BETWEEN DEADLINES (l.hs & s.jy)
synopsis: jake only wanted to spend the afternoon with his boyfriend. unfortunately, his boyfriend is lee heeseung, who somehow thinks skyflakes and four hours of sleep count as self-care. heeseung insists he's fine. jake stages an intervention. somewhere between food, negotiations, and far too much kissing, they manage to meet in the middle.
pairing: lee heeseung x sim jaeyun
genre: fluff, comedy
tags: atenean!heejake, TOOTH ROTTING FLUFF, jake likes to whine, uaap au, taglish dialogue, they are both conyo as hell im so sorry, DISGOSTANG, college au, heeseung vs basic human needs, jake sim the man that you are, academic victim lee heeseung, ateneo staff im so sorry, love wins i guess
word count: 4.5k
author's note: my very first fanfic / oneshot on tumblr!! this has been on my mind ever since i started writing the uaap au lordddd theyre so gross I HATE THEM I HATE THEM MGA BAKLA BADING (DEGORATORY) UGHHH maybe after this i should write a lasallian jay + hoon fic tho it probably would be platonic LOL
also again, no ot6/ot7 discourse or arguments in my comments, my blog is meant to be a safe space and for entertainment only. thank you!
The Gonzaga benches are unusually full for a Wednesday afternoon.
Students are scattered beneath the narra trees, some cramming for a Theo paper due in the next hour, others pretending to study while gossiping over half-finished cups of Zus Coffee.
A couple of varsity players weave through the crowd with duffel bags slung over one shoulder, laughing loud enough to earn a half-hearted "Shh!" from a nearby table.
Somewhere across the walkway, an org booth is blasting OPM through a speaker that's definitely violating campus policy, though no one seems particularly eager to do anything about it.
Under the shade of one of the larger narra trees, Lee Heeseung has somehow tuned all of it out.
His laptop sits open in front of him, an iPad propped neatly to one side while a stack of photocopied readings threatens to spill off the edge of the table. Half the pages are drowned in fluorescent highlights, sticky tabs jutting out at odd angles, and tucked somewhere between them is a dog-eared script, its margins crowded with penciled notes and hastily scribbled blocking cues.
Beside everything else lies the planner he stubbornly refuses to replace with a digital calendar.
Every square is packed with tiny, meticulous handwriting.
2:30 — Prod mtg 4:00 — MKT case 6:00 — Bball 8:30 — Blocking 11:00 — ACCT case
For most people, it would look exhausting.
For Heeseung, it looks like Wednesday.
He's been at the same table for nearly three hours.
At some point, the Gula Melaka coffee beside him has gone lukewarm, the ice long since melted into the dark coffee beneath. The sticker wrapped around the cup has started peeling at the edges, his name written in thick black marker beginning to smudge after hours beneath the afternoon heat.
He hasn't noticed.
Or maybe he has, and simply decided it isn't worth getting up for another one.
Either way, he's been staring at the same article long enough that the words have begun to blur together.
Long enough that he doesn't even notice someone approaching.
"Grabe."
Nothing.
Not even a blink.
The newcomer slows to a stop, shifting the tote bag higher on his shoulder before glancing between Heeseung and the sea of papers spread across the table.
A smile tugs at the corner of his mouth.
Typical.
"Grabe talaga."
Still nothing.
With an exaggerated sigh, Jake lets the tote bag slip from his shoulder onto the empty chair across from Heeseung.
The heavy thud rattles the table just enough to make the neglected coffee wobble.
The only response he gets is a distracted hum.
Jake watches him for another second, equal parts amused and offended.
He should've known he'd have to compete with a PDF.
"Lee Heeseung."
"Hm?"
"You have a boyfriend."
Another absent-minded hum.
"...Mhm."
Jake folds his arms, leaning forward until his elbows rest against the table.
"Do you..." Tilting his head, he tries again. "Remember him?"
That finally earns him a reaction.
Heeseung blinks, eyes lifting from the screen as though he'd only just remembered the rest of the world existed. It takes him a second to focus, the crease between his brows easing the moment he recognizes the familiar face across the table.
"Oh." A sheepish smile tugs at his lips. "Hi, baby."
Jake can only stare.
"'Hi, baby' lang?" he repeats, eyebrows shooting up. "That's all I get after, like, six hours? No hug? No kiss? No, 'Jake, I've missed you terribly, thank goodness you've rescued me from the trenches of academe'?"
Heeseung's smile widens despite himself.
