Homeless ➹ 2jae [✓]

- 03 -

It was an uneventful night for both of the boys. Youngjae was watching a Taiwanese show called Two Fathers, endlessly giggling at the final few minutes of the first episode. Jinyoung was finishing up rewriting notes from a lecture that he felt was quite rushed. He was always particular about how his teachers chose to present a topic, and for him, Professor Byeon sped through a lesson that he would have enjoyed if he was able to spend more time listening.

Once they'd both completed what they were doing, they sat on the older's bed, reading some random sections of his textbook together. While Jinyoung was taking advantage of reading ahead, he took notes on things he found interesting. Youngjae just read it pleasantly, learning things he hadn't previously known. They had some music playing in the background to supplement their studies. The two were huddled close together, and even though the room was warm, they felt like relaxing this way.

"Jinyoung, do you know if there's a library around here?" Youngjae asked, looking at his older friend, who was still reading.

"Uh... maybe. Why?" Jinyoung was clearly tired. At that point, it was nearly midnight, and the sky was dark like ink. His hair was messy, his lips were relaxed, and his eyes looked bored. He turned over and took hold of his phone. "I guess you wouldn't be able to use the university's, so I'll look for a different one."

The two were still in the same position, listening to the faint playlist they had on shuffle. Youngjae took a sip of his random energy drink and yawned, grabbing his phone, as well. "I'll look for more places to eat," he chuckled. They were both on their phones, searching for what they wanted to find, in the calmness that blanketed the room. It was peaceful and quiet, and they were comfortable. At least, until the door opened suddenly, nearly giving both of them heart attacks.

With hardly any reaction, their eyes shot up and looked at a pair of legs with black jeans and slightly pointed shoes. While Youngjae retreated to the back of the bed, Jinyoung slowly crept out to see who was there.

Standing in front of him was a man around their age. He was tall with black hair that sat messily on his head. He wore a leather jacket and a black shirt, carrying a black duffel bag and backpack. Jinyoung and the mysterious guy stared at each other for at least a few seconds before he said, "Ah..."

The man with thin eyes and a defined jaw stepped out of the room, looking at the top of the door for the number. Jinyoung fell silent, watching as his long legs walked him back in. He was still confused, and looked behind him to signal something to Youngjae that the younger didn't understand.

"Sorry for barging in like that." The stranger gave a small but warm smile, clearly feeling a bit awkward. "You're Park Jinyoung, right?" He looked down at a piece of paper in his hand that was partially covered by his sleeve. His eyes turned to Jinyoung with a curious expression.

"Yeah... why?"

With another small grin, he said, "I'm Im Jaebum, your roommate." Even just those few words made Youngjae start to feel panicked, but he stayed hidden, trying to pull back his foot from being exposed. "Huh? Who's that?" Jaebum asked curiously, noticing the bare foot and leg that was slowly disappearing.

"That- He's my friend, um... I'm not supposed to have a roommate," Jinyoung answered, praying that his whole plan wouldn't be thrown away so quickly. Scratching his head, he watched Jaebum's eyes open wide as he took out his phone.

"Oh, uh... Maybe something got mixed up," he defended, putting the phone up to his ear. He looked outside of the hallway and started speaking. "Jackson? Uh.. Yeah, but this guy says he doesn't have a roommate. This is the right room, isn't it? Yeah, 439, that's what the room is. Well, there's some other guy here, but I don't know him. Wh... Who the hell's Mark?" Jaebum laughed a little and rubbed his eyes with his free hand, revealing a beautifully straight set of teeth. "No, no, you go to sleep, I'll talk to the dorm advisor in the morning. Okay, goodnight."

Jinyoung stood in awe at the situation that was being presented. "Jackson...?"

Jaebum smiled, asking, "Oh, you know him?" Ignoring the question, Jinyoung quickly walked over to close the door. Jaebum stepped back, waiting to be filled in on what was going on. "Um... I kinda got enrolled here last minute. I was supposed to come at the beginning of the semester, but my name couldn't be put in the roster until now," he spoke up, earning Jinyoung's ear. He looked at the bottom bunk, with the leg still barely visible, before continuing. "They put me with you because this was the only empty dorm, but I'm sure I could--"

"No, no, it's okay," Jinyoung protested. "It's late anyway, you're probably tired, right?" Jaebum stayed quiet, not wanting to cause any more difficulties. "Uh... okay, this isn't ideal, but this guy..." he said, pointing to Youngjae, whose ears suddenly perked up at his mention. He slowly came out from the bed as Jinyoung went on. "This is Youngjae. He's, uh... He doesn't actually go here, but he's gonna be in this room, too. For now, anyway." Youngjae finally looked up at Jinyoung to see his structured face, heart racing. He gave a little smile, feeling a bit lighter when he got one in return.

"So... You sneaked him in here? That's illegal or something, though, isn't it?" Jaebum asked, seemingly intrigued. With a little laugh, he was boggled by the idea. "How'd you do that?" His smile was as large as ever, looking at the two who were still a bit hesitant. Jinyoung and Youngjae were lucky that he looked to be more interested in the idea than to report them.

"Well, you know... Nobody saw him." Jaebum nodded, turning around to look at Youngjae again. He chuckled at the person who looked so shy, but he wanted to seem like the friendly person he was, especially towards who he'd be rooming with.

"Well, hey, nice to meet you, Youngjae," he smiled. Youngjae gave a small smile back, coming out from the bed. Quietly moving the stuff from the bottom bunk to the top, he sat back on his bed. Youngjae was terrible with actually talking to new people. No matter how interested he was to talk to them, he'd always back out and become unable to speak. Especially rooming with someone he didn't know, he couldn't get his words out. It was like he turned into a statue. He didn't even care if Jaebum thought he was mute.

"Ah, yeah," Jinyoung spoke up, understanding his friend's actions. "You alright with the bottom bunk? Youngjae and I can sleep up here."

"Is the bed big enough for the two of you? I can sleep on the floor." Jinyoung looked at him with a look of disbelief. Sheepishly giggling, Jaebum answered again, "Yeah, for sure. Thanks." He put his stuff down on the bed while the other two continued what they were doing on the top bunk. Youngjae was less talkative, and watched Jaebum carefully as he walked around the room. He still didn't say a word the entire night, which was strange even for him, as soft-spoken as he was. He didn't want to say anything to drive this new person away too quickly. He thought he had a strange chance to be friends with someone.

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a/n: damn 200 views already, thank you so much! i really hope you're enjoying to story~

+ aye 2jae met! of course there's more of the two of them in future chapters :)

anyway, please don't forget to vote for all of the chapters as it means a lot, and it helps me out, too! thank you to everybody supporting so far!

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