TIME ─ JAEYONG

015⸰

due to their muscles aching jaehyun led the two over to a bench where they sat, groans of relief falling from their lips. jaehyun tried to fit in as much sightseeing as he possibly could before their set curfew.

he showed taeyong his old elementary and high school, the places he and yuta hung out at after school when neither of them had soccer/basketball practice. every little detail from his childhood he tried to inflict upon taeyong.

everything taeyong took in was totally opposite of how he lived his childhood. his school's weren't lavish with glass windows as walls or four-story buildings. he had run down classrooms, bulletproof windows, and small play areas. no place in his neighborhood exactly safe enough to run around.

but nonetheless, he admired jaehyun's passion about these certain places. it's like jaehyun got to relive the days where it wasn't all too stressful when he didn't fully understand the time situation. where he got to be a kid.

"sorry if i overworked you. it was just nice to visit these places again."

"i'm not overworked. i did work up an appetite though." jaehyun checked his phone for a current time update. they had exactly 2 hours to return home and even with the chefs making their famous roast, he had other cravings.

"well, we can return home and eat some fancy roast. or, we go to my favorite after game restaurant. whichever you want."

taeyong shrugged, fixing his snapback he brought from a mini store that the two passed on their way to jaehyun's high school. "it's your day to show me around, you decide."

"restaurant it is. i promise you, it's nothing like you're expecting! the cheapest meal is only 6 months!"

taeyong remained quiet at the comment. he remembered what taeil had said, he's trying and that's what matters. the restaurant took nearly 20 minutes to reach, by that time taeyong was ready to collapse. he silently prayed jaehyun would call the limo service so they didn't have to walk back to the house.

the restaurant was lively with teens, the booths filled with couples and groups of 3 or more. the walls were lined with framed pictures of what seemed like customers. "those are framed only if you're a weekly customer. i use to be on there but i stopped coming after i quit sports."

taeyong nodded and walked up to the area where you'd be seated by a waiter. the girl, who looked no older than 23, grabbed two menus and led the two to a secluded area in the back, away from the noise and commotion. "thanks yerin."

yerin winked at jae before walking away. taeyong raised his brow quizzically as he opened up the menu. "you know her?"

"mhm. we go way back."

"oh. that's nice." taeyong scanned over the menu, picking out items that looked most desirable. he decided to step it up and put his time to use by ordering the second most expensive item, along with a milkshake. yerin returned to take their order.

jaehyun smiled shyly behind his menu as taeyong ordered nearly a feast. to jaehyun, that was a good sign. it let him know taeyong was starting to adjust and enjoy his new life. "the orders will be out in 10 minutes."

yerin left with their menus. jaehyun cleared his throat, causing taeyong to look him in the eye. "what?"

"nothing... hey, when our food comes can we take a picture?"

"sure..?" until their food came, they sat uncomfortably silent, with taeyong looking everywhere else except in front of him where jaehyun sat, only looking at him then back down at his lap.