— yang jungwon made a pact with you, fair and square. if you're both single by 25, you date. simple. legally binding, if you ask him. jungwon is 22, three years is easy. the only problem is that you decided NOW would be the perfect time to start going on dates. with his best friend, riki, of all people. so jungwon arrives at the only logical conclusion available to him: sabotage. all of them. every single date. should be fairly simple :)
pairing: bsf! jungwon x female reader
warnings: a lot of my weird ass humor, like a lot, seriously; riki is a menace (endearingly), some riki x reader, sunwon shippers: you're in for a treat, lots and lots of jealousy, jaywon shippers: you get crumbs if you squint, a lot of rambly writing which is intentional because i'm trying to emulate jungwon and reader's internal monologue (which tends to jump between several different things, my mcs lowkey have adhd), jungwon is soo down bad you guys, ot7, bts mentioned cuz hot girls stan bangtan (jungwon is a hot girl)
w.c: 7.7k words
risa's thoughts:i'm really proud of this one, it's my first full length fic and it was soo much fun to write yay! as always, i would love to hear your thoughts, feel free to comment or message me :)) hope you enjoy!
masterlist
“Sometimes, just sometimes, I want someone. You know?”
It’s 2.23 am on a Saturday night. The window is open and the not-so-thin draft blows the curtains in every direction. The sitcom playing is terrible and your shared ice cream tub is half-empty despite buying it only today. Jungwon is sprawled on his couch with you beside him. Your feet are tucked under his thigh because you run cold and Jungwon runs warm and this is just a thing that happens, it doesn’t mean anything—
“Like I know it makes me sound kind of desperate, but it would be nice to have someone who’s always around. Who’s, y’know, there.” You continue.
“There.” Jungwon hums. He’s quiet for a second, and then suddenly he’s shuffling to face you.
“Okay, hear me out.” And that glint in his eyes makes you let out an exasperated chuckle.
“Jungwon, no. Whatever you’re gonna say, just no—”
“Just listen to me. If we’re both single at 25—“
You’re laughing before he even finishes. “Oh my god.”
“—we date. Each other. In case that was not clear.”
“You’re insane.” You’re just laughing in his face.
“No, c’mon. It’s practical!”
"it's a safety net!" he says it so seriously, like he’s giving a presentation for a class in university. "you want someone who's there. I'm there. I'm literally always there, it’s kind of a problem how much I’m there—“
“I have to live with the decision I make right now, don’t I?”
You look at him for a moment and he just blinks back. “You do realise how absurd you sound, right?” You’re smiling and he’s mirroring your lopsided grin. He thinks you look really pretty with the wind blowing your hair everywhere and the lamp casting a faint glow in your chocolate eyes. “You’ve done stupider shit, though.” He’s not wrong.
“Ugh. Fine.” You roll your eyes. “if we're both tragically single at 25, we date.”
“Great.” He nods. Decisive and done, like he just signed a business contract. He’s grabbing your hand, “It’s a pact.”
“This is not a pact—” You’re laughing again.
“We literally shook on it—”“Jungwon, you grabbed my hand—“
Jungwon has stopped listening. His head is already resting on the back of the couch and he’s staring at the ceiling. He can’t help the smile that’s threatening to stretch into a full-blown toothy grin. He’s 22. 3 years. He can do 3 years. 3 years is nothing. He’s already been pining for 3 years, just means he’s halfway there, what’s 3 more?
Jungwon swears he’s a good guy. He really is. Atleast, everyone around him seems to think so. He’s been called an angel more times than he can count. By every other person he has met. All except you. Can you blame him though? You’re cute when you’re irritated and Jungwon has the time of his life riling you up.
But he thinks you would agree to some degree, if your very drunken and half conscious stupor is anything to go by. Jungwon had blushed 5 shades of crimson that night, with you on his back, pulling and squishing his cheeks and rambling, 'you're like the cutest human ever, you know that, *hiccup*, like you're a samoyed, no wait actually you're a cat, *hiccup* but like a floofy cat, with the big tail, do you think your tail would wag?’
He whined when you called him cute despite the pink in his ears. 'wha- what no, im a man, im NOT a cat, im manly, my shoulders are atleast 50cm, im a manly man *voice crack* got it?’ (he screams when he sees spiders by the way, almost jumps into your arms at the sight of them).
Regardless, everything about him being a big soft ball of positive energy right about flew out the window of Jay's car that Jungwon is forcing Jay to drive him around in, at a pace that could definitely get Jay pulled over. But, who cares? Jungwon is speed. He is as fast as light. He is lightening mcqueen.
Ummm… in hindsight he should probably stop yelling at Jay to speed up because if they end up getting a ticket…. Money? Haha. Ha. Ha. What is that?
But these are pressing matters! You are on a date.
He repeats, please copy, A DATE!!
If it's hard to guess, the third point is the most important.
