——
"of all things
i can do
on this earth,
i just want to build
a bridge
from my heart to yours"
- alexandra vasiliu -
——
part five:

Jay wasn't usually the type to freak out over little things but this statement was invalid in this situation. The black-haired male was on his bed, laying on his back with the biggest smile on his face. Thoughts and feelings mixed together as he imagined all of the things that could possibly happen in the following day.

"Okay slow down, what happened?" Sunghoon asked. Jay, Jake, and Sunghoon were on FaceTime and the older was in a daze while trying to explain to them why he was all flustered. (DAZED~ DAZED~ DAZED~) "Yeah slow down, and explain SLOWLY" Jake had a pen in his hand, writing down something in his notes.

"I asked him..." He paused only to hear Jake squeal. "ASKED HIM OUT?!" Jake said loudly, covering his mouth right after. Sunghoon didn't say anything but watched with intensive eyes, listening closely. "No, no, no. But I asked him if he'd like to go to the dance with me" Jay confirmed, watching Sunghoon smirk and Jake smile.

"Please tell me he rejected" Sunghoon joked, trying his best not to laugh at his best friend's face. Jake and Sunghoon were still getting used to the idea of Jay liking someone, after all, they've never heard about any crushes the older would have. Possibly, Jungwon was the first?

"He—He actually said yes" Jake clapped with a bright grin on his face, it was obvious he was cheering on Jungwon and Jay. Sunghoon's expression changed to show his shock but he quickly smiled at him. "That's great Jay-ah, now, please help me with history homework" Jay rolled his eyes.

— 𖤐 —

Jungwon stared down at his feet and then towards the little dog sitting at his heels. "Maeumi~" He called out softly, squatting to pet through his white fur. (I think Maeumi is a boy, I think 🧍‍♀️ Please correct us if we're the wrong :p) It was already late at night and he was busy finishing off his homework. He shouldn't be worrying too much with the dance being on the following day but he was anxiously pacing around his room.

And that's when it hit him. He has know Jay for a while now but he still didn't have his number on his phone, they never cared to ask each other before. Jungwon sat back down on his bed and lifted his dog to lay beside him, constantly raking a hand through the soft fur. "Maeumi, I don't even have his number" He spoke softly, reaching for his phone. His dog simply stayed quiet, looking up at him with those adorable beady eyes.

He was about to go on his phone to go through social media when he looked up to see the time. It was already almost 1 am, he needed as much rest he could get. Not only did they still have a full day of school, but he would also need to stay back at school after school to make late changes before everyone would arrive again for the dance.

Like every year, the Valentine's Dance was 3 hours after school, at 5 pm. So he'd basically be at school all day. Jungwon let out a sigh before standing up to turn off his light, jumping up to lay on his bed. He tossed around for a few minutes before he found the perfect position, closing his eyes.

— 𖤐 —

"Jungwon-ah, someone is waiting for you outside!" Jungwon's mother, Mrs. Yang called from the front door. The said male stood in surprise, staring at his room wall for a few seconds before he grabbed onto his backpack and phone. As he rushed down the stairs, he pushed his phone into his pocket and walked the rest of the way to his mother.

"Good morning mom~" He greeted and gave his mom a short hug before smiling. She smiled back and pat his head softly. "Somebody is waiting for you," She pointed towards the door with her head tilted. Jungwon nodded and went to open the door.

Jay stood awkwardly at the stairs, rubbing the back of his neck when he saw Jungwon giggling at him. "Morning Jay hyung" He laughed at the younger for a few seconds before he waved. "Good morning Jungwon" Mrs. Yang lifted an eyebrow before nudging her son with her elbow. She leaned closer to his ear before whispering.

"New friend?" She asked softly. Jungwon nodded and began to make his way down the stairs. "We're in student council together" The younger stood beside Jay with a big grin. "I'll get going then, goodbye mom!" He waved excitedly at his mother before they walked down to the sidewalk.

"You didn't tell me that you'd pick me up" Jungwon hinted with a little teasing tone, watching the older blush. "Should I just leave you behind then?" Before the taller male could speed walk off, the younger grabbed onto his arm with his hands with a pleading look. "I was joking~ I was joking~ I'm glad to see you, I appreciate it" Jungwon gushed and slowly let go of his arm.

It was a beautiful morning. Though it wasn't necessarily clear skies, the clouds looked so fluffy and it was very, peaceful. Other students were walking to school, some seemed to be younger while others they recognized from school. There was just a sort of feeling in the air that made Jungwon happy.

