pairing: Jay x fem!reader
genre: fluff, slight angst/miscommunication trope? if you squint? Oneshot bullet point fic
content warnings: none
Summary: Sunoo is sick of watching you pine after Jay when he clearly has feelings for you too, so he devises a plan to give the two of you some much needed alone time
notes: this was the result of a very delusional conversation I had with @nar-nia, thank you for fueling my delulu thoughts and beta reading the first draft love <3 I would never have posted this if it wasn't for your support ;*
Everything below the cut is NOT proofread
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You were going to kill Jake and Sunoo
This was all their fault
They were the ones who had insisted that you all leave the “stuffy” confines of the airbnb your friendgroup had rented for your annual trip to the beach to visit the boardwalk and amusement park barely an hour after you’d all arrived
Doing everything in their power to drag a spaced out Sunghoon and a tired looking Jay along
Sunoo sulking and singing an extremely off-key rendition of “part of your world” while dragging you through the living room in a clumsy waltz, gesturing dramatically at the large glass windows leading out onto the patio to emphasise his point every time he hit a line about dancing or walking
When his attempts at annoying them into going inevitably failed, he decided the only thing left was to get both you and niki on his side and beg
Convincing Niki was a bit of a task, the younger boy content to lounge around on a beanbag with his nintendo
He probably would’ve stayed there had if it was only Sunoo asking him for help... purely for the sake of annoying his hyung
But Jake overheard Sunoo's whispered pleas, and when he joined the campaign and asked the younger boy for help, Niki couldn’t really find it in him to say no
Enlisting your help was significantly easier, even if you were a bit annoyed by his earlier antics
Because while you were close to everyone in your little group, Sunoo in particular had a special place in your heart, having been by your side since childhood, you would do almost anything for him
Even if it meant putting on an indifferent facade in front of the man you’d been in love with for an unhealthily long time
Jay really didn’t want to go to the amusement park
although the rest of you had gotten to sleep and recharge between stops, he and Sunghoon were both tired after staying alert and herding you all from place to place all morning
All he wanted to do was sleep
But Sunoo had somehow managed to rope both you and Niki in on his schemes
It would have been hard enough to say no to his precious little brother
But you?
How could he say no when you were asking so nicely? Pleading your case by saying that this was a trip you’d all taken to make memories together, so what was the point if Jay and Sunghoon weren’t there with you?
God you were just too cute
Jay tries to appeal to you and Niki, knowing there’s no point in trying to talk Sunoo out of this
“But (y/n)-ah, Niki, we’re tired, it’s been such a long day, can’t we just stay in till dinnertime?”
“Exactly,” Sunghoon says from his spot beside Jay, eyes coming back into focus for the first time since you’d started speaking, “we could always go tomorrow, the fair isn’t going anywhere.”
“It is, actually,” Heeseung joins the fray, walking into the living room from the kitchen, looking at something on his phone. “Or at least the ferris wheel is, they’re closing it down for maintenance tomorrow, and it won’t be open again till the day we’re leaving.”
“See! Heeseung gets it!” you exclaim, high fiving him.
Jay feels his heart sink just a little at the sight
It had been almost two years since Niki had told him about your feelings for Heeseung, casually dropping the bomb as the two of them sat on lawn chairs by Jake’s pool, watching you try and fail to yank him off a large unicorn shaped pool float and into the water
Jay had played it cool, laughing along like it meant nothing
Except it did
Because Jay had realised very early on in your friendship that he was a dead man walking
From the moment when Sunoo dragged you over to their table at lunch, announcing that you were his best friend, and you’d introduced yourself with a nervous little smile on your face
To the days where you walked home with them, laughing and bickering with Jake over silly things like whether or not water was wet and if black was a color
And all the times he’d seen you sitting quietly with Niki, allowing him to lean on you like an older sister
With every day that passed, Jay had found himself falling faster and faster, till he got to a point where he feared there was no return
But he was too late
You liked Heeseung
And whether you chose to act on that or not, it just wasn’t his place to try and win you over when you liked someone else
So he sets his feelings aside, packing them neatly away and schooling his expression into something as neutral as possible
“That’s just the ferris wheel though, isn’t it?” Sunghoon asks, still trying to find a reason to stay curled into the soft couch cushions
“Yeah but (y/n)’s been looking forward to trying the ferris wheel since we started planning!” Sunoo whines, nudging you pointedly
“Mnmm!” you nod, It wasn’t exactly true, you’d only mentioned once that the ferris wheel looked pretty
But they didn’t have to know that
“Really, (y/n)?” Jay asks
You nod enthusiastically, not knowing how much you’d regret it
