Work Text:
jake quite literally crashes into jungwon's life at the beginning of the summer.
jungwon is walking down the sidewalk at the park when he hears a voice yelling at him to watch out, then the next thing he knows, he’s rolling on the grass in the arms of a boy, cursing loudly.
“shit- i’m so sorry- i was going too fast, and i couldn’t stop in time. are you okay?”
jungwon feels the side of his leg stinging as his vision swirls from the sudden movements. the boy sits him up and hold onto his shoulders to keep him steady.
“‘m a little dizzy, but i’m okay, i guess.” jungwon flinches when he feels hands patting his cheeks.
when his vision finally clears, he’s greeted with a blazing smile from the cutest boy he’s ever seen in his life.
“wow. you’ve got such a nice blush on your cheeks. it’s so cute!” the boy reaches out to poke his cheeks, and jungwon is too stunned to say anything to him.
“i’m jake, by the way. i don’t usually crash into people on my skateboard, but i guess there’s a first for everything. what’s your name?” jake grabs his hands and pulls jungwon to his feet, reaching around to brush dirt and grass from his shorts.
“j-jungwon.” jungwon hates the way his voice cracks slightly, and he hopes he doesn’t look too much like a deer in headlights.
“jungwon! any plans today?”
jungwon blinks at jake as the boy searches for his skateboard, jogging towards it when he finally spots it a little distance away from them.
“i’m on my way to baseball practice.”
jake picks up his skateboard and turns around, mouth open slightly in surprise. “baseball? that’s cool. oh hell, are you gonna be late because of me? i’m sorry- maybe if we run, you won’t be late!”
“we?” jungwon manages to squeak out before jake grabs his hand and takes off, dragging jungwon behind him.
jungwon doesn’t realize jake’s stayed the entire practice to watch him until the coach dismisses them, and jake waves eagerly at him from the edge of the field. (they barely made it on time, not that jungwon was gonna be punished for being thirty seconds late.)
“is practice done? you wanna grab some ice cream or something? don’t worry about paying. i’ll pay for yours as compensation for smashing into you.”
jungwon blinks at him rapidly, speaking before he can stop himself. “why are you being so nice to me?”
jake’s smile falters a little bit before he rubs the back of his neck sheepishly. “sorry. my brother says it’s a bad habit, that i come on a little too strongly sometimes. my family just moved here, and i don’t have any friends yet, so i thought i’d go out and make some.”
somehow, jungwon finds his hand in jake's again, and jake is talking rapidly, swinging their hands between them. jungwon is in so much of a daze, he doesn’t realize jake’s opened the door for him to the ice cream place near the park until he starts laughing and gently pushes him inside.
jungwon curses his heart for skipping a beat at the sound of his laughter.
“who’s that guy that comes to watch practice?” sunoo asks him one day, gesturing over to jake.
jungwon looks up from his stretches and sees jake sitting in the bleachers, rapidly waving when he sees the younger boy looking.
“oh. that’s jake. he’s… a new friend? i guess. he ran into me with his skateboard the other day, and he just kinda stuck around. apparently, he just moved here.”
sunoo raises an eyebrow at jungwon, pulling the boy forward. “and… you two are friends? just like that?”
jungwon blushes. “he’s nice.”
“yang jungwon, you are the most anti-social person i know. it took me almost a week of bothering you before you would tell me your name.” sunoo narrows his eyes at him, and jungwon sighs heavily.
"sunoo, we were like, six years old. cut me some slack. i'm not that bad anymore! i think."
"at least introduce me to him! i'm your best friend!" jungwon sits up and pulls sunoo forward, snorting when jake makes a face at him.
so, jungwon does. he introduces sunoo to jake, and jake gives him a bright smile and shakes his hand. jungwon sees sunoo nod approvingly before holding his fist up for jungwon to bump.
“i’ll see you at practice monday. bye, jake, it was nice to meet you.”