"All the flowers are beginning to bloom again" He pointed out with his index finger gesturing towards the trees in front of them. The trees that were usually green throughout the rest of the year, had vibrant yellow flowers blooming. Some of them had fallen from the branches, Jungwon smiled down and kicked around a few when they passed by the tree. "I know it's really pretty" Jay agreed, reaching out a hand to touch the trunk of the tree.

"I'm really excited for today, I'm really glad that—" Jungwon was going to continue when he thought about what he was going to say, blushing brightly. Was he really about to say that straight to Jay's face. "What was that?" Jay asked, looking down at Jungwon. "I was going to say... that I'm glad I'll be going to the dance with you" He mumbled, playing around with his fingers.

Jay cleared his throat, trying his best to hide his smile. The two were a mess, flustered at the fact that it was actually happening. Jungwon never imagined for something like this to happen to him, he never planned for it anyways. He never thought he would feel this way for anyone. "I'm glad that you accepted"

— 𖤐 —

"I don't need to pick you up before the dance do I?" Heeseung asked. Jake, Heeseung, Ni-ki, and Jungwon were walking down the hallway together. The first two classes of the day we're finally finished and they all were walking together towards their next class. "He never accepts anyone's offer to go to dances, so most likely" Ni-ki shrugged and looked straight forward.

The male just shook his head and hummed in response. "You don't need to hyung," Ni-ki's head shot back down to look at the older, Jake and Heeseung both doing the same. "Why?" Heeseung asked carefully, suspiciously leaning back and walking closer to Jake. "I'm... I'm going with Jay hyung" Blush and a shy smile, that's all that portrayed on his face at the moment.

"OH! That's right! Jay told us last night before we went to bed" Jake pushed the oldest off to the side and wrapped his arm around Jungwon's. "Ah, our president has a date~" Jake teased, cuddling closer and closer into Jungwon's arm. "It's not a date! We're simply... going to the dance as friends" Jungwon laughed nervously.

He liked to think Jay was his date, he would absolutely love to believe it. But he must consider what the older must feel. Jungwon didn't want to jump to a conclusion, assuming the older only saw him as a friend. Friend, he also hated that. Hated using Jay and friend in the same sentence.

— 𖤐 —

"He—Hey Jungwon" Jay greeted, sitting right beside him. It was lunchtime already and all of the council was eating in the gymnasium today. They had finished almost everything the day before but Jungwon thought it would be good to finish everything up so they wouldn't be rushing to finish right before the dance.

Jungwon, Jay, Jake, and Sunghoon were the first four. The other two were off in the other corner of the gym though, hanging up a few more decorations that they had missed. "Hi hyung, I haven't seen you all day" Jungwon waved, putting down a paper he was holding. There was a strawberry milk carton in his left hand, drinking the contents inside slowly. "Is there anything you need me to do?" Jay asked, his nervousness going away by the second.

They hated to admit it but they both imagined things to be awkward. They thought that the next time they saw each other it would be full of nervous conversations and flustered expressions. But this proved to be wrong. Jungwon and Jay felt very comfortable, overjoyed even to be around each other. It's a good thing though, they didn't need to worry about it being weird and unnatural around each other.

"There are a few props for the photo booth that we need but Jisoo has them... Uh, Jooyoung said he had the other decorations for the stage so I don't think so. By the time they come, we'll be finished" Jungwon was reading off the little sticky note on the paper he just put down before sitting back in his chair. "Okay then," Jay cleared his throat and began to indulge in his food.

Jake and Sunghoon joined them once they finished, sitting in the bleachers right in front of them. "Where are the others?" Sunghoon asked and placed his tray in the empty spot between him and Jake. "They should be on the way" Jungwon stated and showed off a group chat, multiple texts rolling in by the second.

"Ah! That reminds me, Jay hyung!" Jungwon suddenly turned to the older with his phone pointed straight at his chest. "I don't have your number yet" He had a small grin, shyly playing with the volume buttons on the side of his phone. "Oh that's right, here give me your phone" While Jay did his thing, Jake and Sunghoon stared at the two before giving each other the same look.

[JAKE AND SUNGHOON: (・_・?) RN]

"Wait so you guys are this close YET, you don't have each other numbers? How? I mean, you guys literally cling—" Sunghoon was about to continue when Jake covered his mouth, sending them an apologetic smile. "Well, they never needed to worry about that stuff since they were together 24/7" Ni-ki yelled from the entrance of the gym, Sunoo hitting him on his arm right after.

