Our Fault || heejake/jayhoon ||

Chapter 1

---

|| Chapter 1: The Golden Rule

In the pristine, sun-drenched neighborhood of Gangnam’s most exclusive estate, two boys were practically raised in the same backyard.

Heeseung Lee—the crown prince of popularity, tall with sharp eyes and a charismatic grin—was the type to light up a room just by walking in. Everyone wanted to be around him. He was charming, athletic, annoyingly perfect.

And then there was Park Sunghoon.

Quiet, bookish, with wire-rimmed glasses always sliding down his nose and a pile of science fiction novels stacked beside his bed. He wasn’t invisible—he just didn’t care to be seen.

But somehow, since they were five years old, they’d been inseparable.

---

It was a Saturday morning, and the massive Lee mansion was filled with music and laughter. Heeseung, barefoot in gray sweats, was lounging on a leather couch in his family’s private theater room, a controller in his hand and his phone buzzing nonstop.

“Yo, I told you to stop playing as Luigi, Sunghoon,” Heeseung groaned, kicking his best friend gently. “Nobody wants to be Luigi.”

“I don’t care,” Sunghoon replied flatly, not even looking up from his manga. “Luigi’s smarter.”

“You’re smarter, and still lame,” Heeseung shot back with a grin. “You could at least pretend to care about Mario Kart.”

“I beat you last round.”

Heeseung narrowed his eyes. “That was a glitch. And you cheated.”

Sunghoon smirked, tucking a leg under himself and keeping his eyes on the page. “Just admit I’m better than you at some things.”

Heeseung scoffed dramatically, tossing the controller onto the plush carpet. “Yeah right. Name one thing.”

Sunghoon paused, glanced over his glasses at him, and said simply, “Grades.”

“Touché.”

---

Their worlds were different even if their money was the same. Heeseung went to every party, had half the school following his Instagram, and lived for the thrill of a basketball game.

Sunghoon... went home. Every day. Same route. Same routine.

But every Friday, after school, like clockwork, Sunghoon’s driver would drop him at Heeseung’s place. He’d slide open the side gate, walk through the garden that separated their homes, and walk into a life louder, brighter, more chaotic than his own.

“You’re lucky I like you,” Sunghoon said that evening as they laid on the roof of the pool house, staring at the stars.

“Please. You love me,” Heeseung teased.

There was a pause.

“I tolerate you,” Sunghoon mumbled, but a small smile tugged at the corner of his mouth.

Heeseung turned his head. “Why do you hang out with me, anyway?”

“You bribe me with pizza and warm socks.”

“Seriously.”

Sunghoon turned his face to the sky. “Because when we’re here… I don’t feel like a background character.”

Heeseung stared at him.

“You’re not a background character. Not to me,” he said, softer than before. “You’re, like… the main character in my story, Hoon.”

Sunghoon’s cheeks flushed slightly. He turned away. “That’s so cringey.”

“I mean it.”

Sunghoon let the silence stretch. The stars blinked above them, cold and quiet.

“…You’re mine too, I guess,” he said eventually, voice low.

---

Back at school, they existed in two different universes. Heeseung’s locker was always surrounded by girls and teammates. Sunghoon’s locker was covered in math competition stickers and post-it notes only he understood.

But every time Heeseung walked by Sunghoon’s classroom, he’d knock once on the door frame, shoot him a grin, and say, “Ready for lunch, genius?”

And every time, Sunghoon would look up from his textbook, sigh like he was inconvenienced, and walk beside him anyway.

---

One day after school, Sunghoon sat alone in the library, typing on his laptop when a couple of senior boys walked past his table.

“Is that the Lee kid’s pet nerd?” one snorted.

“I heard he’s doing Heeseung’s homework for him,” another laughed. “Bet that’s all he’s good for.”

Sunghoon stiffened but didn’t react.

Heeseung showed up ten minutes later, tossing a juice box onto the table.

“You okay?” he asked, eyes narrowing.

“Yeah.”

“What’d they say?”

“Nothing I haven’t heard before.”

Heeseung leaned in. “You want me to punch them?”

Sunghoon gave a tight smile. “You always say that.”

“Because it’s always an option.”

---

That night, as they laid side by side in Heeseung’s king-sized bed, lights dimmed, Heeseung turned to him and said, “You know what our golden rule is, right?”

Sunghoon turned to him, puzzled. “What?”

Heeseung tapped his own chest. “You and me. Doesn’t matter what they say, or what happens—we always have each other. That’s the rule.”

Sunghoon nodded, voice quiet. “Always.”

Heeseung smiled. “That’s my nerd.”

---