✓ | the elevator ride. (heejake)

six.

͙⁺˚*･༓☾

"but then again, you're just pretty in general."

despite being in a small, compact, stuffy elevator, heeseung knew that it wasn't the only reason he was feeling extra warm. being alone with someone as bold and flirty as jake made heeseung a type of nervous he hadn't experienced before. he wasn't sure of the type of game jake was playing with his flirtatious remarks, but he wouldn't give in so easily.

"tch. way to state the obvious," heeseung stated, smirking.

jake pouted, half-expecting to see his cute neighbor get all flustered again rather than sarcastic. but that didn't bother him much because jake wasn't the type to give up. "hey, everyone needs a reminder of their beauty every once in a while."

when a moment of silence lingered on for a bit too long, heeseung glanced over at jake, the latter already staring right back at him expectantly. heeseung blinked, lost for words. "w-what are you looking at?"

"aren't you going to remind me of my beauty?"

heeseung didn't expect that. he let out a genuine belly-laugh. "keep dreaming, sim."

"oh, come on!" jake irked on, playfully nudging the older's shoulder, "don't you think i'm handsome?" 

heeseung held back an eyeroll once he caught jake dramatically batting his eyelashes again, attempting to put on his best puppy-dog eyes. see, heeseung couldn't deny his neighbor was pretty. if he did, he'd be straight up lying. but then again, heeseung wasn't sure what jake was trying to get out of that question, and it left him a bit hesitant on how to respond. why is it so hard to tell whether this kid is serious or not?

"not as much as you are a nuisance."

jake tapped a finger to his chin in thought. "hmm. i didn't hear you deny that i'm handsome, though, so i'll take that as a win."

heeseung scoffed as he turned his head away from the boy, biting his bottom lip to hide a smile.

͙⁺˚*･༓☾

"hey, bro, thanks for the pizza! sorry, i just realized the time. i should probably head home."

the gears in jay's brain suddenly began turning again once ni-ki had stood up from the sofa. "w-wait! what about my roommate? and our neighbor? in the elevator?"

ni-ki gasped. "yoooo! i totally forgot! you think they're out yet?"

jay crossed his arms. "do you see another dude in here?" he asked, straight-faced.

ni-ki sheepishly rubbed the back of his neck. "right. uhh...good point."

the clock on the wall displayed the time of night, and if jay was doing his math correctly, both heeseung and jake were in that elevator for three hours and two minutes by now. this was getting out of hand. abruptly, jay also stood up from the sofa, although he hardly reached the height of the younger boy. "come on, we're going to see your dad."

"okay," ni-ki agreed without question.

both boys walked down the stairs to the lobby with purpose, jay determined to get some answers. as expected, ni-ki's father was seated at the lobby front desk, busying himself with some task on the desktop. 

"excuse me, sir?"

"hey dad."

"riki, where the hell have you been? and, uhm, yes, may i help you?"

ni-ki rolled his eyes, ignoring the question as jay answered instead. "sorry, sir, he's been hanging out with me. but, i actually came to ask about updates on the elevator situation? my roommate is still stuck in there with our neighbor."

a genuine look of concern mixed with shock and worry clouded over the elder man's face. he stood from his chair. "what?!" he exclaimed. "those damned fireman didn't show? how the hell is that possible?"

"uh oh."

ni-ki had gone a ghostly shade of pale, his face reading of guilt. his father raised an eyebrow, crossing his arms. "what now?"

"i-it's my fault...i forgot to call the fire department after answering to the emergency call in the elevator. i was about to, but i got distracted..."

jay couldn't explain the look of disappointment etched into ni-ki's father's expression. it was also mixed with a look of being pretty used to ni-ki getting into these situations. once again, jay wasn't surprised. he still thinks the kid has the attention span of a goldfish.

"dammit, riki. i–ugh, i'll call. just, go sit and do nothing."

ni-ki crossed his arms. "rude."

ni-ki's father busied himself with the phone. jay began to grow a bit worried, the weight of the situation finally setting into him. what if heeseung or jake were in trouble? did they have enough oxygen in there? were the lights on? is there air conditioning? what if they have to go to the restroom? are they hungry?

millions of thoughts were racing through jay's cluttered mind, so much so that he missed what ni-ki's father had said. "p-pardon?"

