A couple for show chapter 5

It seemed Joobin wasn’t thrilled with the situation either.

Their eyes briefly met when he glanced over at him, as if asking, “What do you think?”

But Joobin immediately turned his head away.

Jang Giyoung pulled out his phone and showed them the screen, saying, “Look at this.”

Both of their faces hardened again as they read it.

‘.@tzipcatch
They’ve been together for seven years, and the only thing they still find attractive about each other is their faces? Have they broken up? Lol
Replies 192, Retweets 33, Quotes 422, Likes 110’

└ Cha Joobin’s friend @nogirlf
If they broke up, would they be releasing photo books like that? You’re so narrow-minded. Your username says it all lol.’

└ ( ) @txxngtaxx
But they’re really good-looking, so what? Haven’t you heard that sometimes you just forgive someone because of their face?’

‘.@tzipcatch
Typical fans who can’t face reality. These actors are all about image management. If making money means they have to fake it, you really think they wouldn’t? You’re so naive.’

The article about their photo shoot had been generally positive, so they didn’t expect any negative reactions.

But on social media, it was a different story.

The speculation was rampant, and the back-and-forth between users was fierce.

At this rate, it wouldn’t be long before the rumors trended, and once that happened, it would catch the attention of their advertisers.

If nothing had happened between them, they could have easily brushed it off.

People had speculated about their relationship before, whether things were good or bad—it came with the territory.

But things were different now.

Once something stuck out, it felt magnified.

And Jang Giyoung, like Gong Yoochan, couldn’t just ignore the situation.

“You know how fast your image can crack once these kinds of rumors start, right? And you know how sensitive advertisers are. Before you know it, they’ll be canceling contracts, and you’ll be stuck paying penalties.”

His quiet words were not a suggestion but a command.

By now, it was clear that the best course of action was to publicly show that there were no issues in their relationship, even if it was only for appearances.

Gong Yoochan knew this well.

Especially now, with no conversation between them, it was awkward to go live on social media, and snapping a selfie together out of the blue didn’t feel right either.

They had often smoothed things over that way before, but that was when they were still together.

Instead of replying, Gong Yoochan took a deeper drag on his cigarette.

Watching Cha Joobin, who, for once, was uncharacteristically silent, he finally put out the cigarette.

Jang Giyoung lightly tapped his shoulder.

“Think it over, the both of you.”

“Yeah, we’ll talk about it and get back to you.”

Maybe this wasn’t such a bad thing after all.

It gave Gong Yoochan a chance to force a conversation with Cha Joobin, who had been avoiding him with all kinds of excuses lately.

Maybe he could use this opportunity to finally talk things through.

“You heard, right? Looks like we’ll have to cancel our plans tonight.”

“We never had any plans to begin with.”

“So you don’t even care about trying to impress me anymore? You couldn’t even bother lying properly.”

“You didn’t believe me anyway.”

Actually, I almost did.

Gong Yoochan rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly, looking at Cha Joobin.

Joobin’s expression was still hardened, as if he had nothing more to say.

“Let’s talk when we get home. I really feel like my lungs are rotting in here.”

Finally, Cha Joobin left the smoking room.

Gong Yoochan blew out another puff of smoke into the raccoon-like, smoke-filled room before following him out.

After that, he barely remember how the dinner gathering went.

Cha Joobin, who seemed busy picking fights the whole time, ignored everyone else he usually got along with and just kept drinking.

On the other hand, Gong Yoochan couldn’t do anything because all his attention was on him.

When someone spoke to him, he would stare blankly for about three seconds before replying with a delayed “Ah,” and eventually, someone even told him he looked tired and should go home and rest.

He couldn’t remember how long it had been since they’d entered the house side by side.

Sitting across from each other felt so awkward since it had been so long.

His eyelids grew heavy, likely from drinking too much.

They were supposed to discuss the program, but he kept getting sleepy.

Maybe Cha Joobin felt the same way.

With his lips tightly closed, he blinked slowly.

His long eyelashes would gently fall and then cautiously rise again, creating a beautiful shadow beneath them.

Gong Yoochan stared at Cha Joobin absentmindedly.

