[020], aera versus jake! (who loves the other more?)

AERA stood in the middle of the kitchen, half-awake. The fire alarm was ringing loudly through the apartment as Riki stood in front of the stove, a guilty look on his face. Jay stood behind him, shaking his head and staring at the burnt Bungeoppang.

"How many times do I have to tell you?" Jay scolds, "you're not allowed to be in the kitchen unattended."

Riki sighs, "but I was hungry and Aera was too busy sleeping with her boyfriend instead of making me food."

Jay only shakes his head in response and finally turns off the loud fire alarm. "You could've asked me, Riki."

"Your Bungeoppang sucks, Jay," Riki pouts, "I like Aera's the best. But ever since she started dating Jake it's like I've become the lowest priority in her life and I don't like it," Riki's gaze cuts over to a sleepy Aera standing next to the dining table. "You're on your last life, Aera. Soon we won't be friends anymore."

"You could've woke me up, Riki," Aera says, rubbing her eyes.

Riki scoffs, "why would I want to enter a room with you and Jake in it? Who knows what I would walk into!"

Aera rolls her eyes. "We're not that horny, Riki, you're just being overdramatic."

"Am I? Am I?" 

"Let me go put some socks and pants on and I'll make some Bungeoppang for you, how does that sound?"

Riki grins, "that sounds perfect."

Aera rolls her eyes and walks out of the kitchen, carrying herself into Jake's room that's brighter than before. Sunlight streams in through the curtain, creating a yellow haze and Jake is still sound asleep beneath the covers, his mouth slightly agape.

Quietly, Aera pulls on some jeans she left here a couple of days ago and some socks. Jake still isn't awake by the time Aera's finished pulling on her jeans so she approaches him with a find smile on her face and brushes a hand through his blond hair. She can see his roots starting to grow back in but she knows he's going with Sunghoon to get them touched back up in a few days.

Leaning down, Aera presses a light kiss to Jake's forehead and glides out of the room, the light feeling settling back over her like a veil. Aera's sure she's never felt this happy, this content with her life before. Aera's sure she's never felt this in love before and she wonders if this all has to do with Jake.

Aera places the thought aside as she enters the kitchen to find Riki staring at her with a guilty look on his face, burnt Bungeoppang in his hand that was half-eaten. "Why are you eating burnt Bungeoppang, Riki?"

"Sunoo made me."

"Sunoo's not here. Are you on drugs, Riki?"

"And what if I am?"

"I'll call over Heeseung. And Jay. They'll sort you out."

Riki shudders. "Don't make me imagine what they would do to me. Look, I'm just so hungry."

"There's plenty of other things in the kitchen to eat, Riki," Aera says softly as she starts making Bungeoppang for Riki, "why do you need Bungeoppang?"

"Because."

"Because...?"

"Just because."

Aera sighs. Sometimes it's best to not start up a conversation with Riki because it leads you nowhere.

The pair falls into a familiar rhythm of Riki handing her the ingredients Aera needed to make the batter, and then Riki turns on some music to sing along to as Aera begins to bake the Bungeoppang. With fond eyes, Aera watches Riki dance around the kitchen, ignoring Sunghoon's glare who had just woken up.

"Who let him in?" Sunghoon grumbles at one point.

"I learned to never question Riki, Hoon," Aera says, checking on the Bungeoppang. "Sometimes it's best to not know."

Aera's plating up some of the finished Bungeoppang for Riki to eat when the younger boy groans. "Go back to bed, Jake, you had your time with Aera last night. And the night before that, and the week before that, and --"

Riki's voice is muffled, and hands slide around Aera's waist, a chin resting on her shoulder. Aera supposes Sunghoon shut Riki up by shoving some food into his mouth because some choking occurs while Aera shivers after Jake's breath hits the side of her neck.

"You weren't in bed when I woke up," he pouts, his lips gently brushing Aera's neck.

"I know. I'm sorry, Jake, but Riki was about to burn down the kitchen. And then get murdered by Jay."

"You should've left him. A dead Riki means a happy life."

Aera giggles and Riki calls out, "I heard that!" He chokes again after Sunghoon stuffs more Bungeoppang into his mouth.

Light kisses are pressed to Aera's neck and Jake's arms tighten around her waist, she hears the boy inhale deeply and muffles her giggle, "why are you smelling me?"

"Because I love the way you smell. What perfume do you use?"

Aera moves around the kitchen, and Jake doesn't let go. "I don't know. It's Yena's birthday present for me."

"Show me the perfume next time we're at your dorm."

"Why?"

"Because I'll buy it."

Aera laughs, "you're so weird, Jake."

"But you love me."

Aera sighs, her heart swelling. "I do. I do love you."

More light kisses are pressed along Aera's neck and she leans back into Jake's embrace, her cheek touching Jake's own as they watch the Bungeoppang bake. Jake's hands dip beneath the t-shirt Aera was wearing and touch her bare skin, moving in soothing circles on her stomach.

