"Why am I doing this again?" Mark asks as his friend drags him towards the restaurant.
"Because you, Jeno, Jaemin, and Haechan are all single and lonely. Ji and I wanna see if any of you have a chance with each other."
"You know Jeno doesn't like me, right?"
"He'll get over it. And what better way", the pinkette smiles,"than to get to know you?"
Mark sighs, knowing there's no way out of this. "You and Jisung are staying with us, right?"
"Yes. At a different table."
Mark groans. "Kill me now."
"Keep being a brat and I will", Chenle grumbles before pushing his way into the restaurant.
Jisungs face lights up as his eyes land on his boyfriend and he smiles, waving them over. Chenle forces a smile onto his face as he sits down, pulling his friend onto the chair next to him.
"Considering that you had to drag, not one, but two of us here, I don't think this is gonna work out", Jeno tells him.
"Give each other a chance", Jisung says. "Please."
Though (arguably) not as much as Chenle, Haechan and Jaemin are whipped for the male, his soft tone tugging at their heartstrings, and all of them aware of how annoying and persistent he is.
"Fine", Haechan sighs. "You guys can go now."
"We'll be right over there. And no arguing", Chenle says, pointing at him.
"Hey!"
"Should we introduce ourselves or like...?"
"I've heard about you two", Jeno says to Haechan and Jaemin.
"Chenle said your names as we were, um, walking here."
Haechan snorts. "You mean dragging you against your will? You can leave if you want."
"Haechan!" Jaemin scolds.
The male raises an eyebrow. "What? Honestly, you're all free to leave. It's not like we chose to be here and not everybody sugarcoats things like you, sweetheart."
Jaemin rolls his eyes and focuses on the two males he's never met. "Do you two actually wanna leave?"
"I've got nothing better to do", Jeno tells them before picking up his drink and taking a sip of it.
"I'm just, um, he made it sound like a blind date. With all of you. And like, um, I don't-"
"Wanna lead us on? Be seen on a date in public? Are you embarrassed?" Jeno interrupts.
"For the love of God, at least let me finish my sentence before judging me."
"Alright, then, what?"
Oh Lord, Mark thinks. "I was gonna say that I don't know how this is supposed to work, considering there's four of us. And I'm kinda awkward. And weird with dating."
"Oh." Mark wants to roll his eyes but refrains."I don't know either."
"It's, um-", Jaemins cheeks heat up at the attention, feeling especially flustered with this topic. "It's not supposed to feel different from a casual hangout or two-person date. The same concept applies, just with multiple people. You just kinda see what fits."
"Oh", Mark nods in understanding. "So, should we, like, ask each other questions?"
"Sure."
"If you guys don't mind me asking, what are your sexualities? I'm curious."
"I'm bi."
"Same", Jeno says.
"I'm pan."
"So I'm the only one that's actually gay?" Haechan asks.
"According to those two", Jeno holds his drink out in the direction of Chenle and Jisung, "we're all pretty fruity."
"Do we have to stay here?" Mark asks suddenly, gaining the attention of the three boys.
"Are you okay?" Jaemin asks, sitting up, concern in his voice.
"Y-yeah, it's just, um, we're being stared at. In a good and bad way. Or maybe both bad ways."
The three follow his gaze to the two tables past them, one with two girls smiling at them and the other with a group of people eyeing them in disgust.
"I'll be right back", Jeno says, pushing himself up from the table, his chair scraping against the tile floor.
They watch as Jeno approaches the table with a friendly smile on his face. As soon as he starts speaking, his expression drops into a glare.
"I can't be the only one finding that hot, right?" Haechans voice turns their attention away from Jeno.
Mark and Jaemin shake their heads before looking back to see Jeno coming back over and the group packing up their stuff.
He sits down with a smile. "They're leaving."
"What about them?" Haechan asks, nodding in the direction of the two girls still staring at them.
"We're gay!" He yells loud enough for them to hear, causing them to look away in embarrassment.
Having heard him, Chenle and Jisung look at their friends in amusement.
Jisung turns back to Chenle. "Do you think they're getting along?"
"Mark's there, they'll be fine."
"Will Mark be fine?"
"He already started talking, look."
Indeed, Mark was in the middle of telling them something, the other three boys listening intently.
"Jaemin looks whipped already", Chenle comments, noticing how the male had leaned forward, resting his cheek against his palm as he stared at Mark, a small smile on his face, eyes showing adoration.
