"four more laps everyone!" jay yelled and then blew into the whistle.

"again?! i'm going to die!"

"coach, please change the captain! jay hates us!"

"yeonjun hyung i miss you and your lazy ass!"

the players complained in the distance, but still continued to finish their laps around the field. it's not the first time that jay heard them complain like dying rats, and he got used to pretending not to hear any word that they say.

"good job everyone, ten minute break and then we'll have our practice game." jay gave them a thumbs up before walking towards jake who is sitting on the side of the bleachers.

"hey," jay sat beside his best friend. "sorry i haven't replied to your texts, i got busy. wanna have lunch later?"

jake stared at him and then sighed. "whatever."

he's definitely upset. jay taps jake's cheek lightly using his finger.

"i'm sorry. heeseung told me you called yesterday, but i didn't get the chance to call back because i was busy helping him arrange his things on his new apartment."

"i get it, stop apologizing." jake brushed jay's finger away from his face. "you were with heeseung all day?"

jay looks at him and then laughed. "sunghoon's with us too. don't worry, heeseung's all yours so there's no need to be jealous of me-"

jake's eyes widened a bit from shock, and then pushed jay away. "i-i wasn't jealous! it's not like that..."

it's really not like that. he blinks and avoids eye contact when jay stares at him again.

"you're a bad liar," jay puts his arm around jake's shoulders. "i know you still like him."

"you think i'm stupid? he already rejected me once, i don't like him anymore." jake stood up and fixed his shoes.

huh? jay is confused but he stopped asking questions because jake looks pissed off now.

well, i guess it's a good thing that he's trying to get over heeseung. that means i won't have to deal with being his match maker again. he sighed in relief. at least he's not going to be a masochist anymore.

although jay admits that he's got used to seeing jake gush over heeseung. i guess it's one of the perks when you like your best friend. you get used to the pain.

-------

[ sunoo ft. jonas bros 😎 ]

sunghoon:
lunch, everyone?
i have sushi here

sunoo:
since when do you bring sushi to uni

sunghoon:
since now, sun 😄
i still have two boxes here

jay:
where did that come from

sunghoon:
it was a gift
kind of
so do you guys want this or what

sunoo:
sure! but i just hope it won't have rat poison or smth 😁

sunghoon:
?????????????? UNGRATEFUL
fine
go starve yourselves 🫵🤬

heeseung:
lmao
i want sushi too

sunghoon:
i'm inside the cafeteria
just come here if you want one

sunoo:
oki doki 🫡

jay:
i'll pass
i'm eating lunch with jake
enjoy your sushi 🤌

sunghoon:
ohhhh
okay
enjoy your lunch 😏🤤

jay:
oh for fck's sake
shut up

sunghoon:
what did i do? 🥺

heeseung:
enjoy your lunch, jay

jay:
👍 thnx

sunghoon:
no baby for him? aw

sunoo:
what baby?

jay:
oh it's nothing hahahaha pls don't mind them
btw did y'all know that the tongue is covered in about 8,000 taste buds, each bud containing 100 cells? 😮🤯😱‼️
anyways
i have to go now
bye

sunghoon:
thanks for this unnecessary trivia that u prolly just googled out of nowhere 😔

sunoo:
wtf just happened
btw
can i bring my boyfriend to lunch? 😊

sunghoon:
why? can't you eat without him? 😊
is your boyfriend going to be your lunch? 🥰

sunoo:
no????? what are you on

sunghoon:
then you can't bring him
looking at cutesy couples makes me barf and lose my appetite so no

sunoo:
hahaha ur so funny
idc about you anyways so i'm still bringing him 😘

sunghoon:
then why tf did you ask

sunoo:
for courtesy purposes duh 🙄

--------

hoon 📰 @parkwrites tweeted.

i ship ☺️😍🫶😘❤️❤️❤️

2849 likes | 373 retweets

replies:

@sunscript get tf out of this app and touch a whole damn forest
↪@parkwrites someone's jealous 🤔 who u jealous of tho 👀
@cornjay lmfao i ship too ☺️🫶
↪@parkwrites really? you ship them? 😏😏
@cyberlee 🖕
@nishi_rk i am horrified 😰😰

-------

busy 😪 @simjake tweeted.

with my fave person @cornjay ✨

636 likes | 72 retweets

replies:

@hiyyihglow jay sunbae is so gorgeous 😔💔
↪@simjake he is lol hahaha
@nishi_rk i thought ******** is your fave person?
↪@simjake i'm sorry but i can't read asterisks dumbass

--------

"so," jake starts talking, his arm linked to jay's right arm while they walk back to the university. "heeseung hyung just got a new apartment... is it near his workplace?"

they had their lunch at jake's favorite ramen place, and of course it was jay's treat. i didn't even have to ask him, he just paid for the food. not that i'm complaining, i love not spending money.

jay looked at him, one eyebrow raised. "i thought you said you don't like him anymore."

"i don't!" jake removed his arm from jay and pushed him away. "i was just asking..."

"okay, chill. it's not that far i guess. i mean, his unit is just in front of ours."

wait, what? "in front? like, the same building?"

jay nodded while walking. okay, that's great i guess. they're friends, so it's good that they live near each other. it's a good thing.

"i guess you guys will be closer then. you can have sleepovers any time." he tried to smile at jay, but he could taste the bitterness rising from the pit of his stomach.

his best friend grimaced, as if the idea of sleeping over is grossing him out. "no thanks, i think we won't have time for that anyway."

jake nodded and reached his hand to hold the hem of jay's shirt like a child. jay noticed, so he removed jake's hand from his shirt and took the initiative to hold his hand instead.

"just hold my hand, i don't want my shirt stretching out because of you pulling the hem." jay chuckled while still holding his left hand.

meanwhile, jake remained quiet, staring at their hands.

it's not the first time that they held hands. as best friends, jake's always comfortable with jay around him. it's not a big deal, and jake is already used to his best friend's presence.

but now, why is it so nerve-racking?

why is jake so nervous?

it's just jay... he's my best friend. so why... why am i feeling like this?

"hey, you okay?" jake gets pulled out of his thoughts when jay stops walking, looking concerned. "you look a bit pale."

"y-yep! i'm good. i think i ate too many dumplings earlier." jake laughs awkwardly, pulling his hand away from jay.

"i told you not to eat a lot, we still have afternoon practice. do you want to skip?"

he shakes his head. "nope, i'll be fine."

i'll be fine. ignore whatever the hell you're feeling, jake. i'm sure it's just nothing.

jay stared at him again. "by the way, i still don't believe you."

he blinked. "huh?"

they have now reached the stone lane, and more students are crowding the front park. they're walking on the sidelines, away from the flocks of noisy people.

"i think you still have feelings for heeseung." jay puts his hands on the pockets of his jeans. "you're just denying it."

jake sighed. "it's not like my feelings for him will just magically disappear, right? i'm not denying anything."

"then why do you look like you're hiding something from me?" jay stepped closer, gazing at jake's face.

he avoids eye contact and just looked at his feet. this isn't good for me. i shouldn't react like this.

"y-you're just making things up." jake steps back before jay could even get nearer. "i still have to do some... uh, project. see you later!"

jake runs to the other side of the campus, leaving jay confused as to why his best friend is acting that way. what's wrong with him...?

-------

hi! i apologize if this story is taking so long to finish (the slowburn is slow burning, ig) but i hope y'all are enjoying the book, i'll try to update faster so that we can go to book 3 soon 🫡🫡