"You guys are silly" Jungwon giggled, scooting back to allow his feet to swing. Jay's heart sped up when he saw how happy the younger looked. "H-Here Jungwon" Jay handed him back his phone with the contact name empty. This made Jungwon pout, saving Jay's number with his name. "Here I'll text you,"

<33

Jay hyung (ㅅ' ˘ ')♡

Hi Jay hyung, it's Jungwon :)

Hi Wonie :)

<33

The two looked up at each other with a small pause, laughing together right after. Without saying anything Jay reached over to pat his head. "What's up losers!" Ni-ki exclaimed, taking the seat beside Jake and Sunghoon, pulling Sunoo to sit with him. "You guys are adorable" Jake cooed when he looked back at his two best friends, hand over his heart. Sunghoon followed his eyes and scrunched up his nose with a disgusted look.

"I think we have two different definitions of adorable" Sunghoon joked, going back to eating. Heeseung was the last to walk into the gym out of the seven and he was holding a lot of different snacks in a bag. "Hyung" Sunoo said excitedly, being the first to notice the snack bag in his hand. "Nope, this is all for me" Heeseung stuck his tongue out at the pouty younger, Sunoo marching back to his place next to Ni-ki. "It's alright, I'll buy you snacks after school" Ni-ki comforted the older, giving him a little hug.

"So are you guys ready for tonight?" Heeseung asked and scanned the gym. It was all decorated and a few tables were set up. The color pink, white, and red being the most reoccurring color, it was very... bright. "I think I'm ready, I'm more excited than anything" Jake answered. Jay nodded his head in agreement. "I agree, I think I'm a little nervous though." Jungwon felt a pat on his thigh with Jay's reassuring voice. "Don't worry, it will be great"

— 𖤐 —

"No" Jungwon whined whilst looking at himself in the mirror. The outfit that he planned out all day looked nothing like he imagined. There were a few pieces that looked a little worn out and some of the clothing didn't go together at all. He quickly removed the jacket he was wearing and placed it back on his bed. The dance wasn't at all formal so he was relieved he didn't need to worry about being too fancy.

"What do I do" He looked up at the clock. It was only 3 pm but Mrs. Kim had told them all to come an hour before it began to prepare for everyone. His eyes landed on a blue oversized sweater that had darker blue letters he couldn't decipher. "This—This'll do" He grabbed it and a pair of jeans before putting it on, he needed to hurry anyways. When he finally put his shoes on, he grabbed his phone to check his messages.

<33

Jay hyung (ㅅ' ˘ ')♡

Hey Jungwon, I'm coming soon to get you :)

Okay :)

I'll see you soon then~

<33

Jungwon grasped his phone in his hand and walked out of his room, down the stairs. His mother was in the living room with his older sister, both watching the TV screen. "Mom, sis, I'll get going soon!" He called out, his head popped around the corner. They both turned at the same time, their smiles almost identical. He took the seat beside his sister, his eyes scanning over the show that was playing. It was some romance drama he couldn't name, all the actors look so familiar to him though.

"You not on your way yet?" His sister asked, fixing a few of his hairs that were beginning to go astray. The younger sighed and brought his attention to her. "Somebody is picking me up so we can walk together" He answered shortly. "Oh, is it Jay again?" "Jay? Who's this... Jay person?" Jangmi, his sister, asked. She had a very clear smirk on her face, hands gripping on his upper arm.

"A friend, we go to student council together so we're pretty close—" The doorbell rang, the three turned their heads immediately. Jungwon's smile widened ever so slightly as he jumped up from the couch, waddling towards the door with a skip in his step.

"Make sure to safe and have fun Jungwon-ah" His mother yelled back, waving. "Make sure to make plenty of memories with friends!" His sister added, also waving. He liked having an older sister. It was basically a built-in best friend ever since he was born. When he turned the corner, both Jangmi and their mother followed behind the youngest.

"Jay hyung!" Jungwon exclaimed. Jay was stood there, absolutely breathtaking, that's the only word that he could use to explain Jay at the moment. The older was wearing a white button-up with little black markings all over, a leather jacket, some leather pants, and boots. (oH, IK THAT YK WHAT OUTFIT THIS IS. I SWEAR HE LOOKS SO GOOD IN IT-)

If you were to ask Jungwon, this shocked him. Before council he never did hang out with Jay out of school so, it was quite weird to see him out of uniform. It was even weirder to see what his style was like, he didn't expect it. Or at least he liked to think he didn't. Jay looked amazing anyways.

