Homeless ➹ 2jae [✓]

- 12 -

Youngjae was woken up by the sound of Jaebum's pill bottle being put back in his bag underneath the bed. "Huh..?" he groggily asked the air, sitting himself up. "What time is it? And where did.. Jinyoung?"

"Yahh, that woke you up? I'm sorry..." Jaebum spoke, throwing on his leather jacket. "Anyway, it's 8:30, and Jinyoung left early to meet his classmate. You should go back to sleep, Youngjae."

"What was that?"

"My med... Nothing, Youngjae. You should get some sleep. I know you stayed up late." He was answered with a yawn, and he chuckled a little, picking up his bag. "I'll see you later."

"Hm..." the younger hummed while he fell back asleep, eyes closing as Jaebum left the room.

-:-:-:-

"Mark, he isn't even awake yet."

"You'll tell him when he wakes up, right?"

"Yeah, yeah..."

"Tell me what?"

"Ah-" It had been two hours since Jaebum left for his class, and only a few minutes since he'd returned. Mark stopped by, as well, to remind him to tell Youngjae about the email that was sent out to every student attending their university. "Youngjae--"

"Heyy- Oh.." Suddenly, Jinyoung walked into the dorm from his class, becoming quiet when he saw Jaebum.

"Yahh, everybody's getting interrupted," Youngjae muttered, sitting up and running his fingers through his messy hair. "What the hell are you hiding? Tell me or be quiet about it..."

"You haven't told him!?" Jinyoung scolded, hitting Jaebum's arm.

"I would have if you hadn't just walked in!"

"Yah! What good is it to argue over this?" The room fell silent, everybody looking at Youngjae with wide eyes. The scene being caused in the small room made the youngest feel sick, and he didn't even know what it was about. Jumping off of his bed to walk to the bathroom, he said, "Why do I even bother? It probably isn't important anyway."

"Youngjae," Jinyoung began, grabbing his friend by the wrist. With a stern gaze, he told him, "Yesterday, there was a suspicious activity warning sent out to everybody on campus; Therefore, any lenience we had to sneak you around is a little compromised. We just have to be careful with you from now on, okay? You'll be fine." The older laid an affectionate hand on the side of Youngjae's head, watching his expression grow sullen.

The younger let out a loud groan and fell to the floor. "I knew this would happen..."

"Hey," Mark interrupted, walking to the boy sitting on his knees, "it was just a warning, anyway. All the email said was that there was some sneaking around that they would keep a closer eye on it. If we can go long enough without them being any more suspicious, it'll be back to the way it was, yeah?"

"Yahh, this is all so sketchy."

"I know it is, but it won't be like this soon. Youngjae, this isn't forever," Jinyoung assured, pulling his friend into a side hug. "Don't worry."

While Mark and Jinyoung comforted the youngest, whose head was suddenly filled with anguish, Jaebum stood back and watched with apologetic eyes. So badly, he wanted to hug him and tell him everything would be okay, but there wasn't enough of his person to be hugged by three people. It was him becoming nervous about Youngjae, and he wasn't sure where that feeling was coming from.

With the room becoming quiet, and awkward to the oldest, he said, "I'm... I'm gonna go take a walk. I'll see you in a bit." Quickly, he grabbed his jacket and left, not sparing any time. His plan was to take a walk in the cool air, and to get some food by himself; However, that was soiled when a certain blonde boy came jumping up behind him.

"Jaebum! Where are you going? Can I come?" Jackson began rambling, a tense Jaebum hardly listening. As they walked out, Jaebum didn't protest, but he enjoyed Jackson's company. Even if he was annoying, that was something comforting about him.

"Ah," he sighed, "I need to clear my head. I thought I'd come outside for a bit."

"Hm? You okay?"

"Yeah, of course..." There was a pause in their conversation as they continued to walk aimlessly down the street. "Yah, I'm hungry. Let's go get chicken or something." Despite Jaebum's denying his feelings, Jackson kept quiet about it. It hurt him a little, to see the older with too many thoughts, but he figured that he'd open up about it later.

"There's a place that makes really good fried chicken! Ah- It's the other way, though..." Jaebum looked at him with a look of annoyance, chuckling a little in the end.

"And, the other way, we go!"

-:-:-:-

Three beers and three bowls of chicken later, Jaebum was still stuffing his mouth. Those around him started to stare at the guy who was ravenously eating fried chicken like his life depended on it. "Yah, what's wrong with you? You never eat this much."

"I just," Jaebum began, swallowing the last of his chicken wing, "I didn't eat anything yet. I'm hungry."

"And when the hell was the last time you drank beer? What, with those guys when we were 17-"

"Jackson."

"Sorry..." Jackson reached for a wing to keep his mouth shut. He didn't mean to bring up such a sensitive subject, but it flew out of his mouth. He started to wonder if memories of all that started to surface again, and if that was why Jaebum was in a slump all of a sudden, but he didn't want to be quick in making assumptions. "Really, though... You're acting weird."

Jaebum's leg was shaking under the table, and Jackson touched his fingers to the tip of Jaebum's knee to calm him a bit. He didn't used to be able to do that, but Jaebum had warmed up to it eventually. In that moment, Jaebum stopped eating, and just sat with chicken in his mouth before asking, "Jackson... You know how... you're protective of me?"

Jackson chuckled. "Yeah... I suppose so. Why?"

"Well... Say that someone else wanted to share that position with you... A-and with good reason!" Jackson listened intently, even though he had no idea what Jaebum was on about. He tried to understand, though, so he could help. "Would you let them?"

"Hm..." he thought, taking a sip of his soda. "It depends. I think... if they seemed to have some freaky ulterior motive, then I wouldn't be able to trust them, right?" The two locked eyes, a seriousness laced in the tone. Jackson would have used some examples, but he figured that Jaebum would get the idea. "Although... I think, if somebody really were to care about you as much as I do, then they must be trustworthy. I mean, it isn't a question of whether I'd let them or not, because, ultimately, that part isn't up to me. More so, how I feel towards that person, right?"

"Yeah, but you wouldn't lash out at that person, would you?"

"Not unless they give me a reason."

So, they sat silently and finished their third bowl of chicken, both of their heads full of thought. When they were finished, they both chipped in to pay, and left to walk back in the cold. When they returned to the dorms, Jaebum had already planned what he would talk to Jinyoung about. He felt like he had to mention something.

-:-:-:-

a/n: jaebum's past is slowly being revealed.... hehehe

anyway, i hope you enjoyed this chapter! :)