Watching Over You • Nomin

three

“Yeah, I -” 

Before he could he was interrupted. “I honestly don't know how to face my Uncle… I wish it was as easy as to fly away from him, the pain, the pressure, it's almost like someone is choking me…” 

They spoke about this yesterday too. Jeno honestly didn't know what to say or what to do. She even told him that it was both emotional and physical trauma for her. She didn't mention or he could bring himself to ask about her parents or probably it wasn't the right time or his business to ask, he thought. 

After all this situation, he had to tell Jaemin that he couldn't hang out with him even today. He was sick because of this.  He practically felt like he was forced to sit at home and do his homework. 

He was used to studying with her but today felt different. He was starting to like her. Her way of talking about things. The smallest details she noticed were not just about the entertainment shows she was obsessed with but also about him. 

Was he too innocent to ignore some of the things that should be a warning for him to stay away from her? 

“I know you hate chemistry…” she said. 

Jeno chuckled. “How? Did I mention it before?” 

“No, man, it's pretty obvious.” 

Or even the way he prefers his food to be, how much spice he can tolerate or sweetness. His favorite color, the way he preferred his clothes, his fashion, the movies he liked, and books he chose and which he disliked. 

Jeno almost choked on his spit. 

“What? You mentioned this!” she said.

“I did?” 

“A little bit of it. The rest of it was pretty easy to understand.” 

It's just been a few weeks since she met, but the relationship they had seemed to grow into him. He felt (too) personal, important, and loved. 

-----

A

Month passed and Jeno was already tired of the rains. He was meeting Jiya often and he was forcing himself to like it. If he made an excuse to not meet her, her tendency of emotional manipulation would come back. Jeno would sigh and torture himself. 

Jeno was trying to make things neutral in between those awkward silences which lasted too long. He would include stories of Haechan being a brat or Renjun being done with him. Or just tell her about all the stories of them being a problem in general. 

“... So yeah, Renjun didn't know the directions to the restaurant and was walking around the whole area for a while and Haechan was giving him directions just at random imitating the GPS audio thingy. But, when Haechan got caught, he got his lesson. Renjun was too scary sometimes. Nevertheless, cute.” 

And she would enjoy his imitations. But he was thankful the silence just passed while they talked, or he talked. But when he would mention Jaemin, things weren't as smooth as they went with Renjun or Haechan. 

He would take his name and there was a switch in the conversation. He wanted to talk about him more. 

------

J

aemin sighed as he looked at Jeno's locked door. “At least he could've mentioned that he was leaving early,” he thought. 

Jeno was almost invisible for a month now, the only time he saw him was in the morning and now, he wouldn't even pick up his calls. Maybe he was planning to be invisible in the mornings too. He doesn't even remember the last time he talked to him properly, definitely not in the mornings. They go to University together and for the rest of the day, Jeno is no longer seen.