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noircheols · 4 months ago

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me writing the worst fic oat

choi seungcheol 𖧷 kisses are always promises

🌷 (no ordinary love) ⸺ ❛❛ a love story for people who deserve peace of mind and torment themselves for being unable to give others the same. ❜❜

PREFACE. it's no shock that life is unpredictable. it's why you put so much effort into being the only stable, perfect, thing in your parent's lives. but as they grow old, good thing you have a trick up your sleeve to ward them off! it involve dancing around the truth and and the cute guy you matched with on a dating app!

INCLUDES. fake dating, fluff, angst

WARNINGS. suggestive, food, cursing, nobody is a good person, kissing, this is really poorly written tbh (i was so tired from midterms but realized i had to still do this uhhhh), pet name (just one= sweetheart), theres an insta post where the reader is femme/pale PLEASE TAKE THIS WITH A GRAIN OF SALT i couldnt find anything gender neutral

WORD COUNT. 4020

AUTHOR'S NOTE. first installment of the valentines event!! thank you to all the kind words shared when the event mlist was shared. im so sorry for the delay, i had a ton of midterms <///3

TAGLIST. @jjjjeonww @shirebusking @shinwonderful @tokitosun @unlikelysublimekryptonite @wonkierideul @flwrshwa @syluslittlecrows @macapunoz @paradiseoflosers @seokmn

open! please feel free to dm/reply/ask

NETWORKS. @kstrucknet

🌷 ⸺ 𝗣𝗔𝗥𝗧 𝗢𝗡𝗘

What do men want?

On dates, specifically.

Was it an outfit which left nothing to the imagination? Or was it a shiny new car? A cheque to buy a PlayStation? How about a romantic dinner date with the candles flickering? Or would they prefer a simple night in with take-out and watching Love is Blind?

Luckily, you knew what men wanted. Well, more like what just one man wanted. You zoomed in on his profile picture. Choi Seungcheol, the name read. That was the beauty of dating apps, people weirdly feel more comfortable sharing their interests and what they wanted with random strangers online as opposed to physical people.

You don't know how you two matched. You both had graduated from the same business school and fawned over your bubble tea orders. You liked matcha and cheese foam with regular pearls, and he liked strawberry coconut milk tea with cherry-flavoured popping pearls. You smiled at the thought of somebody with such a serious vibe enjoying a treat like that. You both frequented the same gym, although you preferred the stairmaster and he liked cable machines.

He was also cute, but you don't wanna come off as shallow.

After a week of back-and-forth flirting (which had you squealing into your pillow and throwing your phone at the wall) on your dating app's chatroom, Seungcheol insisted that you two meet. You had him hooked, and that was just you talking through a screen.

Seungcheol, on the other side of the screen, couldn't lie that he started biting his nails once he hit send on a simple text finally asking you out. Was he rushing things!? Normally people wait for a month at least before meeting somebody in person, and he has had a bad habit of rushing into love—

YOU: i would love to!! let's meet at 3:30 pm next friday! i get off work early by then :3

As relief washed over him, Seungcheol’s eyes crinkled from happiness. He never smiled this much in person for his other dates, what's wrong with him!?

Unfortunately for him, you had other plans.

3:30 PM on Friday arrived dreadfully slow. You counted down the seconds— there were 315,000 of them exactly and felt your heartbeat pick up the pace after every "Mississippi" that followed.

You weren't just nervous because of being with an attractive man, but nervous for other reasons you couldn't bring to tell him over text. You had an issue. Something you never could have believed impacted you.

Growing up, you had a perfect relationship with your parents (as long as you upheld their standards). It was smooth sailing, and that peace of mind you gave your parents was the most important thing to you. You found that when things were stable, things were quiet. That gave you peace of mind. Stability was all you yearned for, but that stability was placed under threat since last month.

"When will you find somebody?"

It initially started as a simple question Each question earned the same response: "Later". It didn't bother you because it was the same as being asked "How are you doing" over the phone. But then came all your friends getting engaged.

Suddenly everybody started pestering you. Every single time your parents met up with you, the conversation would always morph into a lecture on finding a husband.

