Jake ^-^: come visit my island i know you're online!!
Jake ^-^: i'll give you my fruits?? ㅠㅠ

Heeseung stares at his texts balefully. When Sunghoon leans over his shoulder to look, he immediately bursts into laughter.

"Dude, you are so whipped," he says, and Heeseung briefly considers murder.

Okay, so he's on his Nintendo Switch in one of the campus libraries-probably weird without any context. In truth, Heeseung's brain is completely fried from his attempts at studying so he's giving himself a break, but he wouldn't have expected Jake to also be playing at three PM.

"Soulmate behavior," Sunghoon says teasingly when he voices this thought. Heeseung simply glares at the older boy as he unlocks his phone.

right now?, he texts back. how does this even work??

one person goes to the airport and asks to visit a friend online, Jake explains. and then the other person opens their gates to let them in. does this mean you'll visit? ㅋㅋ

hm, sure, Heeseung types. He looks at his own screen-his character's standing next to his fully built house, though its clothes don't exactly look... visit-worthy, though he doesn't dwell on it.

Jake says, we gotta call each other though!

Heeseung frowns. Ah, i'm at a library...

ㅠㅠ is Jake's immediate response. okay! let me know when you're back in your dorm pls. i'd come over but i think i'm catching a cold and i don't want you to get sick ;;;

"Cute," Heeseung mutters under his breath, and Sunghoon coughs none too discreetly. "Leave me alone!"

"Hey, you were the one who saw me sitting here and decided to come over," Sunghoon points out. "That's on you."

"I truly wonder what Sunoo sees in you," Heeseung sighs with an air of disdain, and Sunghoon throws his pencil at him.

Jay, thankfully, isn't in their dorm room by the time Heeseung makes it back later. Not that he doesn't want his roommate around, but something tells him he would take the teasing to a whole new level if he were.

i'm here, Jakey, he texts Jake, and is unsurprised to get a near-instant reply.

can i call you?

sure, Heeseung says.

"Hyungie," Jake says cutely as soon as Heeseung picks up. "Hello!"

Heeseung instinctively tries to stifle a smile before he realizes he doesn't need to do that and grins, taking his shoes off and sitting on his bed. "Hey, Jakey. I hope you're not too sick?"

"Just a little cough and a sore throat," Jake assures. His voice does sound a little hoarse-deeper and raspier than Heeseung is used to. "Soobin hyung brought me homemade soup, so it's fine. Okay, okay, get online now."

Heeseung has more friend requests to accept from the club, so he does that as Jake says, "I have my starter pack done for you, just so you know, so before you go to your airport make sure to drop everything you're holding."

"Noted," Heeseung says as he opens the game.

"Have any villagers yet?" Jake asks curiously. "I mean, I think I can safely assume you haven't been playing that much, but still."

"Nope, nothing past my starter villagers," Heeseung says. "Jay showed me some of his, though. He got... um, Marshal? I think is his name? Yeah. He got him on his first try."

"Oh my god, shut up," Jake breathes. "I'm so fucking jealous. I got Lucky on my first try-I love her, but there's this stupid code in the game that makes your first couple of villagers have really basic houses, and the later you go the more developed they get, and Lucky's developed house is so cool."

"I don't think I quite understood half of that," Heeseung admits, and Jake laughs, the sound crackling through the receiver.

"It's okay, you'll get it soon enough. Are you ready yet? It says you're online."

Heeseung rolls his eyes. "Be patient, Jake." He takes his time unloading his things next to his house, reminding himself to sell the clumps of weeds to Tom Nook's capitalist children. "How do you get over the river, by the way? Do we really have to wait for bridges?"

"You can build bridges later," Jake explains. "But I made you a vaulting pole to jump over the water with."

"Oh, thank you," Heeseung says gratefully as he makes his way to the airport. "Um, you can open your gates now?"

"They've been open, Hyungie," Jake says dryly. "Come anytime within the next five years, you slowpoke."

Heeseung can't help his laugh, and Jake snickers too. "You're so mean, pabo-ya."

"Whatever. Anyway," Jake continues, "I'm giving you a bunch of other tools, too! Like a fishing rod, a ladder, an axe, a shovel... oh, a slingshot too. Among other things. Also, your island fruit is cherry, right?"

"Yeah," Heeseung responds distractedly as he reads up on how online play works. "What's yours, Jakey?"

"Peaches!" Jake replies. "I'm giving the rest of the fruits so you can plant your own trees. And I also got you clothes that I think you'll like!"

"Oh," Heeseung murmurs. He's really put a lot of thought into this. It's kind of... painfully endearing. "Thank you again."

"No need to thank me," Jake replies.

The younger boy's island is named Elysianeade, which he has to confirm because a couple other people have their gates open as well. Heeseung confirms the flight and gets sent off, and after a moment Jake says, "Crown's a cute island name, actually."

"Thanks," Heeseung says absentmindedly as he lands in Jake's airport. He's loathe to admit it, but he's excited, practically vibrating on his bed as he leaves the airport.

The first thing he notices is the character standing next to the dock. "Your character's a girl?" He asks curiously.