Aera's heart lights up in a bright red once more and love floods her bloodstream. It's hard to stop feeling this way whenever she's with Jake. It's hard to keep her love for him under control because it'll always be wild and untameable and Aera has to get used to that fact. The fact that her love is just as carefree and spontaneous as Jake is, that her love for Jake is hard to put into words because it's everything and nothing at the same time.

"Not in front of my Bungeoppang please," Riki calls out.

"Shut up, Riki," Jake says, lifting a hand away from Aera's skin. She's pretty sure Jake's pulling the finger at Riki but she's too comfortable to check. "Go back to writing fanfiction about Sunoo."

Riki gasps and then chokes. "I do -- I wasn't writing fanfiction about Sunoo!"

"And I didn't fuck Aera last night."

Aera scowls. "Shut the fuck up, Jake."

"Be more quiet next time, please," Sunghoon says, "I could hear you over the white noise I was playing."

Aera feels herself blush and Jake laughs.

"What were you doing then, Riki?" Jake asks.

"Writing....A manifesto."

"Do you even know what that word means, Riki?" Sunghoon snorts.

"No. The word just sounds cool."

Jake, Aera, and Sunghoon all sigh collectively. "I'm glad you just proved to us that you'll be the last person in our friend group to get into a serious relationship," Jake says, pulling away from Aera. "I don't think I'll be able to handle myself if you get a girlfriend, or boyfriend if you swing that way."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Riki asks, pouting.

"I'd be praying for them every night."

Riki scowls and chucks his Bungeoppang at the boy, ignoring Aera's death glare. She spent five minutes making that Bungeoppang only to have Riki throw it at her boyfriend's back. Talk about a waste of food.

"No throwing food around, Riki," Aera scolds. "I made that with love and you have the audacity to throw it? Maybe I won't make Bungeoppang for you anymore."

Riki sighs, "sorry. I won't throw my food again. Please keep making Bungeoppang for me otherwise I'll die if you stop."

Aera rolls her eyes. "Thank you for the apology that was also somewhat manipulative."

Yena's loud voice echoes through the apartment before another argument can start up again. "Yo, bitches!" And then Heeseung's clear voice floats after Yena's, telling the girl to take off her shoes and not throw her jacket on the ground. It's silent for a few seconds, and then Yena's thumping footsteps fill up the apartment.

Yena slides into the kitchen and holds up her hands which are tainted red. "I dyed Heeseung's hair! I think I should become a hairdresser because I did such a good job!" Heeseung enters the kitchen not long after Yena and everyone stares.

"Why. . . Did Yena actually do a good job?" Sunghoon sounds incredulous and Yena scowls at his tone.

"I am actually the most perfect person in the world."

"I beg to differ," Riki mutters, frowning as he makes his two Bungeoppang fight each other.

"Fuck off, Ruku. Anyway, let me know if you want to me dye your hair! I'll charge five dollars an hour."

"I'm fine," Jake speaks up, "you'll probably set my hair on fire on purpose."

"Probably," Yena shrugs, "you dated Nicole willingly, so setting your hair on fire pales in comparison."

Aera snorts and looks over at Jake who is scowling. At the mention of Nicole, Jake becomes quiet and clings to Aera in an attempt to remind the girl that he'll only ever love her. Aera enjoys the feeling of Jake on her skin as he constantly whispers reassurances of his love for her in her ear, she enjoys the feeling of Jake's lips gliding across her collarbones and down her thighs, marking what is his — what'll forever be his.

Jay eventually leaves his room to walk into a heated argument between Yena, Heeseung, Jake, and Riki over who is better at Mario Kart, and then they demand Jay go get Jungwon and Sunoo so they can join in on the discussion, which eventually turns into a tournament.

Aera's sitting on the ground hours later, her back leaning against Jake's legs as he and Riki compete against each other. Sunoo's lying on Aera's lap, doing his own thing as he scrolls through the many social media apps he has on his phone, often showing Aera some funny things which they both laugh over.

The contentment in Aera's life does not only stem from Jake. It stems from the relationships she's built. From Yena, her first friend, to Sunoo, a friend she made only last year but now is someone she never wants to let go of. Aera finds happiness and contentment in the simplest of things now — like watching her friends bicker over some stupid video game, like watching Jay scold them all for not cleaning up after themselves in the kitchen, like watching Jungwon obliterate the friend group to pieces when it comes to Monopoly. Aera even finds happiness in watching Yena and Riki compete against each other to see who can hold their breath the longest. (Yena wins and they all know it's because she spends too much time kissing and pleasuring Heeseung.)

Aera's driven back to campus by Jake and spends too long making out in his car. He's an addiction Aera's too scared to let go of. Pulling away, her cheeks flushed red and lips even redder, she stares down at Jake who stares at her with the most gorgeous look on her face she's ever seen. Her thumbs brush over his cheeks and Jake's eyes flutter shut for a moment, too many emotions curl within Aera's stomach that she's unable to contain it all, so she goes back for another kiss, pouring all her emotions out that way.

Jake returns the same urgency, pressing Aera closer to him, a hand moving up from her waist to cup the side of her neck. Her lungs burn and Aera pulls back away, letting her forehead touch Jake's. They breathe in sync and Aera's never felt more in love. Her thumbs return to brushing over Jake's cheekbones, soaking up the flustered state of Jake after kissing him senselessly.

