"so, did you talk to him?"

jungwon asked, sitting beside sunghoon. they're currently having a class break and everyone's busy chatting with their friends.

sunghoon shook his head. "you know him, he didn't even give it a second thought."

"well, duh. jay's a complete rock when it comes to making him do something," he tried not to let out a snort.

jungwon saw how jay still hates sunghoon. that guy literally sends daggers through his eyes every time he sees sunghoon. it's a bit crazy, but knowing the reason why... i can't even blame him.

"what do i do? mom is pretty adamant about wanting to have dinner with jay."

"tell her to look for another son i guess," jungwon raised both hands when his friend glared at him. "oops, bad joke."

"i don't know what to do anymore," sunghoon sighed. "i already apologized over and over..."

"you know it's not about you, right? you're just the collateral damage that jay needs to cut off. he's angry- not at you, but at what happened. he doesn't need the apology, it's just that he's having a hard time processing it all."

jungwon's explanation made sense, but sunghoon is getting tired. what else could he have done, when he doesn't have any control of anything that's been happening to them?

-----------

sunoo stared at his phone for the ninth time. he wanted to text jay but he didn't want to sound annoying. should i ask him if he's okay now? but what if he doesn't want to be bothered?

"what's making you preoccupied?" jake poked his cheek to catch his attention. he smiled at him and shook his head.

"it's nothing, i'm just spacing out." sunoo put his phone inside his backpack. he'll just text jay later after his class ends.

even though he only met jay a month ago, sunoo felt like he understood the guy's feelings. people around him tell him that jay's not a nice person- but to sunoo, he's done nothing but be nice towards him.

"should we schedule another movie night tomorrow? jungwon said he missed us already." jake glanced at him.

he smiled. "sure! i miss him too, we rarely see him these days. i hope he's doing well."

"i'm sure he's fine," his friend mentioned.

the two ate their lunch peacefully after that. sunoo made sure that he kept his phone hidden inside his backpack so he wouldn't be tempted to text jay during his classes.

so when his last class of the day finally ended, sunoo quickly rummaged his bag to get his phone back.

"you're not going home yet, sun?" beomgyu asked while wearing his sweater. "or are you waiting for jake here?"

he shakes his head, his focus is still on his phone. "uh, no. i'm going home after a few minutes..."

"you sure? want me to wait here with you?"

"thanks gyu but i'm good. see you tomorrow!" he waved goodbye to beomgyu who now walked outside the room while waving back.

sunoo sighed in relief before typing a message.

- - - - -

[ jongseongie ]

sunoo:
hi! (⁠≧⁠▽⁠≦⁠)
are you feeling okay now?

jongseongie:
hey
yeah i'm good
are you done with your class?

sunoo:
yep!
hbu?

jongseongie:
done too

sunoo:
oh okayyy
and u didn't ditch any class today? 🤨

jongseongie:
no, i didn't

sunoo:
good
such a good kid u are 😄

jongseongie:
lol i'm not
did u go home already?

sunoo:
nope not yet
i'm still in school

jongseongie:
okay
wanna eat ice cream before you go home?

sunoo:
OMG YES

jongseongie:
wait for me outside your school gate

sunoo:
OKIEEEE
see you!!!!

- - - - - - - -

"jongseong!"

jay fought the urge to smile when he sees sunoo running towards him. he parked his motorbike right across their school's gate.

"where are we eating ice cream?" sunoo beamed happily as he approached jay.

"calm down, wear your helmet first." he smirked a bit before grabbing his extra helmet. he closes their distance and puts the helmet on sunoo's head while the latter just stood still, letting him do it.

"t-thanks," sunoo clears his throat, trying hard to hide his flustered face. "so where are we going?"

"wanna go to the gangnam market?"

sunoo's eyes widened and he quickly nodded. he hasn't been to many places so he's excited to see where jay would take him.

jay chuckled at his reaction. "okay then. hop on, kim. let's get some ice cream."

after the two left, a very confused beomgyu got out of the school gate. turns out he was watching them the whole time.

"...who was that? i thought he was waiting for jake." beomgyu muttered to himself.

should i tell jake...? or am i too nosy?