"can you get into contact with your roommate?" he asked again.

jay shook his head. "his phone died."

the man sighed. "okay, i'm gonna call the fire department. we'll figure this out, promise."

jay exhaled deeply. it shouldn't be long now, hee. 

͙⁺˚*･༓☾

jake was losing track of time. what if they walked out of the elevator and a fucking year had passed? at this point, he wouldn't be surprised. heeseung had taken to the floor, getting some shut eye (as a distraction or because he was actually tired, jake wasn't sure). however, jake was anything but able to get some shut eye.

for starters, he still had to use the restroom pretty badly. but aside from that, his body was beginning to grow tired physically, already recognizing it was furthering later into the night. the thought of the darkness outside began to send a shiver down jake's spine. 

he's still trapped in this elevator. it's completely dark outside, and the lights in this death box are dimly lit, too, practically threatening to go out at any second. there's no food. no water. no toilet. no phone. 

with each new terrible thing jake's brain sprouted, his heart started pounding faster. his palms were sweating and his knees were getting wobbly. 

don't give in, jake. you're fine. you'll be out soon. deep breaths.

he tucked his legs into his chest, scooting backward so his back was against the corner of the elevator wall. his eyes darted across the tiny cubicle. the tiny cubicle that felt as if it was crowding in on him, shrinking smaller and smaller...

make it stop. make it stop.

"j-jake?"

make it stop. make it stop.

"jake?"

where the drum of his heartbeat had been ringing in his ears, the soothing voice belonging to someone other than himself seethed it's way in instead. a warm sensation grabbed jake gently by the shoulders, lightly shaking him, just enough so he would dare to open his eyes. 

and just like that, there's a flicker of hope in his darkness. the fear jake had struggled to hold in this entire experience had a chance of being averted, and the deep brown eyes searching his assured him so. he was happy they were filled with worry rather than disgust.

"jake, what's going on? are you okay?" a slightly frantic heeseung croaked.

jake couldn't find the words. his mouth was still dry and he was still shaken up. he hadn't had an anxiety attack like that in years, his trembling body reminded him so.

heeseung wouldn't say he's good at comforting people. if anything, his older cousin was. he looked out for heeseung like a brother would. he stood up for him, protected him. although heeseung wasn't too sure of what to do right now, he decided to channel his kim namjoon, thinking to himself what his cousin would do. 

before jake could even try to get a word out, heeseung was squished right beside him, wrapping his arms around his frame. jake's head met the warmth of heeseung's chest, and his shoulder's were securley held by heeseung's arm, the other one running delicate fingers through his blonde hair. his cheek stained heeseung's shirt with silent tears he hadn't realized he'd cried.

"shh, you're okay, i've got you," the older mumbled into jake's hair, hoping desperately that his attempt of comforting would work. 

it took a few minutes, but jake's breathing had slowed and his body had soothed into the touch. a wave of exhaustion rushed through him, for he had used up so much of his energy already. his eyes became droopy, and without thinking much of it, he removed one of his arms from around his tucked in legs, wrapping it around heeseung's waist, pulling him in closer. 

heeseung tensed for a moment, unsure of what was happening. he watched as jake readjusted himself, leaning more into his body as if he was a pillow. heeseung let it happen. he quite liked his neighbor better when he wasn't busy making flirtatious comments and bugging the hell out of him with his goofy smile. 

the faintest snore sounded from the blonde, heeseung almost letting out a chuckle. did he really conk himself out? 

being trapped in an elevator with nothing to do means having a lot more time to think, a lot more time to be in your own head. as much as he didn't want to, heeseung let his mind wander to what had been aching for attention these past three hours: jake sim.

in this moment, the younger's soft breathing matching with his, heeseung's heart couldn't deny it. in this moment, the younger's arm draped across his stomach, heeseung's butterflies couldn't ignore it. in this moment, the younger's eyelashes kissing his tear-stained cheeks, heeseung's mind couldn't erase it.

in this moment, heeseung realized he was growing feelings for his neighbor.