“same, sunoo! let’s be friends!”
and if sunoo knows that jungwon’s blush deepens when he overhears jake ask if he wants to go for ice cream again, he doesn’t say anything.
jungwon is zoning out as sunoo and his boyfriend, jay, look through clothes at the fifth store at the mall. they’re supposed to meet their other friends there, but jay picked them up a little early to do extra shopping before meeting the others at the arcade.
he hears sunoo giggle as jay pulls out some hideous shirts and holds them up to himself, making a face before shoving them back onto the rack. jungwon makes a vomiting noise in the back of his throat before pulling his phone out of his pocket to check the time.
“as much as i’d love to continue third wheeling you two, i’m gonna head to the arcade first.”
jay immediately holds his hand up in goodbye with a bright smile on his face as sunoo frowns.
“by yourself?”
“he’s a big kid, sunoo. he’ll be fine. bye, jungwon!”
jungwon rolls his eyes, barely having the chance to turn before jay reaches for sunoo and pulls him into his arms. sunoo and jay will probably start kissing any minute now as he speed walks out of the store. he knows sunoo holds back on the pda for his sake, and he also knows jay kinda resents him a little bit for it.
jungwon was my best friend before i even knew you, so don’t even think i’d choose you over him!
he remembers the wounded look on jay’s face, but still, he tones it down when jungwon is around.
jungwon checks the group chat for his friends, seeing that sunghoon and heeseung are just now on their way to the mall. it'll take them about twenty minutes to get there, so jungwon tucks his phone away and starts wandering.
it's barely been ten minutes when he hears someone call his name.
"jungwon?" he looks up and turns to see jake waving at him slowly at first, and when he's sure it's actually jungwon, his wave becomes more enthusiastic.
“oh, hey, jake. fancy seeing you here.”
jake beams at him, and jungwon feels his chest tighten just a little bit again.
“i ruined my shoes yesterday, so i came to buy a new pair. are you here by yourself?” jake leans on the railing next to jungwon, tilting his head to the side. jungwon can’t help but think he looks a little bit like an excited puppy.
“no, i’m here with sunoo and his boyfriend. we’re meeting some other friends at the arcade in a bit. do you wanna come? if you’re not busy or anything.”
“for you? i’m never too busy!”
jungwon wishes he didn’t blush so easily.
jake hits it off with jungwon’s friends, and jungwon breathes a sigh of relief. sunoo gives him a knowing look, nudging jungwon with his elbow until jungwon narrows his eyes at him.
as much time as he spends with him, jungwon realizes he doesn’t know that much about jake other than he skateboards and just moved to town while he listens to his friends give jake the third degree.
“what school are you going to? do you know?” jay asks, groaning when his character gets eaten by a zombie.
“yeah, some private school. decelis or something.” jake sticks his tongue out as he shoots for the revive to bring jay back into the game as the others watch.
“hey! me, sunghoon, and heeseung go there, too.”
jake immediately turns to look at jungwon. “what school do you go to then?”
“me and sunoo go to sunshine city. we’re public school plebs.”
“sunshine city has the better baseball team, though. we may not have a state-of-the-art stadium to practice in, but baseball is better on dirt, anyway.” sunoo sticks his tongue out at jay, who just rolls his eyes.
“i didn’t say anything, babe, but if you’re gonna bring it up…” he trails off when he sees the ‘try me’ look in sunoo’s eyes.
the boys end up bowling to round out their afternoon. jungwon tries to sit out, insisting that he’s awful at it, but jake doesn’t let him.
at the end of it, jungwon ends up giving jake his number because jake says i wanna be able to hang out with you all the time and not just leave it up to chance to see you, even though it’s been working out pretty well so far.
if jungwon stares at jake’s name in his contacts with a little heart next to it for too long, that’s his business, and probably sunoo’s once he finds out.
once jake gets jungwon’s number and he finagles his address from him, he ends up on jungwon’s front doorstep with no warning far too often. his parents are effortlessly charmed by jake (because let’s be real, who in jungwon’s life hasn’t jake charmed), and they let jungwon get whisked away for whatever plans jake has for them.
today, they’re flying kites at the park, jungwon watching in awe as his kite flies higher and higher, suspended in the sky.
