hide ϟ jaeyong

chp. 9

The six men played truth or dare for an hour or two more. They drank, they asked, but Taeyong and Jaehyun avoided each other no matter what. Thankfully the others didn't notice anything weird between them, so at least they played peacefully.

Taeyong decided it was time to go when Taeil chucked down a bottle of finished beer. Taeil drinking excessively was always a sign of the fun coming to an end.

''I should probably get going now,'' Taeyong said, smiling softly at his friends. ''It's like what, 3 AM? I have classes and work tomorrow.''

''Then coming here wasn't a good idea in the first place. You wanna know what that shows?'' Taeil giggled, letting himself lay on the dirty ground. ''That you're fucking stupid!''

''Yeah, whatever,'' Taeyong said, getting up. He was very unbalanced from the alcohol. ''To be frank, Taeil hyung, I really don't care about what you say. Especially when you're drunk.''

''H-hey-''

''Bye guys,'' Taeyong smiled at the other guys and made his way over to the door in lazy steps. Soft goodbyes came from his new friends. He closed the door gently behind him and started to walk towards the door, stumbling six times on his short trip.

He was about to stumble and trip on air for a seventh time when a very familiar arm held him by the waist, effectively stopping him from plummeting down face-first. Taeyong sighed, not even looking at the owner of the arm.

''You know, you should really stop this.''

''Stop what?'' Jaehyun said, voice low. He opened the door of the building, opening up to a campus building that hid the gate behind it. A wave of cold air hit them.

''You know,'' Taeyong said, pointing at Jaehyun's hand. ''The thing where you come behind me without making any sound and then holding me by my hand. Or arm. Or wherever.''

''You should be grateful,'' Jaehyun pointed out. ''I just saved you from falling on the ground and possibly messing up your pretty little face. You don't want that, do you? Gotta protect your perfect reputation.''

''You're drunk too,'' Taeyong said. It was easy to tell that Jaehyun was very snappish. The taller looked at him curiously. Taeyong was indeed right- Jaehyun's face was a bright red- the only exception being his ears, which were dark crimson- and his eyes were half closed. He seemed very drunk but he somehow didn't show that in his words.

''So what?''

''I don't know,'' Taeyong murmured, shrugging. ''Just saying.''

They trudged in silence for a while, steps not fast nor slow. They breathed silently in the same time, took their steps at the same time.

''Wait a second,'' Taeyong was the one who broke the silence albeit with a quiet voice. ''Why're you walking with me? I'm going to take a cab, you know that right?''

''Why're you walking right now then?'' Jaehyun asked, arms crossed. He seemed almost like he was refusing to look at Taeyong. ''And I'm walking with you because I don't want you to walk alone.''

''Why-'' Taeyong huffed. ''You know what, I don't have anything to say. Let me call a cab.''

''I'm coming with you,'' Jaehyun said. Taeyong didn't respond.

Five minutes later, the sound of a car going down a road reached their ears and then the cab was in front of them. As soon as Taeyong opened the door, he was met with the hungry eyes of the driver. He looked away immediately, getting in the car. He was glad now that Jaehyun had insisted on coming with him because as soon as Jaehyun got in the car after him, the creepy glint in the man's eyes disappeared.

The car moved in the dark streets silently. Taeyong held back from falling asleep the best he could, his tipsiness making him sleepier than normal.

The cab stopped in front of his apartment and Taeyong passed the driver some money, getting out after Jaehyun. The car drove off and left them alone on the sidewalk. The athmosphere was tense. Taeyong felt like his feet were glued to the ground. He wanted to leave but it was like he was paralyzed.

''Why are you so protective over me?'' Taeyong asked softly, shivering in the cold of the night.

''I'm not,'' Jaehyun said, voice giving away his anger. ''You're overthinking everything, just like expected.''

Ouch, that hurt. Taeyong told himself that his words were caused by the amount of alcohol he had consumed.

''Tell me what's bothering you,'' Taeyong whispered, fidgeting. He wasn't sure if he wanted to know, but he had to bite the bullet.

''You want to know what's bothering me?'' Jaehyun said, lips curling down into a frown. ''When you were the one who caused it?''

''I caused nothing,'' Taeyong shot back. ''You're overthinking.''

The mood immediately got worse than it already was with those two words. He knew he shouldn't have said that, but he couldn't help it. Jaehyun definitely wasn't in his right mind but nor was he. If Taeyong wasn't mean to him, Jaehyun certainly had no right to be as well.

''I'm not overthinking any fucking thing, alright?'' Jaehyun snarled, hands curling into a fist. ''You can't tell me I'm overthinking anything!''

''Well, what should I tell you then?'' Taeyong scoffed, putting his hands on his waist. ''I did nothing wrong and all of the sudden, you're getting all angry!''

''You did wrong, why won't you accept it?!'' Jaehyun shouted at him, taking a step closer to Taeyong. He was breathing hard, face redder than before. Taeyong was getting a little scared.

''Move away, Jaehyun,'' Taeyong said, taking two steps back. ''Tell me what I did wrong.''

''You want to know what you did wrong?'' Jaehyun three steps closer and pushed his finger into Taeyong's chest. ''You kissed Yukhei. That's what you did wrong!''

''That wasn't wrong of me, how do you not understand?'' Taeyong shouted back at Jaehyun. ''We were playing a simple game of truth or dare! And why would you even get angry at such a thing? You have nothing over me!''

''Of course I have something over you!'' Jaehyun huffed and pushed him with his finger once again. ''And I don't care if it's a simple game! I don't want you kissing people!''

''You're being a huge fucking jerk right now and you have no idea about it,'' Taeyong said pushing Jaehyun away from him. ''Stop being so protective, Jaehyun. We're not even dating and you're doing stupid shit.''

''I saw how you looked at me first before you kissed Yukhei,'' Jaehyun whispered furiously, shaking in anger. ''And then you looked away in embarrasment.''

''Stop overanalyzing things, Jaehyun!'' Taeyong yelled, clenching his hands. How had Jaehyun figured him out so easily? ''There was nothing like that, I looked at everyone!''

''You know what,'' Jaehyun yelled back. ''If you kiss every man you meet, why do you even get out of the stripper club anyways? You belong there!''

He knew he had passed the limit by a hundred miles the moment he said it. His high passed immediately.

Taeyong's mouth was left open after the insult. He had thought that maybe Jaehyun would understand. Maybe he'd understand his struggles after being let know.

Apparently that was not the case.

''I- I didn't-'' Jaehyun stuttered, hand reaching out to hold Taeyong's hand, but Taeyong whipped his hand away from Jaehyun's. His eyes were filled to the brim with tears. He blinked and they started to cascade down his cheeks like there was no tomorrow. ''I didn't mean what I said, it just-''

''Just shut up,'' Taeyong said, hugging himself and sniffing. He turned away and ran towards his apartment.

''Taeyong, I'm so sorry, please-''

Taeyong slammed the apartment door after him.

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Not the best chapter I've written but I hope you guys still liked it :/
Thank you for reading and please look forward to the next chapter!