Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“Jungwon! Over here!” 

Whipping around, Jungwon sees Sunoo’s waving arm and the rest of his friends sitting around under the oak tree, a different spot from their usual lunch table. Hurrying over, he sits down next to Jake and takes out his sandwich.

Jake, in the middle of conversation, turns around and ruffles his hair. “Jungwonie! We were gonna wait outside your class, but we couldn’t find you.”

“Also, we wanted to take dibs on this spot, so we had to hurry,” Sunghoon adds apologetically.

“It’s okay guys, you didn’t have to wait for me,” Jungwon sighs, “my lecturer let us out late for no reason. He was all like, ‘the bell doesn’t dismiss you, I do’.”

“Ugh, I hate when they do that,” Sunoo says, sipping from his iced tea. “Like, okay sir, we’re not in fifth grade.”

“Maybe he just didn’t want to go home yet,” Heeseung offers.

“Be nice guys, he’s probably desperate for some human interaction,” says Sunghoon.

“Just say you don’t have anyone to eat lunch with, bruh,” Riki remarks.

Laughter ripples through the group. Jungwon was halfway through a bite when Jay, leaning against the tree like he owned it, chimes in.

“Let me guess, he saw your face and thought, ‘yep, this kid needs more work’.”

Jungwon narrows his eyes. “He literally held the whole class back. And besides, I’m actually doing better than you when you took this class last semester.”

Jay grins, unbothered. “Are you? Then why do you look so stressed all the time?”

Jungwon rolls his eyes and continues eating.

Jungwon does not like Jay. He wasn’t sure since when, but, thinking back on it, the ruling had been in his mind for a while . 

First of all, there had been that instance in their Marketing Fundamentals class. Jungwon and Jay had been partnered up for a presentation, and safe to say Jungwon had to pull a lot more than his own weight. While Jay was busy chatting to some girl during their study session, he had to irritably tune out the flirting and force himself to focus on the research. By the time Jay brought his attention back to the task at hand, 2 hours later, mind you, Jungwon had already finished the presentation. 

The worst part is that during the actual class presentation, Jay shined . He spoke so clearly, confidently, and charismatically, that even the teacher was charmed. Now, Jungwon isn’t one to pray on people’s downfalls, he’s always happy for his friends’ successes — but the way Jay just completely stole the spotlight and acted as if Jungwon wasn’t the one who made the whole presentation, just rubbed him the wrong way. 

So that was that. But then, there was also the Game Night Incident, as fearfully referred to by the group. It was a particularly heated round of Uno, and things got especially serious for Jay. Jungwon honestly just found it hilarious. 

“Dude, calm down. It’s just a game," he had said provocatively. Jay then absolutely lost his temper, and things just turned to shit. Needless to say, game night was over, and the mood was ruined. Admittedly, Jungwon was trying to rile Jay up a bit, but his reaction was completely unwarranted. 

And then of course, there was all of this… passive aggressive tension between them. So many ‘wow, I didn’t think you were the type to have fun’ s and ‘oops, I forgot to save you a seat’ s and ‘you’re actually pretty decent at school’ s. (Excuse him, decent?? As if Jungwon doesn’t have straight As in all his classes.) Jay, always taking Jungwon’s drinks, inserting himself into conversations he had no place to be in, digging through Jungwon’s old instagram and using his pictures from 2017 as memes in the group chat, all with a shit-eating grin on his face.

Jungwon does not like Jay. 

When expressing his frustrations to Sunoo, his best friend would just wriggle his eyebrows and smile in that evil kind of way.

“Sunoo, I know what you’re thinking. This isn’t some ‘he pulls on my pigtails because he likes me’ typa shit. That guy is actually the most annoying fucker ever, he’s a douche ‘cus that’s just who he is.”

“Whatever you say, Jungwon. I’m calling it right now though, there’s something else at play here.”

“Now what on earth do you mean by that.”

“Nothing! And don’t act like you don’t pull on his pigtails all the time too. I know you like to rage bait him.”

“Excuse me?” Jungwon denies all allegations.

It also doesn’t help that they have the same friends. That means Jungwon has to see Jay’s stupid face everyday, like today at lunch.

“Alright guys, let’s put the snarky remarks to the side. We need to focus on the main event,” Heeseung exclaims, “the surf trip next week!”

Everyone cheers. The surf trip was their plan to start off the summer holidays in a fun and productive way, aimed for “group bonding” or whatever Jake said. Jungwon is just glad to be able to have fun with his friends and get in some physical activity. 

“Alright, like I mentioned, the Airbnb is all set,” Heeseung says, “the location is right by the beach so it’ll be really convenient to swim, surf, play volleyball and stuff. It’s a secluded beach so there shouldn’t be too many people.”

Riki starts a round of applause. Jungwon laughs at his silliness and joins in.

“Right now, we gotta sort out the driver and the room arrangements,” Heeseung continues. 

“I think Jay should drive, since we’re taking his car anyways,” Sunoo says.

“That’s fine by me,” Jay shrugs, “and besides, I don’t trust any of you with my car.”

Jungwon internally rolls his eyes again. “Jay, it’s just driving. It ain’t that hard.”

“Excuse you, I don’t see your license anywhere? And also my BMW is expensive as fuck, okay?”

“Yada yada yada-”

“Alright, stop it, you two,” Jake steps in, “wait Heeseung, what are the room arrangements?”

Heeseung pulls out his phone to check the Airbnb listing. “So, we have four double rooms. Three of them have two single beds and one has a queen sized bed.” He looks up from his phone. “It’s actually pretty perfect for our group since we have seven people. One person gets to have the room to themselves though.”

Everyone looks at each other warily. Then a flurry of voices-

“I want the room!”

“No, I want it!”

“Nonono you had the single last time-”

“Stop talking, Jesus Christ," Jay shouts, “I think I should have the room, guys, considering I’m the one driving for 9 hours.”

“Dude, you literally volunteered,” Sunghoon grumbles.

“I also rented us a jetski at the beach. I will revoke that if you don’t give me the room.”

At that, everyone agreed that Jay will have the queen sized bed.

“Ugh, capitalism. The winner is always the one with money,” Jungwon complains.

“That’s life, sweetheart,” Jay replies, satisfied about his own room arrangement.

Jungwon wants to punch him in the face.

In the end, they decided that Riki would room with Heeseung, Jungwon with Sunoo, and Jake with Sunghoon. Then, they had to disperse, because Heeseung and Sunghoon had a class, Jay wanted to take a nap, and everyone else wanted to go home.

--------

let’s all pray for sun goon

10:17 PM

[little rascal left the chat]

jakeyjakey
RIKI YOU CAN’T JUST LEAVE LIKE THAT

[jakeyjakey added little rascal to the chat]

little rascal
bruh

sunooooo<3
lock innnn yall the trip is tmr
is everyone done packing

j
yup

hoonballs
nope

little rascal
nah

sunooooo<3
are you fucking joking me rn

[jakeyjakey changed the chat name to whos ready for sum sandy cheeks 🤗]

heeseungie
sandy cheeks is crazy

jakeyjakey
guysss omg
IM SO EXCITED
I THINK THERES A FISHING SPOT THERE TOO
SUNGHOON BRING YOUR ROD

hoonballs
i dont have one ??

jakeyjakey
right ill bring an extra one for u

guys who’s bringing the speaker
i can’t find mines

little rascal
i have one but it ran out of battery

sunooooo<3
then charge it dumbass

[little rascal reacted with thumbs down]

j
everyone please take a shit at home before tmr
let’s not stink up the bathroom idk how many there are gonna be
heeseung im talking to you

heeseungie
dw jay im on the toilet right this second

jakeyjakey
alright bro 🙏

hoonballs
wait do we have enough snacks

sunooooo<3
wonie’s bringing them
hes labelling them rn or something
he’s using highlighters

j
ofc he is

wtf is that supposed to mean
god forbid i be organised

sunooooo<3
our dorm is a mess

hoonballs
ours too

[hoonballs sent a photo]

sunooooo<3
why is jay on the floor

heeseungie
yo are we leaving tmr at 9 or 10

9 i think bc then we arrive at 6pm
that means everyone has to be there and ready to go at 8:55
got it?

[jakeyjakey, sunooooo<3, and 1 more reacted with thumbs up]

little rascal
ughhh too early

hoonballs
can’t wait to die in that car
first from the heat then from jay’s music taste

j
hah
u will all thank me when i blast the beach playlist
im curating a vibe

just don’t play that one playlist with all the songs that have moaning in them

j
ok so js say u hate me

i hate you

jakeyjakey
why are we letting jay have the aux again??

j
bc it’s my car

jakeyjakey
dammit

i told you, capitalism

--------

whos ready for sum sandy cheeks 🤗

9:07 AM

sunooooo<3
RIKI WHERE THE FUCK ARE YOU

--------

When they arrive at the Airbnb, it's already half past 7, thanks to Riki’s late appearance and Sunghoon’s need to pee every 5 minutes, causing Jay to stop the car frequently. They also took way too long at each gas station.

Nevertheless, they’re here now. As everyone steps into the 4 bedroom villa with their suitcases, gasps and cheers rumble through the group.

“How did we even afford this?” Riki asks.

“It was actually surprisingly not that expensive, I don’t know,” Heeseung shrugs.

“WOAHHH, look at this yo!” Bouncing around the house, they discover the minibar, the jacuzzi, and even a small home gym in the basement. 

“This is nice as hell,” says Sunoo, “good job finding this place, Heeseung!”

“Damn I’m good.” Heeseung says as he collapses onto the sofa.

“As much as I would love to rest now,” Jay stretches his arms and yawns, “I’m so hungry I could eat a horse." Jungwon’s stomach rumbles loudly. Riki guffaws, and they all decide to get dinner at the night market nearby.

The market is lively and loud, with stalls upon stalls of food. The large crowds make it hard to stick together, so eventually everyone takes off in their own direction. Jungwon wanders around for a while, looking at the large signs above each vendor. He finds one that had a picture of some delicious flame roasted pork skewers, so he hurriedly makes his way through the crowd to the stall…only to find Jay , of all people, already there first. 

“The fuck are you doing here?” 

“What do you mean the fuck am I doing here, I was literally here first.”

Jungwon sighs dejectedly. Of course, it’s not like he’s surprised, they literally came here together. It’s just that he was hoping to avoid seeing Jay’s face for the night since the group is split up.

“Whatever,” he says, turning to the vendor, “Hello sir, could I please get a skewer?”

“Sorry son,” the vendor says apologetically, “we ran out. That boy took the last one.”

Right. Just his luck.

Jungwon turns to Jay angrily. He was about to say some sort of curse, maybe a middle finger, but Jay is already slipping away back into the crowd.

“Hah! Bye bye Jungwon! See you later!”

“I hope you choke on it!” he calls out, enraged, but Jay was probably already long gone. Jungwon groans frustratedly.

whos ready for sum sandy cheeks 🤗

8:42 PM

jakeyjakey
where are yall
let’s meet in front of the big tree

hoonballs
i think im lost

j
ur right in front of me idiot

When they regroup, everyone has bags and plates of food stacked on their arms. “Damn, we bought a lot,” Heeseung says as they walk back towards their house.

“Jay, why’d you buy all these vegetables,” Riki says with disgust, looking at Jay’s bags, “ain’t no one’s gonna eat those. I thought we were just buying extra food for the house.”

“I bought them so I could cook some stuff for us. We can’t just eat out every day, you know.”

“Why not?” Riki asks, exasperated.

“Uh, because it’s expensive?” Jay replies as if it was obvious. “You're literally rich,” Riki mumbles to himself.

“And don’t say we could just get fast food, I’m not gonna let you eat McDonald’s everyday.”

“What, Jay, I didn’t know you could cook.” Sunoo says as he munches on a potato skewer.

“Don’t let him cook,” says Jungwon, “I highly doubt his abilities.”

Sunghoon pipes in, “Wait, no, you have to try his curry. It’s actually pretty good.”

Jay has a satisfied smile on his face. “See Jungwon, don’t judge a book by its cover. You’ll see.”

He then quickens his pace to catch up with Jake and Heeseung, who are a little ahead. Sunghoon and Riki start a game where they try to kick behind each other’s knees to get the other to fall. Sunoo and Jungwon stride slowly behind, enjoying the beachy breeze. 

Sunoo looks at his food selection, and as if he just remembered something, says, “Oh yeah, Jungwon, Jay told me to give you this.” He hands Jungwon the flame roasted pork skewer that they had fought over back at the market, and he takes it with surprise.

“Why didn’t he just give this to me before? We were literally right there.”

“I don’t know,” Sunoo shrugs as he continues eating, “probably ‘cuz you hate him. Maybe he was hesitant to be nice.”

“I don’t hate him.” Sunoo gives him a look. “Okay, maybe I do a little, but it’s not that deep, you know. He could’ve just given it to me.”

“Why do you hate him, anyway?”

“I don’t actually hate him. He’s just annoying as fuck.” 

“Aside from the Game Night Incident, and the thing from your guys' Marketing class, what else happened?”

Jungwon purses his lips as he thinks about it. “I don’t know,” he sighs, “it’s not really one thing. It’s more like a collection of the many different small things he does. I just feel like he’s always out to get me, in some way. You know what I mean?”

“Interesting.” Sunoo sips on his limeade.

“Yea, so then, I act hostile back to him. I don’t know.” He says again, and takes a bite of the pork skewer. His eyes widen in amazement, it was delicious. 

--------

Everyone was drained when they finally make it back to the house.

“Heeseung, I’m gonna shower first okay?” Riki exclaims as he hurries into the bathroom. Everyone goes into their respective rooms to wind down for the night. 

Sunoo and Jungwon begin to unpack in their own room. It’s a cute little room, with two twin beds pushed up on opposite sides of the wall, a TV, and a big window with a great ocean view. The walls are a pretty seafoam colour, with black spots in the corners… wait, what are those black spots?

“Uh, Sunoo, is that mold?”

“Where?” Sunoo turns around, and immediately shrieks. “Ew! Ew! Why is it so hairy?” He runs into the hallway. The commotion brings the others into their room, and sure enough, Jake confirms their suspicions.

“Yeah, this is mold alright.” A quick Google reverse image search tells them it’s called Cladosporium.

“I guess we know now why this Airbnb was so cheap,” Heeseung shakes his head with a sigh, “that’s such a cheat though, they should’ve told us it had mold!”

Jake, being the voice of reason, checks the other rooms to see if they also had mold. Fortunately, he didn’t find any, and that leaves only Sunoo and Jungwon’s room as infected.

Jay looks up from his phone. “I searched up Cladosporium, and apparently it can cause skin rashes and respiratory irritation. I don’t think you guys can stay here.”

Sunoo and Jungwon look at each other in desperation. “Then where are we gonna sleep?”

“There’s the couch,” Sunghoon suggests, “but it’s only big enough for one person. I guess the other has to share the room with Jay.”

At this, Jay, Jungwon, and Sunoo all groan. This has completely thrown a wrench in their already perfect sleeping arrangements. 

“I’ll take the couch.” Jungwon says quickly and starts to grab his suitcase.

“Oh no no buddy, we’re doing this fairly! Rock paper scissors.”

“Why are y’all fighting for the couch?” Jay says, slightly offended. “The bed is so much comfier, and I’m a great roommate.”