You see, under normal circumstances, he wouldn't be making a big deal out of this. He would be chilling in your apartment with cold pizza and diet coke and a rerun of some shitty movie. His feet would absolutely be up on YOUR coffee table because you hate it and has he mentioned that you're cute when you're annoyed? (your cheeks are all flushed and you have a pout and you huff a little and look like you need a kiss on your cheek from him, specificaLLY. If anyone asks, he never EVER said any of this, liars). And he'd be least concerned about your date because then the most important point would be ‘lol, poor guy’.
However, these are not usual circumstances. This is the third date.
The THIRD date. With the same loser (his friend).
Either the guy is just losing a screw (he is, lol, Jungwon knows his friend).
Or you’re getting free food out of this.
At least, that's what he had hoped.
But then, you came out of your room in your black halter neck and miniskirt. You have worn that halter neck a grand total of one (1) times. Just once. Where, one may ask? To a BTS fansign. That is your lucky favorite super cute top. You met bangtan wearing it, are you kidding?
And Yoongi said it looked cute on you. THE min yoongi (the love of your life *dreamy sigh*)
Jungwon has to admit Yoongi is very very correct.
And he understands the hype behind it too. He has his own lucky favorite super cute item (Namjoon complimented his watch! and also almost wore it!!) AFBF.
Anyway, back to the present. Jungwon can spot the black uber in front of him and jay is tailing from two cars behind. They are under cover. Jungwon is following the eagle, do you copy?
Two cars is too much distance, Jungwon can't see shit. This is why Jungwon carried binoculars.
And now, Jungwon is peering through tiny binoculars. (They're from his cousin's play detective set! They're really cute and have a lanyard that you can slip around your neck!! You'd love them, he's sure).
(It's a story for another time that Jungwon snatched them from his crying cousin, but to be fair, that kid needs to learn to share. It is also a second, other, story that the strap is too small to fit around Jungwon's neck and that he almost choked and Jay and Sunoo had to get it off. Yes, it took two people to accomplish the task.).
Basically, he's spying. So far, nothing interesting. You guys are just talking.
God, people yap too much.
Okay, he sees movement. Stop. Mr Nishimura RiKI STOP. Jungwon can see Riki's hand. Rising. As Riki pretend-yawns. And now Riki is leaning over the back of your seat.
Drop the hand this instant.
Drop it or Jungwon will THROW HANDS.
Honestly, Jungwon wonders what you see in Riki. Who pulls a move like that? in 2026?
Like everyone appreciates vintage, but this is just lame. Now, one places the hand on the ~thigh~. Actually, don't do that, arm behind is better. Jungwon wants to do the thigh thing so Riki better keep his hands oFF.
For those wondering, Jungwon is not deranged. This is NOT an overreaction. He has been completely sane over the course of the first 2 dates. CompleTELY.
Date 1, Jungwon barely acknowledged at all.
You’re going out with who?
Jungwon burst out laughing, had tears in his eyes. As if. Riki could never beat him. The greatest joke of the year actually. He got a hefty laugh out of it. For a full week post you telling him, at random times of the day, he was falling out of his chair, hysterically laughing.
But then, you and Jungwon were lounging around on his couch, per usual. He was being annoying, per usual. With his face in your lap, per usual (not usual at all, Jungwon was rED.)
He was tossing fries up in your face and stinking up your coffee table with his nasty sock clad feet, having an ESPECIALLY hard time trying to stay put and not lean over and bite your squishy soft and tempting cheek right there. And you mentioned a second date, planned for the very next day. Jungwon paused and stared at you for a full 15 seconds.
‘Huh? Was Riki actually charming?’ He blinked.
Jungwon thinks his brain is funny when it wants to be. Yeah no, you’re doing this for free food for sure. He had laughed straight in your face as you huffed some more and shoved him off your lap and on the floor with your feet; where Jungwon kept laughing.
“You’re such a menace." But you couldn’t help but smile as Jungwon kept losing his shit.
“Good luck with the date!’ He had said finally, mid obnoxious laugh. And your hangout had proceeded as always.
It did feel weird though. None of your dates progressed to a second date, like ever. Now that he thinks about it, you did not go on many dates at all. Weird.
But as one can confirm (can one?), he was completely normal about it.
You were out on the second date and Jungwon swears he was just bored. It really wasn’t deeper than that (bullshit, if you ask Sunoo). Just pure boredom (sure, Jungwon, sure, Sunoo’s not judging at all). That made him text you.
(You can verify timestamps for anyone interested).
Jungwon: didn’t you eat before you left, what are you even gonna do lol
Jungwon: actually, i looked it up on naver and that place has a 3.8 which is basically a 2
Jungwon: i think they might not have food for you at all, all their menu items look like they have your allergens in the dishes
‘you should just come back, i will not take care of you when you fall sick again’ (He did not send that one, someone (Jake) pointed out that Jungwon sounded desperate.)
