Archive of Our Own ^beta

By the frown in Joshua's face, Jeonghan seems to notice that something's really going on and it's really nothing new (he's been joshua's assistant for two years now). He notices Joshua's signal—that sign you make with your hand when you ask someone to call you, or that Y in the ASL, or the aloha sign in Hawaii—and he gets the signal.

"Professor Hong, we're about to start the meeting in five minutes." Jeonghan says with a voice loud enough for his boss' mom to hear from the other end.

"You hear that, mom? I'm about to go on a very important meeting. Bye. Love you. I'll see you in the fall." His boss says as fast as he can, the usual talking speed he picks up when he wants to escape his mom.

"Nice save." His boss sighs and plops down the office chair.

Jeonghan proceeds to give the cup of coffee to him. "Same old?"

"Same old."

Jeonghan just chuckles. He reckons it's been over three years since his boss' mom began to constantly bug her son about his dating life. Jeonghan has witnessed maybe more than three fourths of those moments that's why they made a signal on when they needed a save.

"What brings you here?" Joshua asks.

Jeonghan chuckles again. He could be very forgetful. "Your daily morning fix: coffee."

He hears his boss mutter something like a 'right.' under his breath then after, he starts to head towards the door to exit but his boss calls him even before he has one foot out.

"Don't I have any appointments today?"

Jeonghan turns back and shakes his head with a little smile on his face. "Just a phone call with your mom if she decides to shit on you again."

And that sends his boss to laugh lightly and Jeonghan admires it for a while before stepping foot and—

"Stop trying to ignore the fact that your visa's about to expire."

The mood suddenly drops, and Jeonghan steps inside once again, fully closing the door then sticking his back to the glass wall of the office.

Jeonghan scans his boss' face for a while; there is not a hint of humor in his face. "How did you know?" He asks—stupidly.

"I'm your boss."

Jeonghan huffs. "As a matter of fact." He mutters, the sarcasm very evident though his voice is little.

"Do you honestly think I won't know when I'm your boss?" His boss tries to smile and Jeonghan thinks that it's because he's trying to lighten up the mood although it's already dropped six feet under.

This is really a subject Jeonghan tries to avoid because he knows that in a year, he's already going back to his old, musty town in Korea where he'll work again as a waiter—completely opposite of being a secretary of a man his age that makes everything easier for him.

"I'm packing my things, if that's what you want to know." Jeonghan plasters a smile on his face that's too face for his own good.

"I—" His boss chokes on his coffee. "—are you for real?!"

Jeonghan fakes a chuckle. I wish I was. "Uh, Minghao rejected my proposal, Soonyoung back there would definitely not marry me, and Krystal wouldn't marry me saying I have the hots for my boss."

"Do you not have the hots for me?"

Jeonghan frowns and he thinks he might huff smoke from his nose. "I do not, Joshua."

Joshua—his boss—laughs to that and Jeonghan is thankful that the air suddenly lightens.

"What are you doing on the last week of September?"

Jeonghan could swear he's about to smash his head on the glass wall. What's with the sudden change of subjects?!

"I don't know." He shrugs. "I don't hold a crystal ball, Joshua. I do, however, hold your schedule." Jeonghan grabs a tablet from God-knows-where and he taps and slides until he finds the month of September in the calendar. "And it says you aren't doing anything so I'm not doing anything as well." He says with a proud grin.

His boss rests his elbow on his desk and then rests his head on his hands. "You're going with me to Korea."

Korea.

"Okay." He shrugs as if it was the plainest and easiest thing to do.

"And you're going to pretend that you're my boyfriend."

And just like that, Jeonghan forgets and crosses the line that separates their boss-assistant relationship. "Joshua, what the fuck."

"And I will help you with your green card."

Jeonghan's face distorts out of utter confusion and disorientation about the things that's happening. It's all just happening at once and his little pea brain could not comprehend anything.