“Sure buddy.” Jungwon says. They rock paper scissors, and to Jungwon’s dismay, he loses. Sunoo laughs victoriously, and Jungwon wants to slap his smug face. However, as a last ditch attempt, he looks at Sunoo pleadingly while the others aren’t looking, utilising the power of his cute eyes. Sunoo just cackles in his face. “Dude, I know you don’t like him, but I am not sharing a bed with someone else. I’ll take the couch any day.”

“So that means I have to room with him?” Jungwon says dispiritedly.

“Yup.” 

6 days in proximity with Jay Park. He can do it. Or can he?

“Are you fucking serious serious right now,” Jungwon mutters to himself as he starts to move his luggage.

Chapter Text

The lights are off now in their room, save for the bedside lamps. Jungwon, freshly showered, sits on the edge of the bed. Why does it look so small? He could’ve sworn a queen bed is usually bigger than this. Well, at least he has his own blanket, one he found by digging through a storage closet. He’s not sure if it’s clean – it might be infected by bed bugs for all he cares – but anything is better than sharing a blanket with Jay.

“Did you find one?” 

“Yeah, there was one in Heeseung’s closet.” Jungwon turns around to see Jay step out of the bathroom, a towel slung around his shoulders, patting at his damp hair. It takes him a second to register that the man was shirtless . His eyes reflexively travel downwards, taking in the expanse of tan skin, extremely sturdy looking pecs, and weirdly toned abs.

“Um… my eyes are up here, Jungwon.” Jay’s words snap him back to reality, but before he could say anything, the other sniggers, “What? Like what you see?”

“Shut the fuck up, Park. Don’t make me punch you in the face,” Jungwon groans as he covers his eyes, “also, put on a shirt, Jesus!” 

“Chill, why are you so shy?” Jay says casually, grabbing a T-shirt from his suitcase, “for your information, I do sleep shirtless, but I’ll put one on today just for you,” he says with a wink. Gross. “Though, I don’t really understand why, since we’ll all be swimming tomorrow anyway.”

“Whatever,” Jungwon mumbles, finishing up his arrangement of pillows. There are now two big pillows lined up in the middle of bed, creating a wall between the two sides. 

“Wow, you really don’t wanna touch me, huh.” Jungwon responds by sticking his tongue out. Jay continues, “By the way, I’m taking the right side.” 

“What? No. I’m literally already sitting right here.”

“It’s closer to the AC,” Jay points to the aircon, “and I’m taller, so I get hotter.”

“What kind of logic is that?” Jungwon asks scornfully. “And you’re only like, 5cm taller than me, so. Don’t flatter yourself.”

“Still taller.” Jay replies indifferently, already moving to the right side of the bed, where Jungwon is already sitting.

“Um, absolutely not, mister.” Jungwon pushes Jay over the pillow barrier to the other side. 

“Ow!” Jay feigns an injury on his shoulder where Jungwon touched him. “Ugh, whatever. Fine.” He settles on the left side of the bed and slips under the covers.

“Just stay on your side and we’ll be good, got it?”

“Aye aye captain.” Jay says, rolling his eyes, but there was a tone of amusement in his voice. 

“Okay, good.” Awkwardly, Jungwon settles into his own side. “I’m turning off the lights,” he announces stiffly. “Alright,” replies Jay. 

They both face outwards, the atmosphere too silent and slightly suffocating. Jungwon is hyperaware of Jay’s every movement, each time he shifts or stretches, each breath he takes. It’s weird. And awkward. 

But, it’s been a long day, and they have lots of activities to look forward to tomorrow. Jungwon heaves a long sigh, and they both drift to sleep some time in the night.

--------

Beep-beep! Beep-beep! Beep-beep!

What is that sound..?

Jungwon groggily wakes up to the alarm, which is weird because he doesn’t remember setting one. Which means it must be Jay’s.

“Turn off your fucking alarm,” Jungwon grouches and sits up, rubbing his eyes. Jay only replies with a grunt. Looking at the scene in front of him, the pillow barrier he set yesterday had been long messed up — with one on the floor, and one tucked between Jay’s legs. The man in question was sprawled diagonally on his front, taking up more than half of the bed. Jungwon would be annoyed, but Jay’s face distracts him. His eyes are half open, and he does not look attractive right now. Jungwon snorts at the sight and reaches for his phone to take a picture, pleased about the future blackmail material.

The door suddenly flings open and Riki barges in. “Wake up, guys! We’re meeting our surf instructor at 9, and we only have him ‘til 11.” 

At this, Jay finally reaches to turn off his alarm and drowsily sits up. “What time is it now?” Jungwon checks his phone. “It’s 8:32.”

Riki turns on his heel and walks back out the door, probably to wake up the other boys. “Hurry up!”

With the current time pressure, they regroup in the living room, get dressed quickly and have a bite of breakfast from the food they bought last night. The boys head out of the house and to the little hut by the beach where they can rent out surfboards and other watersports equipment. Once everyone has had their own board, per consultation of the hut employee, they rush to the coastline just in time for their appointment to meet the instructor.

“Hey guys! My name is Taehyun,” the instructor says cheerily, reaching out to shake each person’s hand, and getting everyone’s names in return. He continues, “I’ll basically be giving you a quick crash course on how to surf today! Since we only have 2 hours, I’ll just show you guys the basics, and then you can have fun from there.”

Everyone eagerly enters the water on their boards. Riki, over enthusiastic, swims out a bit further first, Taehyun having to call him back in. 

“Why’s he so excited?” Sunoo jests.

“He’s been worked up about it all night yesterday,” Heeseung chuckles, “he kept telling me to sleep early so we’d have enough energy for today.”

“Aww, that’s cute though.” Jake coos, and Riki gags. He goes back to being pumped, though, because it was finally time to start.

Taehyun teaches them how to paddle, read the waves, pop-up from a lying position to a standing position, and ride the surfboard. None of them had actually surfed before, but they all catch on to the techniques reasonably quickly — all except for Jungwon. 

Jungwon would consider himself a pretty athletic person. He used to do taekwondo after all, and he’s generally pretty good at sports. But for some reason, Jungwon just doesn’t get surfing at all. He can’t seem to catch a wave, or be able to stay balanced on the board for more than 2 seconds. Even Sunoo and Sunghoon seemed to be doing alright. He has to admit, having Taehyun around him the whole time to help was a little embarrassing, so he asks the instructor to go assist Jake for a bit while he rests.

Some of the others notice his frustrations and try to help. “Just do this-” Riki says unhelpfully, standing straight up on his board, doing something with his legs, “and like this-”

“I can’t do it!” Jungwon sighs, “I keep losing my balance.”

“Don’t worry Jungwon, you’ll get the hang of it.” Heeseung pats his back sympathetically before making his way towards the next wave.

To make matters worse, Jay seems to be especially good at surfing. There he goes, annoying as always, paddling around, doing flips and tricks with Riki, flaunting his arms and his abs… riding the waves like it’s the easiest thing in the world. Swimming past Jungwon, who has just fallen off his board for what felt like the hundredth time today, he just laughs in that stupid way. “You look like a little wet kitten.” His hair wet and messy, water dripping down his chest, grin wide… were his teeth always that white? Momentarily, Jungwon almost forgets to respond. Almost.

“Don’t you dare call me a kitten,” he snaps back to presence and says with a scowl as he tries to get back on his board. Exhausted and overwhelmed with the constant crashing of waves, he eventually gives up and just lays floating atop the water. To his surprise, Jay paddles over to extend a hand.

Jungwon hesitates, then grabs it. He’s pulled onto his own board, and their hands stay clasped for a second too long before he awkwardly lets go. “You okay?” Jay asks.

“Yeah,” he replies, “…thanks.”

“Careful. Try not to drink the whole ocean before you catch a wave.” Jay smirks as the waters rock both their boards back and forth. Jungwon splashes the other in the face. “I’ve already been doing that, genius,” he replies, exasperated, but the corners of his mouth twitches up.

“Alright, Jungwon, ready to try again?” Taehyun returns, as cheery as ever. They resume the surf tutoring session, but Jay doesn’t go back to do his own surfing with the others. Instead, he remains close, observing Jungwon’s nonexistent skills while laughing at his fruitless attempts at riding the waves.

“Why are you even here?” Jungwon snaps, “Just to laugh at me? Go back to doing your flips!”

“Watching you try to surf is actually the best entertainment,” Jay wheezes. 

“Ugh, I hate you,” Jungwon mutters.

“Okay, Jungwon, we’re gonna try something different,” Taehyun says, slipping off his board, “I’m gonna join you on your board, so I can show you how we catch an incoming wave.” He jumps on, swinging his feet on either side of the board to sit directly behind Jungwon. With a steadying hand on his back, they start paddling towards a small wave that’s starting to form. Jay, notably, stops laughing, and Jungwon can feel his eyes on the back of his neck.

As they start to catch the wave, Taehyun slides off the board but keeps his hand on Jungwon’s back as he gives him more push and momentum. “Up, up!” He says encouragingly. 

Jungwon falteringly stands up, using all of his brainpower to apply all the skills and tips Taehyun has taught him in the past 2 hours. To his astonishment, he doesn’t fall, and as the wave breaks, he smoothly rides it out on his board. 

“Woah! I did it! I did it!” Jungwon exclaims, ecstatic, as he jumps into the water victoriously. “Taehyun! Did you see that?” Jungwon giggles as Taehyun makes his way towards him. 

“Yes, Jungwon! I knew you could do it.” The instructor says, giving him a delighted hug. As he pulls back, he pushes a strand of Jungwon’s hair out of his face, a fond smile on his lips. 

“Yes, yes, Jungwon, good job!” Jay paddles over, huffing. “Glad you were able to do it at least once. Here I was, thinking you weren’t gonna surf on this surf trip.” 

“Wow, thanks for having faith in me.” Jungwon smiles sardonically.

Taehyun speaks up, “Actually, you did pretty well, Jungwon-” 

“Nahh, he didn’t,” Jay interrupts, “but it’s okay, we all gotta be bad at something.”

“Don’t listen to him,” Taehyun replies, turning back to Jungwon. “You have potential, you just need some practice.”

Jungwon gloats at Jay, “See? At least someone appreciates my efforts.”

Jay’s jaw flexes for half a second before he grits, “Yeah, well, that’s… nice. You get a participation trophy, Jungwon.”

Jungwon blinks, then shakes his head, laughing. “Right. You’d know all about those, don’t you, Jay?”

The other scowls. “Taehyun, isn’t it 11 already? Don’t you have to go?” 

Taehyun looks down at his watch. “Oh shit, yeah. Thanks for reminding me.” He calls out to the other boys to announce his departure and say goodbye. 

“Nice to meet you guys! Have a fun time surfing!” He looks at Jungwon and smiles, rubbing his arm affectionately. "And you, Jungwon, just keep practicing! You got it. If you ever need any help, just text me." At that, he starts to swim towards the shore. Jay scoffs.

“Byeee Taehyun, we love you!” Jake calls out.

“Thanks for everything!” Riki shouts, as Taehyun’s retreating figure waves back.

“Thank god he’s gone,” Jay mutters, rolling his eyes.

Jungwon, as the only one who heard him, whips around, surprised and a little annoyed. “Jay, what the heck?”

“I just don’t like him,” the other shrugs.

“Bro, what’s your problem? Taehyun is literally the nicest person ever, and he was super helpful too.”

“Nah, he was weird. I could feel it.”

“You’re the weird one,” Jungwon says dismissively as he paddles further into the ocean, “I don’t know what you have against him, but don’t infect me with your negative energy,” he sighs. “Also, what am I gonna do without Taehyun? I could barely surf before even with him here.”

Jay follows him on his board. “You can catch the wave without him, just do what you did before.” 

Jungwon cocks an eyebrow. “Weren’t you the one that kept saying I was bad?” 

“Yeah, cuz you are,” Jay grins, “but you don’t need him. And anyway, he wasn’t even that good. I’m miles better.”

“You literally just started surfing for the first time 3 hours ago.”

“Exactly.” At that, Jay takes off on his board, gaining momentum with an incoming big wave, and smoothly cruises the water. Instead of continuing straight to Sunghoon and the other guys, he turns the surfboard back to where Jungwon is, gloating. “See? It’s not that hard.”

Jungwon pulls on Jay’s board, making the other fall into the water with a splash. Delighted, he snorts, before Jay reaches out and pulls him in as well. They slap each other in the face with water as they try to stay afloat, and fail because of the way they’re both laughing.

Jungwon eventually pushes Jay underwater and scrambles onto his board while the other is submerged. Jay resurfaces, hair plastered to his forehead. “Wow. Real mature, Jungwon.” He flips his hair back and holds onto his board, meeting his eyes, resting his chin on top of crossed arms. Arms that were surprisingly toned. When did he start working out? 

Riki paddles over, interrupting Jungwon’s train of thought. “Uh… guys, Heeseung just said that we’re getting out soon for some refreshments, so if you wanna join us you should finish up soon.” He looks back and forth between the two. “Oookay, I’ll go now.”

“No no no, Riki, stay, and watch Jungwon surf for the last time,” Jay says before the other could swim away.

“It’s okay, I know he sucks already, you don’t need to embarrass him.” 

“Wow,” Jungwon says.

“No, I’m serious,” Jay responds, “he can do it now. Right Jungwon?”

He glares at Jay, “Why are you trying to set me up? You know I’ve only been able to do it once, and that was with Taehyun’s help.”

“Exactly, you did it once, so you can do it again,” Jay says, pushing Jungwon towards the next wave, “like I said, you don’t need him. Just open your eyes.”

“What?” Jungwon asks incredulously.

“You close your eyes when you’re scared, so you don’t see your surroundings and then end up losing your balance. Just keep your eyes open,” he says with surprising genuinity, “you can do it!”

Jungwon has no time to think, because the next wave is already upon him. He paddles with all his might, trying to do the same thing he did before, trying to keep his eyes wide open. He wobbles a bit, but he’s floating, he’s gliding, and then the wave breaks, and… he did it?

“Oh my god,” he gasps, “I did it, all by myself!”

Riki, having witnessed the whole thing, claps gleefully. “Niceee, Jungwon! You the man!!”

“Damnnn, good job Wonie!” The others, who had also seen the amazing feat, cheer proudly. “Woohoo!” Jake pumps his fist into the air, laughing. The group surrounds Jungwon, patting him on the back. 

“See, I knew you could do it,” Jay says, a huge smile plastered on his face.

Jungwon finds himself smiling back. “...Thanks.”

The boys slowly float back to shore. They find a stall on the beach that sells some overpriced coconuts, so they rock paper scissors to have one person pay for all of them. Jay loses, unsurprisingly — he always has the worst luck — so while he reluctantly pays the vendor, everyone takes a coconut from the stand.

“Oooh, sugar daddy Jay!” Sunghoon laughs as he sips on his coconut juice. “I’ll pay you back with something else tonight,” he adds with an exaggerated wink.

Jay snorts, “I don’t think my roommate would like that.” He elbows Jungwon’s coconut, spilling juice down his swimsuit top.

“Asshole!” Jungwon takes a handful of sand and throws it at Jay. “Please swap places with me, Sunghoon, any time at all,” he pleads, “then you can crack that shit every night.”

“I don’t like how that implies I’m the bottom,” Jay says, looking at Jungwon. “For your information, I would definitely top.” He takes a sip from the straw. Jungwon chokes on his juice.

