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☆ when sim jake, a bright freshman, transfers to a new college, he meets park sunghoon, the mysterious and cold senior. what starts as a prank dare turns into genuine feelings, leading to a rollercoaster of love...
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jake didn’t talk to anyone for the next few days. he kept to himself, barely leaving his dorm, only showing up to class when absolutely necessary. jungwon, always observant, noticed the change in his friend but chose not to push him, sensing that jake wasn’t ready to open up. jake appreciated that. he wasn’t ready to talk about what happened with sunghoon—he didn’t even know where to begin.
every time he tried to focus on something else, his mind would drag him back to that moment in the cafeteria. the betrayal. sunghoon’s desperate apologies. how could he ever trust him again?
one afternoon, as jake sat at his desk, aimlessly scrolling through his phone, his screen lit up with a text from sunghoon.
hoonie: hey, jake. i know you probably don’t want to talk to me, but i just want to say again that i’m really sorry. i miss you.
jake stared at the message, his thumb hovering over the screen. he wanted to respond, to say something—anything—but he couldn’t. the hurt was still too fresh, too deep. instead, he turned off his phone and tossed it aside, lying back on his bed with a heavy sigh. he needed a distraction.
later that evening, jungwon knocked gently on the door before peeking his head in. “hey, some of us are going out to the arcade. you wanna come? might be good to get out of here for a bit.”
jake thought about it for a second. the idea of being around people felt exhausting, but maybe jungwon was right. he needed to clear his mind, even if just for a few hours. "yeah, sure," jake muttered, pushing himself up. “let me grab my jacket.”
...
the arcade was packed, neon lights flashing, and the sound of games filling the air. jake stuck close to jungwon and the others, trying to immerse himself in the fun atmosphere. sunoo and niki were already challenging each other at a racing game, laughing and playfully shoving each other.
jake forced a smile, trying to feel part of the group again, but every now and then, his thoughts would drift back to sunghoon. he hadn’t seen him in a while, but that didn’t stop the memories from flooding his mind.
as he wandered through the arcade, looking for something to occupy his time, he spotted heeseung in the corner, playing one of the older games by himself. jake hesitated for a moment before walking over.
"hey," jake greeted, his voice low. heeseung glanced up, surprised to see jake.
"hey, jake," heeseung said, stepping aside so jake could join him. there was an awkward silence between them, thick with unspoken words. jake hadn’t forgotten that heeseung had been part of the bet too. he wasn’t as mad at him as he was with sunghoon, but it still stung.
"look, jake," heeseung started, pausing the game and turning to face him. "i know i was part of that whole bet thing, and i want you to know that i’m really sorry. we were being dumb, and we never thought it would actually hurt anyone."
jake clenched his fists, trying to keep his emotions in check. "so why did you do it then? why mess with people like that?"
heeseung sighed, rubbing the back of his neck. "it started as a joke, you know? sunghoon was just trying to show off or something. but after a while, we saw how much he really liked you.
heeseung stopped for a moment to catch his breath and continued, "he was scared to tell you about the bet because he didn’t want to ruin what you two had. and yeah, we should’ve told him to come clean sooner."
"it still hurt," jake whispered, his voice breaking slightly. "i don’t know if i can ever trust him again."
heeseung nodded, his expression serious. "i get that. and you don’t have to forgive him right away. just… take your time. sunghoon’s really beating himself up about it, though."
jake looked down at his feet, feeling a weight in his chest. he wasn’t sure what he was supposed to feel anymore. everything was just too overwhelming.
"yeah ok hyung," jake mumbled, turning to leave. he wasn’t ready for any of this yet—not the apologies, not the explanations. he needed more time to figure out how he felt.
...
later that night, jake lay in bed, staring up at the ceiling. jungwon was already fast asleep, but jake’s mind refused to let him rest. he kept replaying heeseung’s words in his head, trying to make sense of it all. sunghoon was sorry. heeseung was sorry. but none of it made the hurt go away.
jake grabbed his phone from the bedside table, his fingers shaking as he scrolled through his messages. he opened sunghoon’s text again, reading the words over and over.
hoonie: miss you.
against his better judgment, jake began typing.
jakeu: i need space. i’m not ready to talk yet, but… i’ll let you know when i am.
he hit send before he could second-guess himself, then turned off his phone and buried his face in his pillow. he wasn’t sure if he made the right choice, but at least it was a step. a small one, but a step nonetheless.
