Jisungie❤️
How was it shopping with
Haechan?
He told me he defended you
twice
Jaemin
It was nice
When I was pushing the cart, he
suddenly pulled it so it made a
screech so everyone was staring
at us and I apologized and then
Haechan said "don't you know
staring is rude?"
Some lady seemed annoyed at
him so I was a little worried but
it was fine
And the second time was because
some guy said something about
me that caused Haechan to
make him apologize to me
Which made me really
uncomfortable but I understand
why he did that
Jisungie❤️
Ohh
That doesn't seem too bad
Did you get stuff from the list?
Jaemin
I didn't really have a choice
But I don't mind, Haechan did
most of the work
Jisungie❤️
Okay good
Jaemin
You spoke to Haechan earlier
right?
Jisungie❤️
Yeah, why?
Jaemin
Did he seem okay?
He seemed weird on the car ride
back to my apartment and he
was unusually quiet
And then he wanted to take the
bus home instead of me driving
him
Jisungie❤️
I feel like it's my fault
I'll check on him
Jaemin
Okay
Please let me know if he's okay
Jisungie❤️
Of course
Jaemin
❤️❤️
Jisungie❤️
❤️❤️
➳
Haechan dries his off with a towel, stepping into the hallway just in time to hear knocking at his door.
Huh?
He doesn't bother asking who it is before he opens to door to come face to face with his best friend who smiles at him, raising his hand to give a small wave.
"What are you doing here?"
Jisung rolls his eyes, pushing his way into the apartment, almost automatically looking for something he can help out with.
Haechan leans against the counter with his arms crossed, knowing exactly what the male is doing. Sometimes it's relieving that Jisung is willing to do a household chore. Other times, it feels insulting.
"Do you wanna go hang up a towel or something?" Haechan asks after a minute of Jisung awkwardly standing in his living room.
"I can put it away if you want."
Haechan pulls the towel from around his neck and hands it to Jisung. Right as Jisung grabs it, Haechan leans down and shakes his hair, splattering water droplets on the male.
"Ah!" Jisung says, stepping back and holding the towel up to block his friends water attack.
Haechan watches in amusement as Jisung keeps the towel up while walking sideways down the hallway and into the bathroom.
Unsure of how long until Jisung comes out, Haechan goes into the kitchen and begins boiling water for ramen, feeling hungry.
After a minute, he hears footsteps on the tile floor, notifying him of Jisungs presence. He glances up and gives his friend a polite smile that Jisung returns with a nods. Neither talk, making Haechan feel exceptionally awkward.
Because he knows there's a reason to the males visit and he knows that Jisung has a way of getting him to open up whether he wants to or not.
"Jaemin told me you seemed off earlier."
Fuck!
"Yeah, I just felt awkward", Haechan answers, looking everyone around the kitchen except at Jisungs face.
"Any reason?"
"Just had a lot on my mind and that combined with being around someone made me feel awkward."
When he gains the courage to look at Jisungs face, he almost regrets it. Jisung is looking at him with amusement but he can tell there's something else beyond that.
"What were you thinking about that made you feel awkward?"
Jisung moves himself away from the cabinet and gets busy looking through Haechan's cabinets for a snack.
Haechan knows what he's doing and he hates that at some point that evening, Jisung will get the truth out of him. He doesn't speak, just watching as his friend eats strawberry waters without a care in the world like this isn't part of his interrogation process.
"Just about...me."
"Oh?" Jisungs eyes briefly flit up to Haechan before back down to the package of wafers.
Haechan sighs, moving away from the stove and into the the living where he plops down onto his couch. Jisung follows, staying silent, waiting for the brunet to start talking.
"I was thinking about...myself. And then I ended up remembering those assholes I used to be friends with."
Jisung freezes, expression changing from his one of attempted indifference to concern before he realizes and tries not to look sympathetic.
Haechan chuckles without humor. "I saw that."
"I know."
More time passes, Haechans mind on overdrive with everything he's feeling and debating on sharing. When it gets too uncomfortable for him, he gets up to check on the state of the water he's boiling. It's still not ready but neither is he.
He goes back to the couch and just looks up at the ceiling, trying to keep all his emotional memories from affecting him. He folds his lips inwards, trying to contain himself.
When Jisung pulls him into his arms, a bit of his wall breaks. He clutches onto Jisungs jacket, holding him as tight as he can to block out the memories of the things he wishes can forget.
