gossip ;; 2jae [Editing]

Chapter 15

||||| - Jinyoung VS. The Crown - |||||
• Thursday _ After School •

"So why are we here?" Jinyoung asked, tone neutral and overall demeanour just oddly calm for someone who'd been dragged against their will all the way to Jaebum's house. He glanced up and over his shoulder at Jackson and Mark, the ones who'd dragged him, and wasn't surprised when they refused to explain or do so much as meet his gaze.

Then something was slammed against Jaebum's coffee table twice, bringing Jinyoung's attention back to the two boys sat at the other end of said table. "Court is now in session!" Youngjae said from his 'thrown', Jaebum standing guard next to him as a makeshift bailiff.

For all the times Youngjae had ranted to Jinyoung about his respective group being extra, the bellowed line is enough of a reminder that the younger boy was just as - if not more extra than his group. Jinyoung tried his best to suppress the laugh that threatened his 'calm and collected' façade. "Did you just use your pencil case as a gavel?" He hoped his voice conveyed just how absurd he found this whole situation.

"Objection!" Youngjae yelled.

"That not how you‐-" Jinyoung began.

"Overruled!"

"Better but still no--"

"Silence in the court!"

Jinyoung sighed, scrubbing a hand down his face. "Why am I here?"

"You are to pay for being an asshole," Youngjae announced. He had been glaring fiercely at Jinyoung since they sat down and it didn't seem to waver when Jinyoung stared back, unbothered and a little confused. Crossing his arms, Youngjae added, "You should have been nicer to Kunpimook."

And Jinyoung was even more confused now. Any interaction with the aforementioned boy was normally menial, easily forgotten by the time the last class of the day rolled around. Then it hit him: detention.

"He shouldn't have stuttered," he countered.

Jaebum snorted. "You can't really control something like that. Just admit that you were a jerk and make it up to Kunpimook."

"May I beg the court's indulgence for a moment," Jinyoung said, eyeing Youngjae. The brunette could be a real snake in the grass sometimes, but Jinyoung knew he was always open to hearing other perspectives.

"Go ahead," Youngjae muttered.

Jinyoung sat up in his armchair, fixing his uniform shirt. He moved to stand but was kept from doing so by Jackson and Mark, both forcing him down with a hand on each of his shoulders. No biggy, he thought. Jinyoung could defend himself perfectly fine while sat. He'd had practice. "He normally only stutters around me. I've seen him around Minghao, Hyungwon, Joshua, Lisa, etcetera. I've asked him for an explanation multiple times and am yet to get one. Only me he stutters around and everyone knows it, so I don't understand why you all are ganging up on me just because I got tired of the whole 'acting cute' thing." For effect, he narrowed his eyes at Jaebum.

Angered, the burgundy-haired boy stepped forward, held back by the hand Youngjae was quick to circle around his closest wrist. "Acting cute... Jinyoung, are you actually bli--" Jaebum huffed out a laugh. Jinyoung didn't know what could possibly be funny about the situation.

When he was a little calmer, Jaebum spoke again, "Kunpimook is like one of my children. You were a dick and I want you to apologize."

"I did nothing wrong. I just got tired of his bullshit," Jinyoung fired back. He picked at his nails. Jinyoung had been to the principal's office enough times, been threaten with suspension enough times to know how to get out of dumb dealings. "Why should I, when I'm not close to him?"

"Your Honour," Jaebum gritted out.

Youngjae hummed, "Go on."

"May I bring to your attention that apologizing after being a horrible person is common - fucking - decency and that... well... Bammie...... well, he admires you, Jinyoung."

"Oh." It was news to him. Everyone found him intimidating for very clear reasons. It was kind of refreshing, honestly, knowing that someone looked up to him. Shaking his head, Jinyoung found his bearings. He didn't deserve to be someone's role model.

"Well, you see, I don't have to care about hurting Kunpimook. We're not close." He sighed. "Yes, he 'admires' me or whatever, but I'm wholeheartedly tired of hearing him stutter around me - that's it. And I can repeat it all night until each of you understand."

"Sooner than later our groups will completely merge," Youngjae pointed out, "and this might cause bad blood."

"I'm not one to say 'kumbaya' and be buddy-buddy with everyone."

"You literally forced me and Youngjae to do just that!" Jaebum seethed.

Jinyoung narrowed his eyes, lip twitching in distaste. "Emphasis on the 'I am not'. Also, I called you guys out, left you to question yourselves and your actions. Ultimately, you and Youngjae decided to become closer." Youngjae looked away for a second, frowning, but Jinyoung chose to ignore that, smoothing out his uniform shirt again. "I didn't berate you until you agreed to stop trying to bite each other's heads off." The shame that washed over Jaebum's faces was well worth the headache starting to form.

"Your Honour, may I bring forth a point?" Mark's sudden inquiry surprised everyone in the room. He rolled his eyes at their befuddlement.

"You may," Youngjae said. Mark moved to sit down on one of Jaebum's couches, Jackson hot on his heels, complaining about how long they'd been standing.

Once sat, Mark shrugged. "Yeah, well, still, you know what they say: practice what you preach."

"No one actually does that," Jinyoung retorted. Mark rolled his eyes at that, too.

"True, but BamBam's pretty chill and... maybe getting to know him will stop the stuttering?" The uncertainty sprinkled amongst his words didn't help convince Jinyoung, but what he said next did. "You're right, though, you don't have to apologize - yet - if you don't understand what you did wrong. BamBam's a big boy. A bit dramatic, but he can clearly handle himself."

Youngjae nodded. "You don't have to get to know him either. It just kinda hurt us seeing him like that. He doesn't deserve being treated like how you treated him."

Jaebum sat down on the arm of Youngjae's chair, nodding in agreement as well. BamBam didn't deserve it, and he still thought Jinyoung should apologize regardless of whether or not he felt obligated to do so. But if giving Jinyoung the smallest of pushes towards the younger boy resulted in that apology happening genuinely and more, then Jaebum could keep his opinions to himself for the time being. "Just try to be nicer... for us?" Jaebum motioned to the three other boys in the room.

Hesitantly, Jinyoung stood and slung his bag over his shoulders. "I'll think about it."

Youngjae slammed his pencil case on the coffee table again, concluding the hearing.

//////

[Edited A/N:
When I started editing this, I was a couple weeks into AS Law sooo... yeah this... happened]

I swear this is a 2Jae fanfic!

But this is kinda important to the story.

Imma try to add Yugyeom in more.

:)

- TheSixYearOld