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Nothing could've prepared Renjun for the pounding headache he was forced to wake up to. A splash of water was swept across his face before he shot up too quickly and very nearly cried at the agony pinching his temples. "Fuck..."
"Wow, that's a hangover for you. On a scale of one to ten, I'd rank your face's expression as an eleven."
"Jaemin, what are you doing in here?" The older groaned exhaustedly and blearily rubbed his eyes before trying to read his bedside clock. But it was waving and blurring too much, making him feel nauseous. "Is it early?"
"It's ten a.m, Darling. Time to get up."
"I don't have college though..."
"Oh I know," the brunette smirked deviously and splashed more water from a small bowl on his lap at Renjun's pale, slightly puffy features. "This is me telling you that I'm fucking ticked off that you'd go back on your word and not even text us to let us know you weren't coming home. It's also me being petty that you're hanging out with that brat, getting drunk and making Chenle cry. Not only that," he smiled innocently, "But we all waited for you from morning 'til midnight only to be severely let down. So I feel this water is blessed with my festering rage and splashing it at you is justified." With that, he swiped more at him.
"Look, I'm so sorry Nana. I wasn't thinking, and I don't even remember what happened last night. I know I should've texted or called you, but one thing led to another and...Jesus. I fucked up, didn't I?"
"Monumentally. Although I'm willing to let it go if you tell me what you and YangYang were up to."
"Drinking. Clearly."
"And?"
"And nothing, Jaem. We didn't do anything sinister behind your back," he sighed listlessly and flopped back down to drown in his pillow. "I know you don't like him but he's not going to take me away or anything."
"How could we possibly know that? You're always going out with him and you won't give us an answer, for Christ's sake. We love you, Renjun. I don't know what gravity that kind of word has in your dictionary, but this whole relationship we have is all or nothing. We...we need to know..."
"I know!" He hissed, growling into his pillow and rolling over onto his front to avoid the disappointed gaze his neighbour was sending him. "I fucking know already. And I hate letting you all down. But I can't breathe, goddamnit...I can't b-breathe..."
"Well don't cry. At least be a man about it and tell us you don't love us—"
"I can't!"
"Why?"
"I...can't say that..."
Jaemin elicited a long, meaningful breath and put the bowl down on the bedside table. His eyes took in every inch of the adorable lump engulfed in blankets, but he wasn't sure what to say. He had an answer for every situation and yet this time he was speechless. He lowered his hand down onto the shaking sheets and felt the body heat from them sooth his soul. Jaemin hated when his boys cried more than anything. "How about...we just drop it. Hm?"
"I'm sorry..."
"I know. I didn't mean to aggravate you either though, it's really unlike me to be this pushy. So for that I'm sorry as well."
Renjun twisted back around under the duvet and blinked with heavy tears before curling up closer to the other's seated figure. The brunette ran his fingers through the Chinese boy's long hair and kept his attention on the window to the side. Something about the way Renjun refused to say he didn't love them was tugging at his heartstrings — giving him hope. God, he wanted so desperately for that to be a sign.
"Nana..."
"Mhm?"
"What...what did I say to Chenle last night? How did I make him cry?"
"I don't know. I could just hear it a little..."
I should apologise when I see him, the older thought miserably and sat up again while clutching his head. Jaemin tugged him into a soft cuddle, but he felt too guilty to fully enjoy it. He loved his cuddles ordinarily, but today he had some apologising to do before he could accept their unconditional kindness. The young man, for all the world, wanted to wake up a better person without even half the character flaws he possessed. But that would've been to miraculous and he didn't deserve the luck.
"Also, Renjun?" The brunette murmured before pulling away and finally producing that adorable bunny-like smile that everyone knew and cherished. "How'd the exam go? After all that suffering, please say it wasn't awful."
"Oh, it was fine. I think. I hope..."
"You're trying to remember, aren't you," the younger scoffed with a deadpan face.
"No no, I'm just nervous. I can remember everything before we went to that bar, and then when cocktails got involved I started to lose it."
"Did he walk you home?"
"Yang?"
"Yeah. Him."
Renjun pursed his lips because he didn't want an argument, but he didn't quite appreciate having his best friend get called 'him' so distastefully. "I can't remember."
"He better have."