"...That's very specific."
"I rehearsed it."
"I can tell."
"I've been looking for you since lunch." Jake gestures vaguely toward the rest of campus. "I literally stalked your location."
Heeseung blinks.
"...That's concerning."
"It's called using Find My for its intended purpose."
"I'm pretty sure it isn't."
"It found you, didn't it?"
Heeseung considers that for a moment.
"...Fair."
Jake grins, looking entirely too pleased with himself.
"Also," he says, settling into the chair opposite him, "do you even know what time it is?"
Heeseung glances toward the sunlight filtering through the trees, as though that might somehow help.
"...Three?"
"Three-thirty."
"...Close enough."
Jake exhales dramatically, folding his arms across his chest.
"So..." Tilting his head, he asks, "Do I still have a boyfriend?"
"I thought mamaya."
"You told me that yesterday."
Heeseung falls silent.
"And the day before."
His gaze drifts to the planner lying open beside Heeseung's laptop.
"I'm pretty sure you told me that last Friday too."
A quiet sigh escapes Heeseung as he pinches the bridge of his nose.
"I know."
There's no excuse that follows. No attempt to explain himself or promise that this time will be different.
Jake knows better than to wait for one.
That's the annoying thing about Lee Heeseung.
He never says things he doesn't mean. Every mamaya, every after this, every I'll make it up to you—he means all of them.
Life just has an annoying habit of getting there first.
Jake's eyes linger on the planner for another moment before a small smile tugs at the corner of his lips.
"...Your planner has more dates than I do."
A quiet laugh slips out of Heeseung before he can stop it.
Jake reaches across the table, tapping one of the empty corners of the page with a finger.
"Can I book an appointment with my own boyfriend?"
That earns him another laugh—small, fleeting, but there.
"Jake..."
"I'm serious. Do I need to send a Google Calendar invite?"
"...Maybe."
"Wow."
Jake leans back in his chair, shaking his head in mock disbelief.
"Imagine getting waitlisted by your own boyfriend."
For the first time since he'd arrived, Heeseung actually laughs out loud. It's quiet, barely more than a breath, but it reaches his eyes all the same.
Only for a moment.
The smile fades almost as quickly as it came, replaced by the same tired guilt Jake had walked into.
"I'm sorry."
The words come so easily, as if he's been carrying them around all afternoon.
Jake's smile slips away.
His gaze wanders back across the table, taking in the planner overflowing with commitments, the stack of readings threatening to topple over, and the neglected Gula Melaka sitting exactly where it'd been when he arrived, the last of its ice melted into the coffee hours ago.
He sighs, resting his forearms against the table.
"...You look tired.”
Heeseung offers him a tired smile and shakes his head almost immediately.
"I'm okay."
Jake doesn't argue. Not yet.
Instead, he reaches for the neglected Gula Melaka beside the laptop. The plastic cup is cool beneath his fingers, but the condensation has long since disappeared, leaving the sticker wrapped around it slightly wrinkled and peeling at the edges.
He turns it just enough to read the faded print.
LEE HEESEUNG
11:47 AM
Jake glances at the time, then at the sun filtering through the narra leaves above them. The afternoon has settled over Gonzaga, students weaving in and out of the walkways while Heeseung remains in the exact same spot, surrounded by the same pile of readings.
He snorts.
"You haven't even touched this."
"I forgot."
Jake traces the printed timestamp with his thumb before angling the cup toward Heeseung.
"Hee... you bought this before lunch."
Heeseung finally looks up, squinting at the cup as if seeing it for the first time.
"...Did I?"
Jake doesn't answer right away.
Instead, he studies him for a moment, watching the way Heeseung tries to remember and comes up blank.
"Okay..." he says slowly. "When did you last eat?"
Heeseung opens his mouth, closes it again, then glances away.
"...Lunch?"
Jake doesn't say anything.
He just looks at him.
Heeseung looks back down at his laptop, scrolling through the same paragraph he'd been stuck on for who knows how long. It takes him a few seconds before he realizes Jake is still waiting for an answer.
"...Yesterday."
A sheepish smile tugs at the corner of Heeseung's lips, like he already knows he's not going to win this one.
"I had crackers this morning."
Jake blinks.
"Crackers."
"...And coffee."
"Heeseung."
"What? They were those big SkyFlakes."
The excuse is so painfully sincere that Jake can't help letting out a small, incredulous laugh. He shakes his head, leaning back in his chair.
