rewrite the stars - jaywon

chapter 16

When Jay pulled up to Jake's house to pick Jungwon up, Jungwon bounded forward and leapt into the car.

"Jay!" he greeted, excitedly, as he tossed his backpack into the backseat. Jay surveyed him, the corners of his mouth lifting into a smile.

"Hello, Jungwon," he said, then, "you're wet."

"Hot tub," Jungwon rested his elbows on the car's center console and leaned forward to rest his chin in his hands, "Now, aren'tcha gonna ask me about the match I made?"

Jay's smile went lopsided as one corner lifted up higher than the other. He took a hand off the wheel and, suddenly, Jay was reaching forward.

Before Jungwon could so much as begin to panic, Jay was brushing the dripping strands of Jungwon's hair away, and out of his eyes. The blunt tips of his fingernails tickled as they passed over Jungwon's skin, sending Jungwon's heart racing.

Finally, Jay's hand finished its journey, as he tucked the longest strands which framed Jungwon's face behind his ear.

Jungwon swallowed, weakly, looking up at Jay with an unobscured view. He was troubled to find that Jay's smile was all the more affecting when seen in full.

"There, now you can see," Jay's smile hadn't changed at all. It was still wide and crooked, like he hadn't been affected at all by what he'd just done, like he hadn't just upended Jungwon's entire world. Jay turned away from Jungwon, back to the road, and started to drive.

"Oh," Jungwon said, when it became clear no explanation was coming for Jay tucking his hair behind his ears, "thanks."

Jungwon drew back from the console and buckled in. Frowning, he reached up to pat the strands of hair Jay had tucked behind his ear, ensuring they were still where Jay had placed them.

"Tell me about the new couple," Jay sounded amused. Jungwon glanced at him, but his face was straight. He wasn't teasing Jungwon.

"Well, honestly, you probably had as much a hand in getting them together as I did," Jungwon confessed, with a sigh.

"Me?"

"Yeah, if it wasn't for your cute ass, Sunoo would've never tried to make Ni-ki jealous."

Jay snickered, "'Cute ass'," he repeated.

Jungwon joined in, giggling. Jay's laugh had to be the cutest thing about him, rivalling even his smile.

Jay's laugh...

Jungwon's eyes flew open as he looked at Jay anew.

"You know, that's the first time I've heard you laugh," he said, amazed into honesty.

Jay blinked, before shooting Jungwon a brief glance. Then, he laughed again. A real laugh, this time. The sound of it filled the space of the car, warming the air. It sent something within Jungwon soaring upon hearing it.

"It seems this is becoming a pattern," Jay said, when he'd finished laughing, "How many of my firsts have been because of you?"

"I... don't know," Jungwon lied.

Two, he recalled. Jay's first smile, and Jay's first laugh. Jungwon wondered if there were more, ones he was missing. He wondered how many there would be in the future, how much of Jay he had yet to discover.

Jungwon turned from Jay to look out at the expansive sky that lay beyond the street ahead of them. It looked as if they kept driving, they'd eventually drive off the edge of the world and straight into space, the stars seemed to shine that close.

"Those aren't planets or satellites, right?" Jungwon had to confirm.

"No. That's Felis." Jay glanced sideways at Jungwon, the starlight throwing the lines of his face into sharp relief, emphasizing his perfectly pointed nose and the sharpness of his jaw.

Jungwon had to look away, grateful for the dim light so his sudden blush wouldn't be visible.

He peered closer at the stars. He supposed their arrangement looked familiar, even if it still didn't look much like a bear to him.

"I'll learn it eventually," Jungwon promised.

"Okay," Jungwon could hear the smile in Jay's voice as he spoke, "But until you do, remember that you can just keep asking me."

— the end of chapter 16 ♡

tmi: i actually cried over the scene where jay brushed jungwon's hair away lol

i will update again after this
reaches 90 votes ^_^