TIME ─ JAEYONG

014⸰

the shot glass slipped from his fingers, it's broken shards scattering the floor, blending in with the mess. he took a new bottle to his lips, the contents he couldn't drink all in one go dripped from his mouth, colliding and mixing in with his saltine tears.

he crushed the empty can and tossed it to the floor. he reached for another, his weak body could not remain stable, sending him falling hard. the shards pierced his skin but he felt nothing. too engrossed in his own sorrows.

a shrill cry escaped his mouth as another image of ten falling dead replayed. "why. why didn't you fucking tell me. why ten, why!? i could have tried harder..."

. . .

"taeyong! taeyong get up buddy." he felt strong arms wrap around his torso, pulling him into a sitting position. his vision blurred but soon became clear. he saw johnny kneeling in front of him with jaehyun's worried face behind him.

"whoa. what happened?"

"you blacked out bud. i don't blame you. you drank a shit ton." taeyong recalled his last conscious memory and giggled.

"i did, huh?"

"sober up. there's more rounds." johnny handed him a bottled water and left from his line of vision. he struggled getting the cap open. jaehyun inched forward, taking the bottle in his hands and opening it.

"here." he held the bottle up to taeyong's lips. he took a sip then pushed the bottle away. "you need to drink more."

"later." taeyong slurred, his head lolling to the side.

"taeyong, who's ten?" taeyong placed a hand over jaehyun's mouth.

"shhh. don't say his name. it makes me miss him." he hiccuped. "how do you know him?"

"you said his name... ah, nevermind. i'll ask later when you aren't like this." he went to stand up when taeyong reached out, grabbing hold of his arm.

"sit with me." he patted the spot next to him. "let's be partners next round, okay?" he giggled, resting his head on jaehyun's shoulder.

"there won't be a next round." jaehyun felt his stomach flutter at the contact of taeyong's slow breaths on his neck.

"but johnny said–"

"johnny is canceled as of right now."

"whaaa? where is he gonna go if he's canceled? my favorite tv show got canceled. i cried a bit."

"what?" taeyong didn't answer. instead, he took another sip of the water.

"we need more friends to come over. taeil, can we invite more people?" taeil quickly agreed. jaehyun sent daggers at the pair. out of all things that could happen he didn't expect this. so much for good first impressions. by the time more people arrived, nearly an hour later, taeyong was back to normal, the buzz gone.

he socialized with the new faces, not really caring to remember their names for he didn't really like them as much as he did johnny and taeil; even if they got him drunk within the first hour of meeting each other.

"body shots!" a random shouted, hyping up the others. taeyong excused himself from the lineup to step outside for some fresh air. he couldn't tell exactly what time it was but he knew for sure a few hours had passed.

"fresh air?" taeil's voice sounded from behind him. taeyong glanced at him and nodded. taeil stepped next to him and rested his arms on the fence with taeyong doing the same.

"sorry for getting drunk so easily and making a slight fool of myself. i don't think i'll ever play twister again thanks to that." taeil's melodic laugh filled the air.

"don't worry. there have been worse times." taeyong wanted to ask about them but the silence was peaceful between the two so he kept it like that until another topic crossed his mind.

"taeil, you're best friends with jaehyun... can you help me understand him?"

"well for one he's very confusing. figuring him out is like a one thousand piece puzzle. once you complete that puzzle though you find out he's a caring guy with a big heart. he loves easily and gets hurt easily as well." taeil paused to look taeyong in the eyes. "he's someone you might get annoyed with but could always depend on. he's a naive boy that wants to live his life but can't because of his parents' expectations."

"i see." jaehyun somewhat reminded him of ten, of course with a few exceptions. "thanks taeil. i'm glad we met today. you aren't as awkward as jaehyun said you were." this put a whole new perspective on how taeyong saw jaehyun.

"i'm glad we did too." he smiled shyly. "if you ever need a break from jae, you know where i live."

"noted." the two stared at each before laughing. taeil nudged him gently, their arms now resting against each other.

"you two seem to be getting close." jaehyun stepped towards the two, his lips in a straight line and arms crossed.

"we were just talking, i'll leave you two alone." taeil retreated back into the house. taeyong turned away from jae to continue watching the clouds glide across the sky afternoon deep blue sky.

"how are you feeling?" taeyong felt jae's presence next to him.

"barely noticeable headache but that's about it. you?"

"tired. there's only so much party i can handle." taeyong hummed.

"how about we leave and go on that sightseeing walk you talked about earlier."

"you still want to go?" jaehyun couldn't hide the excitement in his voice.

"might as well. it could help us get to know each other better. i still dislike you though." he smiled at jaehyun's frown. "but i'm willing to dislike you a little less until saturday."

"what are we waiting for then?" the two walked out the front gate and started off down the sidewalk, leaving the raging party without a single look back.