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jaebeom was annoyed.
the funny part was that he wasn’t annoyed at anyone else but himself. he was annoyed at himself for being such a coward and not telling youngjae how much he liked spending time with him, how much he loved his laugh, how much he loved how clingy youngjae would get when he was scared - and the boy was scared of practically everything - and how absolutely adorable it was.
but most of all, he was annoyed he didn’t have the balls to confess.
and he wasn’t the only one, for that matter.
"seriously, hyung. we will all die of old age before you even get close to confessing at this pace. and you know, i was pretty much counting on secretly living in your basement once you'll finally move in with youngjae, so there goes my plan," jackson said seriously and went back to eating his mozzarella sticks without giving him a second glance.
jaebeom was horrified. not sure if it was from the idea of jackson living in a basement, or of him living in his and youngjae’s basement, or seriously just by the show jackson was putting up while eating since the mozzarella was now everywhere.
but he sure was horrified.
"i...don't know what to say," was all he was able to reply.
"well thanks, i would've tried my best," deadpanned jackson. it was at this moment jinyoung decided to put down his phone with an unnecessarily loud sigh and jaebeom just knew a life changing moment was coming.
"i hate to admit it, but he is right,’’ jinyoung announced with his index finger pointing at jackson.
"see! even jinyoung agrees!’’ jackson yelled with his unfortunately still full mouth which earned him a death glare from jinyoung.
"don’t make me regret this," said jinyoung seriously while trying to stare a hole into jackson’s face, but jaebeom could see the corners of his mouth lifting up a little and then coming back down. was he trying to hold back a laugh? jackson bewildered face and the cheese that was covering it were funny, for sure, but there was something fishy about these two. he would have to find out about it later. what he needed now was a plan.
"okay, okay! i get it, guys!’’ he sighed before putting his face into his hands. how in the world was he going to do this? he had no clue. "what do you suggest then?’’
“i suggest you get your ass out there and walk over to youngjae’s and actually say something,” said jinyoung while looking into his eyes, challenging him. jaebeom started feeling a little nervous under his gaze.
“now? but it’s way past 10pm, shouldn’t i wait until tomorrow?” asked jaebeom worriedly. what if youngjae was already sleeping?
“see, you're just making up excuses again. at least find a more original one, hyung.” jinyoung sounded tired. and right. which may have been the last drop in the already full cup of jaebeom’s decision. it was settled then.
he was going to confess. right now.
***
he obviously hadn't really thought this through. like at all. he was just standing in front of youngjae’s house, from the side where he knew his friend had his room and didn’t know what to do.
jaebeom took out his phone from his jeans and started typing as quickly as he could with how his hands were already frozen by the cold winter weather.
10:31: are you still awake?
10:31: youngjae?
10:32: youngjae-ah?
10:32: YAH! DON’T IGNORE ME PLEASE
10:33: pls this is important
this is when jaebeom finally noticed a dimmed light in youngjae’s room. guess he wasn’t asleep? maybe he was working on his music? he was progressing quite well lately, maybe that’s why he wasn’t responding?
jaebeom put his phone back into his pocket, took some snow from the ground and got the dumbest idea of the day.
he made a snowball and threw it to his window.
which wouldn’t be so bad if you know, the window hadn't been wide open, meaning the snowball flew right through it.
“fuck.” jaebeom froze. this wasn’t anywhere near his plan and he didn’t know what to do. should he text youngjae that he was the absolute dumbass that threw fucking snow into his room? or should he pretend that he was never there in the first place? or maybe he should-
“hyung?” youngjae was standing at the window, surprise and disbelief written all over his face.
“i-i can explain.” tried jaebeom lamely. but how the hell was he going to explain that?he didn’t have any excuse and he suddenly wasn’t ready to confess. fuck, fuck, fuck. maybe he could blame it on jinyoung or jackson? or both? come up with the stupidest idea and say they made him do it? but what if they ended up talking to youngjae later and betrayed him? what if he-
“hyung. what are you doing here?” youngjae was coming out of the house, putting a coat on, still wearing his slippers and looking like he hadn’t slept in way too long in jaebeom's opinion.
he still looked fucking adorable though, if jaebeom might say. which he honestly could have done without at this moment.
“why didn’t you put some shoes on before coming outside? it's freezing out here.” besides the fact that jaebeom was trying his hardest not to tell him the real reason he came here, he was really worried about youngjae’s feet freezing before he even had the chance to calm down.
“that's exactly why i didn’t. i didn’t want to keep you waiting, it’s too cold. plus it got me worried that something had happened.”
jaebeom sighed. no wonder he was head over heels for this boy. he could feel his heart pounding so fast and hard he feared for the well-being of his ribs. for real. he felt sorry for dragging him out of the warmth of his house and making him worried and above all for the fucking snowball that was now probably melting on his bedroom's floor, making a mess. well, hopefully it was on the floor. would make cleaning up easier, probably. And as cute as it made him look, he also felt sorry for the way youngjae’s cheeks and nose had gotten pink from the cold.
“i like you, youngjae-ah.” there. he had said it. it was out in the open and there was no going back. unless he found a tardis on his way back, which would change a lot of things.
“oh, i like you too? but hyung, did you do something bad? why are you telling me this now?” youngjae looked even more confused and it hit jaebeom that he hadn't exactly made himself clear.
“no, i didn't do anything, no. i mean, if you don't count me accidentally throwing a snowball into your room, which i am really sorry for by the way. but when i said i liked you, i meant i like you in more than a friendly way, i meant that i’ve liked you for quite a while now and that i would like you to go out with me?” jaebeom’s nervousness made his voice much higher than it normally was and made his last words barely audible, but he was counting on youngjae’s musically trained ears to hear it. it had been embarrassing enough the first time, he wasn't sure he would survive having to say it another time.
“okay.”
“okay?” jaebeom was confused. 'okay' as in 'i get it'? 'okay', as in 'i accept your apology'? 'okay', as in 'i accept your feelings'? okay could have meant so many different things at this moment and it made jaebeom lose his mind over how he was supposed to interpret it.
youngjae took a step toward him and stopped just few inches before him. it was obvious how cold he must have been but he also looked way more relaxed than when he came out of the house. “okay, i will go out with you.” youngjae softly smiled at jaebeom and jaebeom could swear, that just then, his heart exploded. he was unable to do anything except smiling like the biggest fool he was.
“if that is all you came here to say, would you mind me getting back in now? i’m starting to really freeze out here.” his smile hadn't withered, and jaebeom, still unable to formulate a word, just nodded several times in the speed of light.
“good.” youngjae started walking towards his house when he suddenly turned around and walked back to jaebeom. he stopped just a breath away, placed a quick kiss on his cheek and with a quiet goodnight went back in.
jaebeom just stood there, watching him getting inside and then turning off the dim light in his bedroom. he finally got a hold of himself and started slowly walking back home. he couldn’t believe it went so well and that he was going out with youngjae.
he was almost home when his phone buzzed inside his jeans.
11:14: next time please just ring the doorbell
jaebeom made a mental note of that.