YOU ARE IN LOVE — S.JY
SYNOPSIS: one summer. two idiots. what could possibly go wrong? you swore this was finally going to be a memorable summer, one where it'll be filled with adventures just like coming of age movies. but then jake sim just had to ruin it. how so? by taking over your head.
PAIRINGS: childhood bestfriend!jake x afab!reader
GENRE: childhood bestfriends to lovers, angst, romance, pining
WARNING(S): miscommunications, parties, alcohol, profanities
WC: 4.7k
A/N: this has been rotting in my docs for AGES before i even created this account 😭 i wanted to free it so here we are 👹 apologies in advance if it's tacky/lacky writing since this short fic was written when i was starting to get out of my burn out >.< lmk your feedbacks as always! <3
masterlist | © jaylver 2023 all rights reserved
Summer is the best thing to ever happen to mankind.
Trips to the beach, ice cream dates, late night drives, house parties, the list goes on and on. And who else to spend it with? Of course, your one and only best friend and neighbour since you were four years old, Jake Sim.
Every summer was practically filled with him and him only. Ever since you were kids, you did everything together. Writing up lists and going on adventures, spending nights watching movies et cetera. But this summer, it seemed … different.
Maybe it was the problem of being seventeen. Seventeen is an awkward age. Period. But other than that, you couldn't understand the way he was acting.
Summer always started and ended with him. Always. But this summer, he wasn't anywhere near you. Occasionally popping by and disappearing after nightfall, declining late night movies together or beach trips. Rude!
It just felt weird without him. So, you found yourself turning up in front of his house one day, tapping your foot against the hard floor as you knocked impatiently on the door.
"Y/N?" Jake appeared in front of you, his eyebrows scrunched with confusion.
“Jake,” you smiled innocently at him, which only made him look at you with more confusion.
“Y/N it’s 10 pm?”
“I just wanted to see you,” you admitted, to which you cursed at yourself for letting those words escape your lips so shamelessly because it was something you couldn’t deny.
You could see the way his gaze softened, then proceeded to let out a sigh. “Is it … because I barely hang out with you these days?”
“So, you’re self aware this whole time?” you couldn’t help shooting back, wrapping your arms around yourself as the cold wind brushed past. But even without the wind, you felt your body freezing up from the sudden burst of nerves.
“I’m sorry. I’ve been busy,” Jake frowned, guilt evident on his face. “Wanna come in, we can hang?”
Just as he finished his sentence, his phone buzzed, a notification popped up. Your eyes averted to the screen of his phone, catching a slight glimpse. “1 new message from Grace”
Your heart dropped. You knew Grace. Hell, everyone knew her, she was the cheerleader of your school after all. Miss Popular, Miss Crowned Queen. And Jake was texting her? Your Jake?
“So, Grace, huh?” Was this what he was caught up with all along? You mentally scolded yourself, wondering why you were even thinking about this when it wasn’t even your business to care about in the first place. This unreadable feeling was brewing in your stomach and you didn’t like it at all.
“It’s nothing, really. She texted me lately, that’s all,” he shoved his phone into his back pocket, giving you a reassuring smile. “Still up to hang?”
“Nah, it’s fine. It’s getting late anyway. Tomorrow?” You didn’t know why you said this. It was never too late when it came to Jake.
“Sure. I–uhm–heard there’s a party hosted by this guy called Ethan? Wanna come along?”
You considered for a moment, then nodded. “I’m down.”
“Sweet,” he flashed you that goddamned smile, the one that charmed you until you felt light headed. “I’ll pick you up tomorrow,”
“Cool,” you smiled a little, feeling the air turning still for a second once you locked eyes with him. Your heartbeat quickened, it was as though air was sucked out from your lungs and all you wanted was him.
“W-Wanna come over watch a movie with me tomorrow before the party? I’m home alone all day and we haven’t hung out properly for a while now,” Jake offered, stumbling over his words as he fidgeted his fingers, ears turning slightly pink.
You grinned. “How about the new Spiderman movie?”
He let out a small laugh, returning a big grin back. “You know me too well, huh? Deal.”
“See you tomorrow then, Jakey,” you reached over to ruffle his hair, but before you could fully pull away, he took hold of your wrist.
“I’ve missed you, can’t you stay a little longer?” he whined, swinging your arm gently.
You cursed at him, at his words and the amount of butterflies they’ve caused. “You can’t just say things like that,” you murmured under your breath.
“Hm?” he hummed and you looked up at him.
You dismissed your previous words, hoping he didn’t catch on to them. “Tomorrow we’re hanging out the whole day anyway. By then you wouldn’t be missing me anymore,”
“I miss you every day, though. Stick to my side like the old days?”
“How could I say no, Jakey?” you sighed, your heart thumping louder and louder as seconds passed. “Now, go sleep dumbass, we need to wake up early.”
“Alright, alright,” he threw his hands up in defeat. “Goodnight, Y/N. Don’t stay up too late too, or else you’ll get premature wrinkles.”
“I’ll beat you up.”
“I’d like to see you try.”
It felt natural.
You were resting on Jake's chest, his arms around you, a bowl balanced on your stomach, a movie blaring in the background, the lights dimmed. It was natural.
"Peter's pretty dumb sometimes, isn't he?" You spoke up, hand reaching into the bowl of popcorn, feeling Jake's hand brush against yours to get some as well.
You tried to excuse the fact that you were about to choke at the slight contact, playing it cool as you chewed on your popcorn.
"Totally. Why would he even do that?" Jake huffed.
You looked up at him from his chest, admiring his face slightly, not even caring about what misdemeanours Peter Parker was committing.
Jake could feel you staring, and he decided to look down at you, your gazes meeting. This was what you two always do whenever you're watching movies, it should be normal by now, but why in hell were you suddenly nervous?
"Mum wants you to come over for dinner," you whispered to him, reaching up to brush a strand of hair away from his eyes.
"I'm more than glad to do so," Jake pursed his lips, watching your movements closely.
The tension seemed to grow thicker and the movie started to fade into the background as the two of you stayed in this close proximity. You unconsciously glanced at his lips, swallowing thickly once you noticed him reciprocating the same action.
"Y/N-"
"Jake!"
You almost let out a groan, but instead you looked away, clearing your throat and removing yourself from Jake's body. You were absolutely flushed, thinking of the endless possibilities that could've happened. But in the end, nothing did anyway. And that was why you were about to strangle Park Jong Seong for interrupting.
"Jay?" Jake fumbled to sit up, his eyes turning to you before refocusing on Jay. "Is it time to leave already?"
"Duh," Jay rolled his eyes, casually dropping onto the couch beside you. "How are you, Y/N? Been enjoying summer?"
"Quite," you simply shrugged. "Someone over here left me alone after he promised a summer full of adventures," you nudged Jake and he smiled apologetically.
"I got caught up with some things!" He defended but Jay raised an eyebrow at his words.
"Some things or some one?"
"What?" You turned to Jake, trying to mask your disappointment with sheer interest. "Is it Grace?"
"So … you knew?" Jay's eyebrows only raised higher.
"I only found out yesterday, indirectly as well." you said, clearly unimpressed.
Jake rolled his eyes, sighing deeply. "Come on, guys. She only texted me once or twice. I was busy cramming my work, okay?"
"That's true too," Jay nodded in understanding. "You practically procrastinated everything and now it's a pile,"
"Must you remind me of it?" Jake groaned, his attention to you, taking notice of your sudden silence. "You alright there?"
You blinked at him, humming in response. How could you tell him that your stomach churned with jealousy whenever Grace was mentioned? How could you even admit that you're currently harbouring some god forbidding liking towards him? Your childhood best friend? The one who once spilled chocolate milk all over his shirt? The one who cried when he was forced to go back home after a whole day together with you? Jake Sim?
You were fucked. You liked Sim Jaeyun. And you had zero idea what to do about it.
The house party was basically like every other one you've been to. Passed out drunks here and there, the dance floor crammed to the max, the music booming loudly in your ears. Overall, you felt regretful coming here.
What made things worse was Jake abandoning you to talk to Grace. Yup, Grace. Even after all the denial he fed to you and Jay, he's still laughing and talking merrily to her, leaving you stuck in the middle of an unfamiliar house.
What a great Friday night!
It was almost midnight, so you decided to storm out of the house for some fresh air before declaring your leave, but Jake somehow caught you sneaking out.
"Leaving so soon?" He was leaning against the wall, watching your tired figure semi-passed out on the chair.
"God, Jake, you reek of alcohol," you pointed out, scrunching your nose at the stench. "Also, I'm not that inconsiderate. I won't leave you behind … unlike someone over here," you grumbled.
"Look, Grace dragged me away the moment I entered. Plus, I think I got to start avoiding her now," Jake groaned, sitting down next to you.
"Broke her heart?" You assumed. It wasn't uncommon to see Jake reject girls and break their heart growing up. Well, look at him, it was a fact that he got girls lining up for him. But you found it weird how he's never had a long term relationship before, which only made you more wary about your feelings for him.
"I wasn't being a douche about it!" He threw up his hands in defence. "I kindly rejected her, that's all. She seemed cool about it though," he shrugged and you felt his shoulder brush against your arm, his thigh making contact with yours.
"Look at you, all grown up and no longer breaking girls' hearts!" You smiled sarcastically at him.
"Hey! I literally rejected all of them in a nice way. I'm a kind man, you know?" Jake huffed, stretching his body, then proceeded to slyly place his arms around you.
You were genuinely trying your hardest to remain the best poker face you could even manage. Yet, you knew the facade would eventually fade. "Sure, sure, Jakey boy."
He turned his body to face yours, a challenging expression written all over his face. "Do you remember the time when we were five and I gave you my legos? I still remember how many hugs you gave me every day after that. So yes, I am kind." Jake insisted.
"You remembered?" You grinned at him, feeling your heart rate increasing once you saw the fondness in his eyes.
"Of course I remembered," he said softly. "You give good hugs anyway."
"Want a hug?" You chuckled, not expecting Jake to actually dive into your arms and hold onto you tightly.
"You smell like strawberries," he murmured against your skin.
You swallowed thickly and started breathing heavily. "A–are you drunk?"
"Just a bit," he pulled away from your body, his brown eyes meeting yours, his hands slowly travelling up to your face.
"Have I ever told you how pretty you are?" He whispered.
"Don't do this," you mumbled, your hand reaching for his wrist.
"What?" He breathed, his warm breath fanning your cheeks.
"Don't make me fall in love with you completely," you stared into his eyes, slight hurt and regret painted your expressions.
"Fuck, why did I say that?" you laughed pitifully at yourself, removing yourself from his arms and stood up. "It's getting late, let's go," you said, ignoring Jake's lingering gaze.
"Y/N," he held onto your wrist and you stood rooted to the ground, not knowing what you could even say or do. You felt like an idiot. "W–what did you mean by that?"
"It's nothing," you dismissed his question, feeling yourself sinking into a deeper hole. Jake furrowed his eyebrows, clearly frustrated. The moment he got up, he stumbled slightly and his words slurred. The alcohol has finally seeped in.
"Y/N, come on," he urged, desperation in his eyes. All you could do was sigh.
"I'm sorry, Jake."
So you did what you always do every summer. You ran from your problems and hid from the fact you had lingering feelings for your "best friend".
You found yourself avoiding Jake after that night.
It was ironic how you complained about him disappearing in and out of your life during the start of summer, but here you were, doing the same.
He came over to your house a couple of times, but you chose the cowardly choice of hiding away. All of his texts and calls were half answered.
You hated doing this, you knew it was hurting both you and him. But what could you do? Confess? Well, it was the most obvious way to solve the problem, but you were unwilling to risk a life long friendship with him. Pathetic you were indeed.
The weekend rolled around the corner and you just had to face one demise after another. Jake and his family were coming over for dinner and there's zero chances for you to dodge him this time. Thank you, Universe, you thought sarcastically.
Your palms felt clammy and sweaty as you set up the table. Before this, your mother had specifically requested you to present yourself more formally instead of wearing your typical sweats, so now you were stuck in a black skin tight dress, just appropriate enough to not be deemed as slutty.
"They're here!" your mother announced, clapping her hands in excitement. You, on the other hand, were only filled with nothing but dread.
The door flew open and hugs were exchanged. Your mother squealed happily when she saw Jake and for a moment, you were about to do the same.
His hair was slicked back, only a strand was left hanging in front of his face. He was wearing a formal black suit paired alongside a simple black tie. He was about to be the death of you.
"Y/N." He nodded at you, lips pressed in a straight line.
"Jake." You replied back, hands kept behind your back, trying to conceal the fact that you were actually fidgeting.
"You kids are matching!" Mrs Sim pointed out, laughing delightfully.
You felt Jake's eyes on your body for a tense moment, sensing them scanning you from top to bottom. You met his gaze once he finished checking you out so blatantly, and all he did was smile at you innocently. Jerk. He knew exactly what he was doing.
"Why don't you kids go hang out yourselves?" Your mother patted your arm.
"Sure," Jake shrugged, smoothing out the fronts of his blazer.
"Great!" Your mother beamed, then leaned down to whisper to you. "Don't do anything weird, okay?"
You grimaced. "Ew." Must your own mother put the mental image of you doing something 'weird' with Jake into your mind?
You turned around, practically dashing up the stairs towards your room. And as always, Jake followed you like a lost puppy. Once he shut the door to your room, he faced you with a blank expression, devoid of any signs of what he's about to say.
"So? Are you going to explain why you were ignoring me?" Jake leaned against the door, his hands in his pockets as he stared at you, unimpressed.
"What if I don't?" you replied, sitting on the edge of your bed.
"I'll force it out of you somehow, you know I always get my way," he replied nonchalantly and you only rolled your eyes at him, knowing how he wasn't completely wrong.
Jake seemed to have noticed your silence and decided to break the ice first. "I remembered that night, Y/N. You can't hide away from me forever just because of what you said."
You groaned, burying your face into your hands, completely flushed with embarrassment. "Must you remind me?"
"How can I forget about it when my best friend literally told me she loves me?" He kneeled in front of you, taking your hands in his. "Can't you just tell me how you feel? It's been days and nights since I felt at peace after what you'd said to me. What's worse is that I couldn't even remember it precisely. So please, just make it clear."
"Fine. Jake, I–"
"Y/N!"
You wished you could blow up right this instance. Out of every second, every minute, your mother just had to call you when you were about to come clean about your feelings. If you could, you would've liked to reach for the nearest pillow and scream into it.
"Well … next time, Jakey boy. Dinner calls!"
Before Jake could respond, you exited your room quickly, ignoring your thumping heart as you replayed everything in your mind.
Dinner was awkward.
Parents asking about each other's kids' situations and having deep conversations about life while Jake and you, on the other hand, were avoiding each other's gazes. Not ready to face whatever that had just happened.
You thought your torment was finally over when dinner ended and you found yourself dipping your legs by the pool when Jake silently joined your side, following your actions.
"You okay?"
You turned to look at him, kicking your legs slightly, you felt your shoulder brushing against his, thighs touching. "I'm fine. Just a little tired. Why?"
"Nothing. It was just that you were barely speaking all dinner and I got concerned," Jake pointed out and you shrugged nonchalantly.
"Everything's … complicated these days," you said.
At your words, Jake shifted a little. He knew what your "complicated" meant, it was about you and him.
"What even are we?" Jake spluttered out and you froze beside him, the water temperature suddenly dropping to 0 degrees.
"You really want to talk about that now?" You mumbled, frowning.
"Then when can we even face it? I'm tired of you running away and me being in the dark," Jake argued, turning his body to face you.
"Jake …" you were rendered speechless, your body still, guilt clawing its way into your system. "I just don't think I'm ready yet, okay?"
Jake seemed frustrated at your comment. "Y/N–"
"JAKE!"
It was his mother calling out for him and you heard him swearing under his breath. "Next time, Y/N. I'll wait for you."
With that, he left, leaving you completely dazed. He'll wait?
"Can you please come? They literally have a pool!"
Thursday night you found yourself at peace knowing nothing will ruin your weekend, until Jay's phone call. Being the party goer he was, he's now trying to convince you to tag along to some guy's party.
"What if I said no?"
"I don't take 'no' as an answer,"
"Tough luck, champ,"
"Come on, Y/N," Jay whined. "Everyone is going. I mean, Jake is, and that cute guy you mentioned from school — Heeseung — was it? He's there too. You can shoot your shot!"
You thought about it for a moment as you cursed Jay for being way too convincing. "Fine. Since you asked so nicely."
"I know I could always count on you."
Safe to say the party was going considerably well and you weren't about to leave just after arriving for only a solid 15 minutes. Jay remained by yourself for the whole time, conversing with his own circle of friends while your eyes searched for a specific somebody among the sea of people.
“I’ll go for a dance,” you nudged Jay, trying to get his attention.
“Be safe.” he simply said, but his words were filled with genuinity.
A couple cups of drinks definitely boosted your confidence as you shamelessly swayed your hips to the music playing in the background. The blinking lights blinded your sight, alcohol clouded your thoughts, unknowing to someone sliding close to you. Thankfully, your sixth sense never failed and you turned to meet the gaze of Lee Heeseung.
“Hey,” he casually greeted.
“Hi,” you breathed out, sudden shyness taking over.
“Wanna dance?” he offered and you nodded meekly. “Follow my lead,” he held onto your arms, circling them over his shoulder.
“Is this okay?” Heeseung whispered and you nodded once more.
You couldn’t believe this was happening. The cute guy from school was in fact dancing with you. You let yourself let go as you closed your eyes and swayed along to the beat of the music. This was heaven.
No matter how you tried to shake off that weird feeling, it never went away. You knew someone was staring at you, burning little holes into the back of your head intensely. You opened your eyes, letting them adjust to the startling lights and almost immediately, you locked gazes with him.
Lo and behold, Jake Sim, sitting across the room, his jaw clenched, eyebrows furrowed. He was clearly unhappy about whatever you were doing, and you loved the effect you had on him.
You smiled innocently, leaning close to Heeseung's ear. "I'm going to take a break. See you at school?"
Heeseung grinned at you. "Sure thing. I had fun dancing with you."
"Likewise."
Thankfully, you managed to waddle your way through the crowd alive and made your way out of the house for some fresh air. The atmosphere inside of the house was too heavy and the smell of sweat and cheap alcohol stuck in the air.
"Running away from me again?"
A voice came from behind you and you knew who it was immediately.
"Not everything is about you, okay?" You grumbled, hugging your arms around your body for warmth as you sat down on the front steps.
Jake joined your side, placing his hands on his knees, glancing at you from time to time. “Care to explain why you’re actively avoiding me?”
“I’m not,”
“Liar.”
You remained silent, not knowing what to say next.
“You were dancing real close to Heeseung tonight,” he pointed out.
“Great observation, Sherlock,” you finally dared to turn to look at him. “Can we head back in? I’m craving for a drink,”
Jake only nodded soundlessly, following your movements as you stood up to head back in. You felt bad, guilty even, at the way you’re acting towards your lifelong best friend, but you couldn’t help it, your emotions were basically choking you hard. You tugged on Jake’s shirt, ready to say something.
“Jake—” Just when you two entered, Jake was pulled away, not even sparing a second for you to process, so now you were alone.
“Great,” you mumbled unhappily under your breath, making your way to the drinks in the kitchen. Maybe they’ll console you instead. You genuinely wondered who’d cursed you countlessly whenever you were trying to confront Jake.
To your dismay, the kitchen was filled with drunk teenagers who were all busy mixing their new anecdote for the night. Plan B, not the kitchen.
You left for the living room instead, grumbling in annoyance since you couldn't get a drink. As you were about to turn a corner, you heard voices, very familiar ones and immediately halted your steps.
“You ditched Grace?” Park Sunghoon, the notorious figure skater who everyone was pining for, hissed.
