Meant To Be » 𝐉𝐀𝐊𝐄

» XXII «

The apartment was filled with my sobs after Jake had confessed his feelings. I didn't know exactly what to feel. The more I tried to process his words, the more confused I got.

He slowly got up from his knees to engulf me in a brief hug while I remained still the whole time. I could feel that his lips were quivering as he kept himself from breaking down.

He took a deep breath and exhaled before whispering, “Maybe I messed up with this one too,” he chuckled sadly, “But I won't force you to tell me you feel the same way. Hopefully, I'll be seeing you tomorrow.”

He stood up to leave when I grabbed onto his sleeve, stopping him from moving away further, and spoke with a hoarse voice, “Don't go.”

He looked down at the ground while I faced his back, “Or else he'll come to kill us both.”

He turned his head in confusion, “Who are you talking about?”

My whole body froze as soon as I felt a presence behind the couch I was sitting on. Jake immediately pulled me by my arm and stood defensively in front of me.

“Only now you decide to show up,” Jake laughed in disbelief. Heeseung coolly stood in front of us without speaking a word.

“What did you do to Youngjae?” Jake instantly asked.

“Maybe I was wrong for doubting the feelings you have for Emma,” Heeseung spoke, dodging the question.

Jake scoffed, “Don't tell me you're here to take her away from me as well.”

“I have nothing to do with her. I just came over to invite you two to my place, later today,” Heeseung folded his arms.

“And how can you convince us that this isn't one of your traps to lure us to our deathbeds?” Jake doubtfully questioned.

Heeseung rolled his eyes, “If I wanted you dead you'd already be lying on the floor right now. All I can say is, your doubts will be cleared only if you come. Feel free to ignore my invitation if you don't want answers.”

Jake thought for a moment before turning to me, who was blankly looking back at him. He turned back to Heeseung after figuring out what I wanted, “When?”

Heeseung pulled up a smile, “During the small hours. I'll be looking forward to see you two.”

He was about to leave when I spoke up, “We'll be seeing Youngjae, right?” He shifted his gaze at me as I stood behind Jake, whose eyes were widened at the sudden query.

Heeseung grinned, “Yes.”

៚ · •

“But we don't know if he meant we'd see her dead or alive,” Jake paced back and forth outside of the bathroom while I washed my face to get rid of the dry tears.

After drying my face and taking a look at myself in the mirror, I revealed the spot he had bitten to see how it looked for myself.

“I told you, it isn't like the typical bites you read in the articles,” he popped up behind me, making me startled.

“Gosh, you guys really need to stop doing that,” I sighed and kept the towel away, still making him face my back, “Why isn't it visible?”

“Because you were bitten out of love, of course,” he grinned, making me sneer, “Out of love?”

“I'm exaggerating, but it's partly correct. Bites like those don't hurt for long and they're not visible. The bites you've read about are all done out of malicious intent so it will hurt and leave a nasty mark.”

“So it's practically whether you bite it aggressively or not.”

“Suppose you can word it like that,” he exhaled and suddenly wrapped his arms around my waist, embracing me with a hug from behind, “Fun fact, sucking your partner's blood is technically the same as making love for vampires.”

“That's not a "fun" fact,” I nudged at his abdomen with my elbow.

He laughed as he slowly started swaying me from side to side, “Oh, come on, I know you enjoyed it. Your reactions said it all.”

“What was I supposed to do when you sapped out all my energy? I couldn't even breathe properly, think about asking you to stop,” I scoffed.

“That's just because it was your first time.”

I shot him a glare through the mirror and he laughed out loud, “Okay, enough of that. We're not couples so it shouldn't count.”

I rolled my eyes and tapped on his arms which were around me, “Then why are you acting like we are one?”

He suddenly turned me around to face him, still keeping his arms around me. My heart skipped a beat at the sudden motion and at how close our faces were. I could feel his heart beating normally while he could feel mine rapidly pumping out more blood just to transfer it up to my cheeks.

“I'm still waiting for you,” he softly spoke, “Although I know what you want to say just from feeling your heartbeat.”

“You can read minds, don't you? Then why don't you just read mine,” I attempted to play it off cool but my heart and cheeks said otherwise.

He chuckled, “I want you to say it out loud.”

I formed my lips into a thin line and looked away from his eyes, “I like you too.”

He hummed and searched for my eyes, “I didn't hear you. What did you say?”

I whined, “It's embarrassing for me to say.”

“Why is it embarrassing? Come on, you already know that I feel the same way.”

I pursed my lips and looked into his eyes, “I like you, Jake Sim. Satisfied?”

He grinned, “Very. Although I prefer you to say something else.”

“What?”

“What's after 'like'?”

“'You'?”

“Oh my goodness.”

“What? It's not wrong.”

“You're hopeless...”

“And yet you like me.”

៚ · •

“Are you sure he won't know?” I spoke to Jake through the phone later that night.

“Not really. He himself said that you have nothing to worry about regarding your cousin, so it won't be my fault if it doesn't go according to plan.”

I sighed in frustration, “I feel like I shouldn't be doing this.”

“Don't worry too much about it. Heeseung doesn't simply say things he doesn't mean so I'm pretty sure he'll do a great job deceiving your cousin.”

I snickered, “He doesn't look like he does judging from my last encounter with him.”

“Just trust him this time,” he chuckled, “Okay, I'll see you in a few minutes.”

“See you.”

I constantly tapped on the table as I waited for the time to pass faster. A minute felt like half an hour but eventually Heeseung appeared in my room, “Looks like you're ready.”

“Will this hurt me?” I asked while I reluctantly stood up.

“No, but it's going to give you a headache if you don't brace yourself.”

“Wha—”

Before I could even get ready, he disappeared into thin air with me in less than a second after firmly holding onto one of my hands. I closed my eyes shut at the sudden force and continued to keep them closed even after everything went back to normal.

Heeseung laughed, “You can open your eyes now.”

I hesitantly opened them upon hearing him and was instantly greeted by an unfamiliar and eerie place. I looked at Heeseung doubtfully and went back to browsing around my surroundings. Will this be worth it?

© 2023 -JAKISM