Countdown (JJ Project)

The moment Jinyoung finally caught the sight of Jaebum that day, a boy was clinging on him. The two classes he attended earlier were different from Jaebum, so he only got to see him now. The stranger talked excitedly with his arm slung over Jaebum’s shoulder. His best friend didn’t seem to mind him being so touchy, he just laughed over what the other boy said. Jinyoung just stood at where he was, finding himself couldn’t take his eyes away from the two. Something began to burn inside him.

Only standing there, of course Jaebum would see him eventually, no matter how much he didn’t want to be seen. He found himself unable to smile unless he forced it out when Jaebum called his name.

“Hey, let me introduce you with this guy,” The stranger had already put his arm down, but now it was Jaebum’s turn to put his arm on the other’s shoulder. “This is Jackson. And Jackson, this is Jinyoung.”

“Hey, nice to meet you,” Jackson said, holding his hand out. He was slightly shorter than Jinyoung, and he had a weird accent when he talked. Jinyoung could feel energy radiating from the boy as he smiled brightly, contrasted to his all black clothes from hat to shoes. Jinyoung hesitantly nodded and shook his hand. “Yeah, me too.”

Jackson turned to Jaebum, whispered something to his ear and laughed when Jaebum suddenly redden all the way to his ears. It was the first time Jinyoung saw him blushed. How can Jaebum react that way to him when he said he likes me?

The thought left him shocked that he was frozen for a moment. He stayed that way until Jackson cheerfully bid goodbye and left. Worried Jaebum would notice that he was acting strangely, he tried to start a conversation.

“His accent is kinda weird, is he a foreigner?”

“Yeah, he is from Hong Kong. It’s only been a year since he came, and I’ve been helping him in his Korean assignments for a while now. He’s fun, kinda noisy though,” Jaebum chuckled. The fondness in Jaebum’s voice as he was talking about Jackson made Jinyoung lost his will to continue the conversation. Jinyoung despised the pettiness that grew inside of him. He didn’t even know whether he liked Jaebum or not, and here he was acting like Jaebum was already his.

“You seem really close despite the short time you know each other.”

“I like how he clings to me. It feels like having a little brother that following you around.”

A little brother, Jinyoung thought with relief. He didn’t even realize the faint smile that was formed by his lips.

“What, are you jealous?” There it was again, Jaebum’s signature smirk. Jinyoung knew many found it charming, but sometimes for him it was just annoying. Like now, when he made him flustered and his cheeks burned. Why do I easily get red around Jaebum these days?

“No! I just curious, that’s all.”

“It’s okay if you are, you know. That gets me over the moon.” Jaebum grinned.

“I’m not, so stop it!” Jinyoung turned and walk away, leaving Jaebum by himself. He knew he would meet him again inside the classroom, since they got the same lecture after this, but he just couldn’t stand being with him at the moment. His embarrassment, however, failed to erase the smile from his face.

--

“I’ll accompany you.”

“You’ll just get bored there, Jaebum. I’ll just focus on my laptop and ignore you.” Jinyoung was going to work on the essay he didn’t manage to do the night before at the library, thinking the atmosphere might help him to concentrate. However, if the source of his distraction were to tag along, he was worried it would be all in vain.