i know i love you | jakehoon

𝚃𝚆𝙴𝙽𝚃𝚈 𝙵𝙾𝚄𝚁 --

chapter
— 24 —

"Bye Jay," They both said at the same time, turning to each other as soon as the front door closed. "How about a movie?" Jake asked, moving on his heels towards the stairs, sliding a little bit with his socks on still. Jaehyuk was in the living room again, watching some drama Sunghoon had never seen before. The volume was a little loud. "Hyung, can you please turn that down?!" Jake yelled over the TV, putting a cup over his mouth. "OH YEAH, SORRY" Jaehyuk turned it down and looked over at the two who were already more than halfway up the stairs. "Sunghoon and I will be watching a movie upstairs," Jake interlocked their hands again. Jaehyuk squinted at him teasingly, lifting his eyebrows a few times.

"Don't be weird hyung," Jake whined, pulling Sunghoon towards his room. On the way to his room, Sunghoon made a little noise and called out to Layla who was still downstairs with Jaehyuk, waiting for her to come running over. And when she did, she immediately jumped up onto Sunghoon, making him fumble before lay flat on the older's bed. "She really loves you," Jake joked, calling Layla to join them on the bed.

Sunghoon tried to read the room. Trying to see if it was the right time to tell Jake about Jaeyun. But thoughts flooded his mind of just negative things that would happen after telling Jake about his imaginary friend. What could happen to their friendship after telling him about Jaeyun, they just confessed to each other as well.

"So what movie should we watch?" Jake leaned against his shoulder, pulling Layla to sit between them. Her head rested on his left thigh with the rest of her body rested gently on Jake's lap. She seemed so happy whenever she was around them. "Well, what movie do you want to watch?" Sunghoon asked, going to grab the blankets to cover their lower halves. The air conditioner was making him freeze.

"How about an animated movie! Let's watch a Disney film?" The older was scrolling through all of the movie and series, most not piquing his interest. The buttons on the remote created a soft clicking noise and Sunghoon didn't know if he was crazy but he swore his heart was beating just as fast as Jake pressed all of the buttons. Layla looked up at his uneasy expression and pressed her nose against his right hand, nuzzling up to his palm when he opened it up. He already chose a movie and was ready to press on it, Sunghoon panicked a little bit. But soon after, Layla jumped down to lay on her bed that sat at the side of Jake's bed. She snuggled close to the toys that sat on the bed with her.

"Jake, can we talk about something? It's been bothering me for some time now..." Jake's smile faded as he went to put down the remote, sitting up straight to face him entirely. Silence overcame them for a few minutes, Sunghoon nervously playing with his hands. What could go wrong? Jake will understand, right? But then again, what if he doesn't? What if he finds me weird?!

"Before we met, there was this little boy. We grew up together but I didn't get to see him a lot. He looked exactly like you, has the same name as you, and your personalities match only exactly." Sunghoon noticed as Jake's expression changed quickly at this, eyes going a little wide but he still nodded slowly. "I met him first at the park we hung out at a few days ago, he helped me through bullying. Years later he helped me out when I just recovered from my injury, he was just always there when nobody else was" Sunghoon took a deep breath to calm himself down.

"But nobody could see him, nobody. Jay was getting concerned for me and one day decided to talk to my mom and sister after his confrontations with me didn't work. She made me go to the doctors and they told me that I had been imagining this boy named Jaeyun to get through all of my stress, all of my problems." Jake bit his lower lip and nodding again, crossing his legs. "After realizing this, the others really tried to get my mind off of him and did their best to bring me out of the house whenever they could. But soon after I was beginning to forget about him, you came into my life." More and more of the weight he carried with him went away with each sentence he said, fiddling with his hands madly. Jake reached over and intertwined their hands, rubbing his hand to make him relax, a comforting smile on his lips.

"I still see Jaeyun sometimes. I have to be honest, I was talking to Jaeyun before you walked upstairs with all of your things. I talked to him as if it was you but he has no recollection of the name Jake... I'm just so confused and I don't know what to do." Jake's eyes softened. His expression was calm despite all of the information he just threw at him. "I—I met a boy named Sunghoon before I left for Australia," Jake began slowly, watching Sunghoon quickly lift his head from looking at his lap.

"And that ball, we played with it when he first became friends. But the last memory I recall with Sunghoon was when we went to the ice cream shop and when you made me try mint choco. Which by the way, I will never forgive you for." He jokingly glared at the younger with a smile. "I left soon after that day and never got to say goodbye." Sunghoon looked more shocked than Jake, his other hand massaging at his temples.

"So, we've—we actually became friends when we were younger?" Sunghoon asked, squeezing Jake's hand just a little tighter than before. Jake squeezed back, nodding. "That's what it seems like, it was no wonder you looked a little familiar when we first met at the cafeteria" Jake had a wide smile, tilting his head towards Sunghoon. "But—How... I—" The older brought him in for a hug, rubbing his back to make him comfortable. "Hoon," "I'm just happy" Sunghoon whispered, trying to calm down his slightly rigid breathing.

"So I wasn't completely crazy and just made Jaeyun up to make myself feel better?" The younger was getting a little emotional. "I actually met you before..." Sunghoon backed up to cup Jake's cheeks, staring deeply into those so familiar eyes. They were beautiful, he could get lost in them. "I just... I just imaged you after you left" Sunghoon confirmed, Jake nodding with a small smile. He was happy, he couldn't even put into words how happy and excited he was. Jaeyun wasn't completely made up, he was real. And Jake remembered him, a smile painted across his face as he neared Jake just a little more.

"Can I?" Sunghoon asked, looking down at his lips. This certain feeling of victory and relief overcame him, he wanted to cry he was, to be honest. Jake laughed and scooted just a little closer to him, agreeing with a little nod of his head. Slowly, he brought Jake closer to him until their lips met again, one of his hands moving to his waist. They backed away after a few seconds, taking in the whole situation that just unfolded in under just an hour.

"I'm so happy that you're with me again, that I get another chance to be with you years later." The older blushed with pursed lips, trying his best to stop himself from smiling at this. Jake rests his head on the younger's shoulder, feeling Sunghoon grab onto his hand.

"I'm glad I get to be with you again too,"

——

{ 070121 | 07 : 43 }

it's my birthday month >:) hope you liked today's update!

my en-connect dvd thingy didn't ship out yet :'( bUt anyWays, i hope you guys are doing great <3

- JAE -