Chapter Text
1: caffeine deprivation made me do it
It all started this morning when Till woke up, dragged himself to the kitchen, and poured himself a coffee.
Except there is no coffee, because the compartment with all the beans is empty, and when he checks the drawer for a spare bag, there’s none left. Ivan normally keeps it well-stocked, even going to the point of making sure they had spares of spares, but it must have slipped his mind somehow.
Till pauses for a moment, his sleepy, half-dazed self registering that there’s no coffee.
He blinks.
“IVAN!”
His roommate bursts out of his room a few moments later, eyes wide and alert, looking all over the apartment for any signs of immediate danger that led Till to scream bloody murder. His usually meticulously styled hair is all over the place and disheveled, strands sticking out in all the wrong places. He is wearing his favorite oversized green hoodie that has the Anakt University logo on it and dark blue pajama pants.
Ivan shakes his head to wake himself up. “What happened Till?” He looks at the other boy and gives him a once-over. “Are you okay? Do you need anything-”
“We have no coffee,” Till explains, grabbing the empty bean case and flipping it upside down just to prove his point. He adds a pout for good measure.
“That’s…” the raven runs his hand through his hair and it’s a slight improvement from before. “That’s why you screamed.” He checks the clock on the wall, and his expression is nothing short of disappointment. “At 6 in the morning. Till, I thought there was an emergency!”
Till deadpans. “But this is an emergency.”
Ivan gives him a look, his eyes seemingly tired - probably from studying all night, plus he thinks he has one of his longer student council meetings later today, and maybe Till felt a little bit bad for waking him up when he clearly needed the rest, but how was Till supposed to know that? Besides, this whole thing was Ivan’s fault to begin with.
The gray-haired boy crosses his arms, teal eyes stern and unmoving. “This wouldn’t be a problem if you weren’t so picky about your coffee and let me have instant ones.” Ivan meticulously chooses the beans that go in his coffee, and each new pack is thoroughly inspected and cleared as if it's a country's customs department. He does not fuck around with coffee.
The taller male rolls his eyes, hips leaning against the kitchen counter as he sighs. “I’ll pick some up later, okay? But don’t you dare bring instant coffee into this house. I’ll know.”
Well then, that’s ominous.
“You don’t have to tell me twice,” Till mumbles, mainly to avoid Ivan from going on another TED talk about coffee (he knows the boy well, and he will not hesitate. The last one ended up being an hour long). His shoulders sag as he stares longingly at his empty cup. Is this what heartbreak feels like?
“Go to the cafe on campus,” he sighs. “I’ll order you one, so just go and pick it up.” Ivan grabs his phone from his pocket and starts tapping on the screen.
“Knew I can count on you,” Till winked, his mood immediately lifting, and his brain finally forming vaguely coherent thoughts at the idea of having caffeine in his system.
“Yeah, yeah,” Ivan waves a hand. “I’m sure you only keep me around because I buy you coffee.”
“Hey! That’s not true.” Till argues, and Ivan looks up from his screen for a moment with an eyebrow raised, before the silver-haired boy adds, “You also cook dinner.”
Onyx eyes light up with amusement, his annoyance from earlier all but forgotten as he puts his phone on the counter and laughs. “If I don’t make you food then I might actually find you unconscious in your room one day because you forget to eat sometimes.”
“Oh come on, that was one time,” The shorter male groans, taking his own hoodie draped on the counter and shrugging it on, black of course – characteristic of most of the clothes in his wardrobe. “You’re such a mama hen.”
“Only because you need one, otherwise you don’t look after yourself,” his roommate says as a matter of factly. “You’re lucky I like taking care of you.”
Till feels warmth rise to his cheeks and he looks away so Ivan doesn’t see it, lest he embarrass himself. It’s too early in the morning for this, and god forbid he deals with Ivan’s honeyed words before caffeine has entered his system. “Whatever,” he mumbles. “Anyway, I’m off. You better have ordered the right coffee by the way, or you’re getting me another one.”
“I would never... I do value my life sometimes,” The other boy jokes, then curiously peeks at Till like he’s just realized something. “Why are you up so early anyway?”
It’s definitely a few hours too early for Till to be awake. He didn’t have classes until later in the day, and Ivan would be aware of this because he knows Till’s schedule by heart (he’s weird like that, but it does help that the other boy memorized it when even Till would forget sometimes). Either way, the question doesn’t really surprise him. It’s hardly the weirdest thing that’s come out of Ivan’s mouth. Under any circumstances, for the love of god do not get Ivan to talk about his theories about Extraterrestrial Stage – his favorite movie of all time. He had a conspiracy board with red thread connecting the theories at one point and trying to prove that a character was alive (Till thought he was trying to solve a murder).
“I…” he scratches the back of his head. “I’m telling Mizi… today. I think the nerves are getting to me and I couldn’t go back to sleep anyway. So I thought I might as well do some coursework early or something to pass the time.”
Ivan sighs, crossing his arms over his chest. “That’s what you said last time.”
“I know,” Till groans. “But I’m doing it for real this time.”
“Uh huh, sure…”
“I will,” he insists, and Ivan is still looking at him as if he wouldn't, which annoys him a little bit. He’s been thinking about it for a long time now, and he’s really sure today is the day. “Look, I’m texting her right now..”
[6.37 AM] Till: hey mizi!
[6.38 AM] Till: i was wondering if we can meet up later? i have something to tell you.
He shows his screen to Ivan, who presses his mouth in a firm line. It’s a silent admission of defeat mixed with an emotion that makes him seem like his head is somewhere far away. Till can’t ever place it, making him think about the days when Till believed there’s no one in the world that understands Ivan better than him, but then there are other days when he wonders if he even knows him at all. It’s like he’s hiding something from Till, and he does a damn good job at it, because Till has absolutely no clue.
Despite his curiosity, he is aware that Ivan is entitled to keep his own secrets and there isn’t a written rule that he has to tell him everything, so Till never really looks much into it, thinking that Ivan would tell him one day when he’s ready (or so he hopes).
Growing up, Till’s personality has made it difficult for him to make and retain friends, but Ivan sticks around for whatever reason, and he can’t be more grateful, even though he doesn’t really show it outwardly. He doesn’t want to lose him too, so he always thinks he can deal with it another day.
“Ah,” Ivan pauses, and he looks like he wants to say something, but decides not to say it out loud. “Well good luck then, I guess,” he says quietly, then moves off the counter. As his back is turned, he raises his hand to wave Till goodbye. “I’m going back to sleep.”
“See you later,” Till calls out just before Ivan closes his bedroom door.
With coffee on the way and a solid plan (not really), his day can finally start.
He takes the familiar route to the coffee shop that has kept him sane for the last three years, trying to calm his nerves as he thinks about the best way to tell Mizi that he’s had a crush on her for a while now. Ever since she walked into one of his lectures a couple of semesters ago, he just knew right then and there that she was the one and there was no way he could explain it even if he tried. It was basically love at first sight. Her kind personality, her bright smile… Till can’t ever have enough of it.
His phone buzzes in his back pocket, and he takes it out, seeing a notification that makes his heart skip a beat.
[7:03 AM] Mizi: of course!!
[7:05 AM] Mizi: i have something to tell you too!!!!
[7:06 AM] Mizi: also lol why are you up so early?
Till fights the urge to roll his eyes at the comment. He isn’t surprised in the slightest that even Mizi has something to say about his chaotic sleep schedule, but to be fair, he has trouble falling asleep, and inspiration for songwriting tends to hit him at ungodly hours in the morning - which he can’t exactly control.
Obviously he can’t tell Mizi he got up too early because he was nervous about confessing to her, so he comes up with a half-truth that won’t bite him in the ass later.
[7:10 AM] Till: working on an assignment! i’m still on my way to the cafe
[7:12 AM] Mizi: oh??? i’m actually there rn
[7:12 AM] Mizi: can’t wait to hear what you have to say?!?!
[7:13 AM] Mizi: see u soon!
And Till absolutely did not expect to confess this early in the morning, before coffee of all things, but what’s done is done and it’s not like he can turn back from it now. Mizi would know something was up, and he didn’t want her to worry about him (and frankly, his stupid ideas. He should have messaged later in the afternoon or something).
When he nears the dreaded coffee shop, he braces himself, taking a deep breath and reminding himself to inhale… exhale... He sees Mizi sitting at one of the tables by the window, her pink hair up in the cutest messy bun, an oversized cream cardigan hanging over her shoulders, and her tote bag leaning against her chair. Her laptop is open in front of her and she is typing, probably working on an assignment.
For a moment, he contemplates turning around and pretending like he’s gotten lost in a campus he’s been studying at for a few years now, but before he can execute his masterful escape plan, Mizi spots him, and waves him over with the biggest grin on her face.
Just like the first time she’d walked into his life, Mizi’s smile blinds him to everything else, and all he could think about was how cute she looked today – wondering if she did something different with her hair? Her hair clips look like they have little hearts on them, isn’t that adorable? Trying desperately to focus on literally anything else rather than the impending conversation he was dreading.
He walks over to her table, his heart nearly pounding right out of his chest from sheer nerves.
“Hey Till!” She greets him, her energy unrivaled despite the time. Normally, Till would get annoyed over people that were too energetic in the mornings because he just never understood them, but he’d happily give Mizi an exemption (the only one he’s willing to give, if he had to be honest. Maybe Ivan too, but only if he was holding a cup of coffee).
Till offers a shaky smile. “Morning Mizi.”
“Please come sit with us!” she adds, taking a chair from the next table over and placing it in the empty space. Mizi pats the spot, and Till obliges, taking his backpack off his shoulder and placing it underneath the table.
Wait, us?
Till didn’t notice it outside, but there was another bag in the seat across Mizi, a half-finished latte, and a slice of banana bread still in cling wrap.
Bright golden eyes turn to him expectedly. “So…”
“So…” he echoes, and suddenly it’s really, really hot in here. Maybe he should go outside for some fresh air? Would it be weird to go outside right after walking in? Would Mizi think he’s weird? Given how insane he seems to act around her, she might already think that to begin with. Till looks at anywhere but Mizi, his throat closing up on him, unable to say another word, and oh god, what made him think he could do this? This was a terrible idea.
“Maybe I can go first if you like?” she suggests, and as if orchestrated perfectly, he hears movement behind him. Another girl he hasn’t seen before takes the remaining seat in their table - her hair is a short bob with small white bunny clips that remind him of something Mizi would wear, and she’s in a white fluffy jumper paired with a short skirt. She takes a sip of her coffee and her attention turns to him, violet eyes seemingly piercing through his soul, and wow, he’s never felt so judged by a single stare his whole life than at this very moment.
“Till,” Mizi beams, her voice sounding like she’s singing his name. Her eyes are basically sparkling when she finishes it with, “This is Sua. My girlfriend!”
The gray-haired boy blinks, and he thinks his mouth hangs open but he isn’t sure – and honestly he didn’t want to think about it. It feels like time stops for the briefest of moments, or maybe it slows down? It didn’t matter. Either way, it triggers his brain to short-circuit and it forgoes any and every thought.
“Girl…friend?” he says slowly, enunciating each part of the word like he’s trying to learn what it means.
“Yep! We met this semester because she’s taking a Theatre unit as an elective,” she explains, and Sua gives her a content nod, hands warming up by clutching onto her cup. “We’ve been seeing each other for a while… but we made it official yesterday.”
Till forces a smile. “That’s… amazing, Mizi.” He’s trying his hardest to sound genuinely happy but his voice is probably failing him. “I’m so happy for you!”
Today’s the worst fucking day ever.
He’s too late.
He should have confessed sooner, and he absolutely deserves this for being the biggest coward in the whole universe.
Till tries to find some comfort in the fact that today couldn’t possibly get any worse.
“So, now it’s your turn. What did you want to tell me?” She asks, waiting patiently for his response.
And clearly he spoke too soon because now he just wants to die in a hole and never show his face again.
“Ha, so about that…” Till starts to panic, racking his brain for any way that he can get out of this mess before he can embarrass himself or need to drop out of this university entirely (or both, honestly, at this rate. Maybe he should even move to a new country, just in case? He’s heard Japan is nice this time of the year).
A drink is placed in front of him, and he notices it immediately as his usual order.
He recognizes the barista that brought it over as Luka, who usually took over the morning shifts at the cafe so Till sees him often whenever he drops by before class. “Are you… not going to ask me if this is my order?”
Luka stares at him. “You say that as if someone else in the universe also orders a triple shot latte with cinnamon-infused milk, a half pump of vanilla, half pump of caramel, whipped cream, and topped with chocolate syrup.”
Till opens his mouth. Then closes it.
“I’d complain about it but your boyfriend leaves a reasonable tip every time he orders, so I guess you can have your… weird drink.”
In truth, Till totally ordered coffee super normally.
At least, well, before Ivan.
One time, Till very confidently and boldly proclaimed that the Sweet Dream Cafe made the best coffee ever, and Ivan just had to prove him wrong and made something that he thought Till would like. Till fell in love with it from the first sip. Nothing else hits the same spot and there’s something about the sweetness levels of the coffee that just balances out the bitterness of the three shots of coffee and-
Wait a minute–
“Boyfriend?” He calls out just as Luka turns to leave. He laughs nervously. “He’s not– he’s not my boyfriend. I don’t have a boyfriend–”
“Sure,” the barista says in an amused tone, then leaves without giving Till a chance to respond.
Behind him, Mizi squeals. “Oh my god. Oh my god. Ohmygod.”
“Wait,” his eyes widen as he turns back. “Wait, there’s a misunderstanding. Mizi, I swear to you, I don’t–”
Half the cafe is looking at them, and Till thinks it’s time to book the next flight out of the country. Doesn’t matter where it’s going. How long does it take to get to the airport from here?
Mizi isn’t even questioning his sexuality at this point, and instead just launching straight into assumptions.
“I can’t believe it! Is this what you were meant to tell me?” Mizi basically screams, and she looks so happy she could burst. Her eyes are wide and excited as she moves closer to him, and surprised at the gravity of her full attention, Till breaks eye contact and looks over at Sua – who kind of looks like she wanted him six feet under. He’s not sure which one is better. “We should… oh my god we should do a double date?! I’ve always wanted to do one. It'll be so cute! I'll cook dinner and we can play board games and watch movies? And for another time there’s a restaurant that does like a cute couples night and we can go together and it’ll be amazing!”
He loosens the neckline of his hoodie because fuck, it’s so hot in here. “Uh- ha– wait, double dates? People… still do that?”
Should he still bother correcting her at this point? It doesn’t seem like she’d listen even if Till tried again, and… she did look really happy. Maybe Till can indulge in her request just this once?
“Of course! That would be nice, right, Sua? We can have it at my place!” Her death stare from earlier is long gone at this point, all sunshine and roses as she nods at her girlfriend. Pleased with her response, Mizi turns back to Till. “When are you guys free?”
Till fights the urge to scream.
***
Till has two problems right now.
Well, if you count all the assessments due in the next few days that he hasn’t even started, really he had… significantly more, but that’s besides the point at the moment.
He has two problems at this exact second.
One - apparently he needs a boyfriend for this impending double date with Mizi and Sua, because as much as he tried to tell Mizi that it isn’t true and he absolutely didn’t have a boyfriend, the cards were stacked against him and the circumstantial happenings of this morning’s trip to the coffee shop were not in his favor. Till wonders which gods he’s pissed off for this to happen to him of all people.
Two - the only person on the entire planet that he could ask is probably Ivan, because he didn’t really know anyone else all that well. There were a few people in his classes that he would talk to every now and then, but none close enough that Till could just casually walk up to them and ask them on a date.
At the very least with Ivan, he could be upfront about the whole situation and it didn’t have to be real. They could just pretend for that day and it’ll be over! Easy peasy lemon squeezy.
Although, a follow-up problem to point number two being that Till didn’t know which coffee beans Ivan liked because he ordered it somewhere fancy or whatever, so he’s been standing in front of the beans at the shops trying to figure out which ones would suit Ivan’s royal coffee palette to maybe successfully (hopefully) bribe his best friend, because if there’s anything that Ivan loved more in the whole world… It's coffee. It was the least he could do for the favor he was going to ask, and surely this will give him a good look and Ivan won’t put up too much of a fuss.
Only means he needs to make sure he gets the good shit. The best beans that Till’s bank account can buy.
He’s focusing so hard on the roasted beans, trying to read the packets and attempting to understand what they mean. Seeing so many flavors that piqued his interest, but he couldn’t help but wonder how it all worked.
Like, there’s meant to be orange in one of them and he’s pretty sure the one they had at home before it ran out also had it, but he doesn’t think he can taste the orange… or any citrus flavors for that matter. Or maybe he did? And he just doesn’t remember? Maybe it wasn’t memorable? He tries to remember if Ivan covered it during his hour long TED talk about coffee, but that afternoon was honestly a blur, mainly remembering how he was late to band practice after. Thankfully Ivan didn’t feel the need to pull out the conspiracy board for that or he would have been even more late.
“Sir?”
He squints at another packet. What the fuck is a praline? And why is it in the coffee?
“Uhm… sir?”
Where are all these fancy flavors coming from?
How do they put the flavors in the coffee?
Do they grow them with the beans?
Maybe with like, a tiny syringe?
What the fuck–
“Sir!”
And oh my god now the beans are talking to him.
A hand reaches for his shoulder and Till jumps, dropping the four bags of coffee beans he was comparing in his arms. The staff member sighs and teal eyes widen in what he hoped looked like an apology rather than a crazed madman at a coffee bean store talking to himself.
Till helps the employee gather up the bags then returns them to their respective spots on the shelf, grabbing the fanciest looking packet within his budget and pays before he can make a bigger fool of himself.
When he’s out of the store, he tucks the bag under his arm and sends a text message to his roommate.
[2:37 PM] Till: hey
[2:38 PM] Till: so… like
[2:38 PM] Till: super random and no reason whatsoever but r u free next friday at 7pm
[2:41 PM] Coffee Nerd: Hm. Friday?
[2:41 PM] Coffee Nerd: I think I was meant to work on a group project that night, but let me see if I can move it around.
[2:42 PM] Coffee Nerd: Can I ask why?
[2:43 PM] Till: no
[2:43 PM] Coffee Nerd: Surely you can give me some sort of context
[2:43 PM] Coffee Nerd: I’m cancelling a meeting for you
[2:43 PM] Till: uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh
[2:43 PM] Till: fine
[2:44 PM] Till: it’s a dinner thing
[2:46 PM] Coffee Nerd: Thank you for telling me.
[3:02 PM] Coffee Nerd: Okay, it should be fine. I’ll go with you.
[3:05 PM] Till: cool
[3:05 PM] Till: it’s a date!
[3:05 PM] Till: WAIT NO
[3:05 PM] Till: ITS NOT
[3:05 PM] Till: A DATE I MEAN—
[3:05 PM] Till: ugh
[3:10 PM] Coffee Nerd: A date sounds wonderful! ;)
If these coffee beans didn’t cost $60, he would throw them off the nearest building.
***
Till is leaning against the counter, trying to find a normal looking comfortable position because Ivan is going to be home any second now.
Should he cross his arms and play it cool?
Maybe a hand at the back of his head? Like… an anime character? That seems unnatural.
Both hands in the pockets maybe? Or just one… maybe that will look more normal.
Lean against the counter or maybe he should stand? But where? In the middle of the kitchen?
He hears the door unlock, and Till widens his eyes, scrambling around the kitchen and deciding last minute to prop himself up on the counter, one knee up while he lets the other dangle on the other side.
Ivan eyes him warily as he lowers his shoulder bag on the dining table, approaching Till with the most confused expression. His hands are half outstretched like he’s approaching a terrified animal.
“What… are you doing?”
“I’m just chilling!”
“Why are you sitting like that?”
He waves his hand. “I always sit like this.
“On the counter? No... you really don’t.”
“Maybe you just haven’t been paying attention,” he huffs. “You know me, I’m Chill Till.”
Till wishes the ground would open up and swallow him whole, and if Ivan wasn’t suspicious of him before, he definitely is now.
“Chill Till?” Ivan says slowly, eyeing his surroundings as if trying to find a hidden camera for a game show prank.
The silver-haired boy clears his throat, finally getting off the counter. "Anyway! That's enough about me... how was today's meeting? You have Business Ball stuff to plan, right?"
He doesn't take the bait, and instead shakes his head. "You're changing the topic."
"Me? Changing the topic? Pffft," he waves his hand, acting like Ivan had suggested the most preposterous thing on the planet. "Of course not. Why would I do that?"
Ivan crosses his arms. “How about you tell me?”
The oven beeps softly, and Till scrambles off the counter, he puts on a pair of oven mitts and is confused when he opens the door and black smoke starts pouring out. The alarms go off almost immediately, and Ivan punches in the number for it to stop just as Till places a tray of burnt cookies on the counter.
Ah shit… wait, did he get the temperatures mixed up?
Till squints at the discarded packet of cookie dough, and realizes his grave mistake. It was meant to bake for 15 minutes… not 50 minutes.
Oh.
“So…” Till starts. “I tried to make cookies.”
Dark eyes sweep over the sad looking tray of baked goods that looked like it would probably break his teeth if he tried to eat it. “I can see that.”
“I got a bag of these super cool coffee beans I just randomly walked past this morning,” Till tosses the bag in Ivan’s arms and he briefly skims the packaging. “And also, I know I don’t say this enough,” he claps his hands once and holds it like a prayer. “But you’re my best friend in the whole wide world and I’m so grateful to have you in my life.”
Ivan squints, setting the coffee bean packet down slowly on the other side of the kitchen counter. “Okay,” the business student sighs. “What did you do? And is it related to your messages from earlier?”
