Page 21 of The Romance Rivalry

Ten marriage of convenience

“Okay, remember, it’s all hands on deck.”

We’re in the common room of Charles and Aiden’s dorm. Jeannette has the three of us lined up, standing at attention. I don’t

know whose idea it was to get us matching coveralls for this situation, but we’ve all got them on. Mine are rolled at the

hem a few times since no one thought to get them tailored for me.

“Jackson and Jeremiah will be here at”—Jeannette looks down at her watch—“thirteen hundred hours, which gives us exactly two

hours and ten minutes to finish preparations,” she barks at us.

“We need to fill the fridges in each of our rooms with the necessary refreshments. Which are?” Jeannette turns to me, puts

her face directly in front of mine, and bores her gorgeous green eyes into me.

I hold back a “meep.”

“Mountain Dew, Celsius energy drinks, and...” My mind goes blank. The last drink is on the tip of my tongue, but I can’t

remember.

“Gatorade,” Charles answers, saving me.

“Good,” Jeannette says.

“Kiss-ass,” I say under my breath.

Aiden snorts.

“And what other preparations do we have remaining?” Jeannette demands, getting in his face.

“Make the beds in Charles’s dorm room for the J’s, ensure Charles’s roommate is staying with his girlfriend this weekend,

set up the spare air mattress in my room for Charles, and place the necessary travel-size toiletries on each bed,” Aiden responds.

Impressive attention to detail with that one.

Jeannette steps back and looks us over.

And bursts into tears.

“You guys... my little brothers are gonna love it here,” she says.

I’ve never seen anyone go to these lengths for a family visit, especially not a sibling visit. But that’s Jeannette for you.

She’d do anything for her brothers. Having lost their mom early in their lives, she’s inevitably stepped into a maternal role

for them. Yet she’s such a good big sister, too.

I think about Cybil and how I’d never think to go to her for any help, except maybe skincare advice. It makes me grateful Jeannette is in my life now, too. But I need to be more aware of not adding to the load of people she carries on her shoulders.

Charles rushes up to her and wraps an arm around her shoulders. “We can’t wait for them to get here, baby. We’re gonna make

their visit so amazing, and Jackson is for sure gonna want to come to Brighton next year.”

“Jeremiah,” I correct him. “Jackson is the younger one, the junior.”

I walk up to Jeannette and, since Charles occupies her shoulders, bend a little and wrap myself around her waist. “They’re

going to have the best time. They’re so so lucky to have you as a big sister to show them the way.”

Aiden, standing awkwardly beside us, reaches out an arm to pat Jeannette stiffly on the back. The move makes me laugh.

“Thank you so much for putting up with me, you guys. And for helping me get everything ready,” she says through her sniffles.

“Like we had a choice, drill sergeant?” Aiden jokes.

I elbow him in the side.

“I can’t wait to meet them,” I say.

“They’re gonna love you,” Jeannette says, looking down at me. “And Aiden will charm the socks off of them like he does everyone.”

She smiles at Aiden.

“What about me? They’ll love me, too, right?” Charles asks, his puppy dog tongue flapping, tail wagging.

Jeannette gives him a pained smile. “Sorry, honey. They’re going to hate you no matter what. They’re just really protective

of their big sister.”

Charles’s face drops, sad pup.

Aiden reaches over and gives his head a reassuring pat.

A couple hours later, two tall, gorgeous, redheaded teen boys arrive, bringing with them the noise and energy of kids being

unleashed into freedom for the weekend.

After a long day of campus tours, cafeteria dining, off-campus dining, and answering five thousand questions about college

life and the “chicks” here at Brighton, the six of us are sprawled out on a fortress of blankets and pillows in the boys’

dorm common area watching a movie.

I have my laptop open, earbuds in, trying to edit a monthly reading recap video. I look over my screen at the scene in front

of me and realize two things: One, in the two short months I’ve been at Brighton, I’ve changed from when I was in high school.

The things that I thought mattered, I’m thinking maybe don’t matter so much anymore. I might have been a bit of a social outcast

back then, but I didn’t stay that way.

And that’s the second thing, the one that brings tears right up behind my eyes, threatening to break through and fall. The people here—Jeannette, Charles, and Aiden—they’re my friends. I’ve never felt a part of something where other people were involved as well. And even though we’re still technically on opposite sides of a competition, we’re all in this college thing together.

“If you were all able to hook up so soon after getting here, I wonder if the same will happen for me. I saw a lot of pretty

girls when we were walking around campus.”

