly stacked on top of his kitchen counter when you came in.

While you guys were packing all of his things together into boxes, he asked you a few questions about the lecture you had attended today. Minho was the only one who attended them; Felix and Hunyjin only joined him occasionally if they were needed, which is why Jeongin was curious. On top of that, he just really wanted to know how you were holding up, since you seemed a bit off the entire time the both of you had been packing.

“He did a good job,” you admitted and put some of Jeongin’s albums into boxes, “I just think that pretending to date me is kinda hard.”

Jeongin laughed at your words, “I have a hard time believing that you guys have to pretend that much. I saw the pictures you took on campus the other day. Plus, you still got a high match, there’s no way it’s always awkward between you?”

“I mean, Minho’s something, I’ll give you that much.”

Jeongin shook his head, “You’re still not over what you thought he said, hm?”

“I know what I heard,” you huffed, “And I know that he apologised for it. But he was kinda mean to me again today.”

“What happened?”

You put some of his books into the box next, “I was waiting for him after the lecture and he kinda told me to just leave and that I didn’t have to wait.”

Jeongin hummed, “Isn’t that nice of him? Why did you wait for him anyway? I thought you didn’t have to?”

“Well,” you defended yourself, “Shouldn’t his partner have to wait for him until he’s done? Because we’re so in love or whatever?”

Your mind wandered back to the outfit he had been wearing. The strong arms he had been flexing every time he moved. Which he did a lot; Minho liked to highlight his sentences with different gestures, which sent sparks straight down your spine. He even did it while he was talking one on one to the students who had been asking him questions, which was one of the reasons why you had stayed behind. Minho was simply so distracting, you could not help yourself.

“Of course,” Jeongin replied, “I’m sure there was no other reason.”

You rolled your eyes at his words, “He’s still kind of an ass.”

“He’s not. He’s just hurt. I’m sure he likes you a lot.”

“The way little boys tease the kids they got a crush on?”

Jeongin paused, “The way someone with a broken heart tries to not get hurt again.”

It was quiet after that. You did not say another word, and neither did Jeongin. You packed the remaining things for today, before Jeongin asked if you wanted to take a break. You nodded and waited for him to order your dinner. When everything was said and done, and the both of you were sitting on his couch together, you decided to continue the conversation from earlier again.

“What did you mean when you said he was hurt?” You asked quietly, but Jeongin only shook his head.

“I don’t think it’s my place to tell you. Just wait until he does, okay? Just trust me when I say that you guys would go along greatly if you gave it a chance.”

act nine: lying.

The second campus tour you were supposed to be attending was about a week later. You were given the same instructions as last time, only today, you and Minho would drive up to the campus together. It was another lecture this time at a place not too far away, but still far enough that driving there together would make it easier for both of you. At least when it came to transportation; the social aspect was more than draining for both of you.

Minho had offered to pick you up at your home, which you hesitantly accepted. When you got into the car, he greeted you with a nod. He was standing beside the passenger seat and wearing the same outfit as last time, you noted. Minho opened the door for you and closed it behind you when you sat down. Then, he walked around the car to get to his seat and started talking.

“This is for you.” Minho handed you a paper bag, before he turned the car on. Curious, you looked inside and were greeted with the same order you always got at the cafe the both of you went to. It was your favourite drink of theirs and your favourite pastry Kai always made for you.

You looked at it, your lips slightly ajar. “Oh.”

When you glanced at Minho out of the corner of your eyes, you noticed a shy smile on his face. His ears were a light shade of pink and he nervously tipped his fingers on the steering wheel. Then, the corners of his lips twitched.

“Thank you,” you said, and your hand reached towards your wallet. Minho gripped the wheel a little bit tighter.

“It’s fine,” he said, almost smirking when he repeated your own words right back at you. “It’s my treat.”

You looked down and smiled, thanking him again. Then, your smile fell.

“Do you want me to post a picture of it for Instagram?”

Minho furrowed his eyebrows, “I mean, if you want to?”

“Is that not why you got it for me?”

The corners of Minho’s lips twitched again.

Then, he said quietly, “I guess I did.”

You gulped and nodded, taking your phone out to take a picture. You posted it to your story and only added a simple red heart and tagged Minho, before putting it back into your pocket.

Not a lot of words were exchanged on your way to the campus. Silently, you ate the pastry and drank your beverage. Minho did not say anything either, so the both of you drove in almost comfortable silence while sharing longing glances.

The campus was only a few more minutes away, when Minho suddenly spoke up again. His grip around the steering wheel tightened again and you noticed his lips twitch ever so lightly.

“I don’t mind that you’re dating while we’re promoting this project,” he started, not noticing your puzzled expression, “Just please try to keep it under the wraps, at least until we’re laying low again.”

“I’m not dating anyone,” you said and Minho bit his lips, “I’m taking this seriously.”

Minho hummed, failing to ignore the green monster inside his chest, “It’s really okay. You don’t need to play it up, I don’t care.”

“Why do you keep doing this?” The words were out before you could stop yourself. Minho glanced over at you.

“Do what?”

Frustratedly, you put your hands up, and said, “All of this. I signed the contract too, I know what we’re doing. I’m not dating anyone and I don’t even want to.”

“Oh.”