It was after a long night of arguing at dinner that you succumbed to an advertisement on TikTok and downloaded a dating app. Who were you to ignore your parent's wishes, especially if it meant they would go back to being quiet?

It was that reason which led to you sitting at a cafe a seat right by the window.

Opening your phone, you check the time. It was 3:25 PM. You made sure you arrived at least five minutes early to prepare what you would say. The February sun filtered through the cafe and bounced off your phone's screen. You opened your notes app and checked off your steps.

☑ STEP ONE: Find the perfect man.

☑ STEP TWO: Flirt with him and organize a date.

You notice a familiar man walking towards the cafe with pouty lips and thick eyebrows that meet your gaze. God, he looked even cuter in real life. In his hands were a bouquet of pink tulips. Why did he have to be so perfect?

Seungcheol's face changed into a giddy grin, and he waved at you. Waving was a simple gesture, but the way his eyes glittered made your stomach turn inside out. Seungcheol entered the cafe, the door softly creaking behind him. When he thinks deeper about it, he realizes it's the first moment you two shared outside of your phone screen. A simple gesture which marked the beginning of a new relationship. Would this be the first wave of many?

"I remember you said you liked receiving flowers." he started, handing you the bouquet. Your eyes glimmered as you let out a shy thank you.

"I can't believe you remembered!" You gushed over the bouquet, gently fiddling with the pastel pink petals. "I sent that text at 2 AM, I would think you were half-asleep and didn't care,"

"Well, it's impossible to not care about you," Seungcheol scratched the small of his back, shifting eye contact so you couldn't look at his flustered expression. "I've never been to this cafe before." clearing his throat, he changed the topic.

You placed the flowers on the seat next to you where your office bag was. "Me too! It's such a disappointment because the cafe is just a couple of blocks from my office.”

Seungcheol scanned the QR code on the table and a tab popped up, showing various drinks and meals. "The menu says they use ceremonial grade matcha shipped straight from Japan too."

"Really? I made a mistake to not come here earlier then." You laughed. "But maybe it's a good thing we got to try this place together."

Surprisingly, Seungcheol was very shy off-screen. He sometimes stuttered and blushed when he complimented you. But that didn't stop him from making the most of this date. He was gentlemanly, offering to order for the two of you, and made sure to sneak in small compliments.

But there was a boiling point where you couldn't keep up with the banter and needed to expose your intentions.

"I'm just curious, what made you download a dating app in the first place?" You asked, taking your fork and prodding at the grilled salmon.

"Well, I..." Seungcheol froze mid-bite. "I got out of a relationship a year ago. Thought we were perfect for each other, but she didn't want to get married."

You knew how these stories progressed. "And you did?" he nodded. "I thought that maybe if I stuck with her long enough, she would change her mind."

Seungcheol gave a half-smile as he recalled the past. It was never meant to be from the start, but he was selfish enough to push through on something she never wanted.

"We ended things off on good terms. But, I'm getting older, and I just like having somebody to devote myself to." Your eyes softened as you looked at the man across from you, wearing his heart on his sleeve.

"I know it's stupid to find somebody who also wants the same as me through a dating app—"

"It's not." You cut him off. "There's no harm in trying." You reached out for his hand, gently swiping over his knuckles in a reassuring motion. Seungcheol couldn't shake off how soft your hands were. He knew he would go to bed wishing he was holding your hand instead of his pillows.

"What about you? Why did you download the app?"

Now for the next step.

☐ STEP THREE: Tell him the truth.

"I..." You struggled to find the words. "What's the nicest way of saying 'I wanna find somebody just so I can shut my parents up'?" You plastered an awkward smile. Seungcheol froze as you let go of his hand. You explained your situation to him as much as possible. "I normally don't do this kinda stuff, but here I am doing just that." The pleading tone in your voice was pathetic. No way would he help you.

"Why didn't you tell me earlier?"

"Well, the algorithm doesn't necessarily put people who wanna get married to people who just wanna prove a point," Seungcheol paused, trying to process the situation. On one hand, he's convinced he met the perfect person and is ready to give everything up. On the other hand? That person is interested in just using him as a means to an end.

