Right Here | Jakehoon

14

Jake woke up to a feeling of ice-cold water being splashed onto him. He sputtered while rubbing water out of his eyes. "Jongseong!" he shouted angrily. He opened his eyes angrily to scold his roommate but saw Niki standing in front of him with a devilish grin. 

"What do you want, you inhumanely tall brat?" Niki just smiled at him. I swear this kid, he's going to be the end of me. "I need your help." Jake looked up at him. "Well go away, I want to sleep." Niki looked at him with puppy eyes. Ugh, he knows I can't resist his eyes. "Fine, what do you want?" 

Niki pulled out his phone and opened the calendar app. "I need your help on the 14th which is this Friday. The first-year journalism majors have an important presentation tomorrow and our professor asked all of us to bring one of our parents or a parental figure tomorrow to watch the presentation. Could you please come?" 

Jake sat up and looked at Niki. "I mean I'll come if you want me to, but don't you think it's time to reconcile with them?" Niki shook his head. "You don't understand, hyung. They don't want anything to do with me." Jake sighed. "I know, but they are your parents after all. Why don't you try one last time? Ask them to come for your presentation. If they refuse to do so, then I'll gladly come to see your presentation."

Niki agreed. "Fine. But, do you promise to come if they refuse?" Jake smiled and ruffled Niki's hair. "Of course. I'll always be there for you." 

Niki smiled at him and then sat up from the bed. "Okay, I'm going now. Don't forget about tomorrow!" Jake smiled as Niki ran out of the door. Niki tries to act tough and all but he's a big softie inside. Also why does it look like he's grown even taller? What does that kid even eat to grow that tall?!

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The next day, Jake, Sunoo, Jungwon, and Heeseung were having lunch while conversing about their days. "Who convinced me to become a business major? I don't know half of the words my professor uses and he doesn't allow us to use devices in class to search up any of the terms!" Jungwon groaned while stuffing curry in his mouth. That boy really likes his curry. While they were talking, two other people came and sat down at their table.

"Hey guys." Jake looked up to see Sunghoon smiling at them. Woah, that white top really looks good on him. It makes him look like an angel. Wait, what am I even thinking? Something's really wrong with my brain. 

Jake heard a choking noise next to him and saw Jungwon choking on his curry. Jay looked at Jungwon and asked, "Umm, are you okay? Do you need some water?" That just made Jungwon choke more. Jake patted the boy's back until he finally stopped choking. After he returned back to normal, Jungwon just sat there blushing while avoiding looking at Jay. Haha, he really likes Jay. I should try setting them up together. Wait, Jake. Stop meddling, Jake. Meddling causes trouble, Jake. But, they look so cute together! I should 100% set them up together.

Jay smiled at Jungwon and held out his hand, "Hey, Jungwon right?" Jungwon blushed even more and smiled nervously while nodding. "Yeah, hi." The two of them started making some awkward conversation so Jake turned his head to look at the other side of the table. Heeseung was quietly eating his noodles while Sunghoon and Sunoo talked. They seem to be quite close. That's good, I guess... Sunoo's finally getting what he wants. 

Jake sat there quietly eating until he realized somebody was missing. "Wait Hoon, where's Niki?" Sunghoon shrugged. "I don't know, he was kind of off today. He was really quiet the whole day. When I asked him what was wrong, he said something about his parents and some presentation. Anyways, I think he just got back a few minutes ago from his parent's house and headed straight toward our dorm."

Jake stood up immediately. "Hoon, give me your keys, I need to speak with Riki." Sunghoon looked up at him surprised. "Why? Did something happen?" Jake shook his head. "No, nothing happened. I just need to speak with him." Sunghoon realized that Jake didn't want to share anything in front of so many people so he decided to let go of the matter and handed Jake his keys.

