Rental Love

That night was supposed to be movie night for them. They had been doing this tradition since their freshman year of college. Once a week they would gather at Sana and Momo's apartment after all their classes were over and have dinner while watching movies there. However, that night was different because Sana had a 'date' with her rental girlfriend and couldn't join her two best friends.

"What do you guys think? Is my outfit good?" Sana asked as she twirled around in front of her two best friends. At that time, Momo and Mina were sitting on the couch and Sana was standing between the coffee table and the TV.

"You look pretty," Mina replied with a nod of agreement.

"You're treating this like a real date, you know?You've changed your outfit five times. Do you really want to catch her interest?" Momo giggled and shook her head.

"Well, is there something wrong with me wanting to look pretty for the person who will make me happy?" Sana said with a hint of annoyance. She crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow.

"Hey, chill!" Momo laughed and Mina noticed a hint of nervousness in her laugh. "There's nothing wrong with that. It's just.." She trailed off.

"It's just?" Sana leaned forward a little and waited for Momo to continue. Mina also had her full attention on Momo.

"I'm a little jealous." Momo lowered her gaze and avoided the gazes of her two best friends. "You make me want to steal you from your date and take you on a date instead." She didn't know where she got the courage from, but she lifted her head to meet Sana's eyes. She smiled widely.

If you said that Sana and Mina were shocked, it would be an understatement. They were both beyond shocked. Momo had never been like this before. She had never said anything this bold. She had never admitted that she was jealous, let alone asked Sana out on a date.

“I was just kidding.” Momo waved her hand and laughed. “You guys have to see your own faces. You’re making funny faces!” Her index finger pointed back and forth at Sana and Mina.

Of course, you were just kidding, Sana and Mina thought the same thing. They were both disappointed, but Sana was the one who felt the most impact. She thought that Momo could finally see her in that way. She felt like she was lifted up to the sky when Momo said she wanted to steal her from her date. However, Momo immediately dropped her to the ground when she said she was just kidding. It really hurt her so much.

I would ditch this date if you were really going to take me out, but unfortunately you were just kidding, Sana kept it all to herself. She didn't know how long she could keep all of this. One day she might explode and tell Momo the truth, but she hoped that day would never come.

"You're the one who's missing out on a date with me." Sana flipped her hair proudly and grabbed her purse from the coffee table. "I'll get going then. Don't miss me too much because I might not be coming home tonight." She winked before walking away from her two best friends.

After Sana closed the door and Mina could no longer hear her footsteps, Mina immediately turned around and faced Momo. She began to do her mission that night. A mission to make Momo and Sana realize their feelings for each other.

"Why don't you actually ask her out?" Mina was so excited to start her mission that she jumped right into the confrontation and forgot the fact that Momo had never told her anything about her feelings for Sana. This would definitely sound weird to Momo.

"What are you talking about?" Momo raised an eyebrow and gave Mina a weird look.

That was the moment when Mina realized that she was too hasty in asking that question and might have messed up the mission she had just started. Well, she couldn't turn back time and change what she had done. So, she just went with the flow.

"You do want to ask her out, right?" Mina narrowed her eyes.

"Why would I ask her out?" Momo chuckled. "She's my best friend, Mina."

"You know you can date your best friend." Mina slowly understood what was stopping Momo from making a move on their other best friend.

"That's weird." Momo chuckled bitterly and Mina noticed it.

"Why is it weird?"

"Huh? You don't find it weird?" Momo looked at Mina in confusion.

"No, there's nothing wrong with it."

"Look." Momo put one of her hands on Mina's shoulder. "Just imagine me dating Sana. Don't you find it weird?"

“No one would find it weird. Everyone would probably understand if you guys were dating. You know you guys have been together since you were little.”

“Oh.” Momo pulled her hand off Mina’s shoulder. She then turned her face away from her best friend. “You really don’t find it weird?” She asked in a small voice.

