a/n: a bit late but it's finally here! tell me your thoughts:) it motivates me to edit and write quickly. thanks for reading<333!!!

Yerim shouldn't have opened her eyes, not when her head was pounding, her mouth was dry, and her stomach was churning. She sat up, heart beating faster than normal and rubbed her face. Alcohol was an nasty substance: she couldn't remember yesterday night's event, nor could she figure out why her apartment smelled like hotel food, pancakes and bacon.

It wasn't until she was cleaning the gunk from around her eyes that she realized the bedsheets underneath her were gray instead of white and pastel pink. 

Yerim scrambled out of the bed, almost jumping out of her own skin when she saw what she was wearing. Plaid pajama pants and a black shirt - large enough to engulf her entire body. She cursed, looking around the unfamiliar room for her clothes, feeling the sensation of a thousand tiny ants crawling over skin on her legs and arms. Where was she? Why was she wearing someone else's clothes? And how did she get into these clothes?

The good news? Joy would be so proud if she knew that Yerim had a one-night stand with someone she couldn't even remember.

The bad news? When someone knocked on the door, asking if they could come in, Yeirm realized that who she thought was a stranger wasn't one at all.

"Oh my god," she whispered, kneeling and gripping her hair. "Oh my god." At this point, she didn't need to be buried if she died because horror was doing that job.

Of course, out of everyone, Jungkook was on the other side.

"Are you awake?"

Yerim squeezed her eyes shut, burying her face into her knees. She was so screwed.

"Can I come in?"

This must be Jungkook's room. She racked her brain, replaying what had happened last night, from downing shots to complaining about Jungkook to dancing to- Blank. That was where her memory stopped.

"I made breakfast," he continued, "It'll probably help your hangover."

"Don't talk to me," she snapped.

A few seconds passed by with no noise, so dead silent that she swore she could hear feathers dropping and mice scurrying. Somehow, the silence was not making anything better. Even worse, it was as if everything she did last night was floating and dancing between them, teasing and taunting her.

"Where's the breakfast?" Yerim finally shrieked out of frustration, flinging the door open. Jungkook was standing with a hand on his hip, lips twitching.

The bastard was amused.

God, she wanted to punch him.

"Downstairs. Follow me."

Yerim watched his receding backside, the way his shirt stretched across his broad shoulders. She got a vague picture: her falling onto a man and touching that man's chest. The more she thought about it, watching him cross a huge living room, the more she remembered. Flashes and bits of an image, as if she was watching a movie, but enough fragments to form a comprehensible picture. Basically, she had utterly embarrassed herself yesterday night.

Maybe it was better to leave.

"Are you going to be standing there for the next hour?" Jungkook looked at his watch. "Time is ticking."

Her hackles immediately rose.

Suddenly, all she wanted to do was to prove him wrong.

Scowling, Yerim followed him downstairs, half of her shouting in pain and the other half bristling from his casual comment.

His apartment looked more like a mansion than an actual mansion. Maybe it was because there were few possessions: the living room consisted of a glass coffee table, a few books, a vase with no flowers, and a smaller TV than she imagined someone as rich as him would use. With few decorations, the place didn't seem as crowded. Or maybe because the balcony was just as big as the living room, separated by a glass door that showed a few chairs and a firepit. Or maybe because the kitchen could support a restaurant with its size and supplies.

"Do you live here alone?"

Jungkook looked at her in surprise, sliding a plate of pancake and bacon across the counter surface as Yerim stopped on the other side of the island.

"What?" She rolled her eyes, shoving a huge bite into her mouth.

"Nothing." Shrugging, he said, "This is my place, so yes."

Yerim swallowed the pancakes, which tasted surprisingly good. One person in an apartment this big. She wasn't sure how he did it but she would be so scared.

She didn't delve on that for any longer because he poured himself a glass of water, saying, "Let's talk about last night."

Yerim sputtered, almost choking on the chocolate chips. "Definitely not."

One of his eyebrows flew up. "That wasn't a suggestion."

She narrowed her eyes. "There you go again. Being all assertive for no reason."

"I'm only being assertive because of what-."

For some reason, with the way she snapped "I get it!", it was like Jungkook had murdered Yerim. Clearing her throat, she fixed her tone."What I did last night was wildly inappropriate. I'm really sorry."

Instead of reacting normally, the corner of his lips once again twitched.

The asshole was grinning.

"Payback for what I did to you in the grocery store." He shrugged. "I understand."

Yerim frowned. Asshole-Jungkook, controlling-Jungkook, egoistical-Jungkook: those were familiar ground. She understood how to navigate the currents of the water. However, this smiling, I-understand, and breakfast-making Jungkook? She would rather be thrown into a pit of starving zombies. "It wasn't payback," she muttered, suddenly feeling foolish for being seen as someone who needed revenge. "I just didn't know it was you."

"I'm just joking." He took a sip, studying her with his intense gaze. "We do need to talk about you dancing with someone else, though."

Her frown grew bigger. "What?"

Jungkook crossed his arms and leaned over the counter, so that he was looking up at her with hooded eyes. Has he always had such long eyelashes? "You're my girlfriend right now."

"Fake," she hastily corrected.

"Not to other people, though," he amended.

"So, I can't date anyone else this entire time?"

His answer was quick and sure. "Nope."

Yerim scoffed. "There's no way that's happening."

"I don't expect this to last long. Two months maximum."

She was surprised her eyes didn't pop out of their sockets, but not as surprised as the fact that she hadn't jumped across the counter and punked him across his mansion. "That's a lot of time."

