Just Before The Dawn [DaeJae]

Thirty

Youngjae nodded again, then he closed his eyes. Daehyun made sure he stayed warm, then went to the closet again. He got himself one of Youngjae's T-shirts, put it on and stuffed the wet one into his backpack. He needed to wash it anyways.

After changing, he took the bin and went to the bathroom to clean it. On his way back, he met Himchan in the hallway.

"Hey. Is Youngjae alright? I saw you take him to the shower earlier, he did not look too good..."

"He's sleeping now, I hope he will feel better soon."

"Good. I would have never noticed that something was wrong. I'm so glad you're here now, I've never seen anyone visit him." 

Daehyun nodded. "I'll try to come over more often. So, you've never talked to him?" 

"No, I tried to when he moved in, but he didn't open the door." 

"Yeah, he's not that comfortable with talking to strangers, don't take it personal. He has a pretty hard time at school and it's totally understandable that he's scared of people when you know what he's going through every day." He sighed. "Anyways, I should go back to him now. See you later." 

He went back to Youngjae's room, sitting down on the floor next to the bed and texted his mother he would be home late. Then, he let out a deep breath and closed his eyes. 

... 

When Youngjae woke up, the sun had already disappeared and his room lied in darkness. The only light he could see was the screen of Daehyun's phone, who sat next to his bed. Youngjae reached to switch on the small lamp on the nightstand, making Daehyun look up at him. 

"Hey" he said, smiling, "How do you feel?" 

"Better" the younger mumbled, "I can barely remember what happened... Maybe I don't even want to..." He yawned, then his stomach grumbled. 

"Looks like someone's hungry" the blonde got up from the floor, "Come on, let's go eat something." 

Youngjae nodded and got up as well, grabbing a hoodie since he felt a bit cold. They went to the kitchen, where he showed Daehyun his section in the fridge and the cupboard, then they prepared some sandwiches. 

"I can't believe it's December already." Daehyun said as they sat down at the kitchen table, "How do you spend Christmas and New Years Eve?" 

Youngjae looked at his food. "I don't know.." 

"Huh? Don't you go home or anything?" 

The younger shook his head. "No, my family visits my grandma and they don't want me to come." 

"Really? That's mean... Why do they do this to you?" 

Youngjae shrugged. "They're annoyed by my mental problems." 

"Wow, what the hell? This is not how a family should behave..." 

Youngjae just shrugged. He didn't know what to say, he felt like his family was right with what they said. Luckily, he did not have to answer, since the door opened and Himchan entered the room. 

"Hey" the older said, smiling at the two boys and went over to the fridge. 

Youngjae felt nervous, this was the first time he was directly confronted with one of his dorm mates, and he felt overwhelmed by this situation. Eventually, he mumbled a small "Hi", after Daehyun had also greeted the older, who seemed to search for something in his fridge. 

After a few moments, Himchan closed the fridge door and sighed. "Youngjae, can I borrow some butter from you?" 

The boy felt how a sudden shock went through him and it took him a few seconds to get himself together. "Uh, sure" he stuttered and handed him the butter. 

"Thanks. I'm making spaghetti, do you guys want some?" 

Daehyun looked at Youngjae, who shook his head. "No, thank you, we're good." 

Himchan nodded and turned around to prepare his food. 

"So" Daehyun said, "Would you maybe like to come to my place for the holidays?" 

Surprised, Youngjae looked at him. "What? Are you really asking me this?" 

"Yeah. Nobody should be alone on Christmas, you can stay the whole holidays if you want." 

"Um... That would be nice... but is it okay for your parents?" 

Daehyun nodded. "I'll ask them but I'm sure they won't say anything against it. Junnie sometimes stays at my place for a week and they don't have a problem with that either." 

"If it's really no problem... That would be great..." He smiled lightly, when Daehyun grinned at him. 

"Great!"