“For whose information?” Sunghoon snickers quietly.

“Thanks for telling us, Jay,” Heeseung shakes his head, amused, as they settle down in a shady area under a palm tree.

“No no no, this is a PSA to everyone,” Jay continues, “I ain’t a bottom, guys. I’m alpha all the way.”

There was a beat of silence, then everyone burst out laughing. “It’s so funny how defensive he is about this,” Sunoo says, wiping his eyes.

“There’s actually no way you just said that out loud,” Jungwon said, aghast.

“Someone write this down!” Riki laughs while sprawled on the sand. “Put it in the group's famous quotes hall of fame.”

“This is crazy,” said Sunghoon between hiccups.

Jake calms down from laughing, and asks seriously, “Okay, but, in the omegaverse, who out of us would be what?”

“Jake and I are omegas, Jungwon, Heeseung, and Jay are betas, Sunghoon and Riki are alphas,” Sunoo replies.

“Damn, you really thought about this,” Heeseung says, surprised, “but I have to say, I don’t agree.”

“No yeah,” Jake pipes in, “why the fuck am I an omega? I’m a beta at least.”

“Not gonna lie, Jungwonie gives omega vibes,” Sunghoon says.

“Um, I take offense to that,” Jungwon replies.

“You’re too cute to be a beta.”

“Wow, okay, I didn’t realise it was like that,” he says sarcastically.

“Sunoo, your list sucks,” says Jay, “Riki is not an alpha, first of all-”

“Jay, shush,” Riki butts in, “get your beta ass outta here.”

They go on for a while, arguing about whether Jake is a beta or omega, and who is more alpha, Riki or Jay. Jungwon laughs harder than he’s ever laughed in his life. Somewhere during the chaos, Jay suddenly leans close to him, their knees brushing. 

“You know it’s me, right?” Jay whispers, a smirk tugging at his lips. 

Jungwon’s mind lags, startled by the audacity and proximity, and then he scoffs. “Alright, the way you’re this desperate to prove it tells me otherwise, Mister Alpha ,” he mutters quietly, but with their closeness Jay can hear him over the group chatter in the background.

“You’ll come around eventually,” Jay replies nonchalantly, “and, sweetie, I haven't proved anything yet. That comes after.” 

Jungwon is appalled. “Never speak again,” he deadpans. Jay only sits back casually, brushing sand from his leg, fingers ghosting over Jungwon’s knee before he grabs his drink and turns back to the group. 

Jungwon also joins back into the group discussion, which is now on the topic of Heeseung’s relationship status, but the earlier conversation still rings in his head. What in the world did Jay even mean by that?

Chapter Text

After lunch, the boys decide to go back to the beach for some friendly competitive volleyball. Luckily the net is free, and they borrow a ball from Kai the hut worker. Sand hot underfoot, the group quickly splits into two teams – Heeseung, Jay, and Sunghoon, against Jungwon, Jake, Riki, and Sunoo.

“You’re going down!” Jake shouts as he serves first.

The game is messy and loud. Heeseung all-out dives at every ball, Riki and Jake’s sets aren’t coordinated, and Sunoo’s laughing causes him to miss too many passes. Sunghoon is clueless the whole time, God knows why. “Wait, what’s the score?” He keeps on asking.

However, the most competitive were, to no one’s surprise, Jungwon and Jay. It starts off when Jungwon accidentally spikes too hard, hitting the latter square in the chest – causing Jay to fall to the sand clutching his chest dramatically. 

“Owww! Attempted murder! You all saw that, right?”

“Chill, I didn’t realise you were so fragile ,” Jungwon replies with a challenging smirk. This only continues to fuel their rivalrous spirits, raising the stakes of the game. Jay’s team ends up winning, thanks to their good teamwork and Heeseung’s unsurprising proficiency in volleyball.

“This is unfair,” Riki whines, “Heeseung’s too good. We need to change up the teams for the second match.”

So they mix it up via a game of rock paper scissors, with Jake, Sunghoon, Sunoo, and Heeseung in one team, which leaves Riki with… Jungwon and Jay. 

“Are you serious right now?” The boy exclaims, incredulous. “Not only is Heeseung on the team with 4 people, but I also have to go with them ?”

“Riki, I’m with you there,” Jay grumbles, “I wouldn’t wanna be in the same team as Jungwon either.”

“Bold, coming from someone who only won ‘cuz Heeseung carried your ass,” Jungwon huffs, “and Riki meant he didn’t want to team with you , not me.”

“I meant the both of you!” Riki shouts. He turns to the others, exasperated. “Do you see what I have to deal with? How is this fair?” The other team only laughs in the face of their collective misery, and despite all three of their protests the game starts.

To Riki, it is the most pathetic match of volleyball he has ever played. Not because the other team is that good or whatever, but because his own team is hopeless . Skills-wise, it was pretty balanced, but teamwork-wise it was a different story. Jay and Jungwon were competitive even while being on the same team; they were too focused on trying to one-up each other rather than actually playing the game properly. Always going for the same balls, pushing each other, too busy bickering to notice that the game has started. Riki shakes his head, giving up.

Jungwon, on the other hand, is secretly having the time of his life. Sure, they’re losing terribly, but there’s something weirdly so fun about arguing with Jay. They shout and shove at each other, and Jungwon laughs every time Jay falls over or can’t think of a sarcastic comeback for one of his remarks. 

He ignores the instance where they both dive for the same ball, nearly collide, and end up half-tangled in the sand. He ignores how for a second they just stay there, abnormally close to each others’ faces, breathing heavily, then immediately shoving each other away as they scramble to stand up.

After the pitiful volleyball match, the group decide to call it a day.

--------

“What, he’s actually doing it?” Sunoo asks, sucking on a popsicle. They’re all back at the house now, taking turns showering, while Jay gets started on making dinner. 

“Jay, what are you making?” Heeseung asks. 

“Curry,” he replies from the kitchen. 

“Is that all you know how to make?” says Sunghoon teasingly. Jay rolls his eyes. 

“No? I’m just making it cuz it’s the one thing we all like.”

“Bro, I don’t even like curry, what are you saying,” Heeseung laughs.

“Me neither,” Sunghoon pipes up.

“Um, yeah,” Sunoo says, “the only person who likes it is Jungwonie.”

“Whatever. You’ll eat what I make.” Jay says as he puts the carrots into the soup. Meanwhile, Jungwon emerges from the bathroom after his shower and signals for Heeseung to take his place.

“What were you guys talking about?” Jungwon asks as he dries his hair with a towel.

“Nothing, just that Jay’s making curry for dinner, even though no one likes it.” Sunoo replies.

“Curry? I like curry.”

“Oh, we know.” Sunghoon says with a grin.

Jungwon hums, not paying attention to Sunoo and Sunghoon’s hushed conversation, his eyes mindlessly wandering to the kitchen. He takes in Jay’s figure, hunched over the counter, the way his hair falls over his eyes, the furrow of his brows and the pout on his lips as he concentrates. He notices the way Jay moves around, so deliberate and in control, so confident and capable — the way he’s almost… hot?

Shaking his head, Jungwon snaps himself out of it. There’s simply no way he almost found Jay Park attractive. Nope, not happening. 

Yet, despite being repulsed by his own thoughts, Jungwon can’t help but sneak glances at the other man. There’s nothing to it at all, he’s just, you know, observing. As everyone else starts to finish up showering, they gather and chat in the living room. Just in time, Jay also adds the finishing touches to the curry, plating everything with meticulous care. He calls them to eat, and Jungwon chuckles as he’s reminded of a father calling his children to eat dinner. Then he’s startled because he imagines Jay as a father, and finds himself thinking, he would be a good dad. Wait, what? What is going on with him today?

“Woah, this smells great!” Heeseung exclaims, bringing Jungwon back to reality.

“Yesss, thank you Jay~” Riki says, already digging in. Jay hums in response, visibly pleased.

As everyone starts eating, gasps and exclamations were heard around the table, as well as plenty of satisfied moans and compliments to the chef.

Jungwon tentatively takes a bite and his eyebrows shoot up in surprise. He loves curry, but this one was especially good – it’s slightly spicy, perfectly seasoned, and thick like curry should be, not watery like he expected. 

“Jayyy, that’s my boy!” Jake says, shaking his fist and pointing proudly.

“Okay, Jay, I never should’ve doubted you!” Sunoo giggles as he takes another bite.

The man in question rubs the back of his head and laughs loudly. “I told you guys!” He leans back in his seat with a self-assured expression, glancing over at Jungwon, who hasn’t said anything since they started eating. 

“So? Is it good?”

Jungwon holds back a smile as he pretends to think about it. “Alright, maybe you are good at something other than being annoying.”

“Wow! Jungwon complimenting me! Someone play the fanfare!”

They laugh, and Sunghoon slaps Jay on the back. The night goes on, and as the group joke and giggle and joke some more, Jungwon can’t help but feel such a pure sense of happiness.

--------

The next day, Jungwon wakes up to the feeling of an arm draped around his waist. As he gains consciousness, and starts to remember where he is and who he’s with, he freezes. 

Jay ?? Just to confirm, as if there isn’t only one answer, Jungwon cranes his neck around to see that, yes indeed, it is Jay Park, his roommate, still asleep, who is currently spooning with him . Jungwon is horrified.

He racks his brain trying to remember the previous night. Nothing different really happened, Jungwon recalls, just that they were bickering over the sleeping arrangement again. He had told Jay to keep to his own side, as the pillow wall strategy clearly didn’t work, and Jay had fired back saying that he was “the one who took up too much space.” Well, who’s taking up too much space now?!

Just then, Jay groans and tightens his grip on his waist. Jungwon immediately wakes up fully now, flings the other’s arm off of himself, and springs out of bed so quickly that it makes him dizzy. 

“Park! The fuck? Why were you cuddling me to sleep?”

“Ugh… what?” Jay replies, still half asleep. “No? I didn’t cuddle you to sleep .” 

“Then why were we in this position?”

Jay yawns and rubs his face wearily. “I dunno, I probably just did it unconsciously. There’s no body pillow here and usually I kinda need one.” Jungwon notes that his morning voice was very deep. And… husky.

“S-Still! You can’t do that!” He kicks himself internally for stuttering.

Jay rolls onto his back and finally cracks open his eyes, smirking slightly. “Relax, kitty. Don’t flatter yourself – I wasn’t cuddling you, don’t worry.” 

“Ewww, don’t call me that!” Jungwon yelps, picking up a pillow and throwing it in Jay’s face. “And also, didn’t I tell you to keep to your own side?” He grumbles, turning away to walk towards the bathroom before the other man could see the flush on his face. It’s probably because of the stupid pet name. Or maybe the sultry rasp in Jay’s voice that he was definitely doing on purpose. Definitely. 

It’s infuriating, Jungwon thinks.

He forgets about it soon after, as they’re back to doing some freestyle surfing that morning, and he needs all of his brain and energy to focus on not falling off the board. After some more practice, Jungwon is getting much better, and the boys are all proud of him. They continue to have fun riding the waves, until Jay brings out two jetskis that he rented for the day.

“Damnnn! Why didn’t you give these babies to us before?” Sunghoon laughs as he strokes a jetski like it was a horse.

Jay only grins. “Who’s ready to have some fun?”

Through whoops and cheers, the group familiarises themselves with the controls of the engine, and chaos quickly ensues. Jake and Riki immediately claim the jetskis first and challenge each other to a race, using a faraway buoy as a finish line mark. All the boys bet on Riki, but then Jake surprises everyone by pulling through for the win. Jake is unbearable for the next five minutes, constantly flexing his victory while Riki splashes water at him in retaliation.

They take turns on the rides, sometimes solo, sometimes with duos. Heeseung and Sunghoon try going together, and the latter doesn’t even notice the former literally falling into the water before he’s gone for 20 meters. Heeseung resurfaces, sputtering, “Sunghoon! Hello?” while the other only blinks back at him, clueless.

Sunoo joins in, clinging onto the back of Jake’s jetski for dear life, only to swear off ever riding with him again after Jake purposefully makes the sharpest turn possible. From then on, he lounges in the shallow waters, occasionally shouting out unsolicited commentary like a sports announcer.

Jay takes a solo round, showing off by weaving sharp turns and cutting clean across the waves. He’s easily the most stable of them all, clearly confident with the controls, and even splashes the others on purpose when he passes by. Jungwon, in turn, takes a slower ride, still cautious with the engine but stubbornly refusing to admit it when Riki teases him for being “grandpa speed.” He claims he’s just “warming up,” though he can hear Jay’s laugh from across the water.

Meanwhile, the competitive energy doesn’t stop. Riki keeps demanding rematches, Jake keeps taunting, Heeseung insists on showing off “tricks” that usually end in him wiping out spectacularly, and Sunghoon just laughs at everyone. At one point, they all try to cram three people on a jetski, which lasts exactly six seconds before they collapse into a pile of limbs and splashes.

“Okay, let’s do another race,” Riki says, for the 27th time that day. “Me versus Jay, plus doubles. We need two more people.”

Sunghoon and Sunoo are relaxing by the shore, and Heeseung looks dead, which leaves Jungwon and Jake. 

“Alright, but I’m going with Riki,” says Jungwon, already climbing up the boy’s jetski.

“Are you sure?” says Jay, voice lilting with amusement. “You’re setting yourself up for failure there.”

Jungwon opens and closes his hand in a yapping gesture. “Blah blah blah,” he mocks, then leans in close to Riki. “Alright, we better win this.”

Heeseung miraculously returns from the dead to be the referee. “Ready… set… go!” The two engines roar to a start, splashing him in the face. 

“Faster! Riki, faster!” Jungwon screams, hands gripping onto the boy’s shoulders. Riki winces, pushing the jetski to an all time high speed. Unfortunately, the other team was still ahead, gliding through the water effortlessly. 

Suddenly, a bird flies into their direction, straight to Jake’s face. He shrieks and panics, wiggling around on the jetski, subsequently gripping onto Jay’s head, the other yelling bloody murder. With the godsent distraction, Riki and Jungwon pull ahead and reach the finish line first, winning the race. 

“YES! Victory!” Riki pumps his fist in the air so hard that Jungwon has to cling onto him to avoid toppling off.

Jungwon laughs and whoops, “Ha-ha! In your face!” He splashes a handful of water toward the losing team to rub it in even more.

Jay pushes Jake off the jetski, glaring at him. “Dumbass. Do you know how close I was to dying just now?”

Jake, still floundering in the water, shouts back, “Bro, it was a bird!”

“You’re such a wimp,” Jay sighs, shaking water out of his hair. They start making their way back to the shore, towards the others.

Riki grins. “You guys are such noobs.”

“Whatever. You guys just got lucky ‘cuz a bird decided to murder Jake.”

“Hey, luck is a skill! And a win’s a win,” Jungwon says smugly, tilting his head and flashing his dimples. “Don’t be such a sore loser, Jay.”

Jay stares at him for a second before chuckling. “I’m not being a sore loser.” 

“Sure.”

The rest of the boys are howling with laughter on the shore. “That was legendary!” Sunghoon says while wiping tears from his eyes.

“Rematch! Rematch!” Sunoo shouts. They replay Jake’s moment with the bird a few more times, Jake getting less and less amused each time. Just then, a group of girls, who had been tanning nearby, approaches them.

