#rent a boyfie | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

juyeoniemyhoney · 3 years ago

Text

the proposition

When your father shows up drunk and ruins your family's early Christmas dinner, you and Juyeon haste away. Your impromptu plan to spend more time with Juyeon fails, you bear your ugly sides to him, and Juyeon learns just what it means to have a family like yours. And along the way, Juyeon makes an eyebrow-raising business proposal that you just can't help but agree to.

pairing: lee juyeon x reader

genre: ANGST; fluff; a lil pining because don't we all just love pining; juyeon is a sweetheart as always

warnings: mentions of emotional and verbal abuse!! ; mentions of drunkenness/being drunk ; daddy issues riding high i see ; a lot of self-deprecating humour ; mentions of wanting to get hit by a truck (its just a metaphor)

word count: 4791 words

A/N: ok i actually finished this like two weeks after i posted the last part but my sworn enemy is editing so this took ten million years longer than it was supposed to. also i literally change writing style every paragraph because im crazy so im sorry. ily guys and im so sorry i always make you guys wait but i hope hope hope that it's worth it for u guys. love you guys always and stay safe!!

read the other parts of rent a boyfie -> here!

--------

"What was that sound?" your mother drawls from the kitchen. You hear the shuffling of her bedroom slippers as she makes her way towards yours and Juyeon's stunned forms. Your siblings and grandparents don't pay you any mind and continue to take their places at the table, assuming that the ruckus was just because one of you had dropped something. It is worse. Much worse.

From your view, Juyeon's shoulders seem to relax ever so slightly when he realises that the man who had stumbled his way into your childhood home wasn't a random drunk man but your father. But then, he realises that it's your father and he's drunk, and Juyeon is on high alert all over again. He continues to hold your hand as he hides you behind his broad body, the grip he has on your hand vice-like and so telling of how he is feeling; scared, unsure, shocked. You feel the same. He squeezes your hand and you squeeze back.

"Y/N? What's wrong?" your mother asks with a frown. She quickens her pace when you turn to her and she sees a slight glint of fear flash in your eyes. When she turns the corner, your mother seems to heave out a sigh of relief. What she is relieved about, you are unsure.

"I'm sorry you have to see this, Juyeon," your mother mumbles as she rushes to help your father off the floor. But as soon as she takes hold of his upper arm, your father shrugs her off, barking, "I can help myself up!"

You wince at the volume of his voice and Juyeon lets go of your hand to help your father too. You stay rooted in your spot, not wanting to go anywhere near your father. Now, let's not misunderstand here; he's never hit you or any of your siblings, neither has he laid a hand on your mother. You just hate how he always raises his voice, how he always finds something to be angry at, how you are always somehow the reason behind his anger. Your father is strict and absolutely unaccepting of nonsense or any of that sort. He used to scold you for asking questions and for getting in his way. He used to scold you for everything. And because everything was a reason for him to raise his voice, you kept quiet, never asked questions, learned about everything yourself. You dealt with your own problems and didn't share anything with him.

Ever since you left for university, this stifled part of you start to speak up, started to heal and you realised that everyone is not your father and because he wasn't around you all the time anymore, you could say and do and ask whatever you wanted. But now that he is here, angry and raising his voice, it is like an invisible switch at the back of your neck flipped on and you've become that robot that you were your entire childhood, speaking only when spoken to, moving only when told too, helping only when asked to.

The bad memories come back in droves and your heartbeat picks up as you remember and instinctively reach out to hold Juyeon back, to get him to stay as far away from your father as you can, lest he go through what you endured for years. But your fingers miss his shirt by a hair and Juyeon is bending down to help your father up from his keeled over position.

"Sir, are you okay?" Juyeon asks as he hesitatingly ghosts your father's arm, not helping him up in any way. Instead, your father manages to get to his feet and lift himself up in his inebriation. Juyeon follows him, hands held out as he too draws to his full height, ready to catch your father if he keels over again.

"Who the fuck are you?" your father bombards when he finally notices Juyeon. Juyeon pauses for a moment, a little stunned, before he takes a step back and bows.

"My name is Lee Juyeon and I am Y/N's boyfriend," he states in a loud unwavering voice, standing up straighter than a ruler after his bow. If someone heard this without any context, they might think that this were the military and Juyeon had started dating his superior's daughter. You suppose this isn't that far off, seeing how your father has always been the dictator of your household, ruling over you, your mother and your siblings with an iron fist.

"You're dating Y/N?"

