"Wait, let me talk. It's just that-I've known him for years. We aren't some stupid K-drama duo where I've been pining hopelessly and he's actually been in love with me too this entire time, or he's just figuring out he likes me now, or-any of that." Heeseung sighs. "I guess what I'm saying is that I'm trying to be as realistic about this as I possibly can."

And it's true-he thinks he's learned to walk the fine line between letting himself properly crush on the boy he's been friends with for years and making sure to protect himself from the mere possibility of getting hurt. Jay observes him quietly for a moment.

"What is there to lose by telling him, though?" His roommate points out.

Heeseung shrugs sullenly. "Don't want to lose him as a friend," he mutters. "Not that I think he would ever be like that, of course. Honestly, I think a part of me... also doesn't want to be humiliated."

Jay squints at him for a few seconds before he groans, dragging a hand over his face. "I need to show you something," he says quickly as he takes his phone out of his pocket and then stands up, making his way to Heeseung, who frowns.

"What is it?"

"Just give me a sec," Jay mutters as he scrolls quickly, focused intently on his screen until his eyes light up and he smirks, turning his phone to face him. "Look at this."

The first thing he notices is that this is Jay's chat log with Soobin. It's from a week ago, and Soobin's sent something-a screenshot-to Jay with the caption ㅜ.ㅜ ah seriously these two..., and Heeseung confusedly clicks on the picture only to see that it's Soobin's chat log with Jake. Why are you showing me this, he wants to grumble at Jay, but then he looks at the block of messages Jake had sent and-

He freezes.

hyung ㅠㅠㅠㅠ, reads the first one. It's attached to a picture of Jake's Switch screen, and Heeseung realizes it's from when they were visiting Jake's museum together. His heart simultaneously tries to drop into his stomach and launch itself out of his throat as he reads the next texts.

look at us we're matching red and black! animal crossing boyfriends ㅠㅠ

he's really cute, another one reads.

ㅜ.ㅜ hyung what do i doooooo ;;

ㅋㅋ wowww you're so gone for him jakie

i know ㅠㅠ he's too sweet what else am i supposed to do? sheesh

Heeseung looks back and forth between his screen and Jay, mouth dropped open. Jay's crossed his arms, tapping his foot impatiently against their soft circle rug, and he'd honestly probably look more intimidating if it weren't for the way he's practically swimming in his baby blue sweater.

"Uh-" Heeseung starts, trailing off.

"I need you to know something right now, Heeseungie," Jay says. It's the most serious he's heard him in a while. "If you try to be like he only sees me as a friend, it'll be me dangling you out of our window."

"There's no need for that," he protests. "I just-how long have you both been aware of this, exactly?"

Jay shrugs. "A couple months. But that isn't the point. Can't you see how whipped he is for you too? You won't lose anything by confessing to him, Heeseungie, I promise."

"Says the person without a love life," Heeseung mutters, and he gets to experience the lovely sensation of his foot being stomped on multiple times. "Okay, okay! Sorry. This doesn't make it any easier to confess, though."

"Are you kidding me?" Jay exclaims, before he shakes his head. "Look, Heeseung. You have all the time in the world to stew over this and freak out every three seconds over what you should do, but the reality of it is-that's literally just you wasting time. You've always been someone who approaches things bravely, dude, seriously. But for once, stop trying to use logic all the time and realize that Jake clearly fucking likes you."

The mere thought of it makes Heeseung lightheaded, and he buries his face in his hands as he groans. "Stop instigating things," he mutters weakly, his defenses falling, and Jay snorts.

"It's not instigating, Heeseungie," he points out. "It's not bad to want to see my own friend get over himself and approach his crush, now, is it?"

Heeseung glares up at Jay, who shrugs and smiles, and thinks, I have the worst friends ever. A lie, of course, because his roommate seems perfectly fine with talking him through it and giving him tips, but he thinks it all the same.

(He supposes he sees it, though.

This isn't to say he's at all confident enough to firmly say he knows Jake likes him back, of course. But for all his stereotypically stupid bisexual pining, Heeseung isn't an idiot-every single thing he'd originally brushed off as platonic flirting rushes back to him now, and he thinks, Oh. Maybe there's something mutual here.

The thought still makes him want to die of mortification. He doesn't understand why people call it nervous butterflies, because every time he thinks about confessing to Jake his stomach starts violently protesting everything he's eaten that day. But he knows he can't deny it, either, which is perhaps the worst part.)