writing: three-chambered heart

[caihong]

another piece from the google drive dungeon. i was planning on writing and finishing this after my djf submission but never found the motivation to, and i don't think i ever will finish it nor write for enha again. but! i didn't want this to go to waste so i figured that the dreamwidth ether is where it belongs. in august of 2021, i had dreams of writing ot3 02z but alas, here is the australian vacation!au that will never be.

 

rating: teen

archive warning: no archive warnings apply

relationship: jay/jake/sunghoon

word count: 2.1k+

Jay hates winter in Seattle.

 

Sunghoon doesn’t mind where they go, whether it’s nowhere-America or an island in the middle of the ocean, just as long as it isn’t Seoul.

 

Jake conclusively decides that they go to Australia.

 

—

 

“Are we going to Brisbane?” Sunghoon asks, lying on his back on the veranda. It’s freezing tonight and a very stupid idea to be even outside when Jay’s house has a working central heating system but Sunghoon insisted, so they reluctantly agreed. It’s unfair that he’s always been better with the cold than the two of them combined.

 

 

Jake thinks about Jay and Sunghoon meeting his cousins, aunts, uncles—Christ, his grandparents, and shudders. If they got their hands on both of them, one being the most talkative, personable boy he’s ever known, and the other not knowing how to deal with attention and master of awkward conversation, God knows if either of them end up in one piece by the end of the trip. Also, Jake wants to drink his heart out and he’s not doing that in the presence of his family members. His aunty would faint at the sight of a cider in his hand.

 

 

“I was thinking Sydney? I’ve only gone with my family a few times but it’s super fun down there,” Jake says, trying not to chatter his teeth and Jay throws his chunky wool-lined jacket in his lap.

 

 

“You’re going to get sick,” he says, as if his own sniffling isn’t obvious and Jake solves the problem by taking the fleece blanket from beside him and wrapping both of them together. His knees knock into Jay’s but he doesn’t say anything, only curling into his side.

 

 

“You’re one to talk,” Sunghoon retorts, still lying down beside them with his hands underneath his head. Jake sees his long-sleeved shirt ride up as he stretches and averts his eyes quickly.

 

 

“Anyways, what do you guys think? I’m sure we can book an Airbnb and make our way around, even without a car.” Though all the travelling in New South Wales he did as a kid was via driving, he doesn’t mention it. Isn’t public transport a formative experience in adolescence anyway?

 

 

“Sounds good to me. Do you think we can go see the Harbour Bridge and stuff? My uncle sent me a postcard of it once,” Jay replies, voice muffled into the blanket and Jake thinks it’s terribly endearing how much his best friend is trying to hide his excitement. He’d promised them in ninth grade that he’d take them back home one day and though Sunghoon was much more receptive than Jay at the time, who could barely fathom English next period let alone the future, he knows the latter was and is just as enthusiastic. They’ve been talking about this graduation trip for more than a lifetime it seems and Jake would go to the ends of the world to make sure they’d have the time of their lives. He isn’t Australia’s unpaid, unofficial ambassador for nothing.

 

 

“Better than wintertime in Washington, God bless,” he mumbles after and Sunghoon laughs.

 

 

“Aw, city boy can’t handle a little breeze?”

 

 

Jay pinches him in the thigh, earning a yell from Sunghoon when he sits up straight.

 

 

“You dick,” he chokes out as he massages his leg and punches him in the arm back. Jake snorts before throwing the blanket over Sunghoon as well, who naturally moves closer, flanking Jay between them. The three of them sitting out here while the wind bites at their bones is one of the many bad ideas they’ve ever had but Sunghoon insisted the vibes were better outside than in. But then again, Jake feels impossibly warm right now. With high school now behind them, alongside years of going to hagwons, copying homework, and impromptu football matches after hours, the three of them are done and dusted with those metal gates and onto higher heights and all that university has to offer. Maybe Jake is just painfully naive but to also be committing to the same college as his two best friends doesn’t seem like the worst thing in the world.

 

They’ll get through all the shitty times together as well as the great ones.

 

 

He doesn’t anticipate that when November comes around, he’s not just painfully naive when they land on golden soil, but also terribly in love.

 

 

 

It takes some heated phone calls with his parents and their nagging about not seeing his family in forever, despite him visiting just that summer break, but they do end up giving him explicit permission to go to Sydney, alongside a hefty allowance that Jake puts towards their holiday money pool. Jay and Sunghoon’s parents don’t take too much of a hit when the three of them suggest the idea to them, kneeling in front of the couch as if begging for preemptive forgiveness, but Jake attributes that to Jay and Sunghoon’s friendship of millenia, making their parents thick as thieves, and the fact that both of his friends’ parents adore him. Something about him being good at Physics and fluent in English had them fawning at his feet, but those were Jay’s bitter words not his.

 

 

“I booked the tickets and the Airbnb,” he half-screams into the microphone over Discord when he gets the confirmation emails and Sunghoon whoopees on the other side, the echo so loud that Jay starts cursing.

 

Jake hopes his roommate is asleep in the room over but by the tossing and turning he hears through the wall, he’s guessing that tomorrow morning won’t be too kind to him. It doesn’t matter though, not when they’re going to be home in three weeks time, Jake thinks giddily to himself.

 

In amongst his part-time job and slowly packing his bag and playing games with the boys and paying routine visits to his uncle and aunt, who are upset over the fact that he’s not spending winter break with them, Jake has never been so excited for anything in his life. They’ll go to Lunar Park, which doesn’t quite compare to Queensland’s amusement parks but will do the job, beach-hop from Bondi to Coogee, buy soju in bulk from BWS, and drink it while stuffing themselves with Dominos—shortly put, it’s going to be the greatest summer of his life.

