"jake, can you teach me this part? i can't seem to understand it." daniel sat beside him, putting his answer sheet next to his.

jake stared at his answers. he clicked his pen and pointed at the equation. "this one should be simplified already. and this," he crossed out one part of the formula. "H2O should be removed."

"bestie, please speak in baby words. i cannot comprehend that." geonu muttered behind him.

"you're no baby, geonu. the only thing that's baby in you is your height—fuck not my hair!" daniel struggled to push geonu away as the boy tries to pull his hair.

jake sighed as he watched the two fight again. when will they get tired of annoying each other? and i get to experience this everyday? yeah, this is tiring.

"shhh! can you guys stop that?" jungwon glared at them. geonu and daniel finally shut up and went back to their seats.

sunoo clicked his tongue. "bad day, won?"

"no, i'm good." he answered. jake wanted to ask more but it seems like jungwon's not in the mood.

a while later, their professor came in to instruct them about their final project for the end term. it's hell week again.

"sim?" he immediately raised his hand as the prof called his name.

"yes sir?"

"could you please get the remaining test papers on the CE106? it's on the table, thanks."

why is it always me who have to do this?

he nodded and left his seat, completely ignoring geonu who's trying to call his name.

+++++++++

[ dumb lee ]

dumb lee:
how dare you ignore me
JAKE
JAKEEE
DID YOU BRING YOUR PHONE OR WHAT

jake:
stfu will you

dumb lee:
let me come with you

jake:
huh why?
you can't, prof lim won't allow you anyways

dumb lee:
MAN THIS SUCKS
ok fine
can you say hi to heeseung for me instead

jake:
how would i do that
i'll only get the test papers
i won't stroll throughout the whole campus

dumb lee:
jake.....
i thought you were smart

jake:
no i'm not
but atleast i'm smarter than you

dumb lee:
that's not the point
anyways
CE106 is their draft room
so hopefully you'll see him there 😌

jake:
wait what
how tf did you even know
stalker

dumb lee:
this is called showing my interest to my soon to be man ;)

jake:
gross
bye

dumb lee:
bitch
DON'T FORGET TO MENTION ME IF YOU SEE HIM OK
TELL HIM I HOPE HE HAS A GREAT DAY

+++++++

crap. jake stood outside the room, contemplating whether to get inside or just tell his professor that he couldn't find the test papers.

okay you know what, i don't care. he took a deep breath and knocked at the door.

"oh, jake? do you need something?" jay opened the door, letting him inside. there's only a few people in the room, including heeseung, ni-ki, and nicholas.

he sighed in relief. thank goodness he's not here.

"yeah, prof lim told me to get the test papers."

jay nodded and yelled heeseung's name. "bro! where did you put the test papers again? jake needs them."

heeseung stood up and went straight to get the papers out of the drawer.

"there you go," jake smiled when the boy handed it out to him. "by the way, can you remind prof lim to give us the keys to the tool boxes?"

"yeah, i'll tell him."

"mhm, thanks." heeseung pat his head before going back to his seat.

right, i forgot to tell him something.

"ah, heeseung?" the boy looked back at him.

"geonu wishes you to have a great day." jake bit his lip to stop himself from laughing when he saw heeseung's eyebrows furrowed.

"that dwarf is annoying but since you're the one who said that, i'll accept it. have a great day too." heeseung gave him another smile.

poor geonu. "okay, i'll go ahead then." he waved goodbye to others before finally leaving.

+++++++++

aussie boy @jakey tweeted.

@geonuyah you sure you still wanna pursue this guy? he looks really uninterested tho 😭

215 likes | 6 retweets

replies:

@geonuyah delete this !!!! he just needs some time to fully appreciate my beauty 🥰
↪@jakey what beauty? you have that? 😫
↪@geonuyah JUST GET BACK HERE WOULD YOU MF OUR PROF IS ALR LOOKING FOR YOU
@hanbinjjang you know geonu, he likes it more if the guy's not interested in him 😕
↪@geonuyah ofc hyung, where's the challenge if the guy already likes you? that's boring yano

+++++++++

jake chuckled when he read geonu's reply on his tweet. something might be really wrong on his best friend's brain.

he clutched the papers tight when a strong breeze of wind passed by.

"that was close. i don't wanna pick up papers in the middle of corridor." he whispered to himself.

"hey."

"fuck—!" jake cursed loudly when someone suddenly touched his shoulder. he watched as the papers fell on the ground with a soft thud.

"sorry about that. i didn't know you'd be scared."

yeah no shit. he almost glared at sunghoon who is just blankly staring at him. he kneeled and picked the pieces of paper up.

"i wasn't scared, i just got startled."

"okay, here." sunghoon gave him the other sheets. he accepted it, fixing the papers once again.

jake stood up, looking at him. "what are you doing here?" he tried to ask to lessen the awkward air between them.

"i was just passing by....." he trailed off. and of course, jake instantly knew the reason.

he's really hopeless at this point.

"you passed by to see sunoo right?" sunghoon shook his head at his question.

liar.

"i was about to, but i stopped myself. so now i'm just going back to the draft room." sunghoon stared at him. "you said i can do it, so i'm trying."

jake got speechless. he's trying to move on? so he believed my word? but why?

"well...uh, that's good i guess?" jake gave him a thumbs up.

sunghoon couldn't help but chuckle at his gesture. he acts so awkward at times, but i guess he's okay.

jake continued walking, while sunghoon trails behind him.

"you know, i was always here." jake didn't look back, but he listened as the boy started talking behind him.

jake walked slower. "i know. i always see you hiding behind the pillars."

"was i that obvious?"

"to me? yes. but to sunoo, you're not. he never noticed how you look at him." jake glanced at him. he's being careful not to speak harsh words towards him.

sunghoon laughed bitterly. "now that hurts."

i'm sure it does. but you need to learn and accept the truth.

jake smiled a little. "heal, park. it will take time, but you will heal. trust me." he walked away, leaving sunghoon alone in the middle of the corridor.

assurance.

that's the only thing i can give you for now. i don't know how to help you, but if you're ready to move forward— i'll be here.

++++++++

hello everyone!

congratulations to enhypen for winning artist of the year on TMA! king behavior 🥳

anyways, majority of y'all answered <sunset> on the poll last chapter. and yes, this will determine something on this story :)

have a nice day/night ^^