"You drive me crazy, baby," Aera says, her voice low, her thumb moves from Jake's cheek to his bitten lips, enjoying the feeling of his lips on her thumb, "half of the time I don't know what to do with myself around you."

Jake leans forward and kisses Aera's chin, then slides his lips down the front of her throat, catching some skin between his teeth and pinching lightly before pulling away, letting Aera resume brushing over his lips that were a dark shade of red. "You're so beautiful," Aera says again, too scared to raise her voice in fear that this moment is all a dream, "and you're all mine."

◾◾◾◾

"I see you finally got your shit sorted, Aera," Soobin says to the girl as they stand outside Jake's car. Aera was waiting for Jake to get out of soccer practice so they could go to the new Frozen Yogurt shop that had opened up a couple of days ago. The weather was getting warmer as summer draws close so Aera was eager to waste some money on frozen yogurt, especially if she was with Jake.

Aera rolls her eyes, but smiles. "It took way too long, but I'm just glad we ended up together."

Soobin nods his head, "also, I'm having a graduation party in a few days."

"You haven't even graduated yet," Aera says.

"Yeah, but Yeonjun wanted an excuse to throw another party at his place. You're welcome to come, though I'm sure it'll get out of control like it always does."

Aera grins and pushes her hair away from her face. "I'll definitely be there, Soobin, you know how much I love parties."

"Alright!" Soobin checks his phone, "I should probably go. I'm meeting up with Kai in a few minutes. Spread the news about the party, yeah? I want to see the look on Yeonjun's face when some drunken assholes break another priceless vase."

Aera laughs and nods her head, catching sight of Jake approaching his car with Jay and Riki latched onto either side of him. "I will as long as you promise to record his reaction."

"It's a deal!" Soobin salutes Aera a goodbye and jogs away, leaving Aera to watch Jake approach her with the brightest smile on his face.

"Hey, baby!" Jake sweeps Aera into a hug and kisses her, sending a swarm of butterflies to her stomach. "I hope you weren't waiting too long."

"No, I wasn't," Aera replies, fixing some strands of Jake's hair, "I had Soobin to keep me company anyway. Yeonjun's throwing a party in a couple of days, wanna go?"

"Of course," Jake responds, his arm wrapping around her waist like usual. "Are you gonna come to the soccer final?"

Aera nods her head, "yeah, we've all figured out a hotel to stay at."

Jake grins and kisses Aera again, Riki and Jay groaning at the display of affection right in front of them. "We're gonna go now," Jay says, "and let you two do whatever you get up to in the back of Jake's car."

Aera scowls and gives Jay the finger. "At least Jake is getting some, unlike you. Loser."

Jay ignores Aera and pulls Riki after him, who tells Jake not to spend too much time with Aera because he needs to talk to her about a few things. "I think he's going to ask me to do his homework again," Aera tells Jake as she climbs into his car, "he's creating some bad habits."

Jake laughs, "you're allowing it to continue to happen, baby, you should learn to say no to Riki."

Aera scoffs, "you should listen to your own words, my love, you can't say no to Riki. Stop giving him alcohol whenever he asks."

"He's just so persuasive, baby," Jake complains as he pulls out of the car park, one hand on the steering wheel and the other pressed against the back of Aera's seat as he looks out the back window.

"See! You know I can't say no to Riki! It hurts every time I try to say no," Jake takes Aera's hand into his and squeezes lightly, "he's just so far away from his family," Aera adds softly, "I want to shower him with love so he knows he's not alone."

Jake stares at Aera, his eyes soft. He presses the top of Aera's hand to his lips, grazing her skin softly. "You're the best person I know, Aera. You're beautiful inside and out."

Aera turns her head to look out the window, "it's green, Jake," she gestures to the traffic lights, and Jake steps on the gas pedal, the car lurching in motion. Aera hides the blush on her face from Jake. Everything he says to her gives Aera more of a reason to collapse into a full nervous breakdown. He's too good for Aera.

"You can't just say things like that, Jake," Aera complains, "you can't just call me beautiful and expect me to not cry."

Jake chuckles lightly and squeezes Aera's hand again. "I'm sorry, baby, but it's true. You're the most beautiful girl I've ever seen."

Aera's cheeks became hotter at every word Jake spoke. The fire in her stomach was raging out of control and for once, Aera didn't want the fire to die out. She squeezes Jake's hand back and finally turns to look at the boy who never fails to make Aera feel like the only girl in the world.

"I love you, Jake."

Jake kisses the back of Aera's hand again. "I love you more, baby."

They reach the new frozen yogurt place and Aera eagerly skips into the store, ready to fill her cup up with frozen yogurt and a load of sweet lolly toppings. She's ready to drain Jake's credit card with the amount of frozen yogurt and toppings she loads into her small paper cup.

"You're very happy to be here, baby," Jake muses, an arm wrapping back around Aera's waist — its usual resting place.

"Of course I am, Jake," Aera responds, "it's food! Who isn't happy when it comes to food?"

