Archive of Our Own

Sunghoon takes a deep breath. He recalls his conversation with his mom from a few minutes ago. She told him at least a gazillion times that this is not a good idea. And right now, standing in front of the one hundred year old house of his late great grandparents, he can clearly understand what she meant by that. He tugs on the big suitcase in his hand and carefully slides open the enormous ancient gate made of rusted iron. It looks like one-accidental-rough-pull away from completely breaking down and Sunghoon definitely doesn’t need that on his first day. After being in a dilemma for almost two months, Sunghoon has finally decided to move from his home at Eunpyeong-gu to this old mansion he used to live in during his childhood. He had meticulously made a list in his head before coming here; 

Pros:

1. He gets to live in a big big mansion all by himself with nobody else to order him around.
2. He can blast his favorite music in the living room anytime he wants.
3. It’s super close to his uni so he doesn’t need to depend on Jay to give him a lift anymore (not that he doesn’t have his own car, it's just on his routine to get on Jay’s nerves one way or another.)

Cons:

1. The mansion is, well— rumored to be haunted.

Sunghoon isn’t one to believe in ghosts or any supernatural beings as such. Sure he may have a hard time going to the bathroom alone for at least one month after watching any horror movie. But he just hates spooky, gory things like any sane person would. However, ghosts existing in real life and haunting his old childhood house? That’s just a bunch of bullshit. He is sure the previous tenants have simply been fooled by some neighbourhood kids or it’s just their paranoia getting the better of them because note, the mansion does look haunted, but that’s all to it. No way there’s actually something like ghosts. 

Sunghoon opens the large mahogany wooden door in the entrance and peeks through the gap only to be greeted by a white cloth flying across his face. His first instinct is to scream and flap his hands in the air like a duck. Then with much embarrassment he realizes it’s a simple tablecloth which probably got blown away because of the ajar door. He nervously takes a look around to make sure nobody witnessed his pathetic yelling and thankfully spotting not a single person around he finally takes a step inside his house. The mansion looks much much different from what he remembers from his childhood. He barely lived here for a few years but he does remember the overall indoors of it. He takes off his denim jacket and unpacks his suitcase. His mom had called maids to clean the mansion before he arrived, but he still needs to set up all his things. For the nth time he prays to the deities that his house is not actually haunted and gets to work. But in the span of mere five hours he is proven wrong by exactly four incidents:

1. Thirty minutes into unpacking, his stomach suddenly twists painfully making him break in cold sweat. He is pretty sure the McDonalds meal from this morning has gone the wrong way and he needs to take a fat shit to get rid of it. Clutching onto his stomach for his life, he enters the restroom only to find the toilet paper he put on only a few minutes ago, ripped open and thrown around the room viciously. 
2. After finding a new toilet roll and emptying his stomach (thank god for his strong bowel muscles, he didn’t end up shitting in his pants) he feels hungry again and enters the kitchen to heat some canned food from the fridge. He is currently scrolling through his phone, trying to message Jay about the whole toilet paper fiasco, when suddenly he steps onto some sticky, cold liquid. Looking down it takes him a few seconds to register that it is blood. Again his first instinct is to scream his lungs off. And then smelling a sweet aroma he is very much familiar with, he shuts up by himself too. Dipping a finger in the red liquid and sniffing it a few times, he realizes it’s just his favorite tomato ketchup that his mom uses on every dish... Someone is definitely fucking with him right now.
3. Lying down on the big couch and peacefully biting onto his oreos, Sunghoon is interrupted by a loud scream coming from their study room. He picks up a broom his eyes lay on first and runs towards the room only to find it utterly empty. He swears he hears someone laughing at him but he blames it on the exhaustion.
4. The day comes to an end without him noticing. He finishes his dinner without further ruckus. And maybe a tiny part of him sighs in relief. He’s too soon though. Because that ‘someone’ had replaced his toothpaste with mustard sauce and Sunghoon doesn’t realize that until he has already shoved his brush inside his mouth and it starts burning like a bitch.

Okay so there is someone in his house. Whether it’s a ghost, a neighbourhood kid or whatever. And that someone surely doesn’t want Sunghoon to be in their presence. But fuck them and their poor 5-minutes-craft pranks. Sunghoon is not letting anybody make him move out of his own damn house even if that means he needs to hold in his poop for ten more minutes everyday.

He doesn’t remember when exactly he falls asleep but he jerks up from his dream by his bedroom light flickering on and off by itself. And excuse him for his threshold consciousness but are those his fucking furniture floating in the air? Oh, his bed is floating in the air too, he realizes belatedly. Now he is confirmed it is actually a ghost haunting his house because if somebody has invented floating furniture without his knowledge he’s sure they won’t give them away to neighbourhood kids for their stupid pranks. If it was another time Sunghoon would be scared shitless but he is damn tired too. He half-yells in his sleepy croaked voice, “I dealt with you all day. Can you please just let me sleep in peace for once?” And maybe the ghost had an ounce of kindness left in themself because soon Sunghoon feels his bed and other furniture coming down on the ground and the lights stop flickering as well.

“Thank you and good night.”

***

It takes everything in Sunghoon to not scream the first thing after waking up in the morning. Not everyday you wake up with an unknown boy hovering over you and staring at you like he can see right through your soul. Sunghoon mutters out a small ‘who are you?’ which sounds more like a muted shriek in his opinion. That makes the odd boy move and sit up on his torso, “You finally woke up!”

Sunghoon sits up as well, putting a good distance between two of them, “That doesn’t answer my question.”

The boy who also happens to have very soft looking chestnut colored hair smiles widely, the corner of his plump lips going upwards in a sweet manner, “Oh c’mon you know already. I’m the ghost haunting your house?”

Sunghoon blinks twice, “Well hello to you. It’s nice meeting cute boys claiming to be ghosts in my dreams.” 

The boy pouts hearing his response, “You don’t believe me?”

Sunghoon closes his eyes and leans on the headboard, chuckling to himself, “No, no I perfectly do. Just tell me something beforehand so I can prepare myself. So, a horror dream or a freaky wet dream? Though I’d much prefer the latter if you ask me — ” He is cut off by a pillow thrown on his face. “Hey what was that fo —” But he never gets to finish his sentence as the pillow keeps hitting on his shoulder repeatedly. He makes a pained noise and only once he properly takes a look around he realizes the pillow has been moving by itself.

“Ouch! Stop, stop! I get it!” The boy points his finger towards the pillow and it immediately stops. Sunghoon stares at him for a good seconds and starts sneezing like it’s the end of the world, “Fuck— this is why you don’t play with pillows.” The boy simply laughs at his misery and Sunghoon has half a mind to punch him. Lightly, of course and anywhere but his pretty face.

After Sunghoon finally calms down from his sneezing fit, he opens his mouth to complain, “You little—”

“It’s Jake.” The boy provides.

“Yeah Jake whatever. I’m Sunghoon and lemme ask you for the first and last time, why the fuck are you in my house and making my life hard?”

The boy— or Jake pouts once more, motioning the pillow in the air.

“Oh my god I’m sorry.. Please don’t do that again.” Sunghoon particularly begs this time. He wants to bang his head against the wall. Now he has to obey a ghost’s orders in his own house, that’s what his life has come to apparently.

“I have been living here longer than you by the way.” Jake puts the pillow down for good.

“Fine. And why did you choose this house to live in?”

Jake tilts his head and looks at him confused, “Because it was empty when I first came in?”

“Is that why you drove the tenants away? And I assume I’m your next target?” Sunghoon grabs the pillow and tosses it over to the other end of the bed.