A sign on the street indicated that you almost reached the campus.

“Then please don’t flirt with anyone while we’re dating, especially not with one of my employees.”

You shook your head and looked out of the window. “We’re not even really dating.”

Against your better judgement, you listened to the evil little voice inside your head that tried to convince you that Minho was insulting you again. It made your heart break, little by little.

Did he assume you were throwing yourself at Jeongin because you were not good enough for the scientists working in the building? Did he think you were not attractive for anyone else?

“Whatever,” Minho interrupted your thoughts and sighed and turned the car around to park, “I’m sorry I overstepped. Your private life is none of my business.”

He got out first and opened your door for you again. You looked up at him and for a brief moment, the both of you locked eyes.

His eyes were beautiful. They were a deep, dark brown, almost back. His long eyelashes gently touched his cheekbones whenever he blinked and was that makeup he was wearing? It was some eyeliner and light eyeshadow and it made him look angelic. Minho leaned a bit closer towards you and your breath hitched, the butterflies in your stomach dancing around..

“I forgot my wallet,” he mumbled and leaned even closer. His shoulder brushed yours when he grabbed his wallet from the console between both of your seats. He smelled like vanilla, you noticed. One of his hands grabbed the back of your seat and before he leaned back, his shoulder brushed yours again. It made your heart jump around inside your chest even more and you tried your best to level your breathing.

“Shall we go?” Minho stood up straight. The corners of his lips curled up, while you were still processing how close the both of you just had been. “Yeah.”

The lecture went smoother this time around. Minho read the same script as last time, but he actually glanced into your direction while he was speaking. After he finished his initial lecture, you packed all of your things and already went outside. You did not want to repeat what happened last time and opted to wait at his car instead.

When Minho noticed your absence, he ended his Q&A session earlier this time around. He went back to his car almost right away and opened the doors for you.

“You should have said something,” he commented, taking your bag out of your hands to put them into the trunk, “I would’ve given you my keys.”

You shook your head, “I didn’t want to interrupt you.”

“You would never interrupt me.”

His words and his cologne were still clouding your head when you went back to work the next day. You were meeting up with Changbin and Chan for your lunch break again, when the teasing started.

“So, what’s it like to date the CEO?” Changbin asked you again, the same way he did almost every single day ever since Minho had unofficially asked you out in front of them.

You rolled your eyes, “It’s complicated.”

“Uhhh,” Chan giggled and you hit his arm in return. “Leave me alone!”

“We’re just teasing,” Chan excused himself and added with a softer smile, “We’re just happy that everything’s working out for you. We know how stressed you’ve been. If anyone deserves a nice roommate and a rich boyfriend, it’s you.”

Guilt crawled its way back into your chest. You still had not told your closest friends about the fake relationship. They still thought that the both of you were in love, and even went so far to tease Minho himself whenever he was around.

The bell at the entrance rang and interrupted your thoughts. It was Minho. He had his usual suit without his glasses on. He looked the same way as the first time you saw him, you thought. The frown on his face was still present when he opened the door, but softened the second he laid his eyes on you. It made your heart jump in your chest.

“Hi,” he greeted you and your friends, before he went to the counter to give Soobin his order.

Your friends chuckled. “Speaking of the devil.”

They were facing the counter and watched Minho give up his order. Since you sat with your back to him, you tried to coax your friends into talking about something else, but to no avail. They kept giggling like little school girls every time Minho allegedly pepped into your direction, which seemed to be every other second, if their cheeky grins were anything to go by.

Before Minho was able to leave, Changbin called him over to your table. “Do you have a minute?”

Minho looked at you, while you nodded slightly, before he decided to say yes. He sat down beside you, and put his coffees on the table in front of him.

Confused, you looked over at Changbin, who pressed his lips together.

“What’s your deal?” He deadpanned. Minho glanced at you from the corner of his eye, “Uh?”

Changbin leaned closer. He put his elbows on top of the table and flexed his arms. Minho, who objectively spent less time at the gym, pretended that it did not intimidate him as much as it did. You, however, noticed the way the corners of his lips twitched; a sign that he was nervous. It was something you had picked up on during his lectures and you immediately told Changbin to cut him some slack. The bigger man just glared at Minho again, before he exploded in a laugh.

“Just testing the waters,” Changbin said and Chan beside him groaned, “How old are you? I’m so sorry for him. I’m Chan, it’s nice to meet you.”

Minho’s lips twitched again, but this time his eyes crinkled barely noticeable in unisono.

“Not too old to make sure my friend isn’t dating a douchebag,” Changbin argued back and you smiled. “And I thank you for that, my knight in shining armour.”

“At your service,” he saluted, “but I do want to know more about the guy who managed to date you out of all people.”

“It was very easy,” Minho said with a smirk and you coughed.

“I don’t want to hear all of this,” you stood up, “and I need to go to the bathroom, anyway. Just don’t be too hard on him, okay?”

It was not that you wanted to leave Minho behind. On the contrary, you wanted him to leave instead. You hated lying to your friends; you hated keeping a secret as big as this one from them. You wanted to do nothing more than tell them about this contract, tell them about how annoying Minho could be. You just wanted to tell them that, despite everything, you still somewhat caught feelings for the man who dated you to promote his own company. What started as a way to make some easy money was biting you in the ass now, hard. And you did not know what to do anymore.

