Little Too Close
Tell Me You ExistIndex:
(YJ) – Young Jae speaking
(DH) – Daehyun speaking
(BY) – Yongguk speaking
(KR) – Krystal speaking
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About a month has passed since Christmas and already it seemed like February was on its way. Even with merely a month passing by though, Young Jae noticed quite a bit of changes in Daehyun. Well, it wasn’t really only a bit. These changes were more or less very noticeable. Whether it was something to worry about or not, Young Jae didn’t really know.
“Hey… It’s almost your birthday. Do you wanna go somewhere special?” (DH) Young Jae looked up to see Daehyun standing there with his hands in his pockets and a smile on his face. Nowadays, Daehyun looked visibly paler and his hair has definitely gotten longer, but not too long to where it would fit into a ponytail. It was just a sort of shaggy kind of long. That part, he wasn’t really complaining about. When he saw Daehyun with slightly messy hair every now and then, it looked rather… attractive. Still, Young Jae even noticed that he’s gotten a bit skinnier, possibly even weaker, but he didn’t change by too much. Though, the one thing he’s noticed is that Daehyun has felt colder nowadays, almost as if he wasn’t there. This could be just a passing phase, but Young Jae couldn’t help but continue to worry about Daehyun’s current state. “Is something wrong…? You look so worried! Come on. We’ll go somewhere special on your birthday.” (DH)
“I… I just want to… spend it with you…” (YJ) Daehyun was a bit surprised by Young Jae’s answer, but he chuckled a bit as he sat down next to Young Jae. Putting an arm around Young Jae’s shoulders, he leaned in closer towards him as his smile turned into a grin.
“Of course you’ll spend it with me! But is there anywhere specific that you want to go to?” (DH) Even though his birthday is coming up, Young Jae really didn’t know where he would want to spend his birthday. Just as long as Daehyun stayed with him, then he would be alright with spending it anywhere. So, to respond to Daehyun’s question, Young Jae shook his head a bit. “Ah… I see. Then… I hear there’s a temple not too far from here. Do you want to check that out?” (DH)
“A… temple?” (YJ) Young Jae has heard of the temple, but he’s never actually been to it. He used to never have the time to go out and visit places, but ever since Daehyun came into his life, he seemed to have enough time for everything nowadays. In a way… he really liked that Daehyun had changed his lifestyle. Maybe it was something that he needed. “O-Okay. I wanna see it with you.” (YJ)
“Why do you want to see everything with me? Are you scared I’ll go somewhere?” (DH) Young Jae tensed a little as he lowered his head a bit. That was exactly what he was afraid of and he wanted to spend as much of his time as possible with Daehyun. Of course, judging by Young Jae’s lack of response, Daehyun’s smile disappeared a bit as he leaned back in his seat. “Ah…” (DH)
“Sorry…” (YJ)
“Don’t apologize! It’s not your fault. It’s okay. I won’t go anywhere, alright? What’s making you think like this?” (DH) Young Jae looked up, but he simply stared at Daehyun. It took a moment of staring back for it to finally click in his head. Letting out a nervous laugh, Daehyun rubbed the back of his head a bit as he looked away. “Okay...! So I look a little different. It’s not so bad, right? I mean… I’m still me and that’s all that matters… right?” (DH)
“Y-Yeah…” (YJ)
“And with my hair like this, I can even look like a samurai if I grow my hair out a little longer! Isn’t that so freaking cool?!” (DH) As Daehyun imagined dressing up like a samurai, Young Jae imagined a half bald Daehyun with the rest of his hair up in a weird, poofy bun. He instantly let out a quiet whine, which snapped Daehyun back to his senses before looking back at Young Jae. “What? You don’t like guys with long hair?” (DH)
“W-What…?! I-I, um…” (YJ)
“Ah… okay, okay. I won’t grow my hair too long. I’ll keep it good looking for you. How does that sound?” (DH) Young Jae nodded a bit, though Daehyun’s hair was still the last thing on his mind. How was he supposed to be certain that Daehyun really was alright? Sure, he would still be himself despite the changes he seems to be going through, but was it healthy? Still… there was no point in questioning it. It was safe to assume that even Daehyun didn’t seem to understand what was going on, so all they could do was wait and see what was going on. “Oh! Hey! We should get going. You’re gonna be late for school.” (DH)
“R-Right…” (YJ) Young Jae got up from his seat and picked up his bag off of the coffee table. Finals were coming up rather quickly, but that meant that the entire school was in study mode now. With his grandmother’s passing and with the changes that Daehyun’s been going through, he’s found that it's become a bit difficult to actually study as much as he used to. He wanted to do well, but everything around him seems to be constantly changing.
