✓ | hit me up. (heejake)

seventeen.

͙⁺˚*･༓☾

jake grabs the bowling shoes for the both of them. heeseung insists on saving their lane, but in truth, he just doesn't want to run into a coworker. once jake returns with their shoes, the two begin a game of bowling. that night, heeseung learns that jake is terrible at bowling and it's quite possibly one of the most amusing things he's seen in a long time. despite jake's lack of skill, he never stops laughing or smiling and his energy doesn't falter. it's contagious. heeseung could almost forget what they're here for in the first place.

to nobody's surprise, heeseung wins the round. jake collapses next to heeseung on the bench for their lane, wiped out after all the effort he put into his game. he turns to face heeseung and a smile creeps onto his face. "i still can't believe you're really here in front of me," he says, a twinkle in his eye.

heeseung diverts eye contact and fights a blush. "it is a little weird still, yeah."

there's a beat before jake clears his throat and straightens up. "we should probably talk."

at this, heeseung faces him, too. the words he's been aching to say to him come pouring out. "before you say anything, i'm sorry for shutting you out. i shouldn't have acted the way i did. i think i was just...really shocked and confused."

jake nods understandingly. "i forgive you. but don't scare me like that again, seungie. i thought i lost you for good."

heeseung chuckles, grateful that jake can keep their conversation lighter. "you didn't."

now it's jake's turn to blush. he shakes it off before resuming their discussion. "remember how i told you i worked at the school gym?"

heeseung remembers. he also remembers how jake quit and wouldn't tell him why.

"it's how i met sunghoon. he came in frequently and was kinda flirty. he would come with someone else a couple times, which must have been you, but i assumed you were just friends for obvious reasons..."

heeseung frowns. it must have been him because he did go to the gym with sunghoon various times when they were dating. how could he have been so blind as to not see his own boyfriend flirting right in front of him?

"well, the reason i ended up quitting was because i couldn't stand seeing him there. after we broke up, he constantly harassed me while i had my shifts since he'd memorized my work schedule. he's been doing so all this time, even after me quitting, as you know. it's frustrating."

it's so strange how heeseung and jake had once shared the same boyfriend, yet experienced different sides of him, heeseung thinks. his thoughts soon fade because he catches a glimpse of jake's reminiscing face and his heart suddenly starts to churn because who could ever hurt someone as caring and thoughtful as jake?

without thinking much of it, heeseung places a warm hand atop jake's, which rests in his lap. he gives it a gentle squeeze as if to ask if that's okay. jake perks up and chooses to hold his hand instead, squeezing it right back.

the two sit there for a moment, taking each other in. "this could count as our first date, you know," jake says, breaking the silence.

heeseung rolls his eyes with a playful scoff. "we never agreed to this being a date, jake."

"well, can we agree now? if you're not busy, i could really go for ice cream right now. it's always good to have ice cream after deep conversations."

"says who?"

"says me."

heeseung caves. "okay. only if you pay."

"what kind of courteous date would i be if i didn't?"

jake stands up, his hand still holding heeseung's. heeseung takes a moment and then he stands up, too. the two walk out hand in hand, stepping into the promise of something new.