Jake's lips graze Aera's temple and like always, a shiver zaps up her spine. "True. Food is love, food is life — that's what Jungwon, Sunoo, and Riki always chant before they eat Jay's food."

Aera giggles and steps into the store blasting the A/C. It's nice to feel cool instead of hot all the time, though her body wasn't ready for the sudden adjust in the temperature so she huddles close to Jake who is always so warm.

"You're so cute sometimes, baby," Jake presses a kiss to Aera's nose, and then pauses in front of the self-serve machines. "Time to make our frozen yogurt, wanna see who can make the heaviest?"

Aera grins at Jake, a familiar competitive glint in her eye. "You're so on, my love."

Aera found herself giggling nonstop as she fills up her paper cup with vanilla frozen yogurt — it's always good to have a plain base because the toppings give the yogurt the sweetness everyone craves when they step into a store like this. She and Jake reach the front of the store at the same time and wait in anticipation as the yogurt is weighed. Aera wins and she steals a kiss from Jake when they take a seat in one of the many booths lining the store's walls.

They eat in silence for a while, soaking up the calm atmosphere of the store, and savoring the taste of their sweet frozen yogurt. Jake is the one to break the silence after staring at Aera for too long. "You know, sometimes I realize I love you so much, I wonder how I can even live."

Aera simply gapes at Jake, unsure of how to respond, or how to react. It takes everything within Aera to not break down and cry in the middle of a frozen yogurt store because she's never felt this loved by someone before.

"You're someone I can't live without, baby," Jake says, reaching for Aera's hand, "and I hope in my next life we'll find each other again, and I'll love you just as deeply."

"Jake," Aera whispers out, "I love you."

Jake's smile is the eighth wonder of the world. "I love you, Aera, and I'll never stop saying it. It'll be the first thing you hear when you wake up, and the last thing you hear before you fall asleep. I'll whisper it to you during lectures and while we're watching movies, and I'll send you text messages when we're apart. I can't have you not know how deeply I feel for you." Jake's eyes shine. Aera's heart is complete for the first time in a long time. Aera knows her love for Jake is a promise of forever. There's no one like Jake — no one else even comes close to Jake. "Watching you hurt beneath my hand was the worst experience of my life and I'll do anything to wash that hurt away for good."

Aera smiles and blinks away her tears, the sun rays reflect off of Jake's eyes, and Aera's blinded, but it doesn't hurt. Nothing with Jake will ever hurt. "I'll never stop loving you, Jake. Please stay with me. Forever."

Jake smiles, "I promised you, didn't I?"

◾◾◾◾

Aera sat alone in her dorm on the night of the party. Aera didn't plan on being alone, but she had procrastinated her Criminology assignment for too long that she couldn't afford to go to the party — but hey, there's always Soobin's actual graduation party to attend in a few weeks.

Yena had done everything to try and pull Aera away from her bed but it was futile because Aera's far too stubborn for Yena. So, Aera wallowed in the pain of typing up her two-thousand-word assignment while her friends get black-out drunk. (Though, hopefully when they return Aera can record them embarrassing themselves and use it as blackmail.)

It was a little past 1 AM when Aera's phone lit up with an incoming call from jakey baby😆😆😆😆. A soft smile passes over Aera's face as she reaches for her phone and answers the call, Jake's voice was loud as he happily slurs out Aera's name, loud music in the background.

"Aera!" Jake cheers, "where are you? I miss you!" His words slur together and Aera stiffens a giggle. Jake was clearly drunk and Aera came to realize that Jake was cute when he was drunk.

"Hi Jake," Aera says gently, "are you still at Yeonjun's?"

"Yes! Where are you, baby? I can't find you!"

"I'm at my dorm, remember? I have this stupid college assignment to do."

"Who cares about college?!" Jake says loudly, "come to the party, baby! It's no fun without you here — oh! Sunghoonie is doing the keg stand, I'm going to show you Aera!" There are loud voices, one being Jake's, and the other being Jay's. They talk to each other — one clearly drunk off their face, and the other sober, but Aera can't make out their conversation.

"Aera, baby," Jake's cute voice is suddenly more clear, "could you see Sunghoon doing the keg stand? Wasn't he sooo cool? Where are you, Aera? Come to the party!"

"I'll see you later today, Jake," Aera replies, "make sure to drink some water, okay?"

"I love you Aera, you care about me so much and you still loved me even when I was so stupid."

"I love you too, Jake. You care about me too!"

"But not enough," Aera can hear the pout in Jake's voice, and she giggles.

"Jake, you care about me more than anyone else."

"Aera —" Jake sounds like he's on the verge of tears and Aera doesn't know whether to laugh or comfort him.

"Jake, don't cry!"

"I'm — I'm not," Jake defends, sniffling, "I just miss you. That's all. This party is boring without you because you're all I think about now. Like, when I was watching Sunghoon do the keg stand and I was thinking of how hot you would look doing instead of Sunghoon, and then a fight broke out between some people and I thought about how you punched that one guy for Sunghoon, and then some people started playing spin the bottle and all I could think about was our first kiss."

