UNBLOCKED

04 | youngjae

"mark, i swear to god," jinyoung breathed, finding mark as soon as the bell went for lunch.

"oh, hi, jinyoung," said mark, biting his lip. his hair was a mess and his pink sweater hung lobsided over his shoulders. jinyoung didn't notice his friend's flustered appearance.

"where have you been all day?" jinyoung asked, falling into step with the smaller boy. "you didn't reply to my texts."

"you sound like a clingy boyfriend," mark chuckled lightly. "anyway, did anything happen? you know, with jae--"

"do not say his name out loud," jinyoung interrupted, peering around anxiously. "well, he's now my literature desk partner which is actual hell."

"ouch," said mark. "did he do anything? in lit?"

jinyoung sighed and rubbed his eyes. "he tried to flirt for the whole hour," he grumbled. "he seriously will not quit."

"do you think... maybe..." mark trailed off.

jinyoung stared at him, aghast. "you aren't seriously suggesting--"

"what if he likes you?" mark whispered, suddenly excited.

"he fucks nerds for sport, mark," jinyoung spat. "come on."

"okay, fair enough," mark agreed. "what, so you're another one of his 'projects'?"

"more like a dare," jinyoung groaned. "have you heard what his friends talk about?"

"ew," said mark, sounding a little distracted.

"anyway," jinyoung continued, "i'm not being the next youngjae."

"speaking of youngjae," said mark, nodding to where the younger boy sat alone at one of the cafeteria tables.

"we should try and eat with him again," jinyoung mused.

"he won't let us," mark disagreed. "he won't speak to anyone since the incident, remember?"

"he's our friend," jinyoung objected.

"he's a social outcast," said mark.

"he's scared of everything now, mark," said jinyoung. "and he always cries. we should have been there for him."

"he was the one who told us to fuck off!" mark screamed under a whisper.

"it's been like six weeks," said jinyoung determinedly. "let's at least talk to him."

youngjae was busy stirring his lunch around his plate, managing to look miserable in a canary-yellow hoodie. jinyoung and mark approached him tentatively, unsure of whether their ex-friend was ready to be friends again.

"hi, youngjae," jinyoung smiled and sat opposite the younger boy, whilst mark floundered with his tray.

youngjae stared at them with wide, empty eyes. jinyoung hated seeing him like this. youngjae was supposed to be the peak of happiness, a total ray of sunshine, but now he was broken.

"mark," jinyoung hissed, "sit down."

mark swallowed and sat slowly. "uh... hi, youngjae," he said, repeating jinyoung's words.

"we were wondering if you wanted to hang out with us on the weekend?" jinyoung suggested.

"we were?" mark blurted. jinyoung elbowed him in the ribs and mark coughed. "i mean, yeah - we were."

youngjae let out the most pitiful sigh jinyoung had heard, and slowly brushed his fringe out of his eyes. he was in desperate need of a haircut, but his own well being was the last thing on his mind.

"we could go to my place?" jinyoung suggested, "and watch a movie?"

youngjae mumbled something inaudible and stared down at his food.

"youngj--"

"why do you want to talk to me?" youngjae asked quietly. "everyone hates me."

"nobody hates you--"

"yes they do," youngjae cut in. "they call me a slut."

jinyoung fell silent. what had happened six weeks ago had been the main topic for gossip all over the school, but jinyoung still didn't know the whole truth about what happened. he needed to get to the bottom of it somehow, if only to try and fix youngjae and bring back his friend.

but finding out the truth meant confronting the one other person involved. and jinyoung was much too scared to do it in person.

he would have to unblock im jaebum.

***

a/n: *updates 3 billion times a day*