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sankyeom · 2 years

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ACT NOW, THINK LATER! | S.JY

pairing: jake sim x reader (she/her pronouns) genre(s): university/college au, strangers to friends to lovers, summary: in which you kiss a stranger to prove to your friends that you’re over lee heeseung, only to discover that this stranger is completely entangled in your life word count: 9.6k warning(s): alcohol consumption, mentions of being tipsy note: this is based on this victon subin timestamp i wrote last year, but i kind of lost inspiration for it as a subin fic and wrote it into a jake fic lol. anyway, enjoy!

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“I change my mind,” Sunghoon said, standing at the party host’s door. “Let’s not go.”

You smiled, used to his introverted behaviour. “Okay,” you agreed. “We can leave if you don’t want to go in.”

“No,” Sunghoon sighed. “We should go in. If we don’t, everyone’s going to think that you bailed because of Heeseung and Hana.”

You groaned, glaring at him. “You know what, just because you said that, we’re going in whether you like it or not,” you decided, opening the front door and gently pushing Sunghoon through the doorway.

“Hey,” he protested, stumbling slightly over his feet and laughing when he saw your irritated expression. “I said that everyone else would think that, I know it’s not true,” Sunghoon defended himself.

“Yeah, well, I’m getting sick of everyone bringing it up around me,” you admitted, making a beeline for the kitchen to pour yourself a drink. “I just wish everyone would stop talking about it! I literally have no issues with either of them, and there’s no lingering feelings or whatever. I’m good, I’m totally fine,” you muttered, sipping your drink with a frown on your face.

“Alright, I’m sorry,” Sunghoon admitted, gingerly scanning the assortment of snacks with vague disinterest.

“You know Jay and Niki came up to me today to tell me that Heeseung and Hana got back together,” you said, rolling your eyes at the memory of Niki storming into the library and Jay cornering you after your morning lecture. “It’s everyone else who’s making a big deal out of it, not me.”

Noticing how you were growing more frustrated the more you talked about it, Sunghoon was quick to concede. “I won’t bring it up again, I promise,” he assured you.

“Thanks,” you sighed. “Now let’s go find our friends before they send a search party,” you suggested, scanning the crowded living room to search for your friend group.

You didn’t have to look far, since all of your friends – minus Heeseung and his girlfriend – had spotted you first, making their way over to the significantly less crowded kitchen. You hesitantly waved them over, slightly dreading the concerned looks you knew they would give you.

“Hey,” Jay, who was impeccably dressed and perfectly styled as always, acknowledged you with a hug. You hugged back, barely seeing over his shoulder to see your other friends greet each other.

“If it isn’t my favourite heartbroken friend,” Jungwon teased you, grinning brightly in amusement.

You narrowed your eyes at him, playfully pointing a threatening finger at him. “You’re lucky you’re cute,” you told him. “Can we please stop talking about it?”

“We haven’t even started talking about it!” Sunoo complained. “I can’t believe Heeseung would do this to you.”

“He didn’t do anything,” you insisted. “And would you keep your voice down? They could be anywhere and I don’t want to start anything,” you added, hurriedly looking around to see if Heeseung or Hana were anywhere in sight.

“Actually, he did do something,” Jay said, earning a glare from you. “What?” he exclaimed, raising his hands in surrender. “I’m just saying! You don’t kiss someone and then get back together with your ex two weeks later. Especially if that someone you kissed is one of your best friends.”

“Yeah,” Sunoo agreed, scowling. “That majorly sucks.”

“He was tipsy,” you reminded them. “And it was just a kiss! It’s no big deal.”

“I think that’s the first time I’ve ever heard you say that,” Niki muttered. “Aren’t you the one who said that kisses are a jumping off point into new, exciting emotional endeavours?”

“I told you that in confidence one time at three in the morning,” you reminded him. “And that was a long time ago. My philosophy has changed.”

Jay laughed. “You’re the most stubborn person I know,” he exclaimed. “There’s no way that your philosophy on anything has changed.”

“If you guys are just going to make fun of me all night, I can leave,” you said, pointing your thumb at the front door.

“Alright, fine, we’ll stop,” Jungwon allowed, though he was still smiling at your friendly bickering. “As long as you admit that a small part of you is still pining for Heeseung.”

You rolled your eyes. “I’m not still pining for Heeseung,” you denied. “I don’t know how many more times I have to say it before you guys understand. But I’ll say it again: I’m not pining.”

Your friends clearly didn’t buy this. “You liked him for half a year,” Sunoo reminded you – as if you needed reminding. “And what, you suddenly decided to just get over him?”

“He has a girlfriend,” you reminded them. “Even if I did still like him, there’s no point in even discussing it.”

“Okay, then prove it,” Niki, who suddenly had one of those evil smiles on his face, suggested in a casual tone.

You sighed, knowing you’d probably regret asking. “How?”

“Easy,” Niki said innocently, and that was when you knew you were in trouble. Wearily, you nodded for him to go on. “Kiss the next person who walks through the door, and I’ll believe you.”

You rose an eyebrow, eyes sweeping across the room to the front door.

It would be simple to accept this challenge, and having all of your friends drop the subject would be reason enough to just kiss a stranger. But the truth was that Sunghoon and Jay were right; you did put a lot of importance into kisses, and your philosophy on this would probably never change.

Was it worth it to ignore your thoughts on kisses, especially first kisses, just once so your friends would leave you alone?

“I bet you’re hoping that Lee Heeseung will step through that door,” Jungwon said jokingly as your friends giggled, which made you instantly make up your mind. You knew they were just being playful, and they would never actually hurt your feelings, but you wanted to end this conversation once and for all.

“If I do this,” you began, abruptly silencing your friends as they stared at you in disbelief. “You’ll never bring this up ever again? And you’ll believe me when I say I’m over him?”

Sunoo laughed nervously. “Wait, you’re not serious?”

You smiled. “Just answer the question.”

“Yeah,” Jay nodded, the others slowly following his lead, still too shocked to think about what they were doing. “We’ll believe you.”

