Chapter Text
Rain pelted against the hood of Im Jaebum’s jacket—he’d made some small attempt to keep himself dry after rehearsal but had given up as this crazy Spring shower increased in intensity. It was only about half a mile to his small apartment from campus anyways, and his muscles were sore from dance class, but at least he knew a shortcut home.
Besides, this weather was perfect to mull over his thoughts, which currently, were pretty depressing. Jimin, his girlfriend, had reamed him out yet again for God only knows what reason (she always had something she was annoyed by) and lately that something seemed to be Jaebum. They were both 3rd year students at Geonguk University, Jaebum a film student with a minor in dance, and Jimin was a dance student.
Jaebum crouched to avoid a low hanging branch. The ‘shortcut’ to his house wasn’t really ideal. It was basically a small forest that lead to his apartment, but he knew how to maneuver it, despite the blinding rain, and he also loved being outdoors. Past the big boulder and the tree that looked like his Grandpa and then the clump of trees with the moss covering them and then—
And then.
Jaebum pulled up short, a difficult feat because he’d been walking quickly, and blinked. “Hey.” He said, nearly running into a boy, soaking wet and standing by a tree. The boy, who looked about his age or maybe a little younger, blinked as if startled, his head snapping towards Jaebum, but he said nothing, his eyes wide.
Jaebum took him in for a second. His hair was a honey blonde, clinging to his forehead miserably, and he was wearing a plain white cotton t-shirt--soaked through, and ripped jeans. He was shorter than Jaebum, and…well, he was pretty cute. Perfectly normal appearance, except for the look in in his eyes. “Are you ok?” he said, noticing suddenly that the boy was shivering, one hand pressed against the tree as if to hold himself steady. The boy didn’t say anything, his eyes falling to the grass below them, and then suddenly, he crouched down, huddled against the bark of the tree. He was shivering violently.
“Hey.” Jaebum said in alarm, crouching with him. “How long have you been here, you’re soaked to the bone.” The boy didn’t look at him, staring down at the grass as if he was waiting for Jaebum to leave. “Did you…take something?” Jaebum asked suddenly, realizing how glazed and disoriented the blond’s eyes were. “Like, a pill?”
The boy said nothing, his face firmly turned down. Jaebum noticed a set of dog tags hanging from the boy’s slender neck, and he bent, twisting his neck to read what they said. “Jackson…Wang?” The boy, presumably Jackson Wang’s, head snapped up and he stared blankly at Jaebum, his mouth set in a firm line.
“Jackson?” Jaebum repeated gently. He was definitely high, or strung out on something. “Do you know where your friends are?”
“My name is Jackson.” The boy said suddenly, softly, and Jaebum stared at him, because all he’d properly understood was the Jackson part. “You speak English?” He said, in confusion. “Where are you from?” The rain was coming down harder and harder, and it was freezing cold. Judging by how cold and blue the boy—Jackson’s fingers were, he’d probably been out here for nearly an hour.
“I’m gunna take you back to my place till you come down from this.” He decided. The kid seemed harmless, and JB was pretty confident of his sparring skills. Besides what would he do otherwise? Leave him here? Call the police or ambulance? Depending on what Jackson Wang had taken, that could get him into a lot of trouble, or probably kicked out of school.
“Is that ok?” Jaebum prodded, before adding in clumsy English. “My home?”
“Home…” Jackson echoed instantly, clinging unto the word, before standing slowly and finally looking at Jaebum.
“It’s…there.” Jaebum pointed. “You can get dry…and…” Jackson’s blank stare told him not to bother trying any more Korean. “Come.” He said in English, reaching out to take Jackson’s arm. Jackson was surprisingly obedient, following him silently to his apartment, all the way inside. Jaebum lived alone, he preferred it like that. His space was small, but clean, and reflected a lot of his personality. As they walked into his apartment, Jaebum noted that Jackson was about his size or smaller even—he could probably lend him some clothes.
“If I can figure out what you took, I’ll know how long it takes to come down.” He said, more to himself than Jackson, as the boy stood at his entryway and looked around in bewilderment. “You can put your shoes---where are your shoes?’ Jaebum noticed suddenly that Jackson was barefoot, his feet covered in mud. “Ok wait, don’t move ok!” Jackson stared at him, and Jaebum ran to the bathroom, before returning with some rubber slippers with pink duckies on them.
“Here.” He offered, and Jackson stared at the slippers, his blank expression unwavering.
“Ok...” Jaebum made the symbol for stepping into the slippers, and showed Jackson how to do it a few times, but Jackson did nothing. Finally, he got down and shoved the slippers unto his feet.
“No offense, but you kinda stink.” Jaebum said flatly. “You should take a shower…or I guess a bath would be better.” As he spoke, he headed to the bathroom, turning on the taps and letting a bath begin to run.
When he came back, Jackson had gotten into his little kitchen, and currently, he was eating a slice of burnt toast Jaebum had abandoned that morning, staring wide-eyed around, drinking in his surroundings as if he'd never seen an apartment before. “You don’t have to eat that!” Jaebum exclaimed in disgust, moving quickly to swipe the toast from Jackson, but Jackson jerked away, his brow furrowing, and scarfed down the rest of the cold, burnt slice, before turning back, his brows drawn as if to say ‘there’!
