Homeless ➹ 2jae [✓]

- 29 -

It was close to midnight and Jaebum was still holding onto Youngjae in the park. They'd had some steady conversation but grew tired after a while as the city lulled them to rest.

Still, Jaebum was curious about what seemed to ruin Youngjae's mood all of a sudden.

"Youngjae, you know I'm always gonna be here for you, right?" Jaebum's sleepiness was apparent in his tone and closing eyelids. Youngjae picked up on what he was saying immediately.

"You want to know what Jinyoung said, right?" His head lay on Jaebum's shoulder as they both looked up at the moon through the trees. Youngjae moved to face Jaebum when he realized the silence meant that he'd guessed correctly. "Well, um... I guess his parents still talk with my mom every now and then."

Jaebum's eyes opened wider when he heard the mention of Youngjae's mom.

"Apparently she's been depressed lately... said she wants to see me again and make... amends, or whatever."  Youngjae found it difficult to speak or put together the right words. "I, um... I don't know, I guess it just brought up some leftover anxiety or something."

Jaebum looked at him intently, staring off before asking, "Do you want to see her?" He looked into Youngjae's eyes, noticing some inner confliction in the way he couldn't make eye contact.

"I don't know... Three years and now she's sorry—" Youngjae began to get worked up again, but rested his head in the nape of Jaebum's neck to calm down. He felt the older's hands on his back and on the back of his hair, soothing him more. "What do I do, Jaebum?"

"I think it's really your choice, Youngjae... She's your mom, you know? It might be healing to see her again." Jaebum sat still and listened to Youngjae's gentle breathing, smiling a bit at the boy's shampooed hair.

"Do you ever wonder where your mom is?" Youngjae asked, still hunched over. Jaebum sighed and looked around for an answer, even though he wasn't sure if he'd find one that satisfied Youngjae.

"Honestly, no. We had a different sort of relationship than you did with your mom. I was closer to my dad, and she was closer with her work. I know she's somewhere overseas, but I don't care to see her. I have all the closure I need for myself, but... Knowing you, it seems like it would be really good for you to see your mom again."

"Mm..." Youngjae gestured. "Jinyoung said she already booked a hotel for this week... She'll come with him, I guess."

"Oh?"

"I need to mentally prepare myself..." They didn't say anything for a while after that, but Youngjae found himself falling asleep on Jaebum's lap. "Can we go back to the dorm?" he asked.

"Yeah. Come on."

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a/n: double update bc i lvoe u
look at me go !!
i hope you've caught on to what shorter chapters mean lol
anyway
see u
♡