Jay can feel his resolve crumbling, how could he deny you anything when you look so genuinely excited about it? He’d rather drown himself in the sea than be one to take that away from you
So here you all were, walking along the crowded boardwalk, passing by booths with an assortment of hand crafted souvenirs and trinkets on display against a backdrop of colorful cloths, the smell of warm sugar and sizzling street foods mingling with the ocean breeze
It was all fun and games at first, all of you trying foods, taking pictures, walking up to a few stalls and attempting to win prizes, competing to see who could walk away with the biggest stuffed toy that night
You were laughing, joking around with Jungwon, winning a large duck plushie for Niki, twirling around and showing off the pretty sundress you’d thrown on when Sunoo pointed his camcorder at you
Blissfully unaware of the pointed looks passing between him and Jake
The two of them had noticed early on the way Jay stuck close to you
Carefully placing himself between you and any other tourists who were brushing past a little too close for comfort
Watching you twirl for the camera with such a nauseatingly lovesick expression on his face that Sunoo nearly gagged
Only to move away as soon as Heeseung approached you
Giving the two of you “space”
Space to do what exactly Sunoo had no idea
Sure you’d liked Heeseung when you’d first been introduced to his friends
But that hadn’t lasted long at all
Your affections quickly shifting to someone else
The poor pink-haired boy had lost count of the number of times he’d had to listen to you complain about how handsome Jay was
How kind and attentive he was
What an amazing husband he’d be one day
How lucky his future wife would be
Sunoo wanted to grab you by the shoulders and remind you that there was a fair chance that that future wife could be you
He had done just that on more than one occasion
But you brushed him aside every time
Saying there was no way Jay could ever have feelings for you
It drove him insane
Especially when he noticed the way Jay looked at you
Jake was thankfully spared from most of your rants
But he was very much aware of how you felt
And he agreed with Sunoo, there was absolutely no way Jay didn’t return your feelings
So the two of them had come up with a plan
At some point, Jake let slip that while you were very excited about riding he ferris wheel, you were actually scared to go on because you were afraid of heights
You turned to him in surprise, unsure how to respond to the wholly false claim without exposing the fact that you’d lied about wanting to ride the ferris wheel in the place
Sunoo joined in a moment later, complaining about how he’d tried to convince you that it wasn’t all that scary, that these things were checked regularly to ensure they were safe, but that you just wouldn’t listen
You’d elbowed him in the ribs, confusion painted across your features
When Jay made a suggestion
An absolutely terrifying one
“Well… one of us could go with you if you’d like? It probably won’t be as bad if you’re not all by yourself”
“That would be brilliant! But Jake and I promised to go in the haunted house with Niki…”
“I could go with her then, I don’t really feel like scaring myself silly when I won’t be sleeping in my own bed tonight.”
“Could you? That would be great! Whaddya say (y/n)?”
All three pairs of eyes land on you, and for a moment you feel your mouth go dry
On a ferris wheel… In a small glass box… alone… with Jay…
It sounds absolutely terrifying
“I’m not too sure…” you start to say, but Jay bumps his shoulder against yours, and when you manage to will yourself to look at him, he’s smiling down at you
“C’mon, I’ll be right there with you he whole time,” he says, “you’ll regret it more if you don’t go.”
You swallow around the lump that’s formed in your throat
He’s right
You were the one who’d gone on and on about making memories
Here was a prime opportunity to build a memory you’d surely never forget
Wouldn’t you regret it more if you chickened out now?
“Okay…I’ll go,” you said
And the cheers that erupted from the three boys were so infectious that you forgot about the nervous butterflies filling your chest
Until of course you were actually on the ferris wheel
The glass doors sliding shut to seal your fate
You hadn’t known that there was only one seat in the capsul
Hadn’t counted on being right next to Jay, your thighs occasionally knocking together
The proximity was doing nothing to help the racing of your heart, sharp pinpricks of heat blossoming under your skin and spreading up your neck and ears
“(y/n), you there?”
Jay’s voice startles you a little, and you wince before you can catch yourself
“Huh? Oh yeah… I’m here, sorry”
Your familiar, nervous laugh makes Jay smile a little, reminding him of the day you first met
But he quickly brushes the memory aside, choosing to focus on you
You seemed uncomfortable
Were you really this afraid of heights?
He tries his best to smile reassuringly, tilting his head to one side so he’s looking up at you instead of it being the other way round
“Well hello, welcome back,” he says, unaware of the way those few words send the butterflies in your stomach into a frenzy
“Hi…” you manage back, mentally patting yourself on the back for how normal your voice sounds
“Hi,” he chuckles, and the sound makes your brain go a little fuzzy, so much so that you barely register it when he gestures behind him. “I know you’re avoiding looking out for a reason, but you really should.”
