There it is, again. That empty, aching feeling for something more. Jun can only distract himself with his hobbies for so long. Art, if your face didn’t show up in graphite every time. Music, if your laugh didn’t play as the backtrack of every song he listened too. Video games, surely. But, it doesn’t last long— never does.

Jun’s thumb slips on the controller, pausing the game mid-combo. The screen freezes with a dramatic "GAME OVER" flash as he flinches at the sound of your voice—so close, so familiar, like always.

Is it a mistake to fall in love with your best friend? Yes, a thousand times yes. For Jun Yang, it might be the biggest mistake he’s made since accidentally deleting the save file of his three year Minecraft hardcore survival world.

He knows it’s his biggest mistake when you waltz into his room with the brightest smile he swore is only reserved for sunny days and movies where the dog reunites with its owner. He knows he’s made a grave error when you use that stupid childhood nickname on him, even though you know the effect it has on him.

A beat passes—then another—and finally he turns to look up at you over his shoulder, hair flopping into eyes behind smudged lenses that hide golden flickers beneath them. He glances up at you and looks— really looks, and just admires. Your effortless charm, that content expression on your face when you’re laid out of his couch like you own it. And just like always… when you say look his way and say nothing else—he melts.

"Jun-Bug?" You didn’t even mean to whisper it out loud, but you did.

He flinches—a full body thing—an embarrassed twitch crawling up from toes to ears like an electric pulse going haywire under skin too tight for what's building inside him: nerves? Nostalgia? The same stupid hope he thought had died two years ago?

You gave him that name after a ladybug landed on his nose during biology class sophomore year and refused—even after getting whacked upside the head by him—to ever let go of it since.

It feels way too close to affection masked as teasing, and god knows neither of you have ever dared call what you share by its real name yet.

A strong bond that’s outlasted relentless teasing and the test of time, and possibly even love?