TANGLED STRINGS

CHAPTER TWO

"'Ey, Cap! Glad you could make it," a tipsy Shotaro suddenly appears in front of him. "Where's your girl?"

"Inside," he nods his head towards the direction of her location. "Where's yours?"

"Which one?" Shotaro retorts smugly before letting out a string of hiccups.

The conversation ends there, and he watches as Shotaro stumbles then falls on his knees on the grass and vomits his guts out. Jeno presses his lips into a thin line as he looks away and moves to sit on the rattan lounge chair next to the one Donghyuck's on. He receives nothing but a grin from his intoxicated friend who then leans his head back and shuts his eyes. Jeno thinks he's fallen asleep when his wide smile fades.

"How'd you come to terms with the fact that you like boys?" Donghyuck, eyes still closed, blurts out the question like it burns his tongue and the only solution is to spit it out.

Jeno's taken by surprise but answers nonetheless, "It was natural for me. I think I've always liked boys since I learned what the word like meant, and I didn't think it was weird that I did. Liking boys is the same as liking girls. There's really not much of a difference, nor is it wrong. Loving someone isn't supposed to be wrong."

Donghyuck is silent for a while before he opens his eyes and finally admits it, says out loud what everyone already knows before he found out himself, "I'm gay," he pauses, "and I... I think I'm in love with Hwan."

"Oh," he isn't surprised this time. "That's great, Hyuck."

"Being gay or being in love with my sworn enemy since sixth grade?" Donghyuck asks, which elicits a snort from him.

"Both," he answers, smiling. "I'm proud of you."

"I'm supposed to hate him though, I can't be feeling this way towards him." Donghyuck mutters, more so to himself than to Jeno.

"You can't convince your heart not to want what it yearns for," he shrugs. "Besides, I don't think you even hated him. You just forced yourself to because you're afraid what you feel towards him is actually the opposite of hatred."

Donghyuck sputters, "That... that's not true─"

"Hyuck, there you are!" Jeno knows whose voice it is before he even turns around to see. Mark has both hands on his hips, the frantic expression on his face morphing into relief. "I've been searching for you the past hour. Don't go running off without telling me."

"Sorry, Markie." Donghyuck says sweetly. He isn't though; it's written all over his face.

"You're his babysitter for tonight?" Jeno asks, ignoring Donghyuck's offended gasp at his implication.

"I'm his babysitter every night." Mark huffs, but Jeno doesn't miss the fond lilt in his voice.

"That sucks." He comments jokingly.

"Stop talking about me like I'm not here!" Donghyuck says whiningly, crossing his arms and pouting like a child.

"It's getting late, we should head home," Mark says, which makes Donghyuck whine even more. "Our parents are coming over for dinner tomorrow, remember? You shouldn't be too wasted at an occasion like that or they'll think all you do is party, then I'll get blamed because 'I don't watch over you' like they expect me to."

Jeno smiles to himself as he watches Mark continue to nag at Donghyuck like a mother. They've been friends longer than he's known either of them, probably since they were in diapers. He mistook them as brothers the first time he met them, and that's honestly not too far off from their dynamic. Mark and Donghyuck are brothers, family, just not by blood but that doesn't really matter.

When they leave, Jaemin takes Donghyuck's place on the lounge chair beside Jeno. He averts his eyes from the never-ending game of beer pong in front of him to look at Jaemin who seems to be sober. His blown out pupils say otherwise, though, and the lingering smell of weed and liquor on his clothes further debunks the theory of his sobriety.

"Hey, pretty boy, I don't think I've seen you around." He says, baring his perfect teeth into an aligator-like grin. What a flirt.

Jeno rolls his eyes but decides to play along, "Sorry, man, I have a girlfriend. Not interested."

"I'm sure you're lovely girlfriend wouldn't mind if you spent a night with me," Jaemin says with the same mischievous glint in his eyes he had earlier. "She can even join, too... it won't be the first time."

"That was a one time thing, Jaem," he says pointedly. "Find another couple to have a threesome with."

"You're lame." Jaemin rolls his eyes.

"And you're wasted as fuck," he retorts. "Anyway. Have fun on your search for a threesome, I'll go search for my girlfriend."

It doesn't take long for him to find Yeorin. He asked one of her friends of her whereabouts and was told she rushed to a bathroom near the massive staircase not too long ago. She's hunched over the toilet when he reaches the mentioned bathroom. He crouches beside her and pulls her hair back as she continues to vomit everything in her system. This happens every time, yet the twinge of worry that bubbles in his stomach whenever it does can't be helped. She wipes her mouth with the back of her hand and throws her head back against his chest.

"Can we go home?" She asks, her voice scratchy.

He wipes away the sweat that's making her forehead glisten and smiles, "Of course."

Home is a breath of fresh air after being stuck in a suffocating pollution. She's half asleep in his arms as he walks into the en suite bathroom, turning the light on with his elbow. He sees she's fully awake once he sets her down in the bathtub so gently like she's glass that can break even with the tiniest bit of carelessness. He's still gentle as he takes off her clothes until she's bare and smiles at the uncharacteristic shyness she displays only in this intoxicated state.

"Princess, I've already seen you naked so many times." He says, laughing softly.

She doesn't say anything and drops her arms eventually, allowing him to wash her. His touch is featherlight. So, so gentle that it tickles and makes her squirm a bit while he spreads body wash down the planes of her back and across the expanse of her stomach. Her golden skin that's littered with a constellation of moles glows under the bright lighting of the bathroom, and he falls in love a bit more. There isn't a day he's unable to find another to add to the million reasons why he loves her.

The fluffy towel that's wrapped around her is discarded along the process of him helping her wear her nightgown after drying her body. She lets out a yawn and starts walking out into the bedroom, but he holds her back and reminds her she still has to brush her teeth. Drunk Yeorin is stubborn though. She refuses to open her mouth, and it takes him half an hour to get her to comply. But he's patient, always is with her, and gentle, too. Because that's what love is, isn't it?

He turns the lights off before slipping under the covers beside her and draping an arm over her torso to pull her closer. Unlike her, he doesn't fall asleep the moment his head hits the pillow. He's tired, too, but there's an ounce of energy left in him that keeps him up for a little longer to fondly gaze down at her and leave a lingering kiss on her forehead. It doesn't take much more for his heavy eyelids to close on its own.

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for the record, jeno's pansexual :)
(and so is yeorin!)