"that kind of news won't get us anywhere," sunoo groaned, feeling annoyed. "i want facts, not rumors or scandals. this isn't tabloids for pete's sake."

he ends the call before he could yell at his stupid co-worker. the loud ring of his phone interrupted his sleep and now he feels like his day just got ruined.

he felt two arms wrapped around his waist, pulling him back to lie on the bed again. "calm down, hyung. it's not good to get stressed so early in the morning."

he sighed in relief as ni-ki kissed his cheek. sunoo's boyfriend is one of the best things that ever happened to him.

"sorry love," sunoo turns to look at him. "did i wake you up?"

riki shakes his head and then plants another kiss, this time on the corner of his head. "i'm good. what time are you gonna go to the homecoming?"

"well, i still have to check the venue and the theme... so probably around noon? what about you?"

"i'll try to finish work around 3 pm," nishimura fixed the strands of hair around sunoo's forehead. "by the way, i thought you have plans with jay hyung today. is that cancelled?"

he shrugged. "not really, we figured that we'll just see each other at the homecoming later. that is, if he's still planning to go."

during college, sunoo never confronted his roommate and he never asked even if the curiosity was killing him. even when he saw how jay always looked at his best friend with affection, or when he saw the tension developing between jay and heeseung...

i never asked, because i was waiting for him to open up about it.

but jay is a person who likes to bottle up feelings to himself, and sunoo also thinks that he might be feeling awkward to share especially if it's about his ex-boyfriend, who happens to also be their friend.

so when jay left them to follow his dream in milan, sunoo was genuinely happy for him. choosing the internship was the safest option, at least for me. i would rather have jay get his peace of mind somewhere else, than let him stay here and see him struggle with love.

honestly, he never believed it at first. his ex, liking his roommate? i mean, i'm not against the whole idea. but it never felt true to me.

well, not until he saw it with his own two eyes. how they stare at each other across the room, how their gazes lingered... it couldn't be hidden. it was just too damn obvious to hide.

the way jay stared at jake before... and the way jay looks at heeseung now...

there's no difference.

"what do you mean? i'm sure he's gonna go if you're there."

"your cousin's going to attend too, plus heeseung... i don't think he'll be able to survive the night."

nishimura chuckled a bit. "jake's thinking of ditching, so i think he's going to be alright." he reaches his hand to pinch his boyfriend's cheek, but the latter stops him.

"he's what?" sunoo looked concerned. "oh no, that can't be. he must be feeling uncomfortable with seeing jay too."

"what can we do? if he wants to come, he will. don't worry about jake. he'll figure it out eventually."

he sighed at ni-ki's statement. okay, he has a point. "fine, what about your friends, hiyyih and jungwon? they'll come right?"

"i'm pretty sure hiyyih's presence will be there, that girl doesn't miss a party."

"and jungwon?"

nishimura lets out a laugh. "that gremlin? absolutely no. he's no better than jake, he's a scaredy cat. you won't even see a shadow of him at the homecoming."

then i guess i won't have any surprises to look forward to later, then.

----------

huening 🌼 @hiyyihglow tweeted.

the plane has landed, the drama is here 😘

2748 likes | 326 retweets

replies:

@nishi_rk you're alr dressed? the homecoming's not gonna start until 6pm tho
↪@hiyyihhglow a beauty like me needs longer time to prepare honey, you won't understand 😔
@yinyang you look like you're about to go to some local club 💀
↪@hiyyihglow says the gay who don't even have the guts to attend just bc he's scared af 💀
↪@yinyang 🖕🖕

-----------

🙉 @chenleave tweeted.

getting ready for tonight's homecoming 🧘🏻

7961 likes | 832 retweets

replies:

@itsyunaaa you'll be there? 😐😟
↪@chenleave bitch wtf is that reaction huh don't y'all miss your gorgeous bff
@leejeno good gods he's here to make us suffer again
↪@ningning 3 years passed but the trauma still lingers 😞🙏
@young_tae cOz tOnIgHT WiLL be tHe NiGht thAt i WilL fAll fOR yOu 🖤💣⛓️🤕👿
↪@chenleave going to block you now, bye

