Alchemy // DoJae

•part four•

Doyoung's POV

So, it's been two weeks since that accident. I never gathered the courage to tell Dahye about it, I've been trying to act normal again and I think it's working.
Me and Jaehyun met three more times, again walking around the same area. Turned out we both just loved having some company to walk with, and also the weirdly comfortable silence around us. Not that he told me he loved it, it's just clear by the way his expression changes from stern to calm. And I think tonight we'll meet again, because every Tuesday he's there. And we also met on a Friday too.

So now I'm sitting in biology, waiting for Jaemin to finish writing the homework for the next class and pay attention to me. He is an underclassman, but since he's quite good with science in general, he took a senior biology class this year.
The teacher gave us the whole hour to read off the book and I already read everything at home beforehand so I'm bored.

"Come on, an essay can't take that long." I say impatient and tap with my finger on the double desk we're sitting at.

He ignores me and just continues writing on the paper. I scoff and adjust my specs. "Alright then, maybe if I'm not that important, I'll be telling another unimportant person some... quite unimportant confessions belonging to another unimportant person."

Jaemin immediately turns around to look at me and his eyes widen. "OKAY, okay, but if I fail the class it will be weight you'll have to carry, not me. Just don't tell him, please." I smile contently at him and nod. Another win for me.

Jaemin is one of the only normal friends I have. The others are just jocks, but he's a precious sweetheart I want to protect with all my might. He's just so small and adorable.

"You got it." I smile mischievously at him and he responds with his signature sweet grin.
He's like my little brother. Maybe in another universe.

"So why do you need my attention so desperately?" He asks, rolling his eyes at me.

"Well, I already read the text at home and now I'm bored."

"Kim Doyoung, you're literally the biggest nerd ever."

"I'm not a nerd, I just care for my education!"

"Yeah, yeah, whatever. Nerd."

<>~<>~<>

"You look more cheerful today." Jaehyun notices and I look down, a small smile on my lips.

"Yeah, I'm trying." I admit as I look back up at his face. He's looking at me too, occasionally glancing at the street ahead to make sure we're walking in the right direction.
"So, do you live somewhere nearby?"

"You could say that, yes." He nods airily. "Why?"

"Well, for no exact reason. You just seem to be fairly familiar with your surroundings. And I noticed you lead the way usually. I also figured you wouldn't go out of your way twice a week and walk around a place far away from your home just to be with me." I shrug.

He stands there for a couple of seconds, maybe even a whole minute passes before he speaks up again. "You know what, Doyoung." I hum in response. "You're really observant."

I raise both of my eyebrows at him and move away a strand of hair from my forehead, smiling at him. "Well, I am at the top of my class after all."

He laughs somehow unamusedly. "And you're really modest, too."

"I work hard, someone has to acknowledge that." I just shrug it off.

"Your grades in school have no relation to your skills in the real life whatsoever." Jaehyun ignores my words and rambles on. "You are smart, yes, exceptionally smart at that too, but with the same luck you could've been clueless as to how to find the logic behind something. So don't take it for granted and keep on expanding those skills of yours."

I walk in silence for a couple of minutes before coming up with an answer. "You sound as if you're my dad."

"I could be."

"But we're the same age."

"I'm wiser though." He says after about half a minute of silence.

"You can only dream about it."

"You're literally the most childish person I've ever met."

"You wish."

"Why would I wish that you're childish?" He grins, his white teeth glowing in the dim light of the street. Now that I think about it, that's the first time I've seen him smile genuinely.

"I don't know, maybe you secretly do, because you have some sort of dominating fetish." I lift my arms up in defense, chuckling.

"Ew, you're making my dominating nature seem nasty."

"Perhaps it is." I raise my eyebrows playfully. That's actually our first normal conversation that flows kind of naturally. It's nice having someone to talk to like that.

He doesn't respond for a while and we go back to just silently walking. I have nothing against this though, so I just go with it. It's cool, and although the night is cold, he doesn't seem to show even a bit that he is perhaps bothered by the low temperatures.
I, on the other hand am freezing but thankfully he doesn't seem to notice that small detail.

We keep on walking until we reach the street we usually split up at. He waves goodbye and walks off, as do I. I reach my home shortly after, because quite frankly, we actually don't live that far away from each other, or so I think. I hope he doesn't live further than what I imagine because I'd feel terrible if he walks all the way to our regular path.

When I enter the house, I'm greeted by the familiar scent of my mom's cooking. I walk in the kitchen and she smiles at me.
"Hi, sweetie, how was school today?"

I shrug. Of course the first thing she brings up is school. "It was great, I suppose."

"Okay, don't forget to learn ahead of schedule or you'll end up falling behind!" She yells after me as I make my way upstairs to my room. My brother isn't home right now so he's probably out with friends and I just sit on my desk, ready to get busy with studying for the next few hours.