Jake looks almost offended at his remark. “I did not want to chase them away!” He pauses for a minute and summons the pillow towards him again. This time instead of hitting Sunghoon he simply hugs the pillow closer to his chest and rests his chin on the soft fabric. “I was lonely so it felt nice when a family moved in. They were very friendly too.” He bites his lips and looks up, “But then they bought several terrariums for bugs! Can you believe it? I hate bugs with passion, I had no other choice, you know.”

Sunghoon thinks for a while, “That’s based. How…. about the second tenants?”

Jake rolls his eyes, “Don’t even get me started on them— that couple, they used to have loud sex every single night for hours! I think I even memorized all their kinks.”

“Oh my god okay stop that’s enough.” 

“You don’t wanna hear about the third tenant?” Jake squints his eyes in confusion.

Sunghoon kicks the blanket off his body and gets off, searching for his slippers, “No thanks. I want to be able to eat my breakfast.”

Jake gets down from the bed and floats in the air in front of him, “About that, you like sunny side-ups right?”

Sunghoon looks up at him, confused, “Yeah but why?”

And he finds the answer to it soon once he takes the stairs down to his living room and the fresh smell of toasted bread and coffee fills his nostrils. He gawks at the presentation on the dining table. “You made all this?” Jake who has been following him the whole time chirps, “Yup! Will you eat?”

After a short reality check of ‘Oh my god a fucking ghost made me breakfast.’ Sunghoon sits down and starts eating. It may be something simple but still a hundred times better than whatever leftover canned food Sunghoon had planned to microwave. Jake sits on the opposite chair of him and stares at Sunghoon with his cheeks resting on his hands, “Did you like it?” He asks once Sunghoon is almost finished with his coffee. Only then Sunghoon realizes that he never even offered to share his food with Jake.

“Yeah that was good. Sorry I ate everything by myself.”

Jake snorts at him, “You ever seen a ghost eat?”

“Technically I have never seen a ghost before in the first place but you’re probably right.”

“You are funny.” Sunghoon is pretty sure he did not say anything even mildly funny ever since he woke up but he ignores it, more interested to know something else, “So all this was for?”

Jake blinks once, twice and then leans onto the table more, a cheeky smile taking over, “An apology.”

“For?” Sunghoon takes the last sip of the coffee and looks at him properly this time.

“The pranks, duh.” Jake leans back and crosses arms, looking unimpressed.

“I don’t think a single breakfast can compensate for the mental and physical damage you caused me yesterday.”

Jake shrugs, “In my defense, unlike other tenants you didn’t run away after the second prank and before I knew it I ended up going too far.”

Sunghoon considers for a while, it still hasn’t fully sunk in to him that ghosts are real and he is conversing with one right now but hey, who says no to free cooking.

“Fine. Apology accepted. But only if you promise to make me breakfast every morning.”

Jake raises his eyebrow, “So you don’t mind me staying here?”

“I thought you were the one who gets to decide that?” Jake laughs loudly and starts floating in the air again, “You are right. Anyway see you later Sunghoon. Look forward to living with you.” And with that he vanishes in thin air.

Sunghoon sighs in relief and goes to the kitchen counter, dumping all the plates in the sink. He starts looking around for the gloves when his phone buzzes all of a sudden. As soon as he swipes the answer button a familiar voice pops from the other side, “I’m outside your house, open the doors.”

And there stands Park Jongseong with a bento in his hand. “What’s up?”

“Brought you breakfast since you can’t cook to save your life.”

He lets the blond in and he observes the room in awe, “Dude you were right. It’s really like a mansion.”

Sunghoon brings out a new pair of slippers from the shoebox and puts it in front of the other boy, “It’s because it’s old and thank you for the food but i already ate.”

Jay eyes him, “You ate canned food again?”

“Nah. Sunny side ups.” 

“You don’t know how to make them either.” Well excuse Sunghoon for being a spoiled child.

“Uh I learned before moving in?”

Jay still eyes his suspiciously but decides not to dwell further, “I guess I will just end up eating these myself.” Sunghoon almost snatches the bag away from his hands, “Nope. I will be heating them for lunch. Thank you very much.”

Jay sighs and moves to the kitchen counter, trying to make himself a coffee. Sunghoon puts the bento in his freezer and then drapes himself over his couch. He turns the television in hopes of finding something interesting. Exactly 2 minutes later he jumps up hearing a shriek coming from the kitchen. He rushes to find Jay pressed against the wall of the other end, with both his hands over his heart, mouth open and sweat pooling near his temples. Sunghoon looks around, hoping to find whatever caused the older to be so distraught, “What’s wrong?”

Jay looks at him bemused and points towards the coffee mug, “It moved on its own!”

Huh.

And before Sunghoon can say anything, all the utensils hanging from the shelf start rattling on their own. Jay lets out another scream and crouches down on the floor with both his hands covering his head, “Your house is haunted! What the hell Sunghoon!” 

Well, Jay is not wrong. Sunghoon knows very well what or rather who is causing this right now. 

He lets out a big sigh and faces the empty space before him,  pretty sure the culprit is standing before his eyes right now. “Wait here, I need to go to the toilet.” 

Jay shots his head up from his pathetic position, “And leave me here all alone with whatever this thing is?!”

“No, I’m taking him with me.”

“You will what ?” Sunghoon really wants to hit himself right now. “Nothing. Nevermind. I promise you will be safe. I will be back in a minute.”

The blond still looks frightened but doesn’t voice it out. Once Sunghoon is inside the toilet, he locks the door and crosses his arms, leaning on the wall. “Show yourself. I know you are here.”

He taps his fingers and soon finds the chestnut haired boy sitting on the edge of the bathtub, swinging his legs like a little kid.

“Hello again. I didn’t know you could sense my presence.”

Sunghoon ignores his remarks and gets straight to the point, “Why did you do that?” 

Jake chuckles, “Okay. Look, I was trying to help him at first but then he gave such a funny reaction, I just—”

Sunghoon straightens himself and huffs out, “Don’t do that again okay? I know Jay is funny but I don’t want him to shit his pants in my house.”

Jake pouts his cheeks again, “Oh you’re no fun.” Cute. That’s a dangerous fleeting thought and Sunghoon makes sure to put it away as soon as it occurs. He goes near Jake and ruffles his hair, “You can come out after he goes, okay? Till then please behave?”

Jake lowers his head and mutters almost inaudibly, “Okay. But before that...” 

“Hm? Can’t hear you—” And soon Sunghoon finds himself drenched in cold water from head to toe. As he struggles to turn off the shower and almost trips on the floor in the process, he hears giggling sounds coming from beside him. But the boy in question is already invisible. 

“You should be really glad you’re pretty, Jake.”

***

Living with a ghost is not as bad as Sunghoon initially thought. It’s already his second day sharing space with the other. Jake still pulls pranks on him all the time but he is pretty much used to them now. And they’re never anything harmful to begin with anyway.

He lays on the couch playing games on his console and finds Jake sitting on the other couch with an old, thick book in his hand, too immersed in reading to notice the other staring at him.

“Hey can I ask something?”

Jake looks up from his study and closes the book, “What is it?”

Sunghoon still considers for a while, “How did you, you know…. die?”

Jake smiles in answer, looking interested, “I’m surprised you didn’t ask this before to be honest. But it’s not really anything interesting.”

“It’s fine if you don’t want to say it.” Thinking about it, it must not be easy to talk about someone’s own death after all.

“Nah you’re all good. I just well— got hit by a truck while trying to save a little girl crossing the road. And before I registered anything my life already hit the credits.” Jake says casually like he is just telling someone about the weather.

“What a hero you are.” 