"I understand if you don't wanna help, but you're practically my parent's idea of a perfect son-in-law. I promise, once I convince them I'm dating somebody, they'll leave me alone!" You begged quietly, hoping nobody else in the cafe would hear you. "Once that happens, I'll leave you alone too. I'll do anything as payment! I can pay you—"

"No way." Seungcheol cut you off. "I'm not gonna let you pay me to pretend to be your boyfriend."

"Are you saying..?"

"I'll help." Seungcheol grinned softly, easing your anxiety. "I don't mind, as long as this doesn't get in the way of finding my actual soulmate instead of," he looked up at you. "My fake soulmate."

🌷 ⸺ 𝗣𝗔𝗥𝗧 𝗧𝗪𝗢

Most love affairs don’t start with contracts, but your alleged one with Seungcheol did. But before you could spread the “good news” of your managing to manipulate the cute guy you met off a dating app into a fake relationship.

The rest of your first date was spent deciding a common ground and learning each other’s boundaries.

Once you returned home, you emailed a Word document with various terms and conditions. The most striking and arguably most important were as listed below:

1) Weekly meet-ups to devise our strategy. 2) No physical touching (i.e. kissing) 3) Can meet outside of dates as friends, but cannot go to each other’s apartments. 4) No money will be involved!! (courtesy of cheol) 5) We can see people outside of this. The contract will go void once we find other people (WHO WE ACTUALLY LOVE!)

The second you emailed the document, Seungcheol replied.

Choi Seungcheol To: (YOU) Why are there 24 pages of this thing? what have i gotten myself into?

You shyly smiled at the teasing, tucking your phone back into your bag. You had sent him schedules of calendar dates too, and organized every topic according to each hour. Strict schedules to provide a sense of comfort. Living life by a deadline was the proper way to live.

Seungcheol begged to differ, finding them rigid and inflexible. He just liked talking to you, and his charm managed to warp time.

You would forget the clock was even ticking, that you had a schedule, and why he was even here in the first place. It’s weird how you two share the same sense of humour, the same aspirations, almost everything. You two exchanged moments and didn't shy away from sensitive topics.

"Do you believe in love?" Seungcheol asked you over the phone one night. There was a dreamy tone that lingered in his voice.

"No." You curtly answered. "Lemme guess? You do." You smiled.

"Sorry for being a romantic." The man sarcastically responded, causing you to chuckle. "What's not to like about being in love?" You rolled your eyes. The experience of being in love was a horrible one, in your experience. And by experience, you mean what you had learned from never engaging in romance.

Your parents had always warded you off, saying that relationships were distracting because love was all you could think about. You had seen far too many examples of your friends suffering from every emotion when they were in love. Happiness, anger, fear, but never calm. You were fearful of the day you fell in love, and until now, never allowed yourself to date. Although, your relationship with Seungcheol is purely fake.

"That it will never be perfect." You snapped back. "Perfect love is the kind that makes you feel safe, where y'know that things will always be ok. But love keeps you awake at night and makes you worry. It's too much of a hassle." You cut yourself off before you could speak without thinking. But love feels perfect with you. You make me feel safe. "I don't think I'll ever find anybody that can make love feel perfect." Except for you.

Days fell into night, and then came the dreaded “goodbye”. You wish you could ask him to spend the night at your place, but you knew that would breach your contract. You already had him in an awkward position as your fake boyfriend, even if he claimed he was comfortable with that title.

You even posted him on Instagram. Soft-launching works wonders when it comes to sprouting rumours. You made sure to send Seungcheol all the screenshots of the DMs and comments you received on those posts. It made you feel like a giddy teenager again, pulling an elaborate scheme by dangling your new "boyfriend" in front of everybody.

But there was one thing you never told him. That it excited you to be in a relationship with him. But to fall for him would be an insult to him. How would he feel, knowing you were only interested in using him and the next Crushing, with a capital "c", on him?

So, for the sake of his peace, you decided internally to lie about your true feelings.

COMMENTS:

@/friend1: WHAT IS HAPPENING???

@/friend2: jokes on u im handsomer and richer

@/friend3: i always thought u were too much of a stuck-up to ever find a boyfriend....