“Fine,” you agreed, pouring yourself a new drink and knocking it back with a wince. “Let’s see who the lucky stranger is,” you added, facing the front door.

Your friends swiftly whipped their heads around in the same direction, anticipation growing. Although you were trying to play it off, you could feel your heart beating just a little faster in your chest than it had been a minute ago. At this point, your confident act had gone far enough that your pride would no longer let you out of this deal.

When the door did finally open, you had no idea what would become of the next two minutes of your life. It took only a couple minutes for the doorknob to turn, and you could feel your breath catch as you waited to see who would walk through the doorway. You could hear your friends all holding their breath beside you, equally riveted to see who you would have to kiss.

Seconds later, a tall boy with perfect brown hair came through the doorway sporting a nervous smile.

You sighed, embarrassment filling your chest as your friends whispered amongst themselves.

Of course he had to be hot.

Fate couldn’t have been kind to you even once, and had to give you a ridiculously good-looking guy with amazing style and kind eyes to kiss in front of all of your friends.

He was dressed head-to-toe in black, the colour making his skin and brown eyes stand out even from a distance. You had never seen him before, which didn’t surprise you considering how big your university was. Luckily, this made your situation just a little less scary.

If you had never seen him before, chances were that you’d never see him again. And even though a little voice in your head was insistent that you were lying to yourself, you had to push those thoughts away. At that point, you couldn’t let your doubts stop you; you had to act now, think later.

As he closed the door behind him, he was met by the excited cheers of a few guys you didn’t know, and as your eyes swept towards them you could see Heeseung dancing with Hana. Admittedly, Heeseung’s presence added just enough doubt for you to falter in your steps towards the stranger.

Perhaps there was a tiny bit of truth to what your friends were saying. Perhaps what Heeseung did to you really did hurt a little.

Making up your mind, you placed your drink down on the kitchen counter and approached the boy, your friends buzzing with excitement behind you. The boy spotted you, sending you a friendly if not slightly confused smile.

“Um, hi-”

“Can I kiss you?” you asked him once you were directly in front of him, forgoing any sort of greeting or explanation. His eyes widened in shock, taking a moment to register your words.

Only after you spoke did you realise that the boy might reject you. Instantly, goosebumps rose on your skin at the thought of embarrassing yourself further.

To your relief, he said: “Yeah,” nodding his head once. You couldn’t help but notice just how beautiful he looked like this, lips slightly parted and pupils blown. That was all it took for you to grasp the lapels of his leather jacket and kiss him.

Despite the fact that he barely had any warning of your intentions, the stranger kissed you back, meeting your lips with equal fervour. You leaned into the kiss, wrapping your arms around his shoulders as he cupped your face. Even though you had never kissed this boy before, he was doing an excellent job at convincing you to do it again. He seemed to be thinking something similar as he pulled you impossibly closer.

Maybe you were right all along about first kisses being significant.

“Hi,” he greeted you breathlessly once you pulled away, thumb caressing your cheek. You felt out of breath and a little light-headed, but your stomach was warm and throbbing with butterflies.

The second his lips curved into a perfect smile, you knew you were in trouble. There was no end to those the butterflies.

“I’m Jake.”

Even his name was pretty.

Up close, his dark brown hair was swept perfectly away from his forehead and his brown eyes seemed to almost glow in the crummy entryway lights. He had pretty, pink lips and a pointed, perfect nose to top it off. The black top and jacket he was wearing made is creamy skin look even more flawless, and it took all of your self control to not pull him in for another kiss.

You could hear your friends cheering you on, causing an embarrassed flush to cross the tops of Jake’s cheeks. He let out a shy laugh, searching your eyes as if he was memorising them and sliding his hands to hold yours.

God, he’s perfect. Where on earth had this man come from? Heaven?

“Hi Jake,” you replied rather breathlessly, wondering how you were supposed to get out of this predicament. There was only one thing for it: “Um, your fly is open,” you lied, thinking on your feet as quickly as you could.

When Jake took his hands from where they were linked with yours to fix this non-existent mistake, you took your chance to escape.

[10:21pm]

niki: holy shit!!! you kissed him!!

sunghoon: i am both scarred for life and incredibly impressed, y/n

heeseung: omg what?? who did y/n kiss??

sunoo: DIDN’T YOU SEE???

heeseung: OBVIOUSLY NOT

heeseung: who was it?? tell me, tell me

jay: we don’t know who, it was just the first person to walk through the door

heeseung: YOU’RE LYINGGG

jungwon: it’s true!!

sunoo: was he a good kisser?? 😏

sunghoon: it sure looked like he was 😏

y/n: no comment…

niki: ASJFGK Y/N WHAT

y/n is offline (10:25pm)

“I’m sorry but I don’t get it,” Jay said, eyeing you suspiciously as you took your laptop and textbook out of your bag. It had been two days since the party, and you were actively doing your best to bring as little attention to yourself as possible, just in case you ran into Jake. “You’re telling me that you had an amazing first kiss with a literal stranger, and you made up some dumb excuse to get away from him?”

Your head jerked to face your friend, frowning at his accusation. “I thought it was a pretty creative excuse, thank you very much.”

“Y/n.”

“Jongseong.”

“Oh, you’re calling me by my legal name now?” Jay said, raising an eyebrow. “It’s that serious?”

“I thought I kissed a stranger so that you guys would stop bothering me,” you reminded him pointedly, opening your laptop to a new document as your Professor made her way to the front of the room.

“That’s where you’re wrong,” Jay grinned victoriously, twirling a pen in his hand. “It was specific to not bothering you about the whole Heeseung and Hana thing, not to stop bothering you altogether.”

“You should change your major to law,” you mocked playfully. “Since you’re so good at remembering the clauses of our agreement.”

“Did you feel butterflies?” Now it was Jay’s turn to mock. “When he kissed you? You felt butterflies and your heart was racing, right?” he accused, relishing in the deadpan stare you sent him.

You wanted nothing more than to wipe the smug smile off your best friend’s face, but you loved him too much to actually do anything to make him stop smiling.

“That’s nothing,” you said in a hushed tone, not wanting to draw your Professor’s attention to yourself. “I felt butterflies, so what? I was nervous about kissing a stranger and had those anxious butterflies before he even walked through the door.”

“Alright, fine,” Jay conceded, dark brown eyes skimming what your Professor had projected onto the screen. Then, he met your gaze and you could see the mischievous glint in them. “Just answer this: did you feel any butterflies when you kissed Heeseung?”

“No, but he was tipsy and I don’t like him like that,” you rolled your eyes, nudging him in the arm when snorted. “So, I’m going to pretend you didn’t say that.”

“Fine,” Jay tried to hide his laughter. “Then I’m going to pretend that you didn’t just suggest that you might like that guy you kissed.”

Just as you had predicted, you didn’t see Jake again.

The first week after your kiss, you had walked around campus with extreme care to avoid him, but your university was huge and you didn’t even know what department Jake was in. Even if you tried to avoid him, you didn’t know how you would go about doing so. Soon, you grew confident that you wouldn’t unexpectedly run into him at any point and continued on with your daily routine as always.

On the Monday two weeks after the party, you were running late for your first class. Of course this was the class where you didn’t have any friends that could save you a seat, so when you arrived at the crowded lecture theatre, there was only one available seat left. It was wedged between two guys you hadn’t seen before and was a real pain to get to, having to squeeze past a whole row of seated students to sit down.

With a huff, you took your seat and started pulling your notebook and pens out of your bag.

“Hey,” the guy next to you whispered.

You hummed absentmindedly, still taking taking your supplies out as you glanced sideways, eyes widening when you recognised the guy as Jake.

He was wearing a white sweatshirt and a beige baseball cap that he wore backwards, and the brightness of his clothes made him look drastically different from the night of the party. Though he was still just as handsome, he seemed more approachable and friendly in this more casual style.

To your surprise, Jake didn’t look upset to see you. In fact, he looked at you with a bright, excited grin as if you didn’t kiss him and run away with a bogus excuse only seconds later.

“I’ve been wondering,” he began but was cut off by your Professor starting his lecture. Awkwardly, Jake cleared his throat and turned his attention to the front of the room.

You reminded yourself to do the same, having trouble dragging your eyes from the boy you had shared a frightfully amazing kiss with.

Focusing on your class was nearly impossible.

The seats in the lecture hall were cramped and small, only having a small half-table attached to every chair. You could feel the way your right leg pressed against Jake’s for the entire class. Every time he bounced his leg in boredom or shuffled in his seat, his thigh brushed against yours and made your heart jump a little.

The last thing you wanted was to get flustered, but your body seemed fixated to his every movement, which made ignoring him tedious and borderline impossible.

Trying your best, you mumbled everything the Professor was saying back to yourself so you could focus enough to actually take notes and find out what would be on your midterm. Jake glanced at you from the corner of his eye, grinning at your adorable habits and observing you shamelessly once he realised you weren’t paying him any attention.

Resting his head on his hand, which was supported by the table his elbow was propped on, Jake continued to keep an eye on you throughout the rest of the lecture, not caring if he missed out on anything. After all, asking for your notes would just give him an excuse to talk to you should he ever need one.

The moment your Professor dismissed you, you threw your pens into your bag at lightning speed and grabbed your books in your arms, trying to get away from Jake as quickly as possible.

“Hey, wait a second,” Jake called after you, jolted by your sudden haste. He fumbled with his own belongings, shoving them into his backpack absent-mindedly before rushing down the stairs after you. “Where are you going?” he wondered with what seemed to be a permanent smile, easily catching up to you thanks to his long legs.

“I have another class,” you told him as he walked down the corridor beside you. You weren’t exactly lying, you just left out the part about your class not starting for another two hours.

“Oh, okay,” he replied, mumbling a small excuse me as he passed the other students in the cramped hallway. “I just wanted to make sure, do you remember me from the other night?” Jake asked since you didn’t show any sign of recognition. “You walked right up to me and-” with widened eyes, you covered his mouth with your hands, freezing in place.

A few students grumbled but reluctantly manoeuvred around the two of you.

“Don’t say it,” you warned, wide-eyed. You couldn’t believe that he was about to say it out loud; just thinking about you walking right up to him and kissing him made you want to hide under a pile of blankets.

Jake raised an eyebrow, gently removing your hand from his mouth to reveal a laugh. His hands were soft and warm, matching his energy. The mental list you were, unintentionally, keeping of all his perfections was growing by the second. “So you do remember! I was beginning to think that you forgot all about me.”

You glanced down as he intertwined your hands, thinking back to how he did the same thing after you kissed. It was impossible for you to forget him, but you weren’t about to tell him that.

“Where’s your next class? I’ll walk you,” Jake suggested, eyes bright and curious when you looked back up at him. You had approached him so confidently the night of the party, and it was endearing for him to see you so flustered and unsure now. He had thought you were pretty cute that night, but now you were downright adorable.

“That’s okay, thanks though,” you turned down his offer, pulling your hand away without trying to seem too rude. “Anyway, I’ll see you around,” you added, quickly making a beeline for the exit of the building and leaving Jake behind, confused.

You had an odd habit of running away from him just as things were getting interesting.

When your second class of the day ended, you were thoroughly looking forward to grabbing lunch and forgetting about the day. Against your own will, you had spent most of your class thinking about Jake, and the last thing you wanted was to spend the entire day ruminating on the same subject.

You had made plans to get lunch with your friends at your university’s dining hall, and you immediately booked it over to your usual table when you saw how crowded it already was.

“Hey guys,” you greeted tiredly, placing your bag on the floor and taking a seat next to Jungwon. He was munching on a carrot with an uncontrollable grin, earning a weird look from you. “What’s got you all excited?”

“Look who Heeseung invited to lunch,” Jungwon said instead of answering your question, gesturing a few chairs down by jutting out his chin.

And of course when you looked to see who he was talking about, you met Jake’s bashful gaze.