"Wow. That's so much better."
Heeseung only shrugs, fingers already drifting back toward his keyboard.
"I wasn't really hungry."
Before Heeseung can turn back to his laptop, Jake reaches across the table and rests a hand over the trackpad, stopping the cursor where it is.
"No," he says quietly. "You were too busy to realize you were hungry."
Heeseung doesn't argue.
His eyes stay on the screen for a moment before he leans back with a sigh, rubbing at the bridge of his nose like he's trying to massage away the exhaustion.
"I'm okay."
"Mhm." Jake doesn't sound convinced in the slightest. "And how much sleep have you been running on these past few days?"
"I slept."
"Heeseung."
"I did."
"For how long?"
Heeseung hesitates just long enough for Jake to know he's not going to like the answer.
"...Four hours."
Jake blinks.
"Wait, last night lang... or, like, in general?"
"...Average."
The word is accompanied by a helpless little shrug, as though four hours is simply an unfortunate fact of life.
Jake lets out a breath somewhere between a laugh and a sigh.
"Hee..."
"I've done this before."
"I know."
"I'll be okay."
"I know," Jake repeats, softer this time, his thumb idly tracing circles against the edge of the laptop. "I'm just not a fan of the part where you only sleep four hours and forget meals in between."
Heeseung looks down.
"I just need to get through this week."
Jake looks down at the planner between them, at the list of meetings and rehearsals and deadlines packed into every available space. He knows Heeseung. He knows that tone. It's the same one he uses every time he convinces himself something is temporary, that he'll rest after one more thing, one more assignment, one more commitment.
Except there is always another thing.
"Hee, just take the afternoon off."
"I can't."
Jake gestures vaguely toward the planner still lying on the table, then to the watch on Heeseung's wrist, as though physically pointing at the schedule might somehow make him see how impossible it all sounds.
"You have a meeting in, what, half an hour? Then rehearsal tonight, training after that..." He exhales, looking back at Heeseung. "Move something."
"I can't."
"Why not?"
"Because I can't."
"You can ask for an extension."
Heeseung shakes his head before Jake even finishes the sentence.
"No."
"You haven't even tried."
"I don't need to."
"Hello? How do you know that if you haven't asked?"
"Because I know."
Jake lets out a disbelieving laugh.
He leans forward, lowering his voice. "No, you don't. You don't know because you haven't even given yourself the chance to ask. Hee, you're literally doing two degrees, varsity, theater, production—you're running around campus every single day like you're trying to prove something to everyone and then you act surprised when your body gives out—"
"Jake."
"—and I'm not saying drop everything, I'm not saying stop caring about your work, I'm saying maybe you don't have to destroy yourself just to prove you can handle it—"
"Jake."
"Because your professors are people. They understand things happen. You could explain, you could ask for consideration, you could literally just tell them you're overwhelmed instead of pretending you're fine when you're clearly not—"
"Jake."
"I can talk to them if you don't want to. I can explain. I'll be respectful, I'll email them, I'll—"
"Jake!"
The word cuts through his rambling.
Jake finally stops.
"What?!"
Heeseung looks at him, frustration flashing across his face—not at Jake, not really, but at the impossible situation he can't seem to explain.
"These are my deadlines.”
For a moment, Jake doesn't say anything.
He has a dozen responses ready. He could tell Heeseung he's being impossible, that no deadline is worth running himself into the ground, that he can't keep treating exhaustion like some kind of challenge he has to beat.
But looking at him now, Jake realizes something.
Heeseung already knows.
He just doesn't know what to do about it.
Jake lets out a slow breath and leans back in his chair.
"Okay."
Heeseung looks up slightly, almost surprised.
"...Okay?"
"Yeah." Jake gives him a small, tired smile. "Okay. Sorry."
The apology catches Heeseung off guard.
"I came in too strong."
Heeseung doesn't meet his eyes, suddenly finding the fabric of his jacket interesting. "You weren't wrong."
"I know." Jake rubs his thumb against the side of the cup, glancing down at the melted ice sitting at the bottom. "But I was kind of acting like I could just decide things for you."
Heeseung doesn't answer, and Jake doesn't push him to.
"I just..." Jake trails off, searching for the right words. "I don't like seeing you like this, Hee."
The frustration is gone now. There's no teasing, no lecture—just worry.
"I know you're busy. I know these things matter to you. I know you worked hard to get here."
His eyes drift toward the planner still sitting between them.
"But you also have to be here."
