Chapter Text
Jai looked over at Pik, absentmindedly twisting the cap on and off of his drink. Pik was currently flopped down on the floor with Otd, both of them fighting for breath after their fifth grueling hour of dance practice. As Jai looked at them both, he remembered that he was in a dilemma... sort of. On one hand, he realized that the unrequited crush of three years, which he had on his best friend Pookpik, was actually reciprocated. On the other hand, it had come to his knowledge that Pik was alarmingly close to giving up on him and trying to find someone else new.
Jai had figured this all out around exactly one week ago, when he'd been craving noodles, and coincidentally, a new noodle shop had just opened across the building they trained at. He had been hoping to run into a few of his members, so they could all go out for a quick noodle run, but he stopped right in front of the practice door, where he heard the hushed whispers of Pik and Otd.
Usually, he would have just barged in and joined the conversation. This time however, his hand stilled a millimeter away from the door knob as he heard small sniffles coming from inside of the room.
"Otd, I just don't know what to do anymore," A hushed whisper left Pik's mouth as he sniffled.
Is he crying?
"Pik, it's fine, don't cry. It's about time you either told him your feelings or find someone else. You've been at this for three years, enough is enough, don't you think?"
"Ha, yeah right. If I confess he might humor me for three days before finding another partner. It'd be best if I just shoved my feelings down and tried moving on," Pik let out a chocked sob. "I have a greater chance of confessing my feelings to a random stranger and it being reciprocated than with my own best friend."
Otd sighed. "Look I understand Jai is a playboy, but you haven't even confessed yet. At least give him a chance."
"Look Otd, I..."
The rest of their conversation was buzzed out as Jai's mind began spinning.
Pik. In love with... him?
For the past three years, Jai had been pushing his emotions for his best friend aside, and dating strangers here and there to find someone to get over Pik.
Yet, each time he found someone he thought he could end up with, they did something that reminded him so much of Pik, he had to let go before he went crazy.
First was Yena. She was extremely sweet and easy to talk to, yet whenever he looked down into her eyes, they looked just like Pik's, bright and so doe-like that he felt sick to his stomach and had to break things off with her.
Then was Lynx, who had been great and matched his energy so well, but every time he'd text him, he'd type just like Pik and send the same emoticons as him, so similar to the point where Jai had started calling him Pik in their text messages. A few days after that incident, Lynx had broken up with him, patting his shoulder and saying he should try pursuing this 'Pik' he was always talking about.
So, for the first time, when Jai heard Pik had feelings back for him, he was lost. Should he outright confess or wait for Pik to figure out himself? If he did do the second option though, he would have to show Pik that he truly cared, and to do that meant deleting all of his flings and current partners (yes plural) from out of his life.
After he did that, he decided to go on the web and find out ways to get someone to realize that you have feelings for them, but in a subtle way.
He clicked on the first website, which had a long list of ways to convince a crush that you had feelings for them without having to be direct. After going through each one, he found five of which he thought would work the best, and was ready to put them to the test!
"Jai? Jai?" Pik's voice broke through his thoughts. "We were thinking about going to the ramen restaurant you were talking about earlier, you want to join us?"
Jai grinned wide. "Yeah, for sure! Let me just grab something real quick!" He reached his arm across Pik's torso, looking him dead straight in the eyes. Pik quickly adverted his gaze and cleared his throat.
Tactic One: Constantly be in their personal space
This one would be tough, because well...Jai was already always in Pik's space. Whether it be laying his head in his lap, or quietly resting on him as he did his work, they were constantly touching.
Recently though, he had noticed Pik pulling towards him, then warily pushing away as if he was trying to refrain from going near Jai. Jai was obviously offended that he was trying so hard to get over him without even giving him a chance, but he wasn't going to let Pik get away that easy.
He slowly grabbed the towel behind Pik, and then backed away. Enough to where he wasn't directly touching him anymore, but close enough to where he could still feel his breath on his face.
"Are you going?" Jai asked, smugly quirking an eyebrow towards him.
Pik's ears turned a bright shade of red as he muttered, "Yeah," and hastily got up. Otd chuckled behind him, slowly getting up as well and walking past him. Jai bounced up behind them, getting ready to lay out his master plan in pursuing Pik.
As they settled down into their seats. Jai glanced over at Pik's menu.
"What are you getting?" He asked him, leaning over his shoulder to see. Pik glanced at him before looking back down.
"You have your own menu, don't you? Use it instead of looking at mine."
Jai huffed. "No, yours looks...cleaner," He lied. Pik looked at him again, bemused. "Besides," he added. "I want to get whatever you're getting, okay? So order for me too." He plopped his head down onto Pik's shoulder, slightly glancing up at him to see his reaction.
Other than looking confused, Pik just sighed.
"Alright, I'll order for you," he said, a hint of fondness in his voice. Yet, Jai frowned. This wasn't the reaction he was looking for, so he decided to amp up his physical touch a bit.
When there food finally arrived, Jai shot away from Pik and hurriedly began spooling ramen onto his spoon.
"Pik! Pik, eat some from mine!"
Pik side eyed him. "Jai, we ordered the same thing,"
Oh-
"No," Jai said, dumbfounded. "I ordered something different."
Pik sighed in exasperation. "Jai, I literally ordered it for you-"
Jai slowly shook his head, playing into his own lie.
"No Pik, I ordered something different," he said, smirking. "But, if you don't think so then you should try some of-"
Pik abruptly leaned forward.
"Fine," he said, closing his soft looking lips onto the spoon Jai held. He looked up for a second, locking eyes with Jai, before smoothly pulling back and chewing hesitantly.
"It tastes the same, I don't know what you're talking about," he held up his own spoon, moving it towards Jai. "Here, try some of mine."
Jai made no move to take the spoon, considering his mind was on autopilot, and his mouth was slightly gaped.
Why the fuck is my heart beating so fast, aren't I supposed to do that to him?
Pik forced the spoon into Jai's mouth, and he quickly closed it, chewing numbly.
"See, doesn't it taste the same?" Pik asked, tilting his head slightly to the side. Jai nodded, despite not being able to taste any flavors from the noodles.
"Mhm, it's the same thing Pik."
Jai went back to his own meal, quietly trying to fight off the blush on his face. Unbeknownst to him, Pik was fondly watching him, amusement glinting in his gaze.