While your thoughts consumed you in the bathroom, your friends interrogated Minho more seriously this time around. While you were away and they had a moment with Minho by themselves without you closeby, they asked him about his first impression he had, what he thought of you, where he saw this relationship going, and the reason why he was dating you. Changbin and Chan were worried about you, which Minho admired greatly. It made his heart full, knowing that you had people like them around who truly cared about you.

“I like them,” he answered truthfully, hoping that you would take your sweet time in the bathroom. He knew that you disappeared because you felt uncomfortable. In moments like this, he wondered if the contract was really worth it and ever so often, the little voice in his head told him off. As much as he wanted to be selfish and have you to himself, he knew that this contract just ruined the both of you. Yet, he did not know how to tell you how he really felt, which is why he settled on telling your friends instead. They would know that it was the truth, he thought, they would not believe that it was a lie; not the way you probably did.

“I’ve always liked them,” he added carefully, “The way they smile, the way they laugh, the way they scrunch their eyebrows every time I talk about work. I like the way they try to understand what I’m talking about, even when it’s way too specific. The data I’m working with, I mean, the data that brought us together.”

Minho noticed that he was rambling and apologised quickly, but Chan just smiled at him.

“It’s nice to see you be so in love,” he chuckled, “I remember when we saw you coming in day after day with that serious face. I’m sorry if I’m crossing any boundaries when I’m saying this, but I’m genuinely happy to see you guys together. Especially since Y/N wouldn’t stop pining over you. Not to call them out on this, but they’ve been doing it pretty much since you started coming here.”

“Ah,” Minho said, blushing furiously now. “I guess we have something in common, then. Before the actual results were out, I actually checked to see if our DNA matched all by myself. When we got the titanium match, I thought it was just my wishful thinking, but then Felix and Hyunjin confirmed it and I just.”

You heard the smile in Minho’s voice when you made your way back to the table. It made you stop in your tracks, and you felt your heart beat inside your whole body.

“I just like the way they ground me. I know that I can be a lot sometimes, but having them around really helps me loosen up a little, even though they might not know it. I like the way they make me feel. I just like having them around. I can’t tell you what they want out of this relationship, because,” Minho chucked humorlessly, “I don’t know where this will go. I just know that I want to stay by their side if they let me. I will stay by their side for as long as they want me to.”

Your heart stopped at his words. You locked eyes with Chan, who started smiling softly. From behind, you saw Minho’s beet red ears peeking out of his dark hair and you could not help but smile too when you saw it.

You went back to the table as if nothing had happened. When you sat down beside Minho, your shoulder brushed his and you saw the faint pink on his cheeks.

“I need to go now,” he said suddenly, standing up. Minho nodded at your friends.

“It was nice meeting you.”

“Likewise,” Changbin hummed and patted his back lightly, “Don’t be a stranger, alright?”

Minho smiled with his eyes closed, “I’ll try.”

Then, he turned back to you.

“See you later?” he asked shily, and you nodded, “Yeah.”

Minho smiled and leaned down towards you. Next, he pressed his lips against your temple. It was a soft kiss, barely noticeable on your skin, but it sent fire through your entire body. You felt yourself heat up, like you did every so often whenever he was around. His hand grazed yours and his eyelids dropped, his attention entirely on you.

Suddenly, it stopped. Minho’s face went back to normal, the only thing hinting at his real feelings was the twitch in his lips and the red adorning his ears. Then, he left. Your eyes followed him in a longing gaze.

“You guys are so cute it makes me ill.”

“Huh?” You blinked a few times, noticing that your eyes were still set on where Minho had been sitting.

Changbin gagged in response and Chan rolled his eyes.

“I think he’s a good guy.”

You breathed out quietly, your mind wandering back to the lecture you had visited just yesterday.

“I guess so.”

Even though your contract and the money involved had helped you out immensely, you were still tied to your old job. The layoffs had been going smoothly, at least as smoothly as firing people could go. It probably would have been harder on you if it were not for your confusing feelings for Minho keeping your mind busy. That was, until your boss finished his last meeting concerning the layoffs. His next one would be with you, and it was set for today already.

The money you had saved was enough to keep your head over water, at least for a few months. Your new living situation had also relieved some of the stress you were feeling, which is why you were almost relaxed when you walked into your boss’ office. Almost.

“Y/N, it’s nice to see you,” your boss greeted you and told you to sit down. You did as he asked and waited for him to continue.

“I know that the last few weeks have been hard on all of us,” he started and you already saw your career flash in front of your eyes. Instead of saying anything out loud, you adapted a neutral face and nodded; the same way you saw Minho doing it countless times before.

Your boss cleared his throat before he continued, “I just wanted to let you know that you were doing a fantastic job. I heard that you’re currently taking a second job at STAYwm?”

Oh. Your heart started beating a bit faster at his words and your neutral demeanour almost cracked.

“I am,” you answered truthfully, “I hope that’s not a problem?”

Insecurity made its way into your voice, and your boss seemed to notice. He sighed, “It actually does.”

Your heart dropped.

“You’re doing such a great job. If I’m being honest, I’m actually kinda scared you might want to leave us in the near future.” He laughed and you furrowed your eyebrows.

