the blinding lights and loud music greets heeseung's senses as he enters the bar.

this is how he spends most of his nights, especially when he can't get rid of the nightmares. because sometimes, the sleeping pills don't work anymore.

the last time that he couldn't sleep, he unconsciously went to sunoo's apartment to find comfort— which is absolutely a wrong move. he realized how wrong that was when he sobered up the next morning.

he's not supposed to do that. not anymore. sunoo has nishimura, and he needs to etch that into his brain.

no one's gonna chase the nightmares away anymore. he feels a tinge of bitterness rising on the pit of his stomach. heeseung continues to walk down the counter, the bartender greeting him as he sees him.

"hey! the same request?" the bartender asks happily. his name's jiho, and they got a bit close since heeseung often comes on this bar.

"...yeah, make it stronger this time."

heeseung watched while the bartender makes his favorite drink. the kind of drink which makes me knock out in an hour.

he freezes when he feels an arm wrap around his shoulder.

"look who i found," a familiar voice whispers behind his ear.

great. a devil has arrived.

"fuck off, park."

he hears sunghoon laugh behind him, almost like he's amused. "damn that's a nice way to greet your friend. i guess you didn't have a nice sleep?"

he ignored the guy and took a sip from his drink instead.

"i heard from jiho that you're here almost every night." sunghoon continues to talk, now sitting beside him. "man, having a broken heart sucks."

"can't you go somewhere else?" he replied.

"unfortunately, i can't. i'm currently babysitting."

heeseung scoffs. right, sunghoon has a new prospect that he's been eyeing lately. miraculously, his nosy friend went silent after a few minutes and just sat beside him.

"guys and gays! please, this isn't a library." chenle shouted when he saw the two just quietly sitting on the counter. he's dancing around the stage with taeyoung and ningning. "get your ass up and find someone to flirt with! for pete's sake, y'all look miserable."

well, he's not wrong. i am indeed miserable. he just shrugged and continued drinking. his eyebrows furrowed when he sees another familiar face walked in front of him.

oh? isn't that...?

"oh hell no, not again." sunghoon abruptly stood up, "i'll be back." he mumbled before running away, as if he was chasing someone.

+++++++++++

[ bff jongseongie 💕 ]

jake:
hey bff ;)

bff jongseongie 💕:
is that a wink
ew

jake:
....
anw
wanna have fun? let's go clubbing 😁

bff jongseongie 💕:
i have sketches due on two days
so no

jake:
AW CMON
we haven't hang out since forever 😔
i miss my bestie 😔

bff jongseongie 💕:
u know that won't work on me right
i rly can't

i'm busy

jake:
boo
tomato tomato

bff jongseongie 💕:
????
that won't work on me either

jake:
damn it
just this once?
tha bar is just a few meters away from your apartment 🥺
i can take you home after 🥺

bff jongseongie 💕:
still a no 🥺
go to sleep u baby 🤏

jake:
whatever
i'll go alone then
bye bye 🫡🫡

++++++++++

busy 😪 @simjake tweeted.

omw to party alone bc my bff ditched me 🙁🙁

409 likes | 57 retweets

replies:

@chenleave omg bestie u can join us if u want 😉

@nishi_rk thank gods i'm not single and lonely like you 🥱
↪@simjake 👁️️👄👁️ ??? what did i ever do to you
@cornjay guiltripping won't work on me 😐
↪@simjake 😡😡

++++++++++

fuck, too much crowd.

jake's face grimaced as he walks into the bar. he doesn't hate this kind of thing, but it's only fun when he's with his friends.

jay should've joined me. now i feel like a total loner here.

"oh crap, sorry." he says everytime he bumps into strangers. some faces are familiar to him, because they're probably also students of yonsei.

he almost screams when a hand pulled him away from the crowd.

"hey," jake's eyes widened in surprise when he sees heeseung in front of him.

"heeseung?"

"sorry, you look like a lost puppy in there so i had to drag you here." heeseung made him sit on the counter. "this is the most peaceful corner of this place."

he's wearing a black coat and a plain white shirt underneath. and with the colorful lights hitting his face— oh my fucking gosh he looks so sexy.

"t-thanks." jake managed to say despite being overwhelmed by heeseung's presence.

"jay's not with you?" heeseung asks again, this time he hands a drink to jake.

he shakes his head. "he said he's busy so i went by myself." he takes a sip of the drink, "this tastes good! but is this...?"

heeseung smiles at him. "it's non-alcoholic, so you don't have to worry."

he's such a sweet guy. jake feels like he made a right choice by coming here. now he can get closer to heeseung.

++++++++++

🙉 @chenleave tweeted.

my daily vitamin 😌😋

289 likes | 82 retweets

replies:

@leejeno ningning is still puking inside the girl's restroom, pls take her home 😀
↪@chenleave who's that
↪@leejeno ...nvm i'll just leave her there
@sunscript drink moderately
↪@chenleave aye aye captain, pls join us next time too 😁

++++++++

that yonsei boy @young_tae tweeted.

🥵🥵

763 likes | 88 retweets

replies:

@yunaaa that looks like it's gonna give u a whole comatose hangover
↪@young_tae u ryt about that 🤤
@chenleave yoOoo i want that too
↪@young_tae nah it's gonna be too much for u, i'll let u drink a diff one
↪@chenleave 👍👍

+++++++++

"oh wait— this tastes like shit!" jeno yells right after he drinks taeyoung's special order.

"boohoo jeno, just say you can't handle this one." taeyoung throws him a peanut.

chenle chuckled, looking around. i'm sure i've seen jungwon here earlier though. where did that kid go?

"oh, isn't that heeseung?" yuna points toward the bar counter. "...and jake? is that him?" she squints her eyes, trying to see better.

"you and your useless eyes i swear," chenle stood up to look. "oh you're right, it's them. wait, are those two dating?"

"are they kissing?" jeno asks.

"what? no."

"then they're not dating, duh? please use that head of yours."

chenle sighed. "gods, you think kissing equals dating? dumb fuck. this is why sunoo rejected you." jeno didn't respond and just raised his middle finger as a reply.

he grabs his phone to send a message to someone. he might as well just ask the person who knows those two better.

++++++++

[ nosy zhong ]

nosy zhong:
yo
quick question

is jake and heeseung dating or nah

jay:
can u atleast say hi to me first

nosy zhong:
oops sorry 🤭
i'm drinking rn so i'm kinda tipsy alr lol

jay:
i knew that already
what's with that random question?

nosy zhong:
well it's not rly random
i'm just curious
since they're here at the bar too
they look comfy with eo btw
how cute

jay:
oh lmao
honestly idk either
just ask them if u wanna know
👋👋

+++++++++

jay stares at his own reflection in the mirror before removing his coat. he also changed his clothes and wore his pajamas back.

"wait, why are you wearing your pjs again?" sunoo stood beside his door. "i thought you're going to a club tonight."

he shrugged. "i changed my mind. i'm not in the mood for clubbing, wanna watch a movie instead?"

"really? yay!"

right. it's better for me to just stay here.

++++++++

hello everyone!

sorry it took a longer time for the update ;-;

anyways, i just wanna clear smth up. this is NOT a heejayke story. there's no poly relationship in here (spoiler🤐) and i only put heejayke in the title so that y'all won't have any idea which ship is gonna be the endgame ☺️

we are not even halfway in the story, and there's still A LOT that'll happen. i'll let y'all figure out the hints so goodluck!