Jisung snorts. "He looks at me like that."
"'Cause he is whipped for you."
"Platonically."
After having a couple of short conversations, the four decide that they'd rather not be in the restaurant anymore and agree to walk around the mall.
"We're leaving!" Mark calls out to the two, the other three staring at them.
"Stay together!"
"Be nice!"
"I am!" Haechan and Jeno call back in unison and look at each other.
Chenle sighs when they're gone. "I hope they'll be okay. I'm a little worried."
"I'm sure it'll be okay. Besides, I'm supposed to be the worrier. Try to relax, okay?"
"I have a Jeno, you a have Haechan."
"There's also Mark and Jaemin. As much as he doesn't enjoy interference, he listens to Jaemin sometimes."
"How on Earth are you three best friends? Haechan and Jaemin are like opposites but they both get along with you so well."
"They're civil. Haechan just needs to get used to people and you kinda just have to get used to Jaemin."
➳
"Is it gonna bother anyone if I buy some candy?"
Haechan rolls his eyes and grabs hold of Jaemins hand to drag him to the candy shop, not caring whether the other two were following or not.
When they get to the shop, he leaves Jaemin to look around and goes back out to see the other two leisurely approaching.
"Do Not. Be Mean. To Jaemin. Ever. Got it?"
Jeno snorts. "You want us to be nicer than you?" Mark nudges the males arm, worried from the angry look on Haechans face. Not caring one bit, Jeno uses his slight height advantage to annoy the male by leaning down. "Don't worry, honey, we'll be nice."
"Hey, do you guys want anything?" Jaemin asks from the door, oblivious to the tension between the two and a panicked Mark. "I'll pay."
"You don't have to", Mark tells him, grabbing a hold of Jeno. "But we'll look."
Haechan follows in after them and looks around, keeping an eye on Jaemin but avoiding Jeno. He isn't sure what possessed Jisung to think they should meet. He was almost confused on how he got Jaemin there but he guesses that all his friend needed to do was pout and Jaemin agreed.
Once they all get their candy, they walk out, continuing to let Jaemin take the lead on where they go while Mark tries to ease the awkwardness by constantly talking. Jaemin stays quiet, only speaking when directly spoken to. He constantly glances at Haechan, checking to see if he's okay and hoping he's not too obvious.
"I know you're staring at me."
"Are you okay?"
"I'm fine."
Jaemin and Mark exchange a look, both obviously concerned about the two. Casually, Mark leads them into a store and after they leave, back in the direction of where Chenle and Jisung are.
Mark feels like he can breathe again when he sees the couple who turns their attention to the other males.
Jisung looks around and spots Haechan sitting at different table, staring boredly in their direction. He moves over to the table and ignores his friend when he rolls his eyes. "What's wrong with you?"
"Chenle didn't tell me that Jeno's annoying."
Jisungs heart drops, terrified of what happened while the four were left unattended. But he tries to act calm as he asks, "What did he do?"
"He was mocking me. Do you think I'm mean?"
"Yes."
Haechan sighs, not surprised but worried if the answer to his next question is also yes. "Do you think I'm mean to Jaemin?"
"If you're worried, go ask him. Jaemin doesn't lie."
"He's known me for less than an hour and he seems to think I'm an asshole."
"Chenle will talk to him, don't worry. And I'm sure Mark doesn't think that. Besides Jeno, how was everything?"
"It was like a normal day out with Jaemin, just with Mark instead of you. He...has more patience than me. Seems kinda confused though."
"It could be more worse. Thank you for coming."
"Yeah, yeah, whatever. Do you really think something will happen with me and Jaemin though? At most, I have a chance with Mark if he doesn't pick Jaemin first."
"Jaemin likes you."
"He likes everyone!"
"You don't have to be anything with anyone. Lele and I just thought we'd try. Plus, more friends shouldn't hurt. And you and Jaemin need to get along better anyways. Yes, both of you, so don't yell at me."
Haechan lets out an annoyed sigh, crossing his arms. Jisung isn't completely wrong, this might not be the worst thing in the world, but he still doesn't like it. If he wants to improve his friendship with Jaemin, they can do that on their own.
Okay, I think this chapter is actually completely edited...I hope. I'm also slowly editing so if some stuff doesn't match up, it's because I didn't do anything about it yet. I will...some day.
Thank you!❤️