He was sandwiched closely between Heeseung and Niki with a lunch tray in front of him. Heeseung sat beside him, oblivious to everyone’s mischievous anticipation while Niki was practically bubbling over with excitement on Jake’s other side.

“This is Jake,” Heeseung introduced after taking a sip of bubble tea, not knowing that the two of you were already, shall we say, closely acquainted. “We met at the start of the semester. He was looking a little lonely so I figured he should start joining us for lunch. He just transferred all the way from Australia!”

Niki, who couldn’t contain his elation, blurted out: “Look Y/n! It’s the guy you kissed the other night!” As if you had no idea who Jake was. Niki grinned so widely that you could barely see his crinkled eyes.

This caught Heeseung’s attention, causing him to choke on the tapioca pearls he was chewing. “I’m sorry what!” he exclaimed after hitting his chest a few times, staring at Niki with wide eyes.

You squinted up at the ceiling, wondering if there were any gods, fairies, or wizards in the world that could teleport you out of this situation. And maybe get you some new friends.

“I know subtlety isn’t exactly your thing, Niki, but don’t make Jake uncomfortable,” you said with pleading eyes.

Jake, who was turning a little red at the attention, suddenly realised that he had been ambushed by your friends. “So that’s why you guys looked so happy to see me,” he mumbled to himself, the gears in his head turning. “And here I was, thinking you guys just wanted to be my friends.”

“Aw, we do want to be friends,” Sunghoon assured the newcomer to your group sympathetically. Honestly, he had only talked to Jake for fifteen minutes before you arrived and he already really liked the Aussie boy. He was charismatic and kind, laughing genuinely at all of Sunghoon’s lame jokes without judgement. “However, teasing our favourite friend Y/n comes above all else on our list of priorities.”

Nobody else realised it, but this was the first time that Jake heard anyone say your name. His eyes flitted over to where you were playfully scowling at Sunghoon, feeling his heartbeat quicken when you momentarily met his eyes.

“Y/n?” Jake asked, and you almost melted at the way your name rolled off his tongue. Your eyes widened at his sentimental tone, caught off-guard by your bodily reaction as pleasant chills went down your spine.

Jake thought you were beautiful.

“Hold up,” Heeseung ignored Sunghoon’s quip, holding both hands in the air. “Jake is the guy you kissed at the party?” Heeseung repeated, looking back and forth between you and Jake several times. “How exactly did I miss this?”

“It’s not like I live tweeted the event for everyone to see,” you reminded your friend, trying to get through the conversation without hiding under the table in embarrassment.

Taking notice of your slight discomfort, Jay spoke up. “It was a dare,” he explained, playing the kiss off as no big deal. “Besides, it was all in good fun, right? No need to keep obsessing over it.”

“Right,” Jake agreed, also becoming aware of the fact that you wanted the conversation to be over. “It’s all good,” he assured you, sending you a smile. “This seriously explains a lot. Even though I appreciated the enthusiasm, you guys were freaking me out a little,” he continued, taking the attention off of you.

The change of subject was so natural that nobody noticed it except you.

“We weren’t that bad,” Sunoo protested, lips pouting.

“You were pretty bad,” Jake insisted. “You giggled uncontrollably when Heeseung introduced me and I thought you were going to leap out of your chairs at any moment because of how excited you were.”

“Yeah, Niki totally blew it,” Jay agreed instantly, jokingly glaring at the youngest of your friend group.

“Hey,” Niki whined, eyebrows furrowing together. “Maybe I was a little excited, but it was Jungwon who kept making eye contact with me and wiggling his eyebrows suggestively.”

“Maybe so!” Jungwon agreed. “And what about it? At least it was subtle!”

“It really wasn’t,” Jake laughed, wholly entertained by your friends’ bickering.

“It was subtle enough that Heeseung didn’t even notice,” Jungwon retorted with a smirk.

At this, you had to grin. “Like Heeseung counts,” you said with a giggle. “He’s too busy dreaming about Hana to actually pay attention to anyone around him!”

“Hey!” Heeseung exclaimed, shocked that he was the one being criticised all of a sudden. “I- Actually, you know what, that checks out,” he confessed, having the decency to look a little embarrassed.

Soon enough, the eight of you were eating your lunch and discussing mindless topics comfortably with one another. You were grateful that, even though your friends looked forward to teasing you about Jake, they were behaving normally enough that you could enjoy your lunch without feeling uncomfortable.

When you got up to put your tray away, Jake got to his feet and followed you. “So,” you said after building up the courage to make conversation. “Australia, huh?”

“Yeah,” Jake nodded. “It’s been a pretty big change, but I love it here. The campus is beautiful and it’s so nice to be in the middle of a big city.”

“Well, I’m glad you like it so far,” you smiled politely.

“You weren’t drunk, were you?” Jake asked suddenly, feeling awkward even bringing it up. “The other night?”

“No, I wasn’t,” you assured him. “I mean I had a few drinks but that’s not why I- Yeah.”

“Can I ask what happened? Jay mentioned a dare?”

“Yes. Um, basically, Heeseung and I had a little tipsy kiss a few weeks ago and then, like, ten days later he got back together with his ex-girlfriend Hana. Everyone kept acting like I was really upset over it and stuff, so they agreed to leave the subject alone if I can prove I’m over him,” you rambled on, feeling nervous about Jake’s close proximity to you.

“Oh,” Jake nodded in understanding. “So you like Heeseung?”

“No,” you shook your head. “I mean, I did for a few months, and I thought he liked me too. But I guess not,” you shrugged your shoulders. “It’s okay, though. It’s not a big deal, I’m over it, and we’re still friends.”

“I get it,” he said. “Thanks for explaining, you didn’t have to give that much detail so I’m glad you trusted me to tell me all that,” Jake smiled that perfect smile again, and you almost melted into a puddle on the floor.

“Listen, I’m really sorry my friends cornered you like that,” you apologised, embarrassed on behalf of your extra friends.

