Congratulations, You Are Now Dating

By the next morning, the rumor had evolved.

Not “they argued.”

Not “they stood close.”

Now it was:

“They secretly dated for months and had a dramatic lover’s quarrel.”

Kang Minjae stood in the office hallway holding his coffee like it was emotional support.

“How,” he asked the universe, “does arguing about fonts become a love story?”

A coworker passed by and gave him a knowing smile.

“Be strong,” she whispered.

“I am not in a relationship!” Minjae whispered back.

She winked.

He considered moving to another country.

Inside the meeting room, Seo Jinhyuk was already seated, perfectly straight, reviewing documents.

Minjae entered and sat across from him.

They stared at each other.

“…Fix this,” Minjae said.

“You started it,” Jinhyuk replied.

“I started design innovation, not romance.”

Jinhyuk folded his hands. “Ignoring rumors is the logical solution.”

At that exact moment, their boss burst into the room.

He looked stressed. Extremely stressed. The kind of stressed that makes people drink three coffees and trust bad ideas.

“I heard about you two,” the boss said.

Minjae nearly fell off his chair. “It’s not true!”

The boss raised a hand. “Listen carefully. HR is investigating workplace relationship gossip because of a complaint from another department.”

Silence.

“If rumors keep spreading,” the boss continued, “our whole team will face unnecessary attention.”

Minjae nodded rapidly. “Yes, that’s bad. So we should tell everyone it’s fake.”

The boss leaned forward dramatically.

“Or… you confirm it.”

Minjae stopped breathing.

Jinhyuk blinked once.

The boss pointed at them like a genius unveiling a masterpiece.

“If you two ‘officially’ date, attention shifts to you. The investigation ends. Our department is safe.”

Minjae stared. “You want us to sacrifice our reputations for office peace?”

“Yes.”

“That is a terrible plan.”

“Yes.”

Jinhyuk spoke calmly. “This is inefficient.”

The boss clasped his hands. “Please.”

Ten minutes later, they stood alone in the hallway.

Minjae paced in circles.

“We cannot fake date! We don’t even like each other!”

Jinhyuk adjusted his glasses.

“Correction. We do not cooperate efficiently.”

“That is a polite way to say we fight constantly!”

Jinhyuk thought for a moment.

“…Temporary cooperation for a defined purpose is acceptable.”

Minjae froze. “You are considering this.”

“It resolves the situation.”

“It creates new problems!”

“It contains existing ones.”

Minjae pointed at him. “You would treat a relationship like a project plan.”

“…Yes.”

Silence.

Minjae sighed deeply. Very deeply. The sigh of a man whose peaceful life had just packed a suitcase and left.

“Fine,” he said. “Temporary. Strictly professional fake romance.”

Jinhyuk nodded once. “Agreed.”

They shook hands like two business partners signing a very strange contract.

A coworker walking past gasped.

“They’re holding hands already!”

They dropped their hands instantly.

Phase One: Public Confirmation.

They stood together in the open office space.

Minjae whispered, “Say something natural.”

Jinhyuk nodded.

He turned to the team and said, in a perfectly calm voice:

“We are dating.”

The office exploded.

Someone clapped.

Someone whispered loudly.

Someone took a photo of nothing in particular but definitely everything.

Minjae forced a smile that looked like mild suffering.

Jinhyuk looked like he had just announced quarterly profits.

Phase Two: Act Like a Couple.

This was harder.

During lunch, they sat across from each other.

Minjae kicked his foot under the table. “Smile.”

Jinhyuk smiled.

It was terrifying.

“Less intense,” Minjae whispered.

Jinhyuk adjusted his expression.

Now he looked politely pleasant, like a man greeting a neighbor’s cat.

Minjae sighed. “We are doomed.”

Phase Three: Physical Evidence.

A group of coworkers approached their table.

“So,” one asked carefully, “how did you two start dating?”

Minjae panicked.

Jinhyuk answered immediately. “Mutual respect.”

Minjae choked on water.

Another coworker leaned forward.

“Do you have couple nicknames?”

Minjae stared at Jinhyuk with silent horror.

Jinhyuk calmly said, “No.”

Minjae forced a laugh. “We keep things simple.”

A third coworker whispered, “You should hold hands.”

Silence fell.

Minjae and Jinhyuk looked at their hands.

They looked at each other.

Slowly… awkwardly… like two people defusing a bomb… they reached out and held hands.

Warm.

Real.

Both immediately looked away.

Minjae’s ears turned red.

Jinhyuk cleared his throat.

The coworkers squealed and walked away satisfied.

They did not let go for several seconds.

When they finally separated, neither mentioned it.

At the end of the workday, they stood near the elevator.

“Well,” Minjae said, “we survived Day One of Fake Romance.”

Jinhyuk nodded. “Performance was adequate.”

“That is not how humans describe relationships.”

“…It was acceptable.”

Minjae laughed softly.

The elevator doors opened.

They stepped inside together.

For the first time that day, there was no argument. No plan. Just quiet.

Minjae spoke without thinking.

“You know… you didn’t have to give me that sandwich yesterday.”

Jinhyuk looked forward. “You would have skipped lunch.”

“That’s not your responsibility.”

“…I know.”

Pause.

Minjae smiled a little.

The elevator reached the ground floor.

As they walked out, a coworker waved excitedly.

“Bye, couple!”

Minjae groaned.

Jinhyuk sighed.

And without discussing it… they walked out of the building side by side.

Temporary cooperation.

Strictly professional.

Absolutely not real.

Obviously.

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