Teddy • 2jae

14

It was getting late. The bus was empty and silent. My mind kept repeating the words from earlier that day. 

Are you that stupid? 

Did you leave me for him?!

I shivered at the thought. The only sound I heard was my heartbeat as I leaned my head on the window, closing my now glossy eyes. 

When it got to my stop, I hung my head low and walked to my apartment. The lights were off and it was quiet. Wonho had taken Teo home a while before. I locked the door and slumped down on the sofa, my elbows on my lap, and my hands covering my face. 

I wept. Goodness, loudly. I scolded myself for being so stupid, for expecting more from him. This isn't some fairy tale, Youngjae. Maybe Jackson was right. I shouldn't have left. However, I wasn't sure if he was also correct about us reconciling. 

"Youngjae?", I heard a voice say. I didn't even bother to cover up my whimpering. I felt the seat next to me sink, and a hand placed on my shoulder. I instantly knew it was Wonho. 

"You wanna talk about it?", he whispered. I removed my face from my hands and turned my head to him, but kept my eyes low. 

"You know that coworker I told you about? The one I was with, today?" he nodded, rubbing circles on my back.

"W-Wonho. It's J-Jaebum.", my voice cracked when I spoke his name. Wonho only sighed and embraced me. 

"He finally confronted me about it. I hadn't even realized how dumb I was. I-I mean, what would go well after seeing someone you left?!", I held tightly onto his sleeve. He didn't say anything. Instead, he held me throughout the whole night. 

I was restless -- it took hours to fall asleep and when I finally did, it was time to get up. I woke up to a sleeping Wonho next to me. I had enough time to get both myself and Teo dressed. 

When Wonho had finally woken up, I was already dressed. That was even a struggle. 

"You're going to work, today?", he asked. 

"Have to.", I responded as I packed Teddy's lunch.

"He might not even be there, anyway. Won't be helping us any longer.", a tinge of anger was starting to build up inside of me. But at that moment, I was too sad to be angry. 

Wonho grabbed his shoes and placed them on. "Alright."

He walked towards me. "Hey, you got this. Jaebum's probably feeling all sorts of things, too. I'm sure you'll get the chance to speak to him properly once you're both cooled off."

I smiled and patted his back. "Thanks. That's if he ever cools down."

--

The whole day was complete torture. Each time I thought about seeing JB, my heart would drop to my stomach. It was honestly ridiculous. But I tried to reassure myself in every way I could. 

I'm no wimp, I would repeat to myself. I've got this. I've suffered from a bastard father, anyway. I can handle Jaebum. 

Once the school day had finally ended, I made my way down to the office. To my slight surprise, yet relief, Jaebum wasn't in the room. I turned to a teacher and asked if he knew what was going on. Heck, like I didn't know!

"We're not sure, but Mr. Oh said to wait because he apparently seemed really busy today."

Some of the teachers started worrying. 

"We're running out of time, we can't afford to have him absent.", one said.

"Yea, doesn't he know how important this is to us?", another agreed. A bunch of them were now bickering. Just then a familiar figure walked into the room but stopped right by the doorway. 

"Oh, Jaebum!", our principle said. The room quickly fell silent -- all eyes on him. He held his briefcase in one hand and a pile of papers in the other. It was silent for a while until he finally spoke up.

"Starting today, you -- lovely people", the sarcasm was evident in his voice.

"Will be on your own.", he finished. Everyone in the room gasped in confusion. 

"W-What do you mean?", one said. He shot them a look that could seriously kill.

"I mean, that I don't have time for you amateurs. This case is childish, and you should've all thought of buying the damn property years ago!"

He lifted the pile and instantly threw them in the air, some hitting the top of my head.  They were documents. Docs we worked on for almost three weeks. That wasn't it. Across almost all of them, was a long, thick red line. Possibly from a permanent marker. 

I turned to him, my mouth agape. He smirked wickedly before turning to walk away.

"Wait! Mr. Im, won't we ever see you again?", someone asked.

He turned his head but not his body. "Oh you will. On the opposing side.", he spat and walked out of the building. 

My blood boiled in anger. To hell with being upset, I thought. I stormed after him and yelled his name. He continued to ignore me and walk away until I grabbed onto his arm, pulling him to face me. 

"Im Jaebum!", I didn't hesitate to exclaim at his face. His expression was somewhere between angry and shocked. 

"I understand you are mad at me, but please! Don't take it out on them.", I didn't let go of his arm. 

He scoffed in disbelief. "Are you serious?" 

"You expect me to help you after everything? How about when I needed help, Youngjae? When I needed that one person, where was he?", he started to take more steps towards me. By now I was starting to become a little intimidated because of the close space between us. 

Placing my hand on his (toned) chest, I took two small steps back. 

"Just. Please. I'm begging you.", I said, silently. He was quiet for a moment -- as if he was actually thinking about it. 

He clicked his tongue before yanking his arm away, making his way back to his car. This is the second time you've walked out on me, Jaebum. Though I admit, I've done the same to you.