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Sunoo swears his lunch could've gone better. He didn’t intend to spill his favourite mint choco milk all over his favourite sweater! And it was all because of those two brats. Yang Jungwon and Nishimura Riki. Don’t let their angelic looks fool you, for they are the spawns of Satan himself. Sunoo couldn’t believe that this was their repayment to him after taking the two losers under his wings. They wouldn't have been a part of the coolest, most fun, and popular clique at their university; if not for him, Kim Sunoo. The two practically owe him their social life. And yet, this is how the two choose to show their gratitude; by ruining not only the rest of his afternoon but his most favourite sweater too.
It all started when Jay oh so innocently gave Sunoo the previously-mentioned milk packet. Claimed that he was getting himself almond milk and got a glimpse of the god awful flavour, instantly reminding him of the pink-haired boy. The younger was so giddy at the thought of the older thinking about him; he completely missed the insult Jay threw at his beloved during his monologue. Breaking out of his lovestruck gaze, Sunoo turned to be met with mischievous smirks directed at him. He simply chose to feign cluelessness, despite knowing that he would be interrogated later on.
The rest of their lunch break went as usual. You know, Heeseung blatantly flirting with Jake, while said boy remains wholly oblivious as he fools around with Ni-ki, Jungwon and Sunghoon teaming up to make fun of Jay for something insignificant, and Sunoo giggling at everything that was happening. Just their normal dynamics. Really nothing out of the blue. Nothing could have prepared Sunoo for how the rest of their lunch would go.
The doom was instigated when the 02z had to leave towards the last 10 mins of their break. The three claimed that they had to attend a presentation and that if they were late to this one, making it their fourth time this year, they would be soon kicked out of the class. The three of them together make quite a dangerous combination, and people just know when not to question certain things. As the troublemakers exited the cafeteria, Sunoo looked longingly after a certain brunette. He didn't get to spend much time with his Jongseong hyung lately, and it’s something he’s been meaning to change for a while. However, it seems as though it will take a long while as midterms season just has to be coming up. Ugh, Sunoo just hates university.
Quickly snapping out of his misery, Sunoo is met, yet again, with two pairs of inquiring eyes. He simultaneously tries to look for an out, only to notice the absence of the oldest member of their group, “Where’s Heeseung hyung?” Jungwon only smirks at him, “Ah well, he said he had to go to the bathroom for a quick minute.” Sunoo nods slowly, unsure of what to make out of the smirk directed towards him. He ignores the two menaces and continues to sip on his mint choco milk.
“Sooo, Sunoo hyung…” Ni-ki breaks the silence as he drags out his words, causing the mentioned boy to quirk an eyebrow at him, “When were you planning to tell us that you are dating Jay hyung?” The rose-haired boy immediately chokes on his milk. Ni-ki just stares at the other plainly while Jungwon fumbles around trying to get a bottle. Once Sunoo takes a sip and ensures he can breathe again, he glares hard at Ni-ki. If looks could kill, the youngest would be 10 feet below ground right now, but luckily for him, it doesn't, so he just remains to be unfazed by the glare. Seeing the lack of impact on the Japanese boy, Sunoo takes a deep breath in and slowly inquires, “Riki-san, what do you even mean? How do you even know what that means?! What on earth made you think that?!!!”
Jungwon and Ni-ki share a look that almost measured the same amount of exasperation in the older’s tone, if not even more. “Hyung please, I am not a baby" Ni-ki retorts with a scoff. "Hmm... maybe the fact that hyungie, one, has a super soft spot for you, two, constantly looks out for you, and three, buys you literally anything and everything,” Jungwon recalls as he puts down a finger with each point made. “He does that to all three of us, especially you Wonie!” “Yeah, well not the buying part cuz Won hyung ain't his sugar baby,” Ni-ki deadpans. “Riki! What the--” Sunoo flails his arms, hitting the milk packet, causing it to spill all over his sweater. He is so close to breaking down right now.
