"look, it's not because we all how one boyfriend and that you have two of them that you should make us feel like we're single." donghyuck's sassy voice disturbed the lovely moment jaemin, jeno and renjun were sharing, the three of them taking successive sips from the same drink.
the eight other males sitting around the table of the regular café they met at stopped everything they were doing to look at the male who had just spoken.
jeno and jaemin were bright red after the comment donghyuck had let out, the two of them pushing the drink in renjun's direction as the chinese male didn't seem bothered at all by the comment.
"come on, let them have their happy ending." taeyong rolled his eyes at donghyuck's remark.
"we've never seen jaemin so happy before." sicheng added, approving taeyong's words.
"yeah, plus, if you feel so much like you're single, just find yourself a second boyfriend." renjun tackled back with a shrug before taking a sip of the half-empty drink him jeno and jaemin had been sharing.
it had been around two weeks since jeno, renjun and jaemin had officially become boyfriends, and life couldn't be better for the three males.
renjun continued working at the convenience store he was at, jeno still went to his classes, and jaemin either stayed home, waiting for his two boyfriends to come back or went to see his friends outside.
eventually, on some nights or some weekends, jeno and renjun would join jaemin and his friends and they would spend a nice time altogether, laughing around and discussing about random topics. jaemin was glad that his friends had accepted his boyfriends so well, and now, renjun and jeno were very comfortable around them – well, surely more renjun than jeno, but this was surely a top thing, and donghyuck, taeyong and sicheng could relate.
plus, in the past weeks they had spent meeting up regularly, donghyuck and renjun had developed some kind of playful rivalry, both obviously caring about each other, but loving to tease each other and make fun of each other, which had become a source of entertainment for the other males around them.
anyway, life couldn't be better for the three boyfriends – except when donghyuck complained about them being too lovey-dovey which he often did to piss renjun off, let's be honest; he was the happiest knowing that jaemin had finally found two people that loved him and made him happy.
"thank you very much for your proposition, but one boyfriend is already enough for me." donghyuck raised a brow at renjun as he wrapped an arm around mark's body while the older male cuddled against his side like a kitten. "i'm not that horny to need two dicks."
by now, the four hybrids – and jeno – were beet red while the humans all had their eyes rolling to the back of their heads.
"i thought we had said we stopped with jokes below the belt." taeyong said unphased.
"is it considered below the belt if my dick is so big that it can reach above it?" renjun raised a teasing brow, earning a small slap on the arm from jeno who was silently prying him to drop the topic.
"my poor pup's innocence is going to get ruined thanks to you two and your dick jokes." sicheng whined, placing his hands over yuta's ears. "don't listen to them, pup, they're spitting nonsense."
"as if yuta was innocent." donghyuck snorted. "he's a male and yet is more in heat than a female would be."
"i'm not in heat..." the hybrid pouted cutely, trying to glare at donghyuck.
"he's just playing with you, pup, don't give too much thought about what donghyuck is saying. it's useless crap most of the time" sicheng comforted the shiba hybrid, pecking his lips quickly before patting his head as he glared at his human friend who was snickering.
before the conversation could go any further and any of them could add a snarky remark, the waiter came to their table with the bill and the card machine.
"so, how are we splitting the bills?"
before anyone could answer, jeno had cleared his throat, catching the waiter's attention and making him look in his direction. with a small smirk, jeno wrapped his arms around renjun and jaemin who were by his sides, making sure to pull jaemin really close to him.
"i'm going to pay for my boyfriends and i." he voiced out, insisting on the word 'boyfriends' before giving the waiter an innocent look.
jeno recalled him very well. he had been the guy that had tried to flirt with jaemin a few weeks prior when jeno had first met jaemin's friends. that day, jeno had witnessed the boy trying to flirt jaemin and making him uncomfortable, and he had immediately come to jaemin's rescue, scolding the man for being pushy with jaemin and threatening him.
and so, seeing him there again, jeno decided to be brave and make him understand that jaemin was his – and renjun's too – and that there was no way he would ever be able to get one of his filthy hands on the hybrid.
the boys paid one after the other, and soon, the waiter had thanked them all and gotten back behind the bar where he busied himself with other orders. once he was out of sight, renjun and donghyuck both looked at jeno, renjun with wide eyes and donghyuck with a smirk.
"w-what was that?" renjun asked with a chuckle, slightly confused.
"jeno asserting his dominance over you two." