"Are you ready?" Claude asked, opening the door of Florence's room after he got permission to do so.

Florence looked at him from his mirror while he was applying some vaseline on his lips. "Almost," he replied and cleaned his finger with a tissue. He grabbed his glasses next to the vaseline tube and put them on. "Yes, I'm ready," he said and grabbed his bag next to his desk.

Claude followed him to the kitchen and watched him search the fridge for something to eat. His mind wandered off to the explanation Florence gave him yesterday about how they were supposed to act in public. “What are we supposed to do after we made it official? There’s a high chance that Soraya follows him and she’ll definitely show it to mom and dad…” Claude scoffed, his mouth twisting into a wry smile. “How did it end up like this? The only thing I needed was a place to stay at.”

“Is something the matter?” Florence asked as pushed the fridge close. “Does it have to do with my brother?” He sighed. “What did he say to you? I’ll tell him off- better yet, I’ll tell him not to disturb us again.”

“Adrian didn’t do anything, I was just thinking about my parents,” Claude smiled and followed him to the front door. “I haven’t had the time to tell my parents about the whole situation we’re in.”

“You can tell your parents about our fake relationship if you want to,” he said as they got out of the apartment and locked the door. “I can go to your parents' place to explain everything if it makes things easier.”

“...But what if I don’t want to?” Claude asked, smirking slightly as he let Florence go in the elevator first.

Florence raised his eyebrows as he looked at him over the rim of his glasses, pressing the button for the ground floor. “Do you want to keep it a secret to them?”

“Yeah, why not. Isn’t it-” Claude slowly trailed his index finger from Florence’s adam’s apple and stopped at his chin, his smirk widening at Florence’s reaction, “-more fun this way?”

Florence held his breath. He couldn’t take his eyes off Claude’s alluring gaze telling him to come closer. It felt like an entirety until the elevator reached the ground floor and opened its doors, causing Claude to remove his finger from him and get out of the elevator.

“You coming?” Claude asked, turning his head to him.

He exhaled deeply and showed him his best professional smile. “Yes, let’s go before we’re late,” he said, calming down his pounding heart.

"How amusing," he thought and grinned at Florence when he eyed Claude. He wrapped his arm around Florence's waist and pulled him closer. "Tell me if anything I do makes you uncomfortable, alright?"

Florence shuddered at the feeling of his minty breath hitting his ear and pushed his chest away from him. "I know," he muttered, getting out of his grip and walking away.

Stunned by Florence's reaction, Claude watched him swiftly scurry off. He held back a smirk, covering his mouth with his hand. "I shouldn't go too far… but it's fun to tease him." He shook his head and tried to catch up with Florence who was a few meters ahead. "Wait up!"

After they reached the campus, Florence declined Claude’s offer to walk him to his class when he saw Raoul in the distance.

Claude waved at him as he walked off to his class. "I should go too…" he sighed and got startled by Raoul tapping him on the shoulder. He turned around and felt at ease to see Raoul squinting his eyes at Florence. "Don't scare me like that. I almost thought that Diana came for my ass."

"Nah, don't worry. She doesn't even have the same classes as you and I'll cover you," he grinned, dragging Claude to their class which starts in a few minutes. "But where are you gonna meet up with her?"

He shrugged and sat down at the desk which had the best view of the board. "After class. I asked to meet up with her and she said yes. Maybe she's thinking that I want to apologize to her," Claude said while spinning his pen.

"For sure," Raoul laughed. His laugh dimmed down at the memory of yesterday. "Aye, what happened with that pretty boy yesterday?"

Claude lifted his eyebrow at him. "Pretty boy?" he repeated, suppressing a chuckle. He gestured to Raoul to come closer and put his hand next to his mouth. "He's my boyfriend," he whispered.

Raoul shot back, looking at Claude with wide eyes. "What?!"

Claude shushed him as his eyes flickered through the classroom, hoping that Raoul didn't draw the other's attention. "Let me explain," he hissed.

"So you were cheating on Diana the whole time with a rich boy?" Raoul asked, a look of judgment on his face. "I know your relationship was ass, but that's fucked."

"Just listen to me!" Claude shook his head, pinching the bridge of his nose out of frustration. "Due to some of Florence's personal reasons, I've agreed to become his fake boyfriend. I know that I'm still with Diana right now, but I was planning to end it today so I don't see a problem with it."

Raoul narrowed his eyes at him, still feeling skeptical about Claude’s decision. "I guess?

"It's just a business matter, we both profit off of it. I get to stay there until I find a new place and he's happy," he said, slumping into the chair as he noticed the room filling up with more students. "It's a win-win for us."

"But don't you have a problem dating someone like him?" Raoul asked.

Claude tilted his head to him, showing him a cheeky smirk. "I don't see a problem," he replied and heard the professor walk in. "Let's talk about it after class. I'm getting sleepy by just explaining it to you, let alone being in this classroom."

"You better stay awake this time, 'cause I'm not letting you copy my notes again," he warned as Claude yawned loudly.

"Aw, don't be like that. You know that I'll make it up with our assignments," Claude cooed as the teacher told them their next assignment was due in two weeks.

"Make sure that you've informed me of your trio or you won't get the instructions papers from me," he announced while a few people were whispering about the groups.

"Ah, shit. I hate when he does that," Raoul groaned, looking at the board. "Claude, who's gonna join our group?" Claude didn't respond. "Claude?"

Raoul turned his head to him and rolled his eyes when he saw Claude passed out on the desk. He hit Claude’s back as hard as possible and watched Claude shoot up.

"Yeah?" Claude asked, stretching his arms. "Something about a third person in our group? Just wait until someone approaches us. Even if they don't do anything, we can handle the assignment without a struggle." He lay his head back down on his arms. "Wake me when something interesting is happening."

"This bitch," Raoul muttered as Claude fell asleep again.