a/n: this chapter is rather lengthy.

jihae woke up from her surprisingly sweet slumber. the rain was no longer there but the roads were still visibly wet. she stretched her arms and hoped off seonghwa's bed.

she went out of the room to check if the boy was still sleeping, only to find him cooking in the kitchen.

the junior heard footsteps from behind and automatically grinned. "good morning, ji."

"morning, hwa." even though he was only wearing his pajamas paired with his messy hair, he still looked as good as ever. jihae's brain suddenly thought of how it will be like to wake up to this every morning. the boy cooking was simply perfect.

it wasn't any different for seonghwa. he obviously felt something for the sophomore. he found the way his sweatshirt being too big for her adorable. her shorts weren't helping him as well.

"you should have called me to help." the girl yawned.

"i was going to wake you up after. look. it's already done." he said,
trying to show her the bacon
on the frying pan.

the food was served, but it was cut with a ringtone from jihae's phone.

she internally groaned but answered it anyway.

"hello?"

"jihae, hey how's your morning?" soyeon tried to sound cheerful.

the sophomore could tell she
was hiding something. "fine. so, what's up?"

she could hear her sister sigh in disappointment. "despite being worried for you all night, our
darling brother over slept so he
can't pick you up."

jihae frowned, knowing where
this was going.

"can you take a cab?"

"yeah, i have extra cash. don't worry." she tried to sound unbothered.

"sorry, jihae."

"no, it's fine. i'll go now. i wouldn't want to be home any later." she laughed, hoping to ease their moods.

"okay. be safe, and tell seonghwa i
said hi!" she cheerfully hung up.

noticing the shift from her previous mood, seonghwa asked her what's wrong.

the girl explained the situation, making the junior offer a ride (again) since he was going somewhere.

"i could also drop you off the cafe if that's still the same place your meeting up with your group?"

"yep!" the girl beamed. "thank you, thank you, thank you so much, hwa!"

they finished their breakfast, and the boy went and dressed himself up.

jihae wore her uniform again, not wanting an interrogation from her family and gathered her things.

once both were prepared, they drove to the jeon's house.

upon arriving, the family was relieved as they saw their youngest member enter the house.

"jihae! shit, i'm sorry." jungkook bounced off the couch and grabbed her shoulders.

"i'm fine." she chuckled.

jungkook looked behind her to see seonghwa. "thanks for driving her back." he thanked the junior.

"of course."

"jihae!" mrs. jeon hugged her and peppered her with kisses.

it made jihae jokingly whine.
"mom, i didn't die."

the woman laughed and saw seonghwa. "seonghwa! thank you so much. have you had breakfast yet?"

"yes, mrs. jeon."

her dad suddenly came out of nowhere. "jihae! sweetie!"

"hi, dad." she smiled as she hugged him.

"you had us so worried." the man ruffled her hair with a relieved look.

he, then noticed an unfamiliar boy and squinted his eyes. "is he the one you stayed with?"

the girl hummed excitedly. "he's also the one driving me to the cafe, so i need to change now."

seonghwa could only bow.

"jungkook can drive you. i think you've spent enough time with him." mr. jeon claimed, still wary of the junior.

"dad, i can't. the reason i couldn't pick her up was because i need to get to practice." jungkook explained. "i just wanted to see her home safely."

"really, jungkook? what if something did happen to your sister?" their dad's voice sounded angry.

"dad, i'm-" the sophomore wanted to calm them down.

nonetheless, mr. jeon still proceeded. "you're so irresponsible. just take her to that cafe."

"i'm already late, and the dude offered her a ride." jungkook claimed, referring to seonghwa who was awkwardly standing.

"honey-" mrs. jeon spoke up this time still, to no avail.

"your life is revolving around sports and it's destroying your future!" the man looked at their brother straight in the eyes.

jungkook's frustration was already pent up. getting yelled at first thing in the morning, worrying for his sister all night and now getting scolded in front of a schoolmate.

"aren't you tired of saying that?" the tone was rather mocking.

just before mr. jeon can say anything, jihae remarked loudly, "i'm fine!" this caught the family off guard.

"look! i'm in one piece. i rested well, and ate a delicious breakfast. i'm fine."

