unsend ; jake

seventy six: heeseung's secret

"This game is kinda boring... we already know everything about each other," Sunoo grumbled from where he sat on the floor, leaning against the couch with a pillow on his lap. 

They all gathered in the living room after dinner, playing truth or dare to pass the time. A bunch of snacks and some beverages were laid in front of them. 

"Okay, okay! This is the last one then. Only Heeseung hasn't had a turn so I'll ask him and then we can play something else..." Suyoung spoke, ruffling Sunoo's hair, then turning all the attention to the male, her eyes turning sharp, "Truth or dare, Heeseung?"

"Uh... truth?" he gulped. 

"Tell me Heeseung... Is Jay your type? What do you think of him?" Suyoung asked, stuffing a few chips in her mouth. 

Sunoo, Jake, and Yunhyo gasped at the question. 

"Suyoung, what?" Jay muttered in embarrassment. 

"Answer me, Heeseung. You have to be truthful." She asked again, in the same firm tone. 

"Well he's good... a nice guy... handsome even..." Heeseung stuttered out as he shifted in his spot. 

"Is he your style? Would you date him?" she was frowning in concentration, her aura intimidating.

"I don't know... he's... he..." He made up his mind, he couldn't take it anymore. Saying the truth was the only way out of this. 

He closed his eyes and the words burst out of his mouth, "I already have a girlfriend, Suyoung-ssi!" 

Loud gasps alongside exclaims like "what!?", "huh?", "what the fuck?" filled the room at his outburst. 

"Oh... I'm sorry for asking." Suyoung backed off at his answer, her eyes softening. 

"Heeseungie hyung... since when... why didn't you tell us..." Jake's mouth was agape, betrayal and disbelief written all over his face. 

"I'm sorry... I couldn't. I had my reasons." Heeseung felt extremely guilty about hiding such an important thing from his best friends. 

The air in the room shifted as they all sat there uncomfortably, not knowing what to say. 

Riki, who was silent this whole time, got up with an angry expression and walked over to Heeseung, his footsteps determined.

"Who is she, hyung?" he asked in a low voice, "Who's your girlfriend?"

Heeseung lowered his head immediately, not meeting his eyes. "She's uh... you don't... I'm...."

"How long?" Riki's voice shook with rage. 

"One... and a half... year." Heeseung's voice came out in a hushed whisper.

"I hate you. Both of you." Riki walked out, over to his shared room and banged the door closed.

Everyone was stunned. Shook. Unable to breathe.

"Hyung?" Jake asked again. He felt lost amongst all of this. 

"It's his older sister, Jake. It's been one and a half years since we've been dating. I never had the guts to tell him, thinking he would hate me. His best friend dating his sister doesn't sound that great. I guess he always had a doubt, that's how he realised." Heeseung explained, his head still hung low. His voice was soft, all hope lost from it. 

"I'm sorry, Heeseung. It had to come out like this, because of me. I shouldn't have pushed you." Suyoung apologised, her voice guilty and eyes laced with worry.

"No, it's fine. It was supposed to be said one day, it just happened to be today." 

Jay got up with a sigh and started gathering the trash in a bag. Yunhyo silently got up as well, picking up the snacks and the soda cans. 

"Let's go to bed, everyone. You all must be tired. We have to wake up early tomorrow." Jay said. Sunoo and Jungwon shared a knowing look and hurried into their room, worried about Riki. 

Jake went to his room as well and Heeseung went to get himself a pillow and a blanket.

When Jay entered his shared room after changing into his pyjamas, he found Suyoung moving her stuff around on the floor.

"What are you doing right now?"

"Ah, you scared me!" she exclaimed, one hand on her chest to calm her heart, "I'll sleep on the floor, take the bed." 

"Don't be ridiculous. The bed is big enough for both of us. You can spread your limbs and still be comfortable. C'mon, it's not our first time sleeping side by side..." He didn't just stop at his words but also began putting her stuff back in place. 

She smiled at his actions, "Alright. I'll go change and come back." 

As Jay waited for her to come back to the room, he heard a knock on the door. 

Suyoung stood in the doorway with a cake in her hands, a candle lit on top of it. "Happy birthday, Jay-ah! I'm sorry all of this happened on your birthday. I wish it would've been a good day for you..." 

When Jay took in the sight, he couldn't comprehend a single thing. His breaths shallowing when he stared at her. "You prepared this... for me?" He made a poor attempt at hiding his smile. 

"Of course! You're my best friend, I'd do everything for you." She smiled proudly, ear to ear.

His heartbeat thundered in his chest at that moment- the only noise in the tranquil silence. Their faces lit in the light of the candle on the cake, and the small yellow table lamp. 

He blew the candle out after closing his eyes for a few seconds and making a wish, smiling when Suyoung clapped excitedly. Swiping a bit of cream on his index finger, he swiftly put it on her nose, smiling fondly as his eyes sparkled mischievously, "Thank you so much Suyoung-ah... for making my day, and for being my best friend for so long." 

"Hey, what even..." she trailed off shyly, wiping the cream off her nose. "Hurry up and cut it now, I've been craving it since I bought it." 

Jay chuckled at her words as he shared a piece. Both of them sat on the floor, their backs leaning on the edge of the bed. They spent a few hours chatting away before going to sleep- sharing the cake, sharing some laughter, and then sharing the bed as well.