 

 

“Jake, I don’t know how to pack for this trip. Do you think I need a padded jacket?” Sunghoon whines over the phone and Jake stares incredulously at his phone screen before he sighs into the receiver.

 

 

“You can bring your padding if you want to sweat your limbs off in thirty-five degree weather, idiot,” he barks back and Sunghoon makes an affronted noise in return.

 

 

“Hey I’ve never been to Australia! Don’t be mean,” he spits back through the phone and Jake sighs again.

 

 

“Having never been to Australia doesn’t mean you don’t have any common sense. Would you wear your Adidas jacket in the summer here?” He gets a grumble in return.

 

 

“Alright alright, I get it. Sue me for covering all of our bases.” Jake knows he’s not going to win this one so he lets Sunghoon ask him a flurry of questions ranging from stupid to endearing before he has to hang up and shower.

 

 

“Hey loser, how much am I allowed in my carry-on?” Jay bumps into Jake at the convenience store in their neighbourhood and Jake startles before smacking him in the shoulder.

 

 

“You scared me,” Jake hisses before he takes a banana milk out of the fridge. Jay rolls his eyes before slinging his arm around his shoulder.

 

 

“It’s twelve kilos. Yours will be less than that though,” he poses as a statement even though he really means it as a command and Jay just shakes his head, paying for both of their drinks before Jake can pull out his wallet.

 

 

“I was just wondering if I can fit in gifts for my family in my carry-on.” Jake subconsciously strays from the direction of his dorm and his footsteps sync up with Jay’s as they walk towards the direction of his house instead.

 

 

“It depends on what you want to bring back but you can always put them in mine or Sunghoonie’s if you need to.”

 

 

“Fair. Are you almost done with packing?” Jay chugs his energy drink and Jake is both disgusted and mesmerised by the droplets that spills out the side of his mouth.

 

 

“Jake? You good?” Jay asks again, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand and Jake nods jerkily.

 

 

“Yeah, all that’s left is my underwear and bathroom stuff. You?” he musters out and Jay nods.

 

 

“Haven’t started.” Jake spits out his drink.

 

 

“We leave in two days, what do you mean you haven’t started,” Jake enunciates clearly just in case Jay doesn’t realise the severity of the situation.

 

 

“I figured I would have enough time to do it tomorrow. You know, I’ve been busy.”

 

 

“Playing Valorant? I saw you on the server yesterday with Heeseung hyung, don’t lie to me.”

 

 

“Oh no, you got me,” Jay mocks but Jake can see how much latent turmoil is swirling in his eyes. Stupid, he thinks not unkindly.

 

 

“Bet you stalked me to coerce me into helping you,” Jake accuses and Jay just slurps his drink loudly.

 

 

“And look who’s here, helping me,” Jay says with a serene smile, swinging his arms about as their elbows brush against each other’s.

 

 

Jake doesn’t mention that he would probably help Jay bury a body if he asked.

 

 

“Come on idiot, you owe me bubble tea for this.” Jake races him in his slides and Jay scrambles after him.

 

 

 

Sunghoon is gobsmacked when they pull up to the international terminal of Incheon Airport and Jake wants to cement that wide-eyed expression in his mind. The three of them say goodbye to Jay and Sunghoon’s parents and Jake makes numerous promises to look after the two of them while they’re away. He doesn’t tell them about how at least a third of the money pool is dedicated to getting wasted (what else are legal nineteen-year-olds to do?) but makes sincere promises nevertheless.

 

 

“Have fun boys! Stay safe!” Sunghoon’s dad hollers as they enter the baggage check area and Sunghoon shrinks into the trolley with embarrassment. Freshly-printed passport in hand, he goes first and Jake and Jay follow suit. None of them get checked for explosives and Sunghoon almost pees himself getting scanned by the menacing lady during bag check, so it’s fair to say everything is going smoothly thus far. Jake goes the whole nine yards and buys them matching passport holders to put their passports, boarding passes as well as any other important paperwork that they need. It’s very extra but he relishes in the sight of Sunghoon’s, already decorated with stickers that Jake recognises as being a present from Sunghoon’s younger sister while Jay has a neatly printed label sticker that says his name on it as well as contact details. That in itself, is telling of a lot of things. Jake simply has nothing on his, though he’s not sure if Jay has another label on his person with Jake’s address and phone number to put on his holder.

 

The flight is ten hours and his best friends sleep like logs for almost the entire thing, with Jay’s head on his lap and Sunghoon’s on his shoulder. It makes eating lunch a very difficult task, and he has to manoevre Jay’s head to his other shoulder so he can put down his tray table, but he ultimately finishes his meal without stirring either of them. Their flight to Sydney has them in the middle aisle which Jake is bummed about, since neither of them can take shots of the window but he knocks out soon enough after meals are served. They shouldn’t be sleeping when there’s only two hours between the timezones but on account of their first trip ever together, let alone overseas, they could barely sleep all night. They all wake up disoriented when the pilot announces over the speaker that they’re landing.

 

 

“Whoa, did we sleep for the entire thing?” Jay mumbles groggily, rubbing his eyes and Sunghoon muffles his yawn into his hand as the windows begin to open and lights illuminate the walkways. Jake blinks a few times to readjust to the brightness before he sees the sight of Sunghoon’s bed hair and adjusts the strands for him. Sunghoon looks at him, confused, before realising what he’s actually doing and smiles demurely. Jake’s heart ping-pongs in his ribcage.

 

 

“Thanks Jaeyunie,” Sunghoon says croakily and Jake just smiles shakily back.

 

 

It’s only one of many signs signalling the end for Jake Sim as he knows it.