You were supposed to stay / ²JAE

Is it really you?

Back then.

Jaebum was caught off guard. His mouth dried and his stature went rigid. For the first time in so long, he felt panic from meeting another human being and he was actually quite a friendly guy. Looking at this somewhat new person, was like he went back in time.

Was it really him? Was he Youngjae? Why did he come back? Wasn't he in Hong Kong? How should he react? What to say? Should he smile or act tough? Probably not cause Mark would be on his ass in a second.

"Hey..." his voice cracked and he coughed it out trying to sound manly after all.
"Youngjae...?" he whispered more as a question to himself. The other smiled and nodded.

"Yep. I'm Youngjae. Glad you still remember me" he responded while approaching him.
"Oh, I do remember you" Jaebum said to himself "I thought about you quite a lot to be totally honest but aint no way Imma say that" he continued his inner monolog. Instead of answering though he just gave a croocked smile.

Meanwhile everyone was "not so subtly" listening in.

"So, shall we start the game or what?" Youngjae said without giving the others a lot of time to gawk over. Jaebum though was relieved because if not for Youngjae's obsession with football, he would have to go through a very thorough Q/A with all of the people present.

Youngjae played rock paper scissors with Jinyoung. He won and the first one he chose was Jaebum, making everyone around screech and howl. Finishing the selections they started the match. In the beginning, they were all trying to stay calm and just warm up. That until Youngjae got a pass and went for the kill with a perfectly executed shoot which caught everyone off guard.

Now Jaebum was quite good at it but compared to this agile animal in front of him, he felt like a little kid. Whenever Youngjae had a chance, he would pass the ball to him or shout at him encouragingly to make him more aggressive. The thing was thought, that the older was really trying his best now. But he just wasn't that good of a match compared to the younger.

Competitive was sure a word that described him but for some odd reason he didn't feel like he should compete with Youngjae. Jaebum was just enjoying his smile and the way his hair flopped while he ran. You could sense a mile away that the passion that he felt while playing was immense.

Needless to say they won. With a more than satisfying result. Jinyoung was not so pleased though and dared Youngjae on another round. Smiling he accepted but said nothing else while they were laying around the field, drinking water and cooling down. Everyone was exhausted. Youngjae though excused himself before the others,  saying he had to take care of some stuff.

Jaebum caught his eyes and the other stopped and fully stared.  He then sat down next to him and put his phone to his hand.
"What's this?" he said while smirking. "Your phone number. Write it down for me" Youngjae said without breaking eye contact. Jaebum smiled shyly and wrote it down quickly.

"Do you really have to go now"  he asked him half pouting "I thought you just came here" he continued his whispering lamentation. Youngjae smiled at his cute face and got up. "I'm not going anywhere for the summer. Imma be here cause I have stuff to take care of. And you, are part of it".

The last part made Jaebum stare at him confused but lowkey excited. He nodded slightly and avoided his gaze for a few second. The younger chuckled and strutted away leaving behind a very much weirded out but happy, Jaebum.

The next few days Jaebum stayed glued to his phone. He had refilled his credit with the very little pocket money he had and waited for a message. His mother was always nagging him and made a fuss everytime he checked his phone. Annoyed at that Jaebum was starting to lose hope. But the message came 5 days after.

From: Unknown Number
Hey Jaebum
Can you come out right now? I'm at your neighbourhood
Hoped you could join me
Youngjae

He reread the message a couple of times and suddenly got self conscious. What to say to his parent? It was already 8 PM and not to say that his parents bitched about everything but then again they did just that.

He asked his hyung for help and reluctantly they got out together. His brother went to finish some business of his own but not before threatening him. He had exactly half an hour to hang out. With his heart on his mouth, Jaebum ran to the others.

"Glad you could make it man" Youngjae smiled ear to ear. But he was met with an angry Jaebum.
"Yah! Can't you see the time? It's getting late and just now you find the time to tell me to go out? Damn it my parents would have given me earful if not for my hyung" his ire was shocking for Youngjae. He felt bad for a second but then he changed attitudes and just glared down at him.

"Can you chill for a bit? Ok I'm sorry but I didn't think you would have these types of problems.  Like cmon, you're 13 and a guy.  What could happen to you at your own neighborhood?"

Jaebum still was fuming but just decided to let his own family issues aside. Keeping a neutral face he motioned the other to sit at the nearby steps. Youngjae followed and sat next to him.
"How did you even know my neighbourhood first of" Jaebum asked amused. That brought a smile to the "till now" sullen Youngjae.

"Well I had to say something to you. But all these days i couldn't make up the courage to do it. That's why you're here today this late..."
The boy looked uneasy while speaking and that made Jaebum awe with glee. "Well now I'm flattered. So tell me anyway what is it you wanted to say to me" and he looked and Youngjae expectedly.

"Look. It's kinda embarrassing but please just go with it. I'm gonna leave my phone here with you till the screensaver appears. When that happens, I want you to look at it. I'm gonna go to the store and buy something. Just whatever. Ok?"
The poor boy said everything with a single breath and started blushing a bit.
Dazed Jaebum accepted and the other handed him his phone.

As he said, Youngjae practically dashed to the store in front of the road. Snickering, Jaebum held the phone with both his hands and waited. Something was building inside of him and the fact feeling got stronger as seconds passed. Exactly 1 minute after, the screen blacked out and the screensaver appeared.

Jaebum felt for the first time the famous "butterflies". In the middle of the tinny little screen, 4 words were written.

Jaebum,
I love you.