"jihae-"

"i'll go change, and i'll ride with seonghwa." she sulked going to her room.

once she was out of sight, mrs. jeon smacked both of the male's heads while soyeon shook her head in disapproval.

"there, you made her mad. are you happy?" the woman asked, making them lower their head.

"i'll apologize later. i'll getting going, mom. soyeon." the eldest brother kissed them goodbye. "tell jihae, too."

just before he got out the door, he stepped closer to seonghwa and whispered, "if something happens to my sister, you're getting in trouble."

the junior gulped, but nodded.

jungkook made his way out of their home, driving to the court they usually practice in.

jihae went down the stairs with a completely different look. she was wearing her casual yet proper clothes and her hair was nicely combed. she also already brushed her teeth, washed her face, and applied a little make up.

"let's go?" she said to the junior.

"bye, mom. dad. soyeon." she hugged them and went outside along with seonghwa.

"sorry you had to see that." were her word as soon as they settled in the car.

"no worries." the boy smiled and started the car.

jihae rummaged her bag to see if she has everything needed for the project.

laptop, camera, charger, sweater-

wait, sweater?

it looked like the sweater seonghwa let her borrow for the night. "oh, my gosh. your sweater's here!"

the junior laughed. "how'd that get in there?"

"i guess my mind was floating this morning and put in my bag." she chuckled at her stupidity. "i'll return
it on monday. i'll just wash it."

seonghwa only shook his head. "no, just keep it. it looks better on you anyways."

jihae blushed at the comment. "okay, then. thank you."

°

after meeting up with her group and doing their project, she was finally ready to go home. she was currently waiting outside the cafe for a cab.

her phone unexpectedly rang which caused her to look at the i.d caller.

it was wooyoung. she swiped it to answer and was about to greet him when she heard sobbing on the
other line.

"are y-you busy?" his broken voice spoke which made the girl worry.
a lot.

"woo? did something happen? are you okay?" she instantly asked.

the boy sniffed. "no. i just need someone t-to talk to."

"are you at your apartment? i'll be there in ten minutes." she informed, hailing the cab that was passing.

"t-thanks a lot, ji."

"of course, woo. hang in there a bit." when wooyoung hung up, she hurriedly told the the driver the address, along with the impatient
tapping of her foot.

once she arrived and paid the fare, she ran to his flat and immediately saw wooyoung's bloodshot eyes.

within a second of seeing her, her best friend trapped her in a hug, a tight one and cried on her shoulder.

she returned the hug. she let herself in, wondering what made him this miserable. she led wooyoung to the couch, patting his back.

"do you want some water?" she asked. she didn't want to pressure the boy into telling her. she wanted him to
be fine first.

the silver haired boy took deep breaths to calm him himself. "n-no.
i'll just g-get to the point. i don't wanna waste your time."

jihae frowned at the sight. it hurts her so much to see him like this. he rarely cried and was always confident. of course, there were sad moments but never where he bawled his eyes out.

"you'll never be a waste of time, woo. calm down first and let tell me once you're ready." she reassured him and held his hand.

wooyoung inhaled deeply, gathering his thoughts. he couldn't believe he found the courage to tell her. even if his anxiety was getting to him.

"i'm gay." were the words that came out of his mouth, making him more vulnerable than he already was.

seeing this, jihae embraced him tightly, making him cry even more.

"i'm so proud of you, wooyoung." she whispered, hushing his cries.

hearing those words, the silver haired boy hugged her back. those words meant so much to him.

the fact that he wasn't this disowned, that he wasn't made fun of, that he was accepted by atleast one person meant so, so much.

jihae pulled out of the hug first, looking him in the eyes. "woo, thank you for telling me, really. just know that i love you, okay? all of us do."

"p-please, don't tell t-them yet." wooyoung told her.

"you're telling them when you're ready. no one will force you." she wiped his tears away. she never wanted to see him this broken just because he was being himself.

wooyoung took a deep breath. "will yunho b-be okay with me being
like this?"

"wooyoung. there's nothing wrong with being you!" jihae exclaimed. this was a whole new side of him and she was willing to stay through it all.

"t-then should i tell him? he deserves to know." he asked, as if it was for
her permission.

"it's up to you." the girl automatically answered. she won't let him involuntarily tell anyone just because he felt like it's a responsibility.

it went silent for a while with wooyoung having second thoughts.

