Chapter Text
my first love
Hey, Jaeyun. Um, can I ask a favor?
Sure. What’s up?
my first love
Me and Yunho need a place to stay for a couple of days
Is it okay if we stay with you?
________________________________
Jake blinked, staring at her message. He quickly glanced around his apartment realizing he desperately needed to clean. Usually, his apartment wasn’t this messy, but he had been so busy lately, he hadn’t had the chance to. He replied to her text with: “Uh, sure, but don’t come yet. I have to clean. Maybe… in an hour or two?”
He waited for her reply. “Sure~ Sounds good. See you then.”
He threw down his phone on the coffee table and cleaned even faster than he ever had before. After cleaning the living room, he rushed to get the bathroom clean and then his room. While he was gathering up the trash to throw out, the doorbell rang. He flinched at the sound and looked at the time. Two hours really went by that fast.
He put the trash to the side and went to open the door. He was greeted by Yunho rushing in and hugging him.
Jake laughed and patted his head. “Hey, buddy. How are you?”
Yunho grinned up at him. “Good~”
Yunho pushed by him, excitedly running in and tossing off his backpack next to the couch. He had stayed over at Jake’s place before, so this wouldn’t be the first time. But it was the first for her to be here. Jake glanced at her as she stepped inside, dragging along two suitcases. One big one and one small one with a dinosaur on it.
“Thanks for this, by the way,” she said.
Jake reached for the suitcases and took them from her. “No problem. But what happened?”
“My landlord needs to do some repairs in our apartment. We’ll be out of here in no time as long as he doesn’t run into any problems while fixing everything.”
“It’s no problem. Uh, anyway, you two will be taking the room and—”
“What? No. I couldn’t. It’s your room,” she tried to argue.
“It’s fine. It’s only a couple of days right?” Jake smiled at her. “I can tough it out on the couch.”
“A-Are you sure?”
“Yeah. It’s okay.” He carried their suitcases to his room and set them to the side. “You two should be comfortable in here.”
She followed him there, curiously glancing around. “Hm… Not much changed about your room even after you moved out of your parents place, huh?”
Jake chuckled, shaking his head. “Not really. I’m not much of an interior decorator.”
“A plant here and there would be nice,” she said.
“Or dinosaurs!” Yunho ran in, holding his dinosaur plushie in his arms. He jumped on the bed and began to make his plushie roar while stomping around.
She giggled and stepped closer to the bed, putting her hand by his waist. “Careful. Can’t have you falling.”
Yunho grinned and jumped into her arms. “Onward, mommy! It’s time for my show!”
She laughed. “Okay, okay~ But you have to ask daddy if you can watch on the TV. Remember, we’re sleeping over at his place so you have to ask him permission.”
Jake tried not to smile hearing her call him that and cleared his throat. Ultimately, he failed and had to cover his mouth with his hand. She rolled her eyes at him, making him laugh.
“Can I watch on the TV?” Yunho asked, looking at him with widened puppy eyes.
Jake chuckled and pinched his cheek. “Of course. How could I say no to those eyes?”
Yunho grinned. “Thank you~”
She put him down and he ran back out to the living room. They walked to the door frame of the room to watch him. She nudged Jake in the side.
“Calm yourself.”
He chuckled and leaned against the frame to look at her. “I am calm.”
“You know what I mean. I meant it in the sense that you’re his father and that’s what he calls you. Don’t be getting too excited.”
“I can’t help it. It’s a very familiar pet name. I wonder who used to call me that back in the day,” he teased, nudging her.
She laughed and nudged him back. “Only because you asked me to, perv.”
“Mommy! Come watch with me!” Yunho grinned, bouncing on the couch happily while the theme song for the show came on.
“Coming~” She went over and sat with him on the couch.
Jake leaned his head against the frame and watched the two of them. Yunho was happily singing along to the theme song as she clapped along. He’d get to have this time with them for the next couple days. He’d have to make the most of it.
That night, Jake tried to sleep, but the sound of shuffling around woke him. He sat up on the couch and peered over at the kitchen, hearing the refrigerator door close. He got up and went to look to find her sitting at the table, drinking some water. The only light that was on was the flashlight from her phone.
“Oh, I’m sorry. Did I wake you?” she asked, capping the bottle.
“No, it’s okay.” He sat across from her. “Why aren’t you asleep?”
“Yunho kicked me in the boob earlier and woke me up,” she said.
Jake laughed. “I see.”
“And… well, just a lot on my mind.”
“Like what?”