Looking at his face alone, he could pass as an angel, but the moment he opened his mouth, it was amazing how his image flipped.

“Let’s talk quickly and get it over with.”

See?

Just a moment ago, he found him so pretty that his annoyance had subsided, but the instant he spoke, his temper flared up.

Cha Joobin sat slouched, as if he were a third party in the matter, and fiddled with his nails like a teenager being scolded by his parents.

Behind him were several packed bags from the past two weeks, items he had sorted in case they came to an agreement and he could leave.

Gong Yoochan recalled Cha Joobin glancing around when they first came in.

Whether he was intentionally avoiding looking for too long or pretending not to see, his lack of comment was oddly infuriating.

If it were him, he’d at least ask something like, “Have you found a place to move?” or “Are you going back to your parents’ house?”

Even if it was just out of politeness.

But his attitude, as if he’d rather die than make such small talk, was really getting on Gong Yoochan’s nerves.

Gong Yoochan scratched his eyebrow lightly.

He thought about suggesting they just talk tomorrow since it didn’t seem like they would get much conversation done tonight.

But if tomorrow came and Cha Joobin disappeared under the pretext of some other engagement… well, then…

Ah, that would be really annoying.

Just as his eyes began to close,

“Let’s just do it.”

Surprised by the unexpected words, Gong Yoochan opened his eyes wide and looked at him.

Was he serious? After all that, was he planning to change his mind again?

As Gong Yoochan studied him, Cha Joobin shrugged as if there was no other choice.

“I have enough money to pay the penalty, but I don’t want to waste it.”

“Are you really going to do it?”

“Well, do you want to end up paying the penalty and dealing with all the rumors? We’re talking hundreds of millions at the least.”

No, he definitely didn’t want to pay.

Sure, he wasn’t broke, thanks to all the years of hard work, but that didn’t mean he wanted to fill the advertisers’ pockets unnecessarily.

Besides, it didn’t matter much to Gong Yoochan whether he did the broadcast or not.

His only concern was whether their cold war would get caught on camera and blow up into an even bigger scandal.

But seeing Cha Joobin step up first made him think he might be more compliant than he’d expected.

In that case, it was better this way.

There’d be no need to force him into it, and maybe they could make at least one good memory while filming together.

“So, you’re going to tell the director tomorrow that we’re doing it?”

“Do whatever you want.”

“Why are you acting like it’s none of your business? Be more involved in this conversation.”

“How much more involved do you want me to be? I said I’d do it.”

“Are you going to be like this during the broadcast too?”

Gong Yoochan glared sharply at Cha Joobin.

This was a reality show, after all.

Cameras would be installed in the house, and for three months of filming, they’d have to live like this every day.

They had kept their breakup a secret, but with cameras and mics around, it wouldn’t take long for things to leak.

His head spun at the thought.

No matter how well they got along with the staff, you never knew when or where something might turn into bad news in this industry.

Even if they were careful with every move, rumors would still spread.

At this rate, it wouldn’t be surprising if an article about their breakup came out after just one day of filming.

“Why don’t we just go ahead and announce the breakup?”

Gong Yoochan rubbed his face roughly.

It was a habit that came out whenever he was irritated, and apparently, Cha Joobin noticed.

Without a word, he got up from his seat.

“Hey, where are you going?”

When Gong Yoochan lowered his hand, he saw Cha Joobin heading quickly toward the front door.

Gong Yoochan frowned, and Cha Joobin casually tilted his head.

“I told you I had plans, didn’t I?”

“You said you didn’t.”

“I just made some, now.”

“Stop pissing me off and come sit down. We haven’t even talked about what we’re going to do with the house, and I still—”

I still want to have a proper conversation with you, was what he wanted to say.

“Do whatever you want. We’ll have to live together during the filming anyway, and I’ll move out when it’s over. You tell the director.”

Before Gong Yoochan could finish speaking, Cha Joobin cut him off and walked out the door.

Like a rebellious child running away from family problems, he created plans out of thin air just to leave.

Watching him go made Gong Yoochan’s frustration boil over.

What the hell is wrong with him…?