You had not replied to a single message. (Jungwon has to say, you’re a bad texter in general, but this was annoying him more than usual.) It was only a whole 3 hours later that Jungwon’s phone ding-ed.
You: the food was great actually :)
Do we see why this is concerNING?
Do we see why Jungwon is having heart palPITATIONS?
Do we see why Jungwon gathered all 5 of his remaining friends in an attempt to recruit them to sabotage your future dates the minute you walked out in the halter neck?
And do we agree that this is NOT an overreaction!!!!
Jungwon wonders when his friends will be useful. The one time Jungwon needs their unbridled support and all these stupid good-for-nothing idiots can do is be practical? Now is not the time to be logical, where is the crazy?
Heeseung had looked at him for a very long time. "So let me get this straight." He said slowly. "You want us to sabotage her dates."
"Because?" Heeseung quirks his eyebrow.
Another long look. Heeseung chuckled, picked up his phone and started scrolling. Court dismissed, apparently.
Jay, his sweet, beloved, favorite and very treacherous hyung had tilted his head and said "Have you considered just. telling her?" and Jungwon had looked at him like he'd suggested something genuinely offensive.
"That's not on the table."
Jake at least had the decency to hear him out fully before saying absolutely not and then asking if anyone wanted ramen. Heeseung did want ramen, thank you for asking Jake!
Sunghoon just said "isn't Riki the one taking her out" and the room went very quiet and Jungwon muttered, "Thank you hyung, for picking at that very fresh wound, you can leave" and Sunghoon did not leave, he just sat there being unhelpful and annoyingly pretty, borderline smug, about it. What is he so smug about? It’s not like he’s got the girl????
And then there's Sunoo. Sunoo, who Jungwon had counted on. Sunoo, who is supposed to be his person. Sunoo, his fellow pocketz. Sunoo, who had listened to the entire thing with his chin in his hands and then said: "She wore the halter neck?"
"Jungwon she looks SO cute in that top, like she actually looks ethereal—"
"I KNOW." Jungwon says. Pained. "That's literally why we're HERE."
"...okay I'll drive." Jay sighed.
"I'll come." Sunoo raised his hand immediately.
"No no no, you’ve lost your field privileges. You were way too enthusiastic calling her cute—"
"But that’s cause she is!" Wow, Sunoo can’t even be honest anymore. Jealous much?
Jungwon points at him, eyes narrowed. "You’re in timeout until you're on my side."
Sunoo considers this very seriously for a moment.
"Okay but she did look really—"
"—really lucky to have someone like you pining after her." He finishes innocently.
Jungwon stares at him. Sunoo beams.
Heeseung doesn't look up from his phone or his ramen. "You're all going to embarrass yourselves."
Which is how Jungwon finds himself in the car with Jay outside the damned date spot. Sunoo is in the backseat trying and failing to snatch the binoculars from Jungwon. How is he supposed to help if he can’t even see what’s happening, dammit?
Who even thought of this? Why are you picnic -ing on the banks of the Han river? Why is Riki being romantic? Why can’t Riki also be as useless as his hyungs?
And then, Jungwon sees it. Riki’s pulling the move again. He’s yawning again, (If he was this sleepy, why even go on the date? this fucking dumbass). His arm is most certainly going around your shoulder, he’s pulling you closer, you’re laughing at something he’s saying, he’s leaning in.
He’s leaning INNNNN????!!!
Jungwon needs to do something. Anything. Right now. NOW.
Sunoo has the binoculars now because Jungwon's hands need to be free.
“Oh my god, they might kiss.” Jay is also gasping. This is scandalous.
Jungwon is panicKING. And suddenly, Jungwon is calling you. He doesn't remember deciding to do this. It's ringing. What is he going to say—
“Jungwon?” Your voice sounds surprised. Beside Jungwon, Sunoo takes a breath. “Okay, yes. No kiss.” Jay cheers.
“Your mom called me.” Jungwon says after a beat.
“Yeah. She.. She uh. Needs you home.”
“My mom called you. Instead of me. To tell me to come home?”
“Yeah.” Jungwon is confident. Jungwon is the moment. He should try improv, he thinks he might actually make it big. “It seemed urgent—”
“Jungwon, my mom lives in Busan.” A beat. “ I have an apartment in Seoul, …which you frequent.” You deadpan.
Jungwon should stay as far from as improv as physically possible. “....She called from Busan."
Sunoo has lowered the binoculars. Him and Jay are staring at him like he’s spit hot coffee in their faces. They look murderous. All while both of them frantically mouth something to him. It seems like ‘what are you DOING?’ Or is it ‘what is wrong WITH YOU?’
Jungwon wished he knew what he was doing. Or what was wrong with him.
"I'm hanging up now." you say. You sound like you're smiling. He can't tell if that's good or bad.