“Don’t worry about it,” Jake interrupted you, already predicting what you were going to say. “They seem nice and they clearly care about you a lot, so we’re all good. Are the two of us okay?” he wondered, taking your tray off your hands and clearing it for you. The moment your fingers brushed, you could feel the familiar tingle of butterflies in your stomach.

Startled at how easygoing he was, you could only nod. “We’re good,” you said quietly, overwhelmed by how much this boy was affecting you.

“Cool,” he beamed, stacking the empty trays and turning to face you. “So, what’s your major?” he wondered before rambling on about how he was figuring out if he wanted to double major in physics. All the while, you could only follow him, feeling yourself drawn to him as if you were magnets.

Soon enough, Jake was a regular member of your friend group and sat with you for lunch everyday. At first, Niki and Jungwon would tease the two of you whenever you sat next to or opposite each other at the lunch table, but after a week the novelty wore off. It didn’t take long before Jay was their new target, teasing him for his style or purposely making him angry for their own entertainment.

In a strange turn of events, Jake was actually starting to make the class you shared bearable. What you thought was going to be an awkward semester of avoiding him every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday turned into him saving you a seat and you lending him your notes.

“So,” Jake said on Wednesday, throwing his expensive bag carelessly onto the ground and taking the seat next to yours. You jumped at his arrival, almost knocking your laptop to the floor if it wasn’t for Jake’s quick reflexes. “Sorry, you alright?” He added, catching your eyes. When you nodded, he went on. “So, I was wondering if you wanted to go see a movie with me.”

“A movie?” you echoed, thinking it over. “Yeah, I could probably go tonight. What did you have in mind?”

“We could watch the new Doctor Strange movie,” Jake suggested, eyes sparkling at the idea. “Or the new Top Gun movie! But honestly, I’m pretty flexible so we can go see whatever you’re into,” he added.

You hummed, looking up movie times on your phone and finding a showing of Doctor Strange that would be perfect for your schedule. “How does 9pm sound?” you offered, showing him the mostly-empty theatre seats on your phone.

“Perfect!”

You selected seats close to the back and smiled, “This is going to be so much fun! The boys and I haven’t been to a movie in forever because our schedules never line up,” you explained, texting your group chat and sending a screenshot of the movie tickets you bought for everyone.

Jake paused. “What do you mean?” He asked, already dreading your answer.

“Since we all have such different majors, we always have exams at different times and our schedules don’t sync up. We missed the showings for Spider-Man No Way Home because of it! But luckily, all eight of us are free tonight so we can all go see Doctor Strange together!” You explained happily, watching all your friends reply in excitement to the group chat.

“Oh, so it’s like, a group activity,” Jake realised, frowning as he sulked in his seat. “Fun.”

“So fun!” you agreed, oblivious to his disappointment.

This obliviousness went on for several weeks, and Jake wasn’t sure if you genuinely had no idea he was pursuing you, or if you were just avoiding the subject. He decided to just be upfront about it.

“Y/n,” he called for your attention as the two of you lazed around under a tree on campus on a particularly sunny day. Your head was resting on his lap as you closed your eyes while Jake was stuck to his physics textbook. “Do you want to go on a date with me?” he asked, watching patiently as you processed his words and your eyes snapped open.

You sat up, leaning back on your elbows and glancing at him. “Are you serious?”

“I’m really tempted to say No I’m Jake but I’ll refrain,” he joked, earning a small smile from you. “I’m serious. I don’t know if you realise it, but I’ve been asking you on dates pretty regularly. You tend to just invite all of our friends to come with us, which makes it less of a date and more of, well, nothing.”

“Those were all dates?” you asked, genuinely startled by this piece of information.

“All of them,” Jake confirmed.

“Doctor Strange?”

“Yes, Doctor Strange.”

“The puppy café that day it rained?”

“Yup.”

“Studying in the library?”

“All four times I initiated it.”

“Movie night in the park?”

“I actually didn’t mind that you brought the guys since it was fun, but yes.”

“The concert?”

“How you even found six extra tickets is beyond me, but yes. The concert, too.”

“Oh,” was the clever line that you came up with at this realisation, and Jake practically swooned on the spot. How you couldn’t see he was absolutely enamoured by you was beyond him, but he was enjoying your confused expression too much to voice his thoughts. “I didn’t realise.”

“I know,” Jake laughed. “That’s why I figured I’d just tell you to your face this time.”

You hummed, nodding slowly, your brain still processing what was going on. “Good call.”

“I like to think so.”

“Can I think about it? Before I answer your question,” you wondered, wanting nothing more than to find Jay and ask him about what the hell you should do. More than being your emotional support best friend, Jay also had a much sturdier, mature head on his shoulders and always seemed to know what to do.

“Take all the time you want,” Jake assured you. I just hope you feel the same way.

When it was time for Jake’s afternoon class, the two of you parted ways. He went to go meet Jungwon for coffee before their lecture, and you headed to the library to make some sense of what your Professor had taught you that morning.

It was perfectly peaceful until the double doors of the library were flung open, banging loudly against the walls and making everyone in the library jump out of their seats.

When you spotted Niki racing over to your seat you hid your face in your hands, embarrassed. “Y/n!” you heard a frantic yell of your name, sinking into your seat to escape the numerous eyes on you.

You loved your friends, you really did, but they drew way too much attention to themselves for your taste. Especially your youngest friend Niki, who didn’t really understand the definition of discretion, and therefor never applied it to his behaviour.

“Dude,” you hissed, dragging him into the seat next to you with wide eyes. “This is the library,” you emphasised. “I know you don’t come here that much, but it’s pretty common knowledge that you’re supposed to be quiet when you’re in here.”

“Whatever,” Niki rolled his eyes, reluctantly lowering his voice. “I heard that Jake asked you out on a date! When are you going?”

“How the hell did you already hear about that?” you couldn’t help but wonder. “You know what, never mind. And for your information, I don’t even know if I’m going at all.”

“What do you mean you don’t know if you’re going?” Niki asked, deeply disappointed by your response. “You like Jake, Jake likes you. It’s simple maths!” he added with excessive hand gestures that you couldn’t quite make sense of.

