"here we are... in paris..." chenle stated, gluing his face to the window of the train as the sun set behind the eiffel tower.
"capital of france, and romanticism." renjun added, looking as amazed as chenle by the scenery.
"it's so beautiful..." donghyuck muttered, his eyes shining as a bright smile appeared on his face.
mark who was stitting not so far from them had heard their conversation, and he didn't hesitate to whisper the words "not as beautiful as you..." as he looked at donghyuck's back.
he internally hated himself for hurting donghyuck by screaming out loud that he didn't have any feelings for him, when it was very obvious that he had some.
donghyuck and him hadn't spoken for 24hours, and it seemed like an eternity for him.
he missed the younger's beaming smiles – not that donghyuck didn't smile anymore, but he had just stopped smiling at mark – he missed his light laugher or the way he would glue his body to mark's whenever he had the chance.
having donghyuck next to him made mark feel loved, but now that donghyuck and him were awkward, he was back to feeling like the excluded descendant of hades, and as much as he liked this before, he couldn't stand it anymore.
"this is our stop."
jisung's voice pulled mark off his thoughts, and the boy was quick to stand to his feet, taking the empty bags of food the seven of them had eaten during the six-hour ride.
all the boys got off the train, following chenle who was already asking for directions in french.
in a nick of time, the seven boys were out of the station, breathing fresh parisian air.
"what do we do now?" jaemin asked, keeping an eye on renjun, chenle and donghyuck who were a few steps ahead of them, looking at their surroundings.
"we find a place to stay the night." mark declared.
the seven boys wandered around the city, chenle, renjun and donghyuck admiring the scenery and trying their best to say 'bonjour' to any person around while the other four boys were actually looking for an apartment to rent or an hotel to stay in.
"bonjour!" donghyuck exclaimed, waving at a stranger before bursting out laughing with chenle and renjun because of his poor accent.
mark turned his head when he heard donghyuck's melodious laugh, smiling sadly at the sight.
it seemed like donghyuck could be happy without him.
maybe this was what was best for him.
"are you going to keep staring at him all night long?" jaemin raised a brow. "or are you going to approach him?"
"i'm sure he hates me after what i said..." mark sighed, his eyes never leaving donghyuck.
"and i'm sure he doesn't."
donghyuck eventually turned around, his eyes meeting mark's sad orbs and getting mesmerized.
the two boys shared an intense eye contact that was eventually broken by donghyuck when he felt his heart becoming mad inside his chest.
jaemin stared at the two boys, smiling at their interaction, and wrapping an arm around mark's shoulder when they borke their visual contact.
"see, the blush on his face tells me that he doesn't hate you." jaemin smirked.
"how could you be so sure he's not red in anger?" mark asked.
"look." jaemin said, using his pointer finger to turn mark's head until he was looking towards the three boys. "he's red and glancing at you from time to time while speaking with chenle and renjun. he has to be telling them that he misses you."
mark lowered his head immediately when him and donghyuck had another quick eye-contact.
"since when have you been a love counsellor, warrior?" mark mumbled.
"since renjun opened my eyes." jaemin replied, shamefully checking renjun out.
"i found a place!" jeno declared, catching the attention of the other boys. "here, it says that they are renting the apartment. it has three bedrooms, two bathrooms, a kitchen, and a living room."
"perfect." mark nodded.
"guys!" jisung called, making the three giggly boys turn around. "come with us! we found a place to stay!"
Ω
"so... who will sleep with who...?" jisung asked the one-million-dollar question that all the boys had been trying to avoid since they arrived in the apartment.
they were all having dinner in the apartment's living room, their mouths too full to even bother speaking together.
but jisung had spoken, and he was expecting for an answer.
"huh..." jeno looked around the table.
"i can sleep with jisung." chenle declared with a bright smile, making another smile appear on jisung's face.
"well..." jaemin looked around the table. "i guess jeno and i will share a room. one of you could join us if you'd like..." he added, looking at mark, donghyuck and renjun.
"and this leaves the last two together..." mark sighed.
"yeah." jisung nodded.
the rest of their dinner passed in silence, none of the boys really talking to each other.
it was crazy how the relationship of two people inside their friend group could change the whole mood.
even if at first, the seven of them weren't the best of friends, they had grown considerably closer now, and could be considered as real friends.
but now that there were tensions inside the group, everything was awkward for the seven of them.
they were all secretly wishing for this awkwardness to leave so that they could go back to their previous relationship.
"are you sure you want me to sleep with jaemin and jeno?" renjun whispered, looking into donghyuck's eyes.
"renjun, it's your chance to figure your feelings out." donghyuck explained.
"but i don't want to leave you alone with mark if you don't feel comfortable." renjun pouted.
"what is important now is for you to get together with jeno and jaemin." donghyuck said.
"are you sure...?" renjun raised a brow.
"i am. don't worry about me." donghyuck hugged renjun quickly. "and now, go find your two prince charming and have the best night of your life."
renjun flashed donghyuck a smile before heading towards the room that had been assigned to jeno and jaemin.
the chinese male took a few seconds to breathe in and out, his hand on the handle, and mentally preparing himself to enter this place and have a very important talk.
once he judged he was ready, renjun pushed the door open and entered the room.
he was not surprised to see both boys topless, making out on the bed so violently that the covers of the bed were all messed up.
this time, he took a few seconds to admire the two boys' intimate interaction – almost looking like a creep – before closing the door loudly to catch their attention.