“I wish.” Jake tugs on the strings of his hoodie. He has been wearing it along with a pair of pale denim jeans ever since they first met. Sunghoon wonders if ghosts can change clothes at all. Sunghoon pulls out his phone and does a quick google search. The top searches indeed show news of a male college student from the neighbouring town getting hit by a truck a little over six months ago. Shim Jaeyun—namely Jake, an Australian exchange student lost his life trying to save a six year old from a drunk truck driver. The driver has been arrested by the police. Read more.

It was close to their house. “You were hit nearby.”

Jake nods in response, “Yeah and I can't go more than a few kilometers away from there.”

Sunghoon is quite interested now. “What happens if you try to cross more than that?” 

“I end up in my accident spot again. It’s like I’m stuck.” Jake dramatically shivers.

“That sucks, not gonna lie.” Something inside Sunghoon throbs. He imagines how it’d feel to be stuck inside a few kilometers of his death place, all alone, with nobody he knows to stay beside his side to give him any assurance. He rubs the console in his hand unconsciously, “Do you wanna maybe play with me?” He points towards the other console on his coffee table.

Jake immediately lights up. He gets off his couch and sits beside Sunghoon, taking the other console in his hand, “I’m winning this by the way.”

“ Try me.”

***

Sunghoon almost bumps into a pillar for the third time today. His new semester has started and even though it’s barely his first day, he already feels drained of all his energy just after the morning classes. He has a strong urge to caffeinate his insides. He heads towards the campus cafe. 

“You look more dead than I do.”

He almost lets out a yip, “Fuck dude you scared me—” He turns around and he definitely doesn’t expect to see Jake standing with his big hoodie and cheeky smile.

He immediately checks his surroundings and once he makes sure nobody has seen them, he yanks the other boy with his arm and pulls him into a corner of the building.

“Oww what was that for?” Sunghoon puts a hand over Jake’s mouth and shushes him. He whispers in the quietest voice he can manage, “Why are you here? What if people see you?”

Jake removes his hand from his mouth, “Your college is within my limit area and don’t worry I didn’t really know anyone from your town anyway.”

“Are you sure? What if someone has transferred from your college?” One thing about Sunghoon, he will overthink every single event in his life.

“Oh you worry too much. Let me go. I was bored at home without you.” Sunghoon hates how a blush creeps its way towards his face hearing Jake’s remark because he knows very well he is nothing more than a plaything to him. Jake simply cannot spend two minutes without pulling pranks on somebody— and that somebody happens to be Sunghoon. 

“Sunghoon? What are you doing there?” Hearing the new voice Sunghoon’s first instinct is to jump and cover Jake with his body.  “Oh hey… Sunoo...” He sneakily pokes Jake’s hand, signalling him to go away. But instead of vanishing the smaller boy shoves him away instead. “Hey! You must be Sunghoon’s friend. I’m Jake.”  And offers his hand for a handshake. Sunoo looks shocked for a while and then extends his hand as well. 

“Hi, I’m Sunoo!” He sends a quick glance at Sunghoon and pulls him, “Jake, I will borrow him just for a second.” And once he makes sure they’re at a safe distance from Jake, he whispers, “Dude you never told me you knew such a handsome guy. I have never seen him on campus before.” Sunghoon mentally facepalms himself and tries his best to come up with any kind of excuse his barely functionable brain can manage at the moment. 

“He’s uh— my cousin. He is gonna stay over for a while.” That isn’t really far-fetched considering he’s pretty much stuck with Jake for god knows how long. Sunoo’s face immediately lights up, “Really? That means I can hit on him right?”

“Dude the fuck, no!” He almost yells. Aside from the fact that Jake is, well, dead... he is pretty much word by word Sunoo’s type. Sunghoon really should have seen it coming sooner.

Sunoo looks at him, mildly displeased, “And why can I not?”

“He is already dating someone.” Sunghoon has no idea why he keeps lying for no reason. Sure Jake is a ghost but whether he will be interested in Sunoo or not is completely up to him, right? Maybe Sunghoon just hates hassles and imagining himself being the third wheel. Yeah , that sounds like a perfect reasoning, he assures himself. 

Sunoo makes a dejected face but quickly recovers from it anyway. They decide to go back to Jake and once he turns around, Sunghoon finds the boy crouching beside the flower beds, observing them with sparkling eyes.

“Sorry for making you wait, Jake. We’re done.” Jake takes the hand Sunoo offers him and stands up. 

“Do you wanna go around the campus with me?” Sunoo asks apprehensively, Jake’s hands still in his own. Jake smiles shyly and nods in return.

“I will go too!” Sunghoon holds Jake’s other hand and leads them.

“Didn’t you say you were going to the cafe earlier?”

“Nope! Totally recharged already. Now let’s go! Let’s call Jay too.”

And Sunghoon knows it’s a bad idea because once they return back home, he is particularly one foot into his grave. He briefly considers skipping meals and just sleep on the hard marble floor instead. Jake however seems like he just drank five cans of red bulls.

“Your friends are so fun!” Just like Sunoo, Jay immediately clicked with Jake as well. Sunghoon worries if Jake would pull pranks on the blond again but he did nothing of that sort, and instead fell into a deep conversation about stock marketing that Sunghoon, unfortunately, didn't have enough braincells to decipher a single thing about because, well—he has the cognitive skills of a two year old and even that kid is begging for a ten hours nap right now.

“Are you not tired?” Sunghoon barely manages to take off his jacket and throws it on the couch, not giving a damn if it gets wrinkled.

Jake shots him a glare and immediately picks it up, folding it properly this time, “Not at all! It’s been so long since I talked with so many people at once.” Jake squeals happily. He looks like a small puppy, and Sunghoon can easily imagine the other boy having a tail and whipping it whenever he is excited, like right now.

Almost instinctively he scoots closer and runs his hands through Jake’s soft hair, patting him gently. Jake tenses up for a while before leaning into the touch. Up close, Jake has a very sweet and sour smell—  it's like a mixture of lemon leaves and jasmine and Sunghoon has grown to like it quite a lot, to be honest. Once Sunghoon takes his hand away, Jake asks in a soft voice, “Why do you always do that?”

“Do what?” Will it be embarrassing to admit that Sunghoon hasn't even realized how often he pats the other boy until he just brought it up? 

“I don’t know. You just— look like a puppy…. My bad if it was a weird thing to do.”

“I think I like it to be honest.”

Sunghoon scoffs at him, “You really are a puppy.”

“Maybe because I spent so much time with my dog I became one as well.” He sets the jacket carefully on the sofa arm.

“You have— I mean like, had a dog?”

“Yeah. A cream border collie! She’s super cute!” Jake gestures with his hands like a little kid. He keeps blabbering random stories about his dog nobody asked for but Sunghoon doesn’t stop him, instead he almost loves how cute Jake looks the whole time. His tiredness long forgotten, he ends up spending the evening learning 101 new facts about collies that he’s sure he will never face in any tests of his life.

***

It’s been a while since Sunghoon has woken up naturally instead of the sick alarm tone that makes him feel like he’s in the war trenches. Weekends are the only thing he looks forward to in his life. Washing his face, he lazily goes downstairs and spots Jake setting plates on the tables,

“Oh I was just about to wake you up.” There is freshly brewed coffee, fruit salad along with sunny side ups. 

Sunghoon takes a seat, ready to dig in, “Why do you always make sunny side ups?” 

“Do you not like them?” Jake sits opposite to him, like always.

“Nah. Just curious.” Jake scratches the back of his nape, “My first tenant used to make them for her girlfriend. I found that kinda cute I think?”

Sunghoon is already chewing on the salad, “And that’s why you decided to make them for me as well?”