“I’ll make you food.” Jaebum said gently, wanting to laugh despite himself. The betrayed expression on the boy’s face was utterly endearing. “I guess you’re from America or something, so you’ll like a sandwich, right?” He pulled the loaf of bread out of the fridge and Jackson’s eyes lit up, his angry expression disappearing, and the second he pulled out a piece of bread it was gone, snatched so quickly from his fingers that he didn’t even see it leave. “Yah!” he explained, and Jackson had already finished half the slice, his cheeks bulging, triumphant.
“You must be really hungry.” Jaebum said in awe, watching Jackson’s jaw work. “Or maybe it’s the drugs…” He glanced towards the bathroom and saw that the tub was just about ready. “Come.” He said, and again, Jackson followed him without complaint. “Uhm…it’s probably a bad idea to give you total privacy in here, but I won’t look.” He started. “Here’s the soap and there’s—”
While he was looking at the tub, Jackson had already stripped and Jaebum’s eyes widened, looking away quickly, trying not to register what a nice body the guy had, but he did anyways. It was normal to compare bodies with other guys! Jackson got into the tub and seemed content, a small smile suddenly appearing on his face. “Warm.” He said, in English, splashing at the water. “Mmm…”
Jaebum smiled at him, only looking out of the corner of his eyes because the water was free of bubbles and left very little to the imagination. “You’ll be ok for a minute right?” he said, noting that Jackson was reaching for the soap. 'At least he knows how to bathe himself' he thought in relief. Inviting a guy to his house and offering him an opened-door bath was incredibly weird, but bathing him? “Ok…I’ll be right back then.”
He rushed out to the kitchen and threw together two sandwiches, one tuna fish and one peanut butter and jelly (American’s liked those), before making some tea as well, all the while keeping an eye on Jackson as he effectively cleaned himself in the tub. Thank god he could at least do that.
“All done?” he asked after a while, coming in with a towel. “You smell a lot better now.”
Jackson stood up, totally naked, and Jaebum shielded his eyes with the towel until Jackson took it from him. “Food.” He said astutely, rubbing himself absent-mindedly with the towel, stepping out of the tub and walking towards the kitchen.
“HEY! Slippers! Your feet are wet!” Jaebum said, following him. “Also, put that towel on!” He grabbed the towel from Jackson and stopped him, wrapping around his waist and trying hard to be mature about. Jackson looked at him with the same grumpy expression as earlier, before continuing on his journey to the kitchen, his eyes lightning up when he saw the sandwiches. Standing by the counter, he started eating rapid-pace and Jaebum watched him, wide-eyed. This was by far the most interesting Friday afternoon he’d had in a while. As Jackson ate, Jaebum caught glimpses of incredibly sharp teeth. No wonder he could tear through the food so quickly. The sandwiches now a thing of the past, Jackson glanced to the cup of tea suspiciously, before touching the cup. “Warm.” He said again, the same little smile spreading across his face.
"It's green tea." Jaebum called from the bathroom, draining the tub before returning with the slippers as well as Jackson’s clothes. “Slippers, on.” He chided. “I’m going to wash your clothes and give you something to change into.”
Jackson ignored him, holding unto the teacup with both hands, letting the steam waft over his face.
If anyone who knew Jaebum saw him doing this, they would be shocked. He was not a maternal person by any means, and he didn’t really like doing things for people other than himself. It wasn’t selfish...it was just…efficient. But now he was putting Jackson’s clothes into the machine, and getting him fresh one’s to change into, and then helping him change into them because he seemed to enjoy being naked. He wasn't sure why, it just felt like the right thing to do. It felt...cool.
“Ok, you’re changed, clean, full, and you have less of that wild…look about you.” Jaebum said in satisfaction. He was feeling pretty great; he’d never taken care of someone like this before. “Do you feel better?”
Jackson nodded. “Better.” He echoed, in Korean and Jaebum looked at him in surprise.
“So you know Korean?” He said.
“Korean.” Jackson nodded, before walking away, towards the couch, sitting down. He seemed pleased by it, pulling his knees up under his chin.
“Do you want to watch tv?” Jaebum asked, sitting beside him and flicking it on. Jackson said nothing, but he turned his attention towards the television, and no matter what channel Jaebum turned to, he watched it with the same level of rapt attention, so eventually he just settled on a romcom movie.
“You know…you shouldn’t do drugs.” He chided. “Seriously…that was really dangerous, what if I hadn’t found you? Why were you all by yourself doing that anyways? And why were you in the woods?”
Jackson paid no mind to him whatsoever, staring at the television, but Jaebum was talking more to himself anyways.
“I mean…you’re a pretty good-looking guy, surely you have a lot of friends? Maybe you’re not from around here, I dunno…” Jaebum trailed off, and eventually they were just sitting there in silence, and it felt really pleasant. With most people, he always felt this overwhelming pressure to talk, even when there was silence. Especially with Jimin, who really loved to ask him ‘What are you thinking, why are you so quiet??’ Her voice rang in his head and he made a face, shaking his head free. Not tonight.
So this was nice, sitting here with this blond-haired kid, watching a bad romcom. So nice, in fact, that eventually he fell asleep, and as he drifted, he was briefly aware that Jackson had moved across the couch and was sitting by his side, his head just barely resting against Jaebum's shoulder. He smelt like the forest, rain, and sunshine, all at once.
And it was kind of nice.