𝐖𝐇𝐀𝐓 𝐀𝐑𝐄 𝐖𝐄? // 𝐉𝐀𝐊𝐄𝐇𝐎𝐎𝐍

𝟎𝟎𝟑

The tension between them hung thick in the air, neither of them speaking for a long moment. Jake's heart was pounding in his chest, each beat a reminder of how close he was to losing Sunghoon for good. He had expected this to be hard, but standing here, on the brink of either fixing everything or watching it collapse, was almost unbearable.

Sunghoon's eyes flickered, his arms crossed tightly against the cold. "I'm not saying we can fix this overnight," he began, his voice low but sharp. "But I need to know if you're really in this, Jake. Because if you're not... I don't see the point in dragging it out any longer."

The weight of those words crashed down on Jake, and the fear that had been clawing at him for weeks surged back with a vengeance. He took a shaky breath, trying to steady his voice. "I'm in this. I don't want us to fall apart, Sunghoon. But I don't know how to fight when you keep pulling away."

Sunghoon scoffed, his expression hardening. "You think I'm pulling away? You haven't been around either. You spend all your time with Heeseung or avoiding me, and when we're together, you act like everything's fine when it's clearly not. I don't know how to fix something when you're not even willing to admit there's a problem."

Jake flinched at the accusation, his frustration boiling over. "You think I haven't noticed? That I haven't felt you slipping away? Every time I try to talk, you shut me down or act like nothing's wrong, and I-" He stopped himself, his voice catching. He didn't want this to turn into a fight, but the words were spilling out before he could stop them. "I didn't know how to bring it up without making things worse."

Sunghoon's eyes narrowed, a mix of hurt and anger flickering across his face. "So you decided to say nothing? That's your solution? Just pretend everything's fine until it falls apart?"

Jake bit back his frustration, realizing that maybe Sunghoon wasn't entirely wrong. "I didn't want to lose you," Jake said, softer now, the vulnerability seeping through his voice. "But maybe I've already started losing you, and I didn't even notice until it was too late."

Sunghoon's expression shifted, something softer breaking through the anger, but there was still distance, still hesitation. He stepped back slightly, shoving his hands into his pockets. "What if we're just too different now? We're not the same people we were when we started this, Jake."

The words stung, cutting deeper than Jake wanted to admit. "People change," he said quietly. "But that doesn't mean we have to let go of everything. I-" His voice faltered. "I'm still in love with you, Sunghoon."

For a moment, Sunghoon didn't respond. The confession hung in the air between them, raw and exposed. Jake held his breath, waiting for something-anything-that would tell him Sunghoon felt the same.

But instead of relief, Sunghoon's face hardened, his expression unreadable. "Love isn't always enough," he said, his voice a cold whisper.

The words knocked the air out of Jake's lungs, the finality of them sinking in. He had expected anger, maybe even a fight, but not this. Not the quiet, resigned acceptance that maybe they were too far gone.

"Don't say that," Jake whispered, desperation creeping into his tone. "We can fix this. We just need to stop avoiding each other and talk."

Sunghoon shook his head, his gaze dropping to the ground. "I don't know, Jake. I don't know if I have anything left to give." He swallowed hard, and for the first time, Jake saw the cracks in Sunghoon's armor-saw the exhaustion and uncertainty that had been lurking beneath the surface all this time.

Just as Jake opened his mouth to respond, the cafeteria doors swung open, and Sunoo and Ni-ki stepped outside, laughter still lingering on their lips. Their smiles faltered when they saw the tension between Jake and Sunghoon.

Sunoo's eyes darted between them, sensing the gravity of the moment. "Uh, are we interrupting something?"

Jake clenched his jaw, the interruption only deepening the sense of dread settling in his stomach. Sunghoon glanced at them, his expression unreadable again, before he shook his head. "No, it's fine. I was just leaving."

Without waiting for a response, Sunghoon turned on his heel and walked away, his figure disappearing into the shadows of the campus.

Jake stood frozen, watching him go, the weight of everything crashing down all at once. The emptiness he'd been trying so hard to avoid now felt inescapable, like a void had opened between them, too wide to cross.

Sunoo stepped closer, concern etched across his face. "Jake, what just happened?"

Jake didn't answer right away. His mind was spinning, replaying Sunghoon's words over and over. Love isn't always enough. He felt Heeseung's earlier advice echoing in his head, but now it seemed futile. Maybe nothing he did could change what was happening. Maybe Sunghoon had already made his decision, and Jake was just too late to stop it.

"I don't know," Jake finally said, his voice hollow. "I think I might've just lost him."

Sunoo and Ni-ki exchanged a glance, unsure how to respond. The lighthearted atmosphere they'd walked into was gone, replaced with a heaviness that neither of them knew how to fix.

"You should talk to him again," Ni-ki suggested, but even he sounded unsure. "Maybe he just needs time."

Jake wanted to believe that. He wanted to believe that giving Sunghoon space would somehow bring them back to each other. But deep down, he couldn't shake the sinking feeling that time wasn't what Sunghoon needed. Maybe Sunghoon had already moved on, and Jake was just clinging to something that had slipped through his fingers long ago.

"I don't know if there's anything left to say," Jake muttered, more to himself than anyone else.

Sunoo stepped forward, resting a hand on Jake's arm, his voice soft. "Don't give up yet. Things can change, even when they seem impossible."

Jake nodded, but the words didn't bring him any comfort. As Sunoo and Ni-ki stood beside him, offering quiet support, all Jake could think about was how empty the world suddenly felt without Sunghoon by his side.