Lullaby (2jae)

3. "Bomb Boy"

    Youngjae quickly unpacked his belongings, leaving his grey and blue school bag on his desk chair as he began hanging up his clothes. He was done within the hour and found himself on his laptop with his headphones, his browser opened to the Breaking News page. Youngjae groaned, causing his roommate to look at him, his eyebrows raised. "You okay there kid?" Youngjae just sighed heavily before he shook his head, pausing his quiet music and diverting his full attention to JB's question.

"No, actually, I'm not. Not only is my life kinda shit right now, but the headlines have also decided that 'bomb boy' is an appropriate nickname for me. Like no, fuck you, you can't be serious." JB laughed, tilting his head back before he grinned at the younger.

"It'll calm down again, I'm certain. Anyway, what's that article saying about you?" Youngjae sighed before he began to read it aloud.

BREAKING NEWS: RESEARCHERS PUZZLED BY THE GRASS LEFT IN THE CRATER SITE
YESTERDAY, an explosion with similar force of an atomic bomb was released about a mile away from Johnson High School. It seemed that the ever mysterious "bomb boy" that we have seen in the past had made another appearance, but researchers believe otherwise.

JB almost cried laughing, and Youngjae glared at him, which only made him laugh harder. "Please," he gasped out, "Keep going." Youngjae just sighed again but listened to his request.

"Well, the last few cases that we have deemed were done by the same force absolutely destroyed everything in the vicinity," Doctor Park Junhyun explained, "but this time it was different. This time they had control.
"We aren't sure entirely, but we believe that even though the energy is similar, the piece of grass with about a two foot diameter located approximately ten feet away from the detention point shows a new person involved.
"Sure, the original could have gotten better control, however, why keep the grass? It makes no sense to us," he concluded.

JB swiped at his eyes, trying to clear the last of the tears as he got himself back under control, for the most part. "So," he sounded breathless as he worked to regain his composure. "So," he tried again, his voice still wavering slightly but he pressed on. "Why did you leave that patch of grass 'bomb boy'?" Youngjae just sigh and lad back on his mattress, wishing the walls would swallow him.

"I wasn't gonna kill my only friend," he mumbled, his voice spent. JB looked at hm with a quirked eyebrow, silently urging him to continue speaking. Youngjae flung his arm over his eyes, avoiding JB's intense gaze at all costs. "Usually, when I blow I'm all by myself. Yesterday, my friend Yugyeom was with me. I wasn't going to kill him. The grass was where he was standing." JB nodded but didn't say anything, and Youngjae refused to continue without further prompting. They sat in silence until JB spoke up again.

"Can I ask why you blew? Or, why do you blow?"

Youngjae always dreaded this question. Telling people his biggest weakness, his Achilles heel, always made him panic. He sat there in silence, wondering if he should tell JB or not. It's not like he had high hopes for a lot of friends, and JB didn't seem like he wanted to tell him much, so why would Youngjae ever tell him anything private? Anything that could potentially give him a leg u on their inevitable war?

"Why do you wanna know so much?" Youngjae asked simply, his voice flat. JB stared at the younger's (almost completely) motionless figure. He shrugged.

"I'd kinda like to know what happens with my roommate. With my friend. You can tell me anything Jae. I'll always be here," he said, his voice soft, his tone genuine.