“Hey!” One of them starts to speak. “We saw you guys on your jetskis… you’re really good at driving them,” she smiles brightly, looking directly at Jay. “Do you think you can… maybe give us a ride?”

“Sure,” Jay replies easily, navigating the jetski closer to the shore. The rest of the guys look at him in shock, then whoop and laugh suggestively. The girls giggle, pushing the first girl towards him. She acts flustered, but Jungwon knows it took a lot of confidence and guts to approach their group like that, and to ask for a ride, too, no less.

The girl climbs on the jetski, sitting behind Jay, settling her hands on his shoulders. “Hold on tight!” He says, before zooming away. Heeseung laughs, taken aback at the turn of events. 

As the group of girls start to mingle and chat with the rest of the guys, Riki also takes people on a few jetski rides. Jungwon doesn’t pay much attention, however, as his eyes are glued onto the distant figures of Jay and the first girl. 

She was pressed right up to him, and with the skimpy amount of clothing they were both wearing, Jungwon notes with annoyance, every inch of their skin seemed to be touching. Whenever the jetski hits a wave and the girl tightens her hold on Jay, something hot and uncomfortable prickles in his stomach. They seemed to be oddly close, too, her whispering something in his ear and him laughing. 

It’s crazy, really, is what it is. The audacity of a stranger to come up and act this way is crazy.

“You good there, Jungwon?” Jake snickers. They were floating a little further away from the rest of the group. “You don’t seem too happy.”

“What are you talking about?” He replies, trying to be nonchalant.

“I’m talking about how you look like you’re about to murder Jay and that girl.”

Jungwon stares at Jake. “I’m literally not.”

“Sure,” he wiggles his eyebrows.

“I don’t know what you’re insinuating here, but nothing's going on,” Jungwon declares.

“I never said anything was going on,” Jake shrugs, then continues absentmindedly, “he’s pretty good, though, isn’t he.”

“What?”

“Jay. At driving and surfing,” Jake explains, “I guess it’s fair since he’s the one who has access to these types of things the most. Like, jetskis and… yachts, and stuff.”

“It’s not that hard to just drive straight,” Jungwon grumbles. 

“...Sure,” he says again. “You’re still staring at them, by the way.”

Jungwon wills himself to look away, embarrassed that Jake called him out. Blush creeps up on his neck as his eyes betray him by keeping on snapping back to Jay and the girl, but now he’s even more annoyed because they’re laughing at something. Jay’s not even that funny for the girl to be laughing that much, he thinks.

They’re coming back around now, approaching the group as Jay slows down the jetski. Jungwon and Jake float back closer, in time to see the girl climbing off with a grin plastered on her face, her hair damp and messy, cheeks flushed from the ride.

“That was amazing!” She exclaims. “Thanks, Jay,” she smiles, touching his arm. Before he could stop himself, Jungwon scoffs and looks away.

Jay grins back, smile wide and boyish. “No problem, Chloe.”

“Wow, would you look at that? Mister Jay Park, ladies’ man!” Sunghoon whistles and elbows him. Everyone laughs, and Jay chuckles awkwardly.

“Don’t encourage him,” Jungwon mutters. Jake looks at him pointedly.

“Why, what’s the matter, Jungwon?” he says coyly, and loud enough that everyone could hear him. “Feeling left out? You want Jay to take you for a ride too?”

Jungwon shoves him off with a scowl, but the tips of his ears turn red. “Shut up! That’s not funny!” He tries to brush it off, but Jay catches his eye. 

“Well… the offer’s on the table, Wonie. Front or back seat, your choice.”

Chapter Text

Momentarily, Jungwon is stunned, extremely thrown off by the idea of him having to sit at the front of the jetski, with Jay directly behind him and essentially enveloping his entire body to reach for the handles.

“That is not happening.”

“You seemed pretty grumpy before though, when Jay was taking Chloe,” Jake says with a knowing grin. Jungwon curses him out internally. 

“What, you have a problem with that or something?” Jay asks.

“No?” Jungwon tries to deflect, splashing around in the water. “I just- I-” What should he even say to that? He doesn’t have a problem with Chloe, or Jay, or anything, matter of fact. How could he explain that he was just uncomfortable with… what was it exactly? He doesn’t even know.

“Jungwon’s just mad ‘cuz he couldn’t go that fast,” Sunoo suddenly steps in, “he probably just wants to experience speed, for once.”

“Haha, yeah! Cuz he’s grandpa speed!” Riki cackles.

Sunoo catches Jungwon’s eye meaningfully, and he gives an indiscernible, grateful nod in return. In times like these, Sunoo always has his back.

“Well, if you want speed, you’ve come to the right place,” Jay grins. “C’mon, hop on.” 

Jungwon starts to protest, but Jake pushes him towards the jetski. With a stumble, he latches onto the seat, staring back daggers at Jake. He really needs to assassinate this guy soon. 

“Fine, but I’m not going in the front.” Jungwon grumbles as he climbs on. Settling into the seat, he realises just how close they are — with the limited space on the small jetski, his inner thighs meet Jay’s outer thighs, and… other areas are having too much contact for his liking.

“Your ass is taking up all the space,” he mutters, scooting back as far as he could to decrease as much touching as possible. 

“Yeah, so all I’m hearing is that you think my ass is fat,” Jay says, smug. Before Jungwon could reply, he roars the engine and the jetski spins to life, catching the other off guard. Jungwon instinctively holds onto Jay’s shoulders, clinging on for dear life. 

Just as abruptly as he started, Jay stops the jetski. The impact sends Jungwon slamming into him. They were a good distance away from the rest of the group, and Jay laughs when he looks back to see the other’s terrified expression, now slowly morphing into anger.

“What the fuck?” Jungwon slaps him on the head, but Jay only chuckles. He takes Jungwon’s hands off his shoulders and, to Jungwon’s horror, places them around his waist. 

Jay turns back to whisper, “You have to hold on here if you don’t want to fall off.” His face is too close, his tone is too intimate, and there is far too much skin contact between them. Their legs are now touching again and Jay’s abs feel nice under his touch and Jungwon could barely process what’s going on when Jay starts the engine.

They’re going way too fast, much faster than Jay and that girl was going. Jungwon couldn’t say a word, not even to growl at him to go slower, only able to hold on tight for fear of literally flying off. He tucks his head behind Jay’s shoulder to avoid the splashes of water attacking them, arms in a death grip around his waist.

Before he knows it, the ride is over as the jetski slows to a stop near the rest of the group. 

Jungwon feels dazed climbing down. That was… way too much. But also… not enough? His hair is a mess right now, his cheeks flushed, and he can’t tell if he’s blushing from the wind whipping into his face the last five minutes or something else. 

“Woo! You guys went fast!” Sunghoon laughs.

“For real, I could barely even follow you with my eyes,” adds Heeseung.

“How was it, Jungwon?” Jake asks.

Jungwon scowls, realising that he forgot to yell at Jay for all of his previous audacious actions. As the other also climbs down from the jetski, he slaps him on the arm. 

“What is your problem? Why were you trying to kill us by attempting to reach the speed of light?”

“You said you wanted to go fast.” 

“That doesn’t mean make the jetski literally float off the fucking water!”

“You were gripping on me really tight,” Jay grins. “What happened to ‘why were you cuddling me’, ‘keep to your own side’, ‘we can’t touch’, blah blah blah?” He says, making his voice high-pitched in a poor impersonation of Jungwon.

“Cuddling…?” Sunoo whispers to Sunghoon.

“I had no choice, ‘cuz I would’ve flown off if I didn’t, obviously,” Jungwon rolls his eyes, then narrows them. “You bitch! You did this on purpose! Don’t act like you’re not the one who literally put my arms around your waist, I didn’t do any of that on my own volition.” One of the girls laughs from afar, and he’s startled, having not realised that they were still there, in their own conversations with Heeseung on the side. He sees Chloe, the girl from before, looking over.

“You didn’t tell me to stop, though,” Jay grins, looking entirely too pleased with himself, “actually, it felt like you enjoyed that a lot. Did you like my abs?”

“You wish.”

“Hold on, can we just circle back to the cuddling real quick?” Jake says. “I feel like we just kinda glossed over that way too fast.”

“Yeah, what’s that about?” Riki asks, munching on a popsicle that he seemingly conjured from thin air. 

“We weren’t cuddling,” Jungwon grumbles, getting more annoyed, “I just woke up with him taking up all fucking the space.”

“Interesting…” says Sunoo.

“So you guys weren’t, like, snuggling and shit?” Sunghoon snorts.

“Snuggling?!” Jungwon echoes, scandalised. “Do I look like the type of person to snuggle with Jay Park?”

“Not too different from what you were just doing on the jetski,” Jake mutters underneath his breath. Jungwon hits him on the head.

“That’s not what I saw,” Sunghoon replies.

“WHAT? When?”

“This morning, when I went to take Jay’s shampoo from your guys' room. You were all over each other.”

Jake and Riki burst out laughing. Jungwon grips his hair exasperatedly.

“That was his fault! I dont- I-” He whips his head to look at Jay angrily. “Say something! Jesus!”

But all he was met with is Jay’s shit-eating grin, laughing with the rest of the group. It’s like he enjoys torturing him or something. 

Jungwon gives up, throwing his hands into the air and flops into the water dramatically.

--------

Lunch ends up being louder and more exhausting than usual. Louder because the girls tag along, all of them squeezing into the big table at a beachside café. More exhausting because Chloe plants herself right next to Jay, hand always lingering on his arm, and giggling way too loudly at everything he says, even if it isn’t remotely funny.

Again, Jungwon has no issues with this. He’s just as annoyed as the average person when there’s two people in a public setting acting all coupley with one another, especially when they’ve just met a few hours ago! Like, who wouldn’t be irritated when she literally tries to feed him a bite of her food? Or when he actually leans in and accepts it with that stupid gloat on his face? 

Jungwon feels relieved when they decide to part ways after lunch, with everyone going back to the beach for some goat yoga while Jungwon and Sunoo head back towards the villa to relax. Although the goats sound intriguing, he had found a small gash on his leg, which didn’t hurt that much but was annoying to deal with, and besides he doesn’t want sand to get into the wound. 

Plus, he’s not sure if he can handle another 5 minutes being around Jay and Chloe. 

“Are you guys sure you don’t wanna come?” Heeseung asks, sounding concerned. “Do you need any help, Jungwon?”

“No no, it’s fine,” he replies. “It’s just a scratch. And I’m tired, anyway.”

Sunoo nods in agreement. “You guys have fun!”

Turning around to walk back, Jungwon is surprised to find Jay joining them. “You’re not going?”

The rest of the group looks just as confused. “But Jay! What about the goats?” Riki calls out.

“I’ll be back, I just wanna get something from the house,” Jay replies easily, and continues to walk with Jungwon and Sunoo. Jungwon glances back, noticing that Chloe looks like she’s about to say something, like suggesting to go with them too. He hurries forward, wanting to get as far away as possible before she tries to tag along.

“So what did you wanna get?” Sunoo asks Jay.

“Huh?”

“From the house. The reason you’re going back with us?”

“Oh, just my airpods.”

“Airpods?” Jungwon repeats. “Why would you need airpods all of a sudden?”

Jay shrugs. “Cuz we’re doing yoga, y’know?”

“Yeah, but it’s goat yoga,” Sunoo laughs, “at the beach, with your friends. It’s not like you’re actually gonna meditate and all that shit.”

Jay shrugs again, and Jungwon also bursts out laughing. What is wrong with this guy? 

They reach the house, and Sunoo immediately heads for the jacuzzi. Before Jungwon could follow, however, Jay waves him over from the kitchen, holding something in his hand. Upon approach, he sees that it’s a small first-aid box. 

“Seriously? You don’t need to do this, it’s just a small scratch.”

“The blood is literally still gushing out. You can’t get in like this, you’ll bleed all over the jacuzzi.” Jay replies, rolling his eyes. “I don’t wanna get HIV from you when I use it later.”

“Right, and out of the two of us I’m the one that’s more likely to have HIV?”

“Is that supposed to be an insult towards me?” Jay snickers. “Not my fault I get bitches and you don’t.”

“You’re so fucking annoying,” Jungwon grumbles. Flailing his arm, he attempts to reach for the first-aid box.

Jay holds it out of his reach. “And you’re so difficult sometimes,” he sighs. Without any further warning, he swiftly wraps his free arm around Jungwon’s waist and lifts him up.

“Hey-!” Jungwon yelps, immediately going rigid. “What- are you- doing?”

Jay settles him on the kitchen counter. “There. Now stay still.”

Jungwon’s gut is buzzing with something strange. His ears turn hot, and he feels extremely flustered with Jay practically standing in between his legs, digging through the first-aid kit, acting like all of this was incredibly normal. Why did he just do that? Also, how did he lift him up so easily with just one arm? 

Jay finds the antiseptic and elevates Jungwon’s leg to clean the wound, one hand on his thigh to keep him from flinching. 

“Woww, are you training to be a nurse now?” Jungwon writhes out, trying to cover up his bewilderment with something sarcastic and familiar. “What’s next? You’re gonna kiss the booboo better too?”

Jay smirks, and Jungwon realised that he was too close, again. “You’d like that, wouldn’t you?”

Jungwon flushes, smacking his face away, but it lacks any bite. Jay just laughs and puts a band-aid on the gash. “Alright, joke’s over. I put a waterproof one on for you,” he says, tapping on the little plastic strip. Jay’s hand is still on his thigh, something that Jungwon is trying very hard to ignore.

He jumps down from the counter with a humph, brushing down his trunks to busy his hands. “I could’ve done that myself, you know,” he says, rolling his eyes.

“Yeah? Why’d you sit so still for me then?” 

Unable to think of an answer, Jungwon whips around to walk away before Jay could see the blush creeping up on his face. Something he noticed that he had to do a lot these past few days. 

Jungwon doesn’t have to look back to know that Jay has a huge grin on his lips. “You’re welcome, Jungwonie!” He calls out, to which he scoffs.

“Don’t pretend you did me a favour, you enjoyed that too much,” Jungwon says, sliding open the patio door and stepping outside. “You just like messing with me.” 

Jay raises an eyebrow, still smiling. “So it did mess with you?” 

Jungwon slams the patio door shut.

“What was that all about?” Sunoo asks from inside the jacuzzi. The other shakes his head exasperatedly, sliding into the hot water. “By the way, I saw the whole thing, so you better not lie to me.”

Jungwon snaps up, distressed. “What? Were you spying?”

Sunoo snorts. “Duh! I was standing right there.” He points to the patio door. “And you guys were right smack in the kitchen, what did you expect me to do?”

Jungwon groans and puts his head in hands. “Ughhh, he’s so annoying,” he mutters.

“So, what exactly is going on between you two?”

“Nothing! I don’t know!” Jungwon exclaims.

“Clearly there’s something, your face is red as a tomato right now.”

“It is not!”

Sunoo fixes him with a knowing look. “Let’s go over the events of today. You guys woke up in the same bed, snuggling, according to Sunghoon. When Chloe went on the jetski with him, you looked like you were planning her murder. Then when he took you for a ride, he purposely went faster than usual and you put your arms around his waist, instead of on the shoulders like usual.”

“Correction, he put my arms around his waist.”

