𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐦𝐞? | 𝐣𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐡𝐨𝐨𝐧

[02]

☆

Munching on his dinner, Jake let out a sad sigh. It was like everything he had dreamed of was snatched from him and shattered. It wasn't fair. Why would Sunghoon get with her in the first place? Who even was she? He had never seen the younger with her, so why now? And what hurt the most was that he hadn't told him. His friend for over 10 years hadn't told him he had a whole girlfriend.

He placed down his chopsticks, well more like
dropped his chopsticks on the table next to the bowl of instant noodles he had warmed up for himself, the wood making a light patter on the glass table. — It was another lone night for him. Both his parents were out at work while his brother was gone to college, he hadn't been home for months. It was just him and Layla but she was asleep so it felt as if it were only him. On a normal day, he'd call up Sunghoon and they'd hang out together and the taller would often spend the night, but Jake didn't want to even see him. The thought of Sunghoon alone made him want to cry, he still felt so betrayed.

The teen took a sip of the cola he had grabbed to pair with his ramyeon. He let out an 'ah' — sucking in air through his teeth due to how strong the carbonation in the drink was. The sound seemed to have woken Layla who was resting in the living room not even ten feet away. She stretched before tiredly stumbling over to him.

A soft smile made its way onto the male's face, a tender glint in his eyes as the dog put a paw on his thigh. He knew it was because she could sense he wasn't feeling the best, "Aw, you're so sweet," He cooed, his grin growing wider as he petted her golden blonde fur. "At least you're here...," His tone was filled with sorrow. Layla nudged him with her head, rubbing onto him as a way to try and send comfort. Jake smiled once again, although this time it wasn't very big.

☆

"Hey, you good?" Ni-ki asked Jake as they made their way to the extracurricular hall on the school's campus along with Sunoo. There was obviously something on Jake's mind, something that bothered him — any and everyone could see it. "What do you mean, 'you good?' does he look good?!" Sunoo exclaimed dramatically, other students looking at him as if he were crazy. "I was just asking," A small pout appeared on the youngest's lips, his voice sounding hurt but playful at the same time. "Don't ask dumb questions!"

As those two rambled on with each other Jake managed to tune them out, they always bickered, and he was used to it. He fidgeted with his fingers as he looked ahead of him and that's when he saw them. His heart began to beat faster as he saw Sunghoon notice him. He tried to hide behind the boys who were arguing, not wanting to seem like he was hiding but it was painfully obvious.

"W-what the hell?" The yellow-haired male furrowed his eyebrows, looking back at Jake. "Shh!" The oldest tried to hush the two but Ni-ki continued to yap, "Hyung," He started, laughing. "Who are you hiding from?" Jake's face lit up red, embarrassed but that got even worse when he witnessed Sunghoon whisper something to Wonyoung. See, normally he would've gotten upset and all in his feels about how close they were, but he had no time to do that because Sunghoon was heading straight towards him?!

A panic washed over Jake as he pushed his friends away from him so he didn't seem as crazy, but that didn't really help his case. Sunghoon began jogging across the court, scaring Jake even more. He froze up as the younger finally made it over to him. "Hi, Jakey. Is everything okay?" He asked with a kind smile as he looked the older in the eyes. Jake never responded, just staring back; how Sunghoon looked at him the day prior was all that he could think of. "Uh, Hyung? Hello?" The other waved his hands in front of Jake's face. The said male soon snapped out of his trance but ran away right after with an incoherent stammer.

"Is-?" Sunghoon never finished his sentence, turning to the duo that had just been walking with Jake. Ni-ki only shrugged while Sunoo gave him a look that Sunghoon couldn't interpret. He chose not to say or do anything and just walked back over to where Wonyoung was.

"What was that?" The girl asked as she leaned against a brick pillar, playing with her curled hair. "I...," Sunghoon sighed, "I don't know," He shook his head, running his fingers through his bleached locks. He looked more annoyed than distressed. "Oh, I hope he's fine," She stated, a hint of worry in her voice, wrapping her arms around Sunghoon's waist, and leaning onto him instead. The male tensed at her actions but she didn't notice, "Oh, it doesn't matter," He replied, voice low, almost a mutter.

☆

"Guys, where's Jake?" Jay asked, looking at how there was an empty spot where Jake normally sat. "I don't know, I think he might be avoiding him...," Sunoo pointed discretely at Sunghoon who was laughing up a storm with little miss Wonyoung. "I'll go try to find him," He stated, getting up from his seat. "Hey~!" Jay called out, a small frown on his face. "You'll be fine without me for 5 minutes," The younger rolled his eyes. Jay let out a sigh of defeat, tossing a piece of food into his mouth.

Jake was hiding in the bathroom once again. He had no appetite and all he wanted to do was cry, to be honest. He opened his phone to try and distract himself, but the first thing he saw once he opened Instagram was another one of Sunghoon's posts with the caption "my favorite person" with pictures of him and Wonyoung all snuggled up against each other. His heart sank at the caption, he had been the one Sunghoon labeled as his favorite person since they met, and now he gave the title to some girl he had he hadn't even seen before?! He couldn't help but burst into tears, he felt so unwanted. It was like he had replaced him with her.

He couldn't hear the sound of someone knocking on the stall door over his sobs, not realizing how loud he was being. Once he did finally notice he assumed it was Sunoo but he looked at the person's attire that you could see from under the stall and that was definitely not him. He became a bit embarrassed, a stranger had heard him bawling his eyes out over what he now felt was stupid.

Wiping away his tears, he shamefully unlocked the door, meeting someone he had definitely never seen before. Sad, cat-like eyes locked with his as the door opened. He seemed to be maybe a year under his grade. "Hi, I know it's a bit weird for me to do this when I'm a complete stranger, but it didn't feel right to leave without asking if you were okay," The boy stated with a shy smile, his cheeks a soft pink. "I-I'm, uh fine," Jake told him bashfully. "You didn't sound like it," The male stated, catching the grey-haired male off guard. "I...," He didn't know whether to tell the truth or lie. "It's a long story," Jake shook his head.

The other pursed his lips before speaking, "I'm Jungwon," He suddenly introduced himself. "I'm new here, just transferred yesterday. I don't have anyone here except my cousin so it'd be nice to make some
friends," He said with a kind smile. "O-oh, I'm Jake," The male introduced himself hesitantly. "I like to listen to long stories, you know?" Jungwon told him with a wide grin.

author1's note : sleepy asf but i hustled through it 💪 || tyy for reading pookie xx

— 1359 words