Till laughs nervously. “What do you mean? Can’t I just… be a nice roommate best friend person and do nice roommate best friend person things for my super cool awesome fantastic bestie?” He finger guns, then drops them as quickly as he raised them because wow that was dumb. He should shut up before he can make it any worse.
“Till.”
“Ivan.”
“Did you break something?”
“No.”
“Did you take any of my stuff?”
“No…” Till mumbles, and Ivan starts to move towards the fridge, but Till adds. “And no, I didn’t take your yogurt again. That was one time.”
“Have you finally murdered Acorn? Do you need help hiding the body?”
Till snorts. “Not yet.”
Ivan raises both of his hands in surrender. “Then what is it? Why are you acting all weird?”
He tries to smile one more time and he opens his mouth, but Ivan isn’t having it, having completely seen through his facade. The raven gives him a look. “Think very carefully before you lie to me again.”
Till’s shoulders slump. “So like… I was meant to confess to Mizi today, right…”
His roommate crosses his arms. “How did that go?”
“Well,” he licks his lips. “I wasn’t able to do it because–” he takes a deep breath. “TherewasamisunderstandingandthatfuckingblondbaristaguyatthecafeimpliedIhadaboyfriendwhenIobviouslydon’tsonowMizithinksI’mdatingsomeone.”
“Slow down Till,” Ivan says gently. “Now say it again?”
Till lets out a long sigh. “There was a misunderstanding while I was trying to confess… that Luka guy at the cafe thought you were my boyfriend because you ordered my coffee or whatever, since when does that mean being in a relationship?” He sidetracks for a bit with the question. “Uh, and then Mizi and her new girlfriend - yes so apparently she has a girlfriend now - overheard so now they think I’m dating someone.”
“You couldn’t have told them it wasn’t true?”
“I tried,” Till whines. “But it wasn’t working and… Mizi just looked so happy about it. So now there’s this double date next week and…”
“And?”
“I was hoping that… maybe… you can… be my fake boyfriend for the day? Then we can… fake break up after?” Teal eyes look up at Ivan, wide and pleading. He can’t decipher Ivan’s expression as it cycles through a few emotions. He offers a nervous smile as some form of compensation.
Ivan stares at him. “You want me to be your boyfriend for a double date with your crush.”
“Fake boyfriend,” Till corrects him weakly. “Also… ex-crush? Probably? Maybe– I mean Mizi has a girlfriend now…”
The taller boy thinks about it for a moment, then sighs. “For starters… I don’t think it would be wise to fake a break up so soon after the date. They’ll probably find it suspicious. It would be ideal to try to keep it going for a month, at least.”
“It’s fine. I’ll do anything,” Till promises.
“We’ll need to play the part…” Ivan enunciates his words slowly, almost like he’s waiting for Till to react.
The gray-haired boy nods. “Uh huh.”
“And that means things like touching, hugging… and maybe even kissing,” Ivan adds, his gaze locked onto Till’s as his expression turns a little bit too serious for his liking. “Are you okay with doing that with me?”
Obviously he didn’t exactly think this through because that didn’t even cross his mind, and Till’s mouth is dry, his gaze on instinct dropping to his best friend’s lips. Huh. They look so soft. Have they always been soft? Is that a normal thing or does Ivan use like… moisturizing lip cream or something. Are Till’s lips dry? Should he use it too? He subconsciously licks his lips as the thought crosses his mind. “Do… we really have to?”
Ivan raises an eyebrow, a playful smile curving his mouth upwards. “If you want it to look convincing.”
This lie has gone to a point of no return, and Mizi would be so upset if she found out that it was never true. Till would be totally fine with touching and hugging - being Ivan’s closest friend for a few years meant that he was already subject to that treatment in the first place, but of course… kissing is more intimate. He’d never kissed Ivan before, the thought not even crossing his mind in the past few years they’d been living together.
Besides, surely they wouldn’t need to do it too often, right? And they didn’t need to kiss on the lips… right? Couples do cheek kisses all the time. Till can deal with cheek kisses. Cheek kisses are cool.
Because it might be a kiss. But it’s on the cheek. So that’s fine.
Yeah. That works.
Following that train of thought that wouldn’t have any consequences whatsoever, Till nods. “I’m okay with it.”
Ivan looks… surprised by Till’s quick agreement, but only for a moment. His expression changes to something akin to a business nod as he clears his throat. “Well then. I guess that settles it. Consider me your fake boyfriend.”