captain - jaeyong

twenty four.

oddly, it was ten that doyoung and winwin found themselves talking to the next day. winwin had gotten a message from him out of the blue explaining some sad series of events. it seemed that johnny was moping because jaehyun was moping because he was scared that taeyong might not like him and this was a reason for ten to be moping. whatever had happened, doyoung hated how utterly avoidable the whole situation was.

"so you're telling me, one thousand percent that jaehyun likes taeyong?" doyoung asked the younger boy for the millionth time.

"yes," ten sighed, "look he's liked him for ages, johnny was telling me, jaehyun's just a bit..." he trailed off.

"a bit what?" winwin asked curiously.

"strange?" ten spoke out but it came more like a question, "he doesn't know how to act around people he finds pretty like at all, johnny said he acted weird with him when they first met but it faded really quickly."

"oh god he's like a walking wattpad character," doyoung sighed out causing ten to giggle.

"exactly he is, i'm glad he got over himself and that taeyong didn't hold it against him," the thai boy hummed.

"me too," winwin replied, "i think they'll be good for each other once they learn the beautiful art of communication."

"anyway, i'm glad we've set things straight, i've gotta go because taeyong just got here and i told him i'd meet him to give him a pep talk before he gives jaehyun the jacket," doyoung explained to which ten only grinned widely.

"you have no idea how excited jaehyun is for that jacket, he'll probably never take it off," ten spoke.

"i can imagine that," winwin laughed.

the boys parted ways then. winwin went off to find yuta, ten to find johnny and doyoung to find his dumb best friend who couldn't see when a man liked him even if it slapped him in the face.

there was some part of doyoung that loved the fact that all of his friends were finding love and another part that was jealous of them and wished it for himself instead. there was no one he'd ever really liked other than that one really sexy guy in his class that doyoung didn't pay enough attention to. jungwoo might have been his name but doyoung couldn't remember properly.

whatever though, taeyong's love life at the moment was far a priority over his own.

after finally finding his best friend, doyoung headed over to him. they sat on a small picnic table on the school field. the bag that taeyong had brought jaehyun's jacket along in was stupidly big and doyoung laughed at the size of it.

"did you bring your whole collection?" he teased.

"stop being dumb, i just didn't want it to get ruined if i stuffed it into a tiny bag," the older explained. it was reasonable.

"are you still worried about giving it to him?" doyoung asked then and taeyong stilled for a second before giving his obvious answer.

"of course," he spoke, "there's so much thought that went into this and it's so personal, i don't know what i'd do if he didn't like it," the older's voice got quieter at the end as he let his mind run over the endless possibilities.

"well you won't have much longer to worry," doyoung told his best friend as he spotted jaehyun across the field, "you'll be fine okay? i'm sure he'll love it, he's over there so i'll go now."

"oh god," taeyong breathed out, "thank you doie."

"no problem."

doyoung left then leaving taeyong with nothing but his thoughts and the sight of jaehyun walking towards him across the field.

taeyong breathed a deep breath as he watched the younger approach, the boy looked as beautiful as always and the older couldn't help but beam at the sight. regardless of his nerves, taeyong always felt a little at ease around jaehyun, there was something about his presence that just made taeyong feel like he belonged.

"hi," the younger greeted as he finally reached the table.

"hi, i've got your jacket here," taeyong smiled softly as he spoke rather awkwardly.

"i'm so excited," jaehyun grinned and from the sincerity in his eyes, the older could see that he meant it. this made him calm down just a little, knowing that regardless of how he felt, jaehyun was excited, that was enough to make taeyong feel a little better.

"don't expect too much though," taeyong began as he pulled the first sleeve of the jacket from the bag, "i really hope you like it."

he pulled the whole thing from the bag then and jaehyun's mouth instantly fell open in awe. the design was beautiful, just as the younger knew it would be, the colours taeyong had chosen matched perfectly with the fabric and jaehyun just couldn't believe he had got so lucky.

"i- it's beautiful," he breathed out as taeyong handed the fabric over to him.

"you really think so?" the older asked then as he finally met jaehyun's eyes and saw the true sincerity swimming in them.

the look of pure adoration in the younger's eyes left taeyong feeling taken aback. he had never seen anyone look at him in such a way before and the fact that it was jung jaehyun just made it feel so much more special.

taeyong watched the boy before him as he put his arms through the sleeves of the jacket and smiled with pride as he positioned it perfectly on himself. jaehyun had simply never looked better than his did right now with a smile brighter than the stars playing on his lips and the jacket taeyong painted for him on.

"it's perfect," jaehyun spoke out after a while and taeyong couldn't believe how much he actually believed it. the pure tone of affirmation in the younger's voice was enough for all of taeyong's concerns and worries to wash away and finally he felt confident.

what if doyoung had been right? what if jaehyun did like him after all?

the boy didn't know what it was, was it the fact that he saw his own affection for jaehyun reflected in the younger's eyes? maybe. yet, taeyong didn't care.

maybe he was ready to accept that jaehyun could possible like him too.

—

hiii i'm so sorry for leaving this story for so long, i've been going through so much in my life with my mental health alongside starting at university. i'm going to slowly start updating this again, i can't say i'll be consistent but i really will try my hardest to be because i want to finish this and give taeyong and jaehyun the ending they deserve!!

with all that said, thank you so much for reading this chapter and for the really nice comments and just everything i'm so so thankful tysm <3333 ily