For a moment, Heeseung lets the words sit.
Then, because Jake knows him far too well, he notices it immediately.
Heeseung's eyes drift back toward the laptop.
Of course they do.
The second the conversation starts getting a little too real, Heeseung reaches for the one thing he knows how to handle.
Work.
His fingers barely graze the trackpad before Jake slides the laptop a few inches away, just enough to keep it out of reach.
"Absolutely not."
Heeseung looks up at him, then at the laptop.
"...Excuse me?"
"Hee."
"I have to finish this."
"I know."
"I'm serious."
"So am I."
A quiet, disbelieving laugh escapes Heeseung as he looks between Jake and the laptop, like he's genuinely trying to figure out how this somehow became the situation.
"Wait... are you actually confiscating it?"
Jake shrugs.
"Temporary lang."
"...Temporary."
"Mhm."
"You literally just apologized."
"I know."
"And now you're taking my laptop?"
"I'm protecting you from yourself."
Heeseung lets out another laugh, shaking his head.
"You are unbelievable."
"I've been told."
He reaches for the laptop anyway, more out of habit than hope.
Jake catches his wrist before he even gets close.
"Hee."
The teasing disappears from his voice just as quickly as it arrived.
Jake's thumb absently brushes over the inside of Heeseung's wrist, grounding him before gently nudging his attention back where he wants it.
"Look at me."
For a moment, Heeseung just does.
He doesn't glance at the laptop. Doesn't reach for his planner. He just looks at Jake, and for the first time that afternoon, Jake thinks he actually has his full attention.
It almost works.
Almost.
"I really do need to—"
Jake doesn't even let him finish.
He leans forward and kisses him.
It's quick, just enough to cut him off mid-sentence and completely derail whatever argument he was about to make.
When Jake pulls away, Heeseung only blinks at him, staring as though he's still trying to process what just happened.
"...You did not just do that."
Jake's smile is infuriatingly pleased with itself.
"I did."
"I was talking."
"I know."
"I was making a point."
Jake tilts his head, feigning curiosity.
"About what?"
Heeseung opens his mouth.
Nothing.
He pauses, brows knitting together as he tries to remember where he was going with this. The deadline, the meeting, the perfectly valid argument he'd been building five seconds ago—all of it disappears somewhere between the laptop and the kiss.
Jake watches the realization hit him and grins.
"Gotcha.”
Heeseung just looks at him.
Not because he's angry. If anything, he's still trying to figure out how Jake keeps finding increasingly ridiculous ways to throw him completely off track.
"...Ang unfair mo."
Jake only raises an eyebrow, looking far too pleased with himself.
"And yet...?"
Heeseung lets out a breath through his nose, gesturing vaguely between the two of them as though the answer should be painfully obvious.
"You kissed me."
Jake nods once.
"I did."
"You interrupted me."
"I did."
"On purpose."
"...Also true."
Heeseung stares at him.
"You literally kissed me so I'd stop talking."
"No," Jake says, fighting a smile. "I kissed you because I missed you."
"...It was just a bonus that you stopped talking."
Heeseung opens his mouth to argue.
Nothing comes out.
His brows slowly knit together as he tries to retrace whatever point he'd been making a few seconds ago. There had been one. Something about deadlines... or meetings... or—
He pauses.
Jake watches the realization wash over his face, the corners of his own mouth lifting higher by the second.
"...Exactly."
A quiet laugh escapes Heeseung before he can stop it. It's small, almost reluctant, but Jake catches it anyway. Of course he does.
After all, this is the same person who notices when Heeseung changes his coffee order, when he’s sleeping less than usual, when he’s pretending he isn’t stressed. Jake has always been annoyingly good at finding the little things everyone else misses.
Including the fact that Heeseung is terrible at staying annoyed with him.
"You really planned that," Heeseung says, shaking his head.
"I did not."
"You absolutely did."
"I improvised."
"Jake."
"Okay, maybe a little."
That earns him another laugh, and this time Heeseung doesn't try to hide it.
The tension that had been sitting between them for the past few minutes finally begins to loosen. The deadlines are still there. The meetings are still waiting. The readings on his laptop haven't magically disappeared.
But for the first time all afternoon, Heeseung isn't looking at any of them.
He's just looking at Jake.
Jake smiles almost immediately.
"There you are."
Heeseung's brows knit together.
"...What?"
"There you are," Jake repeats with a small shrug. "I've been trying to get your attention for, like, an hour."
The corners of Heeseung's mouth twitch.
