Bottled Up | 2jae | Genie!Jaebum AU

002 - Bandaids

~/\~

Youngjae

Youngjae and Jaebum sit in silence in that bathroom stall for a few more minutes. As the younger ponders his next wish, he wonders what Jaebum is currently thinking about. He sees him running his fingers through his rough black mullet. Someone actually being with Youngjae feels comforting. He doesn't have the most reliable friends, since their desire to drink and party often overtakes actually wanting to spend time with him. And of course, they don't give a shit about the bullying...

Jaebum breaks the silence, tugging Youngjae out of his thoughts. "Hey, let's get out of here," he says, chuckling. "It's kinda weird sitting in a bathroom stall."

Youngjae nods, agreeing. But before either of them can stand up, they hear loud shoes clank nearby. Youngjae frustratingly realizes that he never even locked the stall door. It quickly swings open and a woman in uniform stands above them.

Her eyes grow wide as she sees the two young men together. "Oh my god, did I interrupt something?" She says frantically, beginning to turn around. "I-I'll get out of here, I'm sorry—"

"Don't worry, we're not fucking," Jaebum interrupts nonchalantly, looking her dead in the eye.

Youngjae wants to punch him. Is he really this blunt?

She laughs, though. Youngjae reads her nametag. 'Krystal, Janitor,' it says. "Okay, understandable," she replies. "Do you mind me cleaning this?"

"Not at all," Youngjae says politely. He grabs his backpack, stuffs the vase in, and follows Jaebum out of the bathroom.

Jaebum was smirking as they walked out of the soon-to-be-closing Panera. They leaned against a post near the outside entrance. "Did you like what I said back there?" He snickered.

Youngjae just rolls his eyes. "No, it was weird as hell." He did think it was kind of funny, but he didn't want to admit it.

Jaebum gives him a playful shove, to which Youngjae flinches at. "Come on, lighten up a bit," he says. "Once you've lived as long as me, you stop caring about what other people think."

Youngjae looked at him, puzzled. This guy looked young, twenty-five at most. That's not a super long time to live at all.

"What do you mean, 'live as long as me?'," he questions.

"Don't worry about it, kid," Jaebum says as he shakes his head. "Lets just say that genies have a very different lifespan compared to humans."

Makes sense. "Then how do you still look so good?"

Youngjae wanted to slap himself after saying that.

"Well, damn." He raises an eyebrow. "You like this body? I just chose to stop aging at this point in my life; I like my current state."

Yes, I do like that body, Youngjae's internal voice comments. "How do you chose to stop aging?" He questions.

Jaebum shrugs. "I have connections. Wizard connections. I can pay them to cast health spells on my body."

Youngjae gasps excitedly. "Woah! You should introduce me to them!"

"Fuck no," Jaebum retorts. "No spells for puny humans like you."

Youngjae clenches his teeth. "Who the hell do you even think you are?" He retorts with sass.

Jaebum never got a chance to respond to that, since Youngjae hears the familiar steps of his bullies getting closer. He's heard it so many times that he knows when they're coming. His heartbeat quickens with panic. Luckily he remembers the wish he just made. They shouldn't even try to bother him, right? Unless Jaebum isn't even a legit genie.