“Alright, whatever, moving on. After being bombarded with certain allegations, he didn’t deny any and just laughed. At lunch, when Chloe was flirting with him, you looked cranky. And then instead of going with everyone to goat yoga, he came all the way back to the house with us to help you take care of your injury.”

“No, he came back to get his airpods.”

“Do you really believe that?” Sunoo says, leaning back against the bubbles which were now turning on. “His explanation didn’t make sense at all.”

Jungwon bites his lip in thought. “...No, I guess not.”

“Yeah, did he really need his airpods? Or just an excuse to do whatever that was with you?”

He cringes at the memory of the kitchen. 

“See, you’re blushing now just thinking about it.”

Jungwon groans wearily. “How did you even see all of that today?” 

Sunoo grins. “Dude, I always see everything. You should know that by now.”

Jungwon lays his head down on the edge of the hot tub, propping his feet up on the other side. He fiddles with his hands. “A lot has happened in the past few days.”

Sunoo nods. “So… what are you feeling?”

He thinks about it for a second. “I mean, I don’t know. He still annoys me, and I still don’t like him. But sometimes, there’s… something else.” He looks at the band-aid Jay put on his leg. “I feel like he’s messing with me,” he echoes the sentiment from before. So it did mess with you? Jay had said.

“And how do you feel about Chloe?” 

“Ugh, I don’t like her. Not for the reasons you’re thinking, by the way. She’s just annoying,” Jungwon insists. “Who’s like that with someone they just met?”

“Like what?” Sunoo asks, a playful glint in his eye.

“Like, cuddling up with Jay! Being all over him!” Jungwon rants. “Did you see the way she fed him from her own spoon? What are you, his mom? I mean, now that’s just not classy.”

Sunoo giggles. “Right, I saw that too. Lowkey that was really bold.”

“Yeah, and all she does is fuel his ego even more. Like, he enjoys her attention too much.” 

Sunoo nudges him lightly. “Well… maybe you’re just a little jealous, huh?”

Jungwon scoffs. “Me? Why- why would I be jealous?”

Sunoo just shakes his head, sniggering. “Yeah, whatever you say, Jungwon.”

Chapter Text

“Hey.”

It’s late afternoon, and the waves crash softly against the shore as the sun starts to set. Jungwon lays in a hammock hung between two palm trees, relaxing, when Jay suddenly appears. He leans against the tree, looking mischievous, like he knows a secret Jungwon isn’t let in on.

“...Hey,” Jungwon replies. 

“Mind if I join you?” Without waiting for an answer, Jay plops down onto the hammock next to his midriff, making the whole thing shake.

“Excuse me, I didn’t say you could,” Jungwon complains, but he makes no move to shove the other away.

Jay turns sideways to look at him, eyes glinting, lips quirking up into a playful smile. His dimple is showing. It makes Jungwon nervous.

“Where are the others?” He asks quickly.

“By the bonfire,” replies Jay. 

“Where’s Chloe?” Jungwon questions. The other raises an eyebrow at that. “She never seems to leave your side lately,” he continues, unable to stop the sneer on his face.

“Why, you don’t like that?” Jay says, smile growing bigger. “You don’t like it when she touches me?” He leans in teasingly.

Jungwon looks away in irritation. “Don’t flatter yourself.”

“What?” Jay retorts, coming closer, so close that they’re almost face to face. “You want it to be you instead?”

Jungwon snaps his head back, mouth gaping. “No- I… I don’t…” Jay places a warm hand on his cheek, leaning in even closer, ghosting their lips over each other. Jungwon’s breath hitches.

“Because… I can give you what you want.”

They hold their gazes for a few seconds, before Jay’s mouth crashes onto his, urgent and reckless, nothing like the smug, tension-filled teasing Jungwon’s used to. His eyes fly wide open, but then Jay’s hand is on his jaw, tilting his head just so, and suddenly his brain has completely checked out. Jay tastes like salt and heat and something Jungwon absolutely should not want– but damn he’s good at kissing. Too good. The hammock rocks violently, and he feels so lightheaded that his arms wrap themselves around Jay’s neck to keep steady, but it doesn’t work and the dizziness is getting worse and he feels like he’s falling–

–jolting awake, Jungwon sits up with a cold sweat. It’s still dark outside, and a quick check of his phone tells him it’s around 3am. Chest heaving, heart pounding, gripping onto his blanket like it’s the only thing grounding him. For a long moment, Jungwon just sits there in horror, trying to process what just happened.

Glancing to his side, Jay lies, asleep and oblivious.

“What the fuck?!”

--------

When morning comes, the house is back to being lively and loud. Jungwon wakes up late, and as he groggily steps into the common area he sees that everyone is already gathered around the kitchen – Jay flipping pancakes, Riki spritzing whipped cream into Sunghoon’s mouth, Sunoo doing his skincare on the dining table, Jake setting up some music, and Heeseung looking at something on his phone. 

Jay looks up, noticing that he just came in. “Nice of you to join us, Jungwon,” he says sarcastically.

Their eyes meet, and suddenly the memory of the dream resurges and Jungwon feels as though he’s been hit by a train. All the blood in his body rushes to his face.

“Shut up,” he mumbles, sliding into an empty chair. His movements feel stiff and awkward. 

“Jungwon, you look terrible,” says Riki, unhelpfully. “Did you even get any sleep last night?” 

At the mention of this, Jungwon gets even redder. “Yeah…? Last night was completely normal… you know… no-nothing out of the ordinary… I slept fine!”

Sunghoon eyes him. “What’s wrong with you? You’re acting weird.”

“It’s a different kind of weird,” Sunoo adds, “Hmm… I wonder…” Jungwon desperately tries to signal with his eyes, praying that Sunoo doesn’t narrate his train of thought out loud, because he would definitely figure it out. And this isn’t exactly something he would like to be out in the open with the whole group, especially over breakfast, and with the topic of discussion present and making their pancakes.

“Haha, you were like, moaning in your sleep last night,” Jay says casually. 

Jungwon almost snaps his neck whipping his head around. “WHAT? No I wasn’t!”

“Alright, you weren’t, but you were kinda groaning a little,” he continues while bringing the remaining plates of pancakes over to the table. “It woke me up, so I think I would know.”

“Don’t forget the strawberries, guys!” Jake reminds everyone, bringing over the basket they bought from the supermarket last night. 

“I swear you’re making things up,” mutters Jungwon as he reaches for a strawberry, decorating his plate. He studies the condiment spread on the table: butter, jam, whipped cream, honey… a whole bunch of stuff really. Jake and Jay really went ham with the groceries. But the very most important thing is missing, he frowns as he realises.

Wordlessly, Jay passes him a brand new bottle of chocolate syrup. Jungwon blinks at him in surprise – how did he know? Being caught so off guard, he barely notices Jay sliding into the seat beside him, despite the spot next to Sunghoon being still open. Weird. 

“Yo, Jay, why didn’t you bring that out before?” Riki whines, in the midst of stuffing his face full of pancakes. “I wanted chocolate syrup too!”

Jay reaches across the table to hit Riki on the head, for seemingly no particular reason than for being annoying, and brushes past Jungwon in the process. It feels way too familiar – their knees grazing, Jay leaning in, half on top of him… exactly like in his stupid dream! Jungwon jerks at the thought, mortified at his own brain, and drops his head onto the table to hide the flush on his face. Though he isn’t sure how effective it is because his neck is probably red too. 

“No seriously, what is wrong with him?” Jake gestures to Jungwon with a strawberry, then promptly pops it in his mouth. Jay shrugs. 

“Okay guys, attention,” announces Heeseung. “So according to Kai, the weather will be really bad today, which means it won’t be safe to go in the waters.” He looks at his phone again. “I also double checked with the weather app and it looks like a pretty big storm is coming.”

Riki’s jaw drops open. “So that means we can’t swim?”

“Or surf?” Jake adds.

“Or jetski?” Jungwon asks.

Heeseung shakes his head solemnly. “Nope, can’t do none of that. Hopefully it smooths over tomorrow, so we can have a fun last beach day. But for today, we’ll have to find something else to do.”

As the glum mood settles over the table, Sunoo comes up with a proposition. “How about going to a museum?”

“What a terrible idea, Sunoo,” Sunghoon scorns, “possibly the most boring thing we can do.”

“Then what? Do you have any ideas?” Sunoo challenges.

“We could go to the movies?” Jake suggests.

“We always go to the movies,” Jay says, “we have to take advantage of being on holiday.”

“Well there’s nothing to do in this damn town, other than swim! And we can't even swim!” Riki exclaims. 

They bicker for a while, seemingly unable to come up with a solution that everyone is happy with. 

“Okay, this is going nowhere,” Jake sighs, “I’ll just ask Taehyun for some recommendations.”

“Thank you! Finally someone with some sense,” says Heeseung. 

“Wait, you still have Taehyun’s number?” Riki asks.

“We all do,” Jake replies. “I sent it in the group chat. Does no one read the group chat?” Blank looks from across the table. “I hate you guys.”

Sunghoon sprays a dollop of whipped cream on his now empty plate. He scoops some of it up with a finger and smears it on Sunoo’s face. 

“Hey, I just did my skincare, dumbass!” Sunoo scowls. 

This starts a chain reaction and Riki also starts arming his hands with cream, followed by Jungwon, then Heeseung, and soon enough the boys are having a full blown food fight with the leftover breakfast ingredients. Well, calling it a food fight is a stretch — it mostly just consisted of Riki chasing Jake with a can of whipped cream — but Jungwon finds himself targeting Jay, hand full of cream and a menacing smile on his face. 

Jay yelps, trying to run away. Cackling, Jungwon corners him and smudges a diabolical amount of whipped cream all over his face, expecting an admission of defeat of some sort. But Jay, after closing his eyes and accepting his fate, licks the cream off his lips, wipes some off of his face, and smears it right back at Jungwon. 

Gasping at the foul play, he lunges for the chocolate syrup to retaliate – but before any more madness can ensue, Heeseung finally puts his foot down in his role as the oldest. “Guys, this is getting way out of hand. Riki and Sunghoon, clean up the table. Make sure there’s no whipped cream on the floor or the walls. Everyone else, go clean yourselves up.”

“What? Why are we the only ones cleaning?” Sunghoon protests.

“Cuz you guys started it,” Heeseung says, “now go, and this place better be spotless. I don’t want them to charge us for the cleaning bills or whatever.”

Ignoring grumbles from Riki and Sunghoon, the rest of the group goes to the kitchen to clean up. It’s a tight fit, with five boys crowding around one sink, but they make it work. Jungwon finishes up, dabbing his hands dry with a paper towel.

“You were ridiculous, you know,” Jay says beside him, wiping down the counter. “All that effort just to lose.”

Jungwon turns, insulted. “You were literally shrieking like a little girl the entire time. Don’t try to pretend like you won.”

“Well… who got the last hit?”

“Hey! You only did because Heeseung decided to stop it at that moment!”

Jay grins. “Luck is a skill, Jungwon, remember?”

Reminded of his own words after their jetski race, Jungwon rolls his eyes. “You can’t just say that to avoid declaring me as the winner, Park. You’re still being such a sore loser right now.”

“By the way, speaking of losers…” Jay laughs softly, leaning in, “you’ve got a little something there.” 

Jungwon stills as Jay swipes his thumb across his cheek. For a second, an overwhelming sense of deja vu washes over him — his skin prickles at the touch, almost exactly like… 

before he realises, with mortification, that Jay had just wiped whipped cream that he didn’t know was there off of his face. Jay pops it in his mouth, licking his finger clean, before continuing to scrub the counter with infuriating nonchalance. 

Jungwon blinks. “You’re gross,” he mutters, but his voice cracks halfway and he has to run out of the kitchen to avoid embarrassing himself any further. Jungwon is glad for Jake, who brings a bit of good news to his, frankly, frightful morning. 

“Guys, Taehyun responded!” Jake exclaims. “He said there’s this cool little museum in town, and it’s not too far away.”

“Yes, team museum!” Sunoo says. “Fuck you, Sunghoon.”

“Seriously?” Sunghoon replies incredulously. “We’re actually going to a museum?”

“Apparently it’s a fun one,” Jake explains. “Like, there are weird trinkets and funny exhibits and stuff. Besides, there’s not really much else we can do.”

“Sounds good to me,” Heeseung says, giving a thumbs up.

“Should we invite Taehyun too?” Riki asks.

Jay furrows his eyebrows. “I don’t know… he’s a little…”

“What?” Sunoo questions.

Jay doesn’t finish his sentence. “I think he’s nice,” Jungwon pipes in. “Jake, ask if he wants to join us.” 

Jake types into his phone, and shakes his head disappointedly. “Taehyun said he wants to, but he’s busy today.”

“Then… should we invite the girls?” Riki suggests. 

“No!” Jungwon exclaims, a little too fast and too loudly. He clears his throat. “Uh- I mean, no. They’re probably busy too. And we spent all day with them yesterday already.” 

Sunghoon looks at him suspiciously. “Okay… that’s fine. We can go with just us, it’ll be more fun anyways.”

Jungwon breathes a sigh of relief. He doesn’t want to seem like the bad guy, but he just cannot deal with Chloe and Jay giggling at each other again today. “Good call.”

--------

The drive following Taehyun’s Google Maps directions doesn’t take long, and soon they’re pulling up to a squat little building with peeling paint and a wooden sign that creaks in the breeze. The Cabinet of Curiosities is painted across it in faded gold letters, half of them chipped away. It looks more like an abandoned antique shop than an actual museum.

After parking, the boys step inside. A bell dings as they open the door; the air smells faintly of dust and lavender polish, and every corner is crammed with oddities: glass cases filled with mismatched keys, a taxidermy fox wearing a top hat, shelves of old books stacked so precariously they look ready to collapse. The lighting is warm but dim, giving an odd resemblance to those vintage style escape rooms.

“Woah… it’s like someone's grandma lives here,” Jake mutters.

“But like, a weird grandma,” adds Jay.

Suddenly, a man pops up from behind the counter. “Welcome to the Cabinet! Feel free to look around and explore each of the rooms. There is no entrance fee, but we do have a souvenir shop! My name is Beomgyu, if you need any assistance let me know.”

“Okay, thank you!” Sunoo replies politely, but Beomgyu has already disappeared. “Huh… that’s strange.”

Riki’s eyes go wide. “This place is awesome. Look! A two-headed duck!” He grabs Jake by the wrist and drags him towards the taxidermy section. 

“Riki, I am not going into a room with a million birds! Especially after one attacked me yesterday!” Riki, of course, doesn’t hear a word.

“Yikes,” Sunghoon comments, turning towards Sunoo. “Wanna go upstairs? We could try the artifacts section.”

“Okay,” Sunoo says, already walking, “Jungwon, you’re coming with us.” 

As they climb up the stairs, Jungwon looks back at the two left, Heeseung and Jay, who were now chatting and planning to go to another room. He thought this was going to be a group bonding activity, and didn’t expect them to split so soon, but whatever. However, before he could look away, Jay glances up, meeting his eyes. Jungwon’s flight or flight kicks in, as he immediately jerks his head forward and runs up the rest of the stairs, disappearing out of sight before he sees Jay’s reaction.

Jungwon gives an embarrassed shake of his head, and goes to catch up with Sunghoon and Sunoo.

