TARGET || HEEJAKE

06

Jake never formulated this. He never planned this. He let out a shaky sigh because there wasn't a person in the bathroom, other than him, to see that he could be weak and nervous. He stared into his own eyes. his reflection, in the mirror in front of him before splashing his face with cold water, ruthlessly. When he was done washing his face, he looked up to the mirror to see how red his face had become.

He patted his face dry with a towel and stepped out of the bathroom, knowing that he would have to attend his classes tomorrow, no matter what. It wasn't because he didn't like to study; he loved to — but he didn't like people in general. Yes, Yeong-su and Jungwon were exceptions. Jungwon wasn't a 'colleague', he was more of a brother; he grew up with Jungwon. Yeong-su won't tell him, but Jake had a strong suspicion that Jungwon was his son and he didn't want to give him up to his wife when they divorced.

Heeseung dropped his notebook when he heard the bathroom door unlock. He bent down to pick it up and upon straightening out his stature, dusting the notebook even though there wasn't any on it, he saw Jake buried his eyes into him, glaring so hard he might bore a hole in him. He gulped and placed the notebook on his table, unsure of what he should do to break the tension.

"So, it's your first day of class tomorrow..." Heeseung tried to make conversation.

Jake realized that he had been zoning out and boring his eyes into the poor boy. But he wasn't in a mood to discuss something he was trying to put out of his mind for the last few minutes.

"Yeah." He shrugged, with a clearly uninterested expression.

"Do you have your schedule?" Heeseung asked, relieved to get an answer.

Jake sighed and walked past Heeseung and the latter's heart dropped; he was mortified. Ashamed somehow, at how his try to converse turned out in apparently annoying Jake. Before he could react any further, he felt a pair of fingers poking his back, two times. His heart picked up and his breath hitched. The gun, again. No. He turned to see Jake handing him a piece of paper. He breathed.

He accepted the paper and his eyes followed Jake walking to and collapsing on his bed, before he laid eyes on his schedule that he scanned through. He looked for the commons. He recalled Jake having taken Computer Science, same as him, so there wasn't a reason they wouldn't be together for most of their classes. And he grew a smile on his face when he realized he was right, they shared almost every lecture, except English.

He placed the paper on Jake's desk. When he turned, his eyes caught Jake lying peacefully on his bed, eyes towards the ceiling. For a small and insignificant moment, he forgot how he thought Jake might be the end of him from the night before, and yet, he thought, Jake might still be the end of him now if he kept staring at him so blatantly. His gaze didn't falter until Jake's eyes moved to the corners.

"Like what you see?" Jake said, in a way someone would tease you.

"N-no. You just look tired." He felt miserable for stuttering.

"I am. But I have to thank you for the walk. It helped." He smiled softly, and Heeseung almost visibly melted.

Acknowledgement is an important aspect to consider to make somelike like you, and trust you. That's what Jake did, he acknowledged Heeseung's effort; but if he had to thank someone for his second and most-likely-to-be-successful try at the kill, it would be Heeseung, honestly. But, he never had an intention to thank him for that.

"No problem." he said. "You can open up to me, you know?"

"I will. Thanks, again."

Jake didn't like kind gestures a lot; it happens when you're in that line of work. But honestly, he was quite surprised of how warm and nice Heeseung was, not that he liked him, because chaebols and their families have always been arrogant, no matter where he infiltrated.