𝗵𝗼𝗹𝗱 𝗺𝘆 𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗱 | jakehoon ✓

- 19. 𝗕𝗶𝗿𝘁𝗵𝗱𝗮𝘆 𝗖𝗮𝗿𝗱 -

"What's wrong?" He asked sitting down in front of him. "School is just stressful, that's all," Jake answered with a fake smile. "I've known you for ten years now. Do you really think I don't know when you're lying?" Soobin said with a raised eyebrow. Jake sighed, contemplating whether he should tell the truth or a lie.

"There's this guy bothering me at school," Jake said not going into more depth. Soobin's face went from a worried one to an angered one. "Do I need to go up there and kick somebody's ass?" Soobin asked trying not to blow up in front of all the other people. Jake shook his head. "It's ok, Hyung. I'll get rid of him soon," Jake told the older, coming up with an idea.

...

Instead of going straight home, taking the long way like normal, Jake decided to stop by a convenience store. He walked into the building, hearing a bell ring that told the workers someone had just entered the shop.

The worker greeted him with a smile. She looked awfully familiar but he shook it off and greeted her back politely before walking past the rows of shelves. He looked around at all the different things the store had for sale. He ended up picking up two bars of chocolate before heading back to the front of the store.

There was a rack full of cards near the entrance of the building. He spun the object around a bit looking at what was written on some of the cards as he moved them. He didn't stop until he saw a card that said: Have An Eggcellent Birthday! With a drawing of a cute egg on it. Sure, it was cheesy but the boy found it cute. It was better than some of the other cards he saw.

He quickly picked it up along with an envelope and headed towards the front counter. The cashier gave Jake a sweet smile. He had definitely seen that smile before. He rang up the items before putting them in a small bag. But before Jake could leave she stopped him.

"Sim Jaeyun, right?" She asked, confusing the boy as to how she knew his name. "I'm Hwang Yeji. We have the same first period," The girl introduced herself. Jake felt a wave of relief run through his body knowing that she wasn't some random stranger. "Do you have a moment?" She asked. Jake nodded in response. "You should stay away from Hyunjin," She advised the boy before continuing; "He told me you two were dating when we got home and I know it might sound crazy but you need to break up with him as soon as possible," Yeji added.

Jake knew Hyunjin wasn't a good person, but was he that bad? "I-I don't understand," Jake said trying to figure out why she seemed so worried. "He's my brother, I know what he's doing. He's using you. He wants to mess with your head. He wants to make you feel useless and hate yourself. It's best you break up with him now," Yeji informed the younger. Jake knew Yeji's twin's intentions weren't the best but he didn't know they were this bad.

He wanted to agree so badly to what Yeji told him to do but one part of him felt scared. He had just gotten beaten up by his dad the other day and knowing that he could get beat up at school too made him scared. The school was his safe place other than Soobin's café. It was where some of his best memories happened and knowing that could all be replaced with horrible ones terrified him.

Yeji could sense how Jake was feeling and gave him a reassuring smile. "He won't hurt you nor Sunghoon, well at least for now. I can't promise you he won't pull something stupid in the future. But if you want to lower the chances of him doing that then you should end things between you two," Yeji said somewhat comforting the boy's mind.

There was a small period of silence before Yeji started up again. "I've seen the way you and Sunghoon look at each other. I can tell you two deserve to be together," She said with a smile. Jake blushed at her words. "I d-don't like him," Jake denied the allegations. "Yeah, right," She said with a smirk. Even though she and her brother looked the same their actions didn't. Hyunjin's smirk always scared the boy but Yeji's was really pretty. It made her look mischievous in a good way.