@/friend4: heh.... and here i thought i was special to u. heh, guess u can't trust anybody these days. these huzz aint loyal 😭😭😡😡😡

@/friend5: WHO is the majestic shyt next to u 👁️

Wednesday arrived, and you had both decided to walk at a park after work. Children played on the nearby playground and you could hear faint barking accompanied by a "fetch!"

The first thing Seungcheol remarked was how he should have brought his puppy with him, and that he thought it was only fair that if you meet his son if he was gonna meet your parents.

“My parents are inviting us over for dinner next week!” You shared the good news. You both sat at a park bench, his hand resting on the backrest and just behind your shoulders. You could feel the heat radiate off of Cheol. He was close enough to make you aware of his presence, but far enough to make you yearn for more. “Do you remember everything I taught you?”

“And checked the Quizlet you made me? Sadly, yes.” he chuckled.

“My parents are going to love you! And then we can stop and just be friends!”

But was that really what you wanted? To just be friends? Seungcheol was endlessly attractive, and no matter what, was caring. You didn't feel anxious around him. If anything, you were being reeled into him. It was nothing like the anxiousness your friends had told you about with their lovers, but what if this was just a trap!? What if you were letting down your guard!?

"I dunno, I'm still pretty nervous at the idea of meeting them." Seungcheol's chest heaved. "The way you describe them makes them sound strict. Like they're sharks and can smell fear! Are you sure you're not just taking me to a shark tank and throwing away the key!?"

"Calm down!!" You console him. "My parents will love you! You're practically their type!"

"But we also have to convince them that I'm your type too!"

"That won't be too hard!"

"Oh yeah, why? 'Cause it's true?" Seungcheol turned to you and smirked. You stop talking, face growing warm. Seungcheol's eyes soften. "Is it true? That I'm your type?" He looked to you for reassurance. His eyes begged to know the truth.

"Yes." You shyly answered. He leaned in ever so slightly and gently cupped your face. Seungcheol realized what he was doing, and leapt back. You scooted closer to his embrace. "Do I make you nervous, Cheol?" The nickname sounded sweet from your mouth.

"How can I not be nervous, when you're so cute?" God, being your fake boyfriend was the hardest thing he's signed up for. It was harder than the night he crammed for his microeconomics final. It was harder than when he had to break up with his girlfriend. Then when he learned to cook for the first time.

But you were perfect, and his time was yours to spend, regardless of how difficult it is to compose the inner feelings ripping at the seams.

"Don't call me cute."

"Sorry."

"And don't say you're sorry."

"I'm—" Sorry. Seungcheol was cut off by his lips being met. The soft collision between his soft pouty lips against yours. He tasted the cherry lip balm you wore. Was it a detail you had deliberately made sure of? Was this all some game to you? Seungcheol welcomed your kiss, but you broke off the kiss. Short of breath, he spoke. "Did you—" "No. I didn't mean that. I don't know what overcame me." Your chest heaved, breathing heavily. "Ohmygod, ohmygod, I'm so sorry." Your tears threatened to spill. "I shouldn't have done that." You scurried away from him, fumbling over your bag and stumbling over your own feet. "Wait! Let's talk about it!"

He watched you disappear, and couldn't bring himself to look as you wiped away your tears. Your quiet sobs were drowned out by the laughter of children.

🌷 ⸺ 𝗣𝗔𝗥𝗧 𝗧𝗛𝗥𝗘𝗘

< MOM > such a shame that you are sick today. papa and i wish for you to get well soon!

Your phone pinged with a notification from your mother messaging you. You slammed your phone face down into the bed sandwiched your face between two pillows and groaned loudly.

A few seconds ago, you had sent an abrupt reason for cancelling dinner— that you were "sick." How could you tell them the truth? That you had ruined your chance with the only man you loved, and even loving him wasn't enough to lower your guard?

You had tried to ignore Seungcheol. On Insta, messages, even the god-forbidden dating app which brought you two together. You changed gyms so you didn't have to worry about running into him. You couldn't bring yourself to look at him and explain how horrible you were.

At the same time, you couldn't ignore him. His voice lingered in your mind. His presence stained every cafe and park you walked to, every dog photo you saw, every gym exercise, and most importantly, your apartment. There were explicit rules against letting the other into your respective homes. Something about it feels personal like you would feel like a real couple.

