Boyfriend for Hire [minsung]

Chapter 1

LEE KNOW POV

Hyunjin waved at me from a quaint bistro table outside of the bustling coffee shop. His hair was lighter than I'd seen before and went well with his sun-kissed skin. He bounded towards me with a massive grin plastered on his face, and I braced myself as his arms wrapped around me, squeezing me into him. I hated hugs but knew he'd missed me on his trip, so I waited patiently for him to end it, wincing as I stared at our table behind him being taken by a couple.

"We just lost our table," I informed him.

He didn't seem to care. "I missed you! How was the city while I was gone?"

I didn't dare remind him he'd only been gone for three days which definitely wasn't long enough for anything major to have taken place. The last time I did that, he didn't talk to me for another three days straight so that I'd have double the amount of things to tell him about.

"The usual," I explained as I caught him up on the mundane happenings while we walked towards the coffee shop. My sink had broken, but was fixed. The landlord stole someone's pizza delivery again. Nothing new, same old gossip.

"And your date?" he asked, his voice a tad higher as he always tiptoed lightly around my dating life. My breakup last spring had been difficult, and he knew not to push me.

I shrugged, "He wasn't for me."

"Lee Know," Hyunjin groaned, clearly unsatisfied with my response. "Did you at least give him a chance?"

I thought back to the other night. We'd planned to go for ice cream and for a walk through the gardens. I entered the little ice cream shop and spotted him right away sitting all alone at the table waiting for me. His glasses were perched on his nose while he looked at his phone which he was holding with hands that were barely visible since his sweater's sleeves were so long.  His legs were crossed and bounced nervously. He was cute. I'd joined him, and we ate our ice cream while talking about our days. It was the first time I'd actually made it to the table of a date in months, but the more I learned about him, the harder it was to avoid comparing him to Seungmin.

Seungmin had liked to tell stories while he ate, too, but he always was conscious of his body and how to best keep food from spilling. My date had been expressive, and he flung his arms around wildly as he spoke. I waited for the ice cream to fall from his spoon, and even though it never did, I decided I liked Seungmin's mannerisms better and excused myself before we made it to the gardens.

"I tried," I told Hyunjin, but it was obvious that he didn't believe me. I suppose I could've put more effort into not letting my previous relationship impact a potential new one, but things between Seungmin and I had been great before he decided to end it. To me, he'd been perfect, and it was hard to imagine myself with anyone else.