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Jongseong is always bringing shit into the dorm.
He just lets himself in— most of the time there's something in his hands, like when he silently entered Jaeyun and Heeseung's dorm, arms filled with groceries and dragged the two of them into their block's communal kitchen, proceeding to make the best damn kimchi jjigae either of them ever had.
Other times, it's a lot more unusual, and well, unlucrative. Jaeyun hates the thought of Jongseong's visits being unnecessary, but when he's standing in the doorway with the newest edition of air jordans(? Jaeyun's not a shoe guy) in his arms just to show them off, Jaeyun would rather spend the hour he wasted listening to him ramble about the stitching and use it for something more productive, like not listening to him.
(Alas, there's not much Jaeyun can do about that— Jongseong is a fashion major, if he's not ranting about the making of shoes he's babbling about the material of coats or the finish of the necklace he just got.)
They somehow get more intriguing each time, especially for items that have no real value and are half fun simply because of the nostalgia (just like when Jaeyun's entire group of friends were huddled in a circle on the floor of Jongseong's living room for an hour and a half taking turns playing an intense game of Bop It.
No one won, Riki accidentally broke it before they could decide a winner).
Where, and more importantly why Jongseong gets these things is left for everyone to wonder, because god knows he's not gonna unveil the reason he went to Target on an arbitrary Wednesday afternoon and brought back a pack of gummy worms and a Bop It.
Kimchi jjigae and Bop Its aside, when Jongseong waltzed through Jaeyun's door with a concerningly crumpled shoe box tucked under his arm and one Park Sunghoon following directly behind him, he knew he was in for a real treat.
Jaeyun probably would've been laughing at how Jongseong promptly shook Heeseung out of his chair, rattling the box in front of his face and telling him that what he has is more important than being hunched over a laptop typing an essay that won't matter in a week, but that was nothing more than background noise as Jaeyun’s eyes were fixed on Sunghoon, who is now sitting next to him on his bed swinging his legs innocently like he didn't just disrupt any semblance of peace that could've settled in the dorm; like he’s been here for hours.
"I don't know if I want to ask what's in the box." There was no greeting; no hello or how are you? it wasn't needed. Not when there's more important matters at hand, like the ominous white box Jongseong is borderline threatening Heeseung with.
Sunghoon chuckled, shaking his head, and Jaeyun decided to ignore how his laugh immediately caught all of his attention or the way his heart accelerated by just hearing it, the fleeting sensation of warm sun rays flowing through his blood. "It's not as big as he makes it up to be."
Sitting crisscrossed on the floor, Jongseong blatantly rolls his eyes and dumps out the contents, little white squares fluttering down onto the carpet. Jaeyun blinked, and something in his mind lit up like a light bulb before he gaped at the photos with a subtle grin. He loved this type of thing; reminiscing on old stories, the people around him sharing little details he had forgotten, hearing new sides to the story, it's like he's experiencing it for the first time again.
And maybe it was because of the faced up photo he saw that was evidently taken during Heeseung's fiery red hair phase, or possibly the way Jongseong grabbed a photo and immediately showed it to Heeseung with a stifled laugh— but whatever it was had Jaeyun scooting off the bed, a giddy feeling in his chest as he picked up a handful of polaroids, scanning through them more thorough than he would an essay.
Sunghoon was absolutely wrong, and Jongseong's enthusiasm was one hundred percent valid.
They spent an extensive amount of time going through the photos, there was a lot more than any of them had initially suspected. Bizarre and almost unidentifiable pictures of random objects signed 'riki.' were some of the highlights, getting passed around to each person and causing them all to shake their heads with fond smiles because of course Riki was the one to sign a blurry to all hell photo of his shoes.
There were some real gems too, ones that erupted into a retelling of all the events that lead to the photo being taken; like when they saw the group photo they took on Jungwon's 18th birthday when they went to the arcade and practically got kicked out because they were being too loud.
(Jaeyun's personal favorite was of Sunoo's 20th and the aftermath of Riki and Heeseung getting ahold of silly string.)