Jake hummed.
“Is it because of Y/N?” Sunghoon asked, an undertone of suspicion laced in his voice.
"I don't like her like that," Jake murmured under his breath.
You froze. This couldn't be happening now, right? Out of any day, any place, it just had to be in a house, in the middle of an ongoing party. To be frank, you've already prepared yourself to face rejection every time you imagined confessing to Jake. But overhearing Jake's negative confession was surely not in your list.
"You're serious?" Sunghoon poked on.
"I don't know, man." Jake sighed in defeat. "Can we not talk about this now?"
You blinked away the confusing feelings you were currently having. Was it anger? Was it sadness? Was it hope? You couldn't tell. All you wanted was to be home, in your cosy bed.
There were many things you were afraid to do in life, such as talking to boys your age, socialising, confronting your crush and so on, but today, right now, you had zero regrets as you continued your steps, walking past Jake.
It was all white noises in your ears and blissful ignorance. Jake was calling after you, trying to reach you, but the crowd only ended up swallowing him whole.
Once you were out of the house, you found yourself finally breathing again, suddenly thankful for the fresh air. But there's a rather unfortunate problem for you, Jake caught up with you.
"Y/N," he breathed.
"Fuck off," you snapped, an overwhelming wave of emotions clawing in your body.
"Listen to me, I didn't mean that," Jake's voice rose unintentionally.
"Yeah? So you're expecting me to be totally fine as if nothing happened?" You frowned. "Well, hi Jake, how was the party? Not good? Why-"
"Stop! Why are you even acting like this?" Jake grabbed ahold of your shoulders, making you stare directly at him as he could tell you were about to flee at any minute.
"Because–" You shrugged his hold away. "I like you, Jake! Ever since we were fifteen. But you were always so clueless to tell. And this summer, you were basically too hung up over Grace to spend time with me, then that night when you said those things to me, do you expect me to act oblivious after that? And today, you said those words … how am I supposed to know how you feel?"
You couldn't tell what Jake was thinking. He practically had a poker face on, seemingly trying to take in everything you've just said. "Y/N …"
"What do you want from me, Jake?"
Jake took a deep breath, his features ridden with frustration as he burst out.
"I want you. Okay? Happy now?"
To say you were stunned was clearly an understatement. You didn't know what to say or act, staring at him with your mouth ajar.
"I–I have liked you since we were kids and I don't think I realised until this summer," Jake went on, clearly rambling in distress. "That's why I avoided you, Y/N. I was scared. I didn't know why I felt like that or what I should do. In the end, I figured it was you. It was always you, no matter what."
"Then have me, Jake."
"What?"
It was one of those moments where it felt entirely out of a movie. Jake could only stare at you wordlessly while you breathed heavily, a million thoughts running through your head and you’ve finally accepted it.
Oh no, you’ve fallen in love.
“Just shut up and kiss me,” you grumbled under your breath, taking his face into your hands and pulling him in for a kiss.
When your lips touched, it felt as if countless emotions and unspoken words from over the years passed through like a connection. It felt right. Jake slid his hand around your neck, pulling you deeper into the kiss. This was absolute bliss.
You put your hand on his wrist, pulling away gently, eyes not leaving one another for even a second. The two of you pant softly, trying to catch a breath from the kiss and you started to shy away, in disbelief that this actually happened. Jake noticed, smiling a little, leaning down to press a gentle peck against the side of your mouth.
“Wanna stay over at mine tonight? I can drive,”
“You already know the answer to that.”
Laying in his bed with the lights off accompanied by the whirring of the A/C played in the background, his arms wrapped around you, the beating of his heart against your back, feeling the steady rise and fall of his chest, it was something familiar yet so new.
You turned around to face him, watching as he rubbed his eyes, stirring awake slightly. It was still dark outside, but Jake couldn’t fall asleep, finding himself treasuring your presence instead. You were brushing loose strands of hair away from his face when a strange look appeared and he spoke, voice sluggish.
"You're my best friend."
Somehow, you understood what he meant and you knew what it was. He is in love.
—
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