"Aww, Jake," Aera closes her Macbook and stuffs it back into its case, pulling out a shoulder bag to put the Macbook in alongside other things she usually takes when she stays the night with Jake. "Are you leaving the party soon?"

"We have to find Yena first. Heeseung says she went off with Sunoo somewhere."

"Have you checked the stoner corner? Yena usually likes to hang out there sometimes," Aera tells Jake, looking for the other matching sock to the one on her foot. Aera has to pull her phone away from her ear as Jake shouts out Aera's words to Jay over the loud music.

"We found her and Sunoo!" Jake cheers, "we're all going back to the apartment now!"

"Okay baby," Aera hums, grabbing a random sock she finds beneath her bed, "I'll meet you there."

Jake gasps loudly and overdramatically. "You're going to the apartment?"

Aera giggles, "yes I am. I'll see you soon, love you." She ends the call before Jake could say anything back and rushes out of her dorm, praying her uber takes her from campus to Jake's apartment quicker than ever before.

During the ride over, Aera's phone lights up with a constant stream of badly misspelled texts from Jake, informing Aera of what was happening in the car. (Sunghoon was crying in the backseat, something about his ex-girlfriend, Jay was cussing out Sunghoon and every other driver on the road.)

Even as Aera rides the elevator up to the floor Jake's apartment was on, her phone still receives texts from the very drunk boy, long after he told her they arrived at the apartment. The elevator doors ding open and Aera immediately sees a large group all huddled around a door.

Aera first makes eye contact with Jungwon who waves his hand sharply through the air, hitting Sunoo in the face who was standing, half-asleep. "Aera!"

Aera approaches the group with a wide smile, and then she sees Jay. There's no denying it; Jay is angry. Pissed. Aera has to hide her amused smile and moves over to Jay, "need help?" Jay glances up at Aera, and she sees relief soak into his body.

"Please," Jay groans, finally clicking the door unlocked. "Heeseung has his hands full. Literally," he points over his shoulder and Aera sees Yena literally clinging to Heeseung like a koala — her legs were wrapped around Heeseung's waist, her arms around his shoulders, and her head buried into the crook of his neck.

"Hey, Aera," Heeseung says with a wide smile, "I feel lightheaded."

Aera laughs and pushes open the door. Sunoo, Jungwon, and Riki all race inside, their voices never lowering as they shout their conversation to each other. Sunghoon walks past, shoulders slumped and eyes bloodshot. "Sunghoon is a sad drunk," Jay informs Aera, slipping off his shoes, "he likes to cry. A lot."

Aera laughs, and then stumbles forward as a body bumps into her, arms immediately wrapping around her waist and a kiss on her neck. "Baby," Jake cheers, "I missed you so much, never leave me alone again! Especially with Sunghoon."

"Okay, I won't," Aera says, leaning into Jake's warm, but drunk, embrace.

"Where should I put Yena, Jay?" Heeseung asks, pushing the door shut with his foot. "I feel like I'm going to pass out any moment. She's holding me really tightly."

"In the guest room," Jay tells Heeseung. "And I'll put the younger three in my room, and then I'll just sleep on the couch," he eyes Sunghoon who opens his mouth to say something, "no. Shut the fuck up, Sunghoon. I'm not sleeping in your bed." He looks over to Aera, "stop smirking, I'm not sleeping in a room with you and Jake."

Aera shrugs, "your loss. We're very warm!"

Jay scowls. "I take it back. I'm not relieved to have you here."

Aera rolls her eyes, "let's get these losers to bed. Jake, come, time to go drink some water," Aera takes Jake's hand and pulls him to the kitchen, Jay and Sunghoon trailing closely behind — Heeseung had gone to the guest room to finally put Yena down and breathe.

Lots of glasses being shoved down throats and loud bickering over why they shouldn't play Mario Kart was 2 AM in the morning later, the youngest three were finally wrestled into bed by Jay. (Riki was the first to be subdued after Aera threatened to throw out The Pan.)

Jay rubs his forehead and pushes his glasses up his nose, turning to smile tightly at Aera. "You're done for the night. I'm going to go drown my sorrows in Diet Coke — please keep the noise down." There's a knowing look in Jay's eyes that has Aera blushing and bumbling about to refute whatever those eyes were telling Aera, but Jay was already halfway down the hall when words finally form.

Walking into Jake's room, she finds the boy lying on his bed staring up at the ceiling. The door gently clicks behind Aera and his head raises slightly to check who had entered his room. Aera gives her boyfriend a gentle smile and walks over to him, tugging off her socks — she was so used to Jungwon scolding her for wearing socks on his bed that she, unconsciously, takes them off before climbing onto her — or anyone else's — bed.

Aera climbs on top of Jake, her legs tucking themselves between Jake's own and her nose brushing his neck. The silence is comforting, especially as Jake's hand begins to slowly move up and down Aera's back.

"Did you see Sunghoon do the keg stand, baby?" Jake mumbles into Aera's ear.

Aera giggles softly, "No, I didn't, you called me. I couldn't see anything except for your contact name."

"Oh."

Aera raises herself on her hands that were placed on either side of Jake's head. "Yeah," she says, "oh," she nudges Jake's nose with her own. "You're so dumb sometimes, but it's cute when you're dumb, my love."

