rewrite the stars - jaywon

chapter 42

Yeonjun had offered to drive Jungwon and Jay back to the suburbs, as Sunghoon had been the one who had brought them downtown. Soobin had tagged along, under the guise of helping Jungwon with his approach towards his parents.

"Okay, so," Soobin pointed at Jungwon, "say your dad comes out with a shotgun, he's waving it around, shouting 'bots are scum'. What do you do then?"

Jungwon looked hesitantly to Jay, to see how he'd react to such a scenario. Jay wrinkled his nose.

"Mister Yang doesn't own a shotgun."

Jungwon felt a thin smile work its way onto his face. Of course Jay would focus on that part of what Soobin had said. The one easily disputable portion. He reached out, to tap Jay's hand where it lay atop his knee.

Jay's eyes widened upon Jungwon's touch. He turned towards Jungwon. Jungwon felt his heart swell, as a shy smile grew on Jay's face. He hadn't even done anything to make him smile like that, not really.

"My dad's still not gonna be happy, Jay. My mom too."

"Honestly, screw them. It's 2067, for Christ's sake. They should get with the times," Yeonjun grumbled, as he guided the car off the highway, leaving the rest of the late night commuters in the dust.

Jungwon felt obligated to defend his parents, to say that they weren't all that bad, they were just a little slow to adapt. Prior to a week ago, he'd respected them more than anyone else in the world. But now, he couldn't deny a thing Yeonjun had said.

Jungwon startled, as he felt a light touch on his palm. He looked at Jay, as the robot tentatively carded his fingers through Jungwon's, intertwining their hands.

"We're gonna be fine," Jay said. Jungwon felt a surge of affection at how sincere Jay sounded, at how evident it was that he truly believed they'd be fine. He wanted to believe Jay's words too.

But Jay hadn't shown any indication he remembered his time as the Blank Jay. He didn't know what Jungwon's parents had done to him.

"Hopefully," Jungwon hedged, because Jay looked happy. He was smiling, and Jungwon wouldn't take that for granted. Not again.

But even after he informed his parents about the questionable legality of the approach they'd taken to rid Jay of his memory, Jungwon still couldn't believe they'd leave it at that. They might take him to get reset officially, at HYBE Tech. They might send Jay away, sell him, dismantle him.

A soft clicking noise roused Jungwon from his spiralling thoughts. Jay's seatbelt retracted, as Jay slid across the length of the backseat to sit at his side.

Jay was grinning.

"I mean it," he said, in a low tone meant for Jungwon's ears alone. Jungwon pressed his lips together. He could smile, but he couldn't match the wattage of Jay's grin. Not as Yeonjun turned onto a familiar street, and he spotted his house at the end of the cul-de-sac.

Jay followed Jungwon's gaze and saw where he was looking. His tongue darted out to wet his lips, and he leaned in closer.

Jungwon's eyes were drawn down to Jay's mouth. He thought of the jolt he had felt at merely barely meeting them. He wondered what it'd feel like, if they kissed properly.

When Jay spoke, his voice was a whisper.

"Jungwon, for as long as I've wanted anything, I've wanted you."

"What-- seriously?" Jungwon exclaimed. All of his dark, pessimistic thoughts were shunted aside at Jay's revelation. He pressed his hands to his cheeks, feeling them go hot underneath his fingers. Want.

"Seriously," Jay's eyes shone, reflecting the yellowed streetlights outside the car's windows, "So I'm kinda determined to make sure they won't separate us."

"I think we're here," Soobin announced suddenly, louder than was entirely necessary.

Jungwon felt the car roll to a stop and looked up, making eye contact with Yeonjun in the car's rear view mirror. Automatically, his face went hotter. He laughed, nervously, and went to unbuckle his seatbelt. Unfortunately, his fingers brushed up against Jay as he moved.

Jungwon stilled, and his eyes flitted back to Jay. He thought that maybe he could see the determination Jay had spoken of, in the set of his brow, in the glint of his eyes. With that thought in mind, an unexpected sense of calm took over him. His fears began to subside, just enough to let him begin to breathe easier.

"Don't forget to tell your parents how it's super illegal what they did to Jay. Throw around words like 'intellectual property' and 'aggressive teams of copyright lawyers'," Soobin supplied, helpfully.

"Also, Taehyun mentioned something about it being inhumane, cruel, and detestable," Yeonjun pitched in.

"Yeah, I think I recall him mentioning those words, among others, several times," Soobin turned back to face Yeonjun, a lopsided, saccharine grin on his face.

Jay mouthed the word inhumane, his brows drawing together in his confusion. Jungwon winced. He supposed he'd have to tell Jay about the lobotomy. He couldn't keep it from him forever, as much as he wanted to.

Jungwon made sure to thank Yeonjun and Soobin before he slipped out of Yeonjun's car. He couldn't believe the lengths they, along with Taehyun and Beomgyu, had gone for him and Jay. Sunghoon too. Jungwon decided he owed him a bit more than a thank you. Maybe an apology was in order.

"You're welcome, kid. Don't let this be the last we see of each other, okay? I want to show you around BELIFT sometime before fall," Yeonjun saluted Jungwon.

He nodded at Jay, unsure. Jungwon supposed that half the time Yeonjun had known Jay, Jay had been a soulless husk of himself. Yeonjun hadn't had the chance to get to know him, not yet anyways. It ached, but Jungwon understood that it might take Yeonjun awhile to come around to him.

Soobin, on the other hand, had no such hesitation.

"It was really our pleasure. You know, if you ever want me to take another look at Jay's code, maybe bypass a few safety protocols, just jailbreak him a little--."

"--Maybe some other time," Jungwon blurted out. Once more, he could feel the heat in his cheeks flaring up.

Jay looked curiously at Soobin, though, "What kind of safety protocols?"

Jungwon made a strained noise, as his imagination started going wild again. He had a brief, visceral image of Jay with a flamethrower. Jay's eyes flicked to him, at the sound he'd made and he apologetically agreed that, yes, if Soobin wanted to do that, it would be a discussion for another time.

Jungwon waited until Yeonjun's car had turned the corner at the end of the street and disappeared before he spun to face the house. He took a deep breath. The moon was out, the stars were shining, and the longest day of Jungwon's life wasn't even near completion.

— the end of chapter 42 ♡

bup-bup-bup, fellas. the jaywon content you've been waiting for is finally here!

thank you so much for your patience everyone. im so so sorry for the delay in updating this story. i haven't been feeling well ever since the news about enha came out :((

let's all hope and pray for their quick recovery and safety. this is also a reminder for everyone to take care of your health — both physically and mentally.♡