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Jake walked away quickly towards Niki and Sunghoon's dorm. Behind him, he could hear Sunoo curiously inquiring about who Niki was. Jake ran up to the familiar door of Niki's dorm and unlocked the door. He heard a few footsteps entering the living room. A very tall person wearing a black hoodie entered the room while staring at Jake. "What are you doing here, hyung?" Jake looked up at Niki's face and it was evident that the boy had been crying. 

Jake immediately ran up to Niki and hugged him. "Are you okay? How did the meetup go? Did he hit you? I'm so sorry I forced you to go and talk to them. Are you mad at me? I'm really sorry!" Niki shook his head. "Why would I be mad at you hyung? It's not your fault that my own parents who gave birth to me hate me and think I'm a disappointment." 

Jake went into the kitchen and got out two canned soft drinks and then went to sit on the couch. "Okay, tell me exactly what happened." Niki shrugged while sipping his drink. "I went to their house and my mother opened the door. She hugged me immediately when she saw me and apologized for my father's behavior. While she was speaking to me, my dad walked in. He asked me what I was doing at his house and I told him about my presentation tomorrow. He got mad and screamed at me about how I was a failure. He told me to never enter that house until I become a doctor because until then, I am no son of him." 

Jake sat there quietly. Finally, he asked, "Did he hit you?" Niki shook his head. "No, not this time." They sat there quietly as Jake waited for Niki to continue. After a few minutes, Niki spoke. "Hyung, do you think I'm a disappointment?" Jake gasped dramatically. "You, Nishimura Riki, are not and never will be a disappointment. Anybody who makes you think so is an absolute idiot." 

Niki sighed while rubbing his face with his palms. "I don't think my parents will ever speak to me again." Jake shrugged. "So what? It's not like they ever were there for you. This is not the only time your dad has been controlling. His anger issues are way out of limit and your mom does nothing to stop him when he harms you. I have seen you all these years being abused by your parents and I can't stand seeing that continue. I thought that maybe they would have changed with time but that does not seem to be the case." 

Jake continued, "Niki, a wise person once told me something important. Your parents do not define your worth. You, Niki, are worth much much more than your terrible parents and you are definitely not a disappointment or failure in any way. Do you understand that?"

Niki nodded. Jake looked at Niki's face and he could see that he was still holding something in. "I know you need to say something, tell me." Niki continued to look down and hesitantly started speaking. "Hyung, the two people I love the most in the entire world don't love me. They're ashamed of me. Is it because I'm unlovable?" 

Jake looked at Niki, shocked. "Is that what you think?" Niki finally looked up and Jake's heart broke when he saw Niki's tear-stained face. He hugged Niki tightly, not caring that his shirt was getting wet.

"Riki, you are not unlovable. I love you more than anything. You're like a little brother to me. Jay and Sunghoon also love you so so much. You will never ever be unlovable and will always be loved, at least by us. Nothing could and will ever change that. Do you understand?" Niki just nodded. "You know you can tell me anything right, Niki?" Niki looked up at Jake and after a few seconds, nodded his head. 

Then, Jake stood up dusted his pants, and held out his hand for Niki to hold. "Come on, that's enough moping around. Let's go get some fresh air." He added, "But, if you would rather stay home, then I completely understand." Niki shook his head while standing up. "No, let's go to the cafeteria and meet the others. We still have around half an hour left of lunch." 

Both the boys headed towards the cafeteria. Jake chatted more than usual, filling in for Niki because the younger boy was quite subdued today.

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OK GUYS! AN EVENTFUL CHAPTER!
also im sorry if i forgot to mention that sunghoon and niki were roommates. it just made sense cause they were both journalism majors.
ANYWAYS JAYWON WAS FINALLY INTRODUCED!!!
also we looked into niki's past haha
anyways ik i said the coming chapters would be light and happy... but i swr the next chapter is FULL OF FLUFF AND CUTENESS
im sorry for not updating for so long, i was rly busy and i dont think ill be able to update for a while because i have exams
so i hope you enjoy this chapter because this is the only chapter u guys will be getting for a while, im sorry :(
but i promise that the next chapter will be long to make up for the delay!!
hope u liked the chapter ^^