“What? Oh, right, I- ooh.”
You sigh, suddenly forgetting why you’d been panicking in the first place
“It’s beautiful…” you say, but you’re also looking at Jay when you say it, golden light washing over his skin, making him glow against the backdrop of the sea
“It is,” he says, and if you’d been paying more attention, you would have noticed two things:
Jay’s back was to the sunset, he’d been looking at you the whole time
The ferris wheel had stopped moving some moments prior
Unfortunately for you both, your mind only processes the second, your eyes as wide as dinner plates when your brain catches up with your body and the lack of motion finally sets in
“Jay… Is this ride supposed to stop?”
“No?”
“No?!”
“I mean I’m pretty sure it’s not?!”
Realisation dawns on you, and you rush to the side of the pod, watching as Sunoo and Jake, your own best friend smiles back you, blowing you a kiss
You know what they'd done.
You know because you would have done the same in a heartbeat
The butterflies in your chest seem to double, wings beating frantically against your ribcage
The panic that had temporarily subsided beginning to creep back up your spine
Buzzing through your veins and going straight to your head
How long would you be up here? What were you supposed to do when your heart felt like it was caught in your throat? How were you supposed to remain calm when Jay was sitting right next to you looking so so beautiful knowing he probably thought you were insane for freaking out like this when it really wasn't a big deal and you should have been fine and-
“Hey, hey, calm down, breathe, I was wrong, stop looking out there (y/n).”
Oh no
He’s touching you now, a hand on your arm pulling you back, tugging you away from the glass and the view that honestly didn’t scare you as much as he thought it did
And closer to him
The real reason you felt like you were going to vibrate right out of your skin
Your eyes dart around almost frantically, focusing on anything but him
Jay watches you fidget in your seat, hands clasped together in your lap, face flushed, breathing uneven
He’s never seen you like this before
And he can’t help but blame himself
He should’ve never let Sunoo and Jake talk you into this
“(y/n), (y/n) please, I need you to breathe, look at me please.”
His hands come up to gently cup your cheeks, turning your face away from the “frightening” view outside and forcing you to make direct eye contact with him
You feel your heart stutter where it’s lodged in your throat
“Focus on me, please, don’t think about anything else, just focus and breathe for me, yeah?”
You could cry
Tears welling up in the corners of your eyes
Jay has absolutely no idea how difficult he’s making this for you
Completely clueless to the way the deepening crease between his brows makes you want to kiss it
How the way his lips are pressed together with worry makes your heart flip in your chest
“(y/n), I can feel you shaking, this is just a technical difficulty, you’re okay, nothing’s going to happen.”
But I want it to
The words rest on the tip of your tongue
You want something to happen
The longer you stare at him the harder it is to focus on his eyes, the task proving impossible with the way your heart squeezes painfully in your chest at how soft and open they are, how intently he’s looking at you, it makes you feel like you’re special to him when you know you’re not
He’s looking out for you the same way he would Niki or Jungwon
You need to remember that
But not looking at his eyes means looking at the rest of him
Which you soon discover is almost as dangerous, because what you find yourself focusing on now is his lips
The way they curve around the vowels of your name as he tries to talk you through the jumbled, scattered thoughts and feelings he's causing
Oh the irony
But he's not really faring much better
Jay feels like he’s going insane
He sees the way your eyes keep flickering across his face
Settling on his lips just a little too long for his peace of mind
You're making him question how you really feel about him
Pulling at the strings wound tightly across the box of memories he'd stashed neatly away
Moments where he'd been sure you looked at him in ways friends weren't really supposed to look at each other
He can't do this
Jay pulls his hands away from your face, allowing them to flutter over your skin
Over your jaw
Down your neck
Across your shoulders
Before coming to settle on your upper arms
Leaving a trail of goosebumps in his wake, gently pushing you away, holding you at arms length, his body bowed as if in pain
“You can’t do that (y/n),” he breathes, letting out a shuddering breath
“Jay?” your voice is barely anything above a whisper, fear creeping in with the panic
Did he see? Did he notice? Did you somehow manage to make him uncomfortable after everything you’d doen to avoid that exact scenario?
“You can’t keep looking at me like that when you have feelings for Heeseung.”
It takes a moment for his words to sink in, for the cogs in your mind to turn them over and process them through white noise and fog filling your head like cotton
And when they finally do sink in, you blanch, willing yourself to get it together, to apologise, to do whatever you had to do to salvage the situation
But Jay speaks again before you can
“I can’t keep pretending it doesn’t mean anything to me.”
