My Lifeline - Jaywon Shortstories

Sleeping mask

"Are you sure he'll like this one?" asked Jay.
"Pretty sure hyung" replied Sunoo, nodding confidently. "I'm usually right about those things, you can trust me."
"Usually?" replied Jay, not one hundred percent sure.
"Take it" said Sunoo, firmly.

Jay grabbed the sleeping mask. It was very big and had a fluffy side that Sunoo kept touching for some reason.

"He'll like it you'll see" he confirmed as they walked towards the cashier.

~

Niki heard Jay saying he was going to take a nap and wanted to take advantage of his hyung letting his guard down. He had a little prank in mind, a gentle but funny one for a change.

The maknae waited a little while and when he was sure Jay would be asleep, he entered the bedroom discreetly, with something in his hand.

Jay was laying there, sleeping mask on. Niki got closer and had to change his original plan, but thankfully not too much.

His mischief managed, he headed out of the bedroom and joined Heeseung in the living room to play some Fifa.

~

"Where's Jay?" asked Jungwon. "He said he would cook for us."
"He mentioned taking a nap before cooking" replied Sunoo. "You should go wake him up."
"Oh, well okay" answered the leader, happy to have an excuse to go near Jay.

Jungwon walked towards his hyung's room. One of the things he liked the most since they lived together was being able to admire Jay's beauty before waking him up every day.

He liked to see his lips slightly move as his brain gently woke up. He loved how Jay slowly reached for his sleeping mask and lifted it. He adored how his eyes smiled as soon as they recognized Jungwon.

To sum up, Jungwon was beyond happy to wake Jay up for the second time today. In this life with no privacy, it felt like their own shared moment.

Jungwon put his hand on the doorknob, feeling excitement growing in his heart. He opened the door and recognized Jay's shape under the covers. He got close and his smile quickly turned upside down. 

He knew it was silly, but he felt betrayed. Why would have Jay done that? If he didn't like Jungwon, he could have announced it differently...

The leader got closer to Jay, overwhelmed by the situation. He patted Jay and once he heard the usual growl that meant he was awake, Jungwon left the room, without waiting for him.

Jay opened his eyes as he took the sleeping mask out.
Why didn't Jungwon wait for me? He always does.
I thought the fluffy sleeping mask would work... Sunoo told me Jungwon would want to touch it, which would give me an opportunity to get closer to him...

Jay got up and as he was going to put the mask in his drawer, he noticed it was covered in stickers with Niki's face on them.

THAT KID. HOW DARED HE PUT STICKERS ON MY BRAND NEW SLEEPING MASK????

Jay walked out of the room and dramatically opened the living room's door. He found Niki and Heeseung playing on the couch, but he didn't wait for them to finish their game.

"NIKI" he shouted. "Why would you disturb my sleep with stickers? You have to stop these pranks RIGHT NOW"

Niki just laughed, his prank had worked.

~

"I'm telling you" said Jungwon, emotional. "He likes Niki."
"Jungwon for the hundredth time: Jay. Doesn't. Like. Niki" said Sunoo, stoppoing after each word.

No matter how much he said that, the leader wasn't listening. For him it was cristal clear: Jay wasn't interested in him. On top of sad, he also felt extremely silly from having believed there was a vibe between them.

He was just being friendly with me this whole time. He didn't like me. Why couldn't I see it?

"Let's get some fresh air, okay?" suggested Sunoo, slowly guiding him to the balcony.

Jungwon didn't fight it. He didn't know what to do either.

~

Jay left the living room, tired of the pranks. It felt like he was always the victim of them. He headed for the kitchen, he needed a glass of coke.
He passed through the hallway but stopped in the middle of it. Someone was crying not far away.

Intrigued, he abandoned his desire of drinking and followed the cries. He arrived in front of the balcony and saw Sunoo comforting Jungwon.

Jay's heart tightened. He couldn't stand seeing Jungwon crying. Without hesitation, he opened up the balcony door and stepped outside.

"Are you okay?" he said, approaching the leader.

Sunoo and Jay shared a difficult eye contact. Jay felt like Sunoo wanted to silently communicate with him, but Jay didn't understand a thing.

"I'll let you with Jay okay?" Sunoo gently told Jungwon.

Jungwon nodded, even though he didn't want to be left alone with Jay. Not now.

Jay thanked Sunoo mentally and decided to hug Jungwon. The latter fought it at first, but gave in after a few seconds. Jay's hugs were that powerful.

The oldest patted Jungwon's back. He had his cheek on the leader's head and could feel his heart beating faster.

"Do you want to tell me what happened?" asked Jay.
"I'm upset" replied Jungwon.
"I had guessed that" said Jay. "I meant, what upset you?"
"I was sure of something and it turns out I was wrong" whispered Jungwon.

Jay stopped to think.
This morning Jungwon woke me up as usual. This lunch we laughed together, as usual. During the afternoon nothing different happened. However, he didn't wait for me when he woke me up from the nap.
Why didn't he?

At that moment, Jay remembered Niki's prank.

"Does this have to do with Niki?" he asked, unsure.

Jay felt Jungwon's muscles contracting quickly. He might have not answered vocally, but his body did it for him.

"It also has to do with you" finally admitted Jungwon.
"I see" said Jay. "You know I didn't put those stickers on my sleeping mask right?"
"You didn't?" asked Jungwon, lifting his head to look at Jay.
"First the mask is brand new, plus putting stickers on it would ruin the fluffy fabric, lastly if I had to put stickers anywhere, it wouldn't be Niki's" explained Jay.

Jungwon frowned, trying to process the hidden message behind this declaration.

"So... you don't like him?" asked Jungwon.
"Like a brother, yes" replied Jay. "I couldn't like someone who still puts on pranks every day even though they're 21 years old you know."
"What about 22 years old leaders that do pilates?" asked Jungwon, finally giving his dream a chance.
"That I can seriously consider" replied Jay, offering Jungwon his best side smile.

Jungwon smiled back. He had waited five years for this moment.

"Would you consider 24 years old screaming hyung that likes fashion way too much?" asked Jay back.
"That's not even a question" replied Jungwon, his stomach full of butterflies.

The leader felt so light. All the fear of being rejected, the doubts, the pressure were gone.
A fresh breeze passed by them as they share their first kiss.

~

Jungwon was laying next to Jay. They were about to go to sleep but the leader still had something to do. He turned himself to face Jay, who had his whole sleeping equipment on, and touched the mask's fluffy fabric.
"You were right Jay, it's really fluffy" whispered Jungwon.
"I knew you'd like it" replied Jay, smiling.

I guess Sunoo was right, the mask worked.