rewrite the stars - jaywon

chapter 17

Jungwon was in the middle of bothering Jay as he made spinach and ricotta tarts, annoying him under the pretense of 'helping', when his phone lit up with a message from Sunghoon.

"Oh! Sorry, I have to answer this." Jungwon reached to wipe his messy, cheesy fingers off on Jay's apron.

Jay laughed and bumped him away with the side of his hip, "Good. Leave me alone."

Jungwon clutched his chest, feigning hurt.

"Wow, see if I come back and help you now. When did you learn about sarcasm?"

Jay smirked at Jungwon, his eyes flicking up from where he was bent over working on filling a tart crust.

"Who said I was being sarcastic?"

Jungwon's hand froze on his chest. For a heart-stopping moment, he was forced to entertain the idea that Jay hadn't been joking, that he'd genuinely been bothered by Jungwon.

Then, Jay's smirk disappeared as he leaned over, shoulders shaking, as he burst into laughter all over again.

Jungwon took his hand off his chest and shoved Jay lightly. Jungwon hoped he wouldn't notice the relieved smile spreading across his face.

"I miss when you used to be nice to me," Jungwon pouted, not meaning it at all. He wouldn't trade the warm feeling he got when Jay teased him or joked with him for anything.

Jungwon unlocked his phone to read Sunghoon's message.

from: sunghoon

hey

my brother's having an apartment party tn

he said i could bring a friend

wanna come?

"I'm still nice to you," Jay insisted, "I let you hang out with me, after all."

"Oh, he makes a couple jokes and all of a sudden he thinks he's a comedian," Jungwon said. Unfortunately, the effect of his quip was ruined as it was said through laughter.

He looked thoughtfully down at Sunghoon's message, weighing how Sunghoon would take to some gentle probing. In the end, Jungwon shrugged. He'd always lacked a bit of a filter anyways. He was sure Sunghoon would forgive him if he overstepped his boundaries a little.

to: sunghoon

did sunoo and ni-ki

already turned you down? :(

Jungwon watched his phone; he eyed the bubble indicating Sunghoon was in the midst of typing a message. He frowned as time went on and the bubble remained. He wondered how long Sunghoon's next text was going to be, and whether he should've just said yes instantly, rather than asking about Sunoo and Ni-ki.

Finally, the bubble disappeared.

from: sunghoon

they have plans

Jungwon winced. All those minutes spent composing a message for it to be only three words long. He didn't know what was up with Sunghoon, but he seemed to be hiding something. Whatever it was, whatever was bothering him-- maybe he needed a night out to forget it.

Jungwon could be there for him, even if Sunoo and Ni-ki couldn't.

to: sunghoon