in vi·no ve·ri·tas
Jeno had been lugged into the car by Yukhei. Jaemin chanced a glance at the boy at the same time Jeno had. He was positively drunk. His eyes were hazy and smile lazy. He was almost too relaxed against the passenger seat.
"Where are we going?" Jeno asked.
"I'm taking you home."
"Mine or yours?" Jeno frowned.
"I think we'll go to mine. It would be a hassle to drop you off up there alone." Jaemin sighed. He started the car and went on his drive. The house wasn't too far. Jeno hand been quiet the whole time, looking half asleep.
"Jaemin, your side profile is nice." Jeno said, once Jaemin had stopped the car.
Jaemin laughed. He got out and walked to the passenger side to help Jeno out. The alpha stood on his own, but he was swaying back and forth a little bit. Jaemin took his arm and held him upright as they walked to the front door. He struggled to get them inside, but he was glad he hadn't brought his macaroni tray; that would have been worse. Jaemin took a couple of breaths after propping Jeno against a wall, holding his shoulders in place. He was severely out of breath. His lungs felt constricted suddenly; he had to close his eyes and breath in. Jeno's relaxing scent was definitely helpful.
"I'm sorry." Jeno said suddenly.
"Hm? For what?" Jaemin asked.
Jeno looked really sad all of a sudden. Jaemin laughed. He was probably sorry Jaemin had to do all this.
"Everything..." He said, making smile fade into a frown. Jaemin saw Jeno glance down at his belly. Jeno raised a hand, but stopped midway, as if he was forbidden to touch it. Jaemin frowned and grabbed his hand, pressing it against his belly. "You hate me, don't you?" Jeno added.
"What?" Jaemin frowned. "I don't hate you."
"You do. That's why you smell like that sometimes." His voice was a little slurred, but Jaemin understood.
"Like what?"
Jeno got quiet and just stared at the hand that was on Jaemin's belly. He smoothed it against Jaemin, then reached to his waist, pulling him closer. Jaemin jolted forward.
"Hey! That was pretty rough." Jaemin accused. Jeno used his other hand to hold the other waist in place.
"Sorry," Jeno murmured, pulling Jaemin close enough. He buried his face in Jaemin's shoulder. "You usually smell like my patients, but you've been smelling different lately." Jaemin gulped at the sudden closeness. He wanted to push Jeno away, but he also wanted to know what he meant.
"How do your patients smell?"
"They come in smelling scared. It's like I can smell the w-weight of their suffering."
"Wow," Jaemin frowned. "The weight of their suffering?"
"Smelling Donghyuck's smell made me realize how much I love your smell." Jeno whispered, out of the blue, after sniffing Jaemin's shoulder. He backed away and smiled sweetly, leaning his head back against the wall and giggling like a high school girl.
"Weirdo, you're gross." Jaemin sighed, but his face told otherwise, as it was tinted pink. He didn't think anyone should like his scent.
"You think I'm gross? See, you hate me."
"Shut up, Jeno. I don't hate you."
"Wow." Jeno smiled again, "You called me Jeno...to my face."
Jaemin hadn't even realized. "See," Jaemin started, "I don't hate you, Jeno."
Jeno wrapped his arms around Jaemin's neck happily pulling him closer into a hug but Jaemin stopped him, with hands to his chest. "Let's go to bed." He said.
"Is that an invitation?" Jeno lazily smiled and glanced down at Jaemin's neck.
"What? No." Jaemin was fire truck red now.
"When Mark asked what my love language was, I think I lied when I said it was quality time." Jeno said, picking up Jaemin's hands, "It's physical affection."
Jaemin made a face of disgust. Jeno was acting completely different. He was usually more serious that this. He had only taken 3 shots, but he seemed a little more than tipsy. Jaemin suddenly thought about himself. It would have taken a while for him to get more drunk. He was more used to alcohol, but he was so glad there were people watching him. It stopped his urges.
"Good for you." Jaemin groaned.
"But you won't let me." Jeno whined.
"Won't let you what, Jeno?"
"Touch you." Jeno sighed, letting go of Jaemin's hands.
Jaemin felt his stomach react to that. His breathing quickened. He was alarmed when Jeno gasped all of a sudden.
"Oh my gosh! You're bleeding!"
Jaemin felt a tickle on his lip. He touched it to see he was indeed bleeding. Jeno rushed away somewhere. Jaemin could hear him stumbling, until he came back with a napkin.
"Here, your nose is bleeding."
Jaemin pressed the napkin to his nose and started tilting his head back. Jeno stopped him, gently tilting his head forward.
"You're not supposed to tilt back." He said, "You should sit down."
Jaemin walked over to the kitchen. Jeno followed, sitting right next to him. The chairs were right by each other.
"I'm supposed to be taking care of you, but now the tables have turned." Jaemin snorted, then regretted it when he felt the blood squirt into the napkin. Jeno laughed.
"I really don't hate you, Jeno."
"You keep saying my name." Jeno smiled, laying his head on the table to look up at Jaemin. His face looked so...fond, and Jaemin wasn't used to being looked at that way. It made him a little nervous, but in the kind where you're anticipating something nice, like waiting for Christmas, like waiting for the first snowflake to fall, cooling the heat that you've seen for so long. It was a small kind of relief that you're not used to, but you want to be used to.