“you wanna come windsurfing with me next week?” he asks, taking a few steps back to take a picture of jungwon looking up at his kite.
“windsurfing?”
“yeah. you basically attach a sail to a longboard and have at it.”
“i don’t know how to skate, jake. i’d probably break my face or my arm or something.”
jake blinks at him a few times. “right. you don’t know how to skate. we can fix that!”
and that’s how jungwon finds himself wearing jake’s skating helmet, wrist guards, and knee pads while jake holds onto his hands, pulling him across the skatepark.
“jake! i’m gonna fall!” jungwon hisses at him.
“nah! not while i’m here! and even if you do, i’ll break your fall. i’ll never let you get hurt!”
what jake doesn't know is that jungwon falls just a little bit more when he smiles at him.
“so, when are you going to tell jake you’re in love with him?” sunoo asks, looking up the coffee table.
jungwon and sunoo are currently sitting in his living room working on their summer homework after procrastinating on it for a month.
“why would i tell jake i’m in love with him?”
sunoo gives him a mildly disgusted look. “because you are? you literally look at him like he hung the stars in the sky for you.”
“i do not look at him like that.”
“you absolutely do, jungwon. i’m pretty sure he likes you, too.”
“he’s just being nice, sunoo.”
sunoo sighs heavily and puts his pencil down to massage his temples. “he is not just being nice. you know he only hangs out with you, right? he’s in the group chat and everything, but jay says he never hangs out with them unless you’re there, too.”
“maybe he’s just not comfortable with them yet.”
“okay, but also consider that he was already taking you out for ice cream dates when you two first met.”
sunoo ended up cornering jungwon one afternoon and squeezed every last drop of information about him and jake. sunoo pulled the best friend card, and jungwon broke immediately and told him everything.
“isn’t jake out with jay and them now, anyway?”
“for a school thing. jay keeps telling me how weird it is to see jake so quiet. like he won’t talk to anyone unless they approach him first.”
jungwon purses his lips. jake’s been texting him all day long, telling him how bored he is and how he’d rather be doing something with him, even if it was homework.
maybe there’s some truth to sunoo’s words, jungwon thinks. he doesn’t want to get his hopes up, though, because what if jake really was just being nice?
“talk to me, jungwon. you’ve got that constipated look on your face again.” sunoo throws his eraser at jungwon, leaving a pink mark on his forehead.
“okay, ow?” jungwon throws it back, and sunoo lets it fall of the table before looking at jungwon expectantly.
“so… say jake does like me like that. what do i do?”
sunoo blinks rapidly at jungwon. “what do you mean, what do i do?”
“like, what do i do?”
“what do you want to do?”
“i’ve… never really thought about it?”
sunoo throws up his hands in exasperation. “you haven’t thought about dating him? holding hands? kissing? sending each other cute little messages all day long? couple stuff?”
no, jungwon can’t say he’s really thought about dating jake. they already hold hands all the time. jake doesn’t think twice before reaching for jungwon’s hand to pull him places. jungwon will reach out to play with jake’s hands every now and then in their downtime, when they’re resting or waiting for something.
jungwon would be a liar, however, if he said he hasn’t caught himself staring at jake’s lips and wondering if they’re as soft as they look, but he would rather die than admit that to sunoo. he’d never hear the end of it.
he and jake already send good morning and good night messages to each other. jungwon starts his day off with a good morning meme from jake and ends it with a good night meme.