"That will take years—"

"A year if you're marrying a US citizen A.K.A. me."

"Why are you proposing this again?"

"I'm helping a friend. You're helping a friend. My mom will leave me alone and you'll be a citizen and freely work here." Joshua then rests his back on the backrest of his officer chair with a smirk on his face. "We'll get a divorce right after you get your green card, we'll be back to being friends."

Jeonghan doesn't say a word. He can't even think of anything to say as he is mentally panicking.

He's known Joshua for over four years—ever since Joshua was just the Academic Head of this little state college until he's now the Dean.. He's watched him make decisions here and there for the welfare of the institution and he could swear Joshua has never been this impulsive so this is all new to him.

Jeonghan has known Joshua to be meticulous in everything so he can't help but think what the fuck did this human being eat? Is he high? Is he drunk? Jeonghan's pretty sure there's no liquor in that coffee he gave.

"You can think about it—the part where you'll marry me, not the part where you'll go with me in Korea. That's mandatory."

And somehow, although there's nothing comforting with those words, he heaves a sigh of relief. He gives his boss a vigorous nod.

"Book a flight, okay?" Joshua says with a soft voice, kind of like a make up voice for all the chaos he's done to Jeonghan's head in just a span of four minutes and forty five seconds.

"Business class." Jeonghan replies with an enthusiastic nod. "When will this be again?"

"Fourth week of September."

"Right. Two weeks from now." He makes a peace sign with his hand before trailing off towards his cubicle.

As soon as Jeonghan reaches his apartment, he immediately spots Mingyu, his roommate, in the kitchen staring at his dog who's sitting on the kitchen counter. He's probably giving the dog a pep talk about potty training, nothing new to that.

He is immediately noticed by said roommate the moment the door closes.

"You're here." Mingyu says while putting Hachi down.

"I'm here." Jeonghan huffs, plopping down the three year old couch he bought along with Mingyu when he's new to town. Mingyu's two years younger than he is. They met at a diner where Mingyu used to work prior to him landing a spot on a modelling agency. They became roommates because Jeonghan's desperate to find someone to split the rent with and Mingyu was basically almost homeless.

"You seem exhausted." Mingyu comments as he walks towards the couch then sitting down with Hachi on his lap.

"Hachi's more exhausted." Jeonghan boops the dog's nose, earning its affection. The dog walks towards Jeonghan and lays down on his lap instead (cue mingyu pouting).

The two sit in silence with the TV on. The Simpsons are on but the episodes were still probably from 2003 since the colors still look less vibrant. As soon as Jeonghan gets tired of the show, he puts the dog down and he turns to his roommate.

"How long did it take you to get your green card?" Jeonghan asks out of the blue.

Mingyu scoffs then lowers the volume of the TV. "Almost two years and a half. All because Jungkook's a green card holder and not a US citizen."

Jeonghan nods then looks back at the television.

"Why? Did Krystal agree on marrying you?"

"No, but Joshua asked me to marry him—for the green card." Very blunt, Jeonghan.

"Joshua as in like, your boss-friend?"

Jeonghan nods.

"Well, that should be easy, right? You both know each other and he's a US citizen. It will be easy to smooth things out."

And with that, Jeonghan lets out a loud laugh that made Mingyu worry. The poor roommate's thinking whether Jeonghan's fine or out of his mind, but he guesses that he's just exhausted.

Finally, Jeonghan stops laughing, putting an end to Mingyu's misery. "Was it that easy between you and Jungkook?"

Mingyu shakes his head. "We had to know each other a lot first before getting married. We just met at an online site, so.."

"You paid him for that, right?"

The younger nods. "Is he asking for something in return?"

"I—He only told me to be his fake boyfriend until his cousin gets married and we fly back here. We're flying to Korea in two weeks. I'll show up there as his.. Boyfriend".

"What about like.. The fees?"

Jeonghan pauses. "We haven't really talked about that."