In my mind, he seems so young. So naive. Impressionable. Horny. But this desire to be in a relationship with someone in college,

I had the same thoughts and hopes when I was a senior. Get me out of the hellhole of high school and set me free in college.

Maybe I didn’t have it as rough as I made it out to be in my head, a socially awkward loner with no friends. Maybe that’s

just how stuff feels for everyone at that age.

Jeannette punches him lightly on the arm. “Charles and I didn’t meet right away. And even then, we were friends first before

dating.”

“What about the two of you?” Jeremiah turns to where Aiden and I are sitting next to each other on the well-worn dorm couch.

“Who? Us two?” I ask, pointing between myself and Aiden. “Oh, we’re not dating.”

“Really? No way. You totally seem like a couple. So you’re just hooking up, then?”

“I wish,” Aiden says.

“Not even,” I say at the same time.

I whip my head around, jaw on the ground at Aiden’s response. He just shrugs and smiles at me.

Typical, always trying to throw me off guard.

“Well, college seems pretty cool. As long as you give me space and aren’t overbearing,” Jeremiah says, pointing to Jeannette,

“I could totally see myself coming to Brighton.”

“Dude, me too,” the younger Jackson adds.

High-fives are exchanged around the room, and I realize that I agree with Jeremiah. College is pretty cool.

My laptop blinks with a new email notification. I look down and see the name of the online marketing director from SKCupid.

“Can I use your room really quick?” I ask Aiden. His focus is back on the TV screen, hand moving on autopilot between the

big bowl of kettle corn in his lap and his mouth. He turns his head and quickly gives me a once-over, as if making sure everything

is okay. “Yeah, sure. Door’s open,” he says.

I rush to Aiden’s room and place my laptop on his desk. I take a seat and open the email.

Irene, thank you so much for your patience while we work through all the details about the brand partnership with SKCupid. I’m pleased to share that we’ve made a decision and will be putting together contracts for review. We’d like to discuss them with each of our candidates face-to-face on video to let them know who our choice will be and why. Would you be available in the next couple weeks for a call? Please let me know.

I swallow back my anxiety. Did that seem like a positive email? Or a let-me-down-easy email? If they’ve chosen me, wouldn’t

they just say so and leave the cryptic requests for a Zoom call for those they’ve passed on?

Aiden walks into the room, head down, looking at his phone. His brow is furrowed and his lips are moving along with whatever

he’s reading. He looks up from his screen and meets my eyes. “Did you get an email?” he asks.

“Yeah. Was yours also ‘we’ve made a decision but we’re not telling you yet’?”

He nods, holding up his phone.

“What do you think it means?” I ask.

“I have no idea. It could mean anything. It could mean they chose you, me, or someone from a slew of other people in the mix.”

“That wasn’t even a possibility I’ve ever considered.” And it’s true. Who else would they choose outside of Aiden or myself??

No other Korean book content creators come close to our reach. At least none that I’ve come across.

I look back at my laptop and open up my social apps. Maybe there’s a clue to who else might have been in consideration.

“Honestly, I hope they did choose you. You deserve it,” he says, coming up behind me and leaning over me to look at my screen.

I’m stunned into silence for once. Aiden Jeon, my former enemy, once rival, and now... friend? Saying nice things to me?

And smelling this good doing it?

It soothes the sting of this whole situation a tiny bit. But I can’t deny that I’m still kinda bitter that Aiden’s followers

trolling me seems to have contributed to my downward trajectory online.

“Thanks, but I’m fairly certain it wasn’t me. I might have been the first person they considered, but I lost momentum. You

know, I hope SKCupid picked you. Then it would make all your followers’ hard work worth it.”

I force a laugh, but it sounds tinny and almost manic. I hate being passive-aggressive, and yet I do it so well.

“What do you mean?”

“You know, how your followers come on to my reviews and try and drag me every time. They’d do anything for you. And since

you’ve made it clear we disagree on pretty much everything, it’s like permission for them to do so, too.”

Aiden’s brows stitch together and he looks genuinely confused.

Frustration builds inside me, because I can’t keep the Aiden who is honest, sometimes vulnerable, and often surprisingly kind straight from the one who plays dumb when the evidence is right there for anyone to see.

So I pull up my review from last week about the secret baby romance and scroll down to some of the comments.

@aidentheguyreadsromance: I do think that there are valid reasons for keeping secrets in a relationship. As long as the truth

eventually comes out, and the author handles it with care, I could be convinced.

