The Retreat | Enha multi ship

[Chapter 22]

A strange tapping sound suddenly awoke Jake from his sleep. He sits himself up and glances around the dark cabin, able to infer that it was probably some time in the early morning. None of his roommates seemed to be awake, so he wasn't sure where that sound had come from. He couldn't hear it anymore. Maybe it was just a bird pecking at their roof. He laid back down, deciding to try and get some more sleep, but just as he did, he heard the noise again.

This time it spooked him, causing him to flinch once he realized that the sound was coming from his window. He stared at his curtains for a few seconds, pondering whether he should find out what was causing that sound. As much as he tried to remain rational, he couldn't stop his imagination from running away with his fear. It could be a monster, an evil spirit, a chainsaw wielding murderer. Now the sound was drowned out by his racing heart beat. He would never be able to sleep until he knew what it was.

"Jake, you awake?"

Instantly, a wave of relief washed over him, and he let out a deep sigh pulling back the curtains slightly. He see's a familiar red head standing outside his window. 

"What are you doing?" He whispers, as he desperately tries to fix his messy bed hair.

"Don't ask questions, just come outside." Heeseung replies with urgency.

Though Jake had no idea what was going on, Heeseung seemed almost excited, bouncing up and down while he waited by the window. Maybe this had something to do with the confession yesterday. They hadn't spoken since, mainly because Jake spent the whole night avoiding Heeseung. This was very overwhelming for him, he wasn't used to people showing interest in him.

"Come on." Heeseung urges him.

"Oh- okay." Jake mumbles, realizing he had got lost in his own thoughts. Quickly but cautiously, he climbs down the ladder, spending a second debating whether to change out of his pajamas or not. In the end, he decides to just throw on his coat, and before leaving the cabin, he switches on his phone's camera to check he looked presentable. 

"I had to get up early to chop wood yesterday, please tell me this does not involve manual labor." He says, with actual concern.

Heeseung chuckles and shakes his head. "No, but I am asking for a favor."

"A favor?" Jake cocks a brow, then his eyes suddenly widen, and he stumbles away from Heeseung. "I don't do those sorta things!"

Panic appears in Heeseung's eyes, as he starts waving his hands frantically. "No no no, I didn't- not like that- ugh, I just wanted to ask if you'd come watch the sunrise with me!"

"Oh..." Jake mutters, feeling a little embarrassed that he'd jumped the gun there. He scratches his arm awkwardly. "So this is like...a date?" He asks quietly, averting his eyes from Heeseung.

"Yeah, I like you and I'm gonna put the effort in, but if you don't want that-"

"No!" Jake snaps, and Heeseung seems to look a bit disheartened. "I mean, I do want that..." He mumbles awkwardly.

Instantly, Heeseung perks up again, nodding his head towards the woods. "Shall we go then?"

____

During their walk, the two boys talked a lot, and Jake learned so much stuff that he never knew before. It was actually surprising how well they got along. He had always assumed that Heeseung was only interested in sports and getting drunk, like all the other footballers in school, but he wasn't. He actually likes baking, he loves his pet cat, and he spends the weekends knitting with his grandma. 

So, this boy can bake, he's an animal lover, he cares about his family, and he's incredibly handsome, could he get anymore perfect?

"Ooh this is something I wanna know," Heeseung says, while moving a tree branch out of the way, so Jake doesn't hit into it. "What's your favourite show of all time?"

"That's easy!" Jake replies, a smug smile crawling onto his face. "Alice in Borderland, no better show out there."

Heeseung seemed a bit surprised by that answer. "Really?"

"Yes, do I look like a Peppa pig kinda guy?" Jake's question sparks laughter between them. He finds himself blushing a little, happy that he made Heeseung laugh.

"It's not that I don't think you'd watch that show, it's just, it's also my favourite show of all time." 

So he's also a man of taste.

"We should watch it together sometime! Sunghoon never wants to watch it, and I'm pretty sure Sunoo's getting fed up of re watching it with me, but he'll never tell me that. You could come to my house this weekend." Only at his last word, did Jake realize what he had just done. His face drops, and he shuts his mouth, darting his gaze to the floor.

He just invited the most popular boy at school to his house. Was he insane? He never brings anyone to his home [apart from Sunoo and Sunghoon of course], so his mum will definitely know something is up. That will lead to her teasing him about it, and the only way to get her to stop, will be to bribe her. Which means that he'll have to change the light in the attic, that no ones fixed for four months, because no one wants to go up there. 

Heeseung's laugh breaks him out of his thoughts. "What are you thinking about?"

"I really don't want to go up in the creepy attic." Jake mumbles, suddenly snapping his head towards Heeseung, who was only laughing more. "Uh, ignore that, I don't know what I'm saying."

"You're really cute." Heeseung comments with a sweet smile. This obviously flusters Jake, and he brings his hands to his face to hide the blush. "And if the offer is still out there, I'd be honored to come to your house." 

"Okay." Jake nods, his heart beating ten times faster than it was before. 

The idea of Heeseung coming to his house was super scary, but ignoring the fear, he was actually kinda excited. He may have been thinking too far ahead, but this would be there second date, right? So this was for real, he was actually dating someone now, and that person was Lee Heeseung. What a strange world? 

____

I'm back! Hope everyone had a lovely week :)

So here's how my break went, I've basically figured out the rest of the story, and planned everything that's going to happen. However, I literally wrote nothing for a week. For some reason, I just lost all my motivation. But, I am motivated again, and really excited to continue this story.

Also, did anyone watch Alice In Borderland Season 2? I loved it so much, I've already re watched it.