"i'll call him." he finally decided.

the silver haired boy dialed yunho's number but after hearing it ring, he got too anxious that he passed the phone to jihae. "you talk to him."

jihae took it, and heard the tall boy.

"wooyoung? what's up?"

"yunho, get your ass over here." she demands. wooyoung needs him here.

not hearing the caller's voice, he instantly got worried. "jihae? oh, my god. where's wooyoung?"

"in his apartment. oh, and bring all your harry potter movies!" she told him to which he complied to.

jihae could hear quick footsteps. "okay, okay. i'm bringing my
laptop. is something wrong?" yunho
asks because he thought there was something really bad that happened.

"just hurry up. be safe on your way here!" jihae reminded him since she knew he could be a bit careless when best friend calls.

"i'll be there in five!" he hung up with no further questions.

jihae prayed nothing will happen to him and informed the nervous boy sitting on the couch. "he'll be here."

"oh, god. what do i say? what if he'll stop being my friend? what if all of them stops being my friend?" he anxiously asked while getting
more worried.

"wooyoung. listen to me. you're not losing anybody. they might take a little time to adjust but that doesn't mean we love you any less." she tried convincing him.

she doesn't want wooyoung thinking they'll hate him for his sexuality. she doubts it'll happen but she obviously won't force him to believe her.

talking to jihae somehow made the culinary major gain confidence to talk to yunho. he knew he could trust the blonde and it's just the fear taking over him.

there was a knock heard on the door. "wooyoung? are you there?" an expected voice arrived.

jihae got up to open the door. "that was quick." she remarked.

"where's woo?" yunho seemed to disregard the girl as he frantically looked for wooyoung.

"in there." she pointed to the
living room.

yunho went to him in an instant, practically shoving jihae out of
the way.

"wooyoung, are you okay? we only binge watch harry potter when we're sad." he said, placing down his laptop.

"uh, y-yunho." he momentarily
stared at jihae for comfort, who gave her a reassuring smile. he inhaled sharply before blurting out the
words, "i'm gay."

he looked down when he saw yunho's shocked yet somehow blank look. he wanted to cry again. "i-i'm sorry-"

yunho placed a hand on his shoulder, making him look up. "is this why you're sad? because you were
worried how i would react?"

wooyoung nodded which made his best friend sigh. "wooyoung. don't you know how much you mean to me?"

jihae made her way on the couch, taking wooyoung's hand in hers.

"y-you don't hate me?" the silver haired boy softly asked.

yunho answered, "even if you tell me you murdered someone, i'll gladly help you hide the body. what makes you think i'll stop being your friend once you tell me you like guys?"

wooyoung looked down once again, earning a side hug from jihae.

the culinary major felt overwhelmed with the reaction and amounts of
love he got from his best friends. he suffered alone all this time and to finally let it out to the people who meant the world to him made him feel elated, relieved, and grateful.

he couldn't express all his emotions at once so he just pulled them in a hug, hoping they'll get the message.

"you guys are the best."

"we know." yunho joked.

wooyoung lets go of them, feeling much better. "i'm so glad i finally
told you two."

"us, too." jihae gave a warm smile.

"there's so much i wanted to tell you but i was scared." he chuckled.

"if you don't mind me asking, what made you tell us?" the blonde boy asked which earned him a smack from jihae.

"ow!"

wooyoung giggled at his friends being extra cautious. "well, i'm actually planning on confessing to someone-"

"is it san?!" they both asked at the same time, surprising the boy.

"well, yeah-"

"yes!" jihae and yunho high fived each other. "the ship is sailing!"

the culinary major smiled at how supportive his best friends are.

"when are you gonna do it?" jihae asked, almost more excited than he is.

"tuesday? i think. he'll come over."

"oh, my god. that soon?" yunho curiously asked but with a hint of happiness in his eyes.

"we have a sort of test coming up, and i figured i'd practice cooking with him." he explained to them.

"our best friend's finally getting a boyfriend!" they cheered, raising
their hands up.

wooyoung laughed, "okay, so how about that harry potter marathon?"

a/n: writing this chapter made me cry:(

i just wanna tell everyone that it's okay to be yourself. that you'll always have someone to lean on and you're not a burden.

i just really wanted to say that. and i hope you know i mean it. ily.