Read 'em and Weep! {NA JAEMIN}

THREE

"Are you okay?" Sungchan asked him, shifting uncomfortably with the clunky sodas in his hand.

"Is that... Swan!" Yangyang called to the other side of the street. Jaemin followed Yangyang's gaze and froze, seeing the small group standing outside of a tattoo parlor.

"Shit," Jaemin muttered, nerves clinging to the pit of his stomach. When he had seen you yesterday to work on the project, he was met with mostly silence. You had truly only spoken to him regarding the work for the class, unlike the past few times when you would engage in conversations about anything and everything. Of course, he hadn't told this to Yangyang and Sungchan because he was so embarrassed about it.

"Swan!" On the other side, you all heard your roommate's name get called out, and turned to the other side of the street to see a guy waving furiously at Swan with Sungchan and Jaemin flanking him.

"Oh, Yangyang!" Swan waved back, beckoning for them to cross the street. "How does he know Jaemin?" she turned to you expectantly. You shrugged.

You really hoped to take this weekend to decompress and think about anything that was not your schoolmate. He had taken up enough of your mental energy you felt, and now running into him on the street after your weird conversation with Swan and Hendery felt like completely the wrong time to see him again.

"I haven't seen you since summer camp!" Yangyang greeted, hugging Swan before waving to you all. You and Jaemin made awkward eye contact before you waved at him and Sungchan, forcing a smile.

"Yangyang was a camp counselor with me the summer before undergrad!" Swan explained.

"You guys look like you're having a fun night," Ireh noted, pointing at the pizza box in Jaemin's hands.

"We thought so too until we realized Yangyang lied about inviting people over," Sungchan chastised.

"Well, are you guys busy tonight?" Yangyang turned to you all, earning a mixed set of reactions. The four of you simply planned to go back to your place and watch a superhero movie, but it was something you all always did.

"No, we aren't!" It was Hendery who spoke up, smiling as he looked between you and Jaemin. You shot him a death glare, fully irritated by your cousin's need to shove his nose into things that don't pertain to him.

"Yeah, sounds like fun!" Swan chimed in, sharing a knowing look with Hendery. Oh I could kill them you thought to yourself.

Jaemin's apartment seemed ill-equipped to handle the four additional people. The couch could take four people squeezing tightly onto it, sure, but that left two people to uncomfortably sit on stools, and the office chair Jaemin wheeled out from his room. Along with this chair, he rolled out a small stack of board games that he started to unload on the side of the coffee table since the pizza took up the small center space.

"I refuse to play Monopoly," Hendery crossed his arm, his elbows hitting Swan and Yangyang. You were standing at the kitchen island with pizza in hand as Sungchan handed you the soda you had been waiting on.

"Thanks," you muttered, taking a sip.

"You weren't at the family dinner last week," he noted, leaning his elbows on the island.

"Jaemin and I were finishing some stuff for the project," you drank more from your soda to help cover the lie you told. Yes, Jaemin was there for the project, but while he was there he mentioned how he had never seen Howl's moving castle, so after class you had invited him over to watch the movie.

"Sure, sure," Sungchan smirked, making his way towards the living room. You hated how awkward it was between you and Jaemin. Walking to his apartment, you two would keep stealing glances, the other being either too nervous (Jaemin) or too prideful (you) to speak to the other.