Stumbling Backward(JOOKYUN✔️)

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Changkyun stifles a flinch as the instructor beside him pops his gum loudly between his yellow stained teeth. Gripping the steering wheel before him, Changkyun feels his chest tighten as the light finally switches over to green and he can accelerate through the intersection. Jooheon's voice in the back of his head whispers for him to calm down. To not panic so much.

But his father's voice wars right back, telling him that he cannot be driving about on such a busy road. He will only be a danger-

"Perform a left hand turn at the upcoming intersection."

Get out of the car, young man. Did you forget the rules?

Changkyun's knuckles burn pink as his grip tightens, lightening to white as the blood ceases to flow properly to his fingers. Rules and regulations that were instilled into him from a young age resurface now, leaving him increasingly uncomfortable as the examination proceeds. He checks his breaks suddenly, panicked at a red light that's on the block ahead of him and thinking that it is far closer.

The examiner scrawls something furiously across his clip board, and Changkyun feels his foot on the gas weaken. Their speed decreases as they roll up to the line of cars waiting at that evil red light, but not fast enough and Changkyun has to press on the breaks too suddenly for comfort. His chest jerks against his seat belt, and he almost hits the steering wheel where his fists are still clenched. Peeking a nervous glance to his right at the examiner, Changkyun can tell he has just ruined this opportunity.

Jooheon will be so disappointed.

Changkyun drives through a fog in his mind for the rest of the examination, his reactions delayed and his muscles tense. He's already failed, he knows this much after the handful of mistakes he's made, so he gives up on making every ditch attempt to fix it. Pulling into the driving school is a godsend for the young man, but only for a moment or too. Jooheon recognizes the car that pulls in and immediately stalks towards it beneath the now glaring June sun. He's eager to know Changkyun's results, believing in the young man with all his being.

But the forlorn expression Changkyun wears as he exits the vehicle stops the now blonde in his tracks. In the last few weeks that he and Changkyun have been working together, the pink had faded from his hair naturally and left him with the bleach that lie beneath. Changkyun likes this look, and would normally enjoy seeing the older here like this, but not right now. He is too ashamed of himself for wasting this chance Jooheon had given him. He doesn't deserve more chances.

"Father was right," he mutters to himself as Jooheon continues his approach. Of course, this is why he was only ever allowed an ID, not a license. Stupid, he adds in his head as Jooheon doesn't miss a beat in wrapping his arms around the younger man's broad frame. He understands without having heard it that the examination did not go as planned, but that's alright. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to mess up. I just ruin everything-" Changkyun drops his gaze, knocking his forehead into Jooheon's shoulder. "I'm so sorry-"

"You can just try again in a few months. When you're more comfortable."

Changkyun wants to believe Jooheon's kind words, whispered here in this moment, somehow pressed to the older in an embrace. They have not hugged before, though they have quickly become great friends. Jooheon has taken grand leaps to understand Changkyun and his daily struggles, going as far as to teach him even to read and never losing his patience with the younger.

The blonde steps back from Changkyun, taking in his dark expression with a sigh. Changkyun is still mumbling under his breath, the wind sweeping away the words before they can reach Jooheon's ears. The older knows the failure is a step backwards for Changkyun, but he didn't expect this kind of reaction from the younger. Not after how bubbly the younger had become in recent weeks.