You hear your doorbell pierce through the stillness of your apartment. Your DoorDash order for Thai food must have arrived earlier than expected. Struggling to carry your limbs out of the bed and to your door, you slide the lock away and open the door.

"YOU WORK FOR DOORDASH!?"

Seungcheol stood right outside your door, holding a plastic bag. A quick peek inside revealed pre-made ramyun and orange juice.

"I came because your mom told me I'm sick." Cheol showed you the bag. Of course, your mother had found out about him and exchanged numbers.

"Well you're out of luck, I lied to her." You tried to ignore Seungcheol's presence. You wish you had the strength to slam the door on him, but the affection you felt for him prevented you from being cruel to him.

"We'd be lying to her even if you weren't sick and went to dinner," Seungcheol made his way inside and took out the ramyun packets on the counter. "Besides, I didn't want to ignore you if you were sick." A hint of warmth in his voice distracts you from the suddenness of his intrusion.

You clear your throat and close the door. Seungcheol fiddles with the stove's control panel to get the water hot enough.

"Our contract says you can't be in my apartment."

"Our contract also says no physical touch," Seungcheol plainly remarked, the sting of the kiss coming back once more. How were you going to tell him that you subconsciously touched your bottom lip to remember how soft he was?

"Touche."

Seungcheol switches the conversation topic. "Why didn't you call?" He didn't turn to you, but in the short span of knowing him, Seungcheol was trying his best not to seem weak.

"I thought you hated me."

"Y'know that's impossible for me to do," Seungcheol turns to you. "Pass me the scissors," you nod and quickly take a pair out of a drawer. Seungcheol takes the scissors and snips off the plastic. Even when you two aren't talking about much your chemistry is palpable. Those scissors you gave him probably would have broken in an attempt to cut the tension.

"I just, I feel so ashamed of using you," You sighed. "One second I wanna keep things professional, putting all my effort into a lame Word document slash contract. But the more I got to know you, it became harder to contain myself," You notice the ramyun is lacking spice, so you bring over a Buldak sauce bottle to squeeze in. "You're nothing like other guys in my life. You're dependable, I can trust you even when things go bad. Like now, you came to my apartment because you didn't wanna risk me being sick with nobody to take care of me."

"I like taking care of you."

You rolled your eyes and chopped up some spring onion to sprinkle in. "Sure you do!"

"I mean it!" He cracked a shy smile. Seungcheol didn't realize it, but he was currently re-enacting his dreams of domestic bliss with you by his side. "You wanna know why I said yes when you asked me this whole thing?" You nod. "I like you. I wanted an excuse to be with you. Even if we were gonna be just friends,"

"But I made you miserable in the process!" You raised your voice. "I was so desperate to make my parents happy I didn't take into consideration what you felt."

"And that's your biggest problem, sweetheart," Seungcheol finally got away from the pot and laid out two bowls. You took over and cracked an egg into the red broth. "You were so caught up in your whole desire to look perfect, to your parents, to me, that you forgot about yourself."

You feel a strong pair of arms wrap around your waist and Seungcheol's face rests in the crook of your neck. "You never called because you were afraid you'd look stupid, right?"

"No," You shook your head, the spicy mixture wafting in your face and causing tears to prick. "I was worried because you make me feel safe. So safe I lose control. I'm not used to feeling safe, most of the time I focus on making others feel safe," Seungcheol kisses the tears that roll down your face. "You should have kissed me for longer,"

"I know." You laughed. "I should have made you my actual boyfriend,"

"It's not too late for that."

You wanted your relationship with Seungcheol to be true. Having somebody as reliable as him as your boyfriend? It would be a dream come true.

"The question is, do you want it to be my real boyfriend after how I treated you?" "Let's give it a shot. We did do well as a fake couple, so why not as a real one?" You took a spoonful of broth to Seungcheol's mouth and he gingerly slurped on it.

"I'll text my mom that dinner is on next week once we are done eating," You smiled from ear to ear. "Say, how would you like to stay the night?"

@noircheols do not copy or translate

#(Ⳋ᧙) icymi

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