"Oh.." That's all Mingyu could say while he puts on a smirk on his face.

"Stop looking so smug. I still haven't agreed to it."

Mingyu stands up, picking up Hachi. "Alright. Think about it. If you don't want to do it, you can easily turn it down."

"But then I'll get deported."

"Then you get deported." Mingyu's voice fades as he himself fades. Jeonghan's left there to think about it.

(ﾉ･_-)☆

The past couple of days for Jeonghan includes him doing his daily routine but a little bit more preoccupied than he has ever been before all because he's thinking about marrying his friend—his boss. He isn't even bothered about the fact that he's going to be a fake boyfriend, he's just really bothered about the process. He shouldn't even be bothered anymore as he thought about this before—not that he had actually thought about marrying Joshua. He's referring to Krystal and Minghao whom he litrerally asked to marry him.

Jeonghan, you're really dumb.

(ﾉ･_-)☆

Three days prior to their flight to Korea, Jeonghan went to Joshua's office.

Well, it's all for the reasons that Joshua personally called him.

Jeonghan sits on his favorite chair inside Joshua's office, right in front of his boss. "So, what's up? Do you need my answer?"

"No." Joshua scoffs. "We need a story line."

"Right!" Jeonghan's eyes lights up. Jeonghan may be a little reserved most of the time but he's a sucker for stuff like this. He loves sappy stories especially the ones from books and netflix movies. He doesn't know why but he gets by happily with them.

Joshua smiles at the enthusiasm. "You seem excited. Do you have any ideas about how we met?"

"I actually do not." Despite the negative answer, Jeonghan's smile doesn't even falter at all. "We can stick to reality, if that's good enough for you. And then we can just add a couple of stuff."

Joshua squints his eyes.

"You know.. So we could get that natural feel." Jeonghan wiggles his eyebrows suggestively.

Joshua bites his lip then looks at anywhere but Jeonghan—his usual thinking face—then he looks back at Jeonghan with a smile. "Okay."

"You know even if you're smiling I can feel your tension." Jeonghan says, slouching then crossing his arms against his chest.

"You can't blame me. I just want them to leave me alone." Joshua rests his back on the backrest then proceeds to playfully spin himself while sitting on the office chair.

"We'll do well!" Jeonghan says with much enthusiasm to encourage his boss. It's the least he could do at the moment. "Just be natural. You're good at faking it with the faculty members here."

Joshua laughs lightly with a shrug.

Jeonghan stands up. "I need to check some papers."

"Alright, cool." Joshua nods. "Can you stay at my place tomorrow, though? Until the flight."

And Jeonghan's heart just decides to beat at a very unusual fast pace. He manages to try to keep it cool. "I'll ask Mingyu." Jeonghan says with a smirk.

"Oh, he's your boyfriend now? Is that why you don't want to marry me?" Joshua, of course, smirks back. It's not a day when they don't fight with their smug faces.

"I'm—What? No. I was kidding. Of course I'll crash to your place. I'll even take the keys and lock you out." Jeonghan rolls his eyes as soon as he heads to the door—as soon as his back's turned from his boss.

"Okay. Don't forget the summary of complaints for Sir Park."

"Alright!" Jeonghan chirps, exiting without even looking back at his boss.

(ﾉ･_-)☆

Today, the two are finally on board in the plane. Joshua gets the window seat not because he loves it but because Jeonghan easily gets sick ("if you don't change seats with me, i will die." jeonghan blackmails).

Jeonghan is sitting comfortably in the very luxurious and very comfortable Lazy Z chair at the business class plane. Actually, he is lying down rather than sitting down (because honestly why would you sit down on a business class chair come on) with his feet resting at the ottoman. He has his favorite little pillow underneath his head while listening to his favorite song with his air pods on.

See, Jeonghan always makes sure to make use of the business class seats at maximum because it's not everyday he gets to travel hours with this comfort. So props to Mr. Joshua Hong for hiring him as his fake boyfriend.

