ꜱᴀɴᴛᴀ'ꜱ ꜱᴏɴ ♔ ɴᴏᴍɪɴ

♔24

"Awh," he whined to himself. Then his eyes jolted wide with a thought. Jaemin said 'too early', did that mean it'd happen in the future?

In the near future?

Jeno's heart fluttered with blissful hope. The white specks in his eyes gleamed in the light of his lamp as he glanced at the closed door and recalled how scarlet Jaemin's face had been briefly. 

Hopefully.

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Taeyong laid on the floor beside Dongbaek's bed. He blinked at the ceiling, well, he knew it was the ceiling, he couldn't really see it in the pitch black room. His deep thoughts were interrupted by a sudden snort.

He nearly giggled and covered a hand over his mouth. Boy, could the little girl snore. 

Once he deemed he stayed long enough, he silently got up and closed the door behind him with caution. Although deep in slumber, he wasn't going to risk it with Dongbaek, she had taken ages to fall asleep, even with gentle persuasion and several stories. And if she woke up now, Taeyong might go the slightest bit mad. 

How about a little walk to the study (Taeyong slept there now instead of in his own room with Jaehyun because of reasons in the previous chapter) to clear his head. He certainly won't be able to sleep with a head clouded with intrusive ways of thinking.

Yes, a walk I shall take then.

He'd barely strolled a 100 metres before he turned a corner, and a white-cloaked figure appeared, leaning casually against the wall, almost as if he was waiting for Taeyong. 

"Spill," Doyoung demanded, an irritated expression on his face as he walked towards the other, hands deep in his pockets. He noticed that he did that a lot. 

"How can I do that if I have nothing to spill?" He brushed passed his friend easily, continuing his walk. 

Doyoung groaned, "Whyyy do you have to be so difficult? You keep bottling everything in, especially when it comes to your relationship. I'm not stupid."

"And even the smart wouldn't know about my situation unless they really did some in-depth observation or they had somebody or someone to help base their research."

"Fine, but you know how things spread here. Plus, it was Ten and Kun. You know how long they've known you for, especially Ten, especially me. And henceforth, you can tell me about anything about Jaehyun. I won't smash his face in, I swear."

Taeyong made a face at him. How dramatic. 

"It isn't that serious, Doie," he sighed.

Doyoung closed his eyes and held his hand out in the universal 'stop' sign. "Donghyuck's warping, the noisy little kid. Study, I'm assuming? For privacy from nosy ears?"

It would be nice to have someone to talk to, Taeyong thought. Then again, he didn't like being so open to other people. He felt that his own problems needed to be solved by him alone. Bringing people in his life caused unexpected and unwanted problems. 

He glanced at Doyoung as if his looks and expression was the deciding factor. Which it actually was. But Doyoung looked as serious and sharp as ever, eyes tired, but alert. The two stared, and his eyes seemed to tell Taeyong 'I meant what I said, relax'. 

He snapped his fingers and a cup of coffee fit snugly in his grip, the liquid landed smoothly back into the cup with a plop. "Come along then, let us talk about forgetful men."

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"HE FORGOT YOUR DATE THAT MANY TIMES?"

"You're overreacting."

"AND HE DARE SAY SORRY JUST LIKE THAT?"

"He did ask if we wanted to go immediately after he apologised, but I needed some time and hence."

"HE DIDN'T EVEN GET YOU A RING AS AN APOLOGY? PREMIUM MILK COFFEE? THAT FLUFFY SWEATER I SAW YOU STARING AT LAST YEAR? OR THE NEW WATCH COLLECTION?!"

Taeyong rolled his eyes at him. Doyoung leaned back with a scoff of disbelief. How was it that his best friend was reacting more aggressively than he did? And he had seemed so calm and ready and serious earlier, to be a stable shoulder for him. 

Turns out Doyoung was Taeyong, but with more unrealistic and expensive tastes and anger pumping continuously into him like fuel.

"What a dipshit," he whispered.

"Ey," Taeyong clicked his tongue, "language."

"VERMIN, SCUM, PEST, SWINE, PICKLE DICKLE FACE."

"LANGUAGE." Though Taeyong had a smile on his face now watching his friend seethe. That last one was pretty funny. 

"I can't believe it," Doyoung huffed, taking a sip of Taeyong's coffee (he was not happy about this), "how could he not remember for so many times? That's very rude, especially to his husband."

The latter itched to pick up the coffee and take a nice warm slurp, but now Doyoung had drank it, so that was a no. "He's just really busy."

Doyoung closed his eyes in thought. A moment of silence passed before he decided to speak again. 

"You know, if I ever were in a relationship, I wouldn't let such a thing fly by. I'd be firm about what I want, which is their undivided attention. Especially if they made a promise, a promise is to be kept. What are promises for if you don't keep them?"

He paused, to let that sink in, then continued.

"When you start a relationship, and yours is a marriage take note, your partner is your priority. They should've been ready to give you their all as soon as they commit to one, if they don't want to then they shouldn't have taken up this role, because every role comes with duty."

Taeyong let the words resonate with him. He knew he was right, but Jaehyun had so many other duties as the boss, even retired, it just meant he'd leave the travelling to Jeno and do more paperwork.

Doyoung patted his shoulder reassuringly, "But that's for me, somebody who's never been in a relationship. But you two, I know for a fact are absolutely smitten with each other. So talk it out, state clearly what you want, because no matter what he's neglecting you. He has room for improvement. He's a good guy though, and you being you, it'll turn out all okay."

"Oh and Tae?"

"Yeah?" He gave him an inquisitive tilt of the head before his friend warped off. Doyoung smiled.

"Don't be afraid to take after you've given so much."

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