Unexpectedly - 2Jae

12

im jaebum is hands down the best leader dont argue with me on this.

You played yourself, fool.

Was it a mistake? Should he have not insisted on moving on from what he said?

Maybe it was the best not only for Jaebum, but for himself as well. You know, not having to go through that awkward phase worrying about whether or not he reciprocated his feelings. It was better off this case -- continuing as friends and seeing him whenever he wanted without arousing suspicion.

However, all he could think of in that very moment was the man sitting in front of him. The moles above his left eye greeting him hello and his straight set of teeth almost blinding him.

He couldn't remember what Jaebum had been talking about nor what he ordered for breakfast. He knew that it was a Saturday morning, though -- one of his favourite times of the week considering he had nothing to show up early for and could spend his day napping, a habit learned from Mark, and reading, a habit taught by Jinyoung.

"Youngjae."

Snapping out of his daze, he blinked three times clearing his vision.

"I asked if you were done with that.", Jaebum grinned, pointing toward one of the younger's compressed scrambled eggs shaped into a circle.

Youngjae looked down at his plate, chuckling before he quickly used his own spoon to move the eggs onto Jaebum's plate. The elder smiled widely before drizzling a small amount of ketchup over his new possession.

"H-Have you seen Mark recently?", Youngjae asked.

Jaebum nodded slowly, still chewing the bit of food in his mouth. "I saw him on Wednesday -- Jinyoung asked me to come with him to pick him up."

The sounds of his muffled voice made the other male grin tightly but he cleared his throat to hide any of this expression on his face, until he had realized what Jaebum had said.

"W-Wait. You were with Jinyoung?", he asked with his brows curled, making the elder nod his head.

"Did...Did he say anything?"

"Only about what he's been up to at school lately. Then he went on about a trip he and Mark were planning for the summer.", Jaebum explained plainly as he began to clean up his plate and tissues.

For a moment Youngjae's heart sank -- he thought Jinyoung had said something about him, specifically what went down with Ga-In and Youngjae's decision to ignore his own confession.

When breakfast had ended and Jaebum had gone off to work and Youngjae was back in the comfort of his own room, he did the one thing he always did as a child when he wanted to express his feelings.

He logged them down onto a notebook and this particular one he opened, he had not touched in years -- it was beige and made of recycled paper. The pages were sewn rather than hole-punched into a spine and they smelled of musk and nostalgia.

He had received it as a present from his uncle when he was thirteen and since he loved all things minimal and vintage, he used it as a journal. Upon opening it, he was greeted with a cover page -- doodles of flowers and bees and random hourglasses and stopwatches.

The amount of times he had written "Im Jaebum" throughout the pages of his logs was countless. He had been writing about him for years, remembering the little things he did from sharing an eraser to inviting him over to make kimchi or stew with his mom.

The last entry was written when he was seventeen and did not contain a thing about Jaebum, rather just a random passage about his day at school. Perhaps he had gotten bored of writing. Or maybe he was beginning to think that someone and not a piece of paper, would be willing to hear him out.

it's been too long.

i'm finally a history major! mark and jinyoung are together -- finally. i can still remember Jinyoung's crush days.

bam and yug are still the same, thank goodness. jackson never fails to make my day.

im Jaebum had a girlfriend. and then they broke up. it's my fault -- breaking them up isn't going to make him love me.

but! we're still getting along.

hopefully I made the right choice. i'll write again, tomorrow.

- cyj

~

good morning.

off to school today :( well i'm not really sad, i love what i do.

the youngsters and i are meeting up to study today!

can't wait to see them :)

- cyj

He carefully walked toward the picnic table with his textbook in hand and a water bottle in the other. BamBam had waved to him a few meters away and he and Yugyeom already had their books laid out.

"Don't pretend like we're actually going to study.", Youngjae teased them, making them laugh loudly with the wind blowing through their hair.

"You know, I only ever get updates about you from either Jinyoung or Jackson -- where have you been?", BamBam asked him as they took their seats.

"Just busy with school, Bam. I've also been looking for a part-time job since I can't rely on my parents forever.". Okay, maybe the job hunting part was a lie -- Youngjae's aunt owed a restaurant which he often helped at and usually worked at during the summer. He was in no desperate need for a job.

The younger males nodded in understanding, completely disregarding their textbooks.

"Hey! Jinyoung said something about a trip this summer -- why don't we all go?", Yugyeom suggested.

"I heard he was only going with Mark.", BamBam furrowed his eyebrows. Youngjae laughed at their mischievousness in trying to butt into the couple's getaway vacation but didn't mind a trip, himself.

He slyly pulled out his journal which he had hidden in his backpack as the youngsters continued to bicker.

bam and yug are talking about a trip with all seven of us.

will jaebum come?

- cyj

He looked up from his lap which he had hidden the book from BamBam and Yugyeom, thinking he had seen someone familiar pass by. The two looked at him in curiosity.

"What is it, hyung?"

Looking around, Youngjae decided he may have been mistaken and shrugged it off before shutting his book and turning his attention toward the two.

he's wearing red today.

he obviously didn't have the time to do his hair but that's okay -- i like the messy look.

of course jinyoung spoke to me about you.

maybe we can share more than just a scrambled egg, someday.

- ijb

--

Fun Story Fact #12:

Youngjae's uncle had bought the journal on his trip to Cuba many years ago.