"o-oh, renjun!" jeno stuttered, pushing jaemin off him and wiping his mouth from which drool was escaping.
"yeah..." the small chinese smiled shyly.
"would you like to join us?" jaemin asked, rasing a brow playfully as he smirked.
"h-huh... i don't really feel ready to have sex n-now..." renjun mumbled, playing with the hem of his sleeves nervously.
as jaemin was about to let out an indecent answer, jeno hit the back of his head, smiling at renjun right after.
"what jaemin meant was more like, would you like to join us and have a little talk." jeno specified, making renjun flush red for imagining things.
"o-oh... y-yeah, of c-course..." he stuttered.
"come have a sit." jaemin told, patting the space between jeno and him on the bed.
renjun took small steps towards the big bed, crawling until he was seated between the two shirtless – and very hot – demigods.
"so..." renjun looked successfully at jeno and jaemin.
"well, you didn't really let us answer last time, after your little monologue..." jeno spoke.
"yeah." jaemin approved. "we had lots of things to tell you. but you left, and the next thing we knew, you were avoiding us."
"i-i'm here now..." renjun said.
"and we're both very happy about it." jaemin added.
renjun smiled at jaemin's words, a blush creeping to his cheeks as jaemin winked at him.
"s-so... w-what are your a-answers...?" renjun questioned, cursing at himself for being this awkward.
"jeno and i both aren't the best with words, right?" jaemin asked, looking at jeno.
"yeah. i'm better than jaemin, but i still suck." jeno confirmed, looking at renjun.
"so, instead of voicing out everything, we thought that... maybe showing you was better." jaemin continued.
"s-showing me?" renjun asked, his stomach flipping.
"would you like us to show you?" jeno raised a brow, making renjun face him.
"s-show me w-what...?" renjun gulped.
jaemin's large hand cupped renjun's jaw, making the chinese turn his head to face jaemin.
when their faces were facing each other, renjun squinted his eyes, his heart accelerating inside his chest when he saw the minimal space that was left between their lips.
"renjun, let us show you how much we love you..." jaemin declared before finally closing the gap that separated his and renjun's parted lips.
as soon as jaemin's mouth came in contact with his, renjun was sent to another dimension, his heart bursting inside his chest as his eyes closed so that he could enjoy the feeling fully.
renjun and jaemin had fought lots of times, each of them trying to win the battle, but it seemed like this battle was long lost for renjun, as if he was disadvantaged facing jaemin.
when their tongues met each other, renjun didn't even try to force his way into jaemin's mouth. he was quick to understand that jaemin was the one leading, and that even with all the war strategy he knew, renjun would never be able to take control.
was it the way jaemin's hands were gripping on his body?
was it the noises that left jaemin's mouth as he pushed further into the kiss?
renjun didn't know, but he was sure of one thing: he was addicted to these new kinds of fights with jaemin.
after a minute of kissing, jaemin pulled away, leaving renjun panting.
ares' son looked into renjun's eyes, smirking. he looked dishevelled at the moment, and he was absolutely gorgeous like that – mostly because he was responsible of this state renjun was in.
"renjun..." jeno called.
"huh...?" renjun replied, no coherent sounds escaping his numb mouth.
"my turn to show you..." jeno said, pulling the boy closer to him and gluing their lips together.
renjun got back to his previous dazed state, similarly to when he was kissing jaemin.
this time, he wrapped his arms around jeno's neck as jeno's hands found their place on his waist, so that he could pull their bodies closer.
just like with jaemin, renjun lost the battle, and was lead through the kiss by jeno's skilful tongue. renjun didn't have much power compared to the two powerful demigods that were jeno and jaemin.
the kiss didn't feel less amazing than with jaemin. it was at the same time similar, but different.
both boys were dominating him, obviously, and he was letting himself being overpowered without complaining.
but jaemin was rougher and more lustful, bitting onto lips, sucking on the tongue, and gripping renjun's body so tight that renjun was sure it would leave bruises the next day.
jeno was gentler, but this didn't mean it wasn't as overwhelming as kissing jaemin. he was caring and sweet, caressing renjun's side softly as his tongue danced against renjun's. although he was dominating the kiss, there was no fight happening inside their mouths.
but renjun loved both ways.
he loved jaemin and jeno.
equally.
jeno parted after a minute as well, leaving renjun in the same state jaemin left him a while ago.
the two powerful demigods looked at the older boy with heart eyes, waiting for him to catch his breath.
"w-what does... that mean...?" renjun asked, looking at the two boys he had just kissed.
"it means that we love you too, renjun." jaemin declared.
"and also, that we'd like to be able to call you our boyfriend." jeno added.
renjun blinked, not believing his ears.
had jaemin and jeno just successfully kissed him?
and were they asking him out now?
it had to be a dream...
"so?" jeno raised a brow.
"will you join us?" jaemin imitated jeno.
so, it wasn't a dream...
"yes!" renjun nodded quickly, making bright smiles appear on jeno and jaemin's faces.