"Yes, Sir," Juyeon replies without a moment's hesitation. It makes your neck feel hot.

"Good luck," your father says with a sarcastic laugh. The laugh is loud and fake as he takes his hand off the shoe cabinet to hold his stomach, causing him to slightly lose his balance. You feel yourself get sick to the stomach, bile rising up in your throat because you know, you know that he's going to say something about you, something to throw Juyeon off, something to make him rethink your entire relationship. Even though you know that it is fake, it's stripping to know that with the next sentence, he will know what your father truly thinks about you.

"Between you and me," your father begins, leaning in as if he is whispering a secret to Juyeon. His voice is still loud and you cannot bear to hear it. You know it will be a dig on you. You have always been your father's least favourite child, and with his next words, Juyeon will know why.

One difference between your child self and you now is that, perhaps you are bolder, more sturdy in your self beliefs, more intolerable of being put down. You used to sit through and listen to all the reasons why your father thought of you as the inferior child. You thought you were being smart, facing your problems head on instead of running away. Well, with age comes wisdom and you have finally learned that sometimes, running away is so much better than staying to deal with shit that's way beneath you. And that's when your mind finally re-enters your body and you unfreeze, making your way past your mother, past Juyeon, past your father, hastily shoving on your shoes and flinging open the door.

Before you leave, you hear your father continue, saying, "out of all her siblings—" but it is cut off when you slam the door. Without any hesitation, you make your way off the porch with nothing. No phone, no money, no jacket. But it doesn't matter. You have to get away or you'll do something. You know that you would've done something to your father if you stayed a listened.

The sun is still making its descent, leaving just a sliver of natural light left in the sky. Other than that, you allow the street lamps to guide you down the pavement, passing the houses until you get to the end of the street, turning into the small clearing that leads to the park nearby. You don't realise you are crying until you feel your cheeks begin to sting, the tears freezing as soon as they leave your tear ducts.

"Y/N!" you hear Juyeon yell behind you. You quicken your footsteps, hoping that you can disappear in the park before he sees you. You're happy that he has the decency to come for you but at the same time, you have no idea if he is doing this out of his own will or to put up an act because it would be suspicious if he didn't run after you. Not to mention how embarrassing that was. You brought Juyeon as your fake boyfriend but then your father comes home drunk and decides to tell him what he thinks of you as a warning sign, to stop Juyeon from dating you when he isn't even your boyfriend in the first place. God, you feel beyond pathetic.

And to make it even more embarrassing, you severely underestimate the power of Juyeon's long legs because in no time, he has caught up with you, stopping you with a hand on your shoulder.

"Stop, Juyeon—" you start to protest but before you know it, at the speed of light, Juyeon drapes your coat over your shoulders, turns you around by your shoulders and pulls you right into his chest, arms wrapping around your upper back. Everything stops, time, your heart, your lungs, your brain, all utterly unsure what on earth to do.

Cry, your brain supplies and for some reason, your body listens and you begin to wail. Your arms come up to hug Juyeon at his waist and he is so warm and he smells so nice and his palm on your back feels so comforting, and you just let go.

"I know," Juyeon coos, lifting one of his hands to stroke your hair, chin resting on top of your head as you continue to sob into his shirt. "It's okay, Y/N."

"What did he say?" you ask in between sobs, hands bunching up the fabric of his coat in your fists. It hurts, it hurts, it hurts, but you don't know why it does. You thought you'd grown immune to this, to your father's sharp tongue, to his anger, to his piercing words. You guess not.

"I don't know," Juyeon says softly into your hair. "I left before he could say anything."

God, does your heart burn. There's an inferno in your chest and your lungs constrict in a panic, trying to curl into itself, making itself smaller to get as far away from the licking flames. Your breaths come out in harsh gasps and the part of Juyeon's shirt that comes into contact with your face is soaked in your tears, the fabric sticking uncomfortably to the harsh angles of his chest.

The two of you stay this way for a while, Juyeon patiently allowing you to air out your grievances and cry your heart out about any and everything under the sun. He listens to your endless rambling quietly, your anger shifting to things that are completely unrelated to the matter at hand, like when you suddenly started ranting about a senior doctor at your hospital who doesn't allow you to do anything, hence why you are not learning. Juyeon just continues to stroke your hair, letting out gentle hums of acknowledgement, his other hand patting a slow, gentle rhythm onto your arm.