Jake blushes at the implication of his words, “God no… it’s just—” A pause. “...nevermind.” He plays with the strings of his hoodie again, something he does whenever he’s flustered or nervous. Sunghoon thinks of finally asking him what’s bugging him the whole week.

“Can you like, take your clothes off?” And when Jake doesn’t answer him and gawks at him instead, Sunghoon almost chokes on his food, registering what he just said. “I mean— change clothes. Yeah that. You have been wearing that ever since we first met.” 

Jake turns all timid and starts sniffing his arms, “Do I smell?”

“No! God, you smell really good actually.” Sunghoon is sure his brain to mouth filter has shut up for good because that thought definitely did not need to witness the day of light.

The pink dusting Jake’s cheeks are pretty , “Thanks, I guess. And yeah I can change clothes.” 

Sunghoon finishes the rest of his breakfast quickly and an idea pops into his head, “Do you wanna try my clothes on?”

And that’s what leads to Sunghoon standing in front of his closet and rummaging through his sweatshirts, trying to find something that’d perfectly suit Jake. After taking his good time deciding (which really was not necessary but Sunghoon is an insane person and he is not sorry for that.) he pulls out a cream sweatshirt with a cute graffiti on it along with some black trousers. He hands them over to Jake and waits outside his room while he can change. And once the smaller boy comes out, as expected his clothes are dramatically big on him. He is not that taller than Jake but he has long arms and as a result the oversized sweatshirt completely covers his palms, making him look even tinier than he actually is. It takes everything in Sunghoon to not coo at the sight. A smile threatens past his lips but he quickly recovers his cool, “They’re too big on you. Let’s go shopping instead.”

Jake, who was busy rolling up his sleeves, shakes his head in response, “But I like these!” 

“Even if they’re too big for you?”

Jake smiles, both his eyes turn into two small crescent moons in the process, “Yup! So please?” 

Sunghoon is physically incapable of saying no to Jake, by the way. He goes into his room again and tries to sort out more shirts that’d look good on the other boy. Jake, meanwhile, starts folding his old clothes. He pulls up his old jeans and hears the sound of something metallic hitting the ground. Sunghoon turns around, “What was that?”

Jake bends down and picks up what it seems like a heart shaped necklace. “Oh.. how could I forget about this…” An odd expression takes over Jake’s features. It’s hard to describe in one word. Sadness? Longing? Regret? Maybe a mix of all of that. But it looks so so foreign to Sunghoon who has always seen the boy laugh and giggle the whole time he has known him.

“It’s something I always used to wear and well, I had it on even when I died I think.” Jake pries it open. It is one of those old photo lockets that one would see in period films.

“My grandma gave it to me before she died.” Sunghoon curiously peeked at the insides. It looks quite worn out but the photo inside is clearly taken recently. It’s a photo of Jake, a border collie and another boy around his age with doe eyes and dark brown hair. The dog has a bright red collar with ‘Layla’ written over it and it is sitting between the two boys who were happily staring at each other.

“That boy is—”

“We were dating.”

Oh .

Something inside Sunghoon twists painfully. A part of his brain provides it’s jealousy but does Sunghoon have any right to feel jealous about Jake’s relationship? Jake, completely unaware of his inner turmoil, continues, “We kinda fought on the day I died, you know. I was actually about to throw this picture away but then…. Yeah.” Jake looks at it fondly, his eyelashes fluttering slowly.

“He probably thinks I’m in like, heaven or whatever right now and regrets our fight. Except I’m just a few kilometers away and he has no idea. It’s kinda funny and sad at the same time.”

Sunghoon feels his mouth dry. He isn’t the best at blurting out consoling words but whatever train of thoughts are passing by his head right now are making it harder for him to even look at Jake properly. He barely mutters a ‘I’m sorry’ before Jake softly bumps his shoulder with his own. “Hey don’t make that face! I’m glad I didn’t throw it, you know? Layla looks so cute here after all.” He closes the pendant with a small audible ‘click’ and puts it on himself. 

“Yeah she’s cute.” Sunghoon answers looking down at the floor as if that’s the most interesting thing he has seen.

Jake, having taken notice of the change in his mood, grabs his hand and pulls him towards the living room, “Let’s drop this depressing talk. Should we watch a movie today? How about ghibli?” 

And Sunghoon mentally thanks Jake because two hours in the ghibli marathon, he already feels ten times better and hundred times more when Jake eventually falls asleep on his shoulder, followed by Sunghoon resting his head on the other and dozing off as well.

***

“Jay, how do you think spirits can go to heaven?” He mindlessly flips through his books in the library.

“Sunghoon, you know I’m not a fan of these spooky bullshit.” Just the mention of the word ‘spirits’ turns Jay pale in response. 

“I’m being serious here.” 

“You shouldn’t be.” Jay pauses and throws a concerned look at the other. And then continues, “Let’s see... Final wishes or something?”

Sunghoon perks up in interest, “What do you mean by that?” He swears he heard Jay whispering a ‘nothing of this makes sense’ before replying with a grunt, “Ugh you know in movies or whatever— they have some big wish and cannot go to heaven until somebody fulfills it for them.”

That sounds very familiar to Sunghoon. Maybe film directors need to come up with more original stories because it has really started to sound like a bunch of bullshit. But it still doesn’t hurt to try, right?

“Thanks Jay, I think I will try that.” 

Jay almost looks disturbed, “Should I be worried for you?”

Once Sunghoon gets back home, he finds Jake curled onto the couch, deep in slumber. HIs mouth slightly open and long lashes softly fluttering against his pink cheeks. Jake has told him before that ghosts don’t need to sleep but the latter often finds him sleeping on the couch whenever Sunghoon is not home.

Sunghoon kneels before him and runs his fingers through his brown curls, careful not to wake him up. It’s only been like two weeks since he first met Jake, but it’s amazing how much he already means to him. He likes how Jake is always waiting for him every time he goes out— at day, at nighttime, sometimes while reading a book, sometimes dozing off like this. He was never supposed to meet Jake. It was supposed to be just him all alone in the big mansion. Even so, if one day he were to come back to an empty house, he wouldn’t know how to feel anymore. Jake is almost an inseparable part of his life now. Even though he isn’t meant to stay here forever. 

The smaller boy eventually wakes up, stretching his arms in an attempt to drive away the sleepiness from his body. He still lays down, now looking up at Sunghoon. A small smile decorates his mouth, a soft genuine smile that is reserved for Sunghoon and Sunghoon only.

“You are back.”

Sunghoon pushes the bangs away from Jake’s forehead, then rests his hand on his cheek, squishing it lightly, “Yeah, I’m home.”

It’s almost adorable how Jake always leans into his touch, “I fell asleep again, didn’t I?”

Sunghoon hums and continues stroking his hair again, “Say, Jake. Do you have any wishes you couldn’t fulfill?”

Jake blinks confused, “Where did that come from?”

“I know this sounds embarrassing but you heard about last wishes of spirits right? Maybe that’s what is holding you back from going to heaven?”

Jake curved his mouth slyly, “Oh so you want me gone?”

Sunghoon jerks up, “Hey no— I didn’t mean it like that! I was just—” He gets cut off by Jake’s loud giggles, “Silly! I know... I was joking. You are so cute to tease, you know.” Sunghoon scowls at him, “Not fair. I was looking out for you.”

Jake extends his arm and ruffles Sunghoon’s hair messily, “I don’t really know… if I have any wish of that sort. I have never thought of it before.” He pauses for a second.

“Will you help me fulfill it if I have any?”

Sunghoon takes no time in responding, “If it’s something I can do then of course.”

