please I didn't realize it has been more than a month since I last updated,, this chapter has been sitting in my drafts for weeks sorry 💀
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"Jeno," Ji-yoon called his name as she let herself fall down on the sofa next to him. He watched as she turned her body towards him and pulled her knees up to her chest.
As he watched her get comfortable, he noticed how tired she actually looked. He knew she hadn't slept at all, yet had tried to keep her energy up until Haechan was gone. Although he said he would be back soon, she couldn't help but give in to how exhausted she was.
"I wanted to talk to you. You have been here for almost two days now but I still didn't manage to get a moment alone with you."
Taemin, Jungwoo, Wooyoung, Haechan, Jaemin, Shotaro.
There was always someone there. And while they were all at least somewhat friends at this point, Ji-yoon still wanted to talk to Jeno alone.
So since her brothers went to get some work done at the office, Wooyoung was busy at the hospital, Jaemin was still at home, and Shotaro was taking a shower, this was the first chance she got so far.
"Are you sure you want to talk now?" Jeno asked. "You look tired."
She just shook her head. "It's fine," she said. "I can rest later - I took the day off."
"Must be nice that your brother is the CEO. You can take a day off whenever you want."
However, she couldn't exactly agree to that. Instead, she looked at Jeno intently as she assumed that,
"It's probably as easy for me to get a day off with Taemin being my boss as it is for you with Chenle being your boss." She hummed, unsure. "Sometimes it's nice, sometimes it's really not."
Jeno had to agree.
"Actually, that's what I wanted to talk about." A bit unsure how to phrase this, Ji-yoon hesitated as she struggled to find the right words. However, all that was going through her mind boiled down to, "I hope you aren't angry at me."
"Why would I?" Jeno asked, incredibly surprised.
"Because I pretended not to know who you were," she explained and quickly added, "It might feel like... I don't know, but I can understand it if feel upset, is what I am trying to say."
Jeno laughed a little at that. "That makes no sense," he said. "I tried to trick you, you tried to trick me. Only difference is that you succeeded and I didn't. There's nothing to be upset about. Plus, I don't think you even treated me any different than any of the other employees."
Ji-yoon shook her head. "That's not true," she argued. "I did keep a closer eye on you. If not for my own sake, then for Jaemin. He kept worrying about you."
Smiling to himself, looking down at his hands, Jeno hummed. "He always worries about everyone." He looked back at her. "But I am not angry. I have to thank you, actually. You pretty much saved my life. Twice."
She was glad that that was how he perceived it. She had been worrying about that for a while so finally getting the chance to address it - it felt good.
"There was something else I wanted to say," she said after that. "I know you never considered working at LTM your real job."
As bad as it made him feel, Jeno had to agree. She was right, yet at the same time agreeing to her was like dismissing what he had done over the course of the past few months, dismissing the friends he made, and the projects he helped come to life.
So, unsure how to react, he just let her continue, not giving much of a response.
"But everyone who works in our company is important to me. So even if you aren't on my side," she said warmly, "I am still on yours. I will still look out for you."
It left Jeno speechless. He didn't know what to say while Ji-yoon only smiled past her exhaustion.
Allowing her words to echo in his mind, Jeno came to the conclusion that,
"That's reassuring." He said that as he pretended not to notice how Ji-yoon's eyes slowly closed more and more. "Having you on my side... that feels nice."
She grinned. "Right?" she agreed somewhat jokingly. She sighed deeply, exaggerating a bit. "I hope Haechan will feel the same way at some point."
"I am pretty sure he does," Jeno muttered which Ji-yoon heard yet didn't comment on. For once, she chose to hold back on any remarks or snarky comebacks.
Because she was about to fall asleep.
"You should go to bed," Jeno urged, gently nudging her leg.
Ji-yoon shook her head. "I don't want to."
"Don't be stubborn."
"You are the stubborn one," she retorted. "I am just trying to nap."
"Like this?"
She shrugged. "It's comfortable." Her voice was slowly becoming more and more slurred. Her sentences made sense but it got harder to understand them. "And I am in nice company."
Jeno smiled at the compliment. Seeing how she wasn't willing nor seemed like she could even physically get herself to move, he let her be.
"Alright. Sleep well."
She repositioned her head on the backrest and pressed her knees into it too.
"Thanks," she mumbled. "Ah- Jeno?"
"Hm?"
Before saying what she wanted to say, she forced her eyes open once more, narrowing them slightly as she glared at the older boy.
"You are a special agent, I can't believe you are so careless," she criticised him harshly, taking him aback by how loud and strong her voice was all of a sudden. "You better be careful from now on. Don't get hurt again. Almost dying twice in the span of a couple of days?" She huffed, then closed her eyes. "Don't get hurt again," she repeated, quieter this time.
Surprised to have been criticised in such a warm and caring way, Jeno had to smile. He didn't want to say much as Ji-yoon was already half asleep anyway.
"Sorry," he said quietly. "I'll be careful."
"Good," she muttered just before she fell asleep.
And she slept well too - yet not for long.
Jungwoo didn't have much to do and Taemin quickly dealt with most of the problems at the company since he and Ji-yoon had taken care of most problems the night prior anyway.
So, soon enough, the two brothers were back, just shortly after Wooyoung had come to check in on the two injured boys as well.
The brothers were chatting as they came into the room, yet stopped once they saw the sleeping girl next to which sat Jeno who was watching TV.
"Oh," Jungwoo breathed in surprise. "That's why she didn't reply to my messages."
