Read 'em and Weep! {NA JAEMIN}

TWO

"Sorry, it's just funny to me," Jaemin took out his laptop from his backpack then, and you followed in suit.

"Do you think the professor is going to be harsh in grading?" you asked absentmindedly, diverting the conversation.

"Hm, he gave us an A on our classwork despite doing the bare minimum, so I think we should be fine," Jaemin thought aloud, opening up the rubric from the email your professor had sent. You two spent the next few hours going over the rubric and splitting up the work evenly, Jaemin seeming to know a lot more about the work than he had when you first interacted with him.

"I think it's fair to assume you'd want to take the photos for the articles," you were entering the notes into your shared google doc, glancing up at Jaemin when you asked. He smiled to himself, not realizing you were staring at him until he glanced up.

"Yeah, I would like that," you nodded at his response, looking back down and typing out his name as you tried to ignore the feeling in your stomach when you saw his smile.

"Hm, we need to have some sort of political commentary in this section," he mulled over the rubric. "I guess I can write something out."

"I can just draw a cartoon," you offered absentmindedly. It would take you probably 20 minutes to pump something out that was acceptable compared to how long it may take Jaemin to write something.

"It's not too much for you?"

"No."

"Okay cool, I think we're good then. Do you want to do the parts together or just work on it on our own?"

Normally, you'd be adamant about working on your part on your own, and let your partner figure their portion out on their own. But- and you weren't sure why- you didn't want to do that for this project.

"We should work on our stuff together, in case one of us has questions," you explained, glancing up from your screen to see his expression.

He seemed to be thoughtful for a moment before nodding in agreement. "We should probably get going, class starts soon," he noted. Gathering your belongings into your backpack, Hendery stepped out of your room, a wide smile on his face.

"Hey cuz? Can you come here really fast?" he called, shaking the tablet in his hand. You were about to ask why, until he shook his tablet more aggressively.

"Oh, yeah sure," you excused yourself and stepped into your room, being sure to shut the door behind you.

"All right, I'm about to send the final pages to Kun," Hendery whispered, his finger hovering over the send email button. It was a strange feeling knowing that the detailing was done and all that was left after this would just be a victory lap- final approval, posting, and potentially your appearance at the WizMedia Conference. With a quick woosh, Hendery hit the send button. "So what's next?" he shut his laptop, smiling proudly.

Jaemin was waiting in your living room, and noticed you had left your notebook open. You had done a few random sketches- lots of tiny fairies and a few bunnies littering the edges of the page you had opened. They had an air of adorableness mixed with creepiness, Jaemin noted. He was going to stare further at them when the room opened and out walked Hendery and you, laughing about something.

"Kun is still going to complain, somehow," you stated, earning a sigh from Hendery.

"I'm gonna get going, by cuz! Bye Jaemin!" Hendery didn't turn to wave at Jaemin and exited out of your place quickly.

"Everything okay?" Jaemin was curious, especially since he was seriously thinking that Hendery was in fact Patches.

"Yep, Hendery's just working on a side project at the moment and needed input on something," you fibbed, looking away from Jaemin as you finished packing your backpack. Jaemin didn't press further, and the two of you walked the two blocks to campus making small talk on the way.