And Jaeyun, being the self aware little shit he is, noticed something in every group photo.
When everyone's eyes were directed towards the lense, cheeky ear to ear grins filling their faces, Jaeyun's were on Sunghoon. Every Time. Whether he was blatantly staring at him from across the line of people or leaned into his touch a lot more than any of the others, Jaeyun was always in Sunghoon hyperfocus.
It was a love drunk gaze fixed on his best friend's roommate; the boy he met freshman year of college and referred to as the (pretty) boy with the moles because he had missed his name when he introduced himself, partly because his only thought was how attractive he was and how the hell Jongseong hasn't fallen for him yet. (that was before Jaeyun learned he had his own set of very prominent heart eyes directed to Sunoo.)
Jaeyun's a good listener. He pays good attention to detail, but the only details he were focused on at that moment were how Sunghoon had little fangs that appeared with his dimple when he smiled big toothy grins that were perfectly surrounded by his lips and oh god his lips— they were so pink and so plush and so very very entrancing, Jaeyun couldn't help it when his eyes flickered down to them then back to meet his eyes (because he has some form of respect) but then back down to stare at the way they move when he talks, only to realize he has no idea what he's saying.
He was already so, so far gone. And he's proud to say not much of that has changed within two years, except maybe now he can refrain from ogling at his best friend's lips for more than two seconds.
Sunghoon noticed the photos too, and oh did he get a kick out of it.
"Jaeyun, you're looking at me in this photo, am I really that good looking?"
"You're staring at me in this one too, how did I not notice it?"
"I would stare at me too, don't worry,"
Jaeyun, as if he wasn't already red to the ears – embarrassed out of his mind – watched as Sunghoon took a polaroid of the two of them posing next to a fountain and stuck it in his phone case, blithely showing it to him with a bright grin.
His head felt like exploding.
Sunghoon shuffled through a separate pile of polaroids, grabbing one and immediately handing it to Jaeyun. "Your turn." His grin was so optimistic, so blinding, and so pretty. Without a second thought, Jaeyun grabbed the photo and slipped it into his case, stopping to stare at it.
He has a photo of Sunghoon holding up a peace sign perpetually in the back of his phone.
They have photos of each other on public display.
It was so domestic. It was so coupley of them.
For some odd reason (that Jaeyun refuses to admit was caused due to him practically overdosing on love), the rest of the day went by in a blur; passing photos around like kids trading candy on Halloween, Jaeyun noticing even more photos of him ogling Sunghoon shamelessly.
It was a busy day, to say the least.
"No," Jaeyun heaved, sucking in a breath and releasing it into the mercy of his pillow. He shifted his head to look at Heeseung, eyeing as the older watched him like a hawk. "You don't understand, I'm an idiot."
"You're a STEM student, you can't be an idiot." Heeseung crosses his arms. "Also," he says, swiveling his chair closer to Jaeyun's bed inch by inch by the kick of his feet. "It's not a big deal."
He said it so simply, without a single thought. Heeseung is single handedly the worst person to talk to about this subject; his entire mindset is now or never, and his pep talks always somehow end in 'what's the worst that could happen?', which is actually good advice, but in any other situation than this one.
Needless to say, Heeseung is doing anything but helping, and Jaeyun wants to throw himself off a cliff.
Metaphorically, of course. Or mentally, whichever comes first.
"I'm an idiot around Sunghoon," Jaeyun muffles face first into his pillow, not caring whether or not Heeseung heard him. It's not like he's gonna listen anyway.
Jaeyun never thought things would come to this— having an entire crisis, ranting to Heeseung like he's his therapist and half mentally preparing to pack his bags and walk off the face of the earth.
All over Sunghoon. The pretty, oh so pretty man he is absolutely head over heels for; the man he completely shuts down around, fumbling sentences together because his mind can't comprehend anything other than Sunghoon, Hoon, Park Sunghoon, Sunghoon Park.
He's a lost cause, and it's even worse when he realizes there's a picture of Sunghoon occupying the back of his phone (Giddy smiles are only the beginning), but he likes to think it's not fully his fault.