"You look great Wonie" Jay complimented, ruffling around his soft hair. Jungwon was beginning to enjoy whenever Jay did that, it was a routine now. "You look pretty good yourself, hyung" He gushed and took a single step out of the doorway. "Let's get going then," Jay stated, allowing Jungwon to close and lock the door before they began to walk.

"Are they—" Jangmi began, slowly looking at her mother. She just shook her head and shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know, but he introduced him as a friend" They laughed together.

— 𖤐 —

They looked like polar opposites. Jungwon had a softer aesthetic, his oversized sweater confirmed that while Jay had a much harder aesthetic with all of the dark colors he wore. And that's the reason it made it all the more shocking when they walked towards of the council together.

"Woah! You guys look cute" Sunoo exclaimed, waving excitedly at them. Almost all of the student council was already there, sitting around. A few of the members were setting up the photo booth whilst the others sat in a few of the seats, talking amongst themselves. "Sorry we're a little late, is everything done?" Jungwon asked going to sit next to Heeseung. Jay took the seat beside him.

The sun was beginning to go down so one of his members rushed to go turn on the stringed lights and the lights inside of the gym to provide light. The moon was already high in the sky despite the time but it made everything the more magical. Music began to play and Jungwon gave a thumbs up to Jihoon, one of the student council members, who kindly made sure to create this year's playlist.

"Students should be showing up soon then. Did anyone see Mrs. Kim yet?" The president asked Jake who was talking with Sunoo and Heeseung. "I saw her actually, she was there when we were setting up the food but she left right after because she was 'busy' She didn't say if she was going to come back though" Heeseung was first to answer. How late were Jay and Jungwon that they missed setting up the food area inside of the gym?

"Oh my, I missed that too? I'm really sorry..." The younger was quick to apologize. What kind of leader missed not only the setup but also came late? These were the first things Jungwon thought of. "It's alright hyung, we won't die without your help. Plus you've worked hard already, don't stress out, and have fun tonight!" Sunoo massaged his shoulders, offering that eye smile that everybody loved.

Jungwon was about to begin when a group of girls in his grade entered, waving towards those who were already there. Soon enough more groups of people and even a few people by themselves walked into the dance area, finding tables to sit at or immediately going for the food in the gym.

"Let's go and get something to eat first, I'm hungry~," Jay said while leaning towards Jungwon to make sure he could be heard. It was getting louder by the second because of the number of people beginning to arrive. "Okay, let's go then."

— 𖤐 —

"Come on guys let's take a group photo!" Sunoo yelled over the music. The seven were on the dance floor, mindlessly dancing and bopping around to the music that played. Many people were surrounding them, enjoying the time with their closest friends, some even eating or sipping on something. "We should go, the nights almost over" Jake yelled back, pointing towards the photo booth.

The night was full of eating and making sure everyone was accommodated and satisfied. Jungwon even was pulled away from countless people to answer questions or to help council members with something. Jay couldn't lie, he wished he was able to spend a little more time with Jungwon. They were each other's date, after all, he really wanted some time alone. But it was hard when people pulled him away every other minute.

"Jungwon-ah, the food has all gone already. Should we just close up the gym for now? Nobody is there" Heeseung whispered before they could make their way to take photos. Upon checking, the gym was completely empty and the tables were all wiped clean, even the drinks were almost gone. "That's good, we don't need to worry about extras" Jungwon stated as they filed back and joined the other five.

The people helping out with the photo booth greeted them before they all went behind the camera. It sorta felt like déjà vu for both Jay and Jungwon. Maybe not déjà vu but a reminder of what happened a few days ago, the day where they had their own little hang out after school.

"Countdown, there are three in total!" She called from the side, eyeing every single one of them before the camera began to countdown from three. Everyone smiled brightly first, showing off their adorable smiles. In the next photo, everybody did various other poses. Jake and a few others held up a peace sign while others held up hearts. Jay couldn't help but laugh at Jungwon trying to wink at the camera.

"Funny one!" Jungwon exclaimed before the last photo was taken. Everyone complied and made a funny face, laughter filling up the moments right after. "Cute, you guys will be able to collect the photos in a few minutes!" She bowed, allowing all of them to exit and wait off to the side.

"I'm going to announce the ending of the dance soon, everyone seems to be dying down already anyways." "Yeah, I've seen a few people leave already" Jay stated, eyes darting across the dance floor and at all of the tables. The magic of the night was going away, everyone was tired of it. Though it wasn't dead and completely boring, there were way more people sitting off to the sides on their phones. Even the people on the dance floor swayed less energetically and began to bring out their phones as well.