“Jake’s not my type,” you lied, making Niki snort.

“Sure, then what is your type?” he challenged you, crossing his arms sassily to make a point.

“Bad boys,” you said the first thing that popped into your head. “Bad boys with motorcycles. You know the kind, long hair, beards, look like they only shower every couple weeks.”

“Gross, thanks for that mental image,” Niki grimaced. “This is just like your big fat crush on Heeseung all over again!”

“I did not have a big fat crush on Heeseung,” you corrected.

“Sure,” Niki replied in a disbelieving tone.

“Do you want me to have a crush on Heeseung?”

“No!”

“Good! Because I don’t. And I’m not going to let you pressure me into going on a date with Jake,” you said, turning back to your notes. “End of conversation.”

Niki snatched your notebook from the table before you could stop him, tossing it carelessly on the floor behind him. You exhaled through your nose, exasperation growing.

“Continuation of conversation. Look, I’m glad you’re not upset about Heeseung, but you must be feeling something now that Jake asked you out.” Niki was insistent.

“Why?” you asked. “Why does everyone want me to feel something for Jake?” You wondered, recalling the conversation you had with Jay only a few days after you kissed Jake at the party.

Your friend’s eyes softened, a small frown appearing on his face. “Because for a while there, it seemed like Heeseung liked you too,” he said quietly. “And he didn’t tell you a thing about getting back together with Hana, which was really mean of him. And we all just want you to be happy with someone nice, like Jake.”

“Okay,” you allowed, feeling your heart soften at the rare show of sincerity from Niki. “Maybe I have feelings for Jake. And maybe I considered agreeing to go on a date with him. But I don’t know if it’s a good idea, and I’m still thinking it over. Nothing’s off the table yet,” you promised Niki, wanting his sad, puppy-eyed expression to go away.

“You promise?”

“Yes,” you emphasised, smiling at Niki’s concern. “You’re very sweet, Niki, but I need to make up my own mind about this. Seriously.”

Niki shrugged, getting up to pick up your notebook. “If you say so,” he sang, passing the pages over to you and smiling. “Are you coming to the party tonight?”

“Yeah,” you told him, flipping your notebook back to the right page. “Sunghoon told me that he’s only going if I come, so, it’s my duty as the group introvert’s comfort friend.”

“Great, I’ll see you tonight,” Niki waved at you.

“Didn’t you come here to study?” you asked, taken aback by how quickly he wanted to leave.

“Nah, I just came to check on you,” he said, pulling his phone out of his pocket. After replying to a few texts, Niki smiled and sent you a one-handed finger gun before leaving the library.

You grinned at the sight of him tripping on his way out the door, not expecting to have received so much love from Niki of all people.

“I got a pretty concerning phone call from Niki this afternoon,” was what Jay greeted you with two hours later. The two of you had agreed to get something to eat before the party that evening and you texted him to be ready for you to talk his ear off.

“That can’t be good,” you replied, raising an eyebrow as you read the menu of the little pizza shop you decided to try for the first time.

Jay laughed, recounting how Niki had called him because he was worried about you and didn’t want you to feel like you were alone in this decision, and how he was concerned that you would mess things up between you and Jake forever. “You have to give him credit,” Jay mused. “He certainly knows how to dial up the dramatics.”

“No doubt about it,” you agreed readily, deciding on your pizza and letting Jay order for you. “Alright, go on.”

“What?” Jay asked, placing his napkin in his lap as you looked expectantly at him.

“Don’t you have anything to say?”

“Y/n my dear, you’re going to have to be more specific than that.”

“Seriously,” you whined, whacking him with your menu. “I want to know what you think about Jake asking me out.”

“Why does it matter?” Jay dismissed easily, acting like he was usually uninvolved in your major life decisions and hasn’t spent hours trying to convince you of his opinion in the past. There was a particularly harrowing incident in which you jokingly suggested that polka dots were making a comeback, and you still got chills thinking about how fashionista-Jay had annihilated you. “He didn’t ask me out, so why should you care what I say?”

“Oh come on,” you said, unconvinced that he was truly not going to share his thoughts with you. “Jay, you’re my best friend. Why are you sitting this one out?”

“Because I want you to make up your own mind,” he replied easily, unbothered by your protests.

“That’s the funny thing about having a best friend,” you began in a faux-excited tone, clasping your hands together on the table in front of you. “They’re supposed to know your mind better than anyone else! So, what’s the verdict? Yes I go out with Jake, or no I don’t? Let’s hear it.”

“Y/n,” Jay sang your name, unable to help the small chuckle that escaped him. “Why is it that you need my validation?” he wondered. Sure, you had asked him for advice on most of your other issues, but your love life was usually something you were very independent with. “You’re right, I am your best friend. That’s why I know that you need to make this decision yourself, and not let other people get in your head so much,” Jay declared, not wanting to make you feel like he was telling you off.

“I love you Jay, but I kind of want to hit you right now,” you sighed sadly, knowing he was completely right.

“I know, and I love you too,” Jay said, giving you his most sympathetic smile. “Do you want to split some cheesy garlic bread?”

“I think that would be wise,” you agreed, slumping in your seat and frowning at your predicament.

“Okay,” Jay nodded, flagging the waiter down as you lazily stirred the melting ice around your glass. “Listen, you’ve got this,” he encouraged, noticing how disheartened you had become at his declaration of neutrality. “We can still talk about it! I want to hear why you’re so desperate for someone to make this decision for you.”

“I don’t know,” you lied. When Jay scoffed, you rolled your eyes and decided that it wasn’t even worth it to lie to the one person who could see through your every falsehood. “Okay, fine. I want someone else to make this decision for me because I’m shit scared.”

“Everyone’s shit scared,” Jay retorted.

“Not Jake,” you reminded him. “Jake is kind of fearless. At least when it comes to this sort of thing. When we met for the first time after we kissed, he had no problem expressing his interest in me. He held my hand and offered to walk me to class, and it was just so overwhelming to see his pretty, puppy-dog eyes gazing down at me as if I was the answer to all his prayers.”