Instead of replying, though, Jungkook took out his phone, typed something, and then set it next to her plate of food. Yerim looked down to see the Notes app open with a bold and capitalized "Contract" on the top. "Let's set some rules," he explained before she could ask him. "It'll make this easier for the both of us. We'll take turn writing down rules, and if you don't agree with one, make an edit. However, that means the next person gets a bit of a leeway for their rule. This way, it's fair."

The last thing Yerim wanted to do was to be cordial with the devil, but since she had already dug herself into this hole, it was better than nothing. Stuffing the last bite of pancakes into her mouth, she typed out "No physical affection of any kind" as the first rule.

Yerim gave his phone back, staring at him with enough defiance to bring down a country. He merely took the device and read her rule.

Before long, the phone was back at her side.

Jungkook didn't change anything, but he did add "unless absolutely necessary".

"Define 'absolutely necessary'," Yerim demanded.

He sipped a bit of water before saying, "If Marie, my mother, or anyone else who cares about my relationship doesn't believe we're actually dating, then physical affection is allowed."

His reasoning was logical but annoying.

The next rule on the list was "This deal will be in place for at least four months."

Oh, hell no!

She hastily changed that to one month before sliding the phone back to him.

Jungkook stared at the device for a second before shaking his head. "Four months." His fingers flew over the screen. "Your portfolio is going to take some time, and I need to make sure my parents believe our relationship. After that, I can handle the rest."

Yerim frowned. "Three months."

A pause. Then, "Fine, but my next rule can't be changed."

"What is it?"

Instead of answering, Jungkook held out the phone. She yanked it out of his hand, read the next line, and groaned. Damnit. He had just successfully played her.

"That also includes secret relationships and affairs." He was looking at her with those unblinking, dark eyes, those same eyes that stripped and flayed.

"I know," Yerim muttered, already thinking about the next rule. It had to be good, something that balanced the contract and gave her more benefits than him. She glanced at Jungkook, remembered why she was stuck in this predicament in the first place, and an idea popped into her head. Grinning, she typed the rule out, stared at it for a second, before adding "pretend" in front of it. Then, she slid the phone to Jungkook.

His eyebrows flew up the moment his eyes scanned the line.

"I'm even being nice to you. You just have to pretend to believe in me. Don't look offended."

He continued staring.

"All I'm asking for is some compliments every now and then," she stared. "It would be nicer to work with someone who's not constantly dishing out criticisms."

"You don't need this rule."

Yerim rolled her eyes. "Actually, I think I do."

"No, you don't." Jungkook hit the screen multiple times, on what she presumed was the delete key. "Because I already believe in you."

...

"So, how's your boyfriend?" Irene asked, the usual steaming cup of coffee in her hands as she sat across from Yerim.

After a long morning of meetings and negotiations, the last thing she wanted to talk about was the devil. However, Irene was literally bursting with curiosity, and Yerim didn't have the heart to burst her happy bubble. Irene already had a rough week, with one of her contracts falling through because she couldn't secure an engineer and sponsor.

"First of all, never call him that, or I will claw out your eyes."

Jimin whistled as Irene's eyebrow shot up.

"He sure acts like a boyfriend," Jimin said, ignoring Yerim's glare. "He insisted on taking care of you after you knocked out."

Flexing her hands, Yerim smiled saccharinely.

Irene held up two hands in defeat. "You win. I won't anymore."

"Smart girl." Yerim took a bite of her peach. "We figured out a contract, so we could navigate this whole ordeal without too much hassle."

Irene glanced at her with amusement. "You two are literally living in a rom-com movie, and you know what always happens at the end of those movies."

"Claws are still out," Yerim purred, acting all innocent and cute.

"My bad," Irene said, although a cheeky grin filled her face. "But I'm glad you figured it out. I still can't believe this happened to you, though."

"I know," she whined. "I just had to be at the store at that moment. Couldn't I be five minutes later or earlier?"

"I mean, if you think about it, it's not that bad, right?" Irene put her mug down and folded a finger for every point she listed. "He's helping your portfolio, so you get resources and connections that you couldn't have without him. You can also-" She wagged her eyebrows. "-get some of that delicious body."

"About that," Yerim groaned. "No way in hell am I touching him, but I'm also not allowed to date or have an affair, so I'm going to be on a dry spell for about half a year."

Irene tilted her head. "That was one of his rules?"

Yerim miserably nodded.

"Interesting." Irene nodded. "Very interesting."

Narrowing her eyes, Yerim shook her head. "Get your mind out of the gutter."

"That's hard," Jimin said with a straight face. "He already saw you naked when you changed into his clothes."

Yerim hit her head against the table.

"Joking." He laughed. "You should've seen your expression."

Scowling, she flicked him off.

"Good luck," Irene beamed, patting her on the shoulder. "Tell me if anything else interesting happens." She was going to visit her sister for a few days. "I'm sure you've got this."

"Not really," Yerim sighed, about to change the subject when her phone buzzed. She picked it up, the nonchalant manner flying straight out of her body when she saw the subject and user of the email.

Thomas Sawyer

Hello, Yerim. I would be thrilled to sit down and talk about your project. I'm mostly free on Tuesdays and Thursdays during lunch. Will that work for you?

"Thomas Sawyer!" Yerim screamed. "He replied! He's thrilled to talk about my project!"

Irene squealed, jumping up to hug Yerim, who was currently flying over the moon.

Maybe the contract wouldn't last as long as Yerim originally thought.