"You have my attention now."
"Mhm."
Jake grins.
"Missed you."
Jake is the first one to pull away, glancing at the time before immediately remembering the reason he was supposed to be leaving in the first place.
"Okay," Jake says, pushing himself to his feet and reaching for his tote bag. "I'm getting you food."
He slings the strap over one shoulder with a satisfied little nod, relieved to finally have something he can do instead of trying—and failing—to out-stubborn his boyfriend.
"You don't have to."
"I know." Jake glances back at him over his shoulder. "You say that a lot, by the way."
"So do you."
A laugh slips out before he can stop it.
"Yeah, except I say it because you keep saying things you don't mean."
That finally earns him a proper laugh. It's quiet, but genuine, and Jake immediately points across the table like he's just won the argument once and for all.
"Ayan."
Heeseung only raises an eyebrow.
"What?"
"We're making progress."
The smile stays on Heeseung's face as Jake turns away, shaking his head to himself. For all the worrying he'd done that afternoon, getting even one laugh out of him feels like a small victory.
He barely makes it a couple of steps.
"Wait."
Jake stops mid-stride and glances back. "What?"
Heeseung doesn't answer. He only watches him, his expression settling into something deceptively neutral—so deceptively neutral, in fact, that Jake immediately recognizes it.
His eyes narrow.
"...Ano."
"What?"
"You have that look."
"What look?"
"That look."
Heeseung blinks, looking genuinely puzzled now.
"I literally haven't done anything."
"You didn't have to." Jake points at him accusingly as he walks back toward the table. "I know you. Every time you look at me like that, you're about to pull something."
"...Do you?"
"Oh, unfortunately."
The answer comes so quickly that Heeseung can't quite hide the smile tugging at the corners of his mouth.
Jake catches it immediately.
"Ayan."
"What?"
"You smiled."
"So?"
Jake folds his arms, unable to stop grinning.
"So now I know you're planning something."
For a second, Heeseung simply stares at him, and Jake recognizes the look on his face a little too late. It is the same look Heeseung gets whenever he has already made up his mind about something—quiet, certain, and usually followed by Jake regretting whatever decision led him there.
"Don't."
But Heeseung is already smiling.
Jake barely has time to process what that means before Heeseung reaches out, catching his wrist and pulling him back with just enough force to ruin his carefully planned exit.
One second, Jake is standing there with his tote bag over his shoulder, ready to leave and get his boyfriend something resembling an actual meal. The next, he is somehow back in Heeseung's lap, his bag abandoned beside the table and his entire argument disappearing somewhere along the way.
For a long moment, Jake can only blink.
"...How did I get here?"
Heeseung doesn't even try to hide the smile tugging at the corners of his mouth as he settles an arm comfortably around Jake's waist.
"You sat down."
Jake immediately shakes his head.
"I absolutely did not."
"Hm." Heeseung glances pointedly between Jake and the fact that he is, very obviously, sitting in his lap. "Looks like you did."
Jake follows his gaze, then sighs dramatically.
"...Okay, that's actually so unfair."
"You think?"
"Yes."
A quiet laugh escapes Heeseung.
"You started it."
Jake looks back up, scandalized.
"Excuse me?"
"You kissed me to win an argument."
"That was different."
"How?"
Jake opens his mouth, already prepared with a rebuttal, only to realize he doesn't actually have one.
"...That's not the point."
Jake points at him immediately.
"Uy. Don't."
Heeseung only tilts his head, looking far too entertained by all of this.
"Don't what?"
"Don't use my line."
"You used it first."
"Exactly."
"..."
"It's mine."
A quiet laugh slips out of Heeseung.
"That doesn't even make sense."
"It makes perfect sense."
"It really doesn't."
Jake is still busy defending what is, objectively, a terrible argument, punctuating every sentence with increasingly dramatic hand gestures, which is precisely why he doesn't notice Heeseung leaning in until the last possible second.
By the time Jake processes what just happened, Heeseung has already leaned back, watching him with the same infuriatingly pleased smile that says he knows exactly what he did.
"Sira ulo ka talaga."
"I know."
"Ang daya mo."
Heeseung only laughs, his thumb absentmindedly tracing small circles against Jake's waist.
"Ang daldal mo eh."
Jake gasps, looking genuinely offended.
"Hello? That's my thing."
"I know."
He says it so matter-of-factly that Jake can only stare at him for a second before letting out a quiet sigh through his nose. He's trying very hard to hold onto whatever dignity he has left.