The ride home is silent. Jay and Sunoo seem to know not to bring it up. And Jungwon feels like his mind won’t quiet down. He doesn’t know if he’s grateful for the silence or if he wishes they would spit out what they wanted to say. Sunoo only squeezes Jungwon’s shoulder once when they drop him off and Jungwon hates that his friends know how much it affected him.
His apartment is quiet. He just toes off his shoes and plops onto the couch. His couch, not yours. Which seems weird to clarify because he's on your couch so often now he sometimes forgets which is which. His feet are on the coffee table, but you’re not around to hate it. And so he pulls them down. His eyes land on the throw resting on the armrest, the throw you left once when watching a movie and one that you use every time you hang out here. Then they drift to the mug on the table, the mug that has ‘Won’s won(e) and only’ painted on it that you hide away in his cabinet so only you can drink from it. You have that habit, to make yourself comfortable around him. Jungwon loves it. But for some reason he can’t seem to look at either right now.
All he can think about is that you seemed to be having fun. This wasn’t like your previous dates that he would brush off as nothing. Cause those used to be nothing and you’d talk about them like they were nothing. And Jungwon never had to pay much mind. This one didn’t seem like nothing, though. You seemed to be laughing the way you laugh with Jungwon. With your head thrown back, full with your chest and with your eyes crinkling into beautiful crescents. Not the free food kind. Just genuinely happy and carefree. The one that you had reserved for Jungwon. Or so he had thought.
Riki was making you happy. Possibly, happier than when you were around Jungwon. Maybe Riki wasn’t such a loser at all. Maybe Jungwon was.
He doesn’t text you that night. He just stares at your contact on his phone and wonders what you could be doing right now? If you were with Riki? And for the first time in a while, he doesn’t text you at all. He's not sure you'd notice anyway.
The halter neck was an excellent idea. One that Riki suggested and takes full credit for. He told you approximately six times over the course of the evening that you looked good. Which means nothing because Riki is your friend and also a professional liar when the situation calls for it. You only know it was a good choice because it bothered Jungwon enough to want to stalk your date with Riki.
Riki had noticed the little stakeout the minute you sat down on the picnic blanket.
“Okay, I need you to trust me. Don’t panic. Just go with whatever I’m gonna do.” He had winked at you. And you knew.
And then the phone rang. You kept it on speaker because Riki insisted he was doing enough to be compensated with entertainment at the very least. You had laughed so hard at Jungwon’s mom-excuse that Riki had to physically hold you down to calm you and not blow your cover.
You’re still smiling about it now, as you change into comfortable clothes. You cannot wait to check your phone to see what absurd spam text Jungwon has left for you.
You swear you’re not evil. It’s just unfair that Jungwon can have his share of fun teasing you and you cannot. You are simply… seizing an opportunity. You are being resourceful. You are a girl with a plan.
The plan started with a hunch. An inkling, if you will, that maybe, just maybe, your crush might be reciprocated. And that hunch was the pact.
(A pact that you said yes to before he even finished the sentence which is a completely normal thing to do. You were tired. It was 2am. Your decision making was a little compromised. It’s very understandable, right?)
Who are you, if not a girl of science? A little brainiac, a scientist in the making. And a scientist needs her own little (failing?) experiment. This is yours. Your (questionable) social experiment, of sorts.
Test Subject: Yang Jungwon.
The hypothesis: Can one, scientifically, reduce the wait time for date impact from 3 years to (optimistically) a couple months? How much of a push does the test subject, Yang Jungwon, need to push him over the edge?
So, it is in the holy name of science, that you wore that halter neck.
And it is in the name of science that you may or may not have asked (bribed with food) your wonderful friend, Riki, to run interference.
And it is definitely in the name of science that you almost agreed to pretend-kiss Riki and gauge Jungwon’s reaction.
Anyway, the point is Jungwon is definitely going to leave you approximately forty seven increasingly hilarious texts and you're just checking your phone a lot because you're expecting them. That's all. (You've been conditioned by Yang Jungwon's unhinged texting habits to expect a notification every four minutes and your brain has simply adapted to this. Pavlov's dog situation. Very normal.)
Only… it’s been twenty minutes.
Oh my god, Forty. Did he die?
But he’s active in the group chat. This is weird.
Okay so he's not texting. That's fine. People don't text sometimes. Jungwon is a person. Sometimes people who text you every four minutes just. don't. That's a thing that happens. You're not going to be weird about it.
You are being so weird about it. You feel like you’re going to pull your hair out. You’ve been staring at your ceiling for about an hour now. There is a pit in your stomach. You pick up your phone one more time.
Yang Jungwon. Active 12 minutes ago.
You put it down. You're not sure when you stopped smiling.
