roses. ∥ 2jae.【paused】

七

Jaebum
Youngjae where are you??
［Read］
God, listen I'm so sorry
［Read］
I didn't want all this to happen please, please just let me make it up to you okay?

Youngjae
Please stop texting me.

Jaebum groaned in frustration. Right now, in that moment he wanted nothing more than to smash his phone to the ground. Instead he simply put it away. Violence wouldn't solve anything.

He planned to talk to Youngjae about the incident at school the next day but of course that too didn't go well. He couldn't find him anywhere. The roof, the cafeteria, the classroom, Youngjae was gone and Jaebum could just pray that he wasn't gone out of his life too.

In the end Jaebum hoped that he just stayed at home and was okay.

The boy sat down on a bench, all by himself. After what happened he decided to cut Mark out of his life completely. He crossed the line and couldn't even get Jaebum to forgive him despite all of his begs and cries.

He watched the clouds rack above him, filling the sky in different shades of grey. No matter how much Jaebum tried to distract himself, no matter how much he tried to think of something else he just couldn't. Thoughts of Youngjae were always filling up his head. Maybe I should just visit him after class. I need to talk with him. It's the only thing I'm able to do in the moment.

Jaebum pulled himself together again. He got to his classroom once more, waiting for the next lesson to start. Focusing would be impossible at this rate, he was aware of that.

~~

"Hey, Youngjae? Are you home?"

Jaebum asked, knocking on the door once, twice until he waited for an answer. If he didn't get anything wrong, it should belong to Yugyeoms and Youngjaes shared dorm, but he'd see if someone totally else would open it. After searching through several class registers and even asking in the Secretary's office, he was pretty sure though it was theirs. At least he hoped so.

After minutes and minutes of waiting for someone to answer, the bell besides the door caught Jaebums attention. He didn't just seriously knock when there was a doorbell right in front of him? Jaebum facepalmed before ringing it.

Then finally, the door opened . A tired looking Youngjae was looking back at him through the crack. Dark eyebags were forming underneath his eyes which held some kind of terrible sadness in them. The younger looked bad, almost as if sick. Jaebum wanted to hug him, tell him that he's here now and nothing will ever get inbetween them again, but he refrained from doing so.

"Do I know you?" Youngjae suddenly asked. His voice sounded suspiciously weak and nasal due to his nose being obviously stuffed. It was certain that Youngjae did cry not too long ago.

"No- I mean yes!" Jaebum took a deep breath. "I'm Jaebum, the real Jaebum and I'm here to explain everything and apologize for all those things you had to go through-"

"You're lying." He then began, his voice now deeper and even colder than before. "Jaebum doesn't exist. You're one of them aren't you?"

Jaebum flinched at his words. Was this really the angel he admired so much, the angel he wanted to be his friend? All he could see now was someone who was broken to the core and Jaebum was the cause of it. He swallowed.

"Please leave." Before he knew the door was being closed right in front of his nose. Great.

Jaebum slid down on the wall. He sat down on the cold wood, a frustrated sigh leaving his mouth as he buried his face into his hands. At this rate it would be impossible to gain the others trust ever again.

~~

Jaebum
Fuck Youngjae, I honestly am sorry for everything. It wasn't my plan for this to happen. Please, just give me another chance

The next day was as bad, if not even worse for Jaebum. This time the younger didn't even bother to read his miserable attempts at apologizing. However, he didn't even plan on giving up. God, that phrase wasn't even existent in Jaebum's dictionary. There had to be a way to rebuild their friendship.

This time too, he was nowhere to find in school. Does he avoid me? Jaebum snorted. Of course he did.

If Youngjae really wanted to cut Jaebum out of his live, he wouldn't even complain and let him do so. There was just one last thing he wanted to do before that: Apologizing to him in person.

Despite all of his doubts and worries there was still hope. That's what anyways animated Jaebum to do everything he could to save their relationship.

After school, Jaebum waited in front of Youngjaes locker. Maybe he'd actually finally show up? Time flew, the sound of the clock echoing in the empty hallway. Soon an hour passed and besides some single students passing, nothing happened at all. Still, a glim of optimism restrained him from just leaving.

After a while of silence, the sound of shoes tapping on the ground were audible again. Jaebum crossed his fingers that this time it would be Youngjae who'd come around the corner. Instead a tall guy showed up. Jaebum sighed. Maybe it's time to dismiss the idea of him showing up after all. It was getting late.

"Jaebum is that you?"

The guy approached Youngjaes locker, stopping in front of Jaebum. That's when he finally recognized the giant.

"Yes, that's my name." Jaebum looked at him, a bit confused to what exactly he's doing here. "You're Yugyeom, Youngjae's best friend right?"

"Yup." Jaebum stepped aside before Yugyeom opened the locker of his friend. He seemed to be searching something specific. "Are you waiting for him?"

Jaebum nodded as he continued to watch him. The elder was clearly confused. What was this guy doing?

"You probably already figured that he won't show up anytime soon, so don't wait." He said, taking some binders and books out of his locker and stuffing them into his bag. Oh, so that's what he was searching for. Yugyeom sighed. "He's really upset because of you right now you know?"

Jaebum nodded once again. He was already aware of that and he understood his reasons. He would be upset too.

"It's totally okay for you two to be mad at me. I fucked up real bad." Jaebum snorted, crossing his arms in front of his chest. He didn't even dare to look at the taller.

"I'm not mad at you."

"What?" Jaebum blinked.

"I said I'm not mad at you. I know Mark and I kind of know you too. I believe you. I'm sure you really didn't want it to end up like that. I mean why save his ass from those creeps then in the first place am I right?" Yugyeom added.

A weight fell from Jaebums heart. He was just really thankful that at least he didn't hate or neglect him. That alone was a big step to his goal, right?

"So, where is Youngjae?" Jaebum then asked him.

"He's at home. Don't worry about it, after all I'm watching over him." Yugyeom chuckled. "You know what? Give me your number. It's to keep you up to date and in case of emergencies. Also, I'm going to help you two get back together."

"Wait we aren't even-" Jaebum blushed a bit at his choice of words. Seriously, what did he think? Yugyeom however, just winked and handed him his phone. The elder quickly typed in his contact before he gave it back to his owner. "Thanks anyways."

The two of them then continued to walk outside together. Their ways parted soon and they said goodbye to each other before going home. The sun was already setting and the wind was howling in his ears as he walked.

Once home, Jaebum checked his phone before anything else. He wasn't addicted or anything, it was just that Yugyeom promised Jaebum to text him as soon as he arrived at the dorms too. He fortunately didn't forget to do so. As soon as Jaebum unlocked his phone though and read his message he froze.

+82-126-XXXX
Jaebum, Youngjae is gone.