Jake's hand slides down to Aera's waist and squeezes lightly, "I missed you, Aera."

Aera hums, her hand pushing Jake's hair away from his forehead. "Me too, my cute little almond."

"Almond? Seriously?"

"You don't like it?"

"I hate it."

Aera giggles, and then squeaks when Jake squeezes her waist a little harder than necessary. "You call Riki baby, but not me and I want to know why!" Jake pouts and Aera is glad she's with him in real life so she can kiss away his pout. Pulling back, Aera smiles, amused, at Jake's hooded eyes.

"Riki's my baby, Jake."

"And I'm not?"

"No," Aera kisses Jake's cheeks, and his nose, "you're. ."

Jake raises an eyebrow, waiting for Aera's answer.

"You're my love." Aera presses one last kiss to Jake's lips before rolling off him and grabbing her Macbook. She slips beneath the comforter and opens her Macbook acutely aware of Jake lying next to her in a daze.

Aera reaches over and pinches Jake's cheeks. "Jake, my love, time for you to sleep!"

Jake follows Aera's words and curls himself up against Aera, every inch of his body touching Aera's and he watches her type away at her assignment due today. "Aren't you going to sleep?"

"Not until you sleep," Jake says, though Aera could easily tell sleep would come to Jake in a matter of minutes.

Aera was right. A few minutes later, Aera turns to look at Jake who was fast asleep.

◾◾◾◾

A few days later Aera sits in Jungwon's dorm again, her bare feet hanging off the edge of Riki's bed as she studies for her upcoming finals. Beside her, Riki plays Animal Crossing, his legs resting on Aera's back as he sits with his back pressed against the wall.

"Do you seriously write new motivational quotes every day?" Yena asks asking Sunoo in disbelief as he holds the small whiteboard usually hanging on the back of the door into their dorm. "Because this one wasn't here yesterday."

"Yeah," Sunoo says without looking up from his phone, "do you have a problem with that?"

"No," Yena says, "I just don't get it. How are they supposed to work? Like, do you look at them and boom you're suddenly successful in life?"

"No. They're more like reminders."

"What? How?"

"You're overthinking this, Yena," Juungwn says, looking away from his phone that was probably playing Aladdin again. "You don't even live with us, so why is it a problem?"

Yena shrugs and jumps onto Jungwon's bed — socks and all. "Do you wanna live together, Jungwonie?"

Jungwon scowls and attempts to push Yena off his bed. "Not if you wear socks on my bed."

Yena pouts, "surely we can agree to disagree!"

"Are you guys planning on staying in the dorm next year?" Aera asks, deciding to take a break from studying.

Jungwon shrugs, "probably. It's not like we have anywhere else to live."

"With us," Yena says, "you can live with us."

"What do you mean?" Sunoo asks, turning off his phone. "You want us to live in your ratty dorm?"

Yena scowls. "It is not ratty. And Miss. Born-With-A-Golden-Spoon-Shoved-Up-My-Ass over here is looking at buying us an apartment with her savings. I didn't even know she had over ten thousand dollars in her savings. I thought she was blowing it all on condoms."

Aera scowls and flips off Yena.

"I always forget you're filthy rich, Aera," Jungwon comments, "just like Jake, Jay, and Riki."

"I would kill to be the kid of Jake and Aera," Sunoo sighs, "you would be born with five golden spoons up your ass."

"Jake's rich?" Yena asks, "but he dresses like a drug addict?"

Everyone snickers. "Jake is a very private guy," Sunoo states, "he went to this fancy-ass high school with Jay and Sunghoon, and he has like a 4.5 GPA, and he got into like all the Ivy League colleges but he choose to go to this college because he got a scholarship, and maybe because his friends were coming here too."

"That still doesn't explain anything," Yena frowns, "it just proves he's a fucking nerd. How is he rich? His fashion taste sucks."

"He always went to these rich private schools for elementary, middle school, and high school. Jungwon searched them up one night after we first met Jake, and the tuition blew our minds," Sunoo says, "show them the tuition, Jungwon."

Jungwon pulls up the notes app and leans over to show Yena whatever was on his screen. her eyes grow comically wide and she looks at Aera. "How the fuck did you manage to snag a hot, rich, nerd who is also really good at sex?" Yena fans herself, "damn Aera."

"Jake's family and Jay's family also co-own some of the massive corporate chains in Korea," Sunoo adds, swinging his legs through the air after moving to lie on his stomach. "But, of course, you would never know this because they're so damn humble about it." Sunoo scoffs, "I would be an annoying rich. I would flaunt it whenever I could."

Aera nudges Riki with her arm, "and you? Are you rich?"

Riki rolls his eyes, "how else would I be able to do the exchange program without a sponsor?"

Aera scowls. "Back to the original topic — do you guys want to move in with Yena and I after this semester ends? I have this four-bedroom apartment downtown."

"How much is the rent?" Jungwon asks.

Yena scoffs, "Rent? We don't have to pay rent, Jungwon."

"It's already paid for," Aera smiles, "I put in the deposit last week. We only need to worry about the electricity, internet, and water bills."