Jungwon messages only during lunch the next day. It’s not out of the ordinary, just some meme you would normally find funny. But it doesn’t land well with you. A part of you still feels heavy. So you confirm if he’s still gonna show up to your place that night. And he says yes. Again, very ordinary, but you can’t help but feel like something is off.
Evening comes around sooner that you expect. And you find yourself cooking some Buldak Ramen (Jungwon argues in favour of Shin Ramen, but who is he to deny your puppy eyes), while Jungwon pretends to assist you. His assistance comes in the form of sitting on the counter beside you while he scrolls on his phone and periodically shares reels he finds funny. And for a while everything looks like it’s going back to its rhythm. He’s poking fun at you (both figuratively and literally poking you with his feet), you’re dodging his attacks, laughter fills your tiny kitchen and all seems right with the world.
But your mind is more observant than you would like sometimes. It seems to be running in overdrive, second-guessing every pause, every clipped reply and you conclude that everything is, in fact, not right with the world. Jungwon is definitely talking in shorter sentences. And he seems to not look at you as much anymore. He’s breathing differently too.
But there’s nothing to bring up. What do you even say? Jungwon, why are you breathing weird? So now you’re not only a creep but also possibly imagining things.
So you ignore it, push it down and pretend like you don’t notice at all. You keep chattering as you usually do. And try to switch off your brain.
“Riki is taking me out again. It’s technically our fourth date.” You chuckle and then it hits you. You swear you did not do this one on purpose. Riki just genuinely mentioned craving Italian and you wanted to try this restaurant. It wasn’t even a DATE date. It was a platonic date. A regular hangout. Inconsequential.
Out of the corner of your eye, you see Jungwon’s finger pause on his phone screen. And then it continues.
“Oh, nice!” He doesn’t look up, just acknowledges it and continues onto the next topic.
That's it. That's all you get. Two words and a subject change like you told him you bought new socks.
You eat the ramen. Is ramen always this bland?
Dinner passes like that, with you forcing your brain to pause and think through what you say all while psychoanalyzing every word, every pause and every breath Jungwon takes while also replaying his ‘Oh, nice’ with different intonations to figure out which is the one he meant.
On the surface, everything is normal enough. Jungwon eats with you, helps you clean up dishes, and wipes down your counters for you. Everything he usually does. All the normal conversations. But then as you’re migrating to the couch to play whatever stupid sitcom you were watching the last time, Jungwon stops near the couch.
“I forgot to mention. I have a thing, I’ll get going.”
This never happens. Jungwon always has things. He always has things AND he stays anyway because the thing is never more important than your couch and your terrible sitcom and your company and he knows that and you know that.
You don’t know how to respond. Your mouth opens. And shuts. Opens again.
But before you can conjure up a response. He’s leaning down to give you a quick hug. He kisses your temple, shoots a quick ‘see you later’ over his shoulder and he’s walking to the door. You watch him put his shoes on like you're watching it happen to someone else.
“Hey. Is everything okay?” You ask quietly.
“Ofcourse. Why wouldn’t it be?” He's already out the door, shooting you a quick grin.
It comes back to you, sitting alone on your couch.
You feel the lump in your throat travel down and lodge itself into your heart.
You’re curled up on your couch with your blanket.
Jungwon is sprawled on his couch in his sweatshirt.
You're watching the sitcom.
Jungwon is watching the sitcom.
Same episode. You've both seen it three times.
Neither of you is watching the sitcom.
You’ve been staring at a corner of the TV screen for a while now. You've made a decision. The plan is off. It was a stupid plan anyway. A scientist with no control over her variables. No control over herself, if you're being honest. And you need some control right now.
You: hey. the plan is off. I think i screwed this up.
Three dots appear immediately. Riki was already on his phone.
Riki takes a little longer.
Riki: are you okay? you seem sad.
You: I’m not feeling the dinner thing tmrw.
Riki: okay, no. you can cancel your plan but don’t bail on me wthh.
Riki: we’re hanging out tomorrow, no excuses. i’m gonna cheer you up. just us, no agenda.
Riki: wear something nice though, that place is fancy and i’m not giving up italian cause you show up looking crusty
You: i do not look crusty.
Riki: are you sure about that?
You look at your half finished ramen.
You look at the empty couch cushion to your left.
You: fine. you better make me laugh.
Jungwon does not know why his TV is on, he hasn’t paid attention even for a second.
He just needs to be a little more careful. A little more measured. He can do that. He's been doing it for years already, what's a little more distance? He just needs to not be around you so much. Stop showing up every other night. Stop texting every four minutes. He doesn’t think his cracked heart can handle too much pressure before it breaks completely.
It's a good plan. A solid plan. He's fine. He can be chill. He can keep his distance. He wants to cry.
Sunoo: 7:30 tomorrow. that italian place on hongdae. dress well.
Sunoo: I'm doing you a favour just show up
Jungwon: what favour. what does that mean. hyung.
Jungwon stares at his phone.
Sunoo is already not responding.