How was he supposed to focus with that on his mind?
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While Young Jae was in class, Daehyun was walking around the school buildings, peeking into various classrooms and such. He knew that there were a lot of other teens his age that hated school, but the very thought of attending school fascinated him. Sure, there was much less freedom and some of the teachers didn’t seem to know what they were doing, but it seemed almost… fun. Being able to freely make loads of friends, to converse with people he’s never met before, and to be able to experience what everyone else is experiencing is just something that he wants to know about. If he could just spend at least one day in one of these seats, just to see what it was like, then he would feel like he’s accomplished something.
“Hey! Aren’t you supposed to be in class?!” Daehyun jumped a bit as he turned around to the person that had been speaking. However, instead of addressing him, it seemed like the teacher was addressing someone else. After the teacher scolded the student, both the teacher and the student just simply walked past him.
It’s not like he wanted to be yelled at or anything, but… the fact that neither one of them seemed to have noticed him made Daehyun feel sad and a bit… worried. Why hadn’t that teacher scolded him as well? He was wearing the uniform, he was standing out in the hallway just like that other student, but… they had completely ignored him.
But that shouldn’t be happening, right? Just this morning, Young Jae had both seen and spoken to him! Those two should have most definitely seen him as well! Was he fading again? Was something wrong with his body? He needed to know and yet… the main thing he was worried about was leaving Young Jae alone. Daehyun had to make sure that Young Jae could still see him before he went to the hospital to check on his condition. How was he going to check on Young Jae? Well… it was simple really.
Very simple.
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It was actually rather hard to focus on the lesson. Young Jae wanted to do better and make sure to take notes on everything, but he just kept thinking about Daehyun. After all, there wouldn’t be obvious changes to Daehyun’s physical health if nothing bad were happening. Was he actually starting to look more like his physical self? If that was the case, then was that a good thing or a bad thing? Young Jae wanted to figure everything out, but it was a lot harder than he thought it would be.
Just as he leaned his elbow against the table and held his jawline in the palm of his hand, Young Jae suddenly heard something small collide with the window. Despite it making him jump, Young Jae had assumed that it wasn’t anything important and attempted to keep his attention on the lesson. However, when the sound occurred again, Young Jae turned his gaze towards the window before his eyes widened with surprise.
Out there, on one of the branches, was Daehyun hanging on for dear life. Despite his nervous demeanor, he wore that grin of his the second Young Jae had noticed him. Daehyun carefully raised one of his hands before waving his arm around like crazy. Young Jae wanted to freak out and pull Daehyun into the building, but he also didn’t want to cause a scene. Looking around as sneakily as he can, Young Jae noticed that none of the other students seemed to have noticed. Even the teacher was still going on with the lesson despite there being a crazed madman out on the branch in front of the open windows.
Looking back outside, Young Jae was now certain that Daehyun was definitely out on that branch. Why was he even in the tree in the first place?! It’s not like they were going to be able to communicate because Young Jae definitely was not going to be writing notes for Daehyun to read and he also couldn’t figure out what people were saying when they mouthed the words. Of course, it seemed like Daehyun seemed to think otherwise as he began talking rather rapidly and with as much enthusiasm as possible. Young Jae was about to ask what he just said, but a voice had quickly caused him to jump and instantly turn his head towards the source of the voice. “Mister Yoo! Are you off daydreaming again? That’s the second time this year! If I catch you again, you’re standing out in the hallway, do you understand?”
“Y-Yes sir…!” (YJ) The teacher looked at him for a moment longer before he soon went back to the lecture. Young Jae quickly turned towards the window, seeing Daehyun already moving backwards. He had assumed that Daehyun was going to climb back down, but just as Daehyun began to do as Young Jae assumed, Daehyun somehow lost his grip before disappearing from Young Jae’s view.
