Read 'em and Weep! {NA JAEMIN}

ONE

"I hope he's talkative, it's annoying having to always carry conversations," Hendery laughed, evenly pouring rum into each glass.

"Oh, you don't know which roommate he brought," it was your turn to laugh now. Hendery raised an eyebrow before realization hit him.

"He did not bring him," Hendery widened his eyes as you nodded your head. He scoffed, and then proceeded to add more rum into two glasses, grumbling to himself.

"Hendery, this is my roommate Jaemin," Sungchan announced, walking into the kitchen with Jaemin following closely behind him.

"Hi," Jaemin waved, tucking his arms awkwardly behind his back.

"Yo. Do you want a rum and coke?" Hendery offered, not looking up as he started adding the coca cola to the drinks.

"Oh, yes he does," Sungchan answered for him, despite Jaemin shooting him a 'please don't' look. Once you all had started drinking, Hendery noted how light his drink seemed, whereas Jaemin's cheeks grew pink almost as soon as he took his first sip.

You all had finally started eating dinner soon thereafter, and as luck would have it, Jaemin sat right across from you.

"So how is school going for you all?" your father asked.

"Great," you replied dryly.

"It's going well! I just submitted a huge paper," Sungchan announced cheerfully.

"Why are you so familiar?" Jaemin suddenly interrupted, staring at your Dad, earning him a few chuckles. You looked up at Jaemin and widened your eyes when you saw the pink blush that had crept onto his cheeks, a boyish smile replacing the confused and shy face he usually had on.

"Sungchan, what an adorable roommate you have," your mother noted, and you crossed your arms at her response.

Jaemin pointed at your mother, "you too!" he turned to you then, shooting his bright white smile at you. "Why are your parents sooo familiar?"

"Take a guess," you taunted, looking behind him to gesture to the two large posters of Finder x Locator and Magical Girl Moonie, trying to ignore the weird way butterflies formed in your stomach when he smiled at you. "As someone who critiques comics, you should know," you muttered, earning a shove from Hendery.

"No way," Jaemin cheered, earning another round of laughs from the rest of the table. "You guys are like... a huge comic power couple!"

"I don't know if I'd put it that way," your Dad interjected, smiling as he saw Jaemin's eyes light up.

"Your works are so influential... I can see both of the styles in stuff like-," Jaemin stopped himself then, looking down at his plate of food in embarrassment. You furrowed your brow, about to speak when you felt your ankle get kicked. You bit your tongue, glaring at Hendery who glared back, knowing what you were going to say. Jaemin was going to compare your parents' work to Flight of the Wolves- to you! Even without your acrual identity on your work it would always be compared to your parents.

After dinner, Sungchan took to playing a few rounds of smash with Hendery while everyone else went to hang outside. Seeing that everyone was fully distracted, you climbed the steps to the second story of your family home, opening the door to the room you grew up in. Ignoring your childhood knickknacks and posters, you opened the window above your bed that led to the part of the first floor roof. The roof extended outward enough for you to climb out from your window and sit on top.

It was typically where you'd escape when you were younger to just think, but now it's where you'd find yourself when you wanted to avoid family dinner- even if only for a short period of time. You looked over the suburbs of the city where you lived and let out an empty sigh.

"It's a nice night," a voice spoke, and you looked panicked to your right to see it was Jaemin. He was on your bed, poking his head out of the window to take in the night air, his cheeks still with their light pink tinge. He did look rather handsome. You shook the thought from your head and turned back to looking out at the sky and the houses as Jaemin moved to sit next to you.

"Are you going to be mean to me just because I didn't help in that one classwork?" Jaemin asked suddenly, surprising you.

"That's not-," you stopped yourself then, and tucked your knees closely to your chest.

"You know, I like Flight of the Wolves, I don't care if it's furry stuff," Jaemin admitted, looking down at his hands. "That's another reason you're mad, right? Because you're a fan?"

Something tugged at your chest, but you couldn't place it. His eyes were downcast, and the charm the alcohol had given him earlier seemed to be replaced with something more sullen.

"Yeah," you responded, hoping to not elaborate.

"I didn't even wanna write that article- but my boss said it would help us get clicks or whatever," he huffed, pouting. "I don't even want to be a writer."

"Then why are you working as a copywriter if you don't even like what you write?" you prompted.

"I wanna be a photographer, but this is the only journalism job I could find- and hey, it helps build the resume," he shrugged his shoulders. He looked back at you, and a soft smile crossed his lips. It was tough for Jaemin to speak to new people, and you were certainly no exception. However, thanks to liquid courage and your genuine listening abilities, Jaemin felt oddly comfortable with you.

"I get that," you sighed. You wished he just had bad intentions- it would make your feelings towards him much more clear. But knowing that he was simply doing what he had to for his job that he didn't even like made it significantly more difficult for you to grapple with. "What subjects do you like to focus your photography on?"

"Hmm... I love landscapes, but I love a good artistic portrait," he hummed, his eyes looking up from that downcast set he had before. "I'll show you sometime, if you ever decide to give me the time of day again."

You let out a soft laugh, seeing the full smile return to Jaemin's face. "I think I would like that, as long as we don't have to work together again."