Jake sits up and cups Sunghoon’s face. Leaning over, he places a small peck on the crown of his head, “Then I will think of something. So wait for me, okay?”

Sunghoon can’t help the blush spreading through his cheeks. He quickly gets up, making sure Jake can’t see him, “It’s okay, take your time.” 

***

Sunghoon wants to bang his head against the wall. He doesn’t even wanna remember how he got himself into this situation.

Jay had invited him to a movie date along with Sunoo. It was pretty normal for them to go out like this once in a while. There is a big movie theatre in the neighbouring town and the three of them often went out there for shit and giggles. Today was just one of these days. Jay had even invited Jake to come along with them but it being more than a few kilometers away from Jake’s accessible area, he had to politely decline it with a false excuse of headache.

That’s fine. Sunghoon will buy something for Jake on the way, maybe a new apron, maybe a new game— he will buy anything that will make the other happy— as long as it’s something purchasable legally. That’s why he didn’t really bat an eye at the very familiar looking border collie at first while passing by the park. Until when he hears someone yell ‘Layla’ and immediately all his attention falls onto the dog. He sneakily peeks from behind a nearby tree. The very familiar looking dog also has a very familiar looking red tag. Now his eyes glances at its owner. He is a tall, slender man in his early 30’s, with black permed hair and he speaks in an accent. The man ties the dog outside a public restroom. Sunghoon barely registers what he says next but watches as the man goes inside the restroom, leaving the dog all alone by itself. Sunghoon quickly advances towards the dog and starts petting it, the dog neither barks nor flinches away , instead it leans into Sunghoon, as if to indicate it wants more headpats. Sunghoon takes a quick glance at the red name tag and spots ‘Layla” written in golden italics.

It is Jake’s dog!

And Sunghoon is insane . He blinks and the next thing he knows he’s running, the leash of the dog in his hand. He is on autopilot when he gets on the bus back to his town along with the dog. By the time he finally reaches his home, Sunghoon is sweating buckets. He closes the door behind himself and pants heavily. Jake, hearing the sounds coming from the doorway, peeks out from the other room, “Sunghoon? Is that you?” He comes out, clearly confused as to why the boy is back home so soon.

“Jake…” He is still trying to catch his breath, “I have something—” But he doesn’t need to finish his sentence because as soon as Jake comes closer to them, the dog barks loudly and literally jumps onto Jake, making both of them collapse on the floor.

“Huh, Layla?”

Layla wags her tail rapidly and licks all over Jake, making happy whimpering noises. Jake laughs loudly from the tickling and barely manages to sit up, Layla still onto him. Through tiny bits of confusion, Jake still looks the happiest Sunghoon has ever seen him and only then it dawns upon him that his weekend movie date has turned into standing his friends up plus dognapping— only to make the little ghost in his home smile. When he told himself he’d do anything that makes Jake happy he definitely hasn’t considered the options of property theft. 

“Sunghoon?” He almost jumps hearing his name being called.

“How did you get her to come here?” Still stroking through Layla’s fur, Jake looks genuinely puzzled.

“...You don’t wanna know.”

“Don’t tell me—” 

Sunghoon looks away.

“Sunghoon?!” Jake looks mildly panicked this time.

Sunghoon bites his lips, “Yeah I stole her.”

Jake forgets to even reply, he just stares at the other with his mouth hanging open, a million questions going through his brain right now and he’s probably confused what to ask first because what the fuck .

Before Sunghoon can come up with any sort of reply, they both get startled by his horrendous ringtone.

He picks it up and as expected it’s Jay. The voice on the other end is laced with clear bitterness, “Dude... you better come up with a good excuse as to why you made our ass stand up in the scorching heat for an hour because if not I’m about—”

“Jay…” It’s the voice Sunghoon uses when he has fucked something up big time— like when he blew up half of the chemistry lab during the first semester or when he accidentally sent his dick pics to his English professor instead of his date.

Jay gets taken aback. He pauses for a second before muttering, “What did you do?”

Sunghoon gulps and scratches his neck, “....I need help?”

Returning Layla back to her house is… just as insane as it sounds. After bidding goodbye to Jake and taking his home address from him, Sunghoon takes off. Jay sighs for the nth time in row, “I can’t believe I’m doing this without any explanation. The things I do for you.” Sunghoon swears he will make it up to him later. He puts on his hood and grabs Layla by her leash.

“We look like real criminals standing here right now.” 

It’s almost past midnight. Their initial plan was to tie Layla by the entrance, knock on the door and run away. They have done this a lot during elementary school. But Jake happens to be a rich brat and their house has tall, thick walls and a large lawn before the house entrance and they don’t feel safe leaving Layla in front of the main entrance all by herself. So here comes plan B, Sunghoon decides to climb the walls. 

Not only does he fail miserably and falls flat on his ass, he thinks he also twisted his right ankle just now. It sounds bad, but don’t worry, it gets worse . Just then Layla, who was quietly observing the whole commotion decides it’s high time to bark her lungs off. Jay and Sunghoon see red. They try to shush her off but she only gets louder in response. They hear footsteps coming inside from the house. Jay can barely help stand Sunghoon up and yank his arm over his shoulder before the main gate swings open and the man from earlier comes out. Sunghoon swears he spotted them immediately considering he was basically tripping in every step. 

The man shouts and makes a poor attempt to run after them but thankfully Layla jumps on him just like she did with Jake earlier. They use this opportunity to slip inside Jay’s car and just with a blink of an eye, they’re gone from the crimesight. Thank Jay’s god blessed driving skills.

After the adrenaline in his system slowly soothes down, Sunghoon feels his ankle burn and grunts in pain. 

“You okay there?”

“Yeah, no biggie. You’re the real MVP here.”

Jake smirks, “Like always, I know.” 

Once they reach home, Sunghoon is still leaning his weight on Jay and dragging his right leg. Jay rings the bell and the door instantly opens with a very distressed looking Jake standing at the entrance. 

“Hi” Jake completely ignores Sunghoon’s greetings and looks down at his leg.

“What the—”

“He twisted his ankle.” Jay provides.

Jake looks like he’s at a loss of words. He helps Sunghoon settle down on the couch and goes to the kitchen to grab some ice cubes. Sunghoon watches his back and exhales loudly. 

“Will I ever get a proper explanation?” Jay who is currently sitting across from him on the other couch asks.

Sunghoon sighs again. Jay never questioned anything when Sunghoon asked for help. Whose dog is it? Why did you even steal it in the first place? He probably had all those questions swimming inside his head like any normal person would. 

“I promise I will… one day. But for now, thanks. I really mean it.” Jay simply shrugs it off with a smile and stands up, “You’re welcome. You owe me lunch though.” He nudges Sunghoon on the shoulder and takes off. Sunghoon drapes himself over the sofa. 

“Has Jay gone home?” Jake comes out from the kitchen, a bowl of ice water and a damp cloth in his hand.

“Yeah, just now.”

Jake kneels himself before Sunghoon and wraps the cloth against his ankle, pressing it gently. Sunghoon initially shivers at the contact of the cold water but gets used to it soon. Jake is quiet the whole time and it gets unbearable for Sunghoon to hold in any longer, “I’m sorry for the— you know, this whole mess.”

Jake hums in response and tilts his head.

“I just wanted to bring her here because I thought you missed her and—”

“I know.” Jake cuts him off as he re-soaks the cloth in the ice water and applies it on his ankle once more, “You thought I missed her and that’s why someone as rightful as you went out of his way to steal her and bring her to me. Then you ended up fucking your ankle up in the whole process. And if that wasn’t enough already, now you are the one apologizing to me— for what? Causing a mess?” Jake snickers to himself, “You are insane , Sunghoon.” 