Eventually, you run out of things to be angry about and stop crying, leaving the two of you in a soft silence. And that's when you realise how Juyeon feels in your arms; how you feel in his. Your grip on his coat eases and you turn your face away from his chest, your ear now resting against his pec. You can hear his heartbeat and feel his chest rise and fall with each breath he takes in, your head rising and falling in tandem with his lungs.

"Y/N?" you feel rather than hear Juyeon say.

"Yeah?"

"All good?" he asks, hands moving to your shoulders to break the hug. You acquiesce and pull away from his chest, your heart lamenting the lack of his warmth. But the gentle gaze he levels you with quietens its whines.

Your eyes lower when you can no longer hold Juyeon's gaze, heart beginning to pump fire in your veins. Now that Juyeon is looking at you, you feel kind of embarrassed. You must look like a mess right now, and in a very lame attempt to make things better, you wipe the dried tears from your cheeks and smooth down the back of your hair.

Now that Juyeon's warmth no longer permeates your skin, goosebumps rise on your forearms and you hastily slot your arms into your coat. Juyeon remains silent as he guides your hands to the sleeves and helps to zip it all the way up to your chin. You look up to survey Juyeon's expression but before your eyes can make it to his face, the wet patch of tears you left on his shirt catches your eye first.

"Sorry," you mumble, covering your palm with your sleeve and lifting it to wipe at his shirt, like it would make a difference. Your cheeks burn in embarrassment because there definitely is snot mixed in with those tears and that is so disgusting. If you were Juyeon, you would have ran for the hills.

But very evidently, Juyeon is not you and instead of running away, he just smiles and dismisses it like it's nothing as he zips up his jacket and shoves his hands in his pockets.

A silence stretches on as the two of you look at each other, both unsure of what to say next. You don't know if you should thank Juyeon or apologise and Juyeon doesn't know if he should say something encouraging. And all this results in your silent observing.

"You ready to go?" Juyeon eventually asks, breaking your eye contact and the silence. Without questioning anything, you nod and start to walk back to the house, Juyeon falling into step next to you. And when the two of you reach Juyeon's car he instructs you to wait inside as he grabs your things. You obey without protesting, allowing yourself to sink into the gradually warming leather seats.

It feels kind of weird. You feel kind of weird. Especially about your relationship with Juyeon. You hadn't really expected him to run after you but now that he has, you don't really know what to feel. I suppose you do feel grateful, after all, he did comfort you and he gave you a big hug that was really warm and made your body grow a flower forest in your stomach. You realise the two of you are more friends than anything. And it's just peculiar because of the way you met. Because you were desperate and stupid and he...

You begin to realise that you don't really know a lot about Juyeon. You know about him dropping out of college and his mother's health condition and how his dad left. But you don't really know why he decided to start this business in the first place, how and why it came about and what made him continue it.

You don't know anything about his habits and his other family, if he has siblings or if he's had to deal with all of his parental problems alone. And you suppose you do want to know about his living conditions, if that weird shophouse you first met him in was actually his house or just his base of operations, if he lives with his friends or alone.

The car door opens and your wandering mind halts. Juyeon places your bag on your lap gently and haphazardly throws his coat to the backseat. Then, he puts the gearshift in reverse and gets the two of you the hell out of there.

The silence is palpable and you get deja vu all over again. And usually, deja vu is weird for you and you don't ever want to get it again. But you suppose you do want to get deja vu again if it means you get to spend more time with Juyeon. Yikes, did you actually just think that?

"You okay?" Juyeon asks after a while. He glances at you out of the corner of his eyes, gaze quickly returning to the road though there aren't too many cars out where you are now. You nod, realise he didn't see and let out a grunt that you meant to be a hum. Well that was embarrassing. But at this point, what side of you hasn't Juyeon seen?

"How did you start this business of yours?"

Juyeon lets out an amused laugh, glancing at you with raised eyebrows and a look in eyes as if to say 'seriously?'.

"What?"

"How did you come to begin this whole fake dating business. I've always been really curious about this," you explain to him, sinking further into your seat as you await his answer.

"Well," Juyeon starts, taking another quick glance at you. "It started in florist school. I made friends with a lot of girls because, well, there were only a few other guys."

Juyeon pauses to see if you're listening and is surprised to see you already looking at him with wide, curious eyes. He whips his head back to the road and gulps. Had your eyes always been that big?

"Anyway, towards the end of my first year there one of my friends asked if I would pretend to be her boyfriend during winter break. She said she would pay me and I needed the money so I agreed."

