With the help of his drama teacher, Jae finds himself thrown into after school activities that settles his worries over the now distant Yunho
(A/N: This is gonna be shorter than my usual chapters, because I have been so busy with work and stuff. So, I hope you enjoy our YunJae! And, I hope you vote and comment! Kya!!!!)
~Jae
"You both are lovebirds?" Junsu asked Jae, which solicited an awkward cough from Yunho.
"Uhm... I..." Jae stuttered, blushing in the process as to what his friend was asking him, especially with Yunho around. "We..." He continued. Then the bell rang.
"Well" Yunho said too loudly which shocked Jae and Junsu. "You should be going now; I think I'll head to the rest rooms for a moment." He continued softer now, scratching the back of his neck. As Yunho, Jae couldn't help but notice how Yunho's biceps were so toned, and that how his uniform showed how formed his chest was. Jae had to shake his head to stop where his thoughts were leading him.
"Uhm, Okay." Jae said sheepishly to Yunho.
"Jae, let's go already! The bell, remember?" Junsu said impatiently to Jae, as he dashed towards the hallway, away from where Yunho was. Jae turned his back and followed his friend, giving him death glares for the awkward situation he put Jae in a little while ago.
"Jae?" Jae heard Yunho call just when Junsu was out of the view. Jae turned back and saw Yunho, all red-faced and sweating.
"Yeah?" Jae replied, suddenly nervous as to what the other boy might say.
"The love birds thing?..." Yunho said, looking down at his foot, clearly embarrassed at whatever he was saying. "Don't think too much about it, okay?" He continued.
"O...kay... I won't" Jae replied, as he turned and continued walking, with a heavy feeling in his chest at Yunho's words.
After the "situation" in the clinic, Jae managed to punish Junsu by not speaking to him when they rushed together to their classes. Jae didn't even bother saying good bye to Junsu when they had to part ways. Once inside his first afternoon class, just like all of his other classes, Jae had to introduce himself as the new student, meaning he had to smile. But Jae was feeling so down and he had no idea why. He literally had to drag himself from the platform to his seat. The afternoon passed and on his way to his last class, Jae was feeling so down that he walked with his eyes on the floor. He managed to bump into a few people but they were either too busy chatting or they just didn't care that they didn't notice it. He looked at his schedule and saw that it was on the Juniors' floor. Jae made his way to the room, and entered. The teacher, Mr. Park, was already calling the roll, and once he saw Jae enter, he stopped and asked Jae to yet again, introduce himself to everyone. Jae came towards the teacher's table, never lifting his eyes. He said his introductions and when he was done, the teacher assigned him to a seat. "You take that seat at the back" He said authoritatively. Jae lifted his eyes and to his shock, Yunho was there, beside the seat his teacher was pointing at. Jae tensed when he saw Yunho and tensed more when Yunho looked unhappy when he realized where the teacher was making Jae sit. Jae sat and when he did, he heard Yunho whisper to another student. He couldn't hear what it was but it became clear when both Yunho and the other student stood and exchanged places. Is he avoiding me? Jae asked himself while looking at Yunho, who had his brows furrowed.
When the bell rang to signify the end of the day, Jae was so relieved that he had to sigh. All the other students were rushing towards the door so he decided to wait until everyone was out. Jae was so worn out on his first day that he had to go to bed ASAP! When all the ruckus started to fade, Jae stood up and looked at the door, only to see Yunho talking seriously with the teacher. As he came closer, Jae could hear that Yunho was talking about changing the seating arrangement, which sent a pang of pain in Jae's chest. He really IS avoiding me! But why? Jae asked as he looked at Yunho. When they both made eye contact, Yunho excused himself from the teacher and started to jog away.
"What was that all about?" Jae asked himself as he saw Yunho's retreating figure.
The rest of the week was a blur, a hazy surreal blur. People weren't giving him weird looks anymore, after the third day he was here. People didn't whisper anymore, which made Jae thankful. He really didn't want the attention and with what was happening, with the hype of being the new student dying down, Jae felt more at peace. The only thing that bothered him was Yunho's clear avoidance to him. Jae felt like he was a plague when Yunho was around, as he was always scurrying away when they were in the same room. During their class together, Yunho managed to stay far away to where Jae was and whenever they made eye contact, Yunho would only look away quickly. It was clear that Yunho was trying to stay away. But why?
"Hey, you okay?" Jae heard his teacher, Ms. Boa Kwon call to him after their class, snapping him from his reverie.
"Yeah, just thinking" Jae said, brushing off the concerned look his teacher had.
