The Fake Lover 2
A sudden message asking to meet up briefly, and I found myself waiting in the hallway.
From a distance, two people approached with quick steps.
The moment I took one step forward.
ㅡ턱 ㅡ턱
They grabbed one arm each of my outstretched arms and dragged me along without hesitation.
“Uh…?”
“Hey, play along.”
“You can’t claim your right to silence, so just admit it properly.”
“Let go of me!”
They said let go, but since I had no choice but to follow, I obediently went along.
Thus, we ended up on the path to the cafeteria on the second floor.
This spot had the fewest people passing by at this time of day, which is why we had chosen it.
Of course, it wasn’t my idea—these two had decided on it themselves.
“There’s no CCTV here, right?”
“Yeah, none. So just admit it properly.”
“Wait… what…?”
They took a deep breath for a moment, then spoke at the same time.
“Are you dating Sia?”
“……Oh… that’s unexpected…”
“Don’t beat around the bush—tell the truth!”
Their reactions were amusing, so I thought I’d tease them a little.
“Hey, do you even know what I look like?”
“……” “……”
They replied, but their faces were twisting in real time.
“I pretended to be your boyfriend!”
They blurted it out properly.
Then.
“Wait, that’s not it?”
“What? We thought you were finally dating, but this isn’t it?”
“I really don’t know.”
“Why? You were ready to kill me just a moment ago—where did all that go?”
“No, as a solo guy killing a couple is the right thing to do.”
“But first, you’re our underling, so we have to curse you.”
“Totally, we have to do right by you.”
“Thank you so much, you damn kids.”
“Yeah, yeah, we’re the only ones with friends like us, right?”
“Yeah, only you guys could have friends like this.”
“Anyway, that’s enough joking—let me in on what happened.”
“Word’s been spreading about you guys in our class too.”
“For real?”
“Yeah, Minseong brought it up first. He said that if people in our class hear about you guys, we should too.”
“…So that’s about it?”
“See… he’s always with Sia, so it makes sense that she’s so famous and popular!”
“Hey, calm down and hear the story first before you punch.”
“Sigh… yeah, what happened that suddenly made you seem like you have a boyfriend?”
“It’s like….”
I summarized everything that had happened so far for the two of them.
Sia had entered high school and it had been tough, and she had even contacted me before to check.
After hearing my story, the two of them.
“Ah… if that’s the case, I guess there’s nothing we can do.”
“I was so worried about April Fool’s Day coming up soon that I almost thought you were going to burn the house down.”
“Tch, if I were dating, I would have told you guys first. I wouldn’t hide it.”
“……” “……”
“What’s with that bad silence?”
“Anyway, that’s it. We’re not really dating… so what about the date photos?”
“Of course, they’re for the fake boyfriend role.”
“Maybe you got them from SNS?”
“No? I took them myself last weekend.”
“Phew!”
“Hey, hold on. It’s not really dating yet—we promised to hit when we start dating.”
“Ah… so hitting is confirmed?”
“Of course.”
“With great power comes great responsibility, you know?”
“Sigh… but can you handle it?”
“Why? What? Responsibility?”
“That’s just banter! No… I thought it would happen because Sia only looks at you so much….”
“What? Maybe you got caught by the upperclassmen?”
“Suddenly? Why?”
“Aigoo, damn… of course, the Sia she was targeting suddenly got a boyfriend. And it’s you. What else could I do?”
“Just roll with it.”
“What kind of roll is that! Won’t you look bad to them?”
“Right, we’ve been watching you guys for four years. We get hot under the collar when we see you two all over each other, but how about the upperclassmen, especially?”
“Ah….”
“That’s why I’m asking if you’re okay.”
“Yeah, you know, I’m the village idiot here.”
“Yeah….”
Originally, the academy we attended had a good student body, but after equalization, anyone could go there.
And as a result.
The second and third years who are our upperclassmen now have quite a few delinquents and troublemakers.
Originally they smoked at school… so they’re all delinquents.
Because of that, it seemed like they were worried about the quality of the upperclassmen.
Still, it didn’t matter much.
“You’re the village idiot? I don’t care about those idiots causing trouble from the start.”
“…Is this a lack of reality sense or what…?”
“Hey, don’t do that. Go buy self-defense items on the internet right now—something like a taser or electric shock gun, and if anything happens, set it off.”
