idol no love | jakehoon

seventeen. coffee and brunch

Jake would be lying if he said that Sunghoon's sudden honesty gave him butterflies. Because a whole lot of them were hovering above the flowers that managed to bloom inside the lowest pit of his stomach.

But can I trust him? One question that to bothered him.

So he decided, it doesn't hurt to be cautious. And left it at that.

Sunghoon made breakfast while he went to shower. To be precise, he limped to the bathroom. Jake usually never spent too much time in the shower but this morning, not to his surprise, he took an entire thirty minutes to enter and leave. Then he took another ten to dress himself, taking breaks in the middle when he got slapped by the reality that he had indeed had sex with the man living rent-free in his heart and mind.

When he came down, Sunghoon had already plated breakfast for the two of them in a small dainty table which Jake suspected was antique because it looked refined and purely wood.

"Nice place," he said after a while of silence and Sunghoon's sipping sounds.

It seemed the idol didn't eat much in the first half of the day as he opted for a cup of coffee and plain bread while Jake had an entire egg-benedict with a fruit salad. Jake was accustomed to western dining, having grown up in Australia for the lovelier portion of his life. He wondered silently as he ate; if Sunghoon went out of his way to make brunch for him when the idol only fed himself coffee and a slice of bread. It looked like his usual meal, if it even counted as a meal.

Sunghoon looked up from his tablet. It was Samsung, and Jake was reminded that the idol was the company's promotion ambassador.

"Thanks. I did the interior designing and furnishing myself." He said it with a sense of pride, but it wasn't boastful and more of a factual response.

Jake nodded. "You've got good taste. Not like I haven't known."

Sunghoon peered up again because of his last words. "How so?"

"Easy. From the way you dress, your Instagram feed, and your choice of brands. Your aesthetic is quite obvious. It's lucid and cool, but upbeat and on par with your persona."

Silence reigned. As it stretched for more than two minutes, Jake began to suspect he had said something wrong. However, he would be proven wrong and put to ease when Sunghoon said, "a keen observation. You're right."

Jake finally breathed; it was of relief with a subtle nod. He ate as they sat in a comfortable silence. When it suddenly dawned on,

"Oh, right. Whatever happened to the investigation and the stalking? Are they, like, connected?"

Sunghoon shook his head. "They're both completely different cases. One, someone was messing around and we accidentally fell into the mess so they must've decided to take revenge by pairing us up in one room. At least, that's what I think. The investigator also revealed that the drug was a rare aphrodisiac, smuggled from abroad so it must've been hella expensive hence, they enunciated revenge on us by putting us against each other in one room."

"I'm surprised no one's called to tell me this," Jake suddenly found himself pouting.

Sunghoon simply smirked. "I told Jihyo-noona that I would be the one to tell you this. She called this morning, you were still asleep so I took the liberty of listening to her updates."

"Alright." Jake accepted albeit begrudgingly.

Sunghoon was still smiling, but he continued, "Two. The stalking was done by the person who's been sending me disturbing mails."

"So it was a stalker-fan."

"I wouldn't call them a 'fan'," said Sunghoon, unamused.

Jake realised that this wasn't a simple matter, judging from the way Sunghoon's face suddenly turned passive as they talked about the stalker. "How long has this been going on?"

Sunghoon did not reply instantly. "A few months."

"What about a restraining order?"

"Filed."

"Identity?"

"Found."

"House?"

Sunghoon got up, he had finished his coffee. "The rat's permanent address is traced to a suburb. She moves around in hotels, motels, goshiwon and whatnot." When he turned around, wanting to ask if Jake would like a cup of coffee to go with his brunch, he found the guy with a sullen look.

"Don't be too worried. We'll get them, and when we do…" He traced off with a stern frown.

Jake easened up a bit. He continued to eat, surprised by how well made the food was. He had never suspected Sunghoon to be a good cook. In fact, he never saw the idol as someone who cooked.

"Do you want coffee?"

"No, thanks. I'll finish this and leave."

For some reason, although not unsurprising, silence reigned in an awkward atmosphere. The idol looked startled by the latter's hastiness to leave. Did he perhaps make him uncomfortable?

Jake caught on with how misinterpreting his remark was so he quickly corrected it. "I actually have a test in the evening so…" Alas. He was unable to clear up the misunderstanding as well as he intended to.

However, surprisingly, Sunghoon was calm and understanding. Calm was a word hardly associated with the idol so he mustn't have misunderstood as deeply as Jake thought he would. He said, "alright. I'll give you a lift-"

"No. I'll take a cab."

"I insist." Sunghoon emphasised as quickly as he was interrupted.

Jake finally looked up, eyes no longer obviously avoiding the idol's by using his meal as a scapegoat. "Why?" He piqued, earning a narrowed look from the idol. "Why are you so suddenly sweet to me?"

And Sunghoon might have been so taken aback, his thought failed to process and he froze in a painfully obvious stumped demeanour.

Jake placed his fork down and got up, biting back a wince. "I have to go. I need to study for the test. Thank you for the meal." He went up back into the bedroom and came out with his phone and wallet.

"Bye," he said and was gone.

Sunghoon never recovered in the kitchen with a cup of coffee in his hand. When the door had clicked signalling the latter's dismissal, only then did he blinked and unfreeze.

"What?" He mumbled dumbly.

nothing happened, just, calm before the storm ig