“… does something have to happen between us? what if i’m already happy like this?”
it doesn’t take long for jungwon to get used to being whisked away by jake at all hours of the day, seven days a week.
they go to the aquarium together and take pictures with sharks, fish, and penguins.
sunoo drags everyone to a waterpark where jungwon spends most of his time in line for rides with jake, and he doesn’t even like the rides, preferring the lazy river over everything else.
they go to the skatepark, where jungwon yells his lungs out the entire time, but once he sees the way jake’s eyes light up as he slowly but steadily skates towards him without help, he thinks it might’ve been worth the busted lung, shredded vocal cords, and bruised knees.
they wander along the river, hand in hand, talking about their hopes, dreams, aspirations, whether aliens exist, and if pineapple belongs on pizza (jungwon says yes, and jake looks at him like he’s grown another head).
jake knocks on his front door as the sun goes down one evening, sparklers in one hand, lighter in the other, grin plastered to his face.
they sit on the porch swing at jake’s house, jungwon listening to jake play his guitar, nodding his head along to the songs.
they fall asleep together on the floor of his room, limbs tangled up with each other, jungwon’s face tucked into jake’s chest.
they get caught in the rain once, on their way home from the park, but it doesn’t dim jake’s smile. instead, he grabs jungwon’s hand again, lacing their fingers together, and they’re jumping into puddles, laughter louder than the falling rain.
jake takes about two dozen pictures of jungwon in his clothes, cooing over how small he looks in them when they finally get to his house to get out of the rain and change into dry clothes.
jungwon falls asleep with his head in jake’s lap one hot summer day and wakes up to the sight of jake smiling fondly at him, fingers gently carding through his hair.
jake falls asleep with his head in jungwon’s lap at the park another afternoon while they rest under the shade of a tree. jungwon smiles and gently reaches out to poke jake’s cheek a few times before leaning back against the tree and closing his own eyes.
jungwon is happy like this. he's definitely happy like this.
“hit a home run today, and i’ll tell you a secret,” jake says before jungwon’s last game of the summer. he hasn’t missed a single game yet, and even jay, sunghoon, and heeseung are here to support him and sunoo.
jungwon raises an eyebrow. “i thought we didn’t keep secrets from each other.”
but jake just shrugs, giving jungwon his usual blinding smile before he hears the coach calling for him, jake makes his way back into the bleachers where jay is holding up a sign for sunoo.
“i told him not to bring a sign. why is he so embarrassing?” sunoo groans, burying his face into his hands.
“whatever, sunoo. you love it.”
then jungwon hits a homerun five minutes into the second inning. as he rounds the bases, he glances up to where jake is sitting- standing now, clapping his hands and cheering loudly for him. when their eyes meet, jake points at him, and jungwon can already hear him saying that’s my boy!
everyone congratulates jungwon on a game well played, but jungwon just wants to get over to where jake and his friends are waiting.
“what’s the secret?” jungwon asks, leaning forward with a wide smile on his face.
“mm, i’ll tell you later, when you come over tonight.”
“i’m coming over tonight?”
“yep!” jake reaches out and pokes jungwon’s dimple.
jake’s got a little space made for them in his backyard, and they’re laying on sleeping bags and inflatable mattresses stacked haphazardly in the middle of his backyard.
they’re staring at stars and drawing pictures with their free hands, their other hands occupied with each other’s fingers.
jake suddenly goes quiet, and when jungwon turns his head, he sees jake is already staring at him.
“you ready for that secret, jungwon?” he whispers.
“what is it?”
“i like you.”
“that’s not a secret, jake.”
“no, i like you, like you.”
“still not a secret.”
a smile appears on jake's face followed by the sounds of his laughter. jungwon's heart flutters.
“okay, okay. the real secret?”
jungwon waits, raising his eyebrows in question, then jake leans in and kisses him softly. jungwon squeezes his hand in surprise, and jake smiles into the kiss before pulling back.
“i was gonna tell you whether you hit a homerun or not.”
jungwon’s smile is so wide, his cheeks hurt.
“can we kiss again?” he whispers back, eyes shining bright, even in the darkness.
“you don’t even have to ask.”
and jungwon hopes he never stops falling for jake.