“Just… tell them we broke up or something,” Sae shrugged, running a hand through his hair as the two of you sat on the porch of your parents’ house. The family dinner had just ended. His fourth one, actually. He attended under the charming role of your fake boyfriend.

To be fair, he was getting paid. You’d finally caved to the pressure of your parents’ nonstop interrogation about your love life and downloaded one of those sketchy rent-a-boyfriend apps. It was probably the lowest point of your adult life, but in your defense, Sae turned out to be oddly… bearable. Surprisingly normal for a guy hired to lie.

There was a strange kind of ease between you two. Sae was painfully blunt but it made things easier. You found yourself talking to him more than you expected. Not that he was being paid to listen. He didn’t even need to hang around after dinner, but he always did.

You knew this fake dating thing couldn’t last forever. Sae wasn’t your real boyfriend; the whole point was just to show your parents that you were at least trying at some sort of a romantic life. After that, you could make up some clean little breakup story, call it a day, and move on.

And yet… you hesitated. You didn’t really know why. Sae wouldn’t care. This was just a job to him. He probably had a new client lined up right after this. Still, the thought bothered you more than you wanted to admit.

He let out a sigh, leaning against the porch railing as he looked at you. “…Or if you need me for another dinner, whatever. We can do that too.”

His tone was casual, maybe even a little reluctant. But somewhere beneath all that indifference, there was something else. Maybe the two of you had spent just a little too much time together.