“That’s probably because you are the answer to all his prayers,” Jay laughed, thanking the waiter when he brought you the cheesy garlic bread. “Jake really likes you.”

“I like him too,” you allowed for more honesty. “And I want him to be my boyfriend.”

“I’m pretty sure he’d be into that too,” Jay teased you.

“Yeah,” you smiled to yourself. “I don’t know if I want to be his girlfriend, though,” you said cryptically, not knowing if you were making any sense. “Does that make sense?”

“Not to me,” Jay replied, blunt as always. “Doesn’t have to make sense to me though, I’m not dating Jake.”

“I don’t know if I’m ready to be someone’s girlfriend,” you tried to explain yourself. “I know that Jake’s going to be an amazing boyfriend, I have no idea if I’m going to be a decent girlfriend.”

“That’s the funny thing about dating,” Jay said, mocking your faux-excited tone from earlier, clasping his hands together just as you had. “You’re not technically anyone’s girlfriend yet. You’re just floating somewhere in the realm between friends and something more. You’ll figure out when you want to be his girlfriend together.”

“Oh,” you said under your breath, actually understanding what Jay was trying to say. “I guess you’re right.”

“Always the tone of surprise,” Jay murmured with an affectionate eye-roll.

After some gentle convincing, Sunghoon finally stepped into the party and awkwardly started bopping his head to the beat of the song blasting overhead. If you didn’t know him personally, you’d have no idea that Sunghoon had extensive dance training.

“Hey,” Heeseung greeted you happily, passing you a cup and pulling you into a side-hug. “I see you managed to get Sunghoon through the door,” he added, motioning in your friend’s direction with his head.

You grinned, taking a sip from the cup and finding your favourite drink inside. “It’s my specialty,” you joked. “Where’s Hana?”

“Oh, she’s probably around here somewhere,” Heeseung casually waved your words off. “Finding someone to dance with, I’m sure,” he added.

You frowned. “What? Did something happen between you guys?” you wondered, concerned at the way Heeseung’s joy seemed to be slowly drained from his body.

“We broke up,” Heeseung explained, pausing awkwardly before adding, “Again. Actually, she broke up with me because I’m too clingy or something like that? I don’t know, I kind of disassociated from that conversation after she began recounting all the times I was unbearable.”

“I’m so sorry,” you said, pulling your friend into a proper hug and gently patting his back. “For what it’s worth, you’re really awesome and definitely too good for her,” you added, wanting to encourage your friend when he seemed so upset.

“Thanks,” Heeseung mumbled, gently pulling away and sighing. “That’s enough about me. So,” he dragged the word out. “I heard something just a couple minutes ago that I thought was interesting,” Heeseung mentioned, grinning knowingly.

“Don’t even mention who I think you’re going to mention,” you warned, knowing that this was about Jake asking you on a date. You had received several pointed texts from Jungwon and Sunoo already, and you weren’t sure if you could hear it anymore. “I’ve already had enough from the others.”

“Alright, fine,” Heeseung chuckled, finishing his drink off with a smirk. “Actually, since we’re both chatting, I wanted to apologise to you,” he added, leading you to a slightly quieter area of the living room where the music wasn’t reaching as loudly.

“Apologise for what?” You wondered. You and Heeseung had always been good friends, but you weren’t particularly close recently.

Heeseung’s expression turned embarrassed as he carefully avoided your eyes by glancing down at his shoes. “Kissing you and getting back together with my ex a couple weeks later?” He phrased it like a question, voice lilting at the end of his sentence.

“Heeseung,” you started but were quickly halted.

“No, I need to do this,” Heeseung maintained. “I never acknowledged how much that sucks, and I’m sorry that I even put you in that position in the first place. I thought that you had a crush on me back then, and even if it’s not true it was wrong of me to exploit that. Especially since we’re friends. So, yeah, I’m really sorry, Y/n,” he said, finally having the nerve to meet your eyes.

“Don’t worry about it,” you assured him, flicking his bicep with a grin. “I forgive you. That feels like forever ago, anyway.”

“Maybe it was forever ago, but it was still wrong,” he replied with a shrug, gently flicking your arm back.

“That’s okay, I’m over it,” you promised.

“So we’re good?”

“We’re excellent, Heeseung.”

“Great,” he beamed at your assurance, pleased that the two of you could go back to normal. “Since we’re good… Don’t be mad but I really do have to ask what’s going on with you and Jake,” Heeseung pleaded, inadequate at holding back his curiosity.

You groaned, “Nothing is going on with us! Absolutely nothing.”

“Why not?” Heeseung whined. “The two of you are great together, and he clearly likes you, so I don’t really get why you’re not together.”

“How can we ever be together? He’s perfect,” you exclaimed, the mere mention of Jake already lighting your skin on fire as your face warmed.

“I mean, don’t get me wrong I really like him and I’m glad I brought him into the friend group,” Heeseung said, smiling at the thought of meeting Jake for the first time. “But he’s not perfect.”

“You’re only saying that because you’re not in love with him,” you waved him off.

“So you are then?”

“What?”

“In love with him.”

You blinked, “Did I say that out loud?”

Heeseung smirked, “Loud and clear,” he confirmed with a wink, knowing you had been caught.

“Shit. Well I guess I can’t take it back at this point,” you shrugged, earning a booming laugh from your friend.

“Let’s just say he’s perfect, for argument’s sake,” Heeseung began, thoughtfully. “Why should that mean that you can’t be together?”

“Because pretty soon he’s going to realise that I’m not perfect, and I don’t want to be there when the illusion that he has of me is shattered,” you confessed, something that you had been too shy to even tell Jay. Perhaps the alcohol was helping you a little, or perhaps you felt like you had closure with Heeseung and could finally confide in him like you used to. “Once the novelty of our little flirtation wears off he’s going to realise that he doesn’t actually like me.”

“You know what, I think he might surprise you,” Heeseung argued.

“What makes you say that?”

“Because people always surprise you, it’s kind of in their nature,” he shrugged.

