heeseung never thought of jay as anything more than a friend.

he had met jay through sunoo, and at first, he only thought of him as sunoo's roommate.

their first conversation towards each other was just a simple nod of greeting. if someone would ask the old heeseung if there's a possibility of him falling for jay, the answer would be a solid no.

the old version of heeseung would've been shocked to see what's been going on lately.

because who would've thought, that heeseung would come to know how soft jay's lips are? who would've thought that he'd get to discover that jay uses raspberry-flavored lipbalm?

who would've fucking thought that his lips would be this addicting? because i never did.

heeseung groaned in frustration as he hit his head on the steering wheel. i should've stopped myself, he wasn't even sober. he stared at the person sleeping on the shotgun seat.

after the kiss, jay had the audacity to sleep like nothing happened. will he even remember that tomorrow? heeseung sighed.

jay has said a lot, but who knows if that was all true? heeseung could only guess. he was surprised that he makes jay feel like that. at least, it's comforting to hear that it's not only me who feels that way.

a soft knock on the window made him stop overthinking. he sees sunoo peering through the car, then pointing at jay. heeseung opened the door while giving him a smile.

"you really brought him home?" sunoo smiles back at him. "thank you hyung."

"it's nothing, i just didn't want him to spend a night at sunghoon's because who knows what prank that guy's going to do to jay."

the younger chuckled. "hoon's not that awful though."

heeseung didn't say a thing and just proceeded to remove jay's seatbelt. he was about to carry him but he hesitated when he saw sunoo watching him.

he clears his throat. "uh, should i carry—"

sunoo shoots him a knowing look. "go ahead. i don't want to carry a drunk person. you should carry him on your back." 

heeseung agreed, letting sunoo help him in putting jay behind his back. he could immediately smell jay's perfume as his arms are now wrapped on his shoulders.

"perfect," sunoo then grabs jay and heeseung's belongings before fixing jay's hair. they start walking back inside the apartment complex quietly.

"by the way, i think i saw jake earlier."

"what?"

"when i was waiting for you guys to arrive at the lobby, i saw him walking right outside. i wanted to approach him because he looked a bit troubled, but he was gone the moment i glanced back."

jake was here? he must've wanted to talk to jay that bad.

"you should tell that to jay when he wakes up sober tomorrow." heeseung replied.

sunoo nodded. "i will. his best friend is probably worried about him."

best friend? he's the reason why jay got this drunk. heeseung shakes his head. sunoo doesn't know about anything yet and it's best to keep it that way.

after all of this, jay's going to need to give jake an answer. what's it going to be?

heeseung sighed. whatever it is, he's not gonna have a choice but accept it anyway. after all, jay has all the freedom to choose who he wants.

in the end, it's all up to him.

--------

hoon 📰 @parkwrites tweeted.

rise and shine, people! @cornjay wake up baby boo how are you feeling? i hope your head's still intact to your body 🤗🫶

373 likes | 72 retweets

replies:

@sunscript u had to wake up at 6:30 am just to tweet this? the dedication 🤦
↪@parkwrites wdym wake up lmao i haven't even slept yet 🧍🏻‍♂️
↪@sunscript u what????? dude we have a class at 9 wtf r u serious
↪@parkwrites no i'm gay
@cyberlee he's probably still sleeping
↪@parkwrites no shit sherlock i wouldn't have guessed that

----------

when jay opened his eyes, the familiar ceiling of his bedroom greeted him.

i went home last night? i didn't get drunk? he groaned while sitting up on his bed. he feels like he did something stupid.

i think someone drove me home though. i fell asleep at sunghoon's penthouse, and then... then what?

"what the fuck—" jay covered his mouth in shock when it finally dawned to him.

shit. shit shit shit.

he kissed heeseung. i kissed him?!

he screamed into his pillow and then threw it on the wall. he has done a lot of stupid things while being drunk, but kissing a person? and worse— kissing a friend?! jay's fucked up.

what should i do? should i just pretend that i don't remember anything? or should i just apologize? jay can't decide.

what would heeseung think of him now? he grunted. i can't believe i did that. his heart can't stop pounding now.

jay picks up his phone and he curses as he sees jake's text messages.

right. i haven't given jake an answer yet. he sighed, suddenly feeling the headache doubled. now what should i do about this?

---------

[ jakey ⚽ ]

jay:
hey
sorry i wasn't able to reply to your message last night
i just had a few drinks w/ hoon
but i'm fine 😅
how about we catch up today? let's eat lunch and then talk
if that's okay with you
jake?
are you busy?

-----------

something feels off.

jay thought while walking past the hallway of their building. he was texting jake nonstop since the morning, but he never received a reply. he wants to think that he's busy, but jake hasn't missed a single time where he never replied to his texts.

what if something happened?

he stops on his track when he sees ni-ki on the other side of the corridor, busy taking random pictures.

jay goes closer to him, "hey nishimura."

the younger quickly turns his head to look at him, while jay couldn't help but notice how ni-ki's eyes widen a bit, as if he's shocked to see him.

"jay hyung, hi!" ni-ki gives him a smile.

"have you seen jake?"

"eh? of course. i think he's having a class right now, why?"

oh, okay.

a wave of relief washed over jay. he smiled, "ah right. it's just that i've been texting him but he hasn't replied yet. i guess he's just busy."

ni-ki stares at him for a second before letting out a chuckle. "how about you wait for him right outside of his room?"

he nods in agreement. "thanks, nishimura. see you around!" he then runs off to the other side, where jake's room is located.

riki shakes his head and sighs. what will happen to them?

-----------

[ sunghoon is a nepo baby ]

sunoo:
@jay
riki said he saw you earlier
and you were looking for jake

sunghoon:
???
why are you in class

jay:
yeah i was looking for jake
also wdym @sunghoon

sunghoon:
don't you have a hangover?
you should just rest today

sunoo:
i agree
i heard you vomiting at 5 am
are you feeling okay?

jay:
yes babi i'm fine
don't worry about me
i just need to do smth today

heeseung:
hey
you don't have headache?
drink some medicine

jay:
hi
i already did
thanks haha

heeseung:
okay
that's good

sunghoon:
yo hee
where's my car btw?

heeseung:
at the parking lot
the keys are on your coffee table
you would've known that if you weren't busy with smth else

sunghoon:
🤪🤪🤪
oh wait
you used the one that's not tinted? lmfao

heeseung:
you were the one who gave that key idiot

sunghoon:
really? lol
hope you enjoyed driving that car 😉

----------

jay was standing beside the bulletin board, waiting for jake to come out of his room. his class ended at 11:45, what's taking him so long?

since the room has two doors, jay steps closer to the back door and tries to peek inside. he finally sees jake talking waving goodbye to his classmates while walking out of the front door.

he takes a few steps back so jake could see him when he gets out of the room. then, the door opened— revealing jake who is still focused on talking with his blockmates.

jay clears his throat before calling his best friend's attention.

"jake!"

jake turns his head towards jay's direction and meets his eyes. and for a brief moment, jay saw pain flashed through his eyes.

is something wrong?

he smiled at him, but that same smile slowly faded when jake walked past him— ignoring his existence.

jay could feel his heart dropped, and coldness spread throughout his whole body. he stood there, frozen, as jake continued to walk away from him without a second glance.

as if he was never there. as if he never knew him at all. jay felt like he wasn't his best friend anymore— but a stranger.

---------

hi everyone, and welcome 2024! 😊