They wander down a narrow corridor, the walls lined with glass ornaments and curious artifacts. Strange objects catch their attention: a weathered globe with tiny, hand-painted figures, a collection of oddly shaped keys, and jars of preserved insects arranged by color. Sunoo pauses at a display of antique magnifying glasses, peering through one at Sunghoon and laughing when his face warps and stretches.

Jungwon trails his fingers along the edge of a polished wooden cabinet, careful not to touch the items inside. Sunghoon examines a row of neatly arranged porcelain dolls, all with cracked faces and mismatched eyes.

“This is kinda creepy, actually…” He comments. Jungwon shudders. “I don’t like dolls.”

They drift from room to room, sometimes stopping to take in the details, sometimes just enjoying the quiet together. Sunoo snaps photos of everything. 

They come across a toilet display in the middle of a room.

“Hey, Sunoo, I dare you to stick your head in it,” Sunghoon says.

“Absolutely not. What if it’s cursed?”

“What if it makes you shut up for five minutes?”

“Wow,” Sunoo deadpans, “really? That’s your punchline?”

Jungwon observes them in amusement. Sunoo has been hounding him about Jay, but really, what’s going on between him and Sunghoon? He hasn’t brought it up, but they’ve been weirdly close lately.

Just then, Jungwon’s phone buzzes, and his stomach twists slightly when he sees the notification.

j

this looks like u
[j sent a photo]

It’s a picture of an owl sculpture, its face twisted in an exaggerated angry expression. It looks terrible. Jungwon scoffs as he starts to type back.

thanks so much
i really appreciate that

ur welcome
it rlly captures your essence don’t you think

and what’s my essence
weird and ugly?

yea HAHAHAHH
also always angry
it’s lowk cute tho

Jungwon’s face burns and he wants to throw his phone across the room. What did Jay mean by that?

the owl?
its not

suree its not

Looking around, Jungwon snaps a picture of the toilet to retaliate.

[you sent a photo]
found ur twin

i meannnn
people sit on my face so im not complaining

you are so gross

heeseungs a little more gross
i just saw him reach inside a thousand year old pickle jar

ok ew
btw should we regroup soon
it’s been a while
where are you guys

what u miss me?
;)

omg dont pmo

see this is what i meant by always angry

im gonna block you

okay okay lol
we’re downstairs near the entrance
jake and riki are here too

ok i’ll tell the others

come quick :p

fine
[j reacted with heart]

Jungwon finally looks up, only to see Sunoo already watching him suspiciously. “What are you smiling at on your phone?” he questions. 

“Nothing?” Jungwon replies, voice inflating upwards like a question. 

“I know for a fact it’s not nothing. Who are you texting?”

“I’m not texting anyone, Sunoo. By the way, we have to meet everyone downstairs, so grab Sunghoon and let’s go.” Without letting the other boy say another word, Jungwon turns on his heel and walks towards the stairs. 

Sunoo and Sunghoon follow closely behind, and they reach the main lobby when he gets another notification.

j

we’re in the souvenir shop

j is typing…

Glancing around, Jungwon sees the shop in a separate room besides the main hallway, and he spots the group next to the counter admiring the souvenirs and postcards. He knows that Sunoo can see that Jay is typing on his phone, so he pockets his own to avoid further suspicion. Jungwon doubts it worked, because Sunoo shoots him a look that says I see what’s happening here. 

“Jungwon! Sunghoon, Sunoo!” Jake sees and calls them over. “Look! Isn’t this shop so cool?”

“It is,” Sunghoon replies. “I wanna get these glass eyeballs.”

“I wanna get them too!” Riki says, holding one in each hand.

“Oooh, these postcards are pretty,” Sunoo remarks. 

“And I found vintage wallets!” Says Heeseung. The group becomes engrossed in discussing what they want to buy.

Jungwon starts to roam around the store, pretending not to acknowledge Jay coming up to him, a huge grin on his face. “Hey Jungwon.”

He doesn’t look at Jay, instead focusing on a variety of charms on a display shelf. “Hey,” he says casually. 

“What are you looking at?”

“These charms,” he gestures to them vaguely. 

“Uh huh,” replies Jay, leaning onto the wall next to the shelf. “Picking out an owl to match your face?”

Jungwon rolls his eyes. “Not this again. Do I look like an owl to you?”

Jay snorts. “Yeah, a grumpy one.”

“I’m not grumpy.”

“You kinda are,” Jay nudges him lightly with his shoulder, “especially when you’re ignoring me.”

At this, Jungwon finally looks up at him for the first time. Jay’s gaze is piercing and expectant, like he’s waiting for something. Jungwon breaks eye contact immediately, clearing his throat. He doesn’t know what’s going on right now, but the proximity to Jay is making him nervous. So he attempts to move away.

“Anyway…” Jungwon shuffles onto the next section, which happens to be jewelry. A pendant catches his eye, and he holds it up to examine – a small seashell connected to an elegant gold chain.

“That’s pretty,” Jay comments, and only then does Jungwon realise that he’s right next to him to be able to basically whisper in his ear like that. “Are you gonna get it?”

Jungwon feels neck burn hot and places the necklace back down on the table. “N-Nah, it’s fine.” He turns around abruptly, mumbles a “See ya, Jay!” before sprinting back to the others.

Behind him, Jay stares after the boy bemusedly. Then he shakes his head, chuckling. 

“Cute.”

Chapter Text

When the boys finish exploring the surrounding area and by popular vote, buy takeout pizza at a Domino’s, the sky has gone from soft blue to a heavy slate gray – and by the time they’ve settled back into the villa, the storm is fully rolling in. Wind rattles against the windows and rain streaks the glass, but inside it’s warm: the hum of the AC, the glow of the lamps, and the smell of pepperoni filling the air.

Empty boxes soon clutter the low table, napkins crumpled between soda cans, the air buzzing with laughter louder than the thunder outside. The group is sprawled all across the living room now, energy low, but in that peaceful, comfortable way. 

Jungwon sinks deeper into the couch, too full and a little drowsy, when his gaze drifts across the room. Jay is stretched out lazily on the opposite couch, head tilted back, lips curved in a faint smile as he converses with Sunghoon about something. 

Jungwon doesn’t know what they’re talking about, but maybe that’s because he’s a little more focused on the angle of Jay’s jawline and the way his Adam's apple bobs up and down as he speaks. After their frisky and slightly confusing texting interaction at the museum, he’s been spending the whole afternoon avoiding Jay, both in physicality and in eye contact – so pardon him if he wants to stare a little right now! Jungwon’s gotta admit, he is a good-looking guy. There’s no shame in acknowledging that. 

“I’m bored,” Sunoo suddenly announces, breaking the lull and plopping onto the carpet with a dramatic sigh. “We should do something fun.”

“Like what?” asks Riki through a mouthful of crust.

A beat of silence, before Jake leans forward. “How about… truth or dare?” He proposes, smiling mischievously.

“Seriously, Jake?” Heeseung groans. “We’re not in middle school, for god’s sake.”

“True, but it’s still fun. Truth or dare is timeless.”

“Yeah,” Jay adds, “it all depends on the questions you ask.” 

“Alright, then. Let’s make this an interesting game,” Sunghoon simpers, rubbing his hands together wickedly. Jungwon furrows his eyebrows – he has a feeling that the night is about to take a turbulent turn.

“Okay,” he looks around warily, “who’s going first?”

--------

They keep the first round fairly lighthearted and fun, consisting of the following events:

• Sunghoon was dared to lick Jay’s leg, which he did apprehensively after five minutes of mental preparation from both parties.
• Jungwon had to do a Tiktok dance in front of everyone, which was actually not as embarrassing as he thought it would be because the boys were hyping him up.
• Riki had to take a mystery shot which they created from random ingredients in the fridge. He, unsurprisingly, downed the whole thing.
• Heeseung and Jake did a staring contest while holding hands, which Heeseung won by a wide margin as Jake immediately folded over laughing two seconds in.
• Sunoo gave the group unlimited access to his phone for three minutes. During this time, they found some rather inappropriate Webtoon tabs on his Safari.
• Jake had to text his mom that he had gotten a girl pregnant, resulting in a very, very angry phone call. Everyone had to clutch each other’s mouths to stop themselves from laughing as he frantically tried to explain to her that it was just a dare.

For Jay’s turn, he breaks the dare streak and chooses truth, to everyone’s surprise. 

“Describe your first kiss,” says Sunghoon, grinning.

Jay smiles, clearly unbothered. “It was pretty good. But it was just one of those practice things, you know, nothing serious.”

“Who was it?” Sunoo sits up from his lying position on the floor. “Is it someone we know?”

Jay leans back, resting his head on the couch. “Yeah…” he pauses for dramatic effect, while everyone holds their breath.

“It's Heeseung.”

Silence, as they process what he just said. Then the room erupts – Jake chokes on his drink, Jungwon’s mouth gapes open, Sunghoon laughs disbelievingly, Sunoo gasps like it’s the scandal of the century, and Riki immediately launches into a million questions. 

“WHAT? HOW? WHEN? And why don’t we know about this?!”

Heeseung only groans, hands coming up to cover his face. “Ugh, this is why we agreed to never talk about it!”

Jay chuckles. “Bro, it’s not a big deal. We were like, thirteen.”

Riki clutches his head. “What do you mean it isn’t a big deal? I didn’t even know you liked guys!” 

Sunghoon hasn’t stopped giggling. “Seriously? Even with all that talk about top bottom alpha and shit you had no idea?”

“No? I thought he was just joking!”

“I knew you liked guys but I didn’t know your first kiss was Heeseung,” says Jake thoughtfully.

“By the way, I’m bi, so I don’t only like guys,” Jay mentions.

“This is craaazy,” murmurs Sunoo.

Jungwon’s head spins. Although he’s never explicitly thought about Jay’s sexuality before, it had always just been a preset in his mind that Jay is straight, what with all the girls he’s dated and/or slept with. Of course, he’s aware that Jay’s demeanor towards him isn’t exactly something typical of a straight guy, but he never allowed himself to assume anything; simply attributing it to Jay just messing around and trying to annoy him, or merely being naturally flirty to everyone. Having had crushes on plenty of straight guys in the past, it’s been built into Jungwon to just presume that everyone is straight, to keep everything in his head as a defense mechanism, because of course, his feelings were often unreciprocated. 

But… Jay is bisexual, which makes a lot of sense, and this piece of information fills Jungwon with an unexplainable sense of satisfaction. 

However, the fact that his first kiss was with Heeseung… even though they were only thirteen, makes Jungwon’s stomach churn. 

“Did you guys like each other back then or something?” He asks, attempting to sound like he doesn’t care all that much. Even though he really wants to know.

Jay and Heeseung look at each other. “Well, yeah, a little bit,” Jay chortles. “I mean, I did. I don’t know about you though.”

Heeseung stares up at the ceiling. “I guess me too, but it was a long time ago. To be honest, I don’t remember anything about it.”

“Same,” adds Jay, catching Jungwon’s eye, “and nothing happened after that. I was just really young and confused.”

Jungwon drops his gaze to the carpet, giving the smallest nod in reply. Around him, the boys mutter and laugh, already shifting the game into the second round.

“Okay, to keep things interesting: if you chose a dare for the first round, you have to choose truth this time, and vice versa,” declares Jake. “So someone give Sunghoon a truth.”

At this, Jungwon perks up. “I got one,” he narrows his eyes slyly, “Sunghoon. If you had to date someone in this room, who would you pick?”

A round of oooohs ripple throughout the group. “Now we’re getting to the nitty gritty stuff, huh,” comments Heeseung.

Sunghoon ponders the question, looking at everyone’s faces carefully to find his answer. “I’d say Sunoo.”

Through the collective gasp, the aforementioned boy whips his head around, eyes as wide as saucers. “Me? Why me?”

“Well,” Sunghoon starts, “I don’t know. You just seem like a good person to date. You’re funny and easy to talk to, and I like hanging out with you.” 

Jungwon sniggers at Sunoo’s reaction, which isn’t subtle at all. His expression flickers between shock and embarrassment, and although he tries to scoff it off, there’s a telling smile tugging at his lips. Jungwon, pleased, highfives himself internally.

But then it’s his turn.

“Alright! Truth for Jungwon!”

“Let’s see…” trails Jake. “Okay, I have one. What was your weirdest dream?”

At the mention of dreams, Jungwon stiffens like someone had just poured ice down his back. He opens his mouth to answer, but nothing comes out. His brain is scrambling, because of course it had to jump straight to the hammock, to–

He forces a laugh, too high-pitched to sound casual. “Uh… I don’t really remember my dreams.”

Everyone groans.

“Lame!” Riki gives him a thumbs down.

“That’s cheating, by the way,” Jay adds.

Jungwon glares, flustered. “I’m serious! They’re so boring. Like, yesterday I dreamed I… lost my… uh… flip flops. In the sea.”

Sunoo narrows his eyes. “No offense, but you’re a terrible liar, Jungwon.” 

“Your face is all red,” Riki points out unhelpfully. “Like, I get it if you don’t remember your dreams, but you’re acting really suspicious.”

Jake nods. “Clearly you did dream about something last night, so what was it? Come on, spill.” 

Jungwon closes his eyes desperately, trying to come up with something plausible. It’s hopeless, though, because he really is a terrible liar. “I…”

“What, was it like a sex dream or something?” Sunghoon questions. 

Maybe it was just a throwaway guess. Maybe Sunghoon was just being Sunghoon and trying to tease him, but it’s too late. 

Jungwon freezes. The tips of his ears burn, and before he can stop himself, his entire face blooms a furious shade of scarlet. 

“Yoooo!” Riki howls, practically falling off the couch.

“Oh my god,” Sunoo gasps, “It was, wasn’t it?”

Jake grins, leaning forward. “It totally was.”

Jungwon can’t even defend himself. In fact, the only thing he’s able to utter at this moment is a strangled stammer.

“Who was it about?” Heeseung presses, eyes sparkling with mischief.

That’s when Jungwon’s body decides to betray him, as his eyes involuntarily flicker towards the one person in the room who hasn’t said anything. It’s barely a fraction of a second – anyone could’ve missed it if they blinked at the wrong moment – but with everyone fixated on him, Jungwon couldn’t escape.

“No way,” Sunghoon says, mouth agape. “Don’t tell me it’s…”

“JAY?!” Riki bellows.

The living room absolutely explodes. Pillows are flying, Sunoo is shrieking, Riki is doubled over, pounding on the floor. Jake runs up to Sunghoon and starts shaking him by the shoulders in their mutual exhilaration. Even Heeseung’s grinning wide as the chaos snowballs.

“Oh my god, it all makes sense now!” Sunghoon shouts. “That’s why he was so weird this morning!”

“And that’s why he was blushing hard as fuck when Jay was talking to him!” Sunoo exclaims.

Jungwon wants to crawl into the ground and stay there. He also wants to kill Jake for bringing up this topic, Sunghoon for guessing correctly, and Riki for screaming Jay’s name. Matter of fact, he wants to kill everyone in this damn room, including himself.

Across from him, Jay sits dumbfounded. His searching eyes meet Jungwon’s, as if asking, Is it true? Is this real? 

So naturally, Jungwon buries his face into the armrest.

That, of course, tells Jay everything he needed to know. Slowly, his shock and confusion turns into something playful.

“Well,” Jay drawls, getting up to cross the room, crouching down next to Jungwon. “Now this is an interesting turn of events.”