“Leaving? Is this another -”

“It isn’t,” he shook his head hastily, “I actually wanted to offer you a promotion. You know, just a little motivation to keep your job here. I’m saying this off the record, but everything has improved since you started working here. That’s why I wanted to offer you more money instead of having you work two jobs and possibly neglecting the great work you’ve been doing here.”

Truthfully, a promotion had been the last thing on your mind. Between being worried about a layoff and someone finding out that you were not actually dating Minho, you never thought that this would lead to a promotion at your main job.

You blinked a few times, before you simply answered, “Thank you.”

Your boss smiled, “Would you mind getting both of us coffee so we can discuss this further?”

You nodded and got up.

“Of course, I’ll be right back.”

He hummed in response, “And you’ll stay here, right?”

“To be honest, I don’t see myself working at STAYwm in the long run, anyway.”

And with that, you left.

A weight lifted itself off your chest the second you felt the fresh air on your skin when you stepped outside the building. You could not believe your luck. You had more money saved up than you could hope for; you had a roommate who was the sweetest guy you had ever met; you got a promotion at the job you loved; you got friends who loved and supported you every step of the way; and you got the best boyfriend -

You stopped yourself. You were on such a high still that you forgot about that silly little detail in your life. This contract would ruin you, you thought, and you felt as if it had already done so. You knew that Minho did not mean what he said to your friends, so why did you so desperately wish that it was real? That he wanted you and to be with you, the same way you wanted him.

You sighed and started walking towards the cafe to get both cups of coffee, as promised, hoping that you would not meet Minho. Which was a first, if you were really thinking about it.

act ten: interviewing.

Another week came and with that, another obligation from your fake dating contract. Unlike the last times during your campus tours when Minho did all the talking, you were supposed to give some input too this time. You were supposed to give an interview to a local radio station. The host, Gunil, was someone Jisung knew and who was ready to give the app a platform to spread the word about it.

As always, Minho did most of the talking, the same way he did during the lectures. It eased your nerves to have him take the lead and to sit so close to him. Your arms were brushing each other and you kept looking at him, ever so mesmerised to see him talk about what he loved. You almost felt comfortable and at peace, and while Minho spoke, you wish you could stay in this moment forever.

Minho explained the app again and you were zoning out, just admiring the way he looked. He did not do his hair this morning, you noticed, as it was still tousled. Minho was wearing his work glasses and no makeup and if you did not know any better, you would have cooed at him. Maybe you would use your relationship as an excuse, you thought when you saw him pout at something the interviewer had said. On top of that, Minho was wearing comfortable clothes; or at least what he would consider to be comfortable. His body was adorning a white shirt with his black slacks again. He had rolled up his arms again earlier, all while studying your reaction. When he saw you ogle at him, he just smirked to himself.

“But enough about the technicalities. I’m sure our listeners would love to hear more about your relationship. What was it like to find out that there was a person, that person, out there for you?” Gunil interrupted your thoughts.

Minho cleared his throat and checked your reaction. He knew that you did not like to outright talk about this, and neither did he, but he intertwined your hand with his under the table to let you know that he would take the lead again.

“We were already aware of each other before,” he said, his eyes falling onto your frame for a split second. “They would always sit at the same table with their friends in this cafe we both frequently visit. I started going there for the chocolate cake, but it became my favourite place when I noticed Y/N sitting at the tables. Funnily enough, we were always there at the same time. We still are, but now we just go together whenever we can.”

Gunil gasped, “What are the odds?”

Your eyes wandered up to Minho’s frame again. He squeezed your hand when he noticed and you looked away again, embarrassed. Did he really notice you even before Jisung started talking to you and your friends?

“They would always order the exact same drink in the exact same way they still do, with the same pastry. It’s endearing, honestly,” Minho added when he noticed how flustered you became, your heart beating rapidly.

“The way they would always smile and joke around with their friends, who are also very sweet people, may I add. I guess it would’ve been harder not to notice Y/N, because their smile always lights up the room they’re in, even when they don’t even notice it themselves.”

You gawked at him and Gunil laughed, “I think he hasn’t told you this yet?”

“No, I wasn’t aware of it,” you mumbled and scrunched your nose when Gunil just laughed again.

“You could say that the universe knew what it was doing, hm?”

Minho huffed, clearly disagreeing. Yet, he said, “I was smitten the second I laid my eyes on them, if we’re being honest.”

He did not let go of your hand when he put his arm up to put it around your shoulder. Before he did, he looked at your face, analysing your reaction. You just nodded and then, he pulled you into his chest carefully. He smelled like vanilla again, you noted, clean and sweet. It took everything in you to not lean closer into his chest and breathe his scent in. You could not allow yourself to lose your posture. Not here, not now. This was still a professional, but why did it feel so good?

“You were?” you asked, laying your heart out on the table, desperately hoping that what Minho said was true. He just smiled at you and put his other hand closer towards your face. Gently, he ran the tips of his fingers over your cheek, leaving a trail of heat behind.

His voice grew soft when he replied, “I was.”

You looked into each other’s eyes and said nothing, only embracing each other’s closeness.

Then, Gunil cooed and ripped both of you out of your haze. Your face was entirely heating up now and Minho blushed, too. You jerked apart and Gunil laughed while Minho apologised for being unprofessional.

