Back 2 U (Jaeyong)

19

Of course Jaehyun notices his absence immediately. He first goes to Yuta, then Sicheng, trying to see if they know anything. It drives him crazy and by lunch time when he's calling himself crazy for panicking when he probably just has a cold or something, he still finds himself calling his mom.
"Mom, have you talked to Tae's mom in a while? He isn't here today and im worried. Yuta says his phone is off and I...." She cuts him off.
"Shh, I'll try to call her and I'll let you know. I'm sure he's fine though." She tries to reassure him.
"Ok, fine. I'm sorry." She wishes she could pinch his cheeks.
"No worries. You love him, I get it." He blushes, he knows his mom knows but hearing her say it out loud makes it more real, which brings him back to his inevitable heartbreak.
"Thanks mom. Call me when you can." He hangs up and goes to sit with Yuta and Sicheng since he hasn't in a long time. Of course after he sits Jungwoo wanders over and while some would find it annoying, he finds it cute and a little bit comforting.
"Any word yet?" Yuta asks as he still sees a distressed look in his eyes. He shakes his head no just as he is called over the Loud speaker to the office. He frowns and takes his leave.
When he gets there he sees Taeyong's mother and this only proves to worry him more. She's smiling softly but she looks like she's been crying. The principal takes her leave as she promised they could use her office to talk while she went to lunch.
"Hi Jaehyun. Come and sit please?" She kind of asks so he nods and sits on the edge of the other chair.
"Taeyong informed me yesterday that he wanted to be admitted to the hospital today." Jaehyun can't help but panic. She puts her hand on his arm.
"It's the psychiatric hospital on the edge of town. He's going to go through intensive therapy for a few weeks three to four depending on how it goes. He can't have his phone so you won't be able to talk to him but when I go in for my weekly visit I can ask if you can see him?" She questions and Jaehyun smiles gently and takes her hand.
"That's nice but he doesn't want to see me and im sure now is no exception. Maybe don't bring me up unless he asks? I'm not sure why but it seems like I'm a source of stress for him lately and I just want him to get better." She smiles in understanding.
"Ok. Well, I just thought you should know. He really wants this to work, he really wants to be better.
I don't think I've properly thanked you though for being there for him. I feel like I failed him. I should have known, I should have stopped it some how." Jaehyun pulls the crying woman into his arms and shushes her.
"You had no way to know, nobody did. That person is a monster and if I ever got my hands on him I wouldn't stop squeezing his tiny little neck until there was no air left in him." Mrs. Lee chuckles.
"Well, let's hope you don't then, I want you to be around for Tae when he's out of the hospital and not in jail." Now he chuckles.
"Thank you for letting me know. I feel better knowing he's in good hands." She nods with a small smile and they hug once more before he goes back.
Of course all his friends want to know where he was and he figures he can trust them enough to be honest.
"That was Taeyong's mom. He's in the hospital for therapy, he decided this on his own. He will be out of school for a while." He says solemnly. He's not sure yet just how he feels about this. He's glad he's trying to get better but he's going to miss seeing his pretty face around the school.
"We should write him letters, he would really like that." Sicheng says. They all agree and Jaehyun is a little nervous about it. He wants to show his support but he doesn't want to upset him either.

When he gets home he makes his first attempt.

Dear Yongie,
Hi. I can't wait to see you smile again. We all love you very much and don't worry, I'll check in on your mom from time to time.
                L,y
Hyunnie.

He quickly folds it and puts it in his bag for Sicheng to send them all at once. He knows if he looks at it too long he will change his mind.
It's going to be a long few weeks but he will do what he can to get through and hope that Taeyong will at least talk to him when he returns.