Mystery Tattoo | Norenmin

Chapter 23: Lee Jeno

We have to stay late at the parlor
Just ask Mark or Jisung to take you to the food festival

Jaemin and I can't make it

Injunnie and I can't make it.

We can't make it.

Can't make it.

Jeno tried to ignore the aching in his chest as he took another sip of his coffee that increased his need for a cool drink. He licked his lips again, trying to suppress the heat that began to form behind his eyes.

He wasn't needed anymore.

Jeno had spent his entire day at the shop. From waking up in his own cold bed and making his way over here as the sky slowly started to display color. To now, sitting at their table that lacked two chairs, two drinks, and two very important people.

Jeno tightened his hand on his clothed thigh.

It had been several months since Christmas, the last time he thinks they actually loved him.

He cherished the memory of them sitting on the kitchen floor, Renjun willingly letting Jeno give him affection as Jaemin curled around his back.

But the more Jeno thinks, even then they seemed to separate from him. He was reaching towards them. And now they slipped out of his grasp.

After winter break ended the teachers began to pile on work and Jaemin and Renjun slowly became more and more involved with the tattoo shop. At first, it wasn't much. Just the occasional 'I'm going to be a couple of minutes late' where Jeno would be rewarded and peppered with kisses, cuddles, and apologies at the tardiness of his lovers.

He hadn't seen Jaemin or Renjun in two days.

He supposed he was being clingy and they just wanted space. But if they wanted space, why did they spend that time together?

Jeno has never felt so sick in his entire left. Not only was school slowly getting more stressful but his two stress relievers, his two happiness bringers, abandoned him.

So Jeno was sitting here alone, hand curled around his warm cup of coffee as soft music swirled around his head. The soft murmurs of Johnny and Jaehyun continuing over the counter.

He felt tears leak into his eyes, threatening to spill, as he thought more and more about Jaemin and Renjun.

The most painful fact wasn't the immense amount of pain that he was feeling at the unrequited love.

It was that this heartbreak seemed familiar to him.

Drawing him closer to the eventually mental break as he thought about the familiarity between the three. He posed the hypothetical situation that if they had been in some relationship before, and only if they had, how had it ended?

Jeno amused the idea that they had left him in a very much similar fashion.

So was it him?

Was it him that was the problem?

The hit sting of tears brought him back, but only slightly. He didn't move as the tears began to roll down his face. His hand stayed on his cup, the other resting on his thigh, and his eyes staring out at the now dark campus, light only by spread out street lamps.

The soft ding provided a change of pace to the soft music that taunted his loud and painful thoughts. Jeno didn't look at the person much less care who it was.

Not until they noisily pulled up a chair to sit across him at the table. Jeno shifted his tear-stained face to look at the newcomer and he stilled in surprise.

"Jeno, what the hell are you doing?"

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Sorry for the slightly depressing chapter

I hope you guys still enjoyed though!

Take care! I love you all! :)