He looks back at the sitcom.
Looks at his phone again.
He wants to say no. He wants to stay in. He wants to wallow in self-pity.
He puts his phone down before picking it up again.
Jungwon: what do you mean dress well
Sunoo leaves him on read.
(Somewhere, Sunoo and Riki are sharing a high-five.)
The restaurant is bathed in warm yellow light and smells like garlic and butter. Jungwon is mental-mathing if he has time to yeet himself out of here and run back home but Sunoo spots him before he can bolt.
“Glad you didn’t ditch.” Sunoo joins him as they walk over to confirm their reservation desk.
“I was half way out the door actually—” Jungwon stops mid sentence when he looks up. Right there, in front of him, in line, is the one person he’s been dreading seeing. You look breathtaking in your black dress, sparkly earrings and the wispy hair framing your face. The slit on your thigh does not go unnoticed by Jungwon who gulps down the drool that’s threatening to drop from his open mouth.
Then comes the panic. He’s about to grab Sunoo and take a sharp 180 degree turn when Riki decides to look over his shoulder.
Great. Perfect timing. It seems life really hates him, huh?
“Oh woah, didn’t expect to see you guys here!”
You turn back to see who Riki is greeting. And you think you forget how to breathe for a second. Jungwon looks like a prince in his navy silk button down. His sleeves are rolled up and his shirt is tucked into his slacks accentuating his proportions criminally well. You have to grab onto Riki’s forearm to not collapse then and there. (Jungwon’s gaze could laser slice Riki’s arm off any second now.)
If only either of you had the ability to not ogle each other for 5 seconds, you would spot the not so subtle wink Riki gives Sunoo.
“Oh my god. Hi, you guys! What are the chances? We’re on a date! As I suspect you guys are too!” Zero hesitation. Sunoo is as bright as ever. Jungwon is choking on aIR. No, like he’s actually wheezing all while looking at Sunoo like he has grown three heads.
Yeah there’s no way you’re gonna buy this, is what Sunoo thinks to himself. You look a little lost glancing between the two men apprehensively. And Jungwon is dying way too much to even remotely be able to sell this.
So Sunoo does what any best friend who’s committed to the bit does. His arm circles around Jungwon’s bicep, nails almost digging in and yanks him to his side so they’re now attached at the hip and then proceeds to give his sweetest smile to you (and Riki).
Jungwon stops wheezing for only 10 secs. Because now he’s attempting to control his gag reflex. Riki has less of a filter and gags in plain sight. (Thankfully, you’re too shocked to notice. Yeah, you need to work on your situational awareness.) Sunoo has to give Jungwon the nastiest side eye for him to straighten up and mutter, “Sorry, yeah, a date. Got something in my throat there.” He coughs out.
You are so confused right now because when and how did this progression even happen?
Beside you, Riki coughs into his hand. “Hey, crazy idea…how about a double date?” Now it’s your turn to gape at Riki’s face. Riki does not so much as spare you a glance.
“Omg yes, that’s so cute!” Sunoo is agreeing immediately. It seems that Jungwon and your opinion is inconsequential. And unsolicited. (As it should be, ask literally anyone.)
Before either of you can object, the hostess is clarifying if all four of you are together and on Riki’s confirmation guiding you all to a table. Riki slips in beside you and Sunoo all but pushes Jungwon in so he’s sitting right in front of you.
Jungwon is going to kill Sunoo in the near future.
Criminally, infuriatingly small.
You are directly across from each other and there is a candle that smells like jasmine between you and nowhere to look that isn't each other.
You refuse to look at anything but the menu.
He refuses to look at anything but the menu.
And, Riki and Sunoo are already talking like this is the most normal evening of their lives.
You both want to strangle your respective dates. Traitors.
The waiter is already at your table, the perk of fancy restaurants, you guess. Riki orders for himself. Jungwon opens his mouth and is about to make a comment about the truffle pasta that he knows you love, specifically to ask if it contains nuts. You’re allergic.
Riki cuts him off. “Do you want me to ask if the truffle pasta has nuts?” He’s looking at you, his eyes are soft and Jungwon is going to combust.
You blink up at him. "Yeah, thanks."
Riki orders for you when he confirms the pasta does not, in fact, have any nuts.
Jungwon shuts his mouth, clenches his jaw and orders the pesto one without looking at anyone. Sunoo orders the same thing as Jungwon. Nobody asked him to. He just does it. Solidarity. Jungwon is grateful.
The food takes twenty minutes. Twenty minutes feels like forever when you’re trying to avoid someone’s eyes across an unreasonably small candlelit table.
Sunoo, bless his heart, has been yapping away to fill the silence.
“Can I just say,” he turns to Jungwon suddenly, his hand rising to lay on Jungwon’s arm, “you look so handsome today.” Sunoo is turning to face you and Riki, hand not leaving Jungwon’s shoulder, and a smug smile on his face, “Don’t his shoulders look incredible in this shirt?” He’s gesturing, like one would showcase a museum exhibit. “So broad.”