"It's an obvious yes," Sunoo says. "If you say no, Jungwon, I will kick your ass."

"I wasn't going to say no," Jungwon grumbles. "I say yes. This dorm is too small, and Riki will say yes because he loves milking off people."

Riki scowls. "Yeah, yeah, whatever you say Jungwon. The main concern I have is: who will room together? There's five of us and four rooms."

"We'll get to that issue later," Yena shrugs, "for now, let's be excited! We're finally going to be roomies!"

"Yay," Riki says sarcastically, "I'm rooming with a bunch of Mountain Dew haters."

"You brought this onto yourself, Riki," Aera says.

◾◾◾◾

"Road trip!" Sunoo cheers as he slides into the passenger seat of Sunghoon's car. After an intense game of Rock-Paper-Scissors, the seats in Sunghoon's car were determined; Sunoo to have the passenger seat, and Jungwon and Aera will have the back seat to themselves. It went without saying that Yena would be driving down to the town the soccer final is taking place, with Heeseung.

"Don't worry, Aera," Jungwon tells the girl as they get settled in their seats, "I downloaded some movies. Do you want to watch Aladdin first? We have four hours to kill."

"Sure," Aera says, taking an Airpod from Jungwon's waiting hand. Soon, Sunghoon's and Sunoo's bickering is drowned out by the beginning notes of Arabian Nights. After Aladdin, The Little Mermaid begins to play, which gets Aera shifting in her seat because this movie was all she used to watch when she was younger. The Little Mermaid and Mulan were her favorite Disney movies.

The group all take a toilet stop, but Jungwon and Aera remain glued to Jungwon's phone as they watched Sebastian sing to Prince Eric, telling him to just kiss the girl. Sunghoon does come back to the car with a bag of chips for the pair, who thank Sunghoon and promise to shower him with their love.

It's 8 PM by the time Aera finally stands for the first time in four hours. She yawns and stretches in the lobby of their hotel, watching Heeseung and Jungwon organize their rooms. Yena was squabbling with Riki on the phone in the background and Sunoo had his phone out to take some selfies.

"I hope I'm not rooming with you," Sunghoon tells Aera, "I'd have to take Advil every hour."

"And then overdose and die and I will dance happily around your dead body," Aera responds.

"Morbid."

"And what about it, Hoon? At least I don't cry over my ex-girlfriend while drunk."

Sunoo giggles and Aera smirks, "you should really control your drinking, darling. Don't want me to video you crying and use it as blackmail, now do we?"

Sunghoon scowls and pushes Aera's face away with the palm of his hand. Heeseung and Jungwon approached the group, "how do we decide who rooms with who?" Heeseung asks, "because we have two rooms with three beds in both."

"Rock-paper-scissors?" Sunoo suggests, "that's an easy and simple game."

Aera shrugs, "yeah, let's decide through rock-paper-scissors again."

The rooms were decided after another intense game that included lots of shouts of agony from a few of the players, which earned them some attention they didn't want. Eventually, the rooms were decided and Aera ends up rooming with Heeseung and Yena.

"I hope Jake has a room to himself," Aera mutters, "because that's where I'll be staying tomorrow night."

Yena laughs and pinches Aera's cheeks. "Aren't you the cutest?"

Aera scowls and bats Yena's hand away. After putting all their stuff away and claiming their beds, Aera moves into the other room where they begin to make signs for their friends. Soon, Soobin, Yeonjun, Beomgyu, Taehyun, and Kai join them after Heeseung finds out they are also staying at the same hotel.

It's a little past 2 AM when Aera eventually retires to bed, Yena and Heeseung curled up together on another bed. Aera's excited for tomorrow, she's excited to see Jake on the soccer field, and she's excited to see him win.

◾◾◾◾

Aera feels like she's going to pass out. Her heart is trying to break out of her chest. It's a tight game — a close game Aera's poor heart can't take it. It's tied, 2 - 2. The ball is kicked up and down the field, there's been almost-fights, there's been the sneaky ankle tap, there's been frustrated kicks that did nothing but give the other team another chance to score. Aera has a feeling she won't have her voice tomorrow with all the screaming she's been doing.

"I can't watch!" Sunoo exclaims, hiding his face in the collar of his jacket. "I can't!"

It's the last dying minutes and Aera's never screamed louder. She reaches for Sunghoon's hand and squeezes it tightly, to which Sunghoon reciprocates. They both want this win badly. Their signs have long been discarded on the ground as they got into the game more fiercely — Aera never thought she would be that girlfriend, but there she stood, her eyes ablaze and screaming for the win she so desperately wants. Maybe she can kinda see the thrill in watching the team you support the most win.

Jay tackles the ball off the opposition and stares to kick his way down field, their school rising to their feet and roaring loudly. Aera's voice joins in, and Jay passes the ball to Riki who, skillfully, runs around the players, his face set into hard determination. They inch closer to the goal and Aera squeezes Sunghoon's hand tighter, her voice scratching her throat.

Riki taps the ball to Jake who stood waiting. Aera grows quiet, her lungs no longer expelling air. It's like time has paused and now everyone waits. "Please," Aera whispers with the little breath she has, "please."

