𝗮 𝗹𝗲𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝘁𝗼 𝘆𝗼𝘂; norenmin

𝚎𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝𝚎𝚎𝚗

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"Look, Jaem I'm begging you here," Renjun pleaded, waiting outside the house next door for his best friend with Chenle. "I can't take a full day of concentrated and undiluted Chenle. Please come out with us..."

The bluette, who was actually secretly looking down at them from his bedroom window, sighed as he spoke into the phone. "I-I can't," he cringed, hating denying the love of his life anything.

Jaemin had a duty to some study this afternoon, having promised both Jisung and his mother that he would achieve that ninety in history the following week. He knew he could do it, and the work itself wasn't that hard.

"Jaemin, how can you abandon me this way? You know how irritating he is, and he loves you!"

"Junnie, I know you're just using me to get Lele off your back. And I'm sorry, but I have to do actual work today."

"Ew, when have you ever done work? You can copy my homework like you always do, so what's the issue?"

Jaemin turned around to lean his back against the wall beside his window, his resolve weakening and weakening to the sound of Huang Renjun's voice. "I'm sorry...." he apologised, squeezing his eyes shut and eliciting a shaky breath. "I'll talk to you soon-"

"Nana," the older pressed, looking up at his window and feeling his nerves spike with worry. "Nana, what's wrong....? Please tell me. I-If I've done something wrong, then I'll fix it. I can fix it-"

"Mum's calling me. I'll see you later." With that, the call was cut off and Renjun was left listening to the long, echoing beeps following the receiver. His heart hurt for some reason, most likely because the person he always trusted to come and see him was suddenly avoiding him or something.

Did I say something he didn't like? He wondered, glancing over at Chenle who was texting on his phone, totally oblivious as to what was going on around him. We always spend our weekends together....I don't understand....

His cousin finally looked up and tilted his head, noticing the glassy sheen of tears lining his older relative's eyes. "What's wrong?" He gasped, shoving his phone into his pocket and pulling Renjun into a warm embrace. Due to his height, he couldn't quite judge how well the other could breathe, but tried his best to be gentle.

"Lele, have I said something mean to Jaemin recently? Like, were you there to witness anything?"

The younger frowned, looking up at the clear and heated sky to think. "No....not that I've noticed. Why? Is he not coming?"

"He never comes anymore!" He hissed, pulling away to wipe his eyes and look much stronger. "It's been about a week and a half, and he never comes to see me anymore! It used to be everyday, and now I barely even know what he's up to."

Chenle rubbed his face, fanning himself with his hand as he spoke. "Maybe it's time you both grew up a little bit, then. Maybe he's trying to prepare himself for when you won't be able to stay together forever."

This is bullshit! Renjun thought, pulling at his t-shirt to circulate some air. It was officially the hottest day of the year so far, and supposedly it was to get worse. I refuse to believe that he's suddenly just putting some distance between us for no particular reason.

The pair started to walk down towards their town, neither able to properly function within the intense temperature. Heat waves visibly curled up into the air in tendrils, making it seem as though an invisible barrier was at work.

"I want to shove my head into a bucket of ice cream," the younger groaned, beads of sweat rolling down both teens like the rest of the town's population. Small children were screaming at their parents from frustration and even the dogs were dead on their legs, panting excessively.

A pair of boys were walking past them, chatting away and dropping a wink in their direction. Chenle, the flirt that he was, winked and smiled back, even when he didn't live here. Renjun rolled his eyes and ignored them.

His loyalty was quite commendably unwavering to Jeno.

"I wonder if I should go and visit him tonight," the oldest spoke softly, still thinking of Jaemin. "I mean, if I just don't tell him I'm coming, then-"

"Jeez, Junnie. You have to chill, okay? Acting like an obsessive girlfriend isn't something we boys find attractive, and you should know. He's not a bad or untrustworthy person..."

Renjun whined, ruffling his damp hair and growling. "I just want him back! I want him to talk to me!"

As he was busy ranting and raving, he wasn't paying enough attention to notice another boy their age coming the other direction. He crashed head first into the other's chest, almost falling back had Chenle not caught him.

"Ugh, what the fuck?" He grunted, opening his eyes to find an all too familiar ravenette reluctantly tilting his head up to view him. "Oh.....J-Jeno?"

Jeno, as crazy as it seemed, was actually dressed in long sleeves for some reason. They were pulled up, of course, and he was sweating as much as the next person, also dressed in shorts and sneakers. ".....I'm sorry," he mumbled.

Chenle looked from one to the other, pulling the recognisable name from his memory banks and clicking his fingers at the realisation. "Oh! Lee Jeno?!"

Renjun promptly kicked his shin, telling him to shut up with a much unneeded action. The younger, however, burst into a fit of pitchy laughter that had more than a few heads turning to look at them. Jeno's pink cheeks turned a whole shade darker as he tried to make heads and tails of the situation presented to him.

"I'm so sorry about him," Renjun pleaded, hoping that the way the younger kept refusing to look at him wasn't an 'offended' thing. "He isn't right in the head-"

"I happen to be smarter than you, Dickhead," Chenle rolled his eyes, stepping back to give them some space anyway. "I'm getting a drink. See you in ten."

Jeno swiftly flicked his attention to the retreating Chinese male and stifled a squeak, hoping he wasn't about to get hounded for not watching where he was going. He then looked to Renjun who was equally as flustered.

A tiny silence enveloped their company as neither knew what to say. Both weren't terribly confident in the presence of strangers and crushes, so Chenle had landed them in the worst situation possible.

Then, the worst possible thing Jeno could've said occurred...

"Y-You're Renjun, right?"

The older nodded softly, "You got had to come get me the other day-"

Ah, so I know his face now, the ravenette thought, nodding to himself at the small victory. So, he's must definitely be the one Jaemin likes..... Unfortunately, Lee Jeno had no idea Renjun was holding his breath and hoping for a good encounter. He also didn't know bringing up another guy's name wasn't particularly smart. "Then, you know Jaemin? The boy in our year with the nice face." Shit, I actually described him that way?! Agh, Jeno!

Oh....Renjun's throat went dry as he looked at the expression Jeno wore. An interested and fond look. How does he know Jaem? And more so, how does he know that Jaem knows me?

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