jaemin was still in the 127 dorm.
the wayv members had come over and learned about jaemin's departure from the group.
they were broken as much as the others were.
jaemin had managed to get away of the group, walking into mark's room with his permission to call his mother.
he hadn't called her in a few days.
and he needed to tell her that he was leaving nct.
in the end, she was right...
maybe leaving nct was his destiny.
the boy dialled the number, waiting a few rings for his mother to answer.
it wasn't too early in the afternoon, so she was surely awake.
to jaemin's joy, she answered after two rings.
"hello jaemin. how are you doing?" she asked, and jaemin could hear her smile on the other side of the line. unconsciously, his own lips formed a small smile.
"i'm okay..." he said, not wanting to scare her too much. "have you... huh... seen the articles about me?"
jaemin's mother hummed.
actually, it was pretty hard not to see them.
they were all over the net.
"i did, baby..." she replied. "so, now they know about you?"
"yeah..." jaemin replied.
"is that something bad?" she asked.
jaemin waited a few seconds to answer.
he was trying to make sure his voice wouldn't deceive him in the middle of his answer.
"it's... complicated..."
"tell me everything, sweetie. i'm all ears."
"well..." jaemin sighed. "my members and managers were quite upset that i had lied to them... they didn't really understand that i didn't want to bother them..."
"it's true that it's something hard to digest, jaemin..." his mother reassured him. "but i'm sure they acted like that because they were worried about you and your condition."
"i guess..."
jaemin thought about that matter for a while.
the members' first reaction had been anger.
he remembered jeno and renjun telling him how much taeyong got mad at them for hiding it from him.
but eventually, this anger transformed into something else.
was it pity? was it brotherly love?
he wasn't sure.
what he knew was that they forgot about what they considered being a betrayal, and they started to be more cautious around the younger boy.
this was exactly what jaemin didn't want to happen, but having them act like this was better than them being angry at him anyway...
"you sound sad..." his mother told. "is anything bothering you?"
"kind of..." he answered.
how was he going to tell her that he was leaving nct and sm entertainment? that he was coming back to live with his parents?
everything was so unfair...
"actually..."
jaemin was cut in his speech by jeno and renjun entering mark's room breathless.
jaemin stared at them curiously as jeno grabbed the phone from his hand and muted the call.
"jaemin, you need to hear this." he said.
"what's happening? i was on the call with my mother..." the boy replied.
"jaemin? are you still here?" her voice asked on the phone.
"she was the one to publish about your condition." renjun said.
"what?!"
"she did it." jeno repeated.
"she would never..." jaemin said immediately.
"the first publication about your disease was sent from the clinic your mom works at. i'm sorry jaemin, but she did it. she wanted to you leave nct, and because you said you wouldn't, she had to force you."
jaemin felt tears welling up in his eyes as he grabbed the phone jeno was handing him.
his mother kept calling his name, hoping for him to answer.
jaemin unmuted the phone.
"mom?"
"jaemin, i thought you had hung up." she said. "what were you saying?"
"it doesn't matter." jaemin replied as renjun and jeno sat next to him on mark's bed.
"of course, it does- "
"mom?" jaemin cut her. "i have a question."
"of course. ask me anything."
jaemin took a deep breath before looking at the phone again.
he truly hoped that jeno and renjun were wrong.
he truly hoped that his heart wasn't about to get crushed once again.
"were you the one to publish about my heart disease?"
this question was followed by a long silence.
a way too long one.
and this only confirmed jaemin's suspicions.
his mother had done it.
she was the one behind everything.
it was her fault if he had been fried for sm entertainment.
"mom!" jaemin exclaimed, a sob leaving his mouth as renjun and jeno brought him in a hug.
"jaemin, i'm sorry... i had to..."
"you didn't! why did you do that?!"
"this is better for you, sweetie..." she replied. "you're not in the right state to be an idol..."
"i am!" jaemin yelled, fully sobbing.
"jaemin, i am a nurse. trust me you- "
"NO!" he screamed before hanging up immediately and throwing his phone on the bed.
jeno and renjun pulled him even closer, trying their best to comfort him.
but it seemed impossible.
at that point, jaemin was like a broken vase whose pieces couldn't be glued back together.
he was completely broken.