It's shitty. Jeonghan thinks it's pure bullshit that Joshua chose the flight with two layovers. What a fifteen hour flight turned out to be a forty hour flight. Who even wants to spend more than a day and a half travelling?

 Joshua, of course.

Sometimes, Jeonghan thinks it's tiring to be a secretary of a high maintenance person. Considering they're friends, Jeonghan really deems Joshua to be hard to please especially when it comes to stuff like these. He can't explain what these are but exhibit a.) Joshua always wants his flights to be business class even when they're just flying to Boston or to Hawaii; exhibit b.) he always, always wants everything to be flowing smoothly especially when it concerns the state university he's running; and exhibit c.) he is picky with the people he surrounds himself with, like he always makes sure to surround him with people that understand him, that jives with him.

On that note, Jeonghan pats himself on the back because he's been around Joshua for too long so that must mean he's one of the people Joshua likes.

As a person in general, nothing more.

"You fancy sweaters, right?" Of course, Jeonghan's train of thoughts were stopped because he hears Joshua (his airpods aren't loud enough sigh).

Jeonghan squints his eyes before answering. "Yeah, why?"

Joshua shrugs. "I don't know. They'll probably ask me what you like."

"Cute." Jeonghan mutters under his breath as he scoffs. "I like salty food. And steak and sushi."

"I know." Joshua nods but there is a hint of nonchalance in his voice and expression. "And you also like pancakes but with no syrup but you love them with either whipped cream or peanut butter."

There's a beaming smile on Joshua's face as to what Jeonghan could see. It's a smile that shows how proud Joshua is of himself for knowing those facts.

Jeonghan smiles back in delight but hides the fact that he's a little puzzled of how observant the man beside him could be when it comes to him.

"I assume you already know everything about me." Joshua says.

"Yeah." Jeonghan grins. "Even your netflix password."

"Even my netflix password." Joshua nods with conviction, a smile hinting on his face.

The rest of the plane ride, since it's only morning, they talked about what they should do to look like actual couples. Jeonghan had to ask Joshua five times if he's really down to doing coupley stuff ("yes i dragged you into this. what's your problem?" joshua says as he continues to rub his temples due to intense stress because of the redundant questions.).

Their minds aren't really far from each other. They kind of share the same single braincell when it comes to tactics (one time they picked each other's names for the christmas kringle and they both bought themselves toothbrush). With that being said, both of then came to terms that they'll do coupley stuff: hold hands and endearments.

Jeonghan finds it funny that nobody opened about kissing. He was about to, but Joshua seemed to avoid the discussion.

Okay, then.

(ﾉ･_-)☆

"Ladies and Gentlemen, welcome to Incheon Airport. Local time is 7 in the evening, and the temperature is 9°C."

And finally, after a miserable forty hour flight and non stop praying that the flight attendant doesn't disturb their sleep anymore, they have finally landed in South Korea. Jeonghan could only think of how much his ass fucking hurts (maybe the lazy z isn't very comfortable after forty hours), and what time is it in Los Angeles.

He counts in his head. South Korea is 17 hours ahead.. One.. Two.. Three..

Holy shit, it's just 2 AM in LA. No wonder Joshua looks like he's about to pass out anytime.

"Are you okay?" Jeonghan asks the sleepy one.

Joshua still has his Connie neck pillow around him, his eyes almost shut, as he rests his head on the said pillow. He nods nonchalantly, very obvious that he's half asleep.

Jeonghan is now having second thoughts. Should he help Joshua fall asleep on his shoulders while they wait for their service or should he just let his boss be? He's pretty sure they didn't talk about when they'll start being boyfriends—will they start as soon as they land in South Korea or as soon as they enter Joshua's parents' premises?

Fuck it.

"C'mere." Jeonghan says as he gently snakes his arms around Joshua's waist to pull him closer. Joshua gets the signal though he's half asleep; he nuzzles his head on the crook Jeonghan's neck.