In that instant, Young Jae gasped as he instantly stood up, forcing his chair to fly back and his table to move forward. Sure, he hurt himself in the process, but he was far too worried about Daehyun to really care about his own wellbeing at the moment. “Is something the matter, Mister Yoo?”
Young Jae looked at his teacher with wide eyes, surprised that no one else seemed to have noticed the male that fell off the tree branch. Clearing his throat, Young Jae attempted to compose himself as he began to fiddle with the hem of his blazer. “I-I… I have to use the restroom! I-It’s an emergency!” (YJ)
“Well… will you come back focused?” Young Jae nodded his head furiously, a determined look on his face as he awaited his teacher’s response. Noticing the look on Young Jae’s face, the teacher let out a sigh before he waved his hand in approval. Young Jae quickly walked forward, taking the hall pass before he made his way out of the classroom.
Daehyun had to be okay, right? Okay, so he fell out of a tree, but that didn’t mean that Daehyun couldn’t have survived the fall! If anything, Daehyun would have been extremely hurt and would need to go to a hospital immediately. There was always that chance though that the snow may have broken his fall… right? Snow was usually soft, but Young Jae wasn’t necessarily certain how thick the snow would be around the base of the tree. It wouldn’t help much either if the roots were above ground where Daehyun had fallen.
Running out of the school building, Young Jae quickly turned the corner as he continued running. If he recalled, his classroom’s window should be relatively close to the entrance. Since the tree was next to the classroom, which meant the tree was located on the outer area as opposed to the garden area, which was located in the middle of the school grounds.
Which also meant that he would have to cover a lot more distance.
Turning another corner, Young Jae had expected to see Daehyun lying on the ground, but instead, he saw no one there. He was slightly confused as he made his way slowly over to the tree, looking around a little more carefully as he tried to find any clues as to where Daehyun may have gone. There were footprints leading up to the tree, but there weren’t any leading away from it. Plus, there wasn’t any sort of body print in the snow either, so Daehyun hadn’t landed in the snow either. So then, where exactly was he?
“Heeeeeeey! Young Jae!” (DH) Young Jae looked around for another brief moment before he slowly looked upwards. His eyes instantly widened as he saw Daehyun climbing safely down the tree. So, this really hadn’t been his imagination? “What are you doing out here? I thought you were still in class!” (DH)
“I-I… I saw you fall!” (YJ) Instead of responding, Daehyun took his time climbing down the tree before planting his feet firmly on the ground. Now that he was safely on the ground, Daehyun let out a relieved sigh as he grinned. He took another moment to dust himself off before looking at Young Jae once more.
“What was tha- Oh! Right! I did fall! I managed to grab onto the branch below it.” (DH) Young Jae frowned a bit as he tried to figure out whether he wanted to be angry that Daehyun had even attempted something like that in the first place or if he should be relieved that Daehyun was safe. It was a confusing feeling and Young Jae didn’t necessarily enjoy it, but he decided that he had to scold Daehyun for putting himself into a dangerous situation.
“Why did you do something like that?! Y-You… you could’ve gotten hurt badly!” (YJ) Daehyun seemed to give Young Jae a confused look, which only either annoyed Young Jae or confused him in return. However, confusion seemed to replace any other emotions that Young Jae had been feeling as Daehyun grinned and placed his hands on both of Young Jae’s shoulders.
“It’s alright! I would’ve been hurt even more if you hadn’t seen me.” (DH) What did Daehyun mean by that? Judging from what had occurred, Young Jae noticing him shouldn’t have affected anything. Maybe if Daehyun had attempted to gain his attention in a strange way, then it would have been different, but he had done it in a simple and straightforward way. “Anyway, I uh… I gotta go check on something. That’s what I was trying to tell you!” (DH)
“O-Oh… um… but you couldn’t tell me during lunch…?” (YJ) Daehyun put one hand on his hip as he used his other hand to rub the back of his head. It probably would’ve been better to just wait until lunch, but he needed to check as soon as he could. It was bothering him and he felt like he needed to obtain this bit of information now.