Jake kicks the ball. It soars through the air and over the head of the goalie. The clock ticks down to a minute, and Jake scores. 3 -2. They're in the lead and Aera's never screamed louder. Aera doesn't know how Jake does it, but he finds her face in the crowd and grins at her.

The game ends as Aera joins the crowd flooding the soccer field, ignoring the rule of not flooding the field after the game. Who cares. They won!

Aera pushes her way through the crowd, searching for her boyfriend, for the one who shot the winning goal, for the one who had hours practicing just for this moment. It was a well-deserved win.

Aera spots Jake. "JAKE!"

Jake immediately turns to the sound of Aera's voice, and the smile that was on his face seconds ago, grows bigger and brighter. His arms spread open and Aera crashes into Jake, holding and squeezing him tightly.

"You did it!" Aera cheers loudly in his ear, "you fucking did it, Jake!"

Jake squeezes Aera just as tightly. "It's because you were here, baby. I did this all for you."

Aera slightly pulls away, looking at Jake with an amused smile, "shut up, this isn't a romcom."

Jake answers with a kiss. It's so sweet and passionate, his hand presses into the small of Aera's back to keep her close to him. Aera grips onto Jake's t-shirt and does her best to kiss him back with an equal amount of passion. Her hands travel from his collar to the back of his neck, pulling him closer as they continue to kiss until every last drop of air in their lungs had dissipated.

Finally desperate for air, Aera pulls away and grins at Jake. "Was that a nice victory kiss?"

Jake grins, "the best. Now, I want more than just a kiss." The desire was evident in Jake's voice and butterflies explode within Aera's stomach. Giggling, Aera pulls Jake in for another kiss, her hands running carelessly through his hair.

They part again after Jake is called back into the changing sheds and Aera wanders back over to her friends who all grin knowingly at her. "If you're a little late to the parties tonight, we don't mind," Yena says with a wink.

Jay, Jake, and Riki move through the crowd as one. Spotting their friends they quicken their pace and Aera wraps Riki up into a bone-crushing hug as they exclaim over the game together. "Jay, do you have the keycard?" Jake asks, nudging him. "I need it."

Jay gives Jake an exasperated look. "Am I being kicked out of my own room?"

"Only for a few hours," Jake says with a lopsided grin, "just give me the key. We won't even touch your bed."

Jay sighs and ruffles through his bag, producing the key to their hotel room Jake grins and snatches the key from Jay, winking at the boy and promising him some food tomorrow. With a hand latched around Aera's wrist, Jake pulls the girl away.

Everything can wait — for now, Jake needs to get back to the hotel as soon as possible. (It's a good thing Aera was thinking the same thing.) And it was almost as if the world was on their side tonight because Jake's never reached a destination faster before.

They crash through the door together and as soon as it closes, Aera's pressed against the door. Jake throws the room key onto Jay's bed and turns back to Aera, gently cupping her face with his hands. "I love you, Aera," he tells her, the words rolling right off his tongue. They're the only words he never wants to stop saying. He's would say them forever if he could.

"I love you too, Jake," Aera says back, her gaze full of heat and desire, "and if you don't kiss me this second I'm walking out the door."

No sooner had those words left Aera's mouth, Jake's kissing her with his everything. There's tongue, there's teeth, and Aera's already a moaning mess as she becomes undone under the touch of her boyfriend. As Jake plays with Aera's lips, her hands wander over Jake's torso, slipping beneath his t-shirt to touch his bare skin, which elicits a hiss from the boy. Aera smiles into the kiss and slides her hands further up his torso to rest on his chest.

Aera pushes Jake away, and together they stumble over to Jake's bed, exchanging lazy kisses in between shedding their tops and slipping out of their jeans and shorts. Jake falls onto the bed first, and Aera follows, kissing Jake again, making sure to taint his pretty pink lips a bright red. Her lips slide from his mouth, down the side of his neck, and over his collarbones. She sinks lower to mark his abdomen, and when Aera crawls back up to kiss Jake, she's never felt more loved.

"You're beautiful, baby," Jake utters between kisses, "so so so beautiful."

"So are you," Aera says, lying beside Jake, "you're beautiful too."

"Aw, you make me blush sometimes, baby," Jake teases, poking Aera's nose.

"Fuck off. Did you come prepared or are you going to blue ball the both of us?"

"Who do you take me for, baby? I made sure to pack extra because I was definitely getting laid tonight no matter what."

Aera rolls her eyes.

Jake leans over and presses a chaste kiss to Aera's lips. "I did all of this for you because I love you, remember?" Jake wiggles his eyebrows and Aera snorts, pinching his bare chest.

"We're so fucking cheesy."

Jake hums, pushing himself up and aligning his body with Aera who becomes pliant beneath the warmth of his body. "But you love it, Aera."

"Unfortunately."

Tonight, as Jake kisses her senselessly against a very soft mattress, Aera finally realizes that she'll always get what she wants when it comes to Jake.

author's note,

i lied. this is the last chapter. LOL!

the epilogue will be posted soon :))