📷 @nishi_rk tweeted.

u don't understand how much i love this guy 😞💔

817 likes | 56 retweets

replies:

@parkwrites we do actually understand, i mean you chased him during your whole freshman year
↪@nishi_rk and i'm not ashamed of it ‼️
↪@parkwrites why? i think you should be 😟
@yeonjuned how i wish this was us too @soobeans 😢
↪@soobeans i literally just graduated, can u spare me the idiocy
↪@yeonjuned wait i just graduated too 👀 is this what they call fate? 😮😱
↪@soobeans if being in the same graduate batch with you means fate, then i'd rather take another whole year in college 🙂
↪@nishi_rk damn that stings 🧍🏻‍♂️

------

"my head hurts..."

"yeah? and whose fault is that?" jay glared at jake who just sat in the backseat of the car that they borrowed from sunghoon.

"well, definitely not me! fuck that chenle guy." he mumbled while lying down, his body curled like a fetus to fit in the backseat.

jay did not answer and just closed the door. sometimes it just baffles me how i got this much patience when it comes to jake. i just wanna smack him in the head, just one time.

he stops getting lost in his thoughts when he heard heeseung opening the driver's door. "what are you doing?"

"i'm driving you two-"

"yeah nope, that's not going to happen." jay marches towards the older and snatches the keys from his hand. "i'll drive."

sunoo mentioned it- once, that heeseung doesn't like to drive. and it's not like jay tried to etch that information inside his brain, it's just that he remembers random things about people. i can't help it.

heeseung watched as he sat on the driver's seat, immediately starting the car engine.

"sit here," jay pats the seat beside him. "hurry up before i change my mind."

"okay," heeseung walks around and opens the door, then sits on the passenger seat. jake is now feeling a bit sober, eyeing the two in front of him quietly.

why did heeseung even come with us? he doesn't even feel awkward around me... maybe that's because he really doesn't have feelings for me. jake winced. that thought hurt.

"jay," he calls for his best friend who is busy driving. "i'm thirsty..."

he hears jay sighing. "my tumbler is inside my backpack."

jake nods before opening jay's bag. he sees the tumbler right away, but his eyes don't miss the black box beside it.

it looks like a gift...

he wanted to ask something about it, but he closed his mouth shut and just zipped the backpack up. jake doesn't want heeseung to hear whatever he wants to say to jay.

jake stared outside the window. he feels... off. he knows that jay is friends with heeseung, but seeing it in person- how jay also shows concern for him, it's bugging me so much. it's not like i could tell him not to hang out with heeseung anymore... because that would be selfish, right?

but god... how i wish he could do that.

his eyes widened, realizing what he just thought. did i really just think of that? fuck, what the hell is happening to me?

"jake? hey." jay snaps his finger to get his attention. "are you alright? you're spacing out."

"do you want some aspirin? we could drop by the nearest drug store." it was heeseung who spoke, looking at him too.

jake shakes his head. "no! i'm fine, it's just a headache. just drive fast, please? i want to sleep."

jay nodded, sparing heeseung a glance before speeding up.

------

[ park (the shitty one) ]

park (the shitty one):
are you guys done?

heeseung:
not yet
we're still otw to jake's dorm

park (the shitty one):
ok

heeseung:
i wouldn't have the time to text you if i was driving
use your head sometimes

park (the shitty one):
ok smartass
it was sunoo who asked

heeseung:
tell him i'm fine
jay's driving

park (the shitty one):
tell him to drive faster
this party's not gonna be over until you two don't come back

heeseung:
as if
don't bullshit me

park (the shitty one):
lmao 🤪🤟

-------

heeseung quietly follows jake and jay inside the apartment. it was already past midnight and the air is getting colder. the other two in front of him were also silently walking down the hall.