“Ah… It’s an emergency! I’ll be back before school ends, alright?” (DH) Young Jae wondered where Daehyun was heading off to, but he decided to just hope that it wasn’t going to cause any trouble. As soon as Young Jae gave a small nod, Daehyun gave Young Jae a tight hug before he ran off. Just as Young Jae had turned to watch Daehyun, his gaze landed on Krystal and Yongguk, whom were standing by the corner he had turned earlier.
They each stood there silently, neither one seeming to want to say or do anything. It was slowly becoming awkward and sooner or later, someone was going to have to act first. Out of the three, Krystal finally stepped forward with a slightly worried and confused look on her face. “Young Jae…? What are you doing out here?” (KR)
“I-I was… checking on Daehyun… D-Didn’t you see him when he ran past…?” (YJ) Krystal looked at Yongguk, whom seemed to be deep in thought. Young Jae didn’t understand the kind of expressions that they currently held and it was somewhat making him feel a bit uncomfortable. “Um…” (YJ)
“What was wrong with him?” (BY) Young Jae perked up a bit, surprised that Yongguk had asked about Daehyun. Wait. Why was Yongguk asking about it? He couldn’t see him, if Young Jae recalled, so… was Yongguk just trying to be nice? Krystal should have been able to see Daehyun, but… she didn’t seem to understand what was going on.
“N-Never mind…” (YJ) Just as Young Jae began walking forward, Yongguk stepped in front of Young Jae’s path. Young Jae fiddled with the hem of his blazer, a bit uncomfortable, but also very cold. Since the adrenaline from Daehyun’s little stunt had practically dispersed, Young Jae was just now noticing how cold it was. Of course, he was glad that the wind wasn’t blowing, but that was the least of his worries for the time being.
“Do you want to have lunch with us? It’s almost lunchtime.” (BY) Young Jae stared at Yongguk, a little confused by the sudden offer. He was also a little confused about the time. Was it really almost lunchtime? Okay, sure, he hadn’t really been paying much attention to the time nor the lesson when he was back in the classroom, but time couldn’t have passed that quickly… could it?
Just as he thought that, the school bell rang, signaling the start of lunch. Young Jae was a little dumbfounded, but he quickly snapped out of it. After all, Yongguk and Krystal were still waiting for an answer and it would be rather rude to keep them waiting. “O-Okay…” (YJ)
“Good. Let’s head back and get our stuff then.” (BY) With a nod, Young Jae began walking. Yongguk led the trio while Krystal walked next to Young Jae. Neither one of them wanted to say anything, but they didn’t see Daehyun whatsoever. In fact, they had only seen Young Jae talking to himself for a brief moment before he turned around. Both had their own assumptions, but they both seemed to think that the stress of finals was finally getting to Young Jae.
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He stood there, unable to bring himself to enter the room he so wished to avoid. Daehyun never liked to see himself lying in a bed, completely immobile and helpless. It felt all too surreal every time he did and he felt uncomfortable doing so. Still… he needed to know. Reading the notes that the doctor had would be enough for him, right? Those notes would tell him exactly how his body was doing and maybe it would give him an idea as to what was happening.
Taking in a deep breath, Daehyun took hold of the door handle, but he simply stood there with his grip tightening. His heart was racing and his whole body was tensing. He was far too nervous to find out, especially since there was a possibility of a path that he didn’t necessarily like. Still… he preferred to actually know what was happening as opposed to be completely oblivious to his current circumstances.
With one last deep breath, Daehyun forced himself inside.
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School had been over for maybe a little over an hour now, but Young Jae continued to wait by the shoe lockers. Daehyun said that he would be back and Young Jae believed that he really would. So, Young Jae simply sat on the bench, waiting patiently for Daehyun to return.
