when in time, nct dream

chapter eleven

"Good morning, my dearest friends."

"Why are you in such a good mood?" Jisung asked Nayeon, watching as she and Jiyoung took their seats beside their boyfriends.

"Because we have one month left of this school year and then we get three months of freedom from this place. By then, we'll have completed training at the academy as well so we'll finally have time to rest."

"Aren't you and Jeno Hyung supposed to be training for the United Forces most of this summer?" Chenle asked, scooping more food into his mouth.

Nayeon stared at him for a second before slowly blinking. "Chenle... why would you say something like that?"

Chenle shrugged, turning away to continue his lunch and conversation with Renjun.

"Hey, where's Hyuna?" Mark asked curiously, looking between Nayeon and Jiyoung.

Jiyoung looked away from Jaemin to Mark, "she said she wanted to go to the library to study for an upcoming test."

The others nodded in understanding, new conversations arising at the table.

"Whose house are we going to tonight? Since someone's little brother is having a sleepover and doesn't want the cool older kids around for some odd reason." Donghyuck asked, squinting at Nayeon.

"Yeah, the cool older kids that nearly broke his playset because they couldn't stop having a stupid pillow fight," Jeno laughed.

"Look," Donghyuck protested, "I didn't even do anything wrong? If Mark hadn't had gotten in the way of the TV, there would've been no problem."

"Me?" Mark scoffed, "I didn't even do anything but sit there quietly."

"And that was the first mistake."

"Okay, okay. Can we just decide where we want to hang out tonight?" Jaemin whined, already tired from school.

"Who has a free house tonight?" Renjun, Donghyuck, Jaemin, and Jisung raised their hands.

"Each of you pick a number. One between one and thirty."

"Thirty? Doesn't that leave too much room?" Renjun pondered aloud, yet he had already come up with his wanted number.

"Just go with it. On the count of three, say them. Okay? One... two... three."

"Eight."
"Twenty-Four."
"Sixteen."
"Seven."

Jiyoung squinted at Donghyuck, "you got the right number. It was twenty-four. Looks like we're going to the Lee's house again if it's alright with your parents."

Donghyuck sighed, already taking out his phone to go to his mothers contact. "Yeah, yeah. Moms going out with Mrs. Park and Dads going to a pro-bending match tonight."

"Can Hyuna come too? She's having a bit of trouble making friends so far and I think she'd be more comfortable with us than at home while Mom has a few colleagues over for dinner."

Donghyuck nodded, "sure. Mom said it's fine."

"Throw another pillow, I dare you."

Nayeon giggled, forcefully throwing another throw pillow at Donghyuck's head. In an instant, the boy outstretched his arms, the pillow blowing into a ball of fire.

"Isn't that wasteful of money? Do you usually just go around your house burning things?" Hyuna asked with a tone of amusement, taking an empty seat next to Mark.

Donghyuck scoffed, "of course not! I bought all of the throw pillows for the hangout room, myself. My parents don't care what I do with them."

Hyuna hummed, nodding as Donghyuck took the last remaining seat to her left. "Do you all have hangout rooms in your houses designated for your hangouts?"

Renjun nodded from a couch over, "everyone who still lives with their parents, do. Since Jaemin and I live together our whole house is basically a hangout palace."

"How long have you all know each other?" Hyuna asked.

Jiyoung and Jaemin sat quietly a few couches over, Jiyoung in her own world as she continued playing a game on Jaemin's phone.

"She sure asks a lot of questions," Jaemin mumbled.

Jiyoung looked up from his phone for a second, "what was that?" She ignored the face he made and looked back down at the phone.

Jaemin shrugged, turning his head towards the TV that played a movie none of them seemed too interested in at the moment.

"Remember to be nice, not everyone is a bad person," Jiyoung whispered, closing out the game and handing the phone back to Jaemin. She yawned, leaning back onto his shoulder.

"Everyone has secrets," Jaemin said quietly, leaning down to kiss the top of her head. "Except for me. I don't-"

"-like secrets, I know," Jiyoung smiled, squeezing his waist a bit tighter and then releasing.

Jaemin smiled slightly, leaning his head onto Jiyoung's head as he began watching the movie once again.

"Have they been dating for a while?"

Mark looked over to Hyuna after she asked the question, an eyebrow slightly raised. "They started dating at the beginning of the year so it's been about..." he paused, thinking, "five months. Why do you ask?"

Hyuna shrugged, "just curious, is all."

i always love some jaemin x jiyoung moments, don't you?