an hour before heeseung arrives at his apartment, jake is already done cleaning the whole room.

he lives alone since his roommate transferred to another dormitory before the second semester, to which he actually found convenient. i didn't want to say it to his face but i hated how he doesn't know how to clean his own trash. ew.

and now that he's all alone, he was planning on asking jay to be his dorm mate. but i don't know if he'll want to leave sunoo...

his thoughts get interrupted when he hears a faint ring of the door bell. jake fixed his hair before opening the door, smiling instantly at the sight of heeseung before him.

"hi," heeseung preens, showing his doe-eyed smile. "i brought food."

i think my heart just did a somersault.

-----------

jay park @cornjay tweeted.

me and my driver 😌😇

1087 likes | 193 retweets

replies:

@sunscript enjoy your double date !! 💗
↪@cornjay will do 🫡 luv u baby 😚
@chenleave two handsome rich men??... aRF ARF GRRR ARF 🗣️🗣️
↪@cornjay dude what crack r u on
@parkwrites you're so brave for putting your face next to mine 🫂
↪@cornjay what does that mean ???!

-----------

ten minutes.

it's only been ten minutes but jay feels like he could die of boredom. he stared at the girl in front of him, who's talking about her vacation around the world and her body count.

why is she talking about that anyway? and why the hell am i in this situation?!

"-and so my daddy gave me a small yacht as a present for my 20th birthday! wanna see?" the blondie held up her phone to let jay look at the picture.

that wasn't a small yacht. jay forced a smile before scratching the back of his neck. "uhm... could you excuse me for a minute? i just have to make a quick call."

jay stood up and immediately went outside of the restaurant. he reached for his phone inside his pocket to call sunghoon.

the bastard picked it up on the first ring.

"where the hell are you?"

"i'm inside the mall, why? you done with your date?"

"come back here! why did you leave me alone to suffer?"

"well technically, i'm with you in spirit! also, would you prefer it if i third wheeled? dude i'm not like you."

"what? no!" jay groaned in annoyance. he wants to punch the hell out of this guy already.

"can you tell me what's wrong already? you sound constipated." he hears a laugh from the other line.

"that girl— where did you get such a spoiled one? she can't stop talking about her rich dad that i want to put a baguette on her mouth to shut her up."

jay rolled his eyes when he heard another laughter from sunghoon. oh he thinks this is funny?

"look, i don't know that girl okay? chenle was the one who knew her. probably met her in a club or something."

"whatever, i'm going to tell her i have something important to do."

"lame excuse but sure, you do you— no not that one yang, you said you hate that— anyways i'll go now, bye!"

huh? did he just say yang? jay frowned, looking confused. he probably heard it wrong.

he took a deep breath before going back inside the restaurant. jay was about to walk towards their table when he just noticed the little commotion happening.

"—come on! just admit it, you're a slut!"

"i told you i don't even like your ugly ass boyfriend!"

ah. a girl fight. my date is now calling some girl a slut, plus she actually has a boyfriend.

jay stood at the corner right beside the counter, since he really doesn't have the energy to stop the fight.

"look eunjae, i really don't know what you're talking about." the other girl said, her tone still calm. "now let me leave in peace."

have i seen that girl before?

she looks awful. she has a band-aid on her cheek, but that doesn't hide her bruise.

"oh, so you'll pretend you didn't steal him from me?! as expected from you, gold digger."

she sounds so annoying. i'm just gonna go back to the apartment and sleep.

jay paid their bill and asked the waiter to tell his date that he had already left. he hates watching girls screaming at each other's faces just because of a boy.

why waste time fighting over one boy? it's stupid.

-----------

[ park 👹 ]

park 👹:
yo
wru?

jay:
7/11 near the plaza
why?

park 👹:
you ditched ur date? 🧐

jay:
yeah i did
how did u find out

park 👹:
chenle told me
he said the girl was crying bc u didn't come back LMAO

jay:
she was having some fight with another girl so i left

park 👹:
i heard that too
i know the other girl
pretty feisty one

jay:
how the hell do you even know everyone

park 👹:
journalism? duh
she got featured in our last newspaper before
she's in taekwondo i think

jay:
kk idc
anyways i'm gonna go back and ask sunoo to make me hot choco

park 👹:
tell him to make one for me too
i'm coming over

jay:
NO
shop's closed sir goodbye

park 👹:
🖕🖕

-----------

jay ate a sandwich before he walked up to the exit of the convenience store. he pops out a can of coke that he also bought from the store, chugging it down.

before he could go out, someone entered— opening the door first. his eyes lingered on the stranger, it was the same girl earlier.

upon taking a closer look, jay thought that she got beaten up. there's a cut on her lip, and her other cheek is now swollen. i guess that spoiled rich brat won.

he watched as she sat on one of the chairs while munching on a kimbap. jay sighed, grabbing a pack of band-aid and paying for it at the counter.

"here," he walked closer, throwing the band-aid in front of the girl. "at least cover those wounds up. you look terrible."

she looks taken aback but then proceeded to glare at him.

"what's it to you anyway? mind your fucking business, monkey."

jay shakes his head. he didn't reply and just walked outside, leaving her alone.

------------

busy 😪 @simjake tweeted.

@cyberlee thanks for helping me again 😭 you're a life saver 🫡

747 likes | 80 retweets

replies:

@yinyang so proud of you hyung 💪💪
↪@simjake haha why would u be proud of me
@hiyyihglow say thank you to your teachers 🤌
↪@simjake thank you hahaha pls stfu now
@nishi_rk 👀🤨
↪@simjake PLS SHUT UP

----------

"so hyung, why do you like computer science?" jake asked randomly.

they're in the living room— heeseung is seated on the couch while jake is sitting on the floor. they're currently taking a break from the project they've been working on.

heeseung tilted his head to the side. "well... i didn't like it at first, but i find it rather calming."

"calming?"

"yeah. maybe it's just me, but i like it when i'm in control of things. making programs and applications of my own gives me some kind of freedom."

freedom, huh.

jake saw how heeseung's facial expression changed. it's like he remembered something awful.

"right... i totally understand that," he grinned.

the older chuckled, "your face totally says everything. you're so easy to read, jake."

"wait, what does that mean?" jake's brows furrowed. "is that a compliment or an insult?"

he froze into place when heeseung reached out his hand to ruffle his hair.

"it's a compliment, silly. it means you're a genuine person." then jake finally sees it.

heeseung's smile has reached his eyes.

he had never seen such a warm smile from the older before.

he's so beautiful when he smiles like that, i wish i could engrave it in my memory.

-----------

/spins the wheel/ now which character will be my next victim of angst 🤔