TIME ─ JAEYONG

036⸰

jae would have preferred to have been woken up on his own but since when do things ever go his way? he shot up out of his sleep due to a scream, eyes crusted over and droopy. he sat still for a second, processing everything from the time he returned to his suite to falling asleep.

then it hit him. taeil was passed out in the bathroom and taeyong was no longer in bed; his side empty. the only trace of him ever being there was the tousled sheets. "jae! why is taeil in our bathroom?"

with a groan he kicked the covers off of himself and descended down the stairs. "he uh passed out after fighting with johnny." jae scratched at his bird's nest he called hair. "did he vomit?"

"no he's fine. naked, but fine."

"naked!?" he screeched before running into the bathroom. taeil was stripped down to his birthday suit, revealing all his glory. "don't look!" jae pushed taeyong out the door then grabbed a towel off the rack to cover taeil's lower region.

"sorry but can you hurry? i really have to use the bathroom." it was a struggle for jaehyun but he managed to wake taeil from his deep slumber. the oldest screamed just as loud as taeyong did when he realized his current situation.

he dressed himself quickly and left the bathroom with jae so taeyong could proceed. once on the couch taeil groaned into his hands, the previous night's actions all flooding back to him. "i made a mistake."

"you sure did. can i ask why you got naked though?"

"i got hot so i took my clothes off." it pained taeil to speak about it. all he wanted to do was free fall into the ocean and drown away his problems. "johnny... i confessed to him. oh jeez i'm such a dramatic drunk."

"when people are drunk they tend to have no filter so you basically spoke your true thoughts." jae patted taeil's back, hoping it gave him a sense of reassurance. "johnny wanted to talk things out with you by the way."

"i don't think i can face him. i mean i flipped like some crazy ex-girlfriend when i saw him on the bed with that girl. i yanked her off and started shouting and crying."

jae made a face that spoke out 'yikes'. "hey at least the rooms are soundproof right?" he playfully nudged taeil who instead of smiling went back to mopping with his hands covering his face.

"can you come with me to the room? i would feel better if someone went with me." jae made an unsure noise. he would much rather spend the morning back in bed chatting away with taeyong but taeil looked so desperate.

he clearly needed someone and he knew no one else would go so it left him no choice. "fine! taeyong i'll return soon!" jae called out just before closing the door behind him.

when reaching their room he took the initiative to step inside first seeing as taeil made no motion to do so. the room was dim, the windows curtains had been yanked shut to block out the sun.

jae watched his steps, not wanting to get his dirty shoes on the various amounts of expensive lingerie that littered the floor. "johnny? you awake? if so, please come out decent. i don't want to see any more naked bodies."

taeil slapped his shoulder, embarrassed at the subliminal words only he would understand. johnny came down the stairs, his grey sweats hanging dangerously low around his hips. "what's that supposed to mean?"

"nothing." jae muttered. "i brought taeil. hope you weren't busy." johnny's eyes followed jaehyun's towards the floor.

"oh, those... ignore them. it's just us in here... the girls left earlier this morning." jae gave him an uncomfortable look that made him change the subject for he to thought it was getting more awkward the more he spoke about it. "coffee? i could order—"

"i'm just here so you can talk with taeil. so please do so." jaehyun decided to stay standing since he didn't trust the chairs and couches in the room. he did know what resided on the cushions and he for sure didn't want to find out.

"well taeil... you told me how you truly felt last night and i'm deeply sorry i put you in this predicament without thinking of your feelings. i should have never pulled you into my wild sex life. i'm also sorry i can't return your feelings."

it remained silent as taeil thought of what to respond with. devastation radiated from him as he kept his composure to his best ability. "i shouldn't have allowed myself to fall for you. honestly, we had such a good friendship and sex life i just thought our lives would be perfect together but i was wrong. so wrong."

"so what should we do? i don't want to lose you as a friend taeil. we're too close for it to go to waste. i don't want you out of my life."

taeil looked at jaehyun for help. he merely held his hands up while backing away showing he wanted no part in deciding the future of their lives. they were both grown enough to figure it out themselves.

"i don't want our friendship to go to waste either. i just don't want to miss you, you know? when i'm laying in bed, wanting you but can't have you... it's going to hurt." taeil paused to sigh. "but if we continue this thing we have going on it's not going to work. my feelings would just continue to grow."

jaehyun agreed. what they had going on was toxic. "i guess we're going to have to take baby steps. we can start now."

"baby steps as in?"

"well for starters, we have you get your own room. pretty sure you don't want to share the same bed with me while i fuck another girl right?"

jaehyun scoffed. "okay i'm leaving. my deed is done. see you all later." he waved briefly before returning back into the hall. he let out a relieved sigh. he could finally return back to his room without having to worry about another problem arising— or so he thought.

"sicheng! please come back." yuta's voice reached his ears. jae let out a whine, knowing what was coming for him. he witnessed sicheng limping out of their room, his face ghostly pale and troubled.

maybe if i book it towards my room they won't notice.

the second jae tried to run yuta spotted him. his best friend jogged up to him, his face just as desperate as taeil's was. "i knew i shouldn't have done it! i told myself not to but he pestered me about it!" yuta cried out all in one breath.

"yuta slow down. what happened?"

"i showed sicheng my time after we had sex."

✿

there's going to be yuwin scenes in the next update. hope you all don't mind~ thank you for reading!