“Nothing.”
“It’s okay. You can tell me. If you need to vent to someone, I’ll listen.”
She smiled. “Thank you, but… I’d rather not push my problems onto you. Most of it’s just adult stress anyway and… stupid boy drama.”
“Boy drama? Thought you didn’t have any other boy than Yunho.”
“I don’t. Well, I suppose other than you now, it’s really only Yunho. It’s just that… there’s this guy—”
“Ignore him.”
She laughed. “I thought you said you’d listen if I needed to vent.”
“I–” Jake cleared his throat. “Uh, continue. Sorry.”
“He’s very sweet and keeps texting me. I think he's hoping I go on a date with him, but I’m still not looking for a relationship as you know so it’s not like I’m looking to date him or anything.” She taps her finger on the table. “Actually, we used to go to school with him.”
“Did we?”
“Yeah, um, Sunghoon. You remember him? You two used to be seatmates.”
Jake nodded slowly. “Yeah, I remember him.”
“We ran into each other at the grocery store about two months ago. He met Yunho that time. They get along well actually.”
“Mm. So then the issue here other than you not looking for anything is…?”
“W-Well, the two of you used to be friends. It just feels so inappropriate…”
Jake shrugged. “We weren't super close or anything.”
“I know, but still.”
“Hey, it’s totally fine if you want to try. We’re twenty-seven now.”
“No, I know. I… I just feel bad. I’ve been rejecting your advances every chance I get and I don’t want you to think—”
Jake chuckled, shaking his head. “No, it’s fine. I'm not going to think anything. Just give it a chance. You never know. Maybe he’s the one for you.”
“Yeah, but—”
Jake reached over and grabbed her hand. “Stop worrying about me and my feelings. I… I’ve made peace with the fact that we might never match up romantically again anytime soon. Don’t let my feelings get in the way of your potential happiness. Besides–” he sat back in the chair and shrugged– “I’m fairly certain Yunho might love the extra attention. He certainly loves it when he goes to see my parents.”
She smiled softly. “Well… I suppose maybe one date wouldn’t hurt. Just to test it out.”
“Of course.”
“Okay… then I’ll tell him I agree to at least one date.” She grabbed her phone from the table. “Uh, thanks. Are… you sure you’re okay with this?”
“Why wouldn’t I be? You deserve to be happy.” Jake smiled and stood up from the chair. “Now, go get some sleep, okay?”
She nodded and stood up. “Okay. You too. Goodnight.”
“Goodnight.”
She headed back to the room while Jake went to sit on the couch. He laid down and pulled his blanket over him, staring at the ceiling. He tried to convince himself that he really was okay with it, when in fact, he really wasn’t.
The next day, Yunho was left home with him and she went off on a date with Sunghoon. Secretly, he had hoped it would go bad and she wouldn’t go on another date with him, but she came back quite happy. Crap
The next night, she went out with him again. Dammit…
And the next night again. Fuuuuuuck, I messed up. I messed up big time
Jake buried his face in his hands and exhaled heavily. Yunho was asleep on his chest while they were waiting for her to come back from her date. He didn’t expect it to have gone so well that they’d end up going on three dates in a row.
He checked the time on his phone to see it was nearing twelve at night. This was the latest she’s been out. Finally, he heard the door beep and she walked in.
“Hey. Sorry I’m late. We lost track of time while talking.” She walked over to take Yunho from him and took him to bed. Jake followed her to the room.
“So, uh, how was it?”
“It was good.” She smiled and grabbed clothes from her suitcase.
“You two going out again tomorrow?”
“No. He says he has to work so we can’t.”
Jake nodded. “Right…”
She glanced at him while removing her jacket. “What?”
“Nothing. Um, goodnight.” He turned and went to the couch. He laid down silently and pulled his blanket over his head. He lay like that for a while, hearing her take a shower. Then he stayed like that even after hearing her walk out of the room.
He assumed she was on her way to the kitchen until he felt a poke to his arm. He pulled the blanket from his face and peeked at her.
She laughed. “Wanna tell me what’s wrong?”
“Nothing’s wrong. I’m good.”
“No, you’re not. I’ve known you forever. I know when you’re upset.” She sat on the couch by his feet. “Come on. Talk to me. Did something happen while I was gone?”
Jake sighed and sat up. “Yeah, you went on a date with someone that wasn’t me three times in a row.”
“You said you were okay with it.”