It lasts all of three seconds.
"You know what?" Jake shifts in his lap until they're facing each other properly, one knee tucked against the bench. "Fine."
Heeseung's eyebrows lift.
"Fine?"
"I'll stay."
The smile that immediately breaks across Heeseung's face is almost enough to make Jake take it back.
"...But."
"There it is."
"There it is," Jake echoes, giving his shoulder a light shove. "You don't get unlimited kisses for free, mister."
"Oh?"
"Nope."
"And what exactly do I have to do?"
Jake hums dramatically, tapping a finger against his chin as though he's considering an impossibly difficult decision.
"Hmm..."
Heeseung waits him out with the patience of someone who already knows this is going nowhere.
"You eat."
"I was going to."
Jake doesn't even dignify that with an answer. He just gives him a look.
"...A real meal."
Silence.
Then Heeseung sighs, the corners of his mouth tugging upward in quiet surrender.
"...Okay."
"And," Jake continues before Heeseung gets any ideas about kissing him again, "you let me talk to your professors."
The smile on Heeseung's face softens.
"Jake..."
"No, hear me out." His voice is gentler this time, the teasing from a moment ago settling into something quieter. "I'm not asking them to erase your deadlines or give you special treatment."
He reaches up almost absentmindedly, brushing a stray lock of hair away from Heeseung's forehead before letting his hand linger there for a second.
"I just want to ask if there's anything they can do. Kahit one day lang. Kahit sabihin nilang no." He shrugs lightly. "At least we tried."
Heeseung falls quiet.
Heeseung doesn't answer right away. He just looks at Jake, quiet enough that Jake can almost see him thinking. Jake resists the urge to fill the silence. Earlier, he would've rushed to convince him, would've kept talking until one of them gave in.
Now he just waits.
After a long moment, Heeseung lets out a quiet sigh, his thumb tracing absent circles against Jake's waist.
"...Okay."
Jake stares at him, stunned, half expecting him to take it back.
"Really?"
A small smile returns as Heeseung nods.
"Really."
Relief settles over Jake so suddenly that he can't stop the grin spreading across his face.
"Okay."
Heeseung lets out a soft laugh.
"You're really happy about this, huh?"
Jake doesn't even try to hide it.
"Very."
Heeseung laughs quietly, the sound low enough that Jake almost misses it.
"Cute mo."
Jake wrinkles his nose, making absolutely no effort to hide how pleased he is with himself.
"I know."
"You stole my line."
"I did."
"You've been doing that a lot today."
Jake only grins.
"You started it."
Jake smiles, the corners of his mouth still lifted from the teasing, but his eyes stay on Heeseung. He's half-expecting him to take it back somehow—to laugh, shrug it off, say he only agreed because Jake was impossible.
"You promise?"
Heeseung doesn't look away.
"I promise."
The answer comes without hesitation this time, steady enough to loosen the last stubborn knot of worry sitting in Jake's chest.
"Good."
Heeseung watches the relief settle across his face before tilting his head ever so slightly.
"So..."
Jake already knows where this is going.
"So?"
"Can I have my kiss now?"
A laugh slips out before Jake can stop it.
"You are unbelievable."
"I've heard."
"And very lucky."
"I know."
Jake points a finger at him, trying very hard to look stern.
"Don't push it."
"I wasn't planning to."
The innocence in Heeseung's voice lasts all of two seconds.
By the time Jake realizes he's lying, Heeseung is already leaning in, closing the distance with a kiss that's slow enough to make Jake forget he was supposed to be refusing in the first place.
When they finally pull apart, Jake barely gets a chance to breathe before Heeseung steals another, shorter this time, but no less shameless.
"...Hee."
"Hm?"
"I thought we agreed you were eating first."
"We did."
Jake waits.
"And?"
"One more."
Jake rolls his eyes, though the smile threatening at the corners of his mouth ruins the effect entirely.
"You negotiate terribly."
"I thought I negotiated pretty well."
"...Maybe a little."
He cups Heeseung's face this time, meeting him halfway.
Around them, Ateneo carries on as if nothing is happening—students weaving between benches, conversations drifting through the afternoon air, the distant music from an org booth blending into the steady hum of campus life.
Their laptops stay forgotten.
The planner remains tucked beneath Jake's arm.
And for just a little while longer, neither of them thinks about deadlines.
divider creds: @uzmacchiato
taglist: @beomtomie, @andnevertheless
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