“Damn, you’re wise when you’re tipsy,” you mumbled in surprised, a little moved by his comment.

“Damn straight, it’s why I kissed you,” Heeseung joked, earning a hard slap in the shoulder. “Ow!” he exclaimed, clutching the spot where you struck him. “On that note, I’m gonna get out of here because I think Hana’s about to start making out with my Chem Lab partner. Give me a call if you need someone to talk to,” he excused himself, eyes narrowing to a corner of the room that was just out of sight for you.

“Thanks, ‘Seung, you too,” you said your goodbyes, deciding to go check on your friend group’s resident introvert to make sure he hadn’t run away.

Once you were sure Sunghoon wasn’t going to book it out of the party, leaving him with Niki and Sunoo to hype him up, you stepped outside to get some air. As you tucked your hands into your jacket pockets and scanned the area, you noticed an unusual sight that clashed with your worldview.

“What is that?” you asked, spotting Jake on the sidewalk near the house the party was hosted in.

He grinned. “A motorcycle,” he explained, leaning against the vehicle, looking impossibly cool.

Somehow, the image of him with the motorcycle was a complete juxtaposition; even though he looked the part with his black leather jacket and thick, leather boots, you couldn’t get the image of Jake wearing a fuzzy teddybear sweater to class out of your head. Sweet, bubbly Jake riding a motorcycle? Even now, you couldn’t imagine it.

You laughed. “I know it’s a motorcycle, what are you doing standing next to it?”

Jake shrugged. “It’s my motorcycle.”

“Shut up,” you said, rolling your eyes.

“Why?!”

“That is not your motorcycle,” you denied.

“Yes it is, actually.”

“When did you get a motorcycle?” you asked, more laughter bubbling out at the incredulous image of Jake buying a motorcycle. You knew he was rich but dropping cash on a motorcycle when he had previously never expressed any interest in one? That was too much, even for Jake.

“When Niki said that bad boys are your type,” he joked, picking up a helmet.

You paused, remembering the terrible, unconvincing excuse you had given Niki earlier that day in the library. “That’s not funny.”

“I mean it!” Jake insisted. “What you said really woke me up, I figured that it’s time to step out of my comfort zone and try something new.”

“Really?”

“No, it’s my friend from class’s motorcycle, I’m just keeping an eye on it while he picks up his girlfriend from the party,” Jake admitted, a large grin growing on his face once he realised you were starting to believe him.

“I knew it!” you exclaimed, pointing at him and sniggering.

“Is it really so crazy to imagine me on a motorcycle?” Jake wondered, pouting slightly at the thought of you not thinking he was attractive enough to pull off the bad boy vibe.

“No, it’s not crazy at all,” you admitted. “I guess I just didn’t really think it sounded like you. When I picture you, I picture you in a soft sweatshirt, not riding a vehicle that goes 300 kilometres an hour.”

“Aw, so you think about me often, then,” Jake teased, stepping away from the motorcycle to lean closer to you, just over the fence that surrounded the house. “And I shouldn’t change to better fit your type?”

“Of course I wouldn’t want you to change,” you said softly, meaning every word.

The teasing glint in his eyes was replaced with something gentler as Jake cleared his throat, averting his gaze with reddening cheeks. “Good to know,” he mumbled.

Now it was your turn to tease him. “I see how it is,” you began, grinning. “You can dish it out but once the attention is back on you, you retreat so quickly,” you joke, taking your hands out of your pockets and resting them on the wooden fence. “Like I said, you definitely aren’t a bad boy,” you added, leaning in closer.

“And bad boys definitely aren’t your type,” Jake countered, raising an eyebrow and trying to hide the pink flush on his cheeks.

“Maybe not,” you agreed, loving the way he looked when he was flustered.

“God, I had no idea this is what you were going to be like when I first saw you,” Jake laughed. “So forward out of nowhere.”

“Me walking right up to you and asking for a kiss didn’t tip you off?” You wondered with a chuckle.

“Ah,” Jake held a finger up to stop you. “But that’s not the first time I saw you,” he retorted.

“What do you mean? That’s the first time we ever talked.”

“Yeah, but I had already noticed you before,” he confessed for the first time. “We have that class together three times a week. I noticed you and thought you were really pretty and smart for, like, six weeks before you ever talked to me at that party,” Jake admitted to your great surprise.

“Are you being serious right now?” you wondered, eyes widening. “You’re not just messing with me?”

Jake shook his head. “I met Heeseung in a different class and he noticed that I seemed to have my attention on you when we crossed paths, so he invited me to that party so that he could introduce us,” he admitted, revealing the real reason he came to that party the night you met.

“Wait, Heeseung knew that you liked me?”

“He sure did,” Jake confirmed. “And in the end, he didn’t even have to introduce us. Because what do I know, the moment I walk through the door, there you were. And you were asking me to kiss you, without knowing that I couldn’t possibly refuse you.”

“That’s what he meant when he said you might surprise me,” you realised, finally understanding why Heeseung suddenly seemed so wise and knowledgable tonight. “He knew that you liked me before anybody else did.”

“Exactly,” Jake nodded, and the satisfied grin on his face made you want to kiss him.

“Let’s go out,” you decided on the spot, wanting nothing more than to spend every second with the man in front of you.

His eyes widened. “Yeah?” he exclaimed, startled by your sudden declaration.

“Yeah. Tomorrow, the day after, next week– let’s go out.”

“I think I’m free,” Jake agreed. “And if not, I’ll clear my schedule.”

“Oh really?” you laughed, taking the lapels of his leather jacket in your hands, just like you had the first time you kissed him. “Even your plans to go motorcycle shopping?”

“I’ll just take you with me,” Jake replied easily, brushing his thumb across your cheek. “So you admit, I’d look cool on a motorcycle?”

“What can I say? I guess bad boys are just my type,” you winked, letting Jake pull you in for a kiss.

note: this literally took me forever to finish because i kept losing motivation, but i hope that you enjoyed this fic! this is the last fic i’m posting before i go on a writing hiatus but i will be back with more fics in september 💜

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