“Isn’t that illegal?”
“Then isn’t hitting also illegal? Both are illegal, but you have to live, damn it.”
“That’s oddly convincing.”
“If you’re convinced, move. Are you buying it?”
“I’m fine, don’t worry.”
“…Hey, I’m advising you—buy pepper spray for sure.”
“Pepper spray? Why suddenly?”
“Some creep might know you’re dating Sia and come looking to poke at you. ‘How dare you date our Sia!’ or something.”
“Why are you cursing like that?”
“No, I’m not cursing you—I’m actually worried.”
“Got it. Thanks for the worry. Anyway, I’ll tell Minseong later when I see him.”
“Sure.”
“Whew, the bell is about to ring.”
We returned to the classroom.
As we entered, Sia.
“What did you guys talk about?”
“Ah… we asked if we’re really a couple.”
“Ah… so what did they say?”
“They’re trustworthy, so we told them the truth.”
“I see….”
“Sia, did you have anything to say?”
“Nothing from me, and from now on I’ll say we’re really dating.”
“Yeah, I’ll go with that.”
Sia looked a little unsatisfied with the truth, but she said nothing else and moved on.
Since she hadn’t said anything special, I thought it was fine and focused on class.
And during lunch that day, while Sia was away for a moment.
“Siwoo, there’s something I want to ask…”
“Huh?”
A boy from our class suddenly came over quietly.
“You… are you really dating Sia?”
He asked if I was dating.
“Yeah, that’s right.”
I said what I had promised in advance.
“Wow! So when did you start dating?”
“When I entered high school. We were childhood friends from the start.”
“Childhood friends? Since when?”
“Um… kindergarten?”
“…I see. Since the kids in our class were talking about it, I was too curious and asked. Thanks.”
“Yeah.”
I watched the friend leave and thought to myself how lucky it was.
The day before, I had discussed with Sia how to handle the story.
That I confessed to her on Christmas during my third year of middle school, and that we had been dating ever since.
Of course, posting photos related to a sudden boyfriend might look suspicious, but
since I had already posted many photos with her before, it wouldn’t be a big problem.
After saying it a few times, within a week the rumor spread throughout the whole school.
That Sia and I were really dating.
And because it was more than one person saying the same thing, everyone believed it.
Because of that, Sia’s messages suddenly stopped.
Of course, it wasn’t completely cut off—there were still a few guys pretending to contact her, but with a boyfriend shield, it seemed fine.
There was no big problem for me either.
Of course, no big problem, but there were small ones.
Right.
ㅡ툭!
“Ah… damn….”
“…….”
When walking, some guys bumped my shoulder.
This wasn’t me deliberately going to second and third year—it was because the teachers in charge of second and third year were in the first year faculty room, so the second and third years were casually walking the first year hallways.
Lately, when walking the halls, more and more people had been starting arguments.
Of course, I responded thoroughly without escalating.
Since I was thinking they could do nothing more than small arguments, my heart felt at ease.
After all, all they could do was small arguments.
Of course, Sia didn’t know about these arguments.
If she found out, she would immediately say stop.
So I didn’t mention it to those three either.
Just in case I slipped up.
The good thing was they didn’t come directly looking for me.
Seeing me get into arguments, they were worried and always asked.
“Yeah, since they’re not coming anymore, don’t worry.”
I answered, and felt relieved.
Well… from my perspective, as long as Sia was fine, I was relieved and wanted to keep the current situation.
So a week passed.
After about a week, the second years who started arguments completely disappeared.
Probably, they had been looking for excuses to argue with me, but since I didn’t respond at all, they gave up.
Now that they weren’t arguing, along with the thought that it was over, and the thought that I no longer had to act like a fake boyfriend with Sia,
I felt a slight regret.
But…
Then another problem arose.
“Cough cough! Ah… why is there a cigarette smell in the bathroom….”
“Yeah, it’s never been like this before….”
Suddenly, a cigarette smell started coming from our first year bathroom.
I had heard that some kids in the first year smoked, but not at school.
So the culprit had to be a second or third year… but
the moment I wondered why they were suddenly coming to the first year to start arguments, it didn’t make sense.
The thought that flashed in my mind.
It might be related to me and Sia.