Sunghoon has been off lately.
Or in other words, he's being touchy.
What used to be an innocent hand on Jaeyun's shoulder has altered into an arm wrapped around his waist, simple handshakes became interlocked fingers and the once calming back hug has evolved into nervous chuckles as Jaeyun is painfully aware of Sunghoon's chin laying on his shoulder.
And suddenly the meltdowns he has whenever in the proximity of one Park Sunghoon make sense, because not a single person would be able to concentrate while feeling his naturally cold hands abruptly squeezing their biceps.
(Jaeyun's had this exact conversation with Sunoo before, on the verge of slapping money down onto his rackety plastic table and borderline betting on him because Sunoo had the audacity to ask what the hype over him was.
It took an embarrassing amount of time for Jaeyun to get the hint that Sunoo was implying he was better looking. Y'know, typical Sunoo.)
Jaeyun isn't dumb, either(ironically humorous from his current thoughts). He knows exactly when Sunghoon's surge of confidence began; precisely the exact moment Sunghoon walked out Jaeyun's door with a framed photo of him in hand.
It was a strange thought, his mind had trouble grasping it, and it took at least a couple days of denial to fully accept it.
He , Sim Jaeyun, was the cause of Sunghoon's sudden spike in self assurance.
That still doesn't help his problem of his mental gears stopping whenever Sunghoon so much as glances at him.
With a sigh, Jaeyun pushed himself off his stomach, slumping down on his knees and facing Heeseung blankly. "Okay, hotshot, if it's not a big deal, tell me how to stop seeing the pearly gates of heaven when he places a hand on my shoulder."
"Confess." Heeseung shouted, clearly amused— nose scrunching with a sly cackle. "Wow, you're just as bad as Jongseong."
Jaeyun's heart promptly dropped to his toes at the thought alone. Firstly, ouch, nobody is as bad as Jongseong when it comes to feelings, and second, "No way," He shook his head furiously. "Not happening!" He smiled bogusly, voice squeaky and unnecessarily high.
"I'm serious," Heeseung sighed, face stretching into a sympathetic smile, and Jaeyun knew he was either about to get ridiculed or one hell of a motivational speech. "You'd be surprised at how much you have him wrapped around your little finger."
Jaeyun thought about it, an inner debate in session as he weighs the pros and cons of confessing to his best friend.
One side of the list was significantly longer than the other, because not a lot can fully counteract the thought of kissing Sunghoon.
He huffed, partly annoyed at how wise Heeseung was. "Okay, fine."
Jaeyun wasn't expecting Heeseung's balled up fists to shoot up in victory, a winning cheer filling the room. "No offense," He gazed at Jaeyun, shrugging slightly. "I was running out of TedTalks."
Jaeyun was a man on a very important mission.
He took a couple of days to form some sort of plan. Sunghoon's special, he deserves a special confession— It's unbearably cheesy, and Heeseung feigned gagging when Jaeyun said the exact same thing to him, but it was true.
But he came up with a plan, the perfect scenario, and all that's left is for Sunghoon to arrive so he can put his mission in play.
Should be easy, right? Jaeyun's heart thinks otherwise, though; thumping against his chest like a rabbit with an itch, hands absolutely drenched in sweat as he rubs his palms on the sides of his hoodie.
He's just a bit nervous.
Time sneaks up on him, because in what feels like minutes, Sunghoon is approaching the small little park Jaeyun told him to go to, proportions as perfect as ever, wearing an outfit that makes Jaeyun's clothes look like complete trash.
(Jaeyun believes Sunghoon has a better sense of style than Jongseong, and he's completely – 100% – not biased.)
"Riki would've probably been a better call if you wanted to play on the swings." Sunghoon smiles, sliding a hand out of his pocket to wave slightly. "I don't know anyone who plays on swings in the dark, though." He says, slumping down into one of the seats.
Sunghoon looks absolutely breathtaking ; illuminated by the streetlight in front of them, an orange hue shining in his eyes and tracing his jawline. Jaeyun has never wanted to kiss him so badly.