"I'll announce and be right back," Jay nodded. The other six sat at an unoccupied table beside the photo booth, occasionally looking over to see if their photos had been printed out. Jungwon was up at the front saying his last remarks before thanking everyone for coming. It was very quick as he said everything in brief statements so he found himself back with his friends in no time. People were beginning to leave at a much faster pace now.

"Here are your photos," The girl who had been frantically printing out their pictures smiled at them, handing Jake seven identical photos that included all of the ones they took together. "That was really fun" Sunghoon stated, reaching down for his cup which had just a little bit of water left in it. "We should head home and leave the clean-up for next week Monday, we deserve the break," Jungwon said softly, looking around.

The place still was very tidy with just a few decorations hanging and maybe a few ballons freely floating around. But everything was still intact, it would be very easy to take everything down when it was still in good shape.

"Well then, I'll be the first to say goodbye. I'm really tired and I think my mother and sister are already here to pick me up so" Ni-ki awkwardly stood up from the table, looking down at Sunoo before helping him up as well. "We'll see you guys on Monday, bye" Sunoo waved goodbye, following closely before Ni-ki.

"We should get going too, I'll drop you off Jungwon" Jay claimed. Their other friends were now on their own way to get home when the two finally decided it was time to leave themselves. "Hey wait, Seojin!" Jungwon held onto Jay's sleeve whilst calling out for the girl who helped with the photo booth. "Would it be alright if—if we took one last photo" He gestured to both himself and Jay with a shy smile. Immediately, he earned a yes.

"Come on Jay hyung, I wanted to take one with you all night" The younger pulled him towards the backdrop, enjoying how happy Jay looked. "Countdown..." She stated, the camera ready to click as soon as the timer was up.

Now this, this was déjà vu. It felt exactly like that one day in the photo booth where they stared loving at each other. They looking at each other exactly the same on this beautiful night. Jungwon though, was getting a little braver and posed with a little more confidence although his heart was about to burst at how close he was to Jay. Their photos consisted of them smiling widely with the most obvious blush on their faces. In Jungwon's opinion, the stark difference in their outfits made the picture so much better.

"Let's—Let's get going, I want to make sure you go home safely" Was the first thing Jay said after they claimed their photos. The two began their journey to Jungwon's house which wasn't too far away from the school. But it was clear that they wanted to savor every second of time together. "Any plans for the weekend?" Jay asked softly, playing with the zipper of his jacket. It was too silent and awkward in Jay's opinion.

"Not really. I'm probably going to be catching up on sleep" Jungwon laughed to himself. He was playing around with the sleeves of his sweater with a little pout on his lips. At last, they reached the last crosswalk before Jungwon's house which at the moment was on stop. A few cars flew by so Jungwon took the time to turn back towards the older.

"Today was really fun but... I'm really sorry I didn't get to hang out with you more tonight, I was just caught up trying to help others out and—" "It's alright Jungwon, don't sweat it." Jay put a hand on his wrist, stopping his hands which were beginning to fiddle around more and more. He felt like he wanted to scream when Jay moves a hand down to hold his, their fingers intertwined.

"I understand, you don't need to apologize for anything. I'm glad that it went well" Jay squeezed onto his hand while pointing towards the crosswalk, initiating to go and walk. Jungwon's house was just a house away now, Jay frowned a little. "Hey, Jay hyung?" He asked in the smallest voice he has ever heard. "Hm?" Jay simply hummed.

"Thanks for all of the help with the dance. It has been really fun getting closer with you every day" He paused to stand in front of him again. Jungwon gathered all of his courage to grab onto Jay's free hand with his own, going to stand even closer. "And... thank you for asking me to the dance, I-I'm really glad that I went with you." The younger let go of the older's hands and wrapped his little arms around his body, hiding his flushed face from the other.

Jay didn't know what to do. Jungwon really just hugged him first? Although he was really shocked, he quickly wrapped his arms around the shorter tightly. He made sure to return back what he felt was appropriate at the moment. "ɪ ʟɪᴋᴇ ᴛʜɪs~" Jungwon mumbled into Jay's chest. "What was that Wonie?" "N-Nothing" He buried his face even deeper, biting into his lower lip.

"We should hang out again. Just the two of us."

——

{ 052921 | 21 : 32 }

we hope this was good >< we redid this chapter a lot because it didn't go as planned but this was the best we could do for these scenes! hope you guys had a wonderful day <3

- JAE & MINA -