bodyguard || heejake

chapter sixteen

A/N: i've been thinking about writing a new story soon! maybe once i  finish this book and have some extra free time

~

if my cheeks weren't red before, they probably looked like a tomato right now. i broke eye contact with heeseung and bit my lip nervously.

"w-what do you mean?" i stammered, embarrassed at my voice failing me.

i could feel his intense gaze on me and it could probably burn holes into my face. i was too weak to look at him directly but when he tilted my chin to look at him, i almost passed out.

"you know exactly what i mean," he whispered lowly. was his voice always this hot? i was on the verge of pissing my pants.

i stood there, motionless staring at heeseung's perfectly sculpted face in front of me. i muttered, "i don't know.."

"i've had feelings for you for a long time now, jake."

i blinked in bewilderment, registering what he just confessed. the lee heeseung had feelings for me? i found that really hard to believe.

"is this a dare?" i knitted my brows.

he frowned. "no? why would it be?"

"oh, just.. because," i replied, my voice an octave higher than it usually was.

"are you going to give me an answer then?"

i swallowed thickly. "um, i don't know." seriously jake? was that all you could think of? i genuinely didn't know how to react or what to say - this was all so sudden.

"i need a few days to think and i'll get back to you," i decided, racking my brain for anything that could get me out of this awkward situation.

he nodded slowly and kept his eyes on me, making my stomach feel queasy. "alright. just letting you know, i'm impatient."

i hastily sped out the bathroom, my mind racing from what just occurred. what if i never followed him in? i groaned when i sunk back into my chair, a few of my friends throwing curious glances at me.

"what got you so red?" jungwon pinched my cheeks and i scowled back.

"nothing," i grumbled, distracted.

"didn't you go to check on heeseung?" sunoo smirked knowingly. i wanted to punch him at how much he knew sometimes.

"n-no," i stuttered and i instantly covered my face.

"you better tell us later," jungwon whispered. i told them that i would later and continued eating my food. i could tell from the small portions that this was going to be expensive and tried not to order a lot. i decided to make myself a meal after i got home.

~

at school, i concluded that my best option was to avoid heeseung so i could get my thoughts straight before having to speak to him again and making a fool out of myself if i panicked or something.

the others definitely noticed but i didn't care. if heeseung wanted an answer, he'd have to wait. i texted sunoo and jungwon to meet at a cafe after school to explain everything. it didn't even feel real, to be honest.

"so you're gonna tell us what happened," sunoo demanded. i rolled my eyes.

"i don't know where to start," i mumbled. i summarised everything as best as i could, not leaving the important deals and also what happened at the restaurant.

by the end of it, they were both gaping at me in shock with their mouthes hanging open.

"you can close them now," i scoffed and placed my head in my hands wistfully. life was so much better when it was simple and i could focus on my studies. then again, i wasn't really refusing heeseung's offer either.

"that's a lot to take in," jungwon finally breathed out. "what are you gonna say?"

i heaved a long sigh. "i'm not sure. i don't even know what i'm supposed to do."

"well, how do you feel when you're around him?" sunoo spoke, clearly invested in anything that included romance.

"um, i guess there's this weird feeling in my stomach and i get excited whenever i see him," i described. "oh, and he just has this look to him that makes him super attractive, but i guess anyone could see that."

sunoo tutted and shake his head. "you're obviously in love. you never spoke this way about sunghoon and you 'apparently' liked him for five years."

"did you even truly like him?" jungwon added.

"what are you talking about? of course i did. i even cried when i got rejected," i reminded them, wincing at the memory. now that i really thought about it, sunghoon couldn't even compare to heeseung.

"that's true, but..." jungwon began, furrowing his eyes rows in deep thought. "you never told us why else you like him other than his looks."

i was about to refute when sunoo cut me off with a swift nod. "you probably only liked him because everyone in our year thought he was handsome. i mean, name one other quality that you liked about him."

i hesitantly pondered. what did this have to do with anything? i was frustrated and i wanted to scream at my contradicting thoughts. when i stayed silent, they got the hint.

"..i see," jungwon pursed his lips. "at least we got that sorted."

"well, why did i cry about it then?" i was confused at myself.

"maybe because having a supposed crush for five years is hard to let go off," sunoo contributed. was that really the case?

"so you're telling me that i wasted five years of obsessing over someone who i didn't even like," i concluded with my arms crossed.

they both looked like they pitied me which made it even worse. maybe i'd need another good cry after this.

"turns out you like heeseung! yay," sunoo tried to cheer me up but i was not in the mood right now. how did i fall for heeseung? there was just no way. but then again, always expect the unexpected.

~

A/N: chapter was quite short because originally i was gonna add sooha somewhere in this chap but i have plans for her in the future. she plays a big role lol