"You don't have to talk about it."
"You know I'm going to."
"You always have the option not to."
"I know."
Haechan badly wants to cuddle with Jisung but he's actively aware that he's boiling water for his dinner.
Jisung seems to remember as he asks, "Do you want me to make it?"
"My ramen is better than yours", Haechan mumbles.
Jisung smacks his arm, laughing a bit at the insult. Haechan giggles which makes Jisung look even happier. Jisung stands up and holds out a hand to the male. Haechan takes it and let's Jisung lead him to the kitchen.
It's still silent as Haechan adds the ingredients to the now boiling water, but it feels more comfortable this time. Plus, the brunet hates awkwardness so he adds every ingredient in a weird, dramatic way to lighten the atmosphere.
Pretty soon, the ramen is done and Haechan is splitting it up into two bowls, being sure to give Jisung a small amount of soup for flavor since he only likes the noodles.
Their slurping makes them giggle, further easing the tension from earlier. But it comes right back when they finish eating and Haechan basically traps Jisung on the couch, one leg over his so he can't leave while their arms are around each other and Haechan is nearly leaning on the males chest.
Eventually, the things in Haechans mind become too taunting so he speaks. "I feel like I'm not good enough. I'm aware of my flaws but while I would admit to however many I have, they seemed to find a hundred. Everything was wrong with me. And then, with our conversation from earlier, I don't even know how it relates to this but this just what popped into my head. And maybe it's because I feel guilty about how I treat Jaemin or something. I don't even fully understand why this is bothering me like this but yeah."
"Haechan, you're not any of the things those people convinced you that you are."
"Then why...?" Haechan trails off, eyes filling with tears as his mind starts telling him awful things that he's not supposed to believe.
"I don't know. Maybe they were projecting. You are wonderful and I really have no idea why they said any of that shit to you. But they're ungrateful brats."
"But they said", Haechan sniffles, "they said that I'm too loud, annoying, clingy, rude, unsympathetic, I don't know, I forgot after the first two minutes of the goddamn hour they spent complaining about my entire being."
Jisung holds Haechan tighter, squeezing his hand every so often to comfort him.
"You didn't deserve that", Jisung speaks up after a while. "No one does but I don't know everyone, I know you. You don't deserve that. Everyone is different and has different ways of showing love. Plus, it's not a bad thing if you take up space. It's okay if you're loud, dramatic-"
That gets Haechan to giggle, his mood feeling increased when he sees his best friend smile at his happiness. One of his silent ways of should affection.
"It's okay if you're confident and try not to let things affect you. It's okay if you want to show the love you feel for people you care about. You're amazing and there's nothing wrong with you. They couldn't handle it so they put you down for these things instead. It's not fair and I wish you didn't go through that." Jisung cuddles Haechan closer. "But even if they were assholes who obviously don't fit into your life, it doesn't mean everyone else agrees with them. Haechan, I love you because of those things they found oh so problematic. 'Cause they're not problems, okay?"
Haechan nods with tears in his eyes, glad it's only Jisung that's seeing him like this. He hides his face against Jisungs chest, not wanting his best friend to see even worse mess he's about to become and because he likes the warmth the male radiates.
Jisung doesn't say anything else, just keeping the brunet close and occasionally stroking the back of his head or squeezing his hand while he lets out everything that's been tormenting him for a while.
He doesn't know how long time has passed before he hears incoherent mumbling from his friend.
"Hm?"
Haechan pulls away, keeping what little proximity he can so Jisung can properly hear him say, "I love you."
"I love you more."
"No, you don't."
"I'm not about to argue with you when you look this ugly." Jisung chuckles at the slap on the chest that earns him. "But I love you a lot. Much more then I'll be confident enough to tell you. Don't doubt me, okay? I wish I could show you."
It goes quiet again, only the sounds of Haechans sniffling interrupting the silence.
"Okay", he says after five minutes. "I trust you. You love me a lot."
"I do, Haechan, I promise I do."
Haechan nods against his best friends chest before finding a more comfortable position to snuggle against him and closing his eyes for rest when he does. The last thing he feels is a kiss being pressed to his forehead and Jisungs body shifting as he stretches before he goes right back to holding Haechan and falling asleep too.
➳
"How's it going with them?"
"Jaemin texted me. He's the only one, though. Should I text the others?"
"If you want to."
"Okay, it's barely been, like, a week but I already feel like I'm gonna like Jaemin."