- - - - - - -

[ sunoo's crazy seatmate ]

sunoo's crazy seatmate:
hi
hello
anybody home?
yoohoo

jungwon:
?
what is it beomgyu

sunoo's crazy seatmate:
HII OMG
so uhm
u remember when u told me before that i should watch over sunoo and that i should Tell y'all if he's up to smth

jungwon:
did smth happen to him?
tell me beomgyu
and don't beat around the bush

sunoo's crazy seatmate:
ok ok 😭
our class ended awhile ago
and i wanted to walk with sunoo outside the school but he told me i should go first
so i thought maybe he was waiting for jake
BUT

jungwon:
i'm losing patience here beomgyu
just hurry up will you?

sunoo's crazy seatmate:
calm down 😭
i got sidetracked bc i was talking to some friends
and when i went outside
i saw sunoo talking to a guy
he's good looking tbh
but he looks scary and he's got a motorbike????
HE LOOKS LIKE A DELINQUENT
and i was having crazy thoughts in my head like omg what if he's gonna take sunoo's money or bully him idk 🥹😭

jungwon:
what the fuck?
and what did you do?
WHERE IS SUNOO NOW

sunoo's crazy seatmate:
I SAID CALM TF DOWN
he's fine!!!
it looks like they know each other? they were talking and laughing too
so i just watched them, and then they left
the end 🥲

jungwon:
wtf
they left?
sunoo left with the guy?
he rode a motorbike???!???!

sunoo's crazy seatmate:
yes???? 😭
is it bad 😭
i'm sorry ok but they looked like they're friends

jungwon:
idk
but you said a guy that looks like a thug right
and he has a motorbike
ok shit
i get it
thanks for letting me know

sunoo's crazy seatmate:
that was sunoo's friend right? 🥹
i was honestly contemplating whether i'd tell jake or you
but it feels like you're the better option

jungwon:
...good call
thank u beomgyu, really
and also pls don't mention this to jake
i'm saying this for your safety

sunoo's crazy seatmate:
oh...🫠
thanks jungwon 😭

- - - - - -

yang @jungwonish tweeted.

...whAT AM I GONNA DO WTFWTF

205 likes | 10 retweets

replies:

@simjaeyun what's wrong?
↪@jungwonish nothing haha just stressing over some art project 😅😅

- - - - - -

[ wonwon 😾 ]

wonwon 😾:
sunoo
u there? pls reply 🥹

sunoo:
hi won!!! i missed u 🥺

wonwon 😾:
yeah i know noo imy too
where are u rn?

sunoo:
huh? why?

wonwon 😾:
i know you're with jay
just tell me where u are

sunoo:
oh how did u know?
we're at the gangnam market hehe
want to join us? 😁

wonwon 😾:
no sun, i'm fine
are you having fun?

sunoo:
YES!!!
there's literally so many food here wonie
we should go here next time!

wonwon 😾:
i'm glad you're enjoying noo
don't strain yourself okay?
tell jay if ur tired or if u want to go home already
and text me

sunoo:
aye aye!!! 🫡
i'll text jake too so u guys won't worry about me hehe

wonwon 😾:
no bub
uhm
it's fine with jake, u don't have to tell him ok?
just have fun 😊
i'll see u tomorrow alright?

sunoo:
oh okayyyy
see u tomorrow wonwon 🫶🏻

- - - - - - -

"someone's looking for you?" jay asked when he noticed sunoo staring at his phone. he's holding two cups of ice cream, one for sunoo and one for him.

sunoo shakes his head and smiles. "just my friend, checking on me." he takes the cup of ice cream from jay's hand.

friend? that jake guy or someone else? he wanted to pry, but he stopped himself from asking more.

"wow, this tastes good! thank you, jongseong!" sunoo looked happy with his choco chip ice cream. he wanted to eat mint choco, but unfortunately it wasn't available.

"your favorite ice cream flavor is mint chocolate?"

sunoo nodded, the small wooden spoon still inside his mouth. "i like desserts, especially ice cream."

when he was a kid, every time he had to take his medicines, he would always eat sweets afterwards to remove the bitter aftertaste of the medicine.

"you have the palate of a kid," jay comments reaching out his hand to wipe the ice cream on the side of sunoo's mouth.

sunoo glanced at him, his cheeks turned a bit pink. "t-thanks."

fuck.

he quickly takes his hand back, looking away. why did i even do that?

- - - - -

after almost a year of hiatus, i'm finally back to this story 🥹

i'm really sorry for making y'all wait 😭 now i'm not promising a steady update, but i do hope that i can update this atleast every month shsjsns pls pray for my braincells 🙏🏻