can i walk with you - heejay

chapter twenty-two

one year and three months ago

it was jay's first day of school, well, high school to be exact. a bundle of anxiety settled at the pit of his stomach as he entered through the glass doors of the building. the boys eyes swept over the crowd of students- the lost first years, the already stressed looking second years, and the arrogant third years that carried themselves with a certain confidence.

jay let out a breath, fixing the collar of his shirt before he maneuvered his way through the throngs of students, deciding to take a look around the building.

the young boy ascended the stairs, turning his body as groups of students pushed past him. a barely audible huff fell from his lips as a particular boy roughly shoved past him.

"sorry," the boy fleetingly said, jumping down the rest of the stairs, barely sparing jay a glance.

the first year stopped where he was on the flight of stairs, turning to the boy who raced through the bundles of students in the hallway. as the boy disappeared among the crowd jay's eyes caught the name on his white hoodie, putting it into a box in the back of his mind for later.

jung, huh?

~

jay must've made wrong turn somewhere because the door he stumbled into was most certainly not the restroom.

"hello there."

jay's eyes widened, almost coughing as he inhaled the smoke that filled the room.

"uh, this is not the restroom," jay awkwardly scratched the back of his neck as he stared at the boy before him, eyes moving to the cigarette that rested between his fingers.

"no," the boy chuckled in response as he dropped his cigarette on the floor, putting it out, "it definitely is not."

a silence fell over the two and before jay could step back and leave the boy spoke up again.

"i'm donghyun," a smirk tugged at the corner of his lip as he eyed jay, leaning against the wall.

"jay," he responded, a faint flush dusting his cheeks.

looking back on it now jay felt foolish. he would do anything to take this back. leaving when he had the chance, not being stupid and messing up the directions he had been given, there was a lot of things he could've done, but jay was only a young teen who made mistakes and this was one of them.

~

months passed and at some point donghyun and jay got together. the day that it happened jay was surprised to say the least, but he couldn't say no.

jay sat in donghyun's room, propped up against the headboard of the boy's bed. the older was sat at his window, head leaned against the wall as he blew out the smoke from his cigarette.

jay mindlessly swiped through his phone, still groggy from the nap he had taken on the boys bed. jay and donghyun had gotten close in the short amount of time they knew each other. sleepovers were a common occurrence, sneaking out late at night, stuffing their faces with food they did everything together.

it would be a lie for jay to say he didn't feel his emotions for the older change, it was different from a platonic love, but the the boy was convinced it would never work out. so here he was, laying on the bed of the boy he liked, shoving his feelings away.

unknown to jay, the older boy had been staring at him, pressing his tongue against his cheek as he thought to himself. a few minutes later, when jay was on the precipice of sleep donghyun had gotten up, startling the boy as he moved to sit beside him on the bed.