Juyeon has a really nice nose, you note. It's really straight and pointy and you wonder how it would feel like against yours, or pressed to your cheek or against the skin on your neck. And from the side, his eyes are really pretty. His eyes are always pretty but from the side you can see just how long his eyelashes are. It's unfair how long they are. Gosh, you wish your eyelashes were at least half the length of his. The best things are always wasted on men.

"Y/N?"

"Yeah?"

"Are you hungry? We can stop by and get something to eat if you are," Juyeon says and that's when you realise you missed the ending of Juyeon's story because you were far too busy being jealous of his long eyelashes. You sulk internally, having been genuinely curious about the nature of his business but do not ask him to repeat. Just in case he asks why you weren't listening.

"Are you sure you aren't the one who's hungry?" you tease.

Juyeon laughs and but laments, saying, "Okay, fine. Let's say I'm the one who's hungry but when I get food, you can't have any."

"Hey!" you say, trying to sound offended and hurt but the amused smile on your lips says otherwise and your heart lifts when you see that Juyeon has the exact same smile in the curve of his lips.

Gosh, you could look at him smile forever.

Your brain takes a second to process your unbelievably loud thoughts. Okay, so, you are totally in love with Juyeon. And you have totally been avoiding admitting this out loud but technically, this isn't out loud. You're just coming to terms with it. And that's okay as long as Juyeon does not find out. He cannot find out. Because that is so unprofessional of you and Juyeon would definitely be uncomfortable because of that. And if he rejects you, it'll totally be awkward and your relationship is already so fragile and shallow, you professing your feelings and being rejected like a loser would definitely not help your relationship at all. And then, you'll never see Juyeon ever again because you don't want to look for him and burden him with your feelings and make him even more uncomfortable.

Yeah, so all you have to do is not say or do anything that'll give you away. Which is easy. You work in a hospital with patients and other people who have pissed you off more than once and you have very much wanted to give a piece of your mind to. But you've always kept your cool and haven't had a single conflict.

Except that's different. Liking someone is a lot different. Because you've hated almost everything your entire life and have grown to keep the hate internalised, to not disturb other people with you malice. But this feeling for Juyeon, this— dare you say— love, seems to be bursting from you, like you cannot contain it. And well, you can't. You can't contain it in the slightest.

"Juyeon, do you want to be my boyfriend?" you find yourself blurting before you realise. God, that came out like a burp you couldn't help. Your mother has always told you that you don't think before you speak and you now know why.

It's almost comical the way Juyeon's gaze snaps to yours. Your brain supplies the 'dun dun dun' sound effect and in the night sky behind Juyeon's head, you imagine lightning striking across the sky like impending doom. If this were a different situation, you would be laughing in his face by now. Unfortunately, you are stuck in this situation and your brain fumbles and trips over itself to come up with a suitable reason as to your stupid and surprising question. God, you are an idiot.

In the meantime, you try to buy yourself some time.

"Juyeon, the road!" you cry.

What about the road? It is flat and made with tar and also completely empty. There is not a single car in sight to put the two of you in danger. But you have to do it. You have to give Juyeon a heart attack to save your own skin. Sorry, Juyeon.

Your little fib works and Juyeon's wide, surprised eyes flick back to the road in panic, steadying the the wheel so that the car is in the middle of the lane again. But it doesn't last long and though Juyeon isn't staring at you in pure and utter disbelief anymore, he is taking those periodic glances at you again, switching from you and the road every other second, even more often than just now.

Your brain begins to shut down from overwork and you internally implore it to please think of something, anything for you to say. You imagine yourself on your knees, hands clasped together in prayer, tears streaming down your face as you plead your brain to get it's goddamned shit together.

"What did you say– you want me to be your boyfriend?" Juyeon asks again. You watch his adam's apple bob harshly as he gulps. You wonder if it's because he's nervous or because he does not want to be in this car with you anymore. You pray that it's the former.

You stay silent for a while, allowing your brain one last chance to redeem itself before you start thinking with your heart and surrender to confessing your feelings to Juyeon.

And apparently, begging and last chances work because your brain comes up with arguably the best idea ever.

"Yeah, like I'll, uh, book? Yeah, I'll book you for like a month and we just say that we're dating and then break up after, you know? Like the movie Pretty Woman."

Your sentence is met with silence and you begin to panic slightly. You sort of forgot that Juyeon can reject jobs. A very big detail that you probably shouldn't have missed out but at least, you're not confessing your feelings out of nowhere. Yeah, this is undisputedly better than just now. If you continue saying it, you'll speak it into existence. That's what your mother always says. You pray to god that she's right.