Heeseung chooses that exact moment to come back, his knight in shining armour, here to rescue him from the demons, “What’s got Noo looking like he is on the verge of a breakdown?” Jungwon replies teasingly, “His sugar daddy~” “Oh Jongseong?” Heeseung enquires nonchalantly. Sunoo has never felt so betrayed in his life. Screw his knight in shining armour, they are all dead to him. Frustrated by how everyone seems to be against him, Sunoo loses his sunny persona, “WHAT DO YOU MEAN BY THAT?!? HE IS NOT MY SUGAR DADDY AND I AM NOT HIS SUGAR B-BABY--”
Sunoo abruptly ends the rant with his voice cracking as he notices that he had managed to get the attention of the whole cafeteria. Usually, Sunoo loves to be the centre of attention, but this was probably the worst way to do so. He quietly sits down, ignoring his peers' prying looks, only to see the other three at the table trying to hold back their laughter. The sunny boy all but whines as he quickly buries his face in his arms.
Just as he desperately wishes for the ground to open up and swallow him up, he hears Heeseung, “Mind your own business everyone! And if I see a single one of you talk about this or even post it anywhere, I will let the infamous 02z know… let’s not risk that now shall we.” Clearly threatened by the mention of the trio, the rest of the cafeteria fills up with chatter as if nothing out of the blue took place. Sunoo looks up to smile gratefully at his hyung. Okay, fine, maybe he still was his knight in shining armour, albeit an annoying one.
Heeseung just ruffles his head while he sits back down, “It’s okay Sunoo-yah, we now know about your relationship--”. The pink-haired boy rolls his eyes as he cuts off his hyung, “First of all, I am not in a relationship with Jay hyung, there is no sugar daddy-baby business whatsoever!” He pauses to gather himself, “Second of all, what even prompted y’all to think of something so absurd!?” he exclaims as he glares at all three boys, losing his cool once again.
Indifferent to how riled up Sunoo was, Ni-ki simply responded, “Clearly there is some bias towards you hyung, Jay hyung loves to baby you!” “What are you saying Rikiii! He loves to baby you and Jungwonie more than me… IN FACT! He makes fun of me like crazy!” “And so does Sunghoonie hyung, but you don’t see him buying you things on a whim,” Jungwon retaliates mockingly. Heeseung nods, “It’s true, Hoonie loves to rile you up just cuz it’s fun to do so… we all seek joy in your reactions. Jongseongie on the other hand, teases you like how a middle schooler would pull on his crush’s pigtails to be noticed, and then he proceeds to shower you with so many gifts, while you remain oblivious to all his attempts at wooing you.”
Sunoo blanks out at this statement. There’s no way it would have escaped his radar that his favourite hyung has been trying to woo him. There’s no way his crush might actually be reciprocated. Nah, not a chance, he must’ve somehow astrally projected into an alternate universe.
Jungwon seems to sense his denial; he gently brings the older out of his daze. “Let’s take this one step at a time hyung,” Jungwon starts just as how one would talk to babies; somehow, Sunoo did not find it condescending in any manner, in fact, he felt soothed by it. “I’m going to ask you a straightforward question, it will probably help you understand what we mean,” after getting a nod of affirmation from the other, Jungwon continues, “Who gave you that mint choco milk?” “Jay hyung… it’s nothing new, he always brings small things like this,” Sunoo rambles, eager to prove that the action meant nothing special.
“Okay fair enough, I guess that makes sense…” Jungwon pauses for dramatics, “Why does it matter that it dropped over your sweater, if the milk isn’t that important,” “Because the sweater obviously is!! You know it’s my favourite one.” Sunoo did not know where the younger was going with this; he was slowly losing his patience. Seemed like he was not the only one as Ni-ki cut in with another question, “Why hyung, why is it your favourite?”
Sunoo pauses to think for a moment. Everything starts to sink in.
He suddenly understands the youngers' insistence. The reason why it is his favourite. He can’t believe he forgot the very reason as to why this particular sweater was his favourite in the first place. It was simply because his precious Jay hyung had gifted it to him. It wasn’t for any monumental occasion, it was rather out of the blue. Last autumn, Sunoo had made an insignificant comment about how he didn’t have anything warm for the season; the next thing he knew, Jay was at his door with a shopping bag, packed in it was a lovely white fleece sweater that Sunoo would cherish for years to come.