“Hey, we’re here for love. Jisung already told me that I would be third wheeling with the both of you.”

The interview was soon over. Minho thanked Gunil for allowing you to be on air and in return, Gunil thanked you for being genuine. The listeners loved this segment, he explained, showing you the different reactions your interview had already received online. It was weird to see people yearn for a love that was still so fragile and, in a way, not even real.

act eleven: confessing.

When you told Jeongin about the promotion he was ecstatic. At this point, he already knew about all of your struggles. He knew about the possible layoff you had been facing and why you had accepted to date Minho contractually in the first place. This is why he asked you, during one of your many film nights, if you were ready to find a way out of the contract now. You had just laughed and told him that you were still obligated to finish this, one way or another. What you did not tell him was that you were scared of what was to come, not wanting to end what you had just yet. You did not want to confess to him or yourself that there was something so much more you felt for Minho than you wanted to let on. And how much it scared you.

This is why you kept going to presentations with Minho and soon enough, there was only one left. One presentation and one advertisement video for their social media, and then you were allowed to part ways again. Funnily enough, the thought of it made you want to do all of this over again, just so you would not lose Minho. Even if it was not even real.

The last presentation would be on a campus a bit further away. The necessary arrangements were already met and the only thing that was missing was you actually arriving there on time. The both of you decided to, once again, take the drive up there together.

The mood between the both of you was tense. Not only did the moment you had during the interview cross your mind over and over again, you were also painfully reminded of your last drive together and the time Minho snapped at you. Even though he had apologised for it, you still did not want to risk it happening again, which is why you mutually decided on staying silent. The only thing that could be heard was the music softly playing in the background. It was nice, in a way, almost content and comfortable. Either of you would only speak if it was needed, all while trying to take a glimpse of each other.

You arrived at the motel when it was already night time. The plan was to spend the night there to be well rested for the morning lecture. It was a small one just right outside the city. Jeongin had booked it for the both of you and promised that it was the ideal room for you. What he did not mention, however, is that his idea of ideal and yours differed greatly.

Minho opened the door to your motel room and you sighed the second you stepped inside.

“There’s only one bed,” Minho said, “I thought it was a room for two people?”

The bed in front of you was not small per se. It was a twin sized bed and should be sufficient, at least for one night.

“I’ll go ask if there’s another room available,” Minho declared, even before you were able to say something yourself. He was out of the room and you sighed, sitting down on the bed in front of you.

There was no way you would survive sleeping in one bed with Minho, you thought, and internally cursed Jeongin for booking this room. You knew that he had done this on purpose. He had noticed that you had warmed up to Minho after all, just like Jeongin said you would. Your rants about his quirks had turned into you accommodating them. The more time you had spent with Minho, the more alike the both of you had become. Though, you did not want to accept it, you grew accustomed to having him around. You grew to love it, despite the awkwardness of it all. Maybe that is why your heart sank a little in your chest when he suggested to split rooms the second he noticed that there was only one bed.

A few minutes later, Minho came back. He looked a bit pale when he informed you that all rooms were, coincidentally, booked.

“We can’t split up,” he said and exhaled shakily, “I’ll just sleep on the floor instead.”

“Don’t,” you shook your head, your heart falling at the thought of him not wanting to be near you, “You’re the one who has to stand all day tomorrow, I’m gonna be fine. Let me sleep on the floor.”

The corners of his lips twitched, “It’s not gonna be all day. Plus, you’re only here because of me anyway. You won’t get me into that bed.”

After a while, you just agreed with him. He seemed irritated, even more than you were, which is why you decided to leave it at that. It was not worth arguing over this, not when you still had the whole day together ahead of you tomorrow

Since it was already late, the both of you got ready for bed. Minho first, then you. In a cruel way, it was almost domestic. It let your mind wander to the possibility that, in another universe, the both of you were brushing your teeth together instead of minutes apart. It was a silly thought and yet enough to make you smile to yourself.

When you were washed up, you went to bed. Minho had already made himself a somewhat comfortable bed right beside yours. He was still sitting up and working on his laptop, but paused when he noticed you come back in.

“You can turn the lights off,” he said, repressing a yawn. You nodded and did as he asked. After, you laid down in bed and faced the side where he was lying on. You saw him from your spot on the bed. The moonlight was shining through the window and cast shadows on his face. He had his front turned to you, but his eyes were almost closed. Neither of you spoke and you just looked at his face and studied his expressions.

He was beautiful, you thought. You already knew that he was handsome but in the moonlight, he just looked divine. His eyelashes were casting shadows on his cheeks and the frown that was usually on his face was completely gone. It was replaced with a relaxed face and almost a smile. You kept glancing at him until you fell asleep and, unbeknownst to you, he did the same.

When you woke up again, it was still dark. You blinked a few times, before your eyes immediately fell on Minho again. His sweet face, that had been so calm just hours before, was completely strained. His eyebrows were furrowed and he was groaning, almost as if he was in pain.

“Hey,” you mumbled and got up. You sat down on the floor beside him.

“Wake up.”

You touched his shoulder and shook it gently. Minho himself was shaking slightly. With a gasp, his eyes opened.