It’s Jay’s turn to swallow around the lump in his throat, his grip on your arms tightening, face downturned, staring at the peeling blue vinyl between you
The butterflies in your chest slow, settling along your ribs so the anxious beating of their wings stills to a steady thrum
“What do you mean by that?” you ask, surprising yourself with how calm you sounded
“I mean… I mean that you have no idea how insane it makes me when I see you with him, when you’re laughing together and you smile at him like he’s your whole world, because I wish you’d look at me like that, because… and I know it’s selfish but I wish that I could be the only one to make you laugh… But I know that you like Hee, and that’s okay, my feelings are my own, it’s not on you to take responsibility for them, but I need to take care of my own heart (y/n) I feel like I’m losing my mind I-”
“Jay,” you cut him off, voice coming out more harsh than you’d intended, but it works, his mouth snapping shut immediately. “Jay, look at me please,” you say, more gently this time.
He does as you ask, and your heart breaks a little when you realise that his eyes are as glassy as yours
You place your hands over his, and for one, horrible moment, though he knows he deserves it, though he knows you have every right to, he thinks you’re going to tear yourself away from him.
But you don’t.
Your hands are warm against his, too warm, and they’re still shaking, but they’re moving his lower, over your elbows, onto your sides, till they come to rest on your waist. He can feel your pulse in your wrists, matching his beat for anxious beat
He’s so distracted by how soft you feel and how perfectly you fit in his hands that he flinches when you lean towards him, moving away from you on instinct
Cute, you think, unable to stop the corners of your mouth from twitching upwards
“What if I want to?” you whisper, his pupils blown wide as he searches your expression, “what if I want to take responsibility for your feelings?”
For a moment, you’re sure neither of you remembers how to breathe. The world standing still
Jay isn’t really sure he’s capable of forming a coherent sentence, words rushing through his skull and coming to an abrupt halt before they could make it past his lips
So he settles for the next best thing
Slowly, his hand moves from your waist, brushing against your knuckles, tentatively lacing his fingers through your own, careful to give you time to pull away should you wish to
But you don’t
No
You level your gaze with his, giving his hand a gentle squeeze as if to say ‘go on’
He lets out a breath, he didn’t know he was holding, cautiously bringing your hand up to his lips, barely brushing them over your skin before turning your hand over and placing a soft, chaste kiss against your palm
His eyes don’t leave yours for even a moment, watching you intently, gauging your reactions. When you don’t flinch or move away, he lets your entwined hands fall to the side.
“What about Heeseung?” he asks, even as he’s leaning towards you, even when you can feel the ghost of his lips on yours.
You giggle despite yourself, bringing your free hand up to thread your fingers through the hair at the back of his neck. “It was never him, silly…”
A shiver runs down his spine, whether from your words or your actions neither of you can really say
And it doesn’t really matter anyway
Your eyes flutter closed, you can feel the warmth radiating off his skin-
And the ferris wheel starts turning again with a sharp jolt
Sending you crashing into each other, foreheads knocking together painfully
You both groan in pain, looking around confusedly, trying to regain your bearings as the moment passes
When your eyes meet again, and you realise that your hands are clasped together tightly between you, neither of you can stop the fit of giggles bubbling up in your chests
You’re both still laughing by the time you make it back to the bottom, the doors sliding open to reveal your friends waiting for you with triumphant smiles on their faces
Niki grumbling as he hands Sunoo several folded bills
You let go of Jay’s hand the second you see it, marching over to kick their shins
“You didn’t even go to the haunted house did you?” you whisper-yell, glaring daggers at them
Sunoo’s smile is pure evil, flicking your nose and replying in the most annoyingly smug tone you’d ever heard. “Now now, (y/n), is that any way to talk to the person who so graciously helped you get over the pathetic moping phase of your crush?”
“Which lasted much too long by the way,” Jake chimes in, joining the conversation
“You were in on this?!”
“You weren’t exactly subtle sweetheart, Jay was just fed false information thanks to this kid.”
“Excuse me?”
The bickering continues as you all walk away from the ferris wheel, Niki and Jake both getting whacked over the head with the large pink octopus Sunoo had won for you as an apology (the only reason he wasn’t getting beaten up too)
It isn’t until the two of them run away from you, cackling like hyenas, that you feel an arm wrap round your waist
Holding you loosely, Jay leans down so only you can hear him
“We’ll finish that conversation later, (y/n).”
And then he’s gone
Leaving you standing there, feeling flustered enough to match the octopus in your arms, glaring at a snickering Sunoo
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