Forbidden Sensuality

6

Jinyoung stepped into his biology class the next day, immediately spotting Jaebum in his seat. His eyes were always somehow attracted to wherever he sat which was on the complete opposite side of the classroom from where Jinyoung sat. Maybe that was part of the reason why he couldn't pass biology, he was too busy staring at Jaebum during the lectures. 

He didn't like Jaebum though. Not as anything more than an acquaintance. He felt weird and tingly around him, and Jaebum was the only person he really tolerated at school, and even then Jinyoung wanted to escape his presence sometimes. Being around Jaebum made him feel weird things that he didn't know how to explain, so he'd rather not deal with all that and instead preferred to isolate himself from his confusing emotions.

Except, now Jinyoung had no choice but to deal with Jaebum. Throughout class, he realized he had no idea what the professor was talking about, nor did he know how to do the work that was assigned. He tried his hardest to make it all make sense, but staring at the same confusing and unfamiliar words for ten minutes at a time didn't help him get the hang of their lessons at all. He was bound to fail at that rate.

Which is why, toward the end of class, he was freaking himself out about asking Jaebum to be his tutor. He needed help, and needed it badly, but why did he have to know Jaebum of all people? Sure there were other biology whizzes in the class, but Jinyoung would never ask them for assistance. He was genuinely more comfortable with Jaebum out of everyone in the class, yet when time came to suck it up and ask him, everything in his body was on edge.

He only had a few minutes to make it over to Jaebum who was packing his things, getting ready to move on to his next schedule of the day. But Jinyoung's legs felt as if they were filled with lead as he walked over, terror-filled heart pounding hard in his chest. 

It shouldn't be that hard to walk up to someone and talk to them, but Jaebum had Jinyoung stumbling like a fool as he walked over, especially when they locked eyes and the elder rose a brow in slight surprise of Jinyoung's unexpected appearance. Most likely because just a few days before he was running away from Jaebum, now he was doing the complete opposite.

He stopped walking about a foot or two away, with Jaebum's inviting eyes waiting patiently for him to say something. Jinyoung forgot how to speak for a moment, not even knowing how to properly initiate a conversation. Sure he didn't talk to people often, but was he really that awful at it?

"Hey, um..." His voice came out incredibly shaky, making him cringe at himself. He quickly dropped his gaze to his feet, unable to keep Jaebum's focused eye contact.

The elder leaned closer, brows now furrowed. "You okay?"

"I'm fine just..." Jinyoung's throat was incredibly dry, he had to clear it just to speak properly. It felt like he was suffocating just trying to talk to this man, like cotton balls filled his mouth and he couldn't spit out what he wanted to say. He felt embarrassed asking for help. Especially since just the other day he practically told Jaebum he didn't need anybody. As much as he wished to stay isolated from the world, it was impossible to do, and the proof was in Jinyoung's terrible biology grades.

 "I w-want you to be my tutor!"

Jaebum's brows rose, a smile immediately tugging at his lips. He seemed happy that Jinyoung finally came to him for help, with a hint of 'I told you so' drawn on his expression as well. "Oh, changed your mind?"

Jinyoung's ears were glowing red, his eyes searching the floor as if he'd find some money down there. "I need some help, so..."

"Yeah, that's fine." Jaebum replied. He seemed so casual about it, Jinyoung felt stupid for making it a bigger deal than it was.