TIME ─ JAEYONG

009⸰

— maybe trusting jaehyun wasn't all that bad.

✿

taeyong's heart hammered against his chest as he stared up at the brass gates that protected jaehyun's house, well more like mansion.

it was at least three stories high, its detailing seemed to be handcrafted by god himself. taeyong had never seen something so clean and prestigious in his life, until now. even the windows glistened under the sun's lightning.

the guard dressed in a black suit and sunglasses stopped them from proceeding. "jaehyun, who's this?"

"my friend." the guard pressed a finger to his earpiece before nodding at whatever was said through the receiver.

"arm." he demanded. taeyong nervously lifted his arm, the guard expected his forearm before giving the approval to open the gates.

yuta's hard emotionless stare left taeyong feeling uneasy as he followed behind jaehyun, his body involuntarily shaking.

"stop shaking. you look like a chihuahua."

"stop staring at me. you're making me nervous." taeyong grumbled. he hated this, he hated this feeling of vulnerability. nothing ever made him shake as much as this did.

jaehyun stopped at the front double doors. as he went to reach out for the handle he paused, turning to the two and sighed. "just let me handle this, okay?"

"oh trust me. i plan on keeping my mouth shut."

"does he necessarily have to be here?" taeyong questioned. jaehyun looked yuta up and down before shrugging.

"my dad likes him. if he's around he'll be nicer. alright, plan a is now starting."

"what's plan b?"

"i'll figure that out if it gets to that point." tae's stomach churned as he stepped into the foyer. he followed jaehyun's procedure of taking off his shoes and setting them near the door.

"wow." he gaped at the inside. marble flooring, glass tables, sparkling chandeliers, the whole lot. there wasn't a sign of dust or fingerprints on anything. it was as if no one had ever laid a foot nor finger on anything in the room.

"clean right? the maids mop at least four times every three hours." taeyong couldn't tell if yuta was joking or not but honestly, it seemed believable.

he could see his reflection on the floor, every little detail seemed to stand out. even the small scar near his eye was clear. "jaehyun? yuta? is that you?"

a deep authoritative voice spoke out from just beyond the hall. the soft pads of footsteps reached taeyong's ear, each step made him more anxious. "h–hi dad." jaehyun spoke.

jaehyun's father looked nothing like what he had expected. he expected a tall, built lad with black hair and fair perfect skin but that wasn't the case.

his father was no taller than taeyong, he was slim with evident wrinkles that seemed to be pushed back with plastic surgery. his hair wasn't soft like jaehyun's but short and spiky, from either gel or hairspray. he looked like a complete joke.

"ah son, i was wondering when you would return. who's this?"

taeyong's mouth dried. even with his father looking like a normal guy he still had the authority to kick him out or worse, have him killed for such treason of having his son's precious time.

"hello mr. jung. i'm lee taeyong." he bowed at a 90 degree angle. jaehyun's father narrowed his eyes questioningly.

his father was familiar with his friends and their families but taeyong, he had never heard of him nor of his family's name making him suspicious. "hello taeyong. how come i've never seen you around before?"

jaehyun went to speak but his father held his hand up, stopping him from doing so. yuta mentally dropped swear bombs, taeyong was screwed.

so much for keeping my mouth shut.

"ah. my family tends to keep to themselves. they're hardly ever home as well. they love to travel seeing as they have the time to do it." taeyong lies.

jae's father laughed at the not so joke before getting serious again. "why would they leave you?"

"after traveling for so long i've gotten sick of it and missed home."

"i see. i wish jaehyun allowed us to send him away so he could travel and possibly meet a girl but he loves staying here."

so he's straight? of course he is. he would have been raised to love girls. people like him have standards to meet and being gay wasn't one of them.

"anyways, dad i was wondering if he could spend time here since he's lonely at home. we promise to not cause trouble."

taeyong felt a layer of sweat form as jaehyun's father eyed him down. taeyong felt like he was getting evaluated, like his appearance would make or break him.

he cleared his throat and smiled, hoping his smile would win over his father. he hasn't smiled so brightly since he was back with ten and that was years ago.

he hoped it didn't show too much just how forced it was. "can i see how much time you have?" once again he was having his forearm examined. jaehyun's father seemed impressed as he dropped taeyong's arm.

"sure. stay as long as you'd like. i like jaehyun having more rich friends."

"thank you sir." with that his father bid them goodbye. before taeyong got a chance to breath he was being dragged by both yuta and jaehyun towards the spiraling stairs.

✿

from inside his office jaehyun's father awaited the arrival of the bodyguards he requested. he tapped his fingers along the cool surface of his laptop, his mind racing with just who exactly was that lee taeyong kid.

"you requested assistance sir."

"yes." he leaned forward in his seat, his elbows rested on his dark wooden desk while his fingers loosely clasped together under his chin. "i want a background check on the taeyong kid."

"of course sir. we'll tell headquarters but like usual it'll take at least a week."

"that's fine. i just want to make sure those two are telling the truth." his eyes narrowed at the thought. "if it turns out jaehyun did something he wasn't supposed to, there will be consequences"

"we understand sir."

"good. i don't take treason lightly."