Your eye twitches. Jungwon wishes the ground would swallow him whole.
Riki glances at you, just for a second with one eyebrow barely raised. You squint at Sunoo's hand on Jungwon's arm one more time, then at Riki and then at your own hands.
"Riki, show me that thing on your phone you were telling me about earlier." You lean in before he can even reach for his phone, closing the distance between you and resting your chin almost on his shoulder, cheek almost touching his neck to peer at his screen, that us not even open yet, by the way. Riki, to his credit, recovers fast. "Oh yeah… uh yeah, s-sure."
Across the table, Jungwon’s knife falls on his plate and he scrambles to pick it up. You don't look up at all, but he sees the tiny smirk on your face.
So we’re playing dirty now?
That’s fine. Two can play the game.
Jungwon holds it in for a full five minutes, pretends your little stunt didn’t bother him one bit. In fact, he continues the conversation like nothing is amiss. And when Sunoo starts to comment on something, Jungwon turns to him a little more than necessary, and agonizingly slowly, reaches over and fixes Sunoo’s collar. A collar that looked pristine, needed no fixing at all. (If anything, Jungwon’s actually made it messy.) He doesn’t stop there though. His hand continues to rise. Sunoo is not sure what’s happening and is looking at Jungwon with wide eyes. And then Jungwon’s thumb is swiping the corner of Sunoo’s lips. “You had a little something there.”
Sunoo could throw up. Riki feels a shudder crawl down his spine. Jungwon looks way too confident, way too hot and way too unbothered. And you feel a scowl set onto your face. Sunoo thinks a hole is going to burn through his skull with the way you’re glaring.
You know he’s doing it on purpose.
He knows you’re doing it on purpose.
You take one deep breath, and then you pivot, “This place is amazing, Riki. You have great taste!” Your palm smacks down on Riki’s thigh who yelps. Then you find Jungwon’s eyes, hold his gaze, before continuing, “Definitely better than cold pizza and diet coke.”
Jungwon scoffs. “Oh yeah, better than Buldak Ramen too, actually.”
Neither of you has broken eye contact. A moment passes. The table is quiet.
Then Jungwon says it like it's a completely separate thought. Casual. Like he just remembered.
“Sunoo is such a good texter, replies almost immediately.” He does not care that anyone and their mother can point out that that was the most ridiculous conversation starter ever. He just wants to edge you further. And Sunoo is wondering how purple the bruises on his shoulder is going to be when Jungwon lets go.
“Riki doesn't send thirty texts in four minutes either.” You're looking at him with narrowed eyes.
“Oh, so I shouldn’t check in with you. Got it.” Jungwon puts down his drink.
“I don’t really check my phone when I’m having a good time. You know, like a civilized person.”
“Oh really? Seems like you aren’t having a good time tonight then considering Riki’s phone is so interesting.”
“Don’t you worry, I absolutely am. Are you?”
Riki and Sunoo have been craning their necks like they’re watching a particularly brutal ping pong match. They look at each other. ‘Do something.’ Sunoo mouths to Riki.
"Sooo, what have you been watching recently?" It's laughable that that’s the only thing Riki could come up with but he genuinely feels like he's next to a ticking time bomb.
"Oh, Jungwon and I watch a lot of sitcoms these days." Sunoo says, in hopes to help diffuse whatever electric tension is buzzing between the two of you.
Wrong move. You go very still.
"Oh, so that's the 'thing' you have?" You glare. "At least, you show up for him."
In three years, he has never not shown up. Not once. He has shown up with cold pizza and diet coke and his feet on your coffee table. He has shown up with his stupid reels and his 2am spam texts. He has shown up when you were running low on caffeine and motivation during finals. He has shown up when you were celebrating a perfect score or an internship offer. He has shown up when you were crying about a boss’s rude comment. And he has always, always been there.
He just couldn't be once. Not like this. Not when being there was slowly breaking something in him he didn't know how to fix.
He wanted to be happy for you.
He is trying so hard to be happy for you.
This is what he gets for wishing you happiness?
Jungwon stares at the table, pulls in a slow breath. “Wow, you really know how to hurt me.”
And you know you’ve stooped too low. You want to take it back.
Sunoo looks at Riki and they seem to agree that this is beyond saving.
Riki coughs, "I have a call to make."
Sunoo nods. "Yeah, I'll help you dial."
They’re both scrambling out of their seats before you can blink.
You’re both silent. Jungwon hasn’t looked up at you. You don’t know how to fix this.
“Save it.” Before you can process what’s happening, he’s standing up and walking away from the table.
You spot Riki and Sunoo not far away and hurriedly wave them over, who, thank the heavens, for once in their lives get the memo and rush over. You don’t wait, just rush out behind Jungwon.