He frantically looked around, until his eyes landed on you. His arms were around your neck before you realised what was happening. Minho pulled you into his chest without thinking. He was still sitting on the floor, and so were you with your face pressed against his neck.

Carefully, you put your hands on his back and rubbed it slightly. A few minutes passed, and neither of you dared to move. You waited until Minho’s breath levelled again before you spoke.

“Are you alright?”

Minho shook his head, but allowed you to pull away. And you did, but only to look at him while you cradled his face in your hands. He looked so broken. It was the complete opposite of what he looked like just earlier.

“I’m here for you, okay? You’re safe.”

You did not know what he had dreamt about and you did not need to. All you wanted was to be there for him, to keep him safe and sound until he stopped crying. You pulled him closer until the roles were reserved and pressed him into your chest this time. Then, you ran your fingers through his hair to calm him down.

Minho was still breathing hard when he whispered, “Don’t leave me.”

“I won’t,” you said, pressing the lightest kiss on his temple, “I’ll stay with you as long as you’ll have me.”

Your words and your kiss calmed Minho down, eventually. Not many more words were said and soon enough, you fell asleep again; only in each other’s arms this time.

When you woke up in bed the next day, Minho was already up and back to his rather tense demeanour. He only nodded at you when he noticed you were awake, and told you that he wanted to leave soon. Both of you were thinking about the night before, but neither of you wanted to bring it up. You did not want to do it to give him the space he needed to tell you first. Minho, on the other hand, was just scared. Allowing you in would mean allowing you the possibility to hurt him the same way he has been hurt before. It was something he had hinted at, long before his feelings for you ever became as serious as they were now. Your kiss and your gentle gestures the past night had sparked something inside of him that scared him; it scared him even more than the casual crush he had formed on you. It was because he started to realise that it was much more serious than he ever thought it would be.

The silence was deafening when you made your way to the lecture. It was tense and gruesome and you were just irritated. The way he refused to acknowledge anything made you want to scream and shout at him, but you did not. Instead, you joined him in the lecture and smiled politely every time he mentioned you. He talked about the same things he had talked about countless of times again. Only this time, he added something off script.

Minho talked about the reason why he had invented the app, and he said, “This is designed for individuals who might not believe in finding love on their own accord. Individuals who lost all hope in finding someone who will actually match with them.”

Then, he took a deep breath, “I never thought that I would be able to fall in love again, but I did. Not until this project led me to Y/N.”

His words were sincere, you could see it in his eyes. You saw his lips twitch, the same gesture he repeated whenever he was nervous. His eyes locked with yours and in that moment, you knew. You knew that your feelings were truly not one sided anymore, if they ever had been.

After class, people approached Minho again, the same way someone approached you again, too. It was the same question someone had asked you weeks ago when you visited your first lecture with Minho. They wanted to know what it was like to meet and fall in love with your Titanium match.

“It’s as easy as breathing,” you answered this time.

The air had shifted when you made your way back to the car. Minho was nervous and so were you, but it was good this time around. Minho opened the door for you again, before he went over to the driver’s seat.

“Do you want to talk?” You asked carefully the second he sat down.

Minho bit his lower lip and nodded nervously.

“I tend to have nightmares,” he admitted, “And they’re all about losing you.”

“Minho…”

He shook his head, “Let me explain, please. I had bad relationships in the past. It’s the real reason I created the app. I got cheated on by someone I thought I would marry, but they just left. They were with someone else night after night, while I was sitting at home, waiting for them. They told me, eventually, but argued that it was because we didn’t match, that we weren’t a good fit. It honestly broke me.”

He laughed drily, “And it drove me kinda insane. I wanted to make sure that I wouldn’t get hurt again and neither would others. I just wanted to find a way to make sure it wouldn’t happen again; neither for me nor anyone else. That’s why I created the app. I was tired of being lonely and tired of being used. I just wanted to know that there was someone out there for me who would match with me. In one way or another.”

“I’m so sorry.”

You hesitated and took your hand into his. He intertwined your fingers and squeezed your hand gently.

“I’m very glad you created the app,” you confessed.

Minho looked sad when he asked, “Because it led you to Jeongin?”

“Because it led me to you.”

Minho turned around.

“I’m sorry for asking you this. You don’t need to answer this, I just need to know if I… I just want to know if you’re really not dating him.”

You chuckled and squeezed his hand this time.

“I’m not, we’re really only friends. The app told us that, too.”

Minho let out a laugh of relief.

“Sorry, I just -”

“I think we should give it a try,” you said at the same time. Minho’s grip around your hand tightened.

“Give it a try?”

You nodded and Minho’s face fell, “I definitely believe that you can find platonic soulmates on the app, too.”

The insecurities were getting to the both of you again, but neither of you knew how to combat them.

“I know,” Minho said slowly, “I found Jisung. He’s my platonic silver match.”

Outside, it started to rain. The car was still out.

“Do you think we are one too?”

You took a deep breath, before you shook your head, “No.”

“No?”

“No. I don’t want us to be platonic. I want this to be real. I want this to be real so bad.”

Minho stared at you, his lips slightly ajar. Then, he let go of your hand and opened the door. It was still raining when he went to your side of the car and ripped your side of the car open.

“Get out.”