"Sorry," Jeno said. "I noticed that you texted her but her phone is locked so..."
Taemin laughed. "Take a wild guess about what her password could be," he dared him as he passed the sofa and walked over to one of the cupboards next to it.
Curious, Jeno took her phone.
"'Haechan'?" he muttered to himself as he typed it in, yet it was wrong. He hummed. "Then..."
Oh.
The phone unlocked.
He laughed to himself, briefly glimpsed at the sleeping girl.
"'Sunshine', huh?"
Amused, Jungwoo stepped past the two and into the kitchen, closely followed by Taemin.
"Is Jaemin coming for dinner?" the older of the two asked.
"Yeah," Jeno replied quickly, then added, "Haechan is coming too."
"Obviously," Taemin said.
"Jeno, did Wooyoung take a look at you yet?" Jungwoo asked.
The boy shook his head, looked at Ji-yoon momentarily, worried to wake her before realizing that, even if she were to wake up, she probably wouldn't care much.
"He said he would check on Shotaro first."
"Maybe we should ask him to check on Joon too," Taemin thought out loud.
Jeno looked at him and so did Jungwoo. "Why?"
"There's nothing wrong with her," he mumbled. "I am just worried. Now where we have evidence on CEO Park I should feel calmer, but I keep thinking that something bad is going to happen."
"I get that feeling too sometimes," Haechan said all of a sudden, startling all three of the boys. He stood in the middle of the living room.
Jungwoo couldn't help but frown. "How did you get in here?"
Haechan's eyes fell on the girl that was sleeping on the sofa next to an unbothered Jeno. She had her legs stretched out a bit more, her toes pressing into the older boy's thighs.
"She gave me a key," he explained quietly as he walked up to her. He crouched down in front of the sofa, allowed his eyes to linger on her resting figure for a while.
Meanwhile, Jungwoo nodded, a little confused that he didn't figure that out himself.
"Sounds like something she would do," he agreed.
Ji-yoon's limbs were pressing into the sofa with all their weight, the girl too tired to carry them. Still, she wasn't asleep, at least not fully. Haechan could tell by the way she turned her head a little into his direction and how her closed eyes seemed to follow his voice.
He took a deep breath. He raised his arm and ran his hand down her hair. His gentle touch made her lean in closer, until eventually her cheek rested against his palm.
"Why didn't you go to bed?" Haechan asked softly.
"I wanted to wait," she mumbled.
"For me?"
"Mhm," she hummed in agreement.
Despite wanting her to know that it wasn't necessary to do so, he couldn't really get himself to say that. He was too busy adoring the sight. Despite everything, sometimes she was sweetly innocent.
"Okay, let's go to bed." At which she nodded, yet didn't bother to move. He seemed amused despite having to point out, "Not here. In your room." She nodded again - and didn't move again either. "Ji-yoon..."
"Hm?"
"Do you want to walk yourself or do you want me to carry you?" It was supposed to sound like a warning but-
"That's a dumb question," she mumbled before opening her eyes just enough so that she could tell where exactly Haechan was, giving her the chance to lean forward and wrap her arms around his neck.
It really was a dumb question, the answer more than predictable and yet he asked anyway just to be sure before he slid one arm underneath her knees and put the other on her back.
"Hold on tight," he told her at which she tightened her grip so much that she pulled herself up even further, her head now resting in the crook of his neck. Her hair tickled on his skin and the warmth of her lips against his collarbone made him hold his breath.
Still, he pretended not to care and not to notice as he lifted her up. He bit the inside of his cheek to keep himself from smiling when Ji-yoon started running her thumb up and down the back of his neck.
Just then, Wooyoung entered the room. "So, Shotaro is done, time to check up on you Jen--"
He cut himself off and quickly stepped to the side as to not stand in Haechan's way as he walked out of the living room, Ji-yoon in his arms.
Once they were out of sight, Wooyoung looked at the older boys with wide eyes.
"Did I see that right?" he muttered.
Taemin nodded. "Took them long enough anyway."
"True," Jungwoo agreed.
"That was kinda-" Wooyoung began but didn't finish his sentence as he was unsure what to say.
Jeno smiled to himself. "Her boldness is rubbing off on him. Did you hear that? 'Or should I carry you?'" He turned to Taemin in amusement. "He was trying to be smooth."
"He is learning," Jungwoo noted, slapped Taemin's arm. "We raised her well."
"I have nothing to do with her constant flirting," Taemin pointed out, shoving the responsibility over to Jungwoo. "But good for them."
Wooyoung nodded and so did Jeno while Shotaro walked inside, a little confused.
"What's going on?"
"Adult things."
"Oh."
Jeno hesitated though given that Shotaro seemed to just silently accept that rather than point out the obvious. The obvious being,
"Taro, you are also an adult," he said, then pointed at him and then himself. "We are the same age."
He nodded. "Yeah?"
"He is cute," Jungwoo mumbled. "Really adorable." And then he turned to Taemin. "Can we keep him?"
"Ji-yoon practically adopted him already anyway," he pointed out.
"Good~" Jungwoo said, satisfied to hear that before he turned to Shotaro. "Son, are you hungry?"
And Shotaro, not bothering to even question his choice of words, just nodded and smiled.
"Are you preparing dinner?"
"Yeah, do you want to help us?" Taemin asked and rather than answering them with words, the boy just walked over to them and washed his hands, getting ready to help.
Nap ⊶
alternative picture for this chapter was: