"This is so hard." Jae says, defeated as he slumps in the chair, plucking at his strings with a pout that makes Sungjin smile,

"How are you with composition?"

"What?"

"There's 10 minutes till the bell and we've been song browsing this whole period, so, why not make our own?"

"Our own..." Jae repeats, not really nervous but slightly excited. He writes lyrics on the side, he has a bunch of unfinished notes in his phone for when he gets inspired and needs to just write it down.

"Yeah! We don't have to, just thought I'd offer an alternative. Plus, we'd probably get brownie points with Sir," he points out and Jae nods,

"I'm down," he says and Sungjin looks at him, rather surprised,

"Yeah?"

"Yeah, why not?"

"Cool," Sungjin says with an impressed smile and nod.

"Do we have time though?" Jae asks and Sungjin exhales,

"When's this due?"

"Next week, Wednesday,"

"Oh then yeah, we got plenty of time,"

"It's Thursday tomorrow," and Sungjin laughs,

"You say that like we're only allowed to work on it in class," he points out and Jae blinks a few times,

"Oh! Oh right." 

"We can meet up during the week and have the performance ready," and Jae nods,

"Okay," with a smile.

They spend the remaining 10 minutes discussing what kind of genre they'd go for before they exit the practice room, Wonpil and Brian already eyeing Jae with amused grins.

"So!" Brian prompts, swinging a round around Jae's neck as he's packing up his guitar,

"So, what?"

"How'd it go?"

"We didn't get anything done," Jae replies and Wonpil raises his brows,

"Wow, you move quick, where're the hickies?" and Jae smacks his arm,

"Ow, geez, I was kidding!" 

"Jae!" cuts Jae off from yelling at Wonpil, and the trio turn to see Sungjin who's approaching,

"I'm just gonna go to my locker, I'll meet you in the front?" he says and Jae nods,

"Yeah, sure!"

"Alright, see you!" and he's out the music room as the bell rings, saying bye to Mr. Lee, and Brian nudges Jae,

"You two hanging out?"

"Just gonna grab some food,"

"Good luck!"

"With eating?"

"Out with your crush who, up until 2 days ago, you had never said a word to."

"He'll hear you!"

"I'm starting to think he may have his eyes on you too," Brian comments,

"What? No!" and Wonpil chuckles,

"Why not?"

"I've been buds with him for a bit and I've never been invited to go grab food after school," Brian says,

"Well, he's never punched you in the face. It's probably just pity,"

"Pity could've ended after he took you to the infirmary," Wonpil points out,

"Okay, but he's my duet partner for the assignment, so it's nothing," and Brian eyes him,

"You know, it's okay if you read into little things like this. You can get excited about going to get food with your crush." he says, rather comfortingly, adding,

"I'm not saying get your hopes up, I'm just saying, you can enjoy your time with him without constantly putting yourself down with 'oh, it's pity'." and Jae stares at Brian, blinking a few times.

"Wow, you're a really good friend," Jae says, 

"Are you just now realizing that?" Brian says with a cheeky smile before he swings an arm around Jae's neck,

"Crushes are cute, so just enjoy it. Also, can you get me some melon milk while you're there,"

"What, no! Just go yourself-"

"Thanks, JJ!" Brian cuts off, running out of the room and Wonpil quickly follows with a,

"Have fun!" and Jae lets out an amused sigh at Brian's request before walking to the front of the school.

He waits no longer than 5 minutes before Sungjin comes out the main doors, waving at Jae with a smile,

"You good to walk?"

"Yeah!" Jae assures and they set off for the convenience store.

It's not that far from the school, only a 10 minute walk usually, but Jae realizes they're not walking that fast and they end up getting there in almost 20.  Conversation being more important than a quick pace to reach an after school snack. They make instant ramen, Jae making note to grab a melon milk before they leave. They sit at the counter and resume conversation.

"So you ripped your shorts?" Jae asks between laughter and Sungjin nods, laughing himself,

"I squatted too low, but I managed to land the receive,"

"Well, maybe if you dove like a good libero," Jae jokes and Sungjin grabs at his chest, as if offended,

"Ouch. Also, calm down, this was middle school, okay? No need for fancy position titles," 

"Fair," Jae says and smiles as he watches Sungjin take a spoonful of soup,

"No clumsy stories from your past?" Sungjin prompts and Jae scoffs,

"Oh, I just have too many," he replies and Sungjin sits back,

"Care to tell?" with a genuinely interested expression. 

"Just enjoy it" Brian's words echo and Jae smiles before saying,

"Yeah! So, you know how in middle school, there's those gym units where you focus on a certain sport?" and Jae goes on to tell Sungjin about several times his clumsiness got the best of him. Sungjin laughs multiple times, Jae telling the stories with a proud smile for making him laugh, and asks for clarification once or twice, that confirms to Jae he's listening intently. They keep talking about random things - Jae almost surprised at how easy conversation flows with him. They somehow get to the topic of music, and Jae gets to learn even more about Sungjin.

"When did you get into music and stuff?"

"I guess it's always been in my life. Chose the elective for the Hell of it, and here we are," he says with a smile,

"I love to sing - always have, but picking up an instrument was harder than I thought it'd be."

"Really? You don't play like it's hard,"

"You sure you haven't seen me wince at holding barre chords?" Sungjin suspects with a squint and Jae chuckles,

"Don't we all?" and Sungjin smiles,

"Not you, you play effortlessly, it's amazing. I mean, I've only seen you play a few times in class, but even when we were in the practice room earlier..." he trails off, impressed and Jae flushes,

"I-I'm not that great, it's still pretty hard, you know? But thank you! I'll try to use my skills to make our duet decent," he says, embarrassed and Sungjin just smiles,

"Decent? Nah Jae, you're incredible." he says,

"No, nope, I'm okay, mediocre at best-" Jae tries refuting,

"I mean it." Sungjin affirms, sincerely and in a way that makes Jae pause. 

"Thank you." he finally says and Sungjin nods, satisfied.

They talk about music, mainly about their duet and that's when Sungjin remembers they agreed on writing their own song for their performance,

"Oh, so are you sure you're okay with writing our own tune for next week?"

"Yup, I'm all for it if you are."

"Yeah, definitely. You seem excited, do you write?"

"Kinda," Jae says, shyly looking off to the side,

"I have no confidence in my lyrics, so I just call them scribbled nonsense, that's what they really are, at best,"

"Jae," Sungjin says and Jae meets his eyes, his cheeks only growing redder,

"I think it's really cool that you write lyrics. I've never done that seriously, so I'll just try not to be dead weight during this project," he says, with a laugh that almost comforts Jae.

"Let's make a song we're both proud of, hm?" Sungjin prompts with a kind smile and Jae nods, attention going back to his milk that he sips through a straw. Sungjin thinks he looks adorable like that, cheeks pink to match the strawberry milk he's drinking, his lips pursed to comfortably sip through the straw.

They've been done their ramens for nearly an hour, but conversation is still going. Jae loves it - being able to talk to his crush in such depth, to add almost justification and substance to a puppy crush. After Jae's done ranting about his chemistry test he took earlier, they decide to go home. Jae thinks they're going to part ways when they exit the convenience store, so he initiates a,

"Bye, I'll see you tomorrow," and Sungjin smiles at him,

"Are you not gonna let me walk you home?"

"Huh?" Jae lets out, getting flustered,

"I mean, I suggested we get some food, least I could do is walk you home," Sungjin explains, adding,

"Unless, you don't want me to, that's totally cool," 

"No, I just don't wanna inconvenience you," Jae replies,

"Nah, I'm walking the same way!" Sungjin says, and Jae eyes him,

"You don't know where I live," and Sungjin laughs, saying,

"Ah, you caught me," before walking past Jae, hopping down the steps and turning to face him,

"Let's go, Park!" and Jae tries to suppress a smile, fails, and follows down the steps,

"You're Park too!"

"Oh yeah..." Sungjin says, pensively nodding and Jae laughs.

They walk just as slow as they walked to the convenience store.

"Do you like strawberry milk or melon milk better?" Sungjin asks, referring to Brian's drink in Jae's hand and Jae says,

"Oh! This is for Bri, I'm a strawberry milk fan, all the way." he says and Sungjin smiles at his enthusiasm,

"Do you like either flavours?"

"I'm more of a banana milk person," he answers and adds,

"It goes well with strawberry," and Jae tries to not read too much into that trivial comment, just nodding in agreement.

"What other food do you like?" Jae asks, noticing that despite being in the convenience store, surrounded by food, their conversation never travelled to that topic.

They're walking the sidewalks, talking about food and Sungjin tells Jae his favourite snacks and Jae responds with his top desserts. Jae's drawing inspiration from getting to know Sungjin more, finding it easier to write a song that'll suit both of them when he knows more about Sungjin than his name and what he looks like. He usually takes out his phone to write down ideas so he doesn't forget them, but he thinks he won't fail to remember things about Sungjin, because they're about Sungjin. They're close to Jae's house when they notice droplets spotting the sidewalk, 

"Oh," Sungjin says, looking up at the sky and Jae follows his gaze,

"It's just spitting, we should be fine," and as if to spite his comment, the rain starts coming down hard. They look at each other and Jae laughs at Sungjin's offended expression,

"Looks like the clouds wanted to prove you wrong," Jae comments as Sungjin quickly slips off his hoodie, holding it above Jae as he scoffs and says,

"Just run, Jae," and he listens, smiling as they run through the rain. Jae gains inspiration from the raindrops that fall around everywhere but his immediate surroudings because of Sungjin's gesture.  

Jae remains relatively dry, Sungjin making sure of it as his head and hoodie get soaked. They get to Jae's house, grateful for the portico over his front porch and Sungjin shakes his head, spraying water everywhere.

"You're all soaked!" Jae says, and Sungjin looks down,

"Really? Didn't notice," and that makes Jae laugh.

"You could've shielded both of us,"

"And you could've ran faster with those long legs of yours, but what's done is done,"

"I was running at your pace, what do you mean?!" and they laugh.

"Thanks for walking me home," Jae says,

"No problem, it was a fun afternoon," 

"What the Hell are you doing?" and Sungjin pauses, soaked hoodie in hand and getting ready to put it on,

"Hm?"

"That hoodie is soaked! You're gonna get sick,"

"I will not, and I need the hood!" and Jae rolls his eyes before grabbing the hoodie despite Sungjin's protest,

"I'll dry this so you," and Jae goes inside his house for a second, quickly coming back out without Sungjin's hoodie but a small towel and umbrella.

"My sweater..." Sungjin whispers, sadly and longingly, and with a cute pout that makes Jae's heart flutter,

"Take this! It's dry and will effectively keep you dry," he says, holding out his umbrella and Sungjin takes it,

"Thank you," he says and starts to roughly dry his hair. After he's done and drier, he goes to leave but then he quickly turns back to Jae,

"Oh! Your number," and he hands Jae his phone, which Jae takes after almost fumbling with it, and enters his number.

"I'll text you later,"

"Okay, about the duet?" Jae asks as Sungjin exits his porch and opens the umbrella. He shows him a sweet smile,

"Or just to talk," he answers and Jae replies with,

"Oh! O-Okay, right, yup, cool!" and closes his eyes in embarrassment as Sungjin laughs, waving at him as he walks away. 

Jae goes back into his house and throws Sungjin's sweater into the dryer with a dryer sheet, and realizes this is the second piece of Sungjjin's clothing he's washed and he'll have to return it tomorrow. He makes a note to just return it to him during music to avoid further suspicion from Sungjin's gym mates. 

After watching some TV and doing some homework in the living room, he remembers the initial idea for lyrics and goes up to his room and sits at his desk, quickly taking out one of the various notebooks he writes in. He's glad his desk is positioned in front of the window because the raindrops that're still hitting the glass and rolling down cause lyrics to pop up in his head. He writes and hums a melody, playing it on the guitar and scrambling to get it recorded on his phone so he doesn't forget it.

jaepark: pil!

brikang: where's my melon milk

jaepark: come pick it up

jaepark: PIL

wonpillie: yes?

wonpillie: HOW WAS YOUR DATE HEH

jaepark: it wasn't a date

jaepark: can you learn this on the piano for me??

jaepark: 1 Audio File

wonpillie: oho?

brikang: YO THIS IS SO PRETTY

brikang: but LOL wtf are your adlibs in the beginning

jaepark: stfu i was just humming a melody ok

As he's bickering with Brian about his melon milk, Jae gets a text from an unsaved number

Unknown: hey jae!

Jae: hi

Unknown: it's sungjin btw

Jae: oh ok, i assumed

Sungjin: tsk tsk, never good to assume

Jae: fine, proof of identification please

Jae jokes, but nearly whips his phone across the room when another message dings in,

Sungjin: Attachment: 1 Image

He contemplates saving the selfie Sungjin sends, he looks comfortable and the cute smile makes Jae conclude there's no harm in saving it to his camera roll.

Jae: ok thank you

Sungjin: your turn

Jae: LOL what

Jae: i gave you my number!

Sungjin: that would be me assuming jae didn't give me the wrong number

Jae: fine

Jae smiles as he takes a quick selfie - multiple because he's stressing about sending a picture to his crush. He wishes the lighting was better, he can't seem to find a satisfiable angle, and he swears to himself that he usually doesn't look this ugly.

Jae: Attachment: 1 Image

Sungjin: lol cute

Jae's eyes go wide at that word and he calls himself lame for blushing,

Sungjin: is that a teddy bear in the back?

Oh. Jae thinks, realizing the comment wasn't about him, but about the bear,

Jae: mhm!

Jae: also, why're you zooming in on my photo, weirdo

Sungjin: hey, at least i didn't save it

And Jae suddenly feels called out when Sungjin messages again,

Sungjin: or did i? with a pensive emoji that makes Jae smile.

Jae: LOL guess i'll never know

Sungjin: mwuahaha 

Sungjin: lol wyd rn? :]

Jae: trying to convince wonpil to learn a progression for our song

Sungjin: oh what, you already started working on it??

Jae: mhm

Jae: it's not that good tho lol 

Sungjin: lemme hear!

Sungjin: also, we don't need wonpil, he has his own duet to worry about

Jae: it sounds okay on the guitar, but i really think it would suit piano

Sungjin: if you think so, then let's not settle for guitar

Jae: but we're guitarists-

Sungjin: limiting yourself, jae? tsk tsk

Jae: stop tsk-ing me LOL

Sungjin: LOL my bad

Sungjin: but, i'll play for our song

Jae: :o

Jae: you play piano?!

Sungjin: not as well as wonpil, but i think i'll suffice

Sungjin: hopefully LOL

Jae starts to smile at the thought of seeing Sungjin play the piano. He's always found the instrument so beautiful, it had a certain grace to it, and finding out his crush plays such an instrument is exciting to him.

Jae: okay, wonderful!

Jae: didn't know you played piano

Sungjin: didn't know you were a genius who could write a song that quick

Jae: pfftt 'genius' i wish

Jae: and it's not done yet... it kinda

Sungjin: lemme hear

Jae: lol no

Sungjin: ?? i'm your partner-

Jae: ok but it's not our confirmed song yet

Sungjin: how are we gonna confirm if i never hear it

Jae: trust me? :D

Sungjin: well then, i gotta start learning the piano chords so

Jae: i'll just transcribe it for you

Sungjin: JAE! he sends with multiple laughing emojis,

Jae: ok fine but pls don't reply i get Anxious sharing things

Sungjin: wha-

Sungjin: don't avoid me JJ~

Jae: whomst've???

Sungjin: lol that's my nickname for you now! :D

Sungjin: if that's okay, of course 

Jae stares at the simple nickname - a nickname nonetheless - with a small smile as he types

Jae: yes :] 

Sungjin: ok good, now send the audio

Jae: UGH fine and he reluctantly sends the audio he sent Brian and Wonpil, going back to Instagram to avoid seeing if Sungjin's typing or not. 

brikang: EXCUSE ME, MY MILK

jaepark: stfu i'm teXTING HIM

wonpillie: OH?? YOU GOT HIS NUMBER?

jaepark: he asked for mine* he corrects,

brikang: wow omg when's the wedding

jaepark: LOL ihy, i'm drinking your milk

brikang: might as well since you're not delivering it

jaepark: I'LL BRING IT TOMORROW SMH

brikang: really? :D yaaaay

wonpillie: pause, so y'all are messaging rn?

jaepark: mhm

jaepark: also, he said he'll play the piano so nvm pil lol

wonpillie: oh okay. good, cause i doubt sir would let us 3 perform for the duets

jaepark: you right.

brikang: pause, sungjin plays piano??

jaepark: IKR THAT'S WHAT I SAID-

A message dings in from Sungjin and Jae doesn't want to check it, slightly worried he won't like the chord progression, will think the melody Jae casually hummed is common or just bad, and then Jae remembers his adlibs in the beginning and he's contemplating just not reading the message because maybe that would be better for his heart. His curiosity outweighs his cowardice, and so he checks their conversation. 