Their car arrives after a couple of minutes, though. Joshua finally wakes up at the voice of his cousin, Wonwoo. Jeonghan remembers that name—that cousin is the one he's closest with although three years older than he is; runs a restaurant and is successful; owns a mansion near the beach at Busan; and last but not the least, happily married to a man.

"Won, this is Jeonghan, my boyfriend." Joshua says so confidently and Jeonghan has to pause a while to take in that he is actually being introduced to an actual family member.

Jeonghan smiles wide when he sees Wonwoo's huge grin. Okay, this is going better than expected.

"Ah! Really?" Wonwoo shakes Jeonghan's hand firmly. Jeonghan believes that the smile from him us genuine. "Never thought he'd actually bring someone home."

"Never thought he'd bring me home." Jeonghan winks playfully at Joshua who just returns a sheepish smile.

The next thing that happens is that they're in the backseat of Wonwoo's car on the way to Gyeonggi, Joshua's family's hometown.

Joshua's fast asleep in the car; his head resting anywhere but Jeonghan's shoulder. You see, it's not that Jeonghan thinks that Joshua should spend his every sleeping moment on his shoulders; it's just that they have to be coupley because Wonwoo is literally just two feet away from them.

"Jeonghan, right?" Wonwoo begins.

"Y-Yeah." Jeonghan answers with a stutter.

"How old are you?" There it goes—the questions. He should be prepared enough.

"I was born in the 95 as well. October 4th." Jeonghan answers coolly and he sees Wonwoo smiling from the rearview mirror.

"Cool. So, where's your hometown? I assumed you're from here because you're pretty fluent in Korean."

"I was born in Gangbuk, somewhere in Seoul. Then I flew to the US about almost six years ago for work."

"Ah, what do you do?"

I fix your cousin's schedules, check some papers, compile student complaints, and oh—"I'm Shua's assistant and I also teach Thermodynamics part time." That's true, though.

"In Jisoo's school?"

Jisoo.. "Yeah. We met there. How about you, how did you and your husband meet?"

"Ah," Wonwoo let's out a sigh, almost kind of like remembering every wonderful moment. "Jun and I met in uni when I was tutoring him Korean."

And Jeonghan thanks God and Buddha that he successfully averts the subject before he could mess things up.

(ﾉ･_-)☆

Turns out, the province of Gyeonggi  is only 2 hours away from the airport. Jeonghan barely slept all throughout the ride because he kept Wonwoo awake by sharing a conversation with hin. By the end of the ride, he concludes that Wonwoo is the nice cousin; not too nosey, but not too nonchalant either. He's just right and he thinks he could get along with him.

Wonwoo just dropped them off at the address Jeonghan gave him and promised to see them in the morning. The house they are going to stay in is owned by Joshua's childhood friend—Lee Seokmin—who is also close to their family. Jeonghan has heard a lot of stories regarding Seokmin and how funny he is and fun to be with whenever Joshua visits Korea.

They get greeted by Seokmin who is wearing a baggy white shirt and blue velvet pyjamas. Jeonghan could tell that the younger has been sleeping and has only been woken up only to accommodate them.

"Sorry if I can't hold a conversation right now." Seokmin says with a huge grin but sleepy eyes.

"It's okay. We'll see you in the morning! Shua needs to sleep anyway." Says Jeonghan. He then enters his shared room with Joshua whom he finds in the middle of the bed already fast asleep. Joshua gives off light snores and Jeonghan wants to shove him onto his side but something inside him tells him that he shouldn't.

He's too.. Soft. So he opts to just crashing on the carpeted floor.

(ﾉ･_-)☆

Laughter fills the air the second Seokmin does a weird impersonation of a shrieking cat. Their stomachs are getting cramped and their jaws are all getting tired because of nonstop laughter. It's not everyday they get to be like this. Most of them are working and they barely see each other. Sure, the Lees see each other everyday because they live in one house but it's different than before.

