jaeyong ✧ skindeep

Thirty-five

chapters 35-39 or 40 will all have a 1-2 month time skip each chapter just so that i can get back to my ideas and to explain why each chapter doesn't directly correlate to the last

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Jaehyun traveled to the school gymnasium after school. The empty building comforted him for an unknown reason. Maybe it was familiarity. He hadn't played basketball since the injury and even though he was given the green light by the doctor, he didn't trust himself to not mess up.

The brunette walked over to the ball rack and grasped the first basketball on the top of the rack. He dropped it to the floor, dribbling it from a standing position before he moved to the center of the court, beginning to crossover dribble in place. He picked the ball up in his grasp, standing at the three point line, and swiftly shot the ball into the basket.

The ball bounced against the court floor before rolling to the wall. Jaehyun walked over and picked it up against his chest. The sound of the gym door opening caught Jaehyun's attention and he questioned,"Where we you at?"

The sweetly familiar voice interrupted in a hesitant tone,"I needed to give something to the front office," he paused before glancing down at the ball in Jaehyun's grasp,"Are you gonna play again this year?"

Jaehyun turned around to finally see Taeyong's figure standing in the doorway. He softly smiled, looking down at his feet before up to the basket,"I don't know. Ten wants me to play again this year but, I might just quit."

He sadly furrowed his eyebrows,"You're good enough to get a scholarship though."

"Yeah, but if I get hurt again- I just think stopping playing at my own will will be better than another injury taking that away from me. It'll hurt less."

Taeyong softly nodded. He walked over to Jaehyun. His hands gripped the ball over Jaehyun's hands and traced his slender fingers. Taeyong's face began to tint as he leaned closer to Jaehyun and he found it that he couldn't bring himself to move any closer.

Jaehyun exhaled through a quiet chuckle, leaning forward and temporarily closing the space between their lips.

Perhaps Taeyong would never get used to being in a relationship and never get used to those type of things without becoming bashful.

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Jaehyun sat tiredly at his room desk, the negligible sound of his own scribbling against his notebook as he took notes for homework consumed a minute part of the silence. In a stressed manner, the brunette moved back onto the desk chair and ran his hand through his hair.

He turned his head when a timid knock was heard,"Yeah?"

Taeyong peered past the doorframe,"I need help with the English homework."

"Okay," Jaehyun spun the chair around, his eyes meeting Taeyong's as the raven-haired walked in.

Taeyong moved next to Jaehyun, setting his book down on Jaehyun's desk.

The younger started,"What is it you need help with?"

Taeyong pointed to the fifth sentence on the page. Jaehyun leaned forward to clearly see the sentence,"Try to read it."

Taeyong began in broken English and an accent that instantaneously made Jaehyun smile.

"They began imp- impu-"

"Impulsively."

"They began impulsively in a state of-...," he looked over at Jaehyun with a pout.

"Wanderlust."

Taeyong let his head fall against Jaehyun's desk, his fingers grasping tightly around the pencil in his hand,"Jaehyun, this is too hard."

Jaehyun laid his head against the glass, his eyes aligning with Taeyong's while his lips curved into a small smile. His hand rested on the older's back, rubbing circles over his clothes,"You're doing fine, Taeyong. As long as you can pass the tests, you'll be fine."

Taeyong tiredly hummed in acknowledgment. "Thank you," he picked himself up and grabbed the English book before leaving Jaehyun's room.

Hours passed with both of them separated in their own rooms, of course, occupied with homework. Jaehyun left his room to go stand at the entrance of Taeyong's door,"I'm ordering pizza. Do you want anything specific?"

Taeyong looked up from his homework and met his eyes with Jaehyun's,"No, I'm fine."

Jaehyun looked down at his phone for few seconds, tapping on his screen before he gazed back at Taeyong. He sauntered inside the room, kneeling down next to the raven-haired who was on the floor.

Taeyong fixated his line of sight on Jaehyun for a split second,"Yeah?"

"Nothing. Do you need help writing any of the sentences?"

Taeyong's eyes panned the notebook before looking up at Jaehyun,"Just this one," he pointed at one of the sentences with longer words.

Jaehyun moved behind Taeyong, adjusting himself as his hand traced Taeyong's, grasping over the older's grip on the pencil.

Taeyong's body stiffened as he felt Jaehyun's body against his own, yet it was still comforting. His face flushed a peach tint when Jaehyun's hand grasped his own.

Jaehyun guided Taeyong's hand against the lined paper, copying the sentence and writing it in English.

"There," Jaehyun said as he finished the sentence with a period.

Taeyong only slightly turned his head, a faint smiled curved his lips.

The sound of the doorknob and knocking from afar interrupted the temporary silence and alerted Jaehyun.

"The pizza's here," the brunette stood up from beside Taeyong.

Taeyong's eyes followed Jaehyun as he moved to the doorway,"Already?"

"I know, they're fast as Hell for some reason."

Only about two minutes passed before Jaehyun called Taeyong downstairs. Taeyong, of course, followed the brunette's soothing voice.

As the black haired male walked downstairs, he was met with the faint smell of the savory food. Taeyong observed the open pizza box,"Jaehyun, do we have soda?"

Jaehyun placed the size down,"Yeah, what kind?"

Taeyong roughly swallowed as he picked up a slice and placed it on empty plate out of the two Jaehyun had placed out,"Any kind is fine."

Jaehyun went through the fridge, pulling out a two-liter bottle of Coca Cola. He twisted the red cap and grabbed a glass from the cupboard, pouring some of the beverage for Taeyong and sliding the cup over to him. Taeyong grabbed the glass, bringing the brim up to his lips and sipping the drink.

The time spent at the kitchen island slowly transitioned into an abyss of an uncomfortable feeling for Taeyong. It didn't take long for the anxiety caused by eating to appear and make his heart pulsate and his breathing become silently hitched. And of course, the later minutes were spent locked in the bathroom with his head over the toilet and saliva dripping heavily from his lips and down his fingers.

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