Jungwon peeks up at him, only to be met with the widest grin Jay’s ever worn in his life. His embarrassment curdles into defensiveness.

“Okay, so what if I did have a sex dream about Jay? It doesn’t mean anything!” Jungwon snaps. The room falls into gleeful silence, every pair of eyes glued to them.

“The most basic principles in psychology states that dreams are the windows to your unconscious desires,” Jake butts in, like a nerd. 

Jay whistles. “So… Jungwonie. You have unconscious desires about me?”

Jungwon shoves him in the shoulder. “No! You’re not even my type!”

To this he laughs, leaning backwards with maddening ease. “Was I good at least?” He asks cheekily.

“You wish,” Jungwon rolls his eyes, “and besides, we didn’t even do anything. It was just- just a bit of making out.”

“Why do you sound disappointed…” Riki whispers. Jungwon promptly throws a pillow at his face.

“The dream was just a fluke, nothing more, okay? Now can we just move on?” He pleads exasperatedly, voice cracking. 

The group, sensing that Jungwon is at his breaking point, finally turns their attention elsewhere. The noise shifts, the spotlight lifts, but Jay doesn’t go back to his spot. Instead, he climbs onto the couch right beside Jungwon. 

“By the way,” he whispers, leaning in close, grin never fading, “I’m not gonna forget about this.” Jungwon scowls, but an annoying part of his brain is quite conscious of the fact that Jay’s arm is casually draped across the backrest, hovering just behind his shoulders. He decides to ignore it for the time being, because, really, drawing attention to it would only make things more embarrassing for him.

Subsequently, the game keeps rolling.

Following the original order, it’s Riki’s turn, with “What’s the dumbest thing you’ve ever done drunk?” He immediately launches into a story about the time he tried to FaceTime his dog at 2 am, only to burst into tears when the call went unanswered. He ends with a sad acknowledgement that he is quite a silly drunk, which is why he rarely drinks at larger social functions.

Then it’s Heeseung, with “What’s something you’ve never told anyone?” After a long pause, he sheepishly admits that he sometimes writes songs in secret. Naturally, Heeseung is duly pressured into “showing proof” via a thirty second demo from his phone, to which everyone claps like he had just debuted as the next Taylor Swift.

After is Sunoo, with “If you could swap closets with anyone here, who would it be?” No one’s surprised when he says Sunghoon. Jungwon also doesn’t miss the way they smile through eye contact across the room.

Next it’s Jake, with a simple “Who’s your celebrity crush?” He doesn’t hesitate: Margot Robbie and Jungkook. This sets the group into a fit of giggles – Jungwon suspects it has more to do with the fact that everything’s funnier late at night, but regardless, the image of Jake fanboying over Jungkook is undeniably comical.

“Alright, Jay. Your turn.” Riki wipes tears of laughter from his eyes, still recovering.

Jay crooks his head, confident. “Someone give me a dare.”

Sunoo, who’s been laying on his front on the floor, rolls onto his back. “Okay. I dare you to give a person of your choice…” he flashes a malicious smile, “...a kiss on the cheek.”

The group whoops suggestively, as everyone turns to Jay expectantly. After Jungwon’s disastrous confession from earlier, the room simmers with suspense as they wait for Jay’s next move. 

Jungwon avoids eye contact with everyone by looking very intently up the ceiling. For a long moment, he feels Jay’s gaze burning into the side of his face, and although the last thing he wants is to be humiliated even more tonight, something like anticipation buzzes in his chest as he waits for what inevitably happens next. 

But then, the couch dips, and Jay stands up. Shocked gasps ripple throughout the boys as he walks over towards Jake, and without any warning, grabs him by the neck and pecks him on the cheek. 

“There you go,” he says simply, and with annoying indifference, plops right back down to his original seat on the opposite couch. 

Sunghoon’s jaw is dropped open. “I did not see that coming,” he squeaks out. 

Jake has a hand on the cheek that Jay kissed, looking equally as stunned. “But… what about..” 

Jungwon had observed the whole scene unfold in slow motion with wide eyes and fists clenched. Of course, the dare had stated that Jay could choose anyone he wanted, and Jungwon didn’t want to be chosen anyway – but still, an ugly sensation bubbles up inside of him. 

Jealousy.

He’s sure of what it is now. 

The unpleasant squeeze of his chest. The irrefutable anger that manifests whenever Jay is with someone else.

Yes, it was rooted in annoyance, and yes, he hated the fact that Jay is a flirt, but… he was only really angry when it was directed towards someone else. Come to think of it, the feeling is familiar. Actually, it has arisen time and time again in the past: with Yunjin, the girl he was talking to when they had that group project; with Chloe, and now with Jake. Heck, he was even feeling it a little with Heeseung, even with their reassurance that nothing happened.

Jungwon jolts with the realisation that he didn’t mind when Jay flirted with him. In fact, he…

…actually really likes it.

And now with Jay sitting far away, acting all nonchalant after kissing Jake, he decides that this is the absolute worst moment in time to realise that he has a crush on this man.

A disastrous, terrible, severe crush.

Jay Park? Really, Jay Park?

The Jay Park that he hated so much? 

Jungwon buries his head in the couch again. 

“Woah,” Sunghoon finally says. “Jay is being messy left and right today. First Heeseung, then Jungwon, now Jake?”

“Okay, you can’t call that being messy,” Jay refutes, “it’s just truth or dare. This is what you’re supposed to do.”

“Speaking of, I have a question for you, Jay,” Sunoo says.

“What? But I just went!”

“This isn’t part of the game, I just wanna know.”

“Uh… okay?”

“What’s your opinion on Chloe?”

Heeseung grimaces. “Ooh, another one of Jay’s victims.”

Riki nods. “He is so problematic.”

“Guys, would you stop it?” Jay rebuts defensively. “None of you guys are my ‘victims’. Chloe is not my ‘victim’. Like, okay I was lowkey playing along at the beginning, but it seemed like she really liked me so I put some space between us.”

Jungwon, who’s been listening, looks up. This conversation is gauging his interest now.

“She’s pretty and all, but I don’t like her that way,” Jay continues. “Besides, she’s not my type.”

“So what is your type?” Jake asks.

“I don’t know, not her,” he replies vaguely, fiddling with his fingers. 

Sunoo scoffs, throwing an empty pizza box at Jay’s face with scary accuracy. “Oh my god, stop being so mysterious with it! Just spit it out!”

Flabbergasted at Sunoo’s seriousness, Jay stammers. “Okay, okay! Sorry, jeez. Like, I don’t know, she was too… nice. Too agreeable. That’s boring, you know?”

The room is silent. Every single pair of eyes is on him.

Jay gulps. “So… yeah. I guess I like someone with a little more fire. Someone who’s fun to tease.” His gaze flickers to Jungwon, but immediately looks away once he sees that the other boy was already watching him. “Someone who keeps me on my toes.”

“So basically, you want someone who bullies you back,” says Riki.

“Well, obviously it’s not just that,” Jay sighs, “they also need to be funny, and smart, and, you know, physically attractive.” 

With the dark lighting, he’s not sure, but Jungwon is almost positive that Jay is blushing right now. It’s strange, because he has never seen the normally suave and confident boy be this flustered before.

“And what’s physically attractive to you?” Sunoo presses.

“Hello? Why is Sunoo full-on interrogating me right now?” Jay asks incredulously.

“Just answer the question,” Sunghoon says, deadpan.

Jay scratches his head nervously. “My physical type? Well, I like people who are cute.”

“Cute?” Sunoo repeats. “Cute like Jungwon?”

Jungwon whips his head towards Sunoo. What is he trying to do?

Jay starts sputtering even more. “Wh-What? When did I even mention Jungwon?”

“So you don’t think Jungwon is cute?” Sunoo emphasises.

“I- I didn’t say that! Jungwon is cute, it’s just–” 

Collective gasps from across the room. 

Oh.

Oh.

“Oh my god,” Jake’s voice cracks as he collapses sideways on the carpet, clutching his stomach. “Fucking finally!”

Riki is wheezing so hard he can barely breathe. “This- this is the best night of my life!” He topples over onto Heeseung’s lap, tears streaming down his face.

“Thank me later,” Sunoo declares smugly, sitting up straighter. “I fear I did God’s work today.”

Jungwon feels like his ears are on fire. His brain is stuck in a loop, replaying Jay’s words over and over, trying to process what just happened.

“You think I’m cute?” He blurts, stupefied.

Jay groans, covering his face with both hands, sliding further and further down the couch as if trying to disappear into the cushions.

“Yeah, and he also thinks you’re funny, smart, and, you know, physically attractive too,” Sunghoon grins wickedly, echoing Jay’s words from before.

“I didn’t mean it like that, God,” he croaks.

“So what did you mean?” Jungwon chuckles disbelievingly.

Jay peaks through his fingers, and their eyes meet. In that instant, Jungwon swears he feels a shift in the atmosphere. Oh no.

Dragging his hands down his face, Jay exhales sharply, and when he finally looks up, the pink flush on his cheeks is still clear as day – but it’s layered with something else. His tongue presses against the inside of his cheek, a small smirk tugging wide like he’s savoring a private joke. Jungwon thinks he looks really fucking hot right now, which isn’t fair, really.

“I think you know what I meant, Jungwon,” he says, with a newfound air of confidence. “What, do you wanna hear me say it again?”

Chapter Text

Jungwon would consider himself a pretty smart person. He gets good grades in school, and teachers have always called him a bright kid. He’s logical, well spoken, and practical. 

Not all the time, though. Not when it comes to certain people, evidently. 

The second Jay had flipped the situation back on him, Jungwon bolted. Embarrassingly, he had physically removed himself from the living room as fast as humanly possible. 

He’s now hiding in the bathroom. 

Jungwon’s gotta give it to Jay; if there’s one thing he has, it’s confidence. Because no normal person gets exposed for having a crush (if that’s even what it was — he’s not exactly sure what happened there), and then responds by asking “You wanna hear me say it again?” in a flirty way. 

And then now sharing a bed with said crush. Which actually goes both ways, technically, but Jungwon doesn’t want to think about it. 

So he busies himself by brushing his teeth. Might as well, anyway, since he could hear the conversations die down in the living room as the group slowly divides back into their separate quarters. 

Outside, the storm continues to rage. Rain spatters against the roof as thunder rolls low and heavy.

Washing out the toothpaste, Jungwon grips the sink in resignation. It’s always been weird rooming with Jay, but now it’s even weirder with all this tension simmering in the air. While too busy contemplating past events, Jungwon almost doesn’t notice Jay stepping into the bathroom, looking a little too relaxed for someone that really should have more shame. 

“…Hey…” Jungwon says awkwardly, sidestepping him towards the door. “I’m done, so… you can– yeah.” He brushes past, quickly slinking out of the bathroom. 

Wow. Super smooth, Jungwon. Could he have been any more embarrassing?

Running to the bed, Jungwon dives under the covers and pretends to be asleep. Maybe if he stays still enough, Jay will take the hint and leave him alone.

Of course, that’s wishful thinking.

The mattress dips beside him.

“I know you’re not asleep, Jungwon,” Jay chuckles.

He exhales, long and defeated, his heartbeat loud against the thunder. “What do you want?” His voice comes out muffled against the blanket.

“Are we not gonna talk about what just happened?”

“No.” Jungwon knows avoidance is bad, he gets it. But talking to Jay is the last thing he wants to do right now.

“Fine,” Jay replies easily, “then at least tell me what we did in your dream.”

“What–” Jungwon jerks down the covers– “NO!”

There Jay sits, leaning back on his palms with a wide, shameless grin. “C’mon, I was in it! I deserve to know.” 

Jungwon flushes, fisting his hands into the bedsheets. “No, Park – you don’t deserve to know anything!”

“Back on last name bases now, are we?” Jay raises an eyebrow. “Just when I thought we were making progress.”

Jungwon is about to reply with a snarky “Progress on what?” when the other man reaches behind his own shoulder and… pulls off his shirt. 

Which very quickly and very obviously sends Jungwon’s train of thought down a cliff. There is no way Jay isn’t doing this on purpose. 

“Why is your shirt off again?!” he hisses, slapping both hands over his eyes. Of course, he’s seen Jay shirtless countless times over the past week, but the sight in the context of swimming and on his bed is wildly different. 

“My back really hurts — I think I got a sunburn, so…” Jay reaches to the bedside table for a small green container. “…can you help me apply this aloe vera?”

Jungwon uncovers his eyes and is promptly met with a bare, muscular back. The sight reminds him of the jetski ride and his stomach twists in a way that makes Jungwon wish he could disappear into the mattress.

“Please? I can’t reach it,” says Jay, knitting his eyebrows upwards. And– what the fuck, is he pouting?

Jungwon is ashamed to say the attempt at being cute kinda works on him. 

With a resigned sigh, he reaches forward, taking the small container and uncapping it. As he starts to apply the cool gel, his fingers feel hot when they brush against Jay’s skin. 

“Ugh, why didn’t you just ask Jake or someone else to do this,” Jungwon grumbles.

“Why would I ask Jake when you’re right here?” Jay glances over his shoulder, smirking. “By the way, I’m still waiting for your answer to my question.”

“I told you what happened already,” Jungwon sighs, giving up.

“Okay, I know you said we made out, but you gotta be more specific. Like, where? And how? Also, that can’t be it. Something else must’ve happened for you to be that mortified. Wait! Was there like, grind–”

“Stop!” interrupts Jungwon, slapping a hand on Jay’s mouth as his voice rings with panic. “Just– stop talking!”

Jay’s eyes meet his, wide and confused, and for a long moment neither of them know what to say. Jungwon blinks and looks away, flustered. 

“I’m serious, nothing happened. I was on a hammock by the beach and you came to disturb me as per usual, then you just sat down and started kissing me all of a sudden.” 

Jay is silent for a moment, the only sound in the room being the thunder rumbling in the background. Jungwon, finished with the aloe vera, caps the container and wipes his hands dry on his shirt. “All done. You owe me.”

Slowly twisting around to face him, Jay leans in closer than before, giving his heartbeat an embarrassing spike. 

“And you kissed me back?” He grins.

Jungwon falters backwards. “I don't know! It was a dream, I wasn't thinking straight!”

“Did you like it?” Jay asks, tilting his head.

“Um, no, obviously.” 

“Are you sure?”

“…Ye– Yeah?” He feels the pulse in his ear now.

“Cuz we can reenact it in real life any time, you know,” Jay whispers, gaze dropping down.

Jungwon scrambles, shoving him back by the chest. “Alright, I’m done. You’ve lost your talking privileges.”

Jay just laughs, flopping down to his side of the bed with infuriating ease, reaching out to turn the lights off.

The room settles into a loaded silence broken only by the rain hammering at the windows. Jungwon rolls over, yanking the blanket up to his chin, determined to block Jay out. 

Just then, a sudden flash of lightning strobes the room, and thunder shakes the house. It’s loud enough to make the walls tremble, and Jungwon jumps instinctively, his heart leaping into his throat.

“That was so loud, what the fuck,” he breathes.

“Yeah, it felt like the lightning was like, right outside the window.”

An involuntary shiver runs down his spine as Jungwon nods.

Jay notices. “...Are you scared?” he asks gently. Jungwon tries to detect any hint of teasing, but he finds none.