Maybe he really is. But Jake is smiling at him with his ever so beautiful eyes and that’s all that matters to Sunghoon now.

“So you are not mad at me, right?”

Jake almost sounds exasperated, but the fondness in his eyes never leaves, “Have I told you, you are extremely dumb as well?”

“No but others do all the time so you’re probably right.”

And Jake’s laugh to follow is music to his ears.

***

Jake opens the front door and spots Sunoo standing there with three boxes of chicken in his hands.

His face blooming into a big smile as soon he meets Jake, “Hi, Jake. Can I come in?”

Jake smiles back and lets him inside. Sunoo puts on the slippers offered to him, “Jay told me that motherfucker has twisted his ankle, is that true?”

“That motherfucker is in front of you.” Sunghoon, lying on the couch, throws the pillow in his direction and Sunoo swiftly dodges it with no difficulty. 

“Congrats. Here I brought us chicken to celebrate.” Sunoo takes a seat in front of him and puts the boxes on the coffee table. Smelling the food, Sunghoon’s stomach growls and sits up carefully, eager to eat the most he can.

“Jake, join us too.” Sunoo pleads with his eyes.

“He just had dinner.” Sunghoon lies and chews on his chicken leg.

“Sorry Sunoo, maybe next time?” 

“Aww it’s okay.” He still pats the space beside him, signalling him to sit down. Once Jake settles down comfortably, Sunoo starts eating as well.

Soon somehow it turns into a joint banter against Sunghoon because Sunoo is a little shit and Sunghoon is stuck with him forever.

“You should really thank Jake for being here and taking care of you because you can’t do jackshit by yourself at your big age.” 

Sunghoon pulls Jake by his shoulder and ruffles his hair, “Okay and? Are you jealous you don’t have your own Jake taking care of you?” Sunoo makes a face at him and Jake simply laughs watching their exchange. 

“I will bring more drinks, just wait.” He gets up and Sunghoon looks at his back longingly, completely unaware of the looks Sunoo was giving his way.

“Dude, can I ask something?” Sunoo finishes his second can of coke and throws it in the bin.

“What is it?” 

Sunoo hesitates for a moment and says it anyway, “You two aren’t actually cousins are you?” 

The chicken in his hands falls on his stomach and he jerks up, almost hurting his ankle in the ordeal, “What— why would you think that?”

“Be honest Sunghoon because I can see through all your lies unlike what you think.”

Sunghoon gulps the rest of his chicken in a hurry, “.... Fine, yeah we are not related.”

Sunoo groans, “Thank god. Or I wouldn't know how to feel about my friend having incestious thoughts.” 

Sunghoon almost spits his coke out, “What the fuck are you talking about?”

Sunoo blankly stares at him, “Have you seen how you look at Jake?” 

“Like what?”

Sunoo pauses and looks unimpressed, “C'mon you can do better than this.”

Sunghoon puts his hands up defensively, “Look, I know he’s your type but that doesn’t mean everyone is interested in him like that.”

Sunoo snorts loudly and falls back on his couch, “Sunghoon—” he sings, “We precisely have the same taste in guys.” 

Sunghoon opens his mouth to protest but Sunoo beats him to it, “Don’t even try to deny it! Have you forgotten that we literally met because we both were fighting for Yonghee-hyung during middle school?” 

Sunghoon remembers that crystal clear. It was a few months after he discovered he’s bisexual. Aside from the daily nonsense fight over their mutual crush, he was also really blessed to meet someone like Sunoo who has always been very out and proud about himself. But that story is for another time.

“Hey why did you freeze up like that?”

Sunghoon looks away. Well of course, he would. He has a thing for a ghost apparently. Isn’t that amazing? He wonders what else God has left for him for life.

“Nothing— I’m just unsure what to do about it…” 

Noticing Sunghoon looking genuinely iffy, Sunoo pats his shoulder, “Look, I don’t know what you guys' relationship is or why you live together with him, but just do whatever your heart wants, hm?”

Sunghoon nods, the thing is, he doesn’t know what he wants. He is not entirely sure if what he feels towards Jake is anything romantic or it’s just his brain’s natural reaction to stick to the other boy after living most of his life all alone. All he knows is that emotions are a bitch and he is scared of actually falling for Jake.

***

Everything Sunoo tells him over dinner keeps him awake the whole night. Every word he told him replays in his head over and over again. He lays on his back, staring blankly at the ceiling. The back of his mind is full of thoughts of Jake, memories of spending time with him, memories of him laughing — and the bedroom ceiling morphs into a sliver screen, displaying all those memories for Sunghoon to watch and rewatch, all over again, until nothing makes any sense no more. 

Once the realization hits him around five in the morning that he indeed harbours some sort of feelings for the other, he feels his head hurt.

Nothing really changes though, he still wakes up everyday with the fresh smell of breakfast Jake makes for him, he still pats him in the head while praising him, still looks at him with love and adoration oozing from his eyes because Jake — he is the most precious person ever and Sunghoon would never let his selfish feelings break the pleasant tranquility they have built so far.

“We ran out of cabbage too, Hoonie.” Jake says as picks two fresh green cabbages from the aisle and tosses it in the shopping cart. Sunghoon's ankle has fully healed and now buying groceries together is just another new routine for them. 

“You know, I will never get used to you walking out in daylight like this… what if someone you know sees you?”

Jake snickers, “I will immediately hide my presence, don’t worry!” and shows him a thumbs-up.

“I want to help you make dinner tonight.” Sunghoon quietly observes the tomatoes, trying to choose the best looking ones.

“Oh? Why the sudden change of heart?”

“Just because— you know I need to learn to do things myself too.” He expects the other to make fun of him or tease him further but instead he hears a small shriek coming from Jake and once he turns around he is no longer visible. 

“Jake?” He looks around trying to find the other but then hears another voice calling for him, 

“Excuse me… I need to buy tomatoes.”

Sunghoon turns around and is faced with a much taller boy around his age. He has doe like eyes and large attractive ears. Sunghoon feels like he has seen the boy before but can’t wrap his mind around it.

“My bad. Here you go.” 

Jake is still nowhere to be found. Sunghoon goes to the other end of the floor to get some butter. Only when he is completely away from the tall boy’s sight of eye, Jake appears beside him again, almost making Sunghoon jump in surprise.

“Where the hell did you go?”

Jake still looks a little baffled, “That was my ex.”

“Huh? That boy from earlier?”

That makes so much sense now. It was clearly the boy from Jake’s pendant. Sunghoon feels uneasy again, the feelings from earlier coming back to him all at once. He tries his best to put those thoughts aside and asks, “You wanna talk to him?”

Jake blinks and laughs, “No? I don’t think Heeseung would particularly enjoy seeing the ghost of the boy he dated.”

“But it seems like you have a lot to tell him.” Those words get past Sunghoon before he even realizes himself. Jake stills and doesn’t reply for a while. Sunghoon takes that as a cue to shut up and continues looking for ingredients. After a good few minutes, the smaller boy speaks up, “Actually—” he plays with the hem of his shirt nervously, refusing to look Sunghoon in the eye, “—Can I ask for a favor?”

Sunghoon gets out of the shop and easily finds the tall boy sitting in the bus stop. He takes a deep breath and calls out to him.

The boy— Heeseung spots him and mutters, “Oh you’re from earlier….”

Sunghoon puts his hand in his pocket and clutches onto the object, “Listen, this may sound weird and out of nowhere but—” he brings out the pendant in his hand and shows it to the other, “— I was asked to give this to you.”

Heeseung's eyes shine in recognition, “Why… why do you have this?” He carefully takes the heart shaped pendant from him and observes closely, as if not believing what he is seeing right now.

