my sweetest love // bnd hyeokmyungz

5. "just ignore him!"

"I'll buy you a drink, I swear."

Sanghyeok has somehow gotten roped into travelling to a nearby city centre to find shops that sold stickers, but there he was, pedalling on his bicycle while Jaehyun kept up beside him on his skateboard. With the promise of an ice americano, Sanghyeok accompanied him on his little venture in search of stickers.

"How many custom orders do you have?" Sanghyeok asked as he stopped his bicycle, getting off and locking it to a bike rack while Jaehyun put his skateboard between his backpack straps. "You've been getting quite a few since Yongguk hyung started that junior training class."

"I only have four for now," Jaehyun answered, guiding Sanghyeok into the building beside them. "One of them is a little girl, and she wants particularly pretty stickers, as she had told me, so I looked up some prop shops in the area that sells large stickers."

Sanghyeok hummed, glancing about the store they had entered. They greeted the cashier before walking to the first corridor to their left. "Are these the type of stickers you'd like? The Sanrio."

"Oh, these are perfect."

Jaehyun started sifting through the stickers, and Sanghyeok stepped back, glancing around to check any other sticker crates. He caught sight of Jaehyun's busy back and smiled to himself. Should he count this as a date? Maybe it would make Jaehyun happy if he called it a date. It was the first step to accepting that he probably liked his best friend as well, so maybe he should grow comfortable with expressing his feelings.

"Maki wanted doodle-like stickers, and Woonhak wanted mostly words and letters with realistic stickers," Jaehyun muttered, picking up a sticker pack with a frown. He smiled suddenly, turning around and calling Sanghyeok over. "Come here - they have sample stickers."

Sanghyeok raised a curious eyebrow as Jaehyun took off small stickers from a sample pack. He paused as Jaehyun pressed the sticker to his cheekbone, letting out a playful scoff as Jaehyun began giggling. "Really? Is it that entertaining?"

"Very." Jaehyun placed two stickers on each of Sanghyeok's cheeks, giggling all the while until he stepped back to admire his 'artwork'. "Ah, what a cutie."

"Then let me put on your face too," Sanghyeok said, picking up the sample sticker pack. He took a blue heart and pressed it to Jaehyun's cheek, a smile forming on his lips. "There - now you're cuter too."

Jaehyun froze for a moment, gulping nervously as Sanghyeok put the stickers down and walked away, occupying himself with the rest of the store's various props and trinkets. Jaehyun turned away, feeling his cheeks turn redder, but his heart was rushing in excitement.

"Ah, Sanghyeok-ah," Jaehyun said suddenly with a whiney tone, "you shouldn't tease me like that! Otherwise, I'll fall more in love with you."

Sanghyeok laughed at the other. "Is that even possible? Maybe that kiss last night fried your brain a little."

"Would you kiss me again?"

"If you ask nicely, then maybe."

"Then kiss my cheek right now."

Sanghyeok fell quiet for a moment, glancing at the concrete floor for a moment before turning to face Jaehyun. "Jaehyun, the only reason I can't be with you is because... my father...-"

"He really matters less than you think," Jaehyun stopped him, crossing his arms across his chest. "If he's the only reason, then we really don't have to announce it. Your parents still think we're friends, won't they? It's not like you'll openly tell them."

"Jaehyun, I told them I like guys." Silence. "It's why they act differently with me. It's why I... I can't be who I am. They control me in every way, and to just start dating you would hit the final nail in my coffin. I'd be dead - we'll never see one another again."

"Then stay with me, Sanghyeok. You're an adult - they can't do this. I'll speak with my parents, okay? I just... need your permission to tell them," the other offered. "I've watched you suffer for too long, and as a friend, I want to step in."

Sanghyeok had tears in his eyes at that point. He avoided the other's eyes, glancing up at Jaehyun when the other stepped forward to hold his face in his hands. He wiped away Sanghyeok's tears with his thumbs, his heart growing heavy at the sight of his friend being so vulnerable. "Jaehyun, the staff are looking at us..."

"I don't care. You need reassurance."

After their rather untimely emotional moment, the two paid for their items and went off to the next store. After an hour of hopping between various prop stores, they made their way back to the skate park. Jaehyun was smiling as always, but Sanghyeok's head was clearly full of thoughts. Jaehyun noticed, but he rather let Sanghyeok think things through before anything was done any further.

"Jaehyun-ah."

"Yes, Sanghyeok-ah?"

"... I'll think about it a bit more, okay?"

"Think about it?"

"... if I like you or not."

Jaehyun smiled as Sanghyeok walked ahead of him into the indoor skate park. He wanted to make a playful joke, but it seemed that Sanghyeok was quite serious, so he didn't press further. He simply smiled to himself as he followed Sanghyeok into the skate park. He caught sight of the park owner standing behind the cash register, waving his hand to signal his arrival.

"Yongguk hyung!" Jaehyun grinned as he gave a full ninety degree bow. "I got the stickers for the skateboards, so I'll be in the back room."

Yongguk nodded in response, pointing to the backroom behind him with his thumb. "Yeojin is in there, though - just tell her you're gonna work."

Jaehyun raised an eyebrow, lifting his backpack and skateboard to the counter. "Who's Yeojin?"

"Oh, she's just a friend's sister - he asked if she could come over here until he got back home.