gossip ;; 2jae [Editing]

Chapter 11

| - Mission Accomplished? - |
• Thursday •

A Week Later...

"Give me back my phone, Jackson!" Jaebum yelled, trying his best to weave through the school's congested corridors while chasing after the boy. The teachers and students paid them no mind, exhausted and ready for the weekend. Jaebum was as well, honestly, seeing as today marked the end of two long weeks of tests. Yet he still found enough energy to keep the distance between them relatively small.

"Nope!" Jackson shouted back, crashing through the double doors of the school's entrance.

They ran in circles in the courtyard, people beginning to stare. Jaebum didn't notice. Constant spectating came with having friends as energetic and filled with embarrassingly bad decisions as Jackson and BamBam and Yugyeom and even Jinyoung from time to time. Plus, Jaebum was dead set on getting his phone back. He really needed it. His parents were calling today for their bi-annual check-up and May would skin him if he missed the call.

Unfortunately, by racing around a tree, Jackson managed to evade Jaebum and run out the front gate and onto the crowded sidewalk. Jaebum blindly followed after him, bumping into fellow students and a few strangers. Remorsefully, he shouted quick and loud 'sorry's as he continued to chase after his friend.

The crowd thinned after they'd ran a few blocks away.

Jaebum sped up as Jackson turned a corner, the other boy laughing loudly. With how fast he was running, Jaebum almost wasn't surprised when he collided with another body after. He regained balance quite quickly, but that wasn't the case for the other person. Jaebum watched as they fell gracelessly onto their hands and knees.

"Son of a bitch," they hissed and Jaebum instantly felt 'Mission Impossible' crumble at his feet. That voice. The light brown hair. Jaebum apologized repeatedly as he helped Youngjae off the ground, the other boy dusting himself off.

Youngjae frowned when he saw the condition of his shorts, immediately trying to hide how upset he was so that Jaebum wouldn't feel worse. He had the same kicked-puppy expression from that time he'd been told off because of Youngjae and it didn't sit well with the brunette. "It's okay," he reassured, smiling lightly at the older boy even though his knees burned and dirt stuck to his raw palms.

Jaebum frowned, stomach twisting with guilt when he noticed the gashes on Youngjae's knees. "Your knees aren't okay, though," he voiced, motioning to Youngjae's legs.

The younger gazed down and chuckled. "I guess not, but I'll just fix it when I get home." Youngjae shrugged it off, yet Jaebum's pained expression didn't change. Youngjae officially didn't want to continue this conversation. It didn't help that he had places to go, errands to run. His mom had left for New York this morning and the fridge was almost empty.

"No. I'll help you...as an apology!"

"I'm okay. I can do it by myself." Youngjae protested, spinning around and starting to walk away. However, Jaebum wouldn't take no for an answer. He ran to Youngjae's side.

"Please?"

"No."

"Why?" Youngjae scowled, not knowing whether he felt frustrated or guilty.

"Because I'm not a baby that needs their hand held."

"But it's my fault."

Youngjae glared down at the sidewalk, "Look, I don't need or want your help."