"FRIENDS",

Jay was starting to grow tired of Heeseung and Juwon.

He didn't blame them for being oblivious to each other's feelings. That was expected, given how stupid both of them are. What he did blame them for was the amount of stress they were currently causing him and Riki.

"It's like I do all the work around here!" he said, aggressively pressing the buttons on his gaming control. Riki nodded, patting his back in hopes that he would calm down. "They'd be living on the streets without me!"

"Mhm," the younger boy hummed. "And how does that make you feel?"

"I feel like smacking the shit out of them," Jay said. "They're so oblivious — a little too oblivious."

"If it helps," Riki started, "I may or may not have given a hint to Juwon."

"And what did she do?"

"She smiled."

Jay paused his game and turned around to face Riki, staring at him blankly. "She smiled?" he repeated. The boy nodded and watched as Jay's jaw dropped in shock. "So she knows? And she hasn't done anything? She hasn't kissed him yet?!"

"I don't think we should rush them," he said. Jay scoffed, no longer listening to Riki as he mumbled things to himself — probably cursing the love birds for making his life so difficult (he's dramatic, we know).

"They've been in love forever!" he yelled, startling Riki. "I'm tired of Heeseung whining about his feelings to me. He doesn't even let me finish a goddamn movie without asking me for fucking advice! As if Google doesn't exist!" He sighed, turning back to his game, "And then he tells me their quote unquote friends. No, you're not just 'friends,' you oblivious idiot!"

By now, Riki had decided it was best not to say anything. He knew Jay would start flipping tables if anyone disagreed with him when he was angry (maybe he was just petty) and the younger boy did not want to have to witness that today. So he nodded along to his words and watched him continue his video game, still pressing the buttons very aggressively. But it was obvious Jay was right.

Heeseung and Juwon were not just "friends."

They had to know that by now too, right?

Jay's phone rang, making him roll his eyes. "Speak of the devil," he said, pausing the game again and grabbing his phone, answering the call. "What?" he asked, almost instantly pulling the phone away from his ear when the caller started yelling. Riki snorted, recognizing Juwon's voice. "Yes, he's with me, why? Heeseung? He's sleeping, probably because he's tired of your as— don't yell!"

"Can I talk to her?" he asked. Jay nodded, practically throwing the phone into his hands. "It's me," he said. Juwon stopped her yelling and cleared her throat.

"Sorry," she mumbled. "I just wanted to know when you plan on coming home."

Coming home. A small smile formed on his face. "Are you lonely?"

"Believe it or not, I don't have any friends," Juwon said. "So naturally, I am lonely. Keep me company until I pass out and have to go to work in the morning." She chuckled. "Don't worry — I'll pick you up if I need to."

"Okay." Riki glanced at Jay, who had become so invested in his video game that he was practically invisible. "You can come over now if you want."

"Great."

Juwon hung up and the boy passed the phone back to Jay. "She's coming over," he said. Jay groaned. "Come on, she's not that bad. Maybe a little aggressive, but it's not like she actually hates you, right?"

"Oh, she hates me alright," Jay said.

"What'd you do?"

He scoffed. "Why do you automatically assume it was me who did something?"

"Because she hates you," Riki said, "so you must've done something."

The younger boy was right and he knew it. Jay sighed, deciding he should turn off the game as a whole and turned to Riki, contemplating on how to explain the series of events that had led to his current relationship with Juwon.

"I wasn't exactly a likeable person," he started, scratching the back of his head. "And let's just say I said some pretty... not nice things to Juwon, to which she still holds against me to this day." He laughed nervously. "Obviously, I apologized! She's just stubborn."

"You had a crush on her?"

Jay almost threw up. "Ew, no!" he said, finding it hard to believe the boy had actually said that. "I'm her cousin, Riki. That's gross."

He stared at the older boy, his eyes practically popping out of his sockets. "You're cousins?!" he asked, shocked. "This whole time?!"

"Was it not obvious?"

"No!"

"Really?" Jay's brows furrowed. "Funny. Maybe we should bully each other more." Riki didn't have the chance to respond as he became distracted at the sound of the door opening. He smiled and ran out of the room, followed by Jay moments later.

Juwon sighed loudly, immediately walking into the kitchen and opening their fridge. She grabbed the last water bottle (that Jay had been saving for later) and chugged it. Jay stared at her, waiting for her to turn around and realize what she'd done. And she did turn around — she even looked him straight in the eye — but she didn't say anything to him. Instead, she turned to Riki and smiled. "You ready to go?" she asked.

Jay scoffed, "Excuse me?"

"Shut up," she said, rolling her eyes. "Your presence drains my energy."

"You walk into my home, drink my water, take my kid and suddenly you think you're better than me?"

"I've always been better than you. Took you long enough to realize that, don't you think?"

Riki sighed, growing tired of their pointless arguments. He sat down on the couch and watched from afar, his eyes going back and forth between them. (He did end up smiling when Juwon retorted that he was, in fact, her son and not Jay's.) Then, he looked towards the hallway, where he spotted a tired Heeseung with bedhead rubbing his eyes, an annoyed look on his face.

"Dude," he started, talking to Jay. "Can you shut up? I'm trying to slee—" He paused when Jay turned around, realizing he wasn't the only person there. "Oh," he mumbled, his eyes widening slightly. "Nevermind, carry on."

"You can't just let her yell at me like this all the time!" Jay whined. "It's not fair."

"It's fair if you deserve it!"

Riki noticed the way Heeseung was looking at Juwon despite her not paying any attention to him at all. Maybe it was because he'd just woken up, but his eyes softened and the light in his eyes twinkled every time she spoke (even if she was just yelling at Jay). He sighed. When are they going to confess to each other? the younger boy thought.

Juwon waved Jay off and turned her attention back to Riki. "Let's go home," she said, ignoring Jay who kept trying to redeem himself. (Poor guy, he never gets his way with her.) Riki nodded and got off the couch, walking towards the door and putting on his shoes. She turned to look at Heeseung, who'd been watching them entertained over a cup of ramen. "We're leaving, okay?"

He nodded, "Okay," he said, smiling at her.

Jay gagged. "Gross," he said, receiving a look from Juwon. Heeseung laughed quietly, trying not to choke on his ramen.

"I'm off!" the girl yelled as she put on her shoes. "Don't do anything stupid — I'm talking to you, Park."

"Just leave already!" She snorted and opened the front door, letting Riki out first before stepping out of the apartment and closing the door behind her. She was about to start walking away when she noticed Riki staring at her. Clearly, the boy had something on his mind.

"What's up?" she asked him.

"When are you gonna kiss him?" the boy asked, shocking Juwon. She didn't know how to respond and remained silent. He only continued to stare at her, patiently waiting for a response.

"I, uh..." She laughed awkwardly and scratched her head. "I don't know— anyway, that's not important, Riki!" She continued to laugh, uncomfortable with the spotlight being on her, and started walking away. The younger boy followed after her, chuckling at her reaction. He may not have been the most vocal person, but he could tell a lot about someone by watching them, and she looked at Heeseung the same way he looked at her:

Longing.

• • •

juju tf away from me 👽

seung the rat 🐀
I feel threatened

• • •

yes, jay and juwon have been cousins since the beginning lmao it wasn't a random plot twist 😭