Mina shook her head. “No, I will even be happy if you guys end up dating.” She put her hand on top of Momo’s and held it.

"You.." Momo trailed off. She turned her face back to Mina. "You already know about my feelings for Sana, huh?"

"I'm pretty observant." Mina gave a faint smile.

"And I thought I did a good job of hiding my feelings." Momo chuckled. "I hope you're the only one who realizes this. I don't want Sana to find out."

"Huh? Why?" Mina was surprised to hear that.

"She'll find this weird." Momo smiled bitterly. The look in her eyes showed that she was recalling something. Something in the past that she would never forget. "And I don't wanna lose her."

Mina noticed everything. She realized that there were still many things she didn't know about her two best friends. It made sense because Mina first met them in college while Sana and Momo had known each other since they were kids. There was so much history between the two of them that Mina needed to find out if she wanted to help them. Mina wouldn't give up so easily.

—————————

Nayeon really regretted not closing her schedule for that day. She had just finished cleaning and organizing her things in her new apartment at 12 AM and she didn't get to sleep until around 1. She had class in the morning so she woke up at 7 AM. Her last class finished at 5 PM and she didn't get to her apartment until 6. She was really tired and wanted to go straight to bed, but she had to go on a 'date' at 7 PM.

She almost canceled her client's booking because she was really exhausted and she knew she couldn't speak Japanese. She thought talking to her client would be a disaster and she didn't want to embarrass herself. However, she suddenly remembered Shasha and her competitive ass didn't want to lose to her. She wanted to prove that she was still better than that girl.

So there Nayeon was, standing in front of a cinema waiting for her client. Although she was excited to prove herself, she was still dreading this meeting. Her biggest worry was the awkwardness that would arise between her and her client if they couldn’t communicate at all. That’s why she tried to learn some basic Japanese before meeting them. She hoped that it would at least give her an idea of ​​what her client was talking about.

“Hello, I’m Yuri. Nice to meet you,” Nayeon mumbled in Japanese. She was practicing before meeting her client. “Are you okay? Do you—”

"Hey, Nayeon!"

Nayeon recognized that voice. Even though she had only met that girl once, she would never forget her voice. This is the cutest voice I've ever heard, Nayeon thought when she heard Shasha's voice for the first time.

Wait a minute.. Why is she here? Nayeon wondered before turning around and finding Shasha in front of her. Shasha smiled from ear to ear with both of her hands behind her body.

"What are you doing here?" Nayeon asked.

"We're going to watch a movie together, right?" Sana smiled innocently.

1 second..
2 seconds..
3 seconds..

At the fourth second, Nayeon finally realized something. Her eyes widened and her jaw dropped when she realized that Shasha was her client. Shasha was the client that she had been dreading to meet.

"You're Japanese?!" Nayeon pointed her index finger at Sana and her right eye twitched comically.

"Yes..?" Sana was confused by Nayeon's reaction.

Nayeon ran her hands through her hair and sighed in annoyance. She didn't know whether to feel relieved or angry. She had wasted her time with unnecessary fear. "I feel stupid now," she muttered.

"What's wrong?" Sana asked worriedly. 

"Are you Minatozaki Sana?" Nayeon paid attention to the way that name rolled off her tongue. She liked saying that name. She liked calling Shasha by her real name.

"Yeah, I can prove it to you. Wait a minute—"

Before Sana could grab her wallet from her purse, Nayeon caught her hand and shook her head. "No need. I trust you. I just didn't expect you to hire me as your girlfriend."

"Oh." Sana lowered her gaze and her cheeks started to turn red. "Am I not allowed to do that?" she asked in a low voice.

"Of course, you are. I also hired you as my girlfriend, but.." Nayeon trailed off. She wanted to say that Sana should've told her first so she wouldn't overthink this date, but that would be ridiculous since Sana had no way of telling Nayeon. "Forget it," she continued.

