we are inevitable | jakehoon

twelve.

The first term break of the year arrives soon after spring descends upon the city. The week-long break is too short to justify two and a half days of travel to and from home, and Jake and Sunoo both agree to spend the holiday on campus, their first reprieve since the rigor of the semester set in.

"Shall we have our first date this weekend?" Jake asks, making his bed as he packs his things for the last day of school before spring break.

"Finally?" Sunoo throws back jokingly, still in bed. The English Lit department apparently loves their undergraduates, given Jake's never seen Sunoo have to leave for class any earlier than quarter to nine in the morning. "Kidding. Where do you want to go?"

"The library, so we can read about my new module for the Doppler effect."

"I mean this with as much kindness as I can muster, but what is wrong with you."

"Have a good day in class~"

Sunoo sits up in bed, still tangled in his blankets. "You've made this entire morning experience unpleasurable, Sim Jaeyun."

"Ah, what are men to rocks and mountains?" Jake quotes, grinning. "See you later, Sunoo!"

"You can't use Jane Austen against me, that's not how this works!"

Jake doesn't hold true to his threat, to Sunoo's great relief. They plan a cute afternoon picnic by the river just a couple of bus stations away from campus, stopping by the small push-cart street food stalls to pick up tteokbokki on the way. Spring is just beginning to break in; the weather is cool but not cold, and the air is crisp where the late-morning breeze stirs up the leaves on the low trees lining the riverbank.

"Let's play a game."

Jake looks up from smoothing out the corners of the picnic mat. "Sure. What game?"

"Twenty-one questions," Sunoo says. "I figured it'd be a good start, since we don't know each other all that well."

"Okay," the older boy says, sitting back. "I'll start. What's your favourite color?"

Sunoo drops a scathing look and gestures down his body; pink hair, pink jacket, pink bracelet-charm, pink socks. "Really?"

"Fine, goddamn," Jake laughs, picking a strawberry out of the picnic basket to throw at the other boy. "You ask me one, now. Don't you dare reuse my question now, Mr Creative."

"Okay, would you rather have a ball-sized head, or head-sized balls?"

"WHAT THE FUCK?"

─

Sunoo is, after all, every single empath trait possible distilled into a single human being. He knows when something's off with almost everyone he consistently talks to; it's a given that he notices something's off with Jake when the older boy closes himself off over the span of a few days and makes no move to change that.

He of all people knows everyone needs space every once in a while, but at the same time he can't hold himself back from at least trying to find out what's wrong.

"Look, if there's something you want to talk about..."

Jake feels something weigh down the foot of his bed, shifting the balance.

"Talk to me. I'm here, alright?"

The older boy flips himself onto his back. "There is," he begins slowly, as if he's already regretting starting the conversation, but he doesn't stop anyway. "Well, I wish this didn't have to happen, but I didn't think it would be fair to you if I kept hiding it."