----------

oosun @sunscript tweeted.

happy friday 🤍

8692 likes | 307 retweets

replies:
@soobeans so??? fucking??? handsome???
↪@sunscript haha i miss you too hyung
@leejeno pretty ☺️ how's work, sun? see you at the homecominggg
↪@sunscript jenooo! i'm doing great btw, see u soon ^^
@parkwrites aww my cute little baby 😘 imy 🫶
↪@sunscript fuck off i'm still mad at you
↪@parkwrites 😭? i literally explained to you everything what else do you need to know

----------

"sim, why are you still here?"

jake raised his head from his computer when he heard his supervisor's voice.

"sir?"

his supervisor points to the big wall clock across the room. "it's already past four. don't you have some event to attend? i heard yonsei is hosting an alumni party."

how did he know about that? didn't he graduate at kaist? jake just smiled at him before shaking his head. "no sir, i don't think i can attend. i still have deadlines to c-"

"oh nevermind that and just go. don't you miss your college friends? it'll be nice to hangout with them again." his boss gave him a thumbs up, while the others agreed to what he said.

it would be nice if that could bring me my best friend back too. he stopped arguing and just obeyed what his supervisor wanted. before going out of the building, he grabbed his phone and opened the group chat.

is he even going to be there?

----------

[ hiyyih owes me money 🧌 ]

jake:
guys
who's coming to the event?

riki:
me ✋
sunoo hyung's already there too

hiyyih:
ME OFC
THE PARTY WON'T START TILL I WALK INNNN

riki:
the party doesn't even know who u are
anyways why?
you coming too?

jake:
yeah i am
kind of
i'm still looking for smth to wear

hiyyih:
OMGGG
i'm so excited ‼️

jungwon:
hiyyih can u stfu

hiyyih:
nope
also you're not allowed to speak here unless you're planning to attend too ☺️

jungwon:
🖕

riki:
cool
you wanna carpool @jake? or are you using your car?

jake:
nah i'm gonna use mine
are you sure you won't come with us, won?
i can accompany you during the party

jungwon:
idk hyung
i mean it's not like i don't want to

hiyyih:
boohoo just admit that you're scared to see him

jungwon:
IM NOT???
whatever
fine i'll go

riki:
??? well aren't you tough to convince 🥱

jake:
hahaha sounds great
i'll just pick you up wonie
then we can go to yonsei together

jungwon:
yay thanks hyung 😁

riki:
see y'all later gays
**guys
oh well ig that applies too

---------

it's five minutes before six in the evening, and the blasting music can be heard from outside of yonsei university. the huge social hall is now decorated with silver and blue- from the chairs, the balloons, the stage.

"i still think that this would look better if we held the party in a hotel or whatever," chenle comments while sipping on the champagne.

yuna stares at him, judging. "you know what would make this better? your absence. people would be so glad to know that you're not here."

the two bickered while their other batchmates just watched. after a while, more people arrived at the venue- including jake and jungwon, who had just parked their car beside the hall.

before jake could get out of the car, jungwon pulled him with his cold hand.

"i changed my mind. can i just go home?" the younger stared at him with pleading eyes.

he sighed. "it'll be fine, won. i'm sure he won't be there. come on." he tried to console him. when they finally got out, they walked right towards the entrance of the building.

jungwon walked close to him. "aren't you nervous, hyung?" he whispered.

"of what?" he chuckled, and then he stopped walking when he bumped into someone's shoulder.

"sorry, i didn't see..." when the person spoke, jake's world seemed to abruptly froze.

when he looked up, he was met by the eyes of the person that he was longing for. the eyes of the guy who still has his heart, even after all those years. even after he left me.

"...you." jay's voice trailed off, while still staring at him.

to answer jungwon's question, no. i'm not nervous. i'm feeling beyond that.

i feel like my heart's going to jump out of my chest at any minute now.

----------

hi hi! sorry for making y'all wait for long 😅 it was honestly the first time i had a serious writer's block (no shit i had to erase a lot of paragraphs bc i'm not satisfied lmao) anyways hope you guys are patient enough to wait for the ending ^^ (yes we're close ig lol)