“No,” he lies quickly, clutching at the blanket tighter. Another rumble crashes through the sky, and he flinches again, betraying himself.

Jay shifts closer, and before Jungwon can protest, there’s a solid weight draping over him – Jay’s arm, warm and steady, tucking him in. 

“Hey, I know it’s scary, but you’re safe in here.”

“But the window was shaking…” Jungwon finds himself nuzzled against Jay’s chest. Definitely not on purpose or anything, just naturally by the way Jay is holding him. Which, now that he’s in this position, is very intimate. 

Suddenly, the room feels really, really hot.

“Yeah? The window was shaking?” Jay asks playfully. “Wanna swap sides with me then?” 

Jay’s side is closer to the door and further away from the window, but he doesn’t want to move. Jungwon shakes his head, squeezing his eyes shut as he listens to Jay’s heartbeat. He focuses on the pulse to try to distract himself from the loud thunder, as well as the heat on his face and the implications of their actions right now. 

It feels so good, so comforting, being this close to Jay, having Jay around him, comforting him – but it’s also humiliating, letting himself go like this. Jungwon hates it. Hates losing control, hates feeling off-balance from all the flirting and teasing. Underneath it all, he fears rejection. What if all of this is just some elaborate back and forth, and Jay doesn’t really like him? What if all he is is just a game? A summer fling, nothing more? Jungwon feels overwhelmed, and most of all, scared. So he does what does best: he pushes his feelings away. 

“You can let go of me now,” he mutters, wriggling slightly.

Jay doesn’t budge right away. “You sure?”

“I’m fine,” he insists. Jungwon pushes at Jay’s torso half-heartedly until he finally, with a sigh, lets go and rolls back to his side of the bed.

“Alright, tough guy. Just don’t wake me up screaming when lightning hits again,” Jay mumbles.

Jungwon scowls at the ceiling, cheeks still burning, but he doesn’t answer. The storm keeps raging, and it’s still scary – but eventually, his eyelids grow heavy, and he drifts off to sleep.

--------

Morning comes, and pale light filters through the curtains, soft and gray after the long storm. Jungwon blinks awake groggily, disoriented for a moment until the faint warmth in front of him registers.

Jay.

Nose to nose.

Two inches away.

Woah.

Maybe it’s the peace of the morning, but neither distress nor rationality hits Jungwon immediately. For a moment he just stares, eyes tracing the lines of Jay’s face. His lashes rest against his cheek, adorned with a natural pink tint. His skin is decorated with the faintest freckles, two small moles dotted underneath his eye. A tiny scar sits on his nose bridge, and Jungwon wonders how Jay got it.

Although he’s been met with this image basically every morning this week, it feels different now, somehow. Softer. 

Is this another dream? It feels like a dream.

Jay is cute. 

The inexplicable urge to touch his face brings perception to Jungwon’s fingertips, to which he realises that his fingers are laced tightly with something big and warm underneath the covers.

Wait… Could it be…?

With mortification, Jungwon realises that he has been holding onto Jay’s hand this whole time. 

And his grip isn’t just casual, either. It’s firm, like he’d clung onto it sometime during the night and never let go. In fact, he wonders how Jay hadn’t noticed.

Jungwon stares at their interlaced fingers, panic rising slowly. How the hell is he gonna get out without Jay waking up and teasing him about it? 

Slowly, carefully, he peels his fingers away. Jay shifts, murmuring something incoherent, and Jungwon stills, holding his breath. When Jay settles again, he slips off the bed, feet hitting the cool floorboards soundlessly.

Jungwon feels dizzy, with something stupid fluttering in his stomach. Get a grip, he tells himself, and quietly leaves the room.

Some of the others are already scattered around the living room and kitchen in various states of morning disarray. Sunghoon digging through the fridge, Sunoo sprawled half-asleep on the couch, and Riki sitting cross-legged on the floor eating Fruit Loops straight from the box.

“Morning,” Jungwon says, voice scratchy. He goes to pour himself a glass of orange juice.

“Morning,” Sunghoon calls out. “The thunder was crazy last night, right?”

“Yeah, I heard it. I felt it, too.”

“For real. I thought the roof was gonna blow off,” Riki says through a mouthful of cereal. “I was gonna go check on you and Jay, but Jake said to ‘let you two be,’ so…”

Jungwon nearly chokes on his juice. “Sorry– what?”

“Yeah,” Riki says casually. “He was whispering something to Heeseung, and then they started laughing, so I figured maybe you guys were like–”

“Like what?” Jungwon demands, voice cracking just slightly.

“I don’t know! I seemed like you guys just needed some space, after everything that happened last night.” Riki shrugs, shoveling another handful of Fruit Loops into his mouth.

“You guys did need to talk a lot of things out,” Sunghoon adds while starting to make himself scrambled eggs. “So what happened?”

Sunoo stirs on the couch, yawning with eyes still closed. “Just to let you guys know, I'm listening to this conversation,” he murmurs. 

“Nothing happened,” Jungwon replies curtly. “We just went to sleep.”

“Reeeally?” Riki wiggles his eyebrows.

“Uh, yeah? What else did you think would’ve happened?”

“I dunno,” he shrugs again. “Maybe you started cuddling, or like, making out. Or doing something more.”

Jungwon gasps, scandalised. “Riki! Why would you say that? That’s so inappropriate!”

“Not as inappropriate as your literal sex dream…”

“That was never supposed to be public knowledge. You guys just exposed me for no reason.”

“But Riki’s not too out of the question, though,” Sunghoon butts in. “You guys are both hot and single, and you’re attracted to each other, so it makes sense that you could start dating.”

“What the fuck, slow down,” Jungwon holds up his hands in a stop sign, cheeks turning pink. “First of all, we didn’t do anything, and we’re not going to do anything. Holding me during the storm doesn’t count.”

Sunoo’s eyes pop open and Riki’s widen comically. “WHA—“

“Second of all, you guys need to find a hobby that’s not being up in other people’s business.”

“Wait, did he say ‘hold me during the storm’ or did I dream that?” Sunoo sits up, hair sticking out in every direction. If it weren’t for the situation, Jungwon would’ve laughed. 

“He definitely said it. But what does that even mean?” Sunghoon quips. “‘Oh, Jay, the lightning is too loud, I’m scared!’ ‘Don’t worry Jungwon, you’ll be safe in my arms!’”

Jungwon rolls his eyes. “That is not what happened.” Actually, it was pretty accurate, but he’s not pleased with the way he was portrayed. Jungwon did not whine like a damsel in distress. 

“You’re such a liar,” Sunghoon snorts.

He’s saved from the conversation when Jake bursts in through the patio door. “Hey, guys! Luckily, the storm cleared up from last night so the beach is super nice – I just checked. Come on, we only have one day left!” 

It’s true, they don’t have much time. So after threats of ‘we’re not done with this conversation!’ towards Jungwon, they wake the rest of the boys up, dragging them out of bed one by one. The house fills with groggy complaints, slight hangovers from the beer Heeseung brought out last night, and the wafts of Redbull and salt drifting through open windows. Someone burns toast. Someone else can’t find their shorts. Riki’s blasting music way too loudly, and Sunoo’s yelling at him to turn it down. 

Amidst the chaos, Jay seems to be in a really good mood today. He’s smiling and laughing a lot, not that Jungwon notices. He brushes it off, refusing to make eye contact. Why, he doesn’t know – but avoiding Jay just seems like the safest option at the moment. 

 Before they know it, everyone is ready to go, and they set off for their last day at the beach. 

“Jungwon, wait,” a voice calls out from behind. He glances back to see Jay, being the last to step out the door, locking it with the housekey.

Jungwon’s heart picks up its pace. Is this it? Is he about to confront him about the hand-holding? “What, Jay? Hurry up, everyone’s already gone ahead.”

Jay says nothing, approaching him with slow steps. Jungwon notices something small and shiny in his hand – squinting, he recognises a familiar seashell pendant on a gold chain.

“Is that…?”

“It’s the necklace from the museum,” Jay replies, casual.

Jungwon's eyes shoot wide open. “You bought it? For me?”

“I mean, you were looking at it, so…” Jay closes the remaining space between them, holding the chain up to inspect. “Why, do you not like it?”

“NO! I mean–” Jungwon clears his throat, “no, I like it. Just– why?”

To his bewilderment, Jay grabs Jungwon’s shoulders and spins him around, facing backwards. The chain brushes Jungwon’s collarbone, cool and light, and Jay’s fingers skim the back of his neck as he fastens the clasp. 

“Just as a souvenir, to remember our trip. Nothing weird,” he whispers. Jungwon feels both the warmth of Jay’s breath against his neck and the heat rising in the tips of his ears.

Jay turns him back around, resting his hands on Jungwon’s shoulders. “Looks good. It suits you.”

Jungwon is sure his face has never been more red in his life.

“I– I, um…”

Jay gives him a bright grin. “We better go catch up with the others.” 

Jolting, as if coming to his senses, Jungwon snaps his head back to look for the other boys. They’re all probably at the beach now, gone far ahead and disappearing off the path.

This situation is getting too much to bear. “I’m gonna go first…!” He mumbles.

Naturally, Jungwon sprints away, not sparing a glance back to see Jay’s reaction.

--------

“Taehyun! I thought I’d never see you again!” Riki sobs dramatically, arms wrapped around the surf instructor’s middle.

“I missed you too,” Taehyun pats him on the back sympathetically. “Jake just texted me to come hang out… you know, since I couldn’t yesterday.”

“Great to see you, Tae,” Heeseung says, taking his usual board from Kai at the hut. “Now come on, let’s get in the water quick!”

“You guys go ahead first.” Taehyun smiles and looks back at Jungwon, who’s getting his board. “Jungwon! How have you been?”

The boy beams. “Good! I’ve had plenty of practice so hopefully I don’t fall immediately like last time.”

“Haha, we’ll see, but I believe in you!” 

They start to chat as they enter the water, Taehyun steadying Jungwon’s board while he climbs on. Jay catches up a few seconds later. 

“Whatcha guys talking about?” he calls out with a smile that doesn’t quite reach his eyes.

“Oh hey, Jay,” Taehyun gives a friendly smile. “Jungwon was just telling me about his progress. He’s improved a lot.”

“Right,” Jay says, his tone light but clipped. “He’s been doing really well. Probably doesn’t need help anymore.”

Jungwon glances at him, catching the edge in his voice. What’s that supposed to mean?

“I think Jungwon can speak for himself if he wants help or not,” Taehyun chuckles. “You, on the other hand… sure you don’t need any pointers?”

Jay furrows his brows in irritation. “Excuse me?”

“I mean, your technique is kinda sloppy.” 

Jay scoffs. “At least I’m not a pretentious prick.” With that, he takes off, executing a flashy maneuver on a wave curling in. 

Taehyun lets out a humourless laugh. “This guy…” he mutters, before paddling after him.

Jungwon thinks it’s pretty ironic that Jay called Taehyun a pretentious prick, but he doesn’t feel like this is the time to instigate things further. 

In fact, the energy is already tense enough. What starts as harmless showing off turns into a silent competition — each wave a chance to one-up the other. Every trick gets riskier, every comment sharper. Jungwon spends most of it caught somewhere between awe and secondhand embarrassment, wondering how the hell surfing turned into a full on battlefield.

He isn’t the only one who notices, either.

“What’s up with them?” Heeseung asks, gesturing towards Jay and Taehyun, who are shoving at each other while on their boards, waiting for the next big wave.

“It’s like they’re trying to assert dominance,” says Sunoo, fascinated. He, Heeseung, and Jungwon are resting by the shallow waters, observing the others. Jungwon doesn’t understand how everyone else can go for three hours being decimated by the ocean, and then still have energy to continue. 

“I’ve never seen Jay so pissed,” Heeseung laughs. 

“Don’t you think it’s too far, though?” Jungwon says, concerned. “One of them is bound to get hurt.”

“Trust me, they’ll be fine,” declares Sunoo. “And besides, it’s funny how they always look back at you for validation each time after showing off.”

Heeseung grins. “I can’t believe our baby Jungwonie is being fought over by two guys. It’s straight out of a movie, you can’t make this up.”

Jungwon groans, dragging his hands down his face. “I didn’t even know Taehyun was interested in me, let alone Jay? Literally just a few days ago we barely even got along. I don’t know why they’re doing this!”

“Bro, because you’re fine shit!” Sunoo cackles. “The signs were all there from the beginning. Even Taehyun was fairly obvious, you just didn’t see it. Actually, he probably thinks you were reciprocating with the way you were smiling and responding to him.”

“What?” Jungwon gasps. “I thought he was just being nice, so I was nice back! Sunoo, why didn’t you tell meee?”

“It doesn’t matter now,” Sunoo shrugs. “Look. You got two boys literally battling for your attention – the ball is in your court, Jungwon.”

Jungwon groans again, louder this time. “Ughhh, I don’t know. I never signed up for any of this.”

“It’s easy,” Heeseung says, “who do you think is better?”

“At surfing?” Jungwon looks at the figures in the distance, fingers fiddling with the seashell on his necklace. “Taehyun, obviously.”

Sunoo snorts. “You’ve not even been looking at Taehyun, how do you know he’s better?”

Jungwon flushes. “Can you not say that? Obviously from an objective standpoint, Taehyun is a surf instructor and he lives by the beach. Jay started surfing three days ago.”

“Okay, then riddle me this,” Heeseung smiles mischievously, “when are you and Jay gonna start dating?”

Jungwon splashes him in the face. “I was joking! I was joking!” Heeseung dodges, laughing. 

“By the way,” Sunoo says, a note of suspicion in his voice, “when did you get that necklace?”

Maybe if he plays dumb, Sunoo will let it go. “What necklace?”

“The one you’ve been caressing this whole morning.”

“Uh…” Jungwon clears his throat, “well…”

Before he has to confess the events of the morning to Sunoo (and by extension Heeseung), Jungwon is saved yet again by someone else interrupting.

“Hey!” Sunghoon calls out. “We’re doing chicken fights now. You guys wanna join?”

His announcement spreads fast, and soon everyone’s wading toward the shallows where the waves break softer. Surfboards are abandoned in the sand, and they gather around in a circle. Jay and Taehyun emerge from the water last, both wearing the same tight expressions that make Jungwon’s stomach flip.

“Okay, let’s divide into teams,” says Jake. “We can draw straws, but it’s probably easier to just pick your partners.”

“Sunoo, let’s go,” Sunghoon declares almost immediately. 

“Me?” Sunoo asks incredulously. “Wait–” but he’s already being dragged into the water by his self-appointed partner.

Riki whistles. “Wow.”

Jungwon, on the other hand, starts sweating profusely, feeling two pairs of eyes on him. What the heck is he supposed to do? Should he just go with Jake or Riki at this point, to maybe ease the tension a little?

Taehyun nudges him, the corners of his mouth turning up. “Jungwon, wanna–?”

“Oh… uh–”

But before he could think of an appropriate way to respond, Jungwon feels an arm snake around his waist, pulling him backwards flush against something warm.

“Nah, he’s with me.”

The voice vibrates low next to his ear. Instantaneously, Jungwon stops breathing; he’s almost too scared to glance back, but he does, anyway. 

There Jay is in all of his glory — perfectly composed, a victorious smirk playing on his lips — arm still firmly around him. “We have good chemistry, don’t we, Jungwon?”