You did as he asked, the way you always did, and he immediately pulled you into him. Your hands were back in his, and you were standing chest on chest, both of your hearts beating in unisono. Then, he grabbed you by the waist and pulled you in. He leaned into you until the tips of your noses touched each other.

“My favourite colour is blue,” he whispered.

“What?”

“My favourite colour,” his breath mingled with yours, “You told me that you wanted to know my favourite colour so people would know that we’re actually dating.”

You smiled weakly, “Minho…”

“Can I kiss you?” he interrupted you needily and you just nodded. “Please.”

And he did.

The kiss was gentle. His lips grazed yours softly, as if he was afraid he might break you. His hands wandered up to your cheeks to cradle them, the same way you had cradled him the night before. He treated you with the utmost care as if you were the most precious thing in this universe. And to him, you were.

“I like you,” he whispered when he leaned back, his lips on yours again immediately to kiss the raindrops away, one by one.

“I liked you when I first saw you and I liked you even more when I found out that you were the one for me,” he confessed, “I’m sorry I ever made you feel like I didn’t. You’re literally everything I want. Please, let me be yours?”

Minho was breathing heavily. The hands you placed on his chest were now intertwined behind his neck.

You pulled him closer to your face when you said, “I’m yours. I always have been.”

Minho laughed and nuzzled his nose against yours.

“Can I kiss you again?”

You nodded, just as breathless as he was, “Please do.”

And he did.

BONUS: advertising

Had it not been for Jisung, you would have never had the guts to approach Minho in the first place and vice versa. At least that was what you were telling yourself when he woke you up at six in the morning on a Saturday.

“Are you at home?” He greeted you happily and you groaned.

“What do you want?”

Jisung hummed, “We’re filming the ad today. Are you not coming?”

You turned over in your bed. Minho was still fast asleep beside you when you turned your body back to face him.

“Right now?”

“Yeah. Minho’s not here yet, I’ll call him next.”

You snorted and glanced at the man lying beside you. Minho did not wear any shirts when he was asleep, which you noticed early on. Him wearing it when you went on your last campus tour was nothing but him being too shy to show himself naked in front of you. This shyness disappeared almost immediately after you had confessed your feelings to each other.

“I’ll be on the way. See you later,” You said and hung up. Beside you, Minho groaned.

“What did that idiot want?” He mumbled in his raspy morning voice and slid closer towards you. His arm was around your waist to pull you closer into his chest. It made your heart beat faster and you smiled into his neck, your own arms around his shoulders.

“He said we need to film something today,” You replied, leaving a soft kiss on his skin.

Minho hummed, “Do we have to go?”

You laughed and sat up as best as you could. You were still on your side, your body weight being held up by your right arm. “What happened to “Do it for the company”?”

“The company doesn’t have you.”

Slowly, Minho’s grip around your waist tightened and he shuffled closer into your chest, his lips resting against your skin. “Besides, Jisung wanted to invite someone else to the shoot. They can do it.”

Your ears perked up as his statement.

“Someone else? Who is it?”

“Felix and his boyfriend.”

You gasped, startling Minho in the process.

“He’s filming the ad with Changbin?”

An hour later, both of you arrived at the company. Minho had asked you to get in first and he would follow behind, claiming that he did not want Jisung to see the both of you arriving at the same time.

“Why not?” You asked, trying to dismiss the sinking feeling inside your chest. Minho cooed and put his hand on your cheek.

“I just can’t stand it when he tells me “I told you so.””

Your chest felt lighter and you snorted, leaning into his palm.

“Why would he tell you that?”

Minho blushed and the corners of his lips twitched. It was a sign that he was nervous, and one that you liked so dearly about him.

“He’s been telling me to talk to you for ages now. He had been trying to get me to confess to you for forever, too, but I refused to do it because I thought you didn’t like me back.”

You hummed and kissed the tip of his thumb. “To be fair, I thought you couldn’t stand me up until a few weeks ago.”

Your answer caused Minho’s lips to fall ajar.

“What?”

You snorted. “Have you ever seen your resting face?”

“What’s wrong with my face?” He asked defensively and furrowed his eyebrows. Cute.

“Nothing,” you mused, easing his frown with your thumb. “You just kinda look like a bitch when you rest your face. No offence.”

Minho huffed, “I am your bitch.”

You laughed, “Yes, you are. Now let’s go before Jisung finds us in the car. I think you’d have other things to worry about than him teasing you about your partner.”

Inside, the other couples were already dressed up and ready to go. Jisung greeted you at the door and pulled you into a separate room.

“You need to change. We already have clothes for you here, just come out when you’re done.”

The clothes were, albeit being picked by Jisung, not much different to what you would usually wear. It made you feel comfortable in your skin when you went back inside the room. When Minho’s eyes fell onto your frame, you smiled. It made your heart beat faster and the butterflies flip in your stomach.

“You look great,” He whispered and you smiled.

“Thank you.”

Soon enough, you noticed Jisung’s eyes on you, too. When Minho turned around to look at him, Jisung squinted at him. Minho looked away the same second, just to have you stolen out of his arms for the second time this morning.

“Y/N!” Felix called out for you and you hummed. Changbin was right behind him, their hands intertwined together. When they both stopped beside you, you look at Changbin.

