Read 'em and Weep! {NA JAEMIN}

ONE

"It's either you come with me or you go to the batting cages with Yangyang and Ten tonight."

"Fine I'll go with you," Jaemin replied quickly, earning some protest from Yangyang.

"What's wrong with me and Ten?"

"I got a bruise the size of a country on my shoulder last time," Jaemin pouted.

"Stop whining, I have to leave in fifteen minutes since I'm picking up a family friend on the way tonight too."

Jaemin and Sungchan sat in the car for a few minutes. Sungchan was talking about how annoying one of his professors was when Jaemin saw you come out of your townhouse.

"Oh crap," Jaemin muttered, cowering in his seat.

---

You knew Sungchan lived around the corner from you, and both agreed you wanted to leave early that night from family dinner anyways. So, you thought it would be best to just loan Ireh and Swan your car and get a ride with Sungchan- better for the planet and all of that stuff, you thought. You handed your car keys off to Ireh- the objectively better driver of the pair.

"I'm gonna get going, let me know when you guys get to the bar," you were slipping on your sneakers, leaning on the door frame as you jammed them on.

"Don't be out too late! I don't trust you with Sungchan," Swan teased. You rolled your eyes, waving goodbye to the pair before you stepped out of the townhome and over to Sungchan's car. He already told you a friend of his was tagging along, so you climbed into the backseat without checking who was in the front.

"Hi! Thanks again for letting me catch a ride," you mused.

"Yeah no problem, and this is my roommate, Jaemin," Sungchan said as he started driving. You narrowed your eyes, watching as the figure in the passenger seat seemed to slink deeper into their chair.

"Wait, Jaemin as in the one who wrote that article?" you asked without thinking. Sungchan chuckled awkwardly, trying to cover for the cat that seemed to have gotten Jaemin's tongue. Sungchan shoved Jaemin's arm, forcing him to speak to you.

"Yeah, and the one in your Master's classes," Jaemin muttered, his voice so low you had to lean forward to hear.

"How fun," you folded your arms, taking the ride to mindlessly just stare out the window. The awkward tension was cut through only by the music playing on the radio, and you prayed Sungchan would drive as fast as possible so you could get out of the car. After twenty minutes of a painful car ride, Sungchan parked in front of your parents house.

You practically leapt out of the car, thanking your lucky stars to be free from the tension for a moment. The three of you entered your house, your mom again running gleefully to embrace you.

"You're choking me," you huffed, and she let go of you before turning to Jaemin.

"My, what a handsome boy you are- you must be Sungchan's roommate," she smiled. You rolled your eyes, brushing past to quickly greet everyone in the living room and move towards the kitchen. Hendery was sitting on top of the island with a large bottle of rum to his right and four glasses in front of him.

"Where's Sungchan and his roommate?" Hendery asked, not looking up from whatever drink he was mixing.

"My Mom's probably parading him around," you chuckled, just as you heard the loud cheers from the living room, affirming your point. Your family and Sungchan's family had all grown up together. While you loved that they maintained a sweet tradition of family dinners and wanted all of their kids too to be best friends, besides you and Hendery, it never really held much water. Of all the kids, you, Hendery, and Sungchan were the only ones who made any effort to pass by anymore despite the rest of everyone still living close by.