The rosy boy is brought out of his memory recollection as he feels his hands enveloped in warmth. He catches the tender look on Heeseung’s face, “This might be a lot to unpack and we’re sorry if we pushed you into a weird zone,” the oldest rubs his hands, “We just want the best for you both.” Jungwon chimes in, fervently nodding his head, “Yes hyungie… it’s sad to see you longing after Jay hyung like this, especially when I know you can get him; you’ve always had him wrapped around your finger.” “Despite how smart and straightforward Jay hyung seems to be, his brain turns into goo whenever you’re around. Somehow, the bare minimum he can do is tease you or buy you things,” Ni-ki states matter of factly, “And that is why we think you should make the move.”
Sunoo feels the breath get knocked out of his lungs. Confessing was such a delicate matter to the boy; it’s why he was never one to play with it. Often he was confessed to but then he always let the admirer down very gently. He always felt guilty for rejecting confessions. The prospect of him confessing was extremely scary; it would either be reciprocated or it would be crushed down, and then he would finally know how it felt to be on the receiving end. He was struggling to breathe.
But, this time the cause was a bear hug. Said bear buried his head in Sunoo’s shoulder before speaking, “Hyung, please don’t get too into your thoughts.” The guilt attached to the words brings Sunoo into action, he wraps his own arms around the younger, a reassurance that it was not his fault in any way. Ni-ki pulls away from the hug and looks deep into Sunoo’s eyes, “We wouldn’t tell you about this if we weren’t sure about hyung’s feelings for you.” The arms around Sunoo’s waist tighten, “Don’t let our dumbass hyung slip away… we’ll be here to back you up, no matter what.” “Yeah hyung! I know taekwondo, I would gladly roundhouse kick Jay hyung in the face if he broke your heart…” Jungwon cuts in with the most enthusiasm he’s shown the whole afternoon, “Unfortunately the chances are extremely low.” The disappointed act put up by the blue-haired boy brings a chuckle out of Sunoo.
Seeing the support from his friends brings tears to his eyes. In a heartbeat, the boy is squeezed in a tight group hug and all he can feel is relief as the tears roll down his cheeks. Relief that he has such a strong support system. Relief that he is not alone in this battle against his thoughts. Relief that the chances of his unrequited love, actually not being so, was pretty high. The relief transcends through Sunoo’s soul and he cannot help the teary smile that crawls onto his face.
A shrill sound forces the quartet to part. Heeseung and Ni-ki collect their trays while Jungwon waits for Sunoo to pack up. Sensing the younger’s gaze on him, Sunoo looks up, he sees how the other is smiling softly at him, “You don’t have to act upon your feelings right now hyung, we just thought it was time you knew.” The pink head simply hugs the younger and hopes that his gratitude can be felt. Sunoo departed from his friends with a much lighter heart than he had expected.
The interrogation really did more good than Sunoo would have ever expected. He hadn’t been able to focus in class, all thanks to this newfound epiphany. Rather, he chose to think back to all the times his hyung randomly gifted him things.
His very first recollection was about something so small, much more insignificant compared to the lack of a sweater. It was when he lost his eraser. Sunoo had lamented about his loss to Jay dramatically. The very next day, he found a set of pastel erasers on his desk, with a taped note, ‘Saw this in a stationary store yesterday, I hope you use it well.’ It was undeniably Jay’s chicken scrawl, as Sunghoon would call it, and Sunoo had just found himself falling for the older boy even more. Yet, another instance was when the group had gone to an arcade to hang out. Jay had literally spent so much money just to get Sunoo a particular fox plushie. He insisted that the younger must have it, just because of how similar it looked to him. And he cannot forget about how the then blond went out of his way to get him a brand new Ditto popsocket, as the face of Sunoo’s original one had faded out.