Sana panicked at Nayeon's response. She was worried that she just made the wrong decision by hiring Nayeon as her girlfriend. She was worried that she just made Nayeon uncomfortable by doing this. "We don't need to do this date if you—"

Nayeon grabbed her arm before she could finish her sentence. "Let's go inside, babe. The movie is about to start." Nayeon smiled at her sweetly while showing the two tickets she had bought before Sana arrived.

"Are you sure about this date, Nayeon?" Sana raised an eyebrow.

Nayeon nodded. "Why wouldn't I be sure? I'm Yuri, your girlfriend, babe."

Sana got the hint. Nayeon didn't want to be called by her real name when working and honestly she would've done the same if she were in Nayeon's shoes. However, that didn't mean she wasn't disappointed when Nayeon gave her that hint.

"Alright, let's go," Sana replied before letting Nayeon lead her inside.

—————————

Sana certainly didn't consider this a real date. Even though she did have a little crush on Nayeon (yes, she finally admitted it), she only considered this 'date' as an entertainment, like going to her favorite idol's concert. It's true that she had always been on the giving end, making other people happy by being their rental girlfriend. However, that doesn't mean she couldn't be on the receiving end, getting happy by a rental girlfriend. Sana considered this as a break she never knew she needed.

Sana held Nayeon's hand while rubbing circles on her skin. This was a habit she often did while watching a movie, whether it was at the cinema or at home. Momo or Mina usually became Sana's victims, but luckily they never complained when Sana did it. She was grateful that Nayeon didn't complain either when she started rubbing her skin. Technically, I didn't break any rules, right? Sana thought. As long as she only held Nayeon's hand or arm, she shouldn't be breaking any rules.

About 40 minutes into the movie, Sana suddenly felt something touch her shoulder. When she turned her face to look at it, she found Nayeon's head resting on her shoulder. Nayeon had fallen asleep in the middle of the movie they were watching.

She's really cute, Sana thought before tucking Nayeon's hair behind her ear. Oops, she just broke a rule, but it wasn't a big deal, was it? Sana just wanted to move the strands of hair that were covering Nayeon's face.

Sana returned her focus to the movie she was watching and let Nayeon fall asleep on her shoulder. She wasn't mad because she knew Nayeon was tired at that time. A few minutes before their movie started, Nayeon told her that she had just moved into a new apartment the day before. So, Sana understood that Nayeon actually needed some rest.

.

.

.

The credits just rolled and Nayeon was still sleeping on Sana's shoulder. As much as Sana wanted to let Nayeon sleep, she had to wake her up before the staff could kick them out. Sana poked Nayeon's cheek while calling her name softly so as not to startle her. Oh yeah, she broke the rule again, but she only poked Nayeon's cheek to wake her up. Was it a big deal? Sana thought it was just a small thing that could be ignored.

"Huh?" Nayeon opened her eyes slowly before lifting her head from Sana's shoulder. "Oh?" she looked around and saw that there were only the two of them in the room. "Oh shit! Did I fall asleep?" She turned her face towards Sana.

Sana giggled while nodding her head. "It's okay. I know you're tired."

"It's not okay, Sana. I shouldn't have fallen asleep in the middle of our date." Nayeon ran her hands through her hair in frustration. She felt guilty for falling asleep. "Why didn't you wake me up?"

"I thought you deserved some rest," Sana replied with a smile before standing up and extending her hand. "Now let's go out. I'm already hungry." She quickly changed the subject so that Nayeon wouldn't dwell on her guilt.

Nayeon reached for Sana's hand and held it tightly. She then stood up and let Sana lead her out of the room. After that, they went to a restaurant not far from the cinema and had dinner there. During dinner, Nayeon tried her best to make up for her mistake by engaging Sana in a fun conversation. Sana really appreciated Nayeon's efforts and enjoyed the time she spent with her.

*buzz* *buzz* *buzz*

Nayeon's phone alarm went off, signaling that their time was up. This was the end of their date and Sana felt a little disappointed because she wanted to spend a little more time with Nayeon.

