Alchemy // DoJae

•part twelve•

I personally apologize for the bulshittery you're about to read;

Doyoung's POV

"So basically, what you're trying to say is... plants have feelings?" Jaehyun walks dumbfounded, a look of confusion plastered on his face.

"Yeah. My plant succulent is in love with Jungwoo. They've been in a romantic relationship for over two years now. What a legend." I wipe an imaginary tear from the corner of my eye and laugh a bit.

"Ugh, relatable." Jaehyun puts his hand over his chest, where his heart is and makes an understanding grimace. "I fell in love with a wall once. Beautiful structure, very thick, sound proof. I hit my head on it one night. That's how I knew I was in love. Unfortunately, it was one-sided." We both burst out laughing, enjoying the conversation to the fullest.

"Wow, sad reacts only. Truly heartbreaking." I pretend to be sad but the fact I'm laughing isn't helping at all.

"We live in a society." Jaehyun hits his chest twice and makes a peace sign. I cringe at that.

"Wow, grandpa, this hasn't been funny for months now."

"It died the moment it blew up, I'm giving it some credit. Rest In Peace, my dude." He looks up as if to send a prayer to the dead meme.

"Doesn't even deserve the recognition." I scrunch my nose.

"So you'd give it to 'somebody toucha my spaghet' but not to 'we live in a society'."

"Dude that meme died back in January. Seriously, are you living in the past?" I furrow my eyebrows.

"I appreciate meme culture. And it's not like a single meme lasts more than a week anyway."

"Ugandan Knuckles is still a thing though. And the Thanos one."

"Ew, don't remind me."

"Okay. Would you rather have me remind you of the huge math homework we have for tomorrow?" I smile devilishly and see him giving me a serious look.

"Don't try me, Doyoung, I won't hesitate to flick your forehead right then and there." He glares but the small smile on his lips reminds me he isn't serious.

"I'm a bad bitch, you can't kill me."

He snorts. "Hoe, I'll hit you with a stick and you'd be dead."

"No, but like, seriously. I really have to do the whole thing, plus go over the things we're supposed to be taught tomorrow." I rub my forehead in frustration.

"Why?"

"Duties. I can't be the best in class if I don't go ahead of others." I shrug. I suppose it's just normal for me because I've been learning like this for years now.

"Wow. You're really excellent, Doyoung." Jaehyun goes serious for the first time tonight. It kind of kills the whole happy vibe, but I don't really mind. After all, I'm used to it. We began talking just a week ago, and would just do casual small talks before that.

"I'm not that good, though. I try my best but I can never be perfect." I roll my eyes. Everyone seems to think I'm perfect when in reality I'm just a simple person trying my best to fit in, have a great time and accomplish something.

"I never said you were, did I? You're doing great, keep up the good work." He bites his lip for a second. "I have to go now."

I nod, ready to go on about my night and walk back to my home.
"Alright, see you around."

Before I manage to turn around and go, he stops me. "Doyoung?"

"Yeah?"

"Take some time for yourself and be happy. Please."

I smile at him. "Take care, Jaehyun."

<>~<>~<>

Sitting on the spinning chair at my desk, I groan in frustration. I just finished doing the math homework and yet I still have to go over the next few pages and solve everything. I don't see the point. It only consumes my time. Why would I learn something on my own when a teacher's job it to teach it to me?

I hit my math book angrily and throw it at the door, spinning on the chair to see where it landed.
Surprised to see Johnny standing on the doorway with a concerned expression, I stand up and take the book back, giving my brother a look of permission to come in and close the door. I put the book back on the desk and lay on my bed, Johnny sitting next to me.

"I thought you actually enjoyed studying." He comments and I roll my eyes.

"I do, but it was a long day and I don't want to learn ahead of schedule right now." I make myself comfortable on the bed, looking up at the ceiling.

"So? Just don't. It's not like anyone's gonna check or anything." He suggests, laying on the bed too, but horizontally, putting his head on my legs.

"I've never missed a day." I admit, putting my hands under my head.

"Well, there's always a first time for everything." I scoff at his words. "Hey! You're literally the perfect son, our parents probably wish I was like you."

It's true. Johnny was never the goody two shoes, he much rather preferred getting in fights, going out with friends and sleeping around with random men. Our parents never approved of his behavior but found great comfort in me, 'the best son ever'.
I don't really deny the facts, that I purposefully did everything I could to make them proud so when Johnny did something bad they'd still be calmer than there was hope at least for their younger son. They listen to me more than they do to my older brother, so I think I did my job there.

"Well, thanks to me you got to do whatever you wished, so you should be forever thankful." I defend, which he accepts.

"True. But it could've backfired very badly. What if they just got stricter because you set the standard too high?"

"Be thankful you're older, because you set the bar too low and it was easy for me to be a good child, when they had you for comparison."

We both share a laugh. "I wasn't that bad, you know?"

"Yeah, just half bad. Remember when I used to sneak you in at night when you were drunk off your mind and covered in hickeys so they wouldn't see you?" I grin, reminiscing about the good old times.

"Yeah. And when you'd use your make up to cover them up, ha." He laughs and earns himself a smack on the chest.

"Don't mention my makeup, I stopped wearing it a long time ago." I look to the side and he laughs.

"Yeah? Drop that skincare routine, please."

"Yah! You're terrible." I punch his shoulder lightly.

#===#

So I literally wrote that chapter like months ago and I just came back to read it and I'm sitting here wondering what even happened in my mind for this abomination of memes to be born, but like, enjoy ahah