@darkromanceorbust: @aidentheguyreadsromance Right? Here Irene goes again with her pearl clutching. They had a baby, it’s

not that serious.

@HEAandcoffeeinthatorder: @darkromanceorbust What do you mean it’s not that serious. Irene is right, it sets the entire relationship

on a foundation of dishonesty.

@tamlinismisunderstood: If you’re that bothered, just go read YA. Or MG for that matter...

“See? Brutal,” I say.

“It’s just some online banter. People love to argue when their faces aren’t attached to it. You know the first rule of being

online is to not take comments too seriously. But I’m sorry that it’s upsetting. I had no idea.” He reaches around me to get

his hands on my laptop and pulls up his latest review. “If it helps at all, mine aren’t any kinder, to be honest,” he admits.

I take a look.

There are a few followers that comment on his review. But then...

... some comment on how fun it is that he’s reading romance...

... some comment on how cute he is...

... some comment on what they “want to do to him.”

“What the fuck is that?” I cry out, pointing at the screen.

“That, Irene, is my normal.”

I lean in, pushing his hand away from the keyboard and placing mine on the track pad, scrolling and reading a few more. “They

just... objectify you like that?” My stomach feels sour as I read a comment from a reader offering to have Aiden’s “secret

baby.”

He drops his eyes and shrugs. I can’t imagine navigating the land mine of his comments section. A thought hits me. “Wait,

do you get DMs, too?”

He tucks his lips between his teeth and nods slowly, clearly not wanting to share further. He straightens, takes a seat on

his bed, and rakes his fingers through his hair, letting out a loud sigh.

I collapse back into his chair, pushing away the laptop like it’s something I’m allergic to. All the times I complained about

snarky comments on my feed and believed that Aiden had it way easier weigh heavy on my shoulders.

“Online can be a scary place,” he says.

“Shit, I thought I had it rough. Do you report these people? That’s harassment. It has to go against user policy. Jesus, I’m so sorry, Aiden. I’m sorry this happens to you. And I’m sorry that I even thought to blame you for the assholes in my comments. Clearly...”

“...I wouldn’t wish that on anyone.” He turns to me and the natural sparkle is back in his eye as he smiles. “It is what

it is. I’m not that bothered. Now that the shock has worn off, I know how to navigate my feed, and I block liberally.”

“You block people and you still have that follower count. Damn,” I say. But I don’t say it with envy like I might have in

the past.

“Irene, don’t let those people get to you. The same goes for SKCupid. They don’t have the right to care about your personal

experience and weaponize that against you. Don’t give this company that power.”

“How can you be so unaffected?” I ask. “You’re always so even-keeled about stuff. I don’t get it.”

Aiden lays back flat on his bed, looking up at the ceiling. “Real-life shit is hard enough to deal with. I don’t need to give

online drama my energy.”

“I wish it was that easy for me,” I say to myself.

“Hey,” Aiden calls to me. He jackknifes up from the bed and leans himself against his desk to face me. “If you’re worried about the trolls and how that impacts your brand, well, then let’s shut them down.”

“What do you mean?”

“We’ve got the joint Live coming up. Let’s approach it as a team. You and me against any haters, boundary crossers, and corporate

marketing people who pay too close attention to shit that doesn’t matter,” he says.

I laugh as his face gets more animated. But I still don’t get what he’s suggesting.

“Um, what do you have going on up there in that very scary head of yours?” I ask.

“Irene, you always think the worst of me, and all I’ve tried to do is prove you wrong.”

Ouch. That’s not true, is it? I wonder if maybe I’ve been just a wee bit too hard on Aiden. I cut off this thought, because

I already know the answer.

He reaches out and puts his hands on my shoulders, looking me straight in the eye. “I have a plan, a pretty good one, if I

do say so myself. A plan that will get us control of our narratives back from those who have been trying to take it. A plan

to shut everyone up and let us have fun in our online space again. A plan that requires the both of us to do what we do best.”

“And what’s that?” I ask, trying to sound more encouraging than skeptical.

Aiden slowly lifts one eyebrow as his cocky grin makes an appearance. “Be experts on romance, on tropes specifically.”

Well, now he’s got my attention. This I can do.

“You with me?” he asks.

I have no idea what it is we’re doing, but the thought of jumping off this deep end with Aiden doesn’t scare me one bit.

Go figure.

“Most definitely,” I say, and I lift my hand to meet his in a high-five, sealing the deal, sealing our fate.