“Jake…” Heeseung’s head immediately shots up at the mention of Jake’s name. “... We are— I mean, were sort of acquaintances and he told me to give this if I ever got the chance to meet you.”

Heeseung looks down the pendant again, “I see…” He pries it open and once he spots the photo inside, he feels tears pooling around his eyes.

“When Jaeyun— his body was discovered, we never found this pendant that he loved so much.” He brushes the tears threatening to fall. “Thank you so much. I think I can finally move on.” Heeseung gets on the bus and bows. Sunghoon walks back towards the shop. He stops beside the corner and finds Jake sitting there with his knees pressed close to his body. Sunghoon offers his hand to him to stand up. Once he does, Sunghoon gingerly cups his face and wipes the remaining of his tears with his thumb.

“I genuinely don’t know how to repay you.” 

Sunghoon chuckles, ruffling his hair shortly before taking his hand in his own and pulling him out of the corner, “Make me cabbage rolls for dinner?”

***

Jake usually doesn’t sleep at night. He spends the whole time in Sunghoon’s library, going through all kinds of books Sunghoon never knew he owned in the first place. But that night when Jake slowly wakes him up and suggests they sleep together, Sunghoon doesn’t oppose a bit. He engulfs him in a tight embrace and melts when he feels the older’s warm breaths around the small of his neck. 

“Sunghoon?” His voice is so small, so sheltered Sunghoon almost misses it at first. He hums lightly in response.

“You remember you asked me about my wish?” Sunghoon runs his hand through Jake’s nape, playing with the hair, “Yeah?”

“I think I can finally think of something.” He says and crooks his face even closer. At this proximity, Sunghoon can basically breathe in his scent. Jake still smells like fresh lemons and jasmine and Sunghoon feels almost overwhelmed.

“I will tell you soon.” Sunghoon whispers a soft ‘okay’ against his hair and before he knows it they both fall into deep slumber.

***

Sunghoon isn’t much of a drinker. Even when he does he makes sure to stop after a few shots because hangover and nausea are still number one on his top-things-to-avoid-as-a-college-student list. So he really has no idea why he just got wasted to the point he literally cannot stand by himself. 

Jake opens the door and finds a very irritated looking Jay and with a completely intoxicated Sunghoon hanging by his arm. The moment he meets Jake’s eyes, he starts smiling like an idiot, “Jake~ my love— I missed you so much.” 

Jay, who still thinks of them as cousins, looks absolutely repulsed hearing his words before he stares at Jake, looking for answers. And instead he finds Jake looking equally flushed and at loss of words.

“He is drunk.”

“And on the verge of passing out. Let’s lie him down.”

Jake takes Sunghoon’s other arm on his shoulder and guides him down the couch. Sunghoon nuzzles into his touch and even though he is too wasted to tell two and two apart he could feel Jay beside him getting more and more confused by every passing minute. 

He registers Jay getting out with the corner of his eyes. His head is spinning and he feels like someone is repeatedly hitting him with a hammer all over his body.

“Seriously, why did you do this?” Jake sits beside him and helps him take off his denim jacket.

“Jake…” He sings, “You must really be a ghost,” Jake looks up at him with his eyebrows crooked , “— because you have been haunting my dreams.” 

Jake suddenly starts laughing like there’s no tomorrow. A teeny tiny sober part of Sunghoon’s brain tells him that he’s probably embarrassing his ass and he should shut his mouth immediately but Sunghoon has always been an insane person. And right now he is at his peak. He fakes a pout, “You think I’m joking?” Jake tries to stop his laughs, “No, I just— really did not expect you to say that.” 

Sunghoon pulls his wrist, “I’m serious.” His eyes fall on Jake’s lips, they are pink and plump and uh— very kissable-looking for sure.

“I want to kiss you so bad.” Jake looks taken aback at first but then leans in, painfully close to Sunghoon. Sunghoon instinctively closes his eyes but soon feels his forehead being flicked lightly. 

“You have to tell me when you’re sober, Hoonie.” Sunghoon groans, “I will never have the courage, please just this once. Please.” Jake sighs at his tantrum.

If Sunghoon hasn’t been close to passing out right now, he’d have definitely noticed the fond smile Jake gives him. He would have noticed the gentle hand that runs through his hair, then his face and how he cups his cheeks like Sunghoon means the world to him. And when Jake leans in even closer and places his lips to the corner of his mouth, he would have noticed the glitter in his eyes and the small chuckle that follows. 

“That’s all you’d get for tonight. Now be a good boy and take these meds.”

Sunghoon touches the corner of his own lips, the warmth from earlier still lingers. He briefly wonders how he will explain this to Jake when he wakes up tomorrow. Maybe things will change between them. Maybe it will get better, maybe worse. Or maybe he will just end up forgetting all of this like he always does. That’d save him the trouble.

Surprisingly he doesn’t forget. Instead every single event from last night stays dormant in his brain. He knows he needs to address them soon, for him, for Jake. But he is scared. And it doesn’t help that Jake has been acting perfectly normal, like he always does. No teasing remarks, no complaints— almost as if last night was a fever dream that never happened in the first place.

To say Sunghoon isn’t a bit upset would be an understatement. But he suppresses all his emotions and goes about his day like usual. Only once he comes back home from college and opens the door, he notices Jake waiting for him in front of the entrance. Sunghoon can’t help the smile that forms on his face, “Why were you waiting here? Were you actually a dog in your past life?” 

Jake stands up and hugs his side, “I was just taking a break from reading.”

Sunghoon throws his bag to one side and goes to wash his hands. Through the reflection of the mirror he notices Jake sitting on the chair and opening a thick book with his eyebrows crooked together and his mouth frowning slightly. Sunghoon sees him everyday but he swears he will never get over how adorable Jake is at times while doing the most mundane things ever. Jake closes the book in frustration, “This story is making me so sad.”

Sunghoon takes the seat beside him and nudges closer so both their chairs were touching each other. Jake rests his head on his shoulder, “How was your day?”

Sunghoon runs his hand through Jake’s hair, massaging his head occasionally, “Mhm, good. I missed you.” He really didn’t mean to say the last part.

He feels Jake smile and then the older places his hand on Sunghoon’s thigh, drawing circles with his finger, “Me too.” 

And the silence that followed is not uncomfortable in the slightest. Jake is humming a familiar song Sunghoon can’t exactly name but his voice is soothing and it eases away all the tiredness from his body in an instant.

“Jake?” All he gets is a soft murmur in response, “Did you decide on your wish yet?” 

Sunghoon has been avoiding that question even though he had been the one to suggest the idea in the first place. 

Jake removes his head from his shoulder and Sunghoon feels cold at the loss of contact. He finds the other looking at him, pink dusting his honey cheeks. He looks tentative, looking away from time to time, 

“You see….”

***

“Sim Jaeyun, I can’t believe I’m doing this for you.” Sunghoon  grumbles as he fails at setting up the tent for the third time in a row. Jake laughs at him from the other side of the video call, “Keep trying, you got this Hoonie!” He says and raises both his fists in the air in an attempt to cheer the other up. 

“What do you mean you wanted to go stargazing beside the Han river?” Sunghoon was shocked when Jake said his wish out loud. 

“You see— Nanji Park is so pretty! I have always wanted to go camping there, sit beside the river and watch the stars with someone!” 

Sunghoon sighs, “That’s really what you wish for the most?” 

Jake bites his lips and then nods, “Yup!” Then he clings onto Sunghoon’s arms and stares up at him with his pleading puppy eyes look, the look that always made Sunghoon want to jump in cold water in the middle of night and memorize all the constellations in the sky.

