Notorious ⊷ Haechan

41 ⊷ Nap

please I didn't realize it has been more than a month since I last updated,, this chapter has been sitting in my drafts for weeks sorry 💀

⊷ 41

"Jeno," Ji-yoon called his name as she let herself fall down on the sofa next to him. He watched as she turned her body towards him and pulled her knees up to her chest. 

As he watched her get comfortable, he noticed how tired she actually looked. He knew she hadn't slept at all, yet had tried to keep her energy up until Haechan was gone. Although he said he would be back soon, she couldn't help but give in to how exhausted she was. 

"I wanted to talk to you. You have been here for almost two days now but I still didn't manage to get a moment alone with you." 

Taemin, Jungwoo, Wooyoung, Haechan, Jaemin, Shotaro. 

There was always someone there. And while they were all at least somewhat friends at this point, Ji-yoon still wanted to talk to Jeno alone. 

So since her brothers went to get some work done at the office, Wooyoung was busy at the hospital, Jaemin was still at home, and Shotaro was taking a shower, this was the first chance she got so far. 

"Are you sure you want to talk now?" Jeno asked. "You look tired." 

She just shook her head. "It's fine," she said. "I can rest later - I took the day off." 

"Must be nice that your brother is the CEO. You can take a day off whenever you want." 

However, she couldn't exactly agree to that. Instead, she looked at Jeno intently as she assumed that, 

"It's probably as easy for me to get a day off with Taemin being my boss as it is for you with Chenle being your boss." She hummed, unsure. "Sometimes it's nice, sometimes it's really not." 

Jeno had to agree. 

"Actually, that's what I wanted to talk about." A bit unsure how to phrase this, Ji-yoon hesitated as she struggled to find the right words. However, all that was going through her mind boiled down to, "I hope you aren't angry at me." 

"Why would I?" Jeno asked, incredibly surprised. 

"Because I pretended not to know who you were," she explained and quickly added, "It might feel like... I don't know, but I can understand it if feel upset, is what I am trying to say." 

Jeno laughed a little at that. "That makes no sense," he said. "I tried to trick you, you tried to trick me. Only difference is that you succeeded and I didn't. There's nothing to be upset about. Plus, I don't think you even treated me any different than any of the other employees." 

Ji-yoon shook her head. "That's not true," she argued. "I did keep a closer eye on you. If not for my own sake, then for Jaemin. He kept worrying about you." 

Smiling to himself, looking down at his hands, Jeno hummed. "He always worries about everyone." He looked back at her. "But I am not angry. I have to thank you, actually. You pretty much saved my life. Twice."

She was glad that that was how he perceived it. She had been worrying about that for a while so finally getting the chance to address it - it felt good. 

"There was something else I wanted to say," she said after that. "I know you never considered working at LTM your real job." 

As bad as it made him feel, Jeno had to agree. She was right, yet at the same time agreeing to her was like dismissing what he had done over the course of the past few months, dismissing the friends he made, and the projects he helped come to life.