p e r s o n a l l y ☆ 2jae

t h i r t y

Following that detention together the boys had become close again and as time went by Jaebeom had joined the group seamlessly. This notion made Jaebeom feel happier, happier that people could like him and he could in fact could form meaningful friendships.

Something in the back of his mind however would still linger and make him question himself. It was something he didn't mention, not even to Youngjae, and something he did his best to ignore. Besides, being able to see Youngjae's smile on a regular bases was enough for the elder to forget about his doubts for even a moment. With Youngjae at least, things didn't feel so hard anymore. And he finally felt like he had a reason to care.

Youngjae was his reason to care.

Meanwhile Youngjae was getting a lot better at expressing his feelings, making sure they didn't bubble up for too long and making sure he gave himself boundaries between his work and his friends. He did in fact confess to the others what had been troubling him all that time-- and as expected, they supported him even more.

Although it was impossible for his worries to disappear, he felt like he had unlocked a secret that nobody had told him before he met the elder. 

That he didn't need to be perfect.
And that he was enough.
And that information was enough to help him cope with his worries and bring Youngjae back to his bright usual self. 

The only thing he wasn't that great at expressing was just how badly he had a crush on Jaebeom. Likewise, Jaebeom was just as bad, if not worse, at coming to terms with his feelings. 

The group were currently preparing a movie marathon and sleepover at Mark's house. The maknaes were in the kitchen messing around doing who knows what while Mark and Jinyoung were in the living room getting the seating ready. 

"Who else is coming?" Youngjae asked as he walked in, coming from Mark's bedroom. He carried over some blankets for the boys to stay warm with and placed them on the floor next to the beanbags Jinyoung had pulled out. 

At that moment the door opened and Youngjae's eyes lit up. Jackson and Jaebeom entered, carrying bags filled with drinks and numerous other snacks. 

"Oh! Jaebeommie!!"

All eyes turned to them.

Youngjae was slowly hit with the realisation of what he said, "Uhh.. Jaebeom ah.."

His voice had dropped a considerable amount of octaves lower as he tried to mask his mistake. He sounded awkward and his expression was drawn into an uncomfortable smile and eye squint.

Jackson choked on his own laughter before speaking up, "Huhh.. Jaebeommie..?!"

As he took his shoes off he entered the room and put on a snarky expression, Jaebeom following closely behind. He sighed and teased them more, "You kids.."

"Ya! I'm your hyung!" Jaebeom snapped back, trying to hide his embarrassment. He put the bags of snacks onto the table and took his jacket off. 

"Aishh... You kids.." Mark repeated, only making Jackson laugh more.

.

.

The night began to fall and the boys started their movie night, bowls of popcorn and other snacks filling the table. The youngest were sat on the floor closest to the TV while Jinyoung and Jackson were sitting on the beanbags together. At the opposite end Mark sat in his recliner and finally the fateful duo had the whole sofa to themselves.

As Youngjae sat down next to the elder he placed a blanket over them both and got comfortable.

"Jaebeommie.." Youngjae whispered to avoid being teased again.

By this point 'Jaebeommie' was no longer a teasing reference to that time when they got mistaken as a couple, but had instead become a regular occurrence. If anything it felt more weird for Youngjae not to call the elder 'Jaebeommie'. Jaebeom didn't complain, because hearing his nickname like that always gave him butterflies. 

"Do you like scary movies?"

Jaebeom shrugged his shoulders and adjusted the pillows he was leaning on, "They're never that scary for me."

"Oh.." Youngjae replied slightly disappointed, "Me too."

"If you get scared I'll protect you--" Jaebeom said with a smirk. 

Youngjae laughed confidently, "I'll show you hyung. I'm really not scared at all."

.

.

Youngjae flinched as soon as the violence began, blood filling the screen. He buried his head into Jaebeom's shoulder to avoid the sight. The rest of the group let out screams of their own.

"JINYOUNG AHHHHH!" Jackson yelled, squeezing the latter's arm tightly as he did so. Jinyoung's eyes were wide and shocked at what was happening, his arms wrapping around an even more scared Wang-gae. 

Smack!

Bambam had throw a pillow across the room at Jackson for screaming so loud, "Aishhhh keep it down you guys this is the good pa-- AHHHHHHHHHH--"

"Our hyungs are good guys but they're kind of scardy cats.." Yugyeom laughed, him and Mark seemingly the only pair not terrified out of their mind bragging about this as much as possible. Mark handed the popcorn bowl back to the youngest and Yugyeom continued to snack away. 

Jaebeom wasn't paying attention to what the other's were doing, he was too busy feeling his heart accelerate at Youngjae snuggling up close. He pulled the covers over them both to keep Youngjae secure. 

"You're right hyung.. I'm scared.. I seriously thought you would be scared too," Youngjae said softly, his head still down and away from the events of the movie. 

Jaebeom searched under the covers for Youngjae's hand. When he finally found it he grasped it securely in his own. Youngjae felt this and looked up in surprise. He found Jaebeom's gaze still locked onto the TV screen as the lights bounced off of his face. 

"Jaebeommie?"

As the scene before their eyes intensified Youngjae felt the grip on his hand tighten even more.

"Maybe I'm a little scared," Jaebeom muttered quietly. 

The two sat like that for the rest of the movie, holding hands and cuddling up close with the covers wrapped around them warmly. Jaebeom kept his eyes on the screen and Youngjae ended up either burying his head further under the covers or only taking sneak peaks at the action.

Neither knew how badly the other was blushing.