Chapter Text
“Thank you so much,” Jake said as the closet door swung open, revealing their savior. He could have sworn a bright light illuminated the charming boy as he replied.
“It’s okay,” Sunghoon replied, propping the door as the shorter boy stepped out, followed closely by Heeseung who locked eyes with Sunghoon, giving him a deathly glare.
“We could have managed just fine without you,” he spat, burying his fists in his pants pockets.
Sunghoon straightened up, slightly upturning his nose. “Then why was Jake yelling for help?” The older boy scoffed. Pivoting back toward the main gym area, he began walking. “So,” he began again, directed to Jake. “Why were you two stuck in there?”
“That jerk,” he pointed an accusatory finger in Heeseung’s direction, “let the doors lock behind him when he came back.”
“Sorry for getting you a drink and snack,” he shot back from behind them.”
“Don’t you have class?” Sunghoon asked, ignoring Heeseung’s rude response.
Jake halted, whipping his phone out to see “9:21” glowing on the screen. “Crap I forgot!” He took off in a sprint, clutching his backpack tightly. “Sorry but I have to go. I’ll talk to you later,” he hollered before pushing through the gym entrance. He winced at the bright beams of sunlight hitting his eyes, pushing through as rushed to class.
“I’ve never been late for class before.”
Classes had concluded for the day and Jake exited his final classroom as he told Sunoo about his earlier dilemma.
“ What did the teacher say? ”
“Nothing, that’s the worst part. She just glared at me when I walked in and didn’t say a word.” He felt the phone buzz. “Hold on a sec, I just got a message.” Pulling his phone away to read the text, he saw it was from Sunghoon.
Sunghoon : hey when do you want to meet up for tutoring?
“Shoot,” he cursed under his breath.
“ Who is it? ”
“It’s Sunghoon, the guy I’m tutoring. I forgot we were supposed to meet up for a session.” He quickly typed out a response.
Jake : I’m free right now. Have you asked Heeseung?
Sunghoon : no don’t have his number
Jake : I’ll message him. Want to meet at the cafe?
Sunghoon : sure i’ll be there in a few
“ Can I come, too? ” Sunoo asked cheerfully as Jake propped the phone back up to his ear.
“Why?” he questioned, starting his route to their meet up spot.
“ Cause I have nothing to do for the rest of the day and am already on the bus. ”
Jake hesitated, waiting for his friend to continue but nothing else was said. “And?... That’s it?” A soft sigh came through.
“ And I want to meet him. Is that so wrong? ”
Giggling at Sunoo’s explanation, Jake nodded to himself. “Okay, okay. We are going to meet at the cafe on campus. You remember how to get here right?”
“ Yep. I should be there in 10 or 15.”
“Okay, see you then.” Then the line went dead and Jake quickly scrolled until he selected Heeseung’s contact. He debated just sending him a text but he wasn’t positive the older boy would see it in time, so he tapped his icon and waited for him to pick up.
“ Hello?”
“Heeseung,” Jake started. “Can you meet me in the cafe for Sunghoon’s tutoring session?”
A brief pause of silence followed. “Sure. I’ll be there in a few minutes.” Then he hung up.
“Rude.” Jake slipped the phone into his pocket, quickening his pace.
Once he arrived, he noticed Sunghoon approach the building at just the same time from the opposite direction. The boy grinned, waving to Jake.
“Did you make it in time for your class earlier?” he asked, swinging the door open, offering for Jake to enter first, who nodded in gratitude.
“Barely,” he sighed. “Definitely setting a timer next time.”
“‘Next time’,” Sunghoon echoed softly, so soft Jake almost missed it.
The cafe was busy with the rush of students picking up one final snack or drink before departing for the day. Lucky for them, the majority of the table was vacant. Jake led them to the same table he and Heeseung sat at over the weekend. Before dropping his stuff down, he glanced at the taller boy. “Is this fine?”
