jaeyong ✧ skindeep

Thirty-four

Days followed with Taeyong feeling some type of burden around Jaehyun. It become difficult for him to simply tell Jaehyun good morning, it even got to the point where he woke up earlier and would walk to school rather than riding with Jaehyun. And of course, Jaehyun noticed along with their friend group.

Taeyong silently entered the classroom, making eye contact with Jaehyun for a split second before taking his seat and keeping his eyes fixated down.

Doyoung stood up from his seat and tapped Jaehyun's shoulder, mouthing for the two of them to talk outside. Jaehyun removed himself from his chair and followed Doyoung outside.

Jaehyun moved his left hand into his pocket and ran his fingers through his hair with his opposite hand,"Yeah?"

"What's going on with you and Taeyong? The whole group has noticed you guys acting weird. It's been going on for days."

Jaehyun's voice became low,"I don't know, he just started acting weird after the day I tried to hold his hand in the hall. I apologized and he just started avoiding me."

Doyoung leaned against the wall,"And you haven't made an effort to fix things?"

Jaehyun replied, his words laced with a slight tone of hurt,"Doyoung, he's avoiding me at all costs. During lunch he disappears, he leaves the house before I wake up and stays out all day or stays in his room."

The bell rung, disrupting the pair's conversation and sending them back inside the class.

While Doyoung sat down, he leaned towards Johnny,"You have math with Taeyong, right?"

Johnny flinched, holding his hand over his heart,"Fuck- Doyoung, you scared me. Yeah, I have math with him."

"Can you talk to him about Jaehyun or something?"

Johnny contemplated for a short amount of time before softly nodding,"Okay."

Doyoung whispered something else to Johnny before sitting back as the teacher walked in.

~~~~

Johnny walked alongside Taeyong to math class. The taller male looked down at Taeyong's stoic expression before beginning and directly asking,"Hey, so, are you and Jaehyun okay? Just 'cause things kinda seem weird between the two of you."

Taeyong looked down at the time as they continued walking,"Can we talk about it after school?"

The American's eyes drifted to one side before replying,"Sure."

They turned corners, entering the math classroom and sitting at which ever desk they wanted.

~~~~

Another seven hours passed before the final bell rang and left the school on the road to being empty. Johnny and Taeyong remained in one of the empty classrooms, the room illuminated bright orange by the piercing brightness of the sunlight through the colorless windows.

Before the two started talking, Johnny's eyes constantly traveled to and from the clock to Taeyong. Until he caught the sight of two silhouettes outside the door, did the pair begin conversing.

Johnny leaned forward, his hands folded over in lap in a comfortable manner,"So, do you wanna tell me what's happening with you two?"

Taeyong pulled his legs closer to his chest, his arms crossed over his chest while his voice hesitantly started,"I feel bad, I guess."

"Why?"

He continued, his voice becoming wobbly,"Because Jaehyun apologizes when he didn't do anything wrong or when it's my fault. He wanted to hold my hand when we were walking in the hallway and I pulled away. I could tell me doing that hurt him but I didn't say anything and he apologized for trying to hold it in the first place."

Johnny hummed in acknowledgment.

At this point, Taeyong's demeanor began to break and his eyes pitifully began to stream tears,"It suddenly feels difficult to talk to him. I can't express my emotions correctly and I can't even tell him I love him," he looked up to see a soft smile on Johnny's face.

The sliding door of the classroom opened, both Taeyong and Johnny looking over to the doorway to see Doyoung and Jaehyun standing there, Doyoung with that same smile that Johnny wore on his face.

Johnny stood up from his seat, walking past Taeyong to the doorway and standing next to Doyoung,"We'll leave you two alone."

Jaehyun moved into the room, the door being shut behind him as he moved in front of the front row of desks. The brunette leaned against one, his back facing Taeyong while his head hung down,"Taeyong-"

Taeyong dug his nails into his thighs, impulsively interrupting as his throat tightened,"I'm sorry."

Jaehyun looked back at the raven-haired boy, his cheeks stained with glossy streaks of tears. He moved off the desk and sauntered towards the latter, he sat down on the desk that Johnny had previously been sitting on. With a troubled tone, he jokingly began,"I feel like our relationship revolves around apologizing and crying too much."

Taeyong sheepishly smiled at Jaehyun.

"Taeyong, I understand if you don't want our relationship to be public, just-"

He speech was interposed by Taeyong hugging Jaehyun, his face snuggled into the crevice of Jaehyun's neck and collarbone,"I love you."

The brunette snaked his arms around the older's waist, he softly smiled as he responded to the hug,"You have no idea how long I've been wanting to hear those words."

The brunette removed his arms from around Taeyong's waist and moved both of his hands to the latter's jawline, pulling Taeyong's lips to his own for few seconds before moving back and curving his lips into a mellow smile.

They stayed interlocked sitting each others arms for a few more minutes before deciding to leave. They slid open the sliding door only to see Doyoung handing Johnny twenty dollars.

The opposite pair froze in their actions, Johnny beginning shortly after an awkward silence,"Doyoung thought you two would break up or some shit like that and you didn't so I won the bet."

Doyoung grit his teeth, staring daggers and most likely the intent to choke at Johnny as Taeyong and Jaehyun slid past the two.

~~~~
this chapter was ?
relationship development ?
i mean ion know 😐🤚