“Look, I’m so glad you’re happy and I… I want to be okay with it, but I just can’t help it. I’m not the reason you’re coming home with a smile on your face. I’m not the reason you’re dressing up all pretty. I’m not the reason you’re smiling at your phone while replying to a text.” Jake let out a breath and ran his fingers through his hair. “I’m way more jealous than I thought I’d be.”
“Jaeyun…”
He reached for her hands and held onto them tightly. “What does he have that I don’t have?”
She shook her head. “Jaeyun, listen…”
“Then… Then why—”
She laughed and lifted one of her hands to cover his mouth. “Stop. Before you continue, let me talk.”
He nodded and she moved her hand.
“There’s nothing he can give me that you can’t, okay? The only thing he’s done for me these past couple nights is…” She paused for a moment thinking about her words. “Um, give me clarity. I wasn’t sure before, but I certainly am now.”
“Sure about what?”
“My feelings.” She gripped onto his hands tightly and looked him in the eyes. “For you.”
“For me?”
“I’ll be honest, I’ve been on the fence about my feelings for you for a little bit. I thought maybe it was just old, leftover feelings from before that’d go away eventually, but they haven’t. I think I’ve really fallen for who you’ve become after all this time,” she said softly. “Sunghoon definitely made me happy these past nights especially after all that stress, but I found myself looking at him each night and just wishing he was you instead. We decided to just stay as friends and nothing more.”
Jake blinked, staring at her. His heart raced. He had wanted her to say those words for a while. He let out a sigh of relief and nodded. He didn’t know what to say and the only thing that came out of him was a soft, “Okay.”
She smiled, holding his hands. “And you know that one of my deciding factors for even wanting to date again is for Yunho to like him as well. Luckily for me, he loves you and I know he’d be glad if we end up dating again. He’s been trying so hard at being your wingman.”
Jake chuckled, nodding his head. “Quite the successful little wingman, I’ll say. I didn’t even have to tell him to do half the things he’s done for me.”
She giggled softly. “I told you. He’s a natural charmer.”
Jake glanced down at their hands and slowly, he laced their fingers together. “I have a question.”
“Sure. Ask away.”
“Did you and Sunghoon, um, you know… hook up or anything?”
Jake watched as a devious look formed in her eyes and a smirk grew on her lips.
“Why? What are you going to do about it if we did?”
Jake inched closer, one of his hands loving to her waist. “I can do better than he can.”
She giggled softly and moved closer to him as well. “Oh, can you?”
“I can. You’ll forget you even went on those dates with him.”
“That so?” She asked teasingly.
He nodded and pulled her into his lap. He guided her legs to straddle him and hugged her waist. She smiled, her arms wrapping around his neck.
“Wanna forget about him?”
“We can’t… We shouldn’t. Yunho might hear us.”
Jake snickered, gliding his lips across her jawline to her ear. “You were quiet enough back when we made him and my parents were in the next room.”
She let out a laugh and playfully pushed him. He chuckled, laying back on the couch when she did and peered up at her. She smiled, leaning over to lay her head on his chest. Jake wrapped his arms around her and pecked the top of her head. They both ended up falling asleep like that and woke up the next morning to Yunho climbing on top of them.
“How come I wasn’t invited to cuddle?” He whined sleepily. He still struggled to keep his eyes open. His voice even still sounded sleepy.
She grinned and wrapped her arms around their son. “You were sleeping so soundly in bed, we didn’t want to disturb you.”
Jake chuckled, glancing at the clock. It was only six in the morning. He sighed and wrapped his arms tightly around both of them.
“Let’s sleep more, yeah? It’s too early.”
Yunho nodded slowly, his eyes closing. She smiled, giving his forehead a kiss. Jake smiled, looking at the two of them and kept his arms protectively around them. He didn’t ever want to let them go. He closed his eyes, letting out a relieved sigh. He felt a soft poke to his cheek and opened his eyes again.
“Hey,” she whispered. “I have a question.”
“What’s up?”
“Do you want to be my boyfriend?”
Jake smiled. “Hm… well, this isn’t the park and you didn’t skin your knee but…”
She laughed and got up carefully trying not to wake up Yunho. “But?”
Jake looked up at her as she hovered over him and tucked her hair behind her ear to keep it out of their way. “Yes, I want to be your boyfriend.”
She grinned and kissed him softly. Jake felt his heart beat hard in his chest. Suddenly, it felt like how it was back when they were teenagers. It felt exciting and new. She pulled back and laid back down on his chest with Yunho. Jake looked at the two of them again and a wide smile formed on his face. He could get used to this.