Sunghoon hummed, pulling a chair out and sitting down. Jake set his bag down and turned to get a quick bite, but was prevented from taking a single step by a strong hand snatching his hand.
“Wait,” Sunghoon exhaled. Jake peered over his shoulder to see Sunghoon locking in on their hands. “Can I ask you a quick question?” He sounded serious and Jake’s heart jumped a beat.
“Technically, you just asked one.”
“Can I ask another?”
“You just… nevermind,” Jake cut himself off, shaking his head. “Sure.”
The boy took a breath and Jake felt his grip ever so slightly tighten. Their eyes met as Sunghoon opened his mouth. “Are you and Heeseung dating?”
Jake’s eyes blew wider than a saucer and this time his heart stopped. He just looked down at the younger boy, blinking a few times as he struggled to find words for a response.
“Uh… no… why would you think that?” He almost sounded offended.
Loosening his grasp enough for Jake’s hand to slip through. “You two were locked in the closet together and after you left Heeseung made it seem like I interrupted something. Sorry if I inferred anything.”
That jerk!
Pinching the bridge of his nose, Jake shook his head. “No, it’s nothing like that. I just went to take a nap and he just so happened to be there. Nothing more than that.” Letting his hand flop to his side, he added, “Plus, I would never date that jerk.”
Sunghoon’s eyes sparkled with a hint of joy and the corners of his mouth curled upwards. “Ok, just wanted to ask.” His eyes flicked just past the standing boy and hand smile quickly disappeared. “Speak of the devil,” he muttered. Jake sifted around to see Heeseung making his way to the table and he swore he saw the lighting bolts once again.
“Hello, Jakey,” the older boy said before deadpanning to the boy sitting. “Sunghoon.”
“Heeseung.”
Eyes flickering between the two, Jake stood in silence, hoping whatever the two were going through would quickly dissipate. Luckily, not a minute later, his best friend called out his name from across the cafe.
“Jakey!”
“Sunnie!” He turned to the two other boys and quickly spat out an explanation as to why Sunoo was there. “That’s my friend. He had some free time so he’s going to sit while we work.” Without letting either of them get in a word, he swiftly rushed to his friend, linking arms with him and dragging him to the end of the ever growing line.
“What was that for?” Sunoo questioned once they were far enough so the others couldn’t hear them.
“Just needed to get out of a very awkward situation.”
“What happened?” he asked and Jake proceeded to give him a quick run down of the series of events that occurred.
“It seems like they both like you,” Sunoo concluded and the brunette just waved him off.
“No, it’s probably not that.”
“Jakey,” he stated, gripping his friend’s shoulders, giving him a shake. “They both sound jealous of the other. Just Sunghoon sounds like a prince and Heeseung sounds like a….”
“Jerk?” Jake offered, raising an eyebrow.
“Sure.” The blonde continued. “You really don’t see it?”
Peeking back to the table, he thought for a moment. “I don’t think so. Heesung hates me, and I hate him,” he quickly added. “And Sunghoon and I just met.”
Sunoo rolled his eyes, releasing his friend from his hold. “Think, is there anything else you can think of that might lead them to liking you?”
The older boy exhaled and looked off in thought as they approached the counter and Sunoo stated their orders. He suddenly remembered all of the strange experiences he had been sharing with Heeseung recently. The concerned text. The offering to carry his order. The letting him borrow his sweatshirt and buying him a snack.
“Heeseung has been acting… kind recently,” Jake said, looking back at the blonde while they stepped aside to wait.
“How so?”
“Well, remember how I was telling you I was late for class?”
“Yeah.”
“It was because I took a nap in the gym storage room. Heeseung was there and-”
Sunoo gasped. “You slept in the gym storage with Lee Heeseung?!”
“Not like that,” Jake said, playfully shoving his friend. “He was just there and I eventually fell asleep. When I woke up, his sweatshirt was over me and he brought me a snack.” Thinking back to the “good morning Jakey” gave him butterflies and he decided it was best to forgo that detail.
