Crumbling Bridges {YuJae} | complete

ten

TW: references to disordered/binge eating. Please proceed with caution if that could upset you, and look after yourself <3 otherwise enjoy!

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After a stiff breakfast the following day, Jaehyun decides to visit Johnny. Hyejin's sheepish gaze remained cast down at her fruit and granola medley, and the tension in her shoulders told Jaehyun all he needed to know, so he left the house to let off the steam a night of restless sleep did nothing to shift.

She knows she was wrong to say what she said, and she knows she's upset him.

Jaehyun realises he still hasn't explained the work situation to her either, as he rings the doorbell and waits for his friend to answer.

"I was just ordering breakfast. Want something?" Johnny calls back from the kitchen, his voice competing with the drone of the coffee machine, and Jaehyun declines the offer. "Not even some pancakes?"

Johnny holds his hands on his hips, lips curled into a cheeky smile because he already knows the answer, and he nods in satisfaction when Jaehyun can't contain his own smile at the offer.

"Why do you always order food? Isn't it more expensive? I mean, surely you've got the ingredients for pancakes. It's just the cupboard essentials." Jaehyun rolls his eyes. Inside, he's wriggling out of frustration from how he always seems to agree to anything.

"I suck at cooking." Johnny deadpans.

Jaehyun lets out a huff and sits at the kitchen table, and Johnny joins him once he's finished using the food delivery app, fingers tapping an irregular rhythm on the table. It irks the younger, but he keeps his lips sealed. When he looks back at Johnny, his expression has softened and Jaehyun stares at the wood as his toes curl, uneasy even though he knows what's coming. It never takes long for things to work their way through the grapevine when both Taeil and Johnny are his self-proclaimed bodyguards. Especially since he only turns up at the elder's house out of the blue when something's happened.

"Why are you working full-time at the shop now?"

Jaehyun shrugs. Any motivation to explain himself is diluted by an immense wave of shame, and he feels he never did put the pieces back in the right order; his jumper clings too tight and his overgrown hair scratches the back of his neck, each sense overwhelmed by unnecessary observations he can't shake away. He really sucks at looking after himself.

"Did Daewon fire you?"

Jaehyun shakes his head. The silence is sombre yet ominous while Johnny tries to read every twitch of the younger's gaze and every bob of his Adam's apple. Jaehyun crosses his ankles and rubs his face.

"I quit."

"Sorry?"

Jaehyun pinches the bridge of his nose, eyes shut because he dreads the disappointment on Johnny's face.

"I quit." He repeats.

Johnny's chair creaks when he sits up straight.

Jaehyun still doesn't open his eyes. He fears he might cry if he does. All he can think about is how hard his friend worked to support him, to help him apply to a decent college and survive those three years so he could get a good job besides the music shop. It wasn't a fun job, but it was well-paid and allowed Jaehyun to contribute to the rent after marriage, then keep the apartment when things fell apart.

"About time, I'd say." Johnny finally interrupts the trainwreck of Jaehyun's thoughts, followed by a scornful laugh. "I hated you working there. It wasn't good for you at all."