“Good job today!”

Florence glanced up from his phone and saw Sydney standing in front of him with a big grin. “Same to you,” he smiled, turning his phone off. They stared at each other without saying anything while Florence’s phone kept chiming. With every text he received, Sydney’s expression turned smugger.

“Oh? And who could that be if I may ask?” he asked as he leaned his face closer. “Could that be the boyfriend you didn’t tell me about?”

Florence took a step back as Sydney tried to corner him. “What boyfriend are you talking about? You know that I’m not seeing anyone,” he said.

Sydney gritted his teeth at Florence’s innocent expression. He grabbed his phone and showed him the picture of them that he saved for this very occasion. “Then who the fuck is that?”

“Oh him.” Florence smiled innocently at him. “Yes, he’s my boyfriend. And before you start shouting, I’ll explain exactly why at my house.”

“Su~re,” Sydney muttered smugly, crossing his arms. “But before we go, can we buy some coffee? There’s a new one that entered near the campus and I really want to try it!"

"Sure," he said and Sydney dragged him out of the studio as quickly as possible. It only took them a few minutes to reach the cafe by foot while Florence felt a little guilty that he couldn't reply to Claude's messages.

Sydney opened the door and pulled on Florence's arm. "Finally!" he cheered and covered his mouth when he noticed that most people at the tables were working. "My bad."

They went to the cash register and Sydney looked at all the drinks they offered. As Sydney was ordering, Florence looked at the texts Claude sent and chuckled at the stickers he sent. "I wonder how his meetup is going…"

Florence felt a pair of eyes boring a hole into his head and tried his best to ignore it. "Must be a fan," he thought and glanced where it came from. He furrowed his eyebrows as he saw Claude staring at him with a puzzled expression. "Huh?"

"Alrighty, here's your coffee Florence-" Sydney looked at what Florence was looking at and his jaw dropped when he recognized Claude’s face. "Wait that's-" Sydney handed Florence the drinks and went up to their table.

"Sydney, no," Florence hissed as he continued walking.

"Hey, I'm Sydney~" he smiled at Claude while Raoul and Julia were still working on the essay. "You're familiar with Florence right? I'm his best friend."

Claude looked dazed at Sydney’s cutesy grin and shook his hand. "Yeah, I'm Claude. Nice to meet you," he said and watched Florence join them.

"Florence told me a looot about you~" Sydney smiled while slowly turning his face to Florence.

"I hope he didn't say anything bad," Claude chuckled and turned his head back when he heard Julia packing her things up.

"I have to get going guys," she said, standing up and tossing her bag over her shoulder. "Thank you guys for letting me join again."

"No problem," Claude grinned as Julia glanced at the two celebrities Claude was talking to. "I'll make a group chat to plan meetings and discuss the program later."

"Okay! Bye guys!" she said, waving at them and quickly thanking Raoul again.

As Julia walked away, Raoul turned to Claude who was talking to Sydney and Florence. He then saw that people were eyeing their table and got more concerned for Claude’s public image. "Claude," he whispered and Claude raised his eyebrow at him. "Wouldn't it be better if we go to a place less… open?"

Sydney caught what he said and put his hand between them. "I have the perfect solution for that!"

A while later they were sitting in Florence's living room. Claude lay on the couch with his head on Florence's lap as Raoul and Sydney were sitting on the other while staring confused at Florence who was playing with Claude’s curls.

Sydney tapped Raoul's shoulder. "You sure that they're not an item?" he whispered, nodding at them as Claude showed Florence something on his phone.

"I don't know how, but they aren't," Raoul whispered back and Sydney hummed.

"So…" Sydney spoke as Claude looked from his phone. "You're sure that you two aren't together?"

"We aren't," Florence replied while twisting a curl with his finger. "Why?"

"Well, because of you two being so touchy," Raoul said as Claude smirked at him.

"Do you also want me to be like this with you?" Claude asked as Raoul narrowed his eyes at him. "Come here, I'll make you feel good- OW! Why did you flick my forehead?"

Florence glared at him with lightly tinted cheeks. "Stop being so flirty with everyone," he muttered.

"I'm sorry, Flory. I'll only be like this with you, alright baby?" he said, smiling softly at Florence while seeing his face turning redder by the second.

Florence covered his face with his hands. "Stop being so embarrassing," he whispered as Claude tried to take Florence's hands from his face.

Sydney leaned into Raoul again. "You're sure that they aren't together?" Raoul nodded as they watched them flirting with each other. Sydney cleared his throat to get their attention again. "And why are you two pretending to be together? You could've picked me as your fake boyfriend instead of him," he pouted.

"Mother wouldn't believe me if I randomly said that we're together," Florence replied as he slapped Claude’s hand away. "And to bring someone who isn't famous in the mix was the best idea."

"And I got a good deal out of it," Claude said, butting into their conversation. "I needed a place to stay and he needed a hot boyfriend. This is a win-win, isn't it Flory?" he grinned.

Florence shrugged. "I suppose so…" he muttered. "My goal, for now, is to avoid the arranged marriage and live a peaceful life, nothing more. What about you Claude?"

"Me?" Claude asked and tried to think about what his goal is. "Help you out and search for my own place, I guess. But I'm living quite comfortable with you by my side sweetie~"

Florence felt his face grow hot out of embarrassment again. "Please stop using pet names," he whispered as Raoul and Sydney glanced at each other with disbelief.

"No can't do, babe. You have to get used to it as fast as possible," Claude grinned and kept calling Florence pet names.

Raoul stared at them and sighed at them flirting openly in front of them. "Let's make a bet. I'll say that it'll take six months for them to get together for real."

"Hm…" Sydney looked back at them. "I'll say four months. Loser has to do what the winner says."

"Deal."