You catch up to him out on the terrace extending from the restaurant. He’s walking to the railing, “Jungwon, wait. Please. I really crossed the line right now. I did not mean for—”
“No.” He stops you, turns around and his face looks so pained, it knocks the breath out of your lungs. He looks like he might break down any moment and your heart feels like it’ll shatter.
“Do you even know why I pulled away?”
You don’t answer. You don’t think you can.
“Because I couldn’t keep pretending around you.” He takes in a breath. “You know better than anyone I've never — not once — wanted to be apart from you. Not for a day. Not even for an afternoon.” He laughs, but it sounds so different from his laugh. “I don’t spam text people. I take 2 business days to reply to everyone else, including my sister sometimes. I hate people laying cold feet on me. I love nuts in my truffle pasta and I hate that sitcom we watch. For fucks sake, I’m not even looking at the TV most of the time. I’m looking at you.” He runs a hand down his face.
“Do you think it’s a coincidence that I'm always just. there? That I always show up? That I know you take two eggs in your ramen and that you hate anyone touching the blanket you’ve left at my place and that you laugh at your own jokes before the punchline—”.
“I pulled away because I’m in love with you.” He looks at you. You can see the moisture in his eyes. The light from within the restaurant reflects in his eyes and your breath catches. “I have been for an embarrassingly long amount of time. And it never bothered me when you went on dates cause they never got further than the first one. But then I saw you with Riki. And it killed me to see you laugh like that and look like that—” He’s gesturing to you and he’s laughing again, his eyes shine some more now. “I just needed to protect whatever was left of me.”
He can’t look at you. He stares at the floor. It’s silent. There’s sounds of crickets from the potted plants on the railing and clinks of cutlery from within the restaurant.
There goes the friendship as well, he thinks.
His eyes are blurry now. He doesn’t think he has the courage to look at you anymore. He sees your heels come into view. You’re walking to him. He has half a mind to shut his eyes and push you away.
Jungwon looks wrecked. The closer you walk to him, the more your heart breaks. His lashes are wet, his fists are clenched by his side. And then before you can overthink it, you’re in front of him and your hands are cupping his face.
Jungwon shuts his eyes. Your thumbs brush away the tears on his cheeks.
“If you’re gonna walk away, just do it now.”
Jungwon looks at you slowly. There’s tears in your eyes. The city lights from beyond the terrace reflect on your face. You look so beautiful. Wow, he’s going to miss you.
“That’s nice to know. But really? That’s your response to everything I said?”
You laugh through your tears. “Jungwon, I never liked Riki. I’ve only ever liked you.”
“I’m in love with you too, you idiot.” Your voice cracks. ”I have been for a really long time. And I panicked. Because you suggested the pact and I said yes before I processed any of it and I didn't know what to do with that so I just—” You breathe in. “I wanted you to do something now, I can’t wait three years, are you kidding me?”
“So what you’re saying is you were trying to get a rise out of me?” It comes out slow. Like things are clicking into place.
"You wore the halter neck on purpose."
"I wore the halter neck on purpose."
“And he tried to kiss you.”
“After.” And he’s pulling you into his arms. “After.”
He holds you for a long moment. You can hear his heart, you can smell his cologne and you can feel his breath in the crook of your neck and it’s the best feeling in the world. Jungwon’s nose is in your neck and you smell divine, his hands are around your waist and he feels like he could pass out like this. Neither of you move.
"So." His voice is muffled in your hair. "The halter neck."
"You wore it on purpose."
"We've established this."
"To a date. With my friend."
"Riki." He pulls back just enough to look at your face. "You used Riki."
"You followed me with children's binoculars and roped Jay into stalking me."
He opens his mouth. Closes it.
You laugh, the full one, the one reserved for him. He smiles. And then he's cupping your face the way you cupped his and he's looking at you like he's got three years worth of looking to catch up on. Your breath hitches. His thumb is brushing your jaw. He pushes a strand of your hair behind your ear and inches closer. You can’t breathe. You’re too scared to move. Your eyes simply travel from his lips to his eyes (which are trained on your lips) back to his lips. And then he’s kissing you.
It’s soft. Slow. Like neither of you is in any hurry anymore. Like you have all the time in the world now. Because you do.
When he pulls back he doesn't go far, just rests his forehead against yours. “Just so you know”, his breath mingles with yours, your lips are barely a centimeter apart, “I’m not letting you go.”
“You better not.” And now you’re kissing him. More confident. Your lips dance with his, hands travel to his neck. He tilts your head and kisses you deeper. And you don’t think you’ll ever want to stop.
Three years for forever? Totally worth it.
Somewhere inside the restaurant, Riki and Sunoo are pressed against the window like two kids outside a candy shop.
"Aww. Look at our idiots." Sunoo says.
"You're crying." Riki says.
