jake's aunt gets sick-the summer after his freshman year at college, he moves in to take care of her. she still lives in the same small town his mother left when she was 18.
jake is prepared for an uneventful summer, but then he meets heeseung.
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When Jake wakes up the day after Ms. Lee stormed in, his head is foggy from all the crying he did the night before. He blinks, trying to clear his mind and then immediately dives toward his phone.
There's nothing from Heeseung, which honestly was what he expected. There are a couple messages in the group chat, but Jake can't bear to look at those right now. The guilt roiling in his stomach is too strong.
Instead, he sets his phone down and heads downstairs. Hayun is at the kitchen nook holding a cup of coffee as she stares out the window. Jake clears his throat. "Morning," he greets her.
Her head whips toward Jake. He can see her eyes are red-rimmed, which means she must have let herself cry after Jake finally fell asleep.
Jake winces. She shakes her head. "Don't you even think about apologizing." She points a finger at him. Jake swallows the words on his tongue. "Get some coffee, Jaeyun." She points at the freshly made coffee.
"You don't drink coffee." He points to the cup in her hands.
"I do when I need to." She says, vaguely. "And today, I think we both will need some caffeine."
Once Jake prepares his coffee and sits down at the table, Hayun sighs. "Sangook called me this morning," she says. Jake freezes. "He's not upset at either of you, Jake." She tries to reassure him. "He just called to give an update on where things are at home since Anna apparently stole Heeseung's phone last night."
Jake nods, preparing for the worst. "Anna wants to pretend nothing happened." Hayun sighs. "She doesn't want to publicly fight with Heeseung because she doesn't want anyone to know why they are fighting." Hayun rolls her eyes. "But she also wants Heeseung to avoid coming over here this summer."
Jake nods. It's what he expected.
"Obviously, Sangook doesn't agree with her but he wanted Heeseung to get rest since they've all apparently been arguing most the night." Hayun sighs. "He said the whole family agreed to a temporary pause so everyone can get some sleep." She looks at her watch. "They are going to try having a family discussion at 3 pm this afternoon."
Jake nods. "I'm glad he will get some sleep."
Hayun smiles, sadly. "How are you feeling?" Hayun asks.
Jake shakes his head. "I think Heeseung is in a really bad position." Jake sighs. "If he takes a stand against his mom then everyone will know why, which would be bad for our friends." Jake's breath hitches. "If he just goes along with her plan, then that would obviously be bad for us."
Hayun nods, sympathetically. "That's Heeseung," she says. "But how are you, Jaeyun?"
Jake looks at her and lets out a shaky breath. "I'm not sure." He stares down at his coffee.
"Would you want to be publicly involved with Heeseung?" She asks. "Because if you don't want to, I think that's information he should have before his talk with his family today."
