Homeless ➹ 2jae [✓]

- 07 -

The next morning, it was another day where Jaebum had few classes, and Jinyoung's schedule was packed. His only class that day was at three in the afternoon, so he had some time to himself in the dorm. If Youngjae didn't sleep in so late, Jaebum could have shared that time with him, but he wasn't in any place to wake him. Considering this, he only averted his gaze to him every now and then.

Staring intently at Youngjae's sleeping face, Jaebum didn't see anything dislikable. He thought the younger one was attractive, and he wouldn't be so opposed to saying that to anybody either. He was one to not care about what others thought of what he said. Even if it was calling a man attractive, he didn't think of it as a big deal. It wasn't a big deal to him; Just simply fact.

The more Jaebum looked at Youngjae, the more curious he became about him. He wondered about why he slept for so long, and why it seemed that it was hard for him to speak. He wondered what lead him to stay in the university in the first place. He didn't want to ask, though, because he was afraid that the reason was too much to divulge. He thought he'd hold off a bit.

It persisted in his head, though, the idea of Youngjae having some complicated history that would lead to such a turnout. The boy was so quiet and secretive, to him, that it almost seemed like he wouldn't have any backstory at all. Jaebum knew that couldn't be true, endlessly trying to configure some reason – or string of reasons – for him to be this way. It ate away at him, Youngjae almost beckoning for Jaebum to tear him open so all of his secrets would spill. The boy's sleeping face, Jaebum knew, was the cover to a bowl that held a short-lived time full of complexity, and he was itching to find out. Not for his own sake, though; For Youngjae.

-:-:-:-

"Youngjae," Jaebum whispered, catching the younger's wide-eyed attention. "Is he asleep?" he asked, pointing to Jinyoung, who was turned over on his side. The clock had passed 1am a few minutes before, but both of the boys were wide awake. Youngjae didn't get out of bed until well past noon, so he wasn't tired yet; However, Jaebum just wanted to talk to him without the third boy getting in the way.

"Uh.." Youngjae quietly began, standing up to look at his childhood friend. His face was completely relaxed, resting on the long pillow that they shared. He smiled, finding his friend's sleeping face quite adorable, and replied a quiet, "Yeah. Why?" Jaebum was caught off guard, not expecting Youngjae to ask anything further.

"Oh, I just... Don't want to be too loud, that's all," he lied, preparing himself for the following day. After he packed his bag, he took out some of his clean clothes and began to rid his body of the dirty ones, forgetting that Youngjae seemed to be uncomfortable when he did that. With his shirt off, and his shorts only half on, he quietly spoke, "Hey, can I ask you something?"

Youngjae purposely looked in the other direction, afraid that he'd stutter too much if he looked at the near-nude guy standing right beside him. The origin of this sensation was unknown to him, but he recognized it, and tried to deal with it the best he could. "Yeah, go ahead," he responded, feeling the space between him and the older become smaller. Assuming that Jaebum was wearing clothes, Youngjae turned around to a hand gesturing for him to sit on the bed. He chuckled, "Should I be worried?"

"No, no." It was apparent in the older's voice that he was unsure of how to put together the question. Youngjae looked to his eyes that were darting around the room behind him, wondering what he was thinking about. "Is-" he began, constructing and reconstructing the phrase in his head. "Is it alright if I ask why- no, not 'why'..." Youngjae watched, with a blank face, the older put his hand up to his face in thought. The amount of time it was taking Jaebum to ask made Youngjae assume it was a bad thing. "How... How did you end up, uh..." Jaebum had finally locked eyes with the younger, looking at him with a pleading gaze that confused Youngjae. He didn't know why he was begging for something through his eyes. "How did you end up staying here?"

"Oh-" Youngjae uttered, alarmed by what the question really was. In a matter of a few seconds, his brain thought of what to say, how much to say; How to say that he was kicked out of his house as a teenager before moving in with Jinyoung, then got kicked out a second time, only to move in with Jinyoung again. With his words edging on his tongue, making their way through straight teeth, the only sentence he could make heard was one that was all too familiar to him. "It's a long story."

Jaebum's face dropped, like he was disappointed with the answer he received. In his heart, he was right! Youngjae's life was a tale of puzzled events! In his head, however, he was smart enough to know that he wouldn't know anything about Youngjae anytime soon. After all, they had hardly known each other, so Youngjae had no obligation to trust him with things like that, but it stung him a little, knowing that he'd have to wait even longer. "Did something happen?" he asked, hoping to even get a sliver of the story in his head.

"Yahh, of course something happened," the younger said, turning his whole body away. The action made Jaebum feel inadequate, in a way, knowing that his question made Youngjae uncomfortable. His stomach fell a little; Not enough to hit the ground, but enough that it wasn't in the right place. "But... Why do you seem so interested in my past?"

Jaebum's mind froze in thought, Youngjae's question running in circles at, what felt like, lightwarp speed. It was weird, he thought, the closeness he felt to Youngjae. Of course, he could get to know somebody in a normal way, by asking about their likes and dislikes, and current occupation, but he just wanted to know Youngjae.

He answered, "Because I'm interested in you."

He wanted to know everything about Youngjae.

-:-:-:-

a/n: thank you so much for 500+ reads! i means a lot that you're supporting my story :)

anyway i hope you liked this chapter, and make sure to stay tuned for the next one~