Jaemin stood up, after he felt his nose was clean enough. He washed his hands then served two glasses of water, handing one to Jeno.
"Drink all of it, okay?" Jaemin said sternly.
Jeno immediately gulped the entire cup of water.
It really was easy.
Jeno seemed so ready to do anything Jaemin asked of him. He would buy him all the things he craved. He left him alone when he wanted. He'd done everything he'd asked him to. Donghyuck had made it look so easy, and it was. Jaemin got curious about this newfound power. If he could make Jeno do what he wanted and flustered when he wanted, then he wasn't powerless. Even his parents had feared him when he spoke his mind.
Jaemin sat up in his chair and leaned his face closer to Jeno's, only a few inches apart. Jeno's eyes immediately widened, but he didn't back away. Jaemin smirked, glancing down to his nose, then lips. He watched as Jeno's cheeks became even more pink than the drunken pink they had been. Jaemin softly held one of Jeno's cheeks and placed a small kiss on his other one, hearing Jeno's breath hitch.
"You can touch me, Jeno." He whispered near his ear; Jaemin knew how suggestive that sounded. He heard Jeno audibly gulp. It made him giddy with excitement at the effect he had on an alpha...a real alpha, "As long as you're not inappropriate or rough." Jaemin took Jeno's hand and placed it on his swollen belly. It was pretty obvious by now that he was basically pregnant. Anyone would assume that.
"Oh." Was all Jeno said shakily. Jaemin smiled, seeing the red growing on his ears as he carefully ran his hands over Jaemin's belly, running one of them to his waist and leaving it there. Jaemin felt goosebumps rise in his skin. It was clear Jeno was still a little tipsy, but not as bad as when they had been at Renjun's.
Jaemin liked this power; thanks to Donghyuck for making him try it out. He liked making Jeno flustered if it got him acting so cute. He was aware he was flirting, and he quite liked doing it.
"Are you sleepy, Jeno?" Jaemin spoke, reaching forward to ruffle the drowsy alpha's hair. Jeno seemed to lean into the touch.
"No." He shook his head, then yawned.
"You are." Jaemin grinned. Jeno was acting like a child and Jaemin just wanted to take care of him.
"Come on, you can sleep in my bed. I'll take the sofa." Jaemin said, standing up to take Jeno.
"No, not your bed. I'll sleep on the couch." Jeno stayed seated.
"No, you're the guest, besides, it's getting harder to go up the stairs."
"Then I'll carry you." Jeno pouted.
"Not in your drunken state." Jaemin raised his brows.
"I'm not drunk." Jeno said, getting up almost easily, he only barely swayed. Jaemin noticed his words were no longer that slurred.
"No, Jeno," Jaemin held up a hand, "I'm not ready for that much physical affection." He laughed.
"I know you're lying." Jeno stated.
"Huh?" Jaemin frowned.
"I saw you climb the stairs yesterday." Jeno said with a frown.
"Ugh, you're too stubborn for your own good." Jaemin groaned, then realized, "That's it! That's got to be your flaw!"
"What flaw?"
"You can't take no for an answer." Jaemin said, "It can be a good thing, but it means you're also stubborn."
"You're right about that I guess, but if you wanted my flaws; you could've asked. I don't know why you'd want that though..." Jeno scratched his nape in confusion.
"What are they?"
"Well for one, I'm pretty sensitive. Criticism is a hard pill to swallow. I also can be pretty disorganized. Wait...why are we talking about this so out of nowhere?"
"Don't know." Jaemin laughed. Maybe Jeno really would do anything he asked, except when it came to the expense of Jaemin's comfort.
"Just go to sleep. Take my bed." Jaemin urged.
"No." Jeno frowned, "you go sleep in your bed."
It made Jaemin laugh. "Fine, I'll sleep on the living room floor. You can sleep on the couch if you want, but I'm taking the floor."
"Hell no." Jeno shook his head, "See, if you can lay yourself down on the floor, you can go up the stairs."
"Fine," Jaemin rolled his eyes, "since you're such a worried little puppy for me, I'll sleep in my bed." Jaemin said, petting his stomach with a smirk. He side-eyed Jeno to see his look of utter surprise.
Jeno grabbed Jaemin's hand, examining it. "What's gotten into you?" He looked super embarrassed, making Jaemin laugh again.
"What do you mean, Jeno?" Jaemin kept repeating his name when he could. He didn't miss the face Jeno would make every time he said it. He looked so pleased by it; Jaemin almost wondered if it was a kink of his.
"Did you drink?" Jeno actually looked concerned.
"Just that nasty juice Donghyuck brought. By the way, do you really think I smell better than him? You seemed to think he was really funny. I was starting to think you had a little crush on him."
"A crush? What are we in? High school?"
"Adults can have crushes." Jaemin stuck his tongue out.
"Well I don't have a crush on him and...you smell best, Jaemin." Jeno said. He pressed Jaemin's palm onto his face and closed his eyes, nuzzling into it.
What the hell was going on?
Well, it was nighttime, and that, coupled with the drunken shots, was sure to make someone tell the truth. There's no secrets after midnight, and in wine, there is truth.