p e r s o n a l l y ☆ 2jae

f o u r t e e n

Youngjae waited in the maths classroom at lunch. He had already layed out his textbooks and paper to the current topic notes and was tapping his pen anxiously against the table, awaiting the arrival of the elder. His eyes stayed fixated to the ticking clock at the front of the class, each second that passed by resonating louder and longer than the last.

The door began to open and Youngjae looked up egarly.

"Um.. sorry.. Do you know where Mr Alesto is?"

Disappointment followed, the small smile Youngjae had on his face quickly diminishing.

"No.. He might be in his office," Youngjae replied to the lost student.

"Oh okay. Thanks."

The student turned back and left the room.

Looking down in frustration, Youngjae began to pack his things up. He had already been waiting for 10 minutes and the idea of being stood up bothered him. What bothered him more was that Jaebeom could have been doing this as payback.

But if that were the case, Youngjae knew he deserved it 

He shuffled all his papers together impatiently and winced as he got a paper cut. A small drop of blood stained the corner of the notebook he was holding.

"Ouchh.."

"Youngjae?"

The boy looked up and his eyes widened. He had been too distracted with himself to notice that Jaebeom had already entered the room.

"Ahh. . Hi Hyung," Youngjae said with awkwardness in his voice.

Jaebeom walked over and sat next to the younger, "Sorry I'm late. . I was getting lunch."

Youngjae tried to cover up and make it seem as if he wasn't about to leave, he was just so relieved Jaebeom had come.

"What're we learning?" Jaebeom said as he took out his own supplies; a crumpled looking notebook and a single ballpoint pen.

"Hmmm. . You can choose. What stuff is the hardest?"

Jaebeom took a moment to think back over what they have been taught previously, although he didn't really remember much of it at all.

"Maybe the stuff with the powers and the expansion."

"Binomial expansion?"

Jaebeom nodded after hearing the familiar term.

Youngjae chose a question for them to work on and he began to explain the steps of how to continue. He explained what the other should write down and continued to talk through the whole process.

"Wait you're going too fast," Jaebeom interrupted.

"Oh. Sorry.." Youngjae said, embarrassed after rambling and not knowing if his own explanations made sense.

He watched the elder struggle to write with his injured arm, and after remembering what the doctor had told him, he scolded, "Stop!!"

Jaebeom looked up, shocked at the sudden outcry.

"You're not supposed to be using your left hand!"

"But I can't write with my right hand!" Jaebeom defended, shortly demonstrating how close to chicken scratch his handwriting became when he did so.

After a few moments of watching the boy suffer, Youngjae leaned in close and reached out to take the pen Jaebeom was holding. Their hands brushed for a moment.
They both felt the warmth in the other's grasp. Jaebeom noticed the small paper cut on Youngjae's finger.

Youngjae, still leaning in close without realising, continuted to write what Jaebeom had intended, all the while the elder was too distracted with the little space between them. He turned to watch as Youngjae was in deep concentration; his lips together and pouting slightly, his glasses slipping down the bridge of his nose. Jaebeom let himself get lost again.

"Does that make sense?" Youngjae asked after a short explanation that Jaebeom hadn't been listening too.

He turned his head to look for a response but instead was shocked to see how close their faces now were. Their eyes danced between each other and Youngjae could feel his breath hitch.

In a low voice and trying not to sound too flustered Jaebeom replied, "Explain it again."

Youngjae remained quite at the cold tone. He leaned out slowly.

They felt awkward for a small moment before Jaebeom tried his best to lighten the strange mood.

". . please?"

.

.

They continued to work through the topic, Youngjae being surprised at how quick Jaebeom was picking things up. Jaebeom being surprised his attention span would even let him.

They took a break for a moment. Suddenly the sound of Youngjae's stomach rumbling took both the boy's attention. Youngjae clutched his stomach in embarrassment. He had skipped lunch because he wanted to make sure he wouldn't be late to meet the other.

Jaebeom reached into his bag and pulled out a tuna and cucumber sandwich. Youngjae made a strange face after noticing the cucumber, not realising the sandwich was for him.

"You don't want it?" Jaebeom asked with disappointment in his voice.

"Huh?"

"I bought it because I wasn't sure if you'd eaten or not."

Youngjae was surprised and slightly confused after hearing this, "You bought it for me?"

Trying to cover up his true intentions, Jaebeom scoffed slightly and turned his head away as he rebuttled, "No. It was just something extra I bought for myself. I just thought now that you need it more than me."

Not wanting to be rude Youngjae accepted the lunch. He didn't like cucumbers at all. He really hated them in all honestly. But since Jaebeom had given him this...

He would pick out the cucumbers and bear with it. He opened the packed and did so, placing the cucumbers onto the spare packaging and eating slowly, his stomach grateful for the food.

Jaebeom noticed his eating habit but didn't bring it up. Instead, they continued to study for the rest of the lunch break.