He blames it on the nerves, pushing down the urge to throw himself into his arms, a bubbly chuckle emerging from his chest. "I actually just need to talk to you." He sits on the swing next to Sunghoon, subconsciously rocking back and forth.
Sunghoon doesn't speak, but the silence is enough of an indicator for Jaeyun to keep going. So he does, taking a deep breath. "Remember freshman year? That one party where Heeseung got plastered and we played nurse for him?"
Sunghoon snorts at that, nodding slightly. "When he threw up on my shoes. Yeah, I remember."
"Look," Jaeyun says, fishing through his pocket, pulling out a polaroid and extending out to Sunghoon, violently willing himself to stop shaking. Sunghoon grabs it from him, squinting to see it better in the dark, and erupts into dazzling laughs when he realizes what it is.
"I forgot you took this." It was a photo of Heeseung, drunk out of his mind, passed out with a death grip on one of Jaeyun's plushies. "We held this on him for months."
"What about Jongseong's birthday last year?"
"When we got him a cake with Jongsaeng on it?"
Jaeyun nods fondly, a reminiscent smile playing at his lips as he hands Sunghoon another photo. This time, of the comically ugly cake Jungwon ordered just to mess with Jongseong because everyone loves messing with Jongseong.
The defensive protests, red ears, and deathly stares. All of it.
"This one doesn't have a backstory," Jaeyun blurts after clearing his throat nervously. "Or at least I don't know it– you'll have to ask Riki and Jungwon."
Sunghoon grabs it with curiosity, and Jaeyun's left to wait, silence filling the atmosphere as the crickets begin chirping, literally.
"Jaeyun?" Sunghoon gapes, eyes wide with realization. "Was this a coincidence?"
Jaeyun didn't even have to look to know what he was talking about. Instead, he silently shook his head. "Nope."
Silence dawned on them like a train. Jaeyun gripped on the swing chains with utter anxiety, afraid of anything and everything. He swallowed, but it caught halfway in his throat. He squeezed his eyes shut, waiting for anything to happen.
Sunghoon knew now. He knew Jaeyun's undying adoration for him, all through three – well, more like two – words. On two of the polaroids were two simple letters, 'i' and 'u'. And courtesy of Riki, the last photo was of Jungwon making a finger heart.
"i <3 u"
"Jaeyun," Sunghoon said, voice dripping in adoration. "Has anyone ever told you how cute you are?"
Jaeyun smiled so wide his cheeks hurt, releasing the breath he was holding, heart doubling in size as he replayed those words a dozen times. His head was pounding, overwhelmed in emotional whiplash, but he ignored it while looking over to see Sunghoon watching him, eyes drenched in love. He was wearing his own smile, wide and dimples on full display, along with those fangs Jaeyun can't get enough of.
His urge to kiss him went up tenfold. "I love you."
"I know," Sunghoon said simply, a teasing glint in his eyes. "You're not very discreet."
"I want to kiss you," He blurts without a second thought, heart hammering into his ears.
"I know," Sunghoon says again, smile turning into that of a wily grin. "I do too."
Sunghoon gets up first, stepping over and leaning within inches of Jaeyun's face, hot breath against his nose as he watches him with a doting gaze.
Jaeyun takes it upon himself to close the distance, immediately smiling into the kiss. It's everything he's ever wanted and more— their breaths faltering before relaxing into each other, Sunghoon interlocking his fingers behind Jaeyun's neck as he let out a content sigh that made Jaeyun shudder. They both carried wide grins as they reluctantly pulled away, pressing foreheads against each other because neither of them wants out of the embrace.
"I love you too," Sunghoon finally says in complete satisfaction, leaning all his weight on Jaeyun as he embraces him in a semi awkward hug because Jaeyun's still sitting. "But I don't think I was that secretive either."
Jaeyun wanted to kiss him again.
So he did. And Sunghoon gladly reciprocated it.
Jaeyun's never going to get enough of this. Of him.