It’s commonly said, there’s no such thing as a stupid question.

Just stupid answers.

Jaebum, however, disagrees.

“Is it still raining outside?” asked after seeing someone come in with an umbrella, dripping wet, with shoes making those annoying squeaking sounds across the tiled floor.

“Is the ramyun too hot to eat?” asked after seeing a billow of steam coming from the bowl.

It doesn’t require Sherlock level skills (or even Nancy Drew) to figure these things out.

—

Jaebum has known Jinyoung since they were in second grade.  

Jinyoung had just moved to the big city from a small countryside town.  It’d been recess time and four days into the new school year when Jaebum saw two bigger boys (bullies, he knew from seeing them last year) corner the younger boy.  They’d taken him behind the school building, far from where any teachers or recess monitors stood watch. 

By the time he got there, Jinyoung had already started to cry, his knee badly skinned and bleeding from where one of the boys had pushed him to the graveled ground.  Even though his mom taught him violence was never the answer and it was bad, he didn’t really care at that moment.  He punched both boys in the face, and without looking back, he took Jinyoung’s hand in his and led him to the school nurse’s office. 

Jinyoung had shyly smiled at him then and whispered thank you.

The next day at lunch he took the empty seat by Jinyoung (there were several because no one wanted to sit next to the new kid) and opened his Superman lunch box, taking out what his mom had packed him for the day.

“Want to be my best friend?” Jaebum asked as he handed the quiet boy his most favorite thing in the world; a chocolate chip cookie.

He nodded his head yes and took the offered sweet.  “My name’s Jinyoung Park.  What’s yours?”

They’re roommates in college now, sharing an apartment off campus.  He’s studying film and television with a minor in dance, while Jinyoung studies music with a minor in music therapy.

The question that’s been asked (jokingly, always) over the years, that he thinks is stupidest of all — the one he hates with a burning passion of a thousand suns — is do you like Jinyoung?

No, he doesn’t.  He loves him.  He’s in love with his roommate, his best friend of thirteen years, and Jinyoung doesn’t even know it because he’s dating someone else.  

—

He sees Jinyoung and Mark (the boyfriend) on the sofa, giving each other Eskimo kisses.

Seriously Eskimo kisses.  Who the hell does that?

“Go get a room, or better yet an igloo!” he tells them and Jinyoung just responds by sticking out his tongue and throwing a pillow at him.

—

Even though it’s already partially open, he still has his hand raised to knock on Jinyoung’s door when he hears his friend’s voice.  By the one-sided conversation he overhears, he brilliantly deduces it’s Mark that Jinyoung’s talking to on the phone.  Mark, the guy who left not even a full hour ago, and he barely — just barely — manages to keep from rolling his eyes at the asinine conversation.

“I miss you hyung.”

“Uh uh, I miss you more.”

“You’re cuter! You totally are, don’t even try and argue with me Mark Tuan!”

“Wait are you pouting because I called you cute?  Take a picture hyung!”

“Why?  Because your pouting face is adorable.”

“I love you too.”

“I love you times infinity.”

At that, his heart twists painfully in his chest and it hurts, it really ing hurts, but his feet betray him and he remains frozen to the spot like a deer caught in headlights on a darkened road.

And later, “You hang up first.”

“No,” a laugh, “I don’t want to. I told you to do it.”

“No, you!”  Another laugh.  “Okay what about we both hang up on the count of three—”

What are they, twelve-year-old girls?  It’s embarrassing as hell, that’s what it is.

His brain and feet finally decide to operate on the same wavelength, and he walks back to the living room to retrieve the movie he left on the coffee table.  He’ll take it back to his room and watch it alone.

It’s not like Jinyoung could watch the film anyway, it’s too mature for him.

It’s rated PG13.

__________

Comments/constructive criticism... always welcomed.

(I really don't need another story, but this idea wouldn't go away, so here it is.  This should be 3 chapters.)