Fake Dating

"Since you can't pay it, then how about dating me for a year?" 

If Fen Yichen have a choice he would directly ask him to marry Mingze, but he didn't want to scare his prey away. Simply taking small steps is enough for now, he realized it when he was given a love letter. Mingze doesn't like him romantically, it was obvious he likes Hao Muyang. 

If he wants to be noticed, he needs to set some ripples in his heart. 

"Aren't you straight as a ruler? Why are you asking to date me?" Utterly confused, Xie Mingze temporarily forget the pounding feeling in his head.

"My mother wants me to get married, I'm not yet ready so I need someone to date."

'Is arrange marriage still a thing for the rich?' Xie Mingze wondered. Nevertheless, it's not like he had any other choice. Just date for a year, it's better than working until old age just to pay for a ruined suit.

"If we want it to be believable then your family need to know too."

Mama Xie and Mama Fen talks alot. It wouldn't be believable if they don't tell the Xie family first. Anyway, they already knew their son's sexual orientation. Getting a boyfriend out of nowhere won't be weird. 

"Fine, it's just a year anyways. Still we have to make some rules. No kissing on the lips, no sexual intercourse and I can't think of anything else."

"Then my rule would be, no dating while we are fake dating. We should be exclusive."

Xie Mingze had the urge to roll his eyes at Fen Yichen. Compared to Yichen, no one was actively chasing after him, he doesn't get love letters or any confession everyday. This rule should be highlighted for his sake and not Mingze's.

"I don't want rumors of you dating me and a girl. This is fake, but don't two time me."

Since he never clarified if he was straight or not, it was possible Fen Yichen would get a girlfriend, "Even if you fell in love with someone, you can't break it off with me since we have one year together." Yichen added.

"I don't plan on dating until I graduate anyways. I'm fine with the rules, is there anything more you would like to add?" 

"I'll make a contract you can sign later."

Fen Yichen coughed a bit, trying to supress the smile creeping in his face. For now it would all be fake, but he believed on the saying fake it till you make it. If he can't make Xie Mingze fall for him in the one year they are dating then it would be his fault. He can't believe that a golden opportunity would magically fall on his lap.

He had the urge to jump up and pump his fist from happiness. Meanwhile, Xie Mingze was just happy it was Fen Yichen who took him from the drinking party. If it was someone else and he would be forced to pay back with interest, then even selling one of his kidney won't be enough.

"Also you shouldn't drink too much."

"Did I do something than puking all over you."

After giving a slight warning, Fen Yichen did not say anything more. He sneezed from the cold. Can't believe he just strike a contract with only a towel on his waist. It was only when he sneezed the two of them realized he was still on a towel.

"I'll wear something first, you could take a shower before going home."

"Isn't it time for checkout? I can shower at home."

"The Fen family owns this hotel, just call the front desk and tell them we would extend."

Xie Mingze just said an Oh before turning his back to look for the phone. Then he turn back about to ask how he could dial the front desk when he saw Fen Yichen removing his towel. 

"Fuck, can't you do that when I'm in the bathroom? "

"Pervert what are you looking at?"

Is it even normal to just casually remove your towel when someone is still in the same room as you? Xie Mingze had the urge to hit Fen Yichen in the head. If it was some other people they might've jumped him, he is too careless. He knew he is strong, but he shouldn't be too careless with himself.

"Are you stupid? Why are you changing in front of me?"

"Correction, I'm at your back. You're the one who suddenly turned around without any warning."

Not wanting to argue any longer, he just turned his back on him, grabbed a towel and went in the bathroom. He doesn't want to talk to him anymore.

***

Once again riding the red car, he was sittin on the passenger seat. Right now Xie Mingze was busy setting up the playlist to his liking. "It's a bit hard to connect." he grumbles.

Although he knew that it was his phone acting up, it was an old model and the car was brand new. There might had been some issues in the compatibility of the models. Once again his phone's screen freezes over. Yichen passed his phone, "Open your spotify account or create a playlist there, so whenever you want to connect just use my phone."

He put the camera near his face to unlock the phone and started fiddling with it. Fen Yichen's phone screen was the default wallpaper, his apps was the default and he only have a few apps downloaded on his device.

Xie Mingze took a selfie and changed his wallpaper and screen saver. He plan to do the same with his phone using Fen Yichen's picture so their act would be atleast believable. Trying to recall the things couple do on movies and mangas he began to rack his brain.

"Since we are fake dating, then you shouldn't let anyone sit on the passenger's seat. This seat is exclusively mine. They would be suspicious of you if you let just anyone ride here."

"Wow my Ming is so knowledgeable about dating. How many people have you dated until now?" Fen Yichen praised him, like he would to a child. If he wasn't driving Mingze had the illusion that he would affectionately pat his head. 

Of course Xie Mingze haven't dated anyone since birth. It was hard to maintain his grades while dating someone. Of course, he won't tell Fen Yichen about this. If he knew then the fact that he is a virgin would also be revealed. 

"I've never dated anyone, so since Ming is so knowledgeable and reliable then I would let you take the wheel of our relationship okay?"

"Sure, just let me handle it." Mingze puffed his chest while crossing his arms, but deep inside he is panicking. 

After getting home, he vowed to read a lot of romantic materials so his secret won't be revealed. He tried to think of what couple usually do. They could just skip the introduce to the parents since they've known each other since childhood, their families knew each other. 

Maybe he should search the internet while they're on the road. Xie pretending to be a dating expert Mingze tried to quickly scroll through dating tips on the internet. Completely unaware that Fen Yichen already knew he was bluffing long ago. He was just teasing him, how could he not knew he never dated? They've always been together, Xie Mingze must've have forgotten about that fact.

"Yichen, since your mom and dad are coming back to host a banquet. Should we tell them ahead or time?" 

It was something they need to think about, since Fen Yichen's goal was for his parent's to know he is dating to stop the arrange marriage, but there is a problem. It wouldn't be about him saying something about dating someone. It would also be him coming out of the closet and telling his parents he is gay, since technically his partner is a man.

Announcing it on the party have its pros and cons, if their relationship is made public at the banquet then Mama Fen and Papa Fen wouldn't be able to stop them and would be forced to stop the arrange marriage because the public would be aware of Fen Yichen's relationship. The cons would be everyone knowing he was gay even though was not. It would be a lot harder for him to find someone in the future. 

It wouldn't affect Xie Mingze that much since he was really gay in the first place.

"Let's tell your parents first, the banquet wouldn't be a month from now. We should plan our actions first and get our stories straight. Today would be the date we became official."

Anniversaries are important for couples, so Mingze decided to write it down on his notes app. He marked it in the calendar so he won't forget. Still, Xie Mingze believed nothing would change since they're just fake dating. Things would stay the same as it was, is what he thought.