“You still haven’t gone home yet?” (BY) Young Jae looked up to see Yongguk standing a small distance away with a single strap over his shoulder. He forgot that there were usually student council meetings today, but Young Jae never really knew how long those usually lasted. “Are you waiting for something?” (BY)
“Huh? O-Oh… um…” (YJ) Young Jae didn’t want to necessarily say that he was waiting for Daehyun since Yongguk wouldn’t be able to see him. Plus, he doubted that Yongguk would believe in anyway. Since Daehyun’s real body is in the hospital, Young Jae wouldn’t be surprised if Yongguk thought that he was hallucinating or something along those lines. “I… um… was… thinking a-and um... lost track of time.” (YJ)
“I see… Well, don’t stay too late then.” (BY)
“A-Alright.” (YJ) With a single nod, Yongguk walked past Young Jae and left the school building. Young Jae frowned a bit, not wanting to be left alone as he waited for Daehyun, but maybe it would be alright. After all, he did have to worry about when Daehyun did actually show up while Yongguk was here. It would be difficult to explain to Yongguk anything if he did end up talking to Daehyun while they were both around.
With a small sigh, Young Jae set his backpack on the ground before lying on the bench. What was taking Daehyun so long to make it back to school? Was whatever it was that he was doing really taking a while to do? Maybe Young Jae should’ve gone with Daehyun so that he could finish his task faster. That way, it wouldn’t have been so difficult. Then again… he still didn’t know what it was that Daehyun was doing, so for all he knew, he wouldn’t have been of any help.
“You’re still here?” (DH) Young Jae lifted his head a bit to see Daehyun walking up to him. He instantly smiled as he pushed himself up to a sitting position, but his smile slowly faded when he noticed the not so happy look on Daehyun’s face as he sat down. Daehyun let out a heavy sigh, which only worried Young Jae. What was it that made the usually happy Daehyun into something like this? “Hey… Can we… get another crepe? I uh… I don’t have any money, but… I could go for a crepe right now.” (DH)
“A… crepe…? O-Okay…?” (YJ) Daehyun instantly got to his feet before he began walking. Young Jae frowned a bit as he slowly picked up his bag. Why was Daehyun acting so differently now? He just had to believe that nothing bad was currently happening since Daehyun wasn’t saying anything. For now, he would just try his best to cheer Daehyun up and get him to his old, peppy self!
Getting to his feet, Young Jae quickly ran after Daehyun.
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“This crepe is great! Don’t you think so?” (DH) It hadn’t taken Daehyun long whatsoever to regain his usual, outgoing self. It was a little scary, but Young Jae was glad that Daehyun was happy again. He didn’t really know how he would have managed to help Daehyun cheer up, but at least crepe’s seemed to do the job relatively well.
“Yeah… They’re um… really great!” (YJ) Daehyun stared at Young Jae with a bit of suspicion at first, but he soon let out a slight chuckle before he reached up and ruffled Young Jae’s hair. Young Jae gave a small smile, but when he noticed that Daehyun’s hand lingered a little longer than usual, he looked up to see a sort of sadness in Daehyun’s eyes despite the smile he was currently wearing. “I-Is… something wrong…?” (YJ)
“Huh? Oh! Uh…” (DH) Daehyun removed his hand from Young Jae before shaking his head. Taking another bite of the crepe, he thought for a brief moment before looking at Young Jae. “Just... wanted to know if you wanted another bite. Don’t want to end up eating it all by myself, right?” (DH)
“Um… Y-Yeah…” (YJ) Leaning forward, Young Jae took a bite out of the crepe before Daehyun pulled it back towards him. That cheery demeanor he wore was now clearly a mask of sorts and Young Jae wished he knew how to fix it. What was it that was making Daehyun act this way and why wasn’t he telling him what was wrong? Though… maybe it would be best to act like everything was alright. “Um… Can you… tell me again what we’re um… doing for my birthday?” (YJ)
“Birthday? Ah! I have everything planned out. You just have to wait and see. Are you excited?” (DH)
“Yeah…! I-I, um… I’m really looking forward to it.” (YJ) That seemed to have gotten Daehyun’s mind off of things as he began smiling brightly once more. Hopefully he would be able to find out what Daehyun had hidden away, but he knew that forcing it out of him wasn’t necessarily the best answer.
So… it was time to be patient once more.
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[[ My Own Thoughts:
Many secrets indeed. *-*
You won’t be able to find out until next chapter of course. >3<
Comments are loved >3<
I love talking with everyone. X3
Plus, it’s nice to know how I’m doing with each of these chapters. X3 ]]
So... I don't know if I should edit Ch. 18 & 19 or not. It's pretty angst and I cry.
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