"and we're here," jake stops in front of his door. he tried to smile while avoiding jay's gaze. "thanks for driving me home."

jay looks at him with his eyebrows furrowed. "you're acting weird. are you still drunk?"

he reached out to touch jake's forehead- and jake could swear that he just got burned from his touch.

what the fuck is wrong with me?

he plays it off by pushing jay's hand away, laughing. "i-i'm totally fine! you guys can go back to the party now, hahaha..."

"uhm, okay." jay waves at him instead while smiling. "i'll see you on practice. good night!"

jake nods, waving back. he saw heeseung smiling at him so he forced a smile to show that he's okay.

when the two left, jake finally heaves out a sigh of relief. who knew that being in the same car as your best friend and your ex crush could be that suffocating?

------

"give me the keys," heeseung speaks up right before jay could get inside the driver's seat. "i'll drive."

"why do you insist of doing that? you don't trust my driving skills, do you?" jay snaps back, annoyed.

he's here offering himself as the driver and yet heeseung just can't seem to let him do that. see? that's how annoying he is.

"no? i just thought that you'd be tired. i want to help."

"well, i'm not. it's not like i drove for hours." jay quickly sat inside, fastening his seatbelt so that heeseung won't have a say anymore.

heeseung gives up, walking back to the passenger seat. jay gives him a glance before starting up the car.

the silence is about to kill my ears. jay clicked his tongue, looking ahead of the road. heeseung's not talking either so the atmosphere is just pure quiet.

"hey, can you play some music? it's too boring."

heeseung nods, taking out his phone and connecting it to the car's speakers. after a few seconds, a familiar beat filled the car.

"huh," jay chuckled. "you listen to the 1975?"

"i don't live under a rock, jay." heeseung muttered.

"really? wow, i wouldn't have guessed that."

the song continued, and jay hummed together with the lyrics. his eyes landed on his backpack, and he remembered something.

ah right. i almost forgot.

"heeseung, could you please grab my bag at the back?" jay asked the older, who obliged without question.

heeseung takes the backpack and puts it on his lap. "do you need something here?"

jay cleared his throat. "yeah- uhm, open that and take the black box out." he blinks fast, feeling a bit embarrassed of himself.

heeseung opened the bag, immediately seeing the box that jay mentioned. he takes it out, fixing the ribbon on top which got a bit crumpled.

"...then? what do you need this for?"

"that's yours." jay mumbled fast, and heeseung stared at him for confirmation.

"what for?"

jay rolled his eyes. "dumbass, it's your graduation gift. congratulations again." he bit on his lower lip, trying to focus on the road.

he hears heeseung laugh, and jay sees him smiling ear to ear on his peripheral vision.

"i thought you didn't have one," he could feel heeseung's eyes on him. "thanks."

"whatever, i just grabbed the first one i could find in the mall." jay halts the car due to the red stoplight.

heeseung opened the box, revealing a neck tie in a shade of coral blue. it looks beautiful. he closed it back, smiling.

"i like it, really. thank you."

okay. not a big deal. "sure, you're welcome." jay replied with a casual tone.

"and uh, thanks for being there... earlier, when my mother showed up."

jay doesn't know what to say. he wasn't expecting heeseung to bring that up, so he was a bit taken aback.

he sighed. oh screw it. i'll just say what i want to say.

"look, hee." he glanced at heeseung, then back at the highway. "don't thank me. i'm your friend, and being friends with me has its perks."

"and about your mom..." jay continued to talk while heeseung still listened. "i honestly don't have any clue on what's going on since we barely talk to each other about our personal lives. we deal with our problems on our own as much as we can, right?"

"but if it feels too much for you, you have us. do you get it? just tell me- tell us if it's heavy. heck, you could even use us so you could feel better. we can carry the burden together. it doesn't matter to us, and it shouldn't matter to you too."

heeseung felt relieved.

hearing that from someone whom he trusts, it just feels so comforting. when jay stared back at him, he never saw hesitation behind those eyes.

it's as if jay is sure of what he just said to him, like a promise that will never break- his words speak assurance.

------

i'm gonna try to speed the update so we could finally get into some 📈📈 scenes and finish this book :)