You like your best friend Heeseung. He's not just a friend to you but someone who had quietly become your favourite person without you even realising when it started.

Heeseung had always been easy to be around. He remembered the smallest things about you and somehow, he always stayed even during the ugliest days of your life.

That was the problem. Because the more Heeseung cared for you so effortlessly, the harder it became not to fall for him

So to hide it, you did the dumbest thing possible.

You kept talking about another guy. Specifically—his friend, Sunghoon.

Whenever you and Heeseung hung out, you somehow always found ways to bring him up casually.

“Do you think he likes me?”

Heeseung nearly choked on his drink one afternoon when you suddenly asked that while sitting besides him at the convenience store. “Who?”

“Your friend, Sunghoon.”

He stared at you blankly for a second before laughing. “Again?”

You nudged his shoulder. “I'm serious!”

“Why are you even asking me?”

“Because you know him.”

Heeseung leaned back against the chair dramatically before sighing. “You know what's crazy?”

“What?”

“The fact that you're asking relationship advice from someone who's obviously your type.”

You blinked. “Huh?”

He smirked lazily. “Funny, handsome, caring—sounds exactly like me.”

You rolled your eyes immediately while trying to ignore how your heart reacted.

“You wish.”

“You wound me.”

That was how your friendship always worked.

But beneath all of it, there was something steady about Heeseung that made you rely on him more than anyone else.

When you fought with your parents, Heeseung was the one sitting outside your house at midnight with your favourite food. When you cried over stress during exam season, he quietly stayed on call until you fell asleep.

And when life became too overwhelming, he never asked questions first. He just stayed.

Sometimes, you wondered if he realised how dangerous that was for your heart. Because eventually, pretending became exhausting.

You were so painfully in love with him that it started slipping through the cracks no matter how hard you tried to hide it.

And one day, you accidentally made things worse. It started as a joke.

You were both walking home together when Heeseung handed you your drink after buying it for you.

“Thanks, baby,” you said absentmindedly.

Heeseung almost dropped the other drink in his hand.

“What?”

You burst into laughter immediately after seeing his expression. “Relax.”

His ears turned slightly red as he looked away. “Don't say stuff like that out of nowhere.”

That should've been the end of it. But unfortunately for him, you found his reaction way too cute.

So you kept doing it.

“Babe, pass me my charger.”

“Baby, wait for me.”

“Love, stop eating my fries.”

Every single time, Heeseung reacted the same way.

Completely caught off guard.

Sometimes he'd stare at you in disbelief before brushing it off with awkward laughter. Other times he'd mumble a quiet “You're ridiculous” while trying to hide the fact he was blushing.

And honestly? You were suffering too.

Because what started as teasing slowly became something more dangerous.

You liked saying those words to him a little too much.

Meanwhile, Heeseung started acting weird too.

He'd pause whenever you call him that now, his eyes lingering on you longer than before. Sometimes, he'd look like he wanted to say something but stopped himself every time.

The tension between you became impossible to ignore.

Then one night, both of you were hanging out at his apartment.

You were sprawled comfortably across the couch while Heeseung sat besides you, a movie playing in the background neither of you were paying full attention to anymore.

By the time the movie ended, you stretched your arms lazily before glancing at him.

“That movie sucked, baby.”

The word slipped out naturally again, but this time—Heeseung looked at you differently. Really differently.

Then quietly, without looking away—

“Yeah, baby,” he replied.