Slowly, you took a step closer and watched his smile fall. Then, you hit his shoulder.

“You bastard,” you whispered, watching Changbin yelp, “Why didn’t you tell me that you had a silver match?”

Changbin rubbed his arms while Felix giggled at your antics.

“The same way you didn’t tell us about your titanium match,” Changbin groaned and put his tongue out at you for a brief second.

“Besides, you’re an asshole for lying to me first.”

Changbin glared at Minho, who glared right back at him. You sighed, “I’ll explain everything later, okay?”

Changbin put his chest out, flexing his arms in the process. You pressed your lips together and watched Felix giggle at his antics.

“Leave them alone,” he said, putting one of his hands on Changbin’s biceps. “They never even pretended in the first place.”

Just when you wanted to protest at his words, Jisung clapped his hands together. He and Seungmin were standing side by side in front of a big screen on one side of the room.

“Thank you all for being here,” Jisung started, “We’re all happy that you’re here.”

No one reacted to what he just said, but he ignored it flawlessly, instead, he started explaining what he wanted to film today. He talked about wanting to film short interviews, only having everyone say one or two sentences about their relationship and how happy they are to have signed up with the app. Your eyes fell onto Minho, who smiled slightly at Jisung’s actions. It was sweet, the love he had for his platonic soulmate.

You stepped closer towards him until your arms brushed each other. Gently, Minho took your hand into his and squeezed it lightly.

“Are you sure you want to do this?” He asked you and you hummed.

“Wouldn’t it be against my contract if I didn’t?”

He snorted, pulling you closer into him.

“Pretty sure that was annulled the second we started to date for real.”

Why you had to get up this early in the morning was still a mystery to you. Jisung had decided to let the boss be the last one, meaning you had to watch at least ten couples film their own advertisement videos before you were able to.

It was sweet in a way, to watch all of these people talk about their experiences with the app and how they go to meet their matches. Especially Changbin’s and Felix’ story interested you, since neither of them had gone public with their relationship before this moment.

“They’re cute,” Minho whispered as he watched them talk about how they met. It had been through the app, as had almost everyone else in the room. Changbin had been going on base match dates, before he decided to meet some high percentage ones, too.

“I saw how happy it made my friend and I wanted to give it a try, too,” He explained, glancing over at you. You smiled bashfully and looked down, ignoring Minho’s teasing grin.

When it was your turn, Jisung pushed you towards the big screen.

“I need you guys to look like you like each other,” He said, pushing you closer together. Minho put a hand on your shoulder awkwardly and Jisung groaned.

“No, put it somewhere else.”

Minho stared at him and put his arms down beside his body. Jisung groaned again and pulled Seungmin over.

“Like that,” he explained, wrapping his arms around a startled Seungmin. You tried to suppress a snort, more or less successfully.

Seungmin put his hands over Jisung’s and hummed. “Bold words from someone who doesn’t even get laid.”

Jisung pressed Seungmin closer into his body, making the younger one yelp.

“I think I’m doing fine for myself, thank you.”

“If you consider watching anime fine, sure,” Seungmin gasped and tried to get out of Jisung’s grasp. The latter just pinched his stomach before he let go, making Seungmin yelp out loud again.

“You’ll never know the highs and lows of watching some guys play volleyball against each other,” Jisung said, before his attention went back to you and Minho.

“Now? Can you hurry up?”

Minho rolled his eyes at his snappy words and wrapped his arms around your waist. You felt yourself heat up at his sudden action and your heart was beating rapidly inside your chest due to the closeness of your bodies.

Jisung was back behind the camera. “Just be natural, I guess. Tell us what you think about each other and that you’re a Titanium match and happy with all that. Even if it’s not, just lie.”

Minho snorted, his arms still securely around your waist.

“And action!”

Like during your last interview, Minho was the one who took the lead. He started talking about having a crush on you even before you had signed up for the app, and that the match gave both of you the opportunity to talk to each other.

“It just felt nice to know that my crush was backed up by scientific evidence provided by our own team,” Minho closed his explanation and you smiled cheekily.

“You mean it felt nice to know that your crush was reciprocated?”

Minho rolled his eyes, his attention now fully on you. He was blushing again, you noted, and it made your own heart beat faster. He put one hand up to your face and stroked your cheek.

Jisung cooed. “That’s exactly what we need. You guys are so good at pretending, I knew the contract was a good idea.”

Minho glanced over at Jisung, before his eyes fell back onto your frame. Then, he himself smiled cheekily.

“Do you trust me?” He whispered and you nodded, wondering what he was talking about. Minho licked his lips and swiftly turned you around in his arms. The both of you were standing chest on chest now, completely blending out everyone else in the room. Minho put his hands on your cheeks again and asked quietly, “Can I kiss you?”

You nodded. Minho’s kiss, despite having shared so many over the past few days, still sent a tingle down your spine. Your heart kept beating rapidly inside your chest, you were almost afraid it would jump out. That was, if you had any other thoughts inside your head besides the feeling of Minho’s lips on yours.

While you kept kissing, Jisung looked over at Seungmin, who shrugged.

“Since when did they start doing that?” Jisung asked and Seungmin shrugged again.

“Maybe Minho pays extra.”

#omg it’s been so long since i’ve read such a good long fic #minho fluff

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