perfume, jake sim

iv. funnel cake

CHAPTER FOUR

JAKE & SAYA
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' funnel cake '

— JAKE WANDERED INTO THE CAFETERIA, wishing he had a hood to throw over his head to shield his face from everyone's view. He had ended the night before on a good note, a smile from the hours prior still residing on his face by the time he fell asleep. Upon waking up, however, repugnant anxiety had settled in his core.

The nauseating nervousness put a dent in his daily routine, everything seemed out of order. He had been distracted all day; his thoughts being entirely consumed by the prospect of breaking up with his girlfriend. The likelihood of his relationship ending any time soon was shrinking exponentially as the day passed by.

He slipped through the students loitering around the cafeteria, maneuvering to the back of the crowded room to sit in the most secluded spot he could find. Sulking around in his own worries wasn't his ideal usage of the day, but it seemed inescapable at this point. Throughout every class, questions rose up in his mind; the wonderings were very much unwelcome and intrusive, but pushing them aside was harder than getting an uninvited guest out of your house. They had made themselves at home, and Jake simply couldn't pull them off his couch and shove them out the door.

He had realized soon after leaving for school that he wasn't going to break up with Luna for himself. If he was, it wouldn't have taken him so long to do so. He was a people-pleaser, and seeing someone so desperate to see him out of that relationship had taken over his ability to think for himself. He had merely said what he needed to in order to appease Sy.

Then by second period, he had begun to rethink that conclusion. If he was never actually going to end things, then why had he been so adamant about it once he had left Sy and gone home? He had no one to lie to in the isolation of his own room, it was just him. If it was truly never something he debated doing then why was he so convinced that his relationship was going to end in the days to come.

And now, surrounded by his happy peers, Jake sat in a puddle of his own confusion and anxiety. For a good while though, Jake was convinced that maybe, just maybe, he was done with Luna.

"Did you already have lunch?"

But she wasn't done with him.

Luna had sat down in front of him, a blue tray holding her lunch, courtesy of the school cafeteria. She failed to notice the twitching of her boyfriend's hands or the way his eyes darted in every direction but at her. Instead, she poked away at the barely edible food with a smile on her lips.

"No, just not hungry."

Luna hummed in response before abandoning the food for her phone, "There's a fair in town next week. Wanna go?"

Only now was Jake able to meet her eyes, although her attention had only been on him for a millisecond before her eyes were locked back onto her phone screen. "A fair? Why do you wanna go?"

"I don't know, can't we just go on a date? Why do I need a reason? Is it weird that I wanna hang out with my boyfriend?"

Jake backtracked, "No, no! It's just— we haven't been on a date in months, I was surprised. That's all."

"K," She clicked her tongue and stood up, getting ready to leave a mere two minutes after arriving, "Pick me up at three on Saturday."

And with that, Luna was gone before she had even settled in. Her untouched tray sat on the edge of the table, reminiscent of the short time she had spared her partner.

‿‿‿‿

Upon hearing that a fair was coming to Brisbane, Alex had done nothing short of bombarding his two closest friends with pleas, begging to go at least once while it was in their city. As much of a nuisance Alex could be, he was very persuasive. And so here they stood, in the middle of a carnival with no clue where to go.

Saya was really wishing she hadn't fallen prey to Alex's coercion yesterday. Lost tickets littered the ground beneath the trio, and the girl was sure she'd lose her hearing if the screaming throughout the fair continued any longer.

Alex pulled his two friends from ride to ride, both excitement and queasiness filling their chests. Although Saya was seconds from being sick more than a couple of times, she couldn't deny that this was the most fun she'd had in a while.

"Oh my God, they have funnel cake!" Alex screeched, nearly rupturing Lily's eardrum in the process. The short-haired girl immediately grabbed her friend's arm, holding him back from dashing over to the dessert stand.

"If you get a funnel cake, you'll waste the rest of our day dying behind the Ring Toss tent."

"It's already six o'clock though, I was gonna call it a day soon anyways," Alex bargained, a pout on his lips.

"I kind of want some too," Saya muttered, causing Lily to switch her glare from Alex over to her, "We'll just get some and then go home! I'll pay, too."

Lily sighed, "Fine."

With a bright grin on her face, Saya skipped over to the dessert vendor selling their beloved funnel cake, pulling a ten-dollar bill out of her pocket. There was a bit of a lineup, about four people in front of her to be precise. The girl looked around, watching people of all ages laugh along with their company as they picked away at some candy floss, or begged someone to go on a ride once more. All the happy people couldn't do anything but make Saya happy herself.

But that happiness only lasted so long.

About 50 or so meters away, a figure that looked a little too much like her therapy buddy occupied her attention. Despite the distance, Saya could tell exactly who it was. She had become accustomed to identifying him from far distances, and she was beyond certain that she was currently staring at Jake, who looked to be with a girl.

Disappointment was all Saya felt at first, but understanding followed soon after. She had never been in the boy's position, but she could imagine how difficult it might be. However, that didn't stop her from wondering where the confident person she had met a couple of nights ago had gone.

As the girl accompanying Jake wandered off, Saya deserted her spot in the queue for ordering her precious funnel cake and made a beeline for the dark-haired boy.

Her presence could be felt from a mile away, and before she had even reached him, Jake had turned in her direction. Not being as well-equipped for this situation as Saya was, it had taken him a little longer to register who she was, but the realization was painted over his face as a frightening feeling ran through his veins.

"Is that her? Your girlfriend?"

So much for greetings, Saya.

But Jake didn't seem fazed, simply nodding and turning his attention to the ground.

"What happened? I thought this was over?" Saya questioned.

Jake breathed out, his hands running over his hair once before falling back to his side, "I don't know, I just couldn't do it. I'm sorry, I know I said I would end it, but I just couldn't—"

"Hey, it's fine, I get it," Saya assured him, her hand instinctively flying up to rest on his shoulder, "We should talk about this though, properly this time."

Jake nodded, albeit confused by her request, "She should be coming back in a minute."

"Mkay," Saya smiled, her hand only now falling from his shoulder, "Can you come to my house tonight, then?"

With a bit of hesitation, Jake agreed, "Sure."

— ## AUTHOR'S NOTE
lets ignore the fact that it took me over a month to update this 🥰🥰

anywho ni-ki and junwon's mix and max OH MY GOD???