umbrella { sunjay }

36.

"hello?" sunoo answered his phone after the second ring. the name that showed up on his screen was beyond a surprise for him.

"sun!" the familiar voice that he hadn't heard in years called out to him. he still felt like the voice was fresh in his mind and no time had passed as he heard it once again.

"jake hyung! what- why did you call?" sunoo sat up in his seat with an uncontrollable smile. 

jake was sunoo's childhood friend since he could remember. it wasn't until after high school that the two had lost contact. jake had went away to college and sunoo had began his family.

they would send 'happy birthday' or 'merry christmas' messages but that was as far as their contact went over the years. 

"i was calling because i'm going to be in seoul for a while and i wanted to come see you! we haven't hung out in years!" the enthusiasm was practically dripping from jake's voice.

during college, jake had accumulated many friends since he's easy to like. but he would always remember the first true friend he had ever had.

"of course! i'll send you my address so you can stop by." 

sunoo hadn't seen park jongseong in over a week, but they called and texted so often that it felt like no time had passed. 

obviously it wasn't the same as seeing each other in person but it was better than no contact for months. 

❀

there was a knocking on the front door before sunoo got up excitedly. it was always a happy time for him to see people from his past. 

his childhood was amazing and he could thank the people around him for that, including sim jaeyun.

"jaeyunie!" sunoo practically squealed when he opened the door. his friend looked very different but still had the same puppy dog face that he knew and loved.

"sun!" jake engulfed his friend into a warm embrace. it was like seeing your childhood home once again.

"how long has it been?" sunoo jumped up and down while still in jake's hold.

"six years, believe it or not." jake chuckled as they released from the hug. somethings had never changed. sunoo was still the same energetic and cute boy from grade school, just a bit taller.

"where's the little one?" jake questioned with a smile as they began to walk more into the apartment. he had never gotten to meet eunjoo since by the time she was born, he had already left suwon.

"eunjoo-ah, we have company." sunoo spoke to the little girl who sat in the living area with her barbies. when she looked up and didn't recognize who the new male was, she stood up and scurried to sunoo's side. 

"eunjoo, this is uncle jake!" sunoo motioned to the male who waved kindly to the girl. "sorry she's a little shy around newer people sometimes." sunoo patted the girls head to reassure her.

"hi, eunjoo. it's nice to meet you." jake stuck out his hand for her to shake, which she did politely.

"wow, she looks like you, sunoo." jake commented in amazement. it was crazy seeing a smaller version of his childhood best friend standing in front of him.

"i think she looks more like her mom." sunoo looked down at the girl who looked up at him with a smile. her smile was almost the exact reflection of eunji's.

❀

throughout the day, eunjoo came out of her shell and began to warm up to the new uncle she met that morning. 

sunoo was currently making dinner for the three of them while jaeyun and eunjoo sat in the living room coloring.

suddenly there was a knock at the door. sunoo's hands were dirty from cooking so he figured asking jake to answer would be a better option.

"jake hyung, could you get the door?" sunoo's voice traveled from the kitchen to where the two of them sat peacefully.

"i got it!" jake did as told and made his way to the apartment entrance.

once he opened the door, he was not expecting a handsome male to be standing there with furrowed eyebrows. a pair of expensive branded glasses sat on his perfectly angled nose. he looked very serious to jake, which intimidated him a bit as he stood there.

"who are you?" jake was first to break the silence.

"who are you?" the other male parroted the question with narrowed eyes. but before he could respond, the sound of small footsteps could be heard behind him.

"mr. park!" eunjoo gleefully shouted, running into his arms. 

jay laughed heartfully and his previously stern expression was replaced with a wide set of perfect teeth as he smiled.

"hey, little bear." he tickled her belly as he held her in his arms. her giggles were loud enough for sunoo to hear as he paused what he was doing to check out all the commotion. 

when he turned the corner he was pleasantly met with the face he missed seeing in person. calls were nice, but nothing could beat the real thing.

as jay noticed sunoo, it felt like he was almost weak in the knees. seeing the male for the first time since realizing his own feelings felt so much stronger than he would have imagined.

"hi." jay said as sunoo walked over to them.

"hi." sunoo replied, reaching for a hug while eunjoo remained in the older's arms. it was a short embrace but the electricity could still be felt all throughout their bodies.

"erm, hi?" jake broke the moment, still standing at the door awkwardly as he watched the interaction.

"oh!" sunoo backed away from the side hug as he remembered he had never introduced the two of them to one another. it must have been weird for jay, seeing a random man standing in the doorway.

"jay hyung, this is jake hyung. jake hyung, this is jay hyung." sunoo motioned the two towards each other. 

jake being the friendly guy he is, reached out his hand for jay to shake. however, the other male just looked him up and down for a moment before eventually reaching his free hand out as well.

a very obviously fake smile played on his lips. and he had no shame to hide it either.

sunoo cleared his throat to ease the tension before continuing. "um well, jake is an old friend from my childhood. and jay is... a newer friend?" he dryly laughed off the awkward tension.

"it's nice to meet you, jay." jake politely bowed. to which jay returned the gesture with a small 'you too' and a tight-lipped grin.

"well uh- what brings you here, hyung?" sunoo turned his attention fully to jay who still held eunjoo.

"i wanted to see you two. plus, i have some news to share with you. just you." jay quickly side eyed jake who looked around uncomfortably.

"i was in the middle of finishing dinner but we can talk for a moment." with that, jay gently placed the little girl back down on her feet before giving her cheek a small poke.

he failed to acknowledge the other male in the room as he followed sunoo back into the room.

❀

jake: 🧍‍♂️