"Time flies when I'm with you." Sana smiled but it didn't reach her eyes. "I really had a lot of fun today."

“Oh, don’t say that now.” Nayeon waved her hand. “Do you want some dessert? How about we go to an ice cream parlor? My favorite ice cream parlor isn’t far from here.”

Sana blinked three times before realizing what Nayeon meant. “You want to eat ice cream with me even though our time is up?”

Nayeon nodded with a smile. “It wouldn’t be complete if we didn’t have dessert. So, do you want to continue this date?”

It didn't take long for Sana to say yes and they went to the ice cream parlor Nayeon had mentioned. When they arrived, they found that the line wasn't that long and they stood at the back of the line.

"Which one do you want?" Nayeon asked while looking at Sana

Sana puffed her cheeks while squinting her eyes. She then read the menu board above their heads with full concentration. "Hmm.."

"Hey, you're not choosing a major for your study," Nayeon said as she poked Sana's puffy cheeks. Oh, Nayeon also broke the rule, but Sana was so cute. What else could she do besides poking Sana's cheeks?

Sana puffed out her cheeks and turned her gaze to Nayeon. She then frowned and pouted. "I always take every decision seriously!"

"Okay, chill!" Nayeon raised both of her hands. But after that, one of her arms went around Sana's shoulders and pulled her body closer.

It took Nayeon a few seconds to realize that she had broken the rule. She had just put her arm around Sana even though their company rules stated that only holding hands and arms were allowed. Nayeon immediately pulled her arm away, which surprised Sana.

"I'm sorry," Nayeon said, lowering her gaze. "I didn't realize I was doing that."

At first, Sana didn't understand what Nayeon was talking about. It took a few seconds for Sana to remember that this wasn't a real date. They were only allowed to hold hands and arms based on the rules of Rental Love. Oh, Sana was starting to hate these rules.

"Well, technically you didn't break any rules. Our date should have ended when your alarm went off, right? You're off work now," Sana said as she put her arm around Nayeon's arm.

"Oh. You're right." Nayeon didn't know why she suddenly smiled after realizing that. "So, which flavor do you want?"

"Cookies and cream."

"Okay. I'll have chocolate chip."

After they bought their ice cream, they sat down at one of the tables and ate them while having a little chat. They didn't spend much time there before they had to say their goodbyes.

"Thank you so much for today. I had a lot of fun because of you," Sana said with a smile.

"I also had a lot of fun. Is that weird?" Nayeon giggled. Every time Nayeon laughed or smiled, Sana's urge to break the rules came back. She wanted to kiss those chubby cheeks.

Technically, Sana and Nayeon were off work. What did outside of their work schedules was a private matter. However, Sana knew that she was still a client in Nayeon's eyes.

“I take that as a sign that you’ll be booking me again soon,” Sana teased. Honestly, she didn’t want Nayeon to book her again. 

“Oh, right. I can book you again.” Nayeon rolled her eyes. “But I’d rather you book me again.” 

Sana actually didn’t want to book Nayeon again either. She was tired of these ridiculous rules. She didn’t want to be tied down by Rental Love’s rules anymore when they were together. She wanted to do what she wanted to do. 

“We’ll see.” Sana grinned. “Okay, I have to go now. Bye, Yuri!”

"Okay. Bye, Sana!"

They parted ways after that and Nayeon went home with a light heart. It should have been a bad day for her, but her date with Sana made her forget about all the bad things that happened that day. Honestly, she felt a little weird because doing her job that day actually made her day.

*buzz*

Her phone just buzzed and she could guess that Sana had just given her a rating. She didn't expect to get a five star rating from Sana because she knew she didn't give her best performance that day. She fell asleep in the middle of their date so she was sure she wouldn't get a five star rating. However, she hoped to at least get a comment that Sana enjoyed their date.

sanapomu:

★ ★ ★ ★ ★

Let's go on a real date, shall we?