— Rain, Ramen, and Ridiculous Questions
It started with thunder.
By the time lunch rolled around, Seoul was soaked in gray. The rooftop was off-limits, puddles stretching across the concrete like tiny lakes, and every hallway smelled like wet shoes.
Room 2-3 was louder than usual.
Mostly because Jay wouldn’t stop interrogating people.
“Did he open it?” Jay asked for the fifth time.
Jake, chewing on his straw, blinked. “Open what?”
“The letter,” Jay whispered like it was classified. “The note. The love declaration.”
“It wasn’t a love letter.”
“Let me see it.”
“No.”
Heeseung, lounging across three desks like a house cat, looked up. “He took it outside. Disappeared for ten minutes. Came back with the same face, but more haunted.”
Jake flushed. “He didn’t look haunted.”
“Oh,” Jay said dramatically. “He looked wrecked. Emotionally compromised. Romantic tension level: eighty-two percent.”
Jake stared. “Where are you getting that number?”
“Science.”
“Jay, please.”
Jay grinned, eyes glinting. “You’re blushing.”
“I’m not!”
Heeseung tapped his pencil. “You kinda are.”
From the back corner, Sunghoon looked up from his sketchbook.
Jake, still red in the cheeks, caught his eyes for a second. He offered a small wave.
Sunghoon didn’t wave back.
But his pencil paused.
After school, the rain hadn’t let up.
“Let’s eat,” Jay declared, slapping Heeseung’s shoulder.
Heeseung raised an eyebrow. “We just ate two hours ago.”
“And now we’re growing teenagers again.”
Jake tugged at his sleeves. “I should probably head back. My aunt’ll worry.”
“Text her,” Jay said. “Tell her you’re being fed by responsible idiots.”
Heeseung deadpanned, “We are not responsible.”
Jake laughed. “Where are we even going?”
“Ramen,” Jay said. “That place by the station.”
They all looked to Sunghoon automatically.
He shrugged. “Okay.”
The ramen place was tiny and warm, walls fogged from steam and the sound of bowls clinking everywhere. They squeezed into a corner booth, shoulders pressed, laughter louder than the rain outside.
“Don’t look now,” Jay said, slurping his noodles, “but Sunghoon just smiled. That’s, like, three times this week.”
“I wasn’t counting,” Jake mumbled.
Heeseung looked amused. “You totally were.”
Jake shoved a napkin at him. “You’ve got broth on your chin.”
“Thank you, mother.”
Jay leaned forward. “Important question. If we were all in a survival show, who dies first?”
Heeseung answered instantly. “Jay.”
Jay choked. “WHAT?”
“You’d fall into a pit in the first five minutes.”
Jake giggled into his bowl.
“Jake,” Heeseung continued, “would last two episodes. Allergic to everything.”
“I’m not allergic—”
“You have weak immunity.”
“That’s different!”
“Okay, okay,” Jay said, mouth full, “what about Sunghoon?”
They turned.
Sunghoon blinked, noodles halfway to his mouth.
“He wins,” Heeseung said.
Jake nodded. “Yeah. He’s secretly scary.”
Jay grinned. “Exactly. He’d fake his own death and reappear in the finale.”
Sunghoon stared at them all, chewing slowly.
“…You guys are weird.”
Jake beamed. “You love it.”
Sunghoon didn’t reply.
But he didn’t look away either.
By the time they left, the rain had gone from light drizzle to full downpour.
“Shit,” Jay muttered. “We’re gonna drown.”
Jake hugged his backpack tighter. “I didn’t bring an umbrella.”
“I did,” Sunghoon said quietly, holding up a small navy one.
Jay pointed. “One umbrella. Four idiots. Love that.”
Heeseung stretched. “I’ll just run. My hair’s waterproof.”
Jay scowled. “Mine’s not. I’ve got product in this.”
Sunghoon looked at Jake.
“Come here.”
Jake blinked. “What?”
“You’ll get sick again.”
Before Jake could say anything, Sunghoon stepped closer and popped open the umbrella between them.
He held it over Jake’s head first.
Just like that. No question. No hesitation.
Jay blinked. “Oh.”
Heeseung smirked. “Guess we know who the favorite is.”
Jake looked up at the umbrella. Then at Sunghoon.
Their shoulders were barely brushing, but the warmth from it was enough to turn his ears pink.
“…You’ll get wet,” Jake said softly.
Sunghoon’s voice was even softer. “I don’t care.”
Jay howled behind them.
“I’m walking five feet behind. I REFUSE to third-wheel.”
“Too late,” Heeseung muttered. “You’re the wheel. The whole cart.”
Sunghoon didn’t say anything. He just walked.
Jake, under the umbrella, quiet but glowing.
He still had the thank-you note folded in his pocket.
And Park Sunghoon?
He kept glancing sideways.
Like he was still trying to understand the noise in his chest.
end of chapter
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Only You, Jaeyun | JAKEHOON
Fanfiction"Even the cold melts a little when you smile." Cold hands. Warm hearts. One slow-blooming love.
