ex boyfriend | lee heeseung

Chapter 13

"What?" Jake looked at Sunghoon, confused about what the latter had just said. 

"Jake, I'm your best friend, you don't need to lie to me. You like y/n, don't you?" Sunghoon asked again. 

"No, Sunghoon, what is wrong with you? She's my friend, I don't...I don't see her in that way," Jake defended himself. 

"Yeah, okay, maybe you don't. But why are you so jealous when she talks about her ex?" Sunghoon looked at Jake, but Jake's eyes darted away. 

"I'm not jealous. It's just that...I know she can do so much better than Heeseung," Jake said, now looking back at Sunghoon. 

Sunghoon observed Jake's face, and he could tell that Jake wasn't lying. But Sunghoon was convinced that, even if Jake himself didn't know it yet, there was something brewing between you and Jake. Sunghoon could sense it, but if neither you nor Jake would admit to it, then he'd have to take matters into his own hands. 

"Okay, so this is about Heeseung not being good enough. Well then, why don't we give him a few more chances to treat y/n better? Then everything will be fine, right Jakey?" Sunghoon asked, this time he was steering the conversation. 

"I guess......I just don't want her running back to him. It makes her seem desperate. And there's no need for her to be desperate, especially not for him." 

Bingo! Sunghoon thought. 

There it was. That hint of jealousy. Now Sunghoon was sure that he didn't miscalculate. All he had to do now was find a way to bring two of his best friends together and make them realise their feelings for each other. Easier said than done though, since Jake wouldn't even admit it to Sunghoon, and you were still going on about Heeseung. But Sunghoon knew this was the right thing to do. He placed his hand on Jake's back, motioning for the two of them to walk back into the living room where the rest of you were still sitting. 

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"What took you guys so long to load the dishwasher?" Hannah asked, laughing at how long Jake and Sunghoon took. Jake turned to look at Sunghoon, remembering the conversation that they had just had.

"We wanted to escape watching Vampire Diaries, sorry Wonyo." Sunghoon laughed.

"Hey, we weren't even watching the show! We were talking about y/n's love life," Wonyoung said, nudging you and raising her eyebrows.

"Oh, now I'm intrigued," Sunghoon said, looking at Jake.

"We were saying that y/n and Heeseung should hang out again!" Sunoo excitedly said, impressed with his own idea.

"Sunoo! Quit being annoying, will you?" You whined, having had enough of the teasing. It wasn't that you didn't want to see Heeseung again, but you were unsure if he felt the same way. And the last thing you wanted was to make yourself look like an idiot in front of him. 

"Hey, Sunoo's got a point. There's only one way to know for sure if Heeseung is the one for you," Sunghoon chimed in, supporting Sunoo. 

"I guess that's true...But I don't want to make a fool of myself," You said, admitting to what you were feeling. 

"Well, then, you can just wait until Heeseung strikes up a conversation. I'm sure that won't take too long," Hannah teases, nudging you with her elbow. 

"Or maybe, y/n could just get rid of him for good. Why are all of you so adamant about this all of a sudden?" Jake asked, the frustration in his voice seeping through. 

"C'mon Jake, you have to admit that the whole 'staying over to clean the apartment and make breakfast' thing was super cute," Jungwon smiled through his words. 

"Exactly! I think you should give the guy another chance, but wait until he says something," Sunghoon said, looking at Jake right after he spoke. 

"You're right Sunghoon! If Heeseung starts a conversation then we can all see where it goes. Sound good?" You asked, needing reassurance from your friends. 

They all nodded their heads, except for Jake, who seemed to be getting more and more frustrated with the idea of Heeseung coming back into your life. But you didn't think much of it. You knew that Jake was protective over his friends. And you definitely knew how much Jake hated Heeseung. 

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Heeseung was still in his office room. When he decided to join the marketing division of PJ Star Finance as an intern, he wasn't expecting to be doing so much work. But when he was stuck doing the work for the new accounting intern at the request of his manager, Heeseung didn't complain. It technically wasn't his department, but that didn't stop him from completing the work to the best of his abilities. 

He had two reasons. Reason One: getting into the good books of the managers, and if that means doing other people's work, Heeseung was ready. Reason Two: it would distract him from his feelings about you. Ever since he dropped you off that day, he couldn't stop thinking about you. He'd sent a message to check on you a few days ago, but apart from that, nothing. He knew he was overthinking. But what if you never talked to him again? Or what if you just outright rejected him? Heeseung hated to admit it, but he was scared that he'd lose you forever if he didn't play it right. He'd already messed up once since you ran into him at that bookstore, he knew he couldn't afford to do it again.  

So, here he was, sitting alone in his manager's office, finishing off the work for the accounting intern. It was almost 10 pm when Heeseung closed his laptop, finally finishing the work. He knew that the other intern was waiting for him somewhere in the fancy kitchen on the 4th floor. He packed up his belongings, carefully sliding his laptop into his backpack, and grabbing his phone from the desk. He held the USB in his hand, making sure it was the one he'd just uploaded all the work onto. 

There were still people working, so the lights in the office building stayed on. And since most people who worked for PJ Star were workaholics, it was rare to see the common spaces being empty. So when Heeseung walked into the kitchen of the 4th floor and only saw one person sitting at the table, sipping on a coffee while scrolling through his laptop, Heeseung knew that this was the intern he was looking for. 

"Hey, you're the intern from the accounting department, right?" Heeseung said, causing the man to turn around. 

But Heeseung had seen this man before, he knew it. But he couldn't quite remember. 

And then, it hit him. 

He knew exactly where he'd seen this guy.