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it was a complete, utter accident falling for zyye.
jr couldn’t pinpoint exactly when it began— was it when zyye started helping him get the locked heart? that time zyye killed llama and jemplix to protect himself and jr? or maybe it was from the very beginning, when jr looked further into zyye, to see if it would be beneficial to team with him or dizzy. either way, it all led to the same result: jr liked zyye way more than he should’ve.
it wasn’t a bad thing, or at least at first. him and zyye had a good alliance going, with zyye helping jr work towards the locked heart. jr knew not to trust zyye, as he heard of what he had done to dizzy. how dizzy was used as a pawn for zyye to get what he wanted. jr had shook it off at the time but kept it in the back of his mind, thinking to himself that he wouldn’t let zyye in that close, too closely to him. however, this was easier said than done.
the more jr worked with zyye, the more time they spent together, it nearly made jr lose focus of zyye’s past transgressions. he was smart, capable, and genuinely nice to hang out with. it was often that jr would look forward to meeting up with zyye to work on whatever goal they had that day. even if they didn’t get done as much as they had planned, catching glimpses of zyye’s smile or his crinkled eyes made jr’s chest tight.
jr never spoke on these feelings, but he suspected zyye knew. sometimes, he would feel zyye’s eyes on him, watching his every move. it was admittedly unnerving, yet there was also excitement in the mix of emotions jr felt. realistically, he was probably being watched to make sure he was gathering the right materials or in case he decided to jump zyye, but nonetheless there was an ever lurking hope that zyye felt the same way about him.
watchful eyes, lingering touches, moments that felt like they were fleeting. even just the mere thought of zyye made jr’s heart ache, the rhythmic thudding squeezing his heart.
after zyye’s betrayal, jr’s chest was tight for another reason.
heartbreak, jr assumed. it was a constant weight on his body, with him occasionally struggling to breathe properly due to the pain. sometimes he’d glance in the direction where he kept zyye’s cat, considering revenge before shutting that idea down. there could be a better opportunity in the future, he had thought. he never expected to feel this way on soulbound, especially feeling this way about zyye .
though, there was a lot jr didn’t understand. zyye was pretty apologetic during their last discussion, where they went from allies to enemies. zyye acknowledged that they went through a lot together, yet he still betrayed jr. why? when did his thought process change? was it really for the good of the server? jr didn’t know.
something jr noticed that was crossing his mind time and time again was zyye’s relations to jemplix. it made sense considering jemplix was the person zyye had named for the reason of his betrayal, but jr still had so many questions. the two had been enemies for ages, what the hell was with the sudden teamup? zyye told him it was due to their goals aligning, so no one would get the locked heart. was it really only because of their similar morals? there was a suffocating feeling in his throat when jr thought about it, his stomach churning at the idea that there was something more to his sudden loss. zyye was never truly his, but jr’s heart ached all the same regardless.
even after what zyye had done, jr’s chest still suffocated him, hoping zyye would come back. these feelings often drove him mad, shaking his head as if these feelings would be shaken off just as easily. there was some ease following their meeting in the end, when zyye gave jr his oceanic heart. while it wasn’t the locked heart like jr originally wanted, the oceanic heart was still quite useful. plus, zyye had used it for so long that it felt just a little more special when zyye handed it to him. jr could feel the pad of zyye’s paw as zyye handed the heart to him. jr equipped it quickly and took a deep breath as he watched zyye run away. the knot in his chest loosened further when he saw zyye die to an enderman, causing a laugh out of him and the others.
later, when zyye was signing the peace contract, the atmosphere was laxer than it had been in a while. it was nice.
even though he’d definitely be more guarded than he was before, jr had just a bit of hope that maybe, just maybe, him and zyye could reconnect. the others on the server appeared less tense than usual after the contract was signed as did zyye. he didn’t want to get his hopes up, but there was always a possibility.
maybe they could try again.