don't need your love ° jeno

twenty two

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"hey, can you come pick me up? i'm done."

as he heard so, jeno was immediately off in his car, driving to the destination she had given him. when he arrived, he didn't know where she was. he expected her to be at the entrance, but there was noone but a security guard.

"hey," hearing her voice, he turned around.

jeno had always known yura was pretty, but tonight, she was even more beautiful. the weak smile on her face was unexpected, she had expected for her to come out tearful at least. but she looked empowered, relieved to say the least.

"hi," he flashed her a small smile, worry in his eyes. "you okay?"

she smiled at him, nodding. "i feel better." she breathed out, then climbed into the passanger seat of his car. "i splashed wine on his face."

jeno can't keep the snort that came out of his throat, and he turned to her in amusement. "how did it feel?"

she grinned. "it felt great. the look on his face was worth it."

he was happy for her. she finally did what she was so afraid to do, and she did it with a bang.

"can you take me to shuhua's?" she asked, securing the seatbelt. "i'm sleeping over at hers."

he turned to her. "really?"

she looked at him in confusion. "why?"

"you got dressed up and all," he started, scratching the back of his head. "i'm not letting your time and effort go to waste. let's go out."

her eyes sparkled as she turned to him with a smile. "really?"

he nodded, a smile of his own plastered on his lips.

she grinned, excited. "well why not?"

.

.

°○

"you know, when you said you're taking me out, this wasn't what i expected." she said, giving him a mock glare, but an undertone of amusement obvious in her voice.

jeno flashed her another of his eye smiles. "i'm broke and basically unemployed, what do you expect?"

they were in front of the usual convenience store, once again on the metal benches while they rested their things on the table in front of them.

he placed the plastic bag on the table, taking out the things he bought from the store. as usual, his can of beer, a few bags of chips, and a pack of gum.

she raised an eyebrow, looking at him. "you didn't buy me a pack of cigs?" she asked, staring at the things he bought.

without a voice, he shook his head, sipping his beer.

she huffed, rolling her eyes before standing up to buy it on her own. before she can step away, she felt stopped when a hand grabbed hers.

"don't," he said sternly, nodding for her to sit down, "i don't want you to risk your health because of stress. i bought you the gum to substitute."

she scoffed, sitting back down and beginning to open the pack of gum. "you never cared before," she told, rolling her eyes a bit.

"but i care now," he muttered back, surprising her a bit. in defeat, she nodded, sighing tiredly as she plopped the gum into her mouth.

the two sat in silence. yura was staring at the table, lost in her own thoughts, while jeno was staring at the ground, sipping his beer. they didn't know what to say, and although the boy wanted to pursue a conversation, he was afraid to say the wrong things.

he turned to her, opening his mouth to say something, but he paused. yura was in tears, seemingly to finally let out the emotions she's supressed since earlier.

he sighed. "yura.."

the girl blinked, looking up at him like she finally realized she was crying. wiping her eyes, she let out a forced chuckle. "oh, n-no, i promise i'm fine!" she chuckled again, this time obviously more feigned.

he stared at her longingly, worriedly. but he nodded, letting it go, and he waited for her to compose herself.

"i dated this girl once," he started, gaining her curious attention, "when i first went to college. i met her because we shared a class, and she was nice."

"we were partners for a presentation, and i got to know her well. her name was min sonjae, she's in the same year as me." he told, looking at his surroundings. "i met her a bunch at parties, and i finally got the guts to ask her out at one party."

"we dated for a year or two, and at least once a week, we'd go out together. she even met my family."

"one day, at a party, i caught her cheating." he spoke, voice composed. "she was fucking somebody in the bathroom while i was with my friends. she said she was drunk."

her breath stopped. that was why he was so adamant on helping her, he had the same experiences as her.

"i was miserable for days," he chuckled, "you can ask jaemin. i didn't leave my room for days, a week or so even. i even dropped the class i had with her, and had to make up half a year worth of grades in club scores."

"i blamed myself at first. i thought if i had been a better boyfriend, she'd still be with me." he admitted, looking at his hands. "that was the worst bullshit i fed myself that year. no matter what i did, sonjae would still be a hoe and cheat on me anyways."

she stared at him still. she didn't know what to say, whether to scream at him or thank him or cry even worse than now.

"that's why i really wanted to help you, i guess," he shrugged, a hint of smile on his lips, "i'd hate to see anyone else in the same position i was in last year."

"jeno.." she breathed out, gaining his attention. she smiled at him weakly. "thank you, for everything."

he smiled back at her. "you're welcome."