Chenle squeals, shaking his fists in joy at the males words. Mark flinches, having forgotten how loud his best friend is. Chenle wraps his arms around Mark and squeezes him, still not over the information he just found out.
"Tell me why you think you might like him."
"He's cute, charming, kind, and you can tell he cares a lot. Plus, he doesn't seem to think I'm...too much? That's not the word but you know what I mean."
"You're never too much, Marky."
"Don't call me that. And I know but I can't think of the word I mean."
"Can I ask you a question?"
"What?"
"Do you ever get scared? Of your feelings?"
Mark fiddles the decoration on the TV stand, staring down at the carpet while be begs himself not to think about his ex.
"I think you know I do", he speaks up, eventually.
"I'm not saying this should be weighing over you but sometimes it's like it never happened at all and I don't know if that's good for you."
"Believe me, I'm completely aware of what happened. I'm just trying to be positive, you know? I know...that we weren't meant to be and I'm glad for that 'cause that relationship wasn't gonna go very far so I'm just trying to think about the fact that I can come across someone else that I am meant to be with."
Chenle nods. "I'm sorry."
"Don't be."
To convince his best friend that he's completely fine, Mark brings Chenle into another hug and holds him there for a moment before noogying him.
"Ow!"
Chenle whines, pushing Mark away while shooting the male a dirty look. But it only makes Mark laugh.
Chenle flips him off, causing Mark to raise an eyebrow. "Don't you have a boyfriend?"
The pinkette falls onto his couch with a groan, absolutely sick of his friends. "I swear Jeno said the same thing."
Not everyone would notice the way the males mood dims as the smile fades from his face and his shoulders rise in fall in a careless shrug before he gets distracted with the decorations on the TV stand.
But this is Chenles best friend. Someone he loves dearly and has known long enough to know if they're lying or if somethings up with them.
He pats the cushion beside him, earning Marks attention. Mark sits down next to him and pretends like he cares about the show playing on the TV.
"What's wrong?"
"Nothing."
"I thought you weren't a liar."
Mark sighs, turning to face his best friend. "It really is nothing. I'm just...weird about Jeno. He hasn't really done anything to me but I feel like he hates me."
"Should I talk to him?"
"No, please don't. I just wish it felt like...I don't know. He's like Jaemins opposite. Jaemin sees no problem with me but Jeno makes me feel like I'm...I don't know, inferior? All because he's more apathetic and I have Golden Retriever energy."
"And it's adorable", Chenle grins, leaning forward to ruffle Marks hair.
"Yeah, Yeah", Mark smacks his hand away.
"I wish I would've thought about this more. Jeno's always been like that with people but I really thought you two would get along better."
"We both know he doesn't like me. I'm not stupid, I just choose not to dwell on it most of the time. It just makes me feel weird that it's been like two years and he still feels this way."
"How long has this been bothering you?"
"I just started thinking about it recently. We met—you know, in a supposedly romantic setting in hopes something might happen and it's not like I like him so I don't care if he sees me that way, it just bothers me that I could and I'd still be like annoying little brother figure to him."
Chenle sighs, feeling stuck with such a situation. Jeno is too stubborn for his own good and his opinion of Mark has never changed even though Chenle has insisted that he's more than what Jeno thinks he is. But it leaves him with no solution for Mark.
"Just give him time or don't worry about it. Jeno is my friend too but he's stupid sometimes."
Mark nods and then glances at the TV as he leans back to make himself comfortable. "Let's just drop it for now. I didn't come over here to talk about that guy."
Chenle smirks. "Yeah, you came over here to talk about a different guy."
Mark grabs one of the couch pillows and whacks his best friend with it, fully aware that his heated cheeks are giving away everything. "Shut up!"
I feel like so much has been revealed only for it to be chapter six....I mean I'm doing it on purpose but now I feel like I'm doing something wrong😂
Broooo I have such a good idea for Haechan but idk how to write it so it comes out like shit but if you could read what I mean in my head, it would be a masterpiece.
That applies to most of my writing tbh but like I'm really struggling with this particular thing.
Also my plan for Mark. It's technically going exactly the way it's supposed to...except now Idk if I like it.
But it's FINE
P.S. just went over something and low-key wanna start drama but that was not part of the plan.
But I'm spontaneous when writing so we'll see I guess🤷♀️
Have a great day! I love you!💚💙
Not proofread (obviously. Who do you think I am?)