When Joshua's dad was still around, he would go home almost every quarter of the year just to hang out with his friends. Now, he stays in the US for good; Wonwoo resides in Busan with Junhui;  Hansol is the only cousin who is staying in Gyeonggi.

Wonwoo sits back as he watches Jeonghan and Joshua go inside the little bungalow.

"10,000₩ says they'll do it!" Chan enthusiastically says and everyone laughs.

Wonwoo shakes his head. "How long did they say since they started dating?" He thinks of all the conversations he has had with the two ever since they landed here.

Seungkwan tries to recall, too; even Vernon.

"I don't think they said anything." Jihoon says.

"Because you weren't listening at all." Seokmin snaps and Jihoon gives him a side eye. Jihoon retaliates back by saying if he's not listening then his jaw wouldn't hurt, and from that, Seokmin and Jihoon share a small banter.

"It just feels weird." Wonwoo breaks the stupid banter of the two.

"What does?" Junhui asks, looking at Wonwoo with a creased forehead.

Wonwoo shrugs, looking around. "Jisoo hyung never told us anything about having a boyfriend. The last time we asked he just kept on dismissing the issue. He does it with Aunt Hyujin, too."

The stiffness on Wonwoo's face starts to worry Junhui. Sure, Wonwoo always has a serious face, but the way he tenses up is different. Even the others are starting to worry.

"You know Jisoo hyung. He likes to keep things to himself then he just suddenly comes out and surprises us." Hansol speaks up and everyone but Wonwoo seems to agree.

"What, you think someone's cheating with anyone?" Chan raises his brows.

Wonwoo shakes his head. "No, it's not that. Just—I don't know. I'm sorry."

Junhui sighs. "You just feel different because Shua hasn't brought anyone home in six years." Everyone nods. "And the last time you saw him, he was a wreck because of that girl. Besides, you were the one who said they look madly in love."

There's something comforting in Junhui's words that makes the heavy feeling in Wonwoo's chest disappear. He looks at his husband then smiles.

"They're touchy. Sweet. Perfect." Seokmin comments. His eyes are filled with somewhere along the lines of hopeless romantic.

Jihoon makes a gagging noise.

Seungkwan laughs. "I think Hansol put some condoms in their room.."

Again, Jihoon makes a gagging noise. This time, he's accompanied by Chan.

"Kids." Seungkwan playfully rolls his eyes.

Junhui stands up. He's already felt the needs to dismiss this night as everybody looks tired despite the playful remarks and laughs. He puts the glasses on the tray, saying that everyone should get ready for bed and he'll just take care of the mess.

No one agrees, though, as they still want to chat. Junhui does nothing but nod and take away the glasses to wash them. When he enters the premises, he could already hear voices and he assumes that it's from the two, Joshua and Jeonghan. He tries to figure out where the noises are coming from so he pauses from where he's standing. Is it from my left, or is it from my right?

He can't figure it out so he dismisses it and walks towards the kitchen where he finds the two almost close to ripping each other's clothes as they make out on the kitchen counter. The couple abruptly stops (junhui sees a saliva trail hanging from their lips when they parted), and looks at him.

"Whoops." Junhui smirks, holding back a laugh as he walks past them. He thinks that Wonwoo and him have been there before. They used to sneak out, too, just to do that. Considering Jeonghan and Joshua are older than them, he feels like it's young love that the two are experiencing. It's not the puppy love kind of young love, not the kind of love that's just bliss and foolishness; but it's the young love that's new and innocent. It's that one where they're happy with whatever they are and whatever they have. Pretty sure it makes no sense but, hey.

You can call Junhui whatever you want but he sees that the two are madly in love. He sees that the two only want to hold each other for the rest of their lives. He knows because that's how he sees Wonwoo; and you know what they say: it takes one to know one.