Chapter 4

Chapter 4

“I’M REALLY sorry, I’m late.”

Shun looked up at the man who emerged from a Mercedes. Although Lincoln wore extremely casual clothes: a red dress shirt and black denim jeans partnered with leather shoes, the man looks beyond handsome.

Shun cleared his throat. He remembered he was currently disguised as a woman now. “Don’t mention it.”

Lincoln stared at his face and Shun had to look away because of the awkwardness and slight nervousness. He knew his disguise is flawless, but he can’t stop feeling a bit guilty.

A few days ago, when he told Lincoln he finally agreed to his offer, the other bombarded him with different kinds of thanks—with a bit of flirt, of course—and told him they had to make their relationship ‘realistic’. Shun doesn’t refute when Lincoln asked him to go to the mall together, to polished his cover.

They both entered the mall and Lincoln was already talking a lot. “To be honest Sheen, you don’t have to change your appearance that much. You’re already beyond pretty. Are you really sure you’re poor?”

Shun was just looking forward, feeling a bit funny. A handsome man is constantly complimenting his looks without knowing he’s also a man like him. It sounds a bit hilarious, knowing Lincoln would likely be straight.

He merely laughed. “The last time I check, yes.”

Lincoln told him he had to look well-off to meet his parents’ standards. Shun glanced at Lincoln when he said this. To his surprise, Lincoln’s expression had changed. When Lincoln is talking to him, he always sees the other’s smirk or grins on his face. But now, his face is contorted into an ugly expression. He can’t name what is it.

Lincoln suddenly turned to him and smiled. “Are you falling in love with me now?”

Shun was startled. He immediately looked away. “I still have work later tonight. Let’s get to the business first.”

Lincoln noticed his awkwardness and laughed. “Sure, sure.”

A few minutes later, they stood in front of an elegant clothing store. Shun was constantly looking around warily as if scared of the people who were seeing him. Lincoln noticed this.

“What’s wrong?”

Shun turned to him, then to the store’s name above. Fengs. It sounded and looked exquisite. He is pretty sure he doesn’t belong here. He shook his head and gazed at him. “Nothing.” Unbeknownst to Lincoln, he’s actually embarrassed to be seen in a place like this with a wealthy young man. He knew his clothes aren’t that pleasing to the eye. It’s because he can’t afford to buy expensive ones. And then in an instant, he’ll be wearing them because of Lincoln.

“Come on. This is really a good store,” Lincoln said with a grin, and Shun was completely dazed before following him inside.

Inside the store was cleanly lined up dresses and outfits, for both male and female. Shun roamed his eyes around the area with an awed expression. The whole store is explicitly captivating. He can see that all of the designers who designed the dressers were extremely talented.

Shun felt a strange feeling in his heart while staring at the coffee-colored flowery dress in front of him. This is really beautiful… He reached out to touch it but thinking the dress would be dirty, he retracted his hand.

However, a hand suddenly touched the sleeves of the dress. “This looks good. Do you want this?”

“N—”

“Nevermind. It’ll look good to you. Let’s buy this.”

“Wai—” Shun blinked and just stared at Lincoln’s retreating back. He sighed before running after him. “This store’s clothing is really good.”

Lincoln made a sound of agreement. “Yes, out of all the clothing companies in our country, Fengs are on the top. Though ours is just the second.”

“Eh?” Shun was startled. “Your company’s also a clothing brand?”

“Ah-huh.” Lincoln nodded with a grin.

“But why saying ‘just’? Being one of the top 10 is amazing enough,” Shun said casually. He was looking forward, unable to see Lincoln’s stunned face when he glanced at him. There was a pause before Lincoln chuckled, making Shun turn to him, eyebrows raised. “Why?”

“Nothing. Let’s go try this.”

ONE HOUR later, Shun found himself inside an expensive restaurant. Lincoln was sitting across him, menu in his hand while a waiter was patiently waiting on the side.

Lincoln looked up at him. “What do you want to eat?”

Shun shrugged. “You pick for me.” After all, Shun hasn’t gone into this kind of place. If he will be the one to choose where to eat, he’ll just choose a cheap place. He can’t afford this kind of restaurant anyway. But Lincoln insisted he’ll pay so…

Lincoln told the waiter their orders and while waiting, Lincoln was telling him a story. It wasn’t a normal story.

It was their love story.

“And so we met on…” Lincoln continued their fake love story.

Shun had to try his best not to cringe or laugh. Lincoln has a talent for storytelling (he seems to love doing it), and this will help them secure their pretend relationship with Lincoln’s parents, but this is beyond ridiculous. His head is aching when Lincoln was telling him how he courted him, how they fell in love with each other—he wanted to cry.

A few moments later, Shun’s mind flew on somewhere else.

Is this really the right choice? Every time Shun remembered their deal, he can’t help to feel guilty. He doesn’t know why. He’s pretending to be Lincoln’s girlfriend, and Lincoln knew it. They will just lie to Lincoln’s parents.

However, Shun is also pretending to be a woman. He is lying to Lincoln too.

There’s a fear lurking inside him. What if he gets busted? What if Lincoln will feel disgusted when he learned the truth? He’s feeling reluctant to continue this, but remembering Shaine in the hospital, lying there, unconscious—that made him choose nothing but this deal.

Shaine needs surgery. He needs money. He can’t rely on other people about this, especially that—

“Sheen?”

Shun jolted and snapped back to reality when a hand was placed on his shoulder. “Yes?”

Lincoln pretended to be hurt. “You’re not listening to me anymore. I’m telling you how you confessed to me.”

What the— Shun doesn’t know whether to cry or laugh. “I’m sorry I’m thinking about something else.”

Lincoln was about to say something again when his phone rang. Lincoln looked up at him with an apologetic face. “Sorry, I’ll just answer this.”

Shun nodded. Lincoln went outside the restaurant to answer the call while Shun waited.

After a while, Lincoln came back with a problematic expression and Shun immediately sensed that something was wrong. “Is there a problem?”

Lincoln held a conflicted face. “It was my mom. She was asking me to have dinner with them this weekend.”

Shun’s mouth formed an ‘oh’. “What’s wrong—”

“I told them I’ll bring you.”

His heart went cold.

He didn’t expect that their fake relationship will begin this soon.