too fragile for your love (too strong for your heart)

you open your window (and pull me into your cube) pt three

A/N: before we begin, here's the playlist for this fic, ya'll! i've been meaning to post this for ages, and i keep forgetting! 😅

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0Ts4JGH2P8WkPDbQY8mSYC?si=KHVIvqUeSuiVxxSklCH_bQ&pi=OoiPYg6vQL2k0

the stakeout's going rather well, in jake's opinion. they haven't gotten lost, they have managed to keep ni-ki and his friends in their line of sight, all through it, and avoided any detection so far.

one might even say that it's going a little too well.

"hey," he nudges sunghoon, as they sit side by side on a bench close to the bumpy car rides, watching ni-ki holler at eunchae and her date as they double tag him. "want some cotton candy?"

sunghoon shakes his head. "no, thanks. those things can rot your teeth," he says, distractedly.

he snorts violently. "dude, you have fangs, not teeth." he looks down at his finished stick sadly. "i'm gonna get some more. brb, okay?"

sunghoon looks up in a panic. "hurry back soon! they're going to check out the haunted house next; i'm terrible with scary things!"

he resists the urge to confess that he's even more terrible with scary things than sunghoon could ever possibly be, and claps him on the back. "sure thing, mate."

it's as he's opening his wallet to pay for the blueberry flavored sugar spun delicacy he's just ordered, that he smells it.

dead, decaying roses. rotting crimson petals. black, black, black-

he stands frozen in place as the scent gets stronger. it floats closer, and closer, and closer until it's almost as if she's standing right behind him, with a claw-tipped hand wrapped around his neck, and the sharp points of her fangs scraping over his pulse-

"sir, your cotton candy?"

-the scent wavers a bit-

he snaps out of his trance, and turns to his right.

"sir?"

come, find me, jake. if you can, that is-

"sir, are you alright?"

or, are you just like your grandmother? a cowardly dog who gave it all up for love-

he doesn't hear the cotton candy lady shout after him, as he takes off, in the direction of the taunting voice whispering in his head, following its fading presence with the help of the rapidly fleeing smell of dying roses. his mind is a frenzy, his movements are sharp and mechanical; the speed at which he's going would be fatal on a normal day, but it's the middle of the week and the amusement park isn't as crowded as it is on the weekends, leaving him free to dodge and weave through groups of people with more ease.

a body veers into his path almost unexpectedly, and he's forced to sidestep in a rather clumsy fashion, making him bump into another person, which sends them crashing to the ground.

"shit-!" he exclaims, skidding to a halt. "i'm so sorry!"

the guy he's unintentionally pushed seems a little older than him. what catches his attention aren't the guy's reasonably good looks or the way his murderous scowl melts away as they look at each other. it's the fact that he recognizes the other person that makes him stop and stare.

"jake?" lee woon-seok, from advanced calculus, blinks up at him. "what-"

"i'm sorry," he repeats, bending down to help him up. he must use too much of his strength because woon-seok majorly overbalances as he's pulled up, and he has to place a steadying hand on the other boy's shoulder. he turns to leave, his brain still stuck on the cloyingly sweet scent that's almost non-existent in the air, now, but a sweaty hand grabs his wrist.