Sungjin: oh wow

Sungjin: jae, you're incredible Jae smiles at that message,

Sungjin: also, i think this really suits your voice, your adlibs in the beginning fit so perfectly

Sungjin: like, it's a very 'you' song. it's really beautiful, damn. 

Jae: gah no my adlibs were weird but uh thank you :']

Jae: it's our song, btw ;D

Sungjin: our song :] i like that lol

Jae: well i sure hope so cause we gotta finish this and perform it next week heh

Sungjin: oop you right LOL

Sungjin: but damn, jae, you're amazing!

Sungjin: how did you write that so quickly?

Jae immediately types their time together gave inspiration but quickly deletes it, instead sending

Jae: the rain!

Sungjin: it wrote it for you?

Jae: LOL no, it gave me inspiration so, that came to mind

Sungjin: damn, that's impressive. I'll try learning this asap so we can add a set melody soon

Jae: ok ok! and Jae wonders if they're conversation ends there for the night, but he doesn't really want it to. So, he prompts,

Jae: btw, wyd rn? :]

Sungjin: learning! lol 

Jae: you don't have homework? ;o

Sungjin: oh i do but this takes priority

Sungjin: OH YEAH

Sungjin: thank you for the umbrella. i got home safely lol

Jae: of course, i wasn't gonna let you go home soaked

Sungjin: i was already soaked so i could've taken my sweater

Jae: nO cause you would've put it on

Jae: and you weren't as soaked as your sweater ok

Sungjin: fine, i'll give you this one

Jae: ?? I'M RIGHT WDYM

Sungjin: LOL that's why i'm giving you it!

Jae: but that implies you're right and you're just pitying me!

Sungjin: fiNE I'LL TAKE IT BACK

Jae: NO IT'S MINE and Jae giggles at his phone, once again realizing how much he likes talking to Sungjin.

 

"JJ!" 

It's the next day at school, and Jae's at his locker as per his usual morning routine, and he turns to see Sungjin, walking towards him. He likes the way Sungjin says the nickname, even more than he likes the way it looks in their text thread.

"Thank you," he says, handing him his umbrella, and Jae laughs, takes it and puts it in his locker,

"And here," Jae says, holding Sungjin's sweater and the boy takes it.

"This is the second article of clothing you've returned to me,"

"Well, stop leaving them in my possession," Jae jokes and Sungjin laughs,

"You took this one and retreated into your house!" and they laugh.

"Oh, also," Sungjin says before reaching into his bag, and pulling out a carton of strawberry milk and Jae's eyes widen slightly in excitement,

"This is thank you for the umbrella. And for already writing that amazing song," and Jae takes it and shows Sungjin a smile that makes his heart flutter, just slightly.

"Thank you!" and his excitement is evident in his voice, smile and the way he holds it close,

"I brought Bri's melon milk today and I was craving some of this," 

"You still didn't give it to him?"

"Nope. He didn't wanna walk over, and I wasn't about to deliver it with no umbrella," he jokes and Sungjin nudges him lightly as they laugh, walking down the hall together,

"Should've texted me you needed it back, then," he replies and Jae shakes his head.

"Here, lemme hold that for you," Sungjin offers, referring to Jae's binders,

"So you can drink the milk," and he grabs the stuff in Jae's hands so he can stop struggling with the carton and straw,

"Oh," Jae says accompanied with a shy,

"Thank you," and he sips on the milk to cool his cheeks that're growing warm.

Sungjin ends up walking Jae to his first period class and he says a,

"See you in music!" before walking away and back to the first floor where he has gym. Jae waves with a sweet smile and says,

"See you! Have fun in gym," and Sungjin smiles at that,

"Will do." and Jae once again can't wait for music.

---

AUTHOR'S NOTE:

Hi Hello, my name is Zen! :]

I love Park Bros so sorry for this late response! This will most likely be 4 chapters, so I hope you guys enjoyed this second one despite it being late hehe

I'm always down to make My Day pals so feel free to reach out to me on either:

Twitter | Instagram | Subscribe to my YouTube! | kakao: zenaya