Jay always acted as if gifting Sunoo was nothing abnormal. The nonchalance of it all tricked Sunoo into thinking that the other often did this to everyone. But now that he thinks about it, there was nothing so regular about it at all; it was clear that Jay held on to his every word, and willingly went through the trouble of getting whatever Sunoo desired. How could he have been so blind to his hyung’s gestures, when Jay barely tried to hide them! Sunoo then ponders about how he never really gifted Jay anything back. Whenever he did it was only on birthdays and celebrations such as Christmas. Should he start gifting the older back so he notices that his affections are returned?
He quickly shakes the thought of his head as he realises that this revelation didn’t mean that he too had to shower his hyung with gifts. They would just end up going in circles chasing after one another. He knew that there was only one way to end all the pining; by being straightforward. And he knew just exactly how to do it. Sunoo sneakily pulled out his phone to shoot a text to Jay, telling him to meet up at their spot as soon as classes end. He couldn’t wait for his last class to end. So eager that the boy was practically vibrating in his seat. The moment the bell rang, Sunoo booked it out of the classroom.
Sneaking off to an abandoned hallway, Sunoo finds himself staring at the staircase that leads to the rooftop. Students generally assume that the stairs are off-limits, but that never stopped the seven of them from exploring it regardless. Somehow, neither of them ever got caught, and Sunoo knew that it would not happen today either. He refused to let anything come in his way. As the pink-haired boy reached the rooftop, he couldn’t help but admire the view he was greeted with. The sun shone brightly on the inhabitants of the earth, and Sunoo couldn’t help but feel like people were so tiny and so insignificant. Surely, their emotions mattered, but it never meant that the whole world would collapse just because of a single person’s action. At least not something as small as confessing. Sunoo doesn’t know why he felt so overwhelmed, but he acknowledges that the feeling was definitely valid at the time. A surge of confidence rushes through his body as he continues to look beyond the railing.
His train of thoughts gets derailed as he hears the creak of the rooftop door. However, Sunoo does not choose to look back, he knows it’s his Jay hyung; he continues to stare ahead of him. He knows that the other probably has a lot of questions right now, but neither boy chooses to say a thing. From the corner of his right eye, Sunoo can see Jay standing beside him, resting his arm as he too takes in the view. After a moment or so, Sunoo breaks the tranquil atmosphere, “It was brought to my attention that I am always receiving gifts from you,” he turns to face the older to gauge his reaction, a hint of bashfulness was present on the other’s normally stoic face, “And I wanted to do something about it.” Jay was about to interrupt when the younger continued, “This time, I want to give you something back.” Taken aback by this statement, Jay finds himself gaping at the boy. He quickly gathers his wits and responds, “Sunshine, you know you don’t have to do that; it simply brings me joy to see you appreciate the gifts.” Sunoo couldn’t help but melt at the pet name, so much so, he almost forgot his goal.
Reminded of what he wants to achieve, Sunoo holds Jay’s hands in his own, “But I do hyung, I really do. It’s the least I can do, especially since you gifted yours to me a long time ago.” Sunoo wanted to coo at the visible confusion on the older’s face, but he held himself back and continued, “I need you to close your eyes so that I can give it to you,” Jay immediately does so. The younger closes his own eyes and gently brings Jay’s hands to his chest. “I’d like to gift you my heart hyung. It’s delicate and precious to me, I have never given it to anyone else, but I trust you with its fragility.” Sunoo timidly opens his eyes to witness a stunned Jay, “I really like you hyung, and I'm desperately hoping that I did not misread anything?” The question cuts through Jay’s frozen figure; he immediately hugs the other, “I do, I really do like you Sunoo-yah.” Jay hugs as if he would lose the boy the minute he lets go, and Sunoo has never felt so warm as he hugs back just as tight.
They slowly pull back from the hug and try memorising each other’s faces, almost as if this moment would disappear at any moment. The warm hold on his waist brings Sunoo back to reality. He whispers into the little gap between their faces, “Can I gift you one more thing?” The look in Jay’s eyes is all the confirmation the younger needs to place his lips on the older. The kiss was probably one of the best gifts, if not the best, Sunoo could have given.