Amor de mi Alma || 2Jae

Chapter 11

On Monday a week after what happened between Youngjae and Jasmine, three weeks before the Disneyland trip, Mr. Divins hands out a list of things needed for the trip to Los Angeles, and he also gives the exact times that the planes will leave and arrive - on Monday, April First, they will leave at nine in the morning and they will arrive at three-thirty in the afternoon in Los Angeles, and the plane back leaves at two fourty-seven in the afternoon and arrive around nine-thirty in the evening (to which Yugyeom yells "Sleepover!" after class).

Also, much to everyone's despise, a notice by the menu of the cafeteria says that there will be a dance a week after the Night Sky Concert (though most girls are excitedly beginning to talk about dresses and dates, two things Youngjae wishes never to talk or hear about again).

"So, Kuhn -"

"I'm not going to the dance with you, Jackson," Kunpimook says immediately, as Youngjae sits down beside Jaebum, who was dragged along to the cafeteria by Jinyoung. Youngjae snorts at Kunpimook and the younger boy flashes him a grin.

"You still have a month to find a date," Jinyoung comments, as Youngjae hands Jaebum the salad the older boy had asked for before Youngjae went to stand in the line to get his lunch. "Go fuck some girls and if they still want to be your date then you've found a girlfriend, while you're at it."

"First off, no. Second off, no," Mark says, grimacing and shaking his head. "That'd just make him a fuckboy."

"Exactly, that's why I said to fuck some girls, not just one."

"You two are crazy," Youngjae says, opening his can of soda. He takes a sip and offers it to Jaebum, who accepts it. "But Jinyoung's right, fuck some girls and then ask them to be your date. Boom, girlfriend found."

"Are you going to look for a date?" asks Mark, looking pointedly at Youngjae. A small silence falls.

"No," Youngjae says firmly. "I think I'm done with girls and dating and their shit."

"So you'll be a loner at the dance too?" Yugyeom asks in excitement.

"Hey, Yug," Kunpimook interrupts. "Want to go to the dance with me?"

"Sure bro,"

The two laugh and Youngjae rolls his eyes and Jaebum scoots closer to him when a group of people pass, and Youngjae can feel the older boy begin to shake again when people look at his odd behaviour, so Youngjae takes Jaebum's hand and rests it on his leg, own hand over Jaebum's and soothingly rubbing circles on the back of Jaebum's hand.

Yes, they've only known each other for two months now. But does that matter to Youngjae? No. He feels as if he has to protect Jaebum and help him fully recover from his social anxiety, and he has been doing very well from what Youngjae knows from Jinyoung's weekly text-updates about the older boy's mental health.

"Hey, Youngjae,"

"Hmm?"

"Why was Jaebum practically sitting on your lap during lunch today?"

Youngjae chokes on his water as he looks at Jinyoung on the small square on Skype, face a deep red that is even visible over the camera. 

"I ship it," Kunpimook calls immediately. "ten out of ten, perfect ship, perfect couple." He holds up a 'perfect' sign and Youngjae can hear Yugyeom cracking up into laughter from his end of the line, where it shows his room, and though Yugyeom is sitting quite well in the center of the screen, the many posters on his gray wall are still very distracting.

"W-wait no, Jaebum and I are not a thing - I don't even like him," Youngjae splutters, feeling his face burn up even more as he tries to save himself from something that he doesn't even know about. "I don't like him and neither does he like me."

"Are you sure about that?" Jinyoung smirks. "He's told me you have been his muse since he first saw you and I recall that that was back in your freshman year, during spring."

"Shut up," Youngjae blushes. "I've known him for two months, that's way too early to even start anything."

"So you admit that you like him?"

"No, no no no, I don't." 

"I can tell by the tone in your voice that you absolutely adore him," Yugyeom grins.

"Shut. Up."

"Fine then, we could've helped you start a fresh relationship but your loss, bud," Kunpimook says. "But now that we're talking about him, why does he act so weird in the cafeteria?"

A heavy silence falls, heavier than when Youngjae was asked if he was going to ask anyone to the dance that afternoon during lunch, and Jinyoung and Youngjae glance at each other.

"Well, it's not really our right to tell you," Youngjae begins. "We'll need Jaebum's consent for that."

"I told you without asking him if I could tell you and he still doesn't know that you know," Jinyoung says. "And he's almost fully recovered and he's been talking about telling them about it before."

"Like when?"

"Like, a week ago was when he first told me he was thinking about it," Jinyoung says. He looks at Yugyeom and Kunpimook, "Jaebum has social anxiety."

"What?" Yugyeom looks up with wide eyes. "Social anxiety, as in not ever wanting to go outside of his room?"

"Yes," Jinyoung says. "It used to be a lot worse a year ago but recently he's been getting better because of the fact that he met you two, and Youngjae."

"What caused his social anxiety?" asks Kunpimook.

"We don't know. He's never told anyone but his mom knows, and he doesn't have a father, so I think it has to do with that."

"He doesn't have a father?" Youngjae asks, frowning at Jinyoung. "How come?"

"I don't know either. Apparently, he left Jaebum and his mom when Jaebum was eight. An unhealthy relationship, or something." Jinyoung sighs. "Don't tell him that I told you guys, okay? He'd skin me alive if he knew, he's rather keen on keeping it a secret until he's ready to tell people himself."

"Sure thing, buckaroo." Kunpimook nods and looks at his clock. "But I gotta go, I have to study for an important test tomorrow in Chem, see you guys." He waves at everyone and then clicks off, and then Yugyeom leaves because he has to figure out the last few moves of a dance he has been working on for his dance-club, and then Jinyoung logs off to go to sleep as it is almost eleven already, and Youngjae is left alone to his thoughts about how Jaebum and his mom maybe left Korea to escape from Jaebum's dad.

Because who doesn't love some good ol' gossip

So yeah like 4 people are buying me Christmas presents and I want to give them gifts back but my mom isn't letting me because I'm already "wasting too much money on my friends" according to her but now I feel bad and greedy

Also, lowkey had a mild mental breakdown in Jazz but lets not talk about that shall we