the placebo effect ✘ jaywon

6: SURPRISE!

Right after their lunch, the couples went to walk around, but there's another obvious distance between Jungwon and Jay. It was as if a potion to get them to hold hands earlier is starting to wear off. "Now what's with you two? Why is it awkward again?" Sunghoon mumbles in confusion.

"We were in there for over an hour, we basically forgot we had to pretend to be boyfriends and now we're back to square one," Jay answers with a sigh.

"Oh come on-"

Jungwon stops abruptly, eyes wide as he instinctively walks to the nearest person beside him, which was coincidentally Jay. He looked as if he had just seen a wild animal, and everyone tried to match his cautious, frightened gaze.

Jay only furrows his eyebrows, trying to find what Jungwon was looking at. "What's with you?"

"My ex is here," Jungwon mutters, and only then does Jay piece things up together. Sure, he had seen Jungwon walking around with someone before, but he was never really interested to actually look. This ex of Jungwon's remains a mystery to him. As if Jungwon has unlocked telepathy between them, he points to a guy outside a store, a snapback on and a flannel.

"Who? That frat boy looking guy?" Eyes scrutinising the man, Jay asks.

Sunoo answers, "Yeah," there was a new tone in his voice, something Jay has never heard before. Nothing but pure rage. If Sunoo's voice is like that, Jay can't imagine how furious Jungwon might've looked right now, so he steals a glance and confirms his assumption. Jungwon's staring at his ex's soul with angry eyes, even worse than how Jungwon looks at him even when they were young. Way, way worse, and that was saying something.

Still, it doesn't wipe away the look of shock in Jungwon's face. Blood drained in his countenance, shaky sighs despite his clenched fists. He really looks like he shouldn't have seen the guy.

"Sim Jaeyun," Sunoo rolls his eyes in sheer annoyance, "Just by seeing his face ruins my day."

"Let's go before he sees us," Jungwon nods with a deadpan, "He'd have the audacity to approach me again."

Just as they were about to turn, Jay almost screams in horror when he locks eyes with...

"Mom? Dad?" Jay tries to calm himself, but as if he and Jungwon still have this telepathy, he can almost hear Jungwon's voice yelling 'What the hell!!!!' in his mind.

"Jayjay!" Mrs. Park gasps.

And before he can even think twice, Jay blurts out, snatching another opportunity to absolutely mess up and regret later on, as he puts an arm around Jungwon's waist. "This is my boyfriend."

He can almost feel Sunoo and Sunghoon's jaws drop to the ground. They were not even the slightest bit ready to start with the entire fake-dating thing to show the world, and yet here they are.

And the telepathy line doesn't cut off either, as he already hears Jungwon's voice. 'What are you doing, you idiot?!' Like his mind was read, Jay looks at Jungwon who's smiling at his parents, but when he looks at him, the smile looks nothing sweet, and instead something murderous as Jungwon's eyes twitch subtly.

Of course, Jay's right once again. He hears Jungwon mumble under his breath, exclusive enough for only him to hear. "Screw you."

✘

It all happened so fast. Them seeing Jake, and then meeting Jay's parents, losing grasp of Sunsun because they're dragged to Jay's car, and now Jay driving to his home which is not super far away with Jungwon in the passenger seat trying not to have a panic attack- it all sounded bizarre.