“Oh my god, Jakey,” Sunoo said plainly. “It’s so obvious he likes you.”
Blinking at his friend, he shook head. “But he hates me.”
“Oh, bullshit.”
“Whatever. I don’t think he likes me. I just think he’s a jerk.”
“Okay…,” Sunoo teased. “But just know when you two get together, I saw it coming.”
The brunette giggled. “You’ll be the first to know.”
Suddenly, their names were called and they collected their food before joining the two others at the table.
“Sunghoon, Heseung,” Jake announced once he sat down between the two. “This is my friend I was talking about, Sunoo.”
“Nice to meet you, Sunoo,” Sunghoon smiled warmly, offering his hand to shake, which the younger one took.
“You too.”
“Hello Sunoo,” the oldest boy spoke, not moving to greet him, but speaking in an acceptable tone.
“Hey,” he said, giving him a small wave. “Don’t mind me. I’m just going to work on homework.”
“Okay, sounds good,” Jake said before taking out his work for Sunghoon and sliding it over. “Go through these then we’ll start working on the areas you need more help in.”
Over the next hour, the four diligently worked through their tasks. Jake and Heeseung worked with Sunghoon on what he needed assistance on, showing him methods and study strategies for the respective areas. At a certain point, Sunghoon was correcting one of his answers while the oldest boy mindlessly scrolled through his phone. Jake glanced across to Sunoo and saw him staring at him, a smug grin forming on his face.
“What?” he mouthed, careful to not catch the attention of the other two. The blonde just shook his head, returning to his own assignments. Jake furrowed his eyebrows, confused at what his friend was smiling at.
“Hey boys,” a voice spoke from the cashier. “We’re closing in a few so you are going to have to clean up and head out.”
The group hurriedly packed up, bidding their goodbyes to the worker and headed to the campus gates.
“Sunoo and I have to take the bus back,” Jake said, gesturing to the bus stop. “So we’ll leave you here.”
“Do you need a ride back?” Sunghoon spoke up, taking a step forward. “I can drive you back if you want.”
Sunoo’s eyes gleamed. “Yes please. I ha-ey !” he cried, rubbing his arm where Jake just punched him.
“We’re fine taking the bus, we like it.” He felt the blonde’s glaze laser in his cheek.
“ I don’t like the- hey!” Before he could finish his sentence, Jake once again cut him off, linking their arms like before and hauling him off to the stop.
“I see you two tomorrow!”
As if on cue, the bus stopped in time for the duo to shuffle on and find a seat.
“Why did you do that?” Sunoo whined, situating his bag on his lap. “I didn’t want to take the bus. Plus, he probably has a fancy ass car.”
Jake faced the younger boy. “Why were you smirking earlier?”
“I was not,” he stated, folding his arms across his chest.
“Yes you were. Why were you?”
Hesitating for a beat, Sunoo finally spoke up. “While you were writing something, they were both looking at you.”
“Okay?” He shrugged. “What does that mean?”
Groaning, the younger boy tossed his head back for a moment before continuing. “They were both looking at you with this infatuated look. Both of them looked completely mesmerized.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. Actually, it was more so Heeseung,” he explained. “He looked first. Then Sunghoon took a glance before going back to his work, but Heeseung still looked at you.” He took a breath. “It looked really sincere.”
Leaning back, Jake exhaled. He hugged his bag closer to him as he imagined the older’s eyes looking at him with genuine admiration rather than his typical stares.
“You’re blushing,” the boy next to him remarked, quickly poking his burning up cheek. Swatting the hand away, Jake sat up. “Am not! Just thought about something.” Sunoo chuckled. Deciding to not push any further, he rested his head on the brunette’s shoulder, and Jake followed suit resting his own head on Sunoo’s.
The friends enjoyed the remainder of their journey home in a comfortable quiet, watching the scenery whizz by and gently lulled by the hum of the engine.