"So, how are you enjoying it here?" She asked
"It's...fine" Jae lied. It wasn't fine. He had no other friends besides Junsu. Although he was fine with his best friend, Jae really wanted to have OTHER friends, since he moved to this school to start anew in the first place. That's what he's here for, right?
"You're lying." Ms. Boa said, looking Jae in the eyes. Jae tried to argue but was met by the teacher's raised eye brows. "And don't try to argue Jae, I can tell. You've been sighing since last week."
"Well, I just... You know. Feel lonely, that's all." Jae replied as they both made their way outside the classroom.
"Hmm, sounds to me like you need some life kid!" The teacher roared with life, shocking Jae and made him giggle a little.
"I do have a life, Ms. Kwon" Jae said as a matter of fact kind of way.
"Ms. Kwon" The teacher corrected. "Uhm, so let me guess, that life includes going to school and then home and then repeat" she challenged. Jae wanted to argue, but he quickly swallowed his words back because he knew she was right.
"Just as I thought!" She said, clearly happy by her correct hypothesis. "You wanna know something Jae?" She asked while they were on their way to the floor's lobby.
"Yes Ms. K..Boa?" Jae managed to ask.
"I think you're afraid. Now, I don't know why but clearly you are. Life isn't a life when you don't explore it. So explore a little, won't you?" The teacher offered as she patted Jae on the back.
"I know, but my mom says I can't you know... Explore life I mean..." Jae said, remembering what his mother always says to him, afraid that the mauling incident might happen again.
"Forgive me for saying this, but screw that!" She said, shaking Jae. Jae looked at her in the eyes and Jae saw CONCERN. It wasn't panic like what he saw in his mom's eyes, or protectiveness like what he saw in Junsu's. It was the first time in a long time that someone gave him that genuine concern that he felt really warm inside.
"Jae, don't believe on what people say you can and cannot do. Your capabilities will always be a result of your beliefs. So just believe in yourself a little. Okay?" She asked
"Okay, Ms. Kwon" Jae replied "Thank you for making me feel better" Jae said, waved good bye and turned to make his way to his next class. Half way down the stairs, Jae heard Ms. Boa sigh.
"Why the sigh Miss?" Jae looked back and asked, bewildered by his teacher's change in mood.
"I just got a text from a Drama club member saying he's withdrawing. That's the fourth withdrawal in a week." She said sadly, with eyes still on her cell.
That was IT! Jae saw the opportunity for him to explore and at the same time, lift his teacher's mood! This was his chance!
"Well then, count me in! When and where does the club meet?"
~Yunho
After the clinic incident, Yunho has been restless for many reasons. For one, he started getting these weird sensations when Jae was around. He'd be all sweaty, nervous and hesitant. He was never one to be not confident, years of theatre and dancing as the school's top performer made it almost impossible to be shy. But just like when he sat with Jae on that bus ride, just like the tension he felt when they conversed on their way to the main building, just like that self-consciousness he felt when he embraced Jae to cushion both their fall, and even to that unlikely clinic scenario, Yunho has never felt so unsure of himself. He didn't like that the new kid did whatever he did to him, and with the school's play upcoming, him as the main character, he couldn't afford to feel this way. So by the time he arrived at his first afternoon class after the trip in the nurse's office, Yunho promised himself to avoid Jae as much as possible. It shouldn't be too hard now, is it?
Or so he thought...
Ever since his teacher berated his involvement at the school's annual English play, on the Pulitzer prize winning piece, Kiss of the Tarantula, during his detention, Yunho has been ever so determined to play his part best.
"Say what Miss Kwon? Yoona quit?" Yunho asked their drama director that Monday afternoon in the drama club room. "But with her gone, we won't have enough people to man backstage! And Goo Ara is still juggling from being the lead female and stage assistant! We can't afford to lose Yoona now" Yunho ranted when Ms. Kwon told them about another member quitting the drama club.
"I'm sorry Yunho, but it can't be helped" She said apologetically but smiled when she continued "We can, however, control who goes IN the club" She said altogether gleefully.
"What do you mean?" Yunho stated, going over to the teacher's table of the deserted classroom. The club had to have a meeting but due to some circumstances, only Yunho and Ms. Kwon showed up in the meeting.
"We have a new member!" Ms. Kwon squeeled. "He should be here any minute" She said, looking at her watch
"HE?" Yunho asked just when a voice he prayed didn't belong to a person called outside.
"Ms. Boa? You there?" the voice said queried. Ms. Kwon opened the door and sure enough, the person Yunho was trying to avoid the whole week stood there by the door.
Jae.