"I mean, of course, I'll pay you and you know it's not exactly like Pretty Woman. I mean, you're not a prostitute and I'm not this super-rich businessman. And the ending! The ending doesn't have to be the same unless, of course, you want it to be. If that's the case, I mean I don't really mind. But if you're uncomfortable then it's totally fine, you don't have to say yes," you ramble on, words coming out faster than you can think, like an endless stream of absolute bull crap had been accumulating in you and your body chose this exact moment to let it all out in the form of embarrassing word vomit. God, you wish you would shut up. You wish to get out of this car even more, so that you can hit your head against something really hard, preferably a truck.

"Be your boyfriend for a month?" Juyeon finally speaks up, looking at you with his stupidly big, sparkly eyes for a second longer than you deem comfortable for your lovesick heart. You are distracted again, Juyeon's eyes too pretty and gosh, his eyelashes are going to be the death of you.

Your brain taps you on your shoulder, saying, Hello? Answer him, bozo!

You snap out of it and smile tightly. "Yeah, just by word of mouth. You get me? So that I can say that I have a boyfriend and have proof, even if it's a lie."

Juyeon falls silent again and you find yourself scrambling to find words to convince him. You feel a little pathetic, having to convince Juyeon to be your fake boyfriend and not even your real one for an extended period of time. You wonder what would have happened if you hadn't thought about that excuse and had confessed instead. You shudder just thinking about it.

"And if I just told my mother we broke up, she would just be bothering me and trying to set me up with her friends' sons. I really don't want that to happen again. So, it'll be a win-win. You'll get money and I can use you as my scapegoat of sorts. Unless, of course, you don't wanna do it and you think it's a waste of time, then I totally understand."

Juyeon remains in thought and you hush yourself, trying your best to keep the word vomit in. You have run out of reasons to convince him further and now the decision falls entirely onto his shoulders. You'll be okay if he says no; you'll just come up with excuses if your mother chooses to pry about you and Juyeon. But you hope to god he says yes.

"Okay, but let's make it three months instead," Juyeon finally says.

Eh?

You freeze and you begin to break out into the most intense sweat in your life. Three months? You do not have the money to buy Juyeon's time for three months. You barely even have the money to pay him for a month. You were beginning to feel like a genius but now you feel like the biggest idiot. So, this is why people just confess their feelings instead of coming up with elaborate plans to spend time with the person they like. Yep, you are dumb.

"Three months?" you stutter out. You can visibly see the amounts being deducted from your bank account in front of you, the numbers falling and falling with each day of said three months passing by. You almost faint as the calculations continue in your brain.

"Yeah, but you don't have to pay me," Juyeon says. And the sweat stops immediately. You feel less lightheaded and you perk up in your seat. What a nice thing for someone to say. You think you may love Juyeon more now.

"I'm fine to do it but I'd feel bad if I don't pay you," you say slowly, turning to look at his side profile again. My wallet won't feel bad, you think but regret immediately, chastising yourself for being a cheap person when Juyeon has already done so much for you. Your guilt washes away, however, when he sends you a sweet smile, eyes creasing so prettily you almost lean over the centre console to kiss him. You really are the worst human being.

"I would benefit from this too even if you didn't pay me so it's okay," Juyeon supplies the briefest and most boring explanation. You continue to stare at him with curious eyes and he folds with one glance at your imploring eyes.

"Remember Iris?"

You nod.

"She's been sort of in love with me since florist school. She hasn't said anything but I can feel it and if I told her I have a girlfriend," he pauses to tilt his head in your direction, linking you and girlfriend. Your heart does some sort of flip. "then, maybe she would kind of get the idea."

You nod in understanding. But you laugh sardonically in your head, wondering if Juyeon would take to this method to ward you off once the three months wear off and your love for him begins ooze from your every orifice, your every pore, your body no longer able to contain this love, filling you like helium fills a balloon, a feeling that makes you feel featherlight and like you're floating. You wonder, you wonder, you wonder.

"Plus, my relatives are kind of hounding me to get into a relationship too. Something about finding someone to recharge and whatnot."

You smile a secret smile and hold out your hand for Juyeon to shake.

"Partners?"

Juyeon glances at you out of the corner of his eye again, gaze shifting from your own to your hand. He smiles and one of his hands leaves the wheel to take your hand in his, shaking it firmly. Your heart does a backhand spring in your ribcage when the rough, warm pad of Juyeon's palm meets yours.

"Partners."

188 notes · View notes