Just as the older was about to retort with something pointless, a harsh shriek was heard from beyond the apartment door and the two were up in a flash — albeit one with a headache causing the world rotate. They hadn't even made it to the exit before the reason was identified.
"Who puked in the hall?! Oh my fucking God, did someone die?"
Renjun swallowed thickly and now had a better understanding of why his breath tasted like death. Chenle had a lot of reasons to be mad after all.
Jaemin pushed the door open and both stepped into the corridor with the others who'd congregated, eyeing the one dramatic resident at the staircase wearing a disgusted expression. "Well," the host hummed, "Leave it to Hyuck to scream about nothing."
"Nothing?!" The sandy-brunette snapped. "Who's sick?"
"I-It's not...because anyone's...um," Renjun slowly sank into his own embarrassment as everyone watched him with death glares, "s-sick."
"Well good morning, Mr. I'll Be Home A.S.A.P," Jeno folded his arms. "Glad you texted us to let us know we didn't have to wait around for hours."
"We're glad all our support the past two weeks was worthwhile," Jisung hummed with a salty smile.
"Guys, look I'm really really sorry. I was selfish this time, I can see that. I should've let you know but I got lost in the moment." He then tilted his head to find Chenle before settling his gaze on him. "And Le, I'm so sorry for last night."
"Do you...remember what I said? Please forget about it, I didn't actually mean—"
"I-I don't recall any of it. I just know I made you upset, so..."
"Oh...let's leave it there then."
The elder of the two swallowed thickly, nodding with pink cheeks and regretting everything. He was better than this and he really made and ass of himself this time. Showing up drunk and needing a neighbour to escort him to his door was a new low for him when they'd never even participated in the festivities. And to add the fact that they were into him made this even worse.
"But about this," Donghyuck cleared his throat and folded his tanned arms carefully. "Are you like...okay now?"
"Of course. I'll clean it up right now. M'sorry guys," he gushed and went back inside to find some bleach, old rags and a scented spray to cleanse the air. The hall smelt of literal vomit and he wanted this whole day to end already before it had even started.
While he was gone, the remaining six all glanced at one another and seemed to make a silent pact not to hound him about this. They had to remember that he wasn't their boyfriend and they had no real place to be lecturing him. That was the sad reality of it. And when five went downstairs to start some breakfast, Jaemin waited a few minutes and followed Renjun once he'd emerged with cleaning equipment.
"You don't need to stick around, I've got this," the blonde-ravenette insisted.
"It's fine. I may as well help, since it's somehow made it's way to the second floor."
"Oh God..." he winced, dying from the embarrassment now. He'd learned a valuable lesson this morning. "No way. Go downstairs and let me hate myself—"
"Renjun," Nana interrupted, taking ahold of the boy's wrist and forcing his attention back to himself. "We're going to drop this. Okay? You need to stop beating yourself up every time you make mistakes."
"But they're big ones..."
"I got arrested for public indecency once, remember? We've all been there. We move on because life is too short to be hung up on trivial nonsense like puke on the stairs. Okay?"
"Okay."
"Good boy," he sighed softly and knelt down to start wiping up some of the mess, followed shortly after by his partner. They sat in silence for a moment, probably to let Renjun compute with the 'good boy' concept and why it felt tingly to hear it from him and not Mark for once. But Jaemin had one other thing on his mind, and he glanced up once more to ask a question. "Do you still want to celebrate the exam?"
"Hm?"
He subconsciously reached out and tucked a strand of black hair out of the smaller's eyes, "I want to take you to the Sapphire Dome. Would you like that?"
"A rich as hell club? I'll stick out like a sore thumb in that atmosphere. You know what happened at Mark's premier thing..."
"So you don't want to come?"
"I didn't say that."
"Then it's a date."
Psh, I didn't say that either, Renjun thought, but really didn't mind at all. He hadn't spent much time with Jaemin at all since he'd gotten here, and they tended to bicker and argue more than anything. Somehow, being the first neighbour he'd slept with didn't make him the first date or hangout. He was a little excited for this though, knowing how incredible this host could be.
"Nana."
"Mhm?"
"Thanks for waking me up. And putting up with me."
"Don't mention it. It was my pleasure."
"You're so mean..."
"I know, Angel. That's the fun part of me."
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