Jake scoffs, and the character starts running around in circles like he's rolling the joystick around repeatedly. "Bold of you to assume gender exists in Animal Crossing, Hyungie. Do you like my outfit?"

The character stops moving as Heeseung runs over to him. They're wearing long black robes with a red tie around the waist, black sunglasses and a red hyacinth tucked into the hair, which is tied back into a small bun. "Honestly, yeah," Heeseung replies. "It's cute."

"Good," Jake says smugly. "Their name is Jae, by the way. Okay, follow me. My island's still a mess, just a heads up."

He begins leading Heeseung up the island, running past a fully developed town hall and another house. "After a while, you'll get a developed town hall too," he explains. "And that's Tia's house! She's a normal elephant villager and just moved in a few days ago, she's really cute."

Heeseung hums his acknowledgement before Jake heads off to a spot next to the river, where a bunch of items are laid out in neat rows. "You have..." he pauses to stand next to the one closest to the river itself, and his character begins to clap randomly. "This row! You can pick up everything here, and the clothes are the last three items."

"There's so much here," Heeseung says even as he begins picking things up-the fruits are the first things there. "Oh my god, you take this so seriously."

"Perhaps," Jake says absentmindedly. He takes out his shovel and holds it over his shoulder as he says, "I just want to make the game easier for you so you'll actually enjoy it instead of seeing it as a chore, really."

That... makes something flicker in his chest. "I guess you aren't a bastard all the time, huh?"

Jake laughs loudly, so loud Heeseung has to pull the phone away from him, and then he begins to cough. "You asshole," he croaks out after a moment, groaning when Heeseung laughs. "I can't stand you. Worst hyung ever, I shouldn't have even put all of this together for you."

"Right, right." Heeseung grins. He sort of revels in these moments of banter between them, because they're so familiar with each other by now that nothing they say can actually offend them. He picks up the last of the items and eyes the other rows curiously. "This seems like a lot of work, though. How many people ended up asking?"

"Like, five," Jake replies. His character runs up to him and starts clapping again and Heeseung snorts amusedly. "Jungkook hyung actually ended up asking too. He's coming over tomorrow!"

"Wasn't it hard, though?" Heeseung asks curiously.

"I mean, I guess it was time-consuming, but it wasn't bad at all," Jake says honestly. "I like having different tasks to do when I'm gaming which is why I like this game so much. I know you're the same, so I know you'll like it too."

"It's not that bad so far," Heeseung concedes, and Jake scoffs.

"Whatever. You're so stubborn. Let me show you how to use these tools, okay? Get your vaulting pole out. Then I can show you my house and my museum." Then he gasps. "Oh! Put the clothes I got for you on now!"

Heeseung tries to stifle a laugh and fails. "What are you so excited for, hm?" He teases even as he opens his list of items.

"Sorry," Jake says, though he doesn't sound all too apologetic. A smile is clear in his voice and it warms Heeseung's heart. "But really though, sharing interests with people you love is super nice, if that makes sense? It's like-here's something I treasure, so I'm gonna give it to a person I treasure and hope they like it too! ... I hope that doesn't sound stupid."

With people you love. The words run laps in Heeseung's brain and he has to set his phone and Switch down to bury his face in his hands, his heart skipping a beat. He couldn't have meant anything by it, right? There's no way. He crushes his hopes and sets the phone on speaker just as Jake says, "You still with me?"

"Yeah," Heeseung breathes. "I got, um... distracted. Anyway, I get what you mean. It doesn't sound stupid."

"I'm glad," Jake says, though he pauses beforehand and sounds almost hesitant before he clears his throat. "Now c'mon, you're so slow! Sheesh."

"Oh my god, shut up," Heeseung mutters. He puts his clothes on and then stares at himself bemusedly, because-"... I'm wearing these exact clothes right now, pabo-ya, what the fuck?"

Okay, he isn't wearing the red baseball cap-but he is wearing the red sweatshirt and the black jeans, accompanied by black boots he most definitely owns. Jake barks out a laugh and then coughs again, the sound crackling into static for a brief moment before it comes back in to him saying, "Oh my god, really? I've decided I'm a psychic."

"I would believe you," Heeseung says in awe. He runs around a bit and finds that he quite likes the way his character looks. "Thank you, Jakey. I unironically love this."

"As you should, or else I'd beat your ass," Jake mutters, but he sounds satisfied as he says, "Okay, let's go now. If you want any new clothes, just let me know and I'll buy them for you. Lemme teach you how to use this shit and then we can go on a museum date and I can visit your island afterwards!"

"There's, like, nothing there," Heeseung protests, but Jake's already urging him to get his ladder out as his character runs off. Heeseung follows begrudgingly with the words museum date firmly lodged in his head, and finds himself enjoying the longest phone call of his life despite vehemently being against calling people in general.

He can't find it in him to be shocked. Jake's been far too good at getting him to like things he'd never have bothered with otherwise. But he's thankful for it, too, because it means he gets to spend time with him like this-ultimately ignoring his homework in favor of listening to Jake talking about all the fossils he's already collected as the sun begins to set.

When Jay steps into their room to see Heeseung nearly falling his his bed laughing at Jake being chased and stung by bees, he gives him a knowing look. Heeseung pretends not to notice it.