“Please, Hoonie?”

And so now here he is, currently in the process of setting his tent up for the fourth time, all while following Jake’s instructions from the call. 

After what feels like centuries, he finally succeeds. Even though the right side of it looks like somebody has just body slammed into it head first, he figures it won’t matter as long as he can get in.

By that time, it is already past 10 and Sunghoon decides to take a stroll beside the river. There is hardly anyone besides him, which is pretty much logical considering most people he met today in the campsite are old couples. 

The river is clean and glowing with the moonlight and the grass below him scents like summer time. He lies down on it and puts his phone beside him, facing it upwards so that Jake can clearly see the sky from the other end.

“Thank god the sky is clear today.” He yawns and hears the older humming from the other side. 

“Can you see properly? Maybe I should—” He takes the phone in his hands and sways it left and right, up and down so that Jake can have a better view.

“It’s fine, you can just put it face up like before.” Jake chuckles lightly.

Sunghoon does as he is directed. From this position Jake can’t see his face but Sunghoon can. He peeks through the corner of his eyes and finds Jake gaping at the stars, he has that same sweatshirt on that Sunghoon let him borrow for the very first time and he feels his stomach lighten, reminiscing that memory. 

Jake breaks the silence, “It’s beautiful, isn’t it?”

Sunghoon hums softly in response, “What am I supposed to do when I go back home tomorrow and you are not there?”

Jake pauses for a bit, letting out a loud sigh before he continues, “Sunghoon…”

Sunghoon puts his arm over his face, suddenly feeling too overwhelmed by the shining stars and all the repressed feelings inside his mind, “Damn, I really should have kissed you when I got drunk.”

Jake yells as soon as those words leave Sunghoon’s mouth, “So you remembered?”

“Of course I did! You think I would forget after saying all those embarrassing things?”

Jake groans a little, “But you pretended you did not remember… I really thought you did not mean any of that and were just blabbering bullshit.”

Sunghoon rolls over and pokes Jake’s through the phone, “I just did not know how to bring it up and for your information I meant everything I said.”

He swears he sees Jake’s cheeks getting redder even in between the bundle of pixels. The small ‘oh’ he mumbles almost gets unnoticed by Sunghoon if not he is lying so close to the phone.

“I will miss you so much Jake, so much— who is gonna make me sunny side ups from tomorrow…” He runs his finger through his screen in a motion to caress Jake’s cheeks.

Jake’s laugh is small but it still makes Sunghoon vibrate with warmth.

“I will miss you too, Hoonie.”

Sunghoon lies on his back again and looks up at the sky, thinking back it’s his first time to ever properly look at stars like this and he feels genuinely happy to share this moment with Jake. Jake on the other side is humming the same song from before, the song that Sunghoon still can’t recognize but it makes his stomach flutter. His eyes feel heavy and soon he senses tears gradually swelling up around the corners.  He closes his eyes in an attempt to shoo those thoughts away and instead focus on Jake’s angelic voice. 

He doesn’t realize when he falls asleep on the bare grass but once he wakes up with several mosquito bites, he finds his phone switched off, completely out of battery. And this time when the tears pool around his eyes again, he doesn’t fight the urge to cry. His whimpers turn into sobs, sobs turn into wails. He doesn’t even register the time by when he slips into his tent, eyes swollen and red. Once he gets into his sleeping bag, exhaustion hits him all at once. He closes his eyes and hopes he will at least have a nice dream about Jake.

***

If any of his neighbours were to witness Sunghoon in this state, they would have definitely called the ambulance. To say Sunghoon looks worn out would be an understatement. 

He carefully pushes the rusty iron gate of his mansion, his tent and sleeping bag from last night, carefully folded inside his backpack. As soon as he enters the living room, he throws it on the floor and jumps to lie down on the couch but then he hears the sound of someone clicking their tongue from the kitchen.

“How many times have I told you to not throw around things like that?” 

Sunghoon’s mouth hangs open at the sight of the other boy.

“Did your phone get switched off last night? I couldn’t reach you anymore—” he picks the backpack from the floor and sets it on the shelf, “—anyway I made sunny side ups. Wash up and eat soon.”

Sunghoon’s brain comes to a halt as he stands still looking at the other boy like he has seen a ghost, well literally .

Jake snorts and brings his hand under his chin, “Close your mouth, silly.”

Sunghoon raises his eyebrows and scrutinies him from head to toe, “So you’re not gonna explain this? Or have I finally lost my mind? Is that what it is?”

Jake looks away, “Well—”

“Jake..” Sunghoon pleads, “— please. Don’t tell me it’s another of your pranks.”

Jake rubs the below of his nose, his eyes still darting to and from Sunghoon’s gaze, “I actually lied about the stargazing thing being my wish.” He says and closes his eyes tightly.

Sunghoon takes exactly five seconds to process what he just heard, “What the actual fuck, Jake?” Even Sunghoon himself gets shocked by how loud his voice sounds.

Jake quickly clasps his hands together in an attempt to look sorry, “I apologize but— hear me out first okay? You just asked so suddenly I needed to make something sure at first.” 

Sunghoon runs a hand through his hair in exasperation,  “You— I’m really at a loss of words…”

Jake has the audacity to giggle— he inches extremely close to Sunghoon. “You won’t ask me about my actual wish?” His voice barely above a whisper.

Sunghoon makes a face but nods anyway. Jake looks at him straight in the eye, cupping his face gently between his two hands, “It’s something much harder though—” He runs both his thumbs under his tear-stained cheekbones and gives him a silent look as if to say ‘you cried’.

“I want to make sunny side ups for you for five more decades to come—” he smiles widely and boops Sunghoon’s nose with his own, “—think you can handle that?”

It’s almost as if Sunghoon has taken a vow to be stunned all day because once more he finds himself completely motionless at Jake’s words. But when he proceeds finally, his body goes limp at once. He collapses his head on his shoulder, wrapping his arms around his small torso, “You are unbelievable.”

Jake laughs again and runs his gentle fingers through Sunghoon’s hair, calming him down, “You see— I never really had any big wish when I lived. I had good parents, lovely friends and Layla beside me all the time. I never really felt the need for anything else all the time I was alive.” He pauses for a while and wraps his other hand around Sunghoon, patting his back, “— Once I died I lost everything in a blink of an eye, you know. But then you came, Sunghoon and it’s funny how I never realized I had this you-shaped hole in my life all along.” 

Sunghoon feels his breath hitch. He moves his head to the side and takes in Jake’s smell. That same sweet and sour smell. 

The hand that was running through his hair comes to a still, “I really don’t know myself how this whole ghost thing will work out or for how long I am allowed to stay here but if my wish were to come true, will you let me be together with you?”

Sunghoon raises his head and puts his hands on Jake’s shoulders, “I will actually beg all the gods in the world to let you stay with me if that’s not the case.”

And he wants to cry because Jake’s smile is the sweetest thing to exist. He brings his hand and tugs on Jake’s bottom lip with his thumb, “I really want to kiss you right now.” 

Jake clicks his tongue in response, “I swear— If you say that one more time without actually doing it—” And then, he gets cut off because Sunghoon’s lips are already on his own, pressing onto them gently, carefully, as if Jake is the most precious thing he got the chance to hold.

Jake’s lips are plump and sweet, they taste like the strawberry flavored lip balm they both use and Sunghoon is hooked onto them.

Once they part lips, Sunghoon presses a soft peck on Jake’s forehead, and then on his nose, then both on his cheeks, earning a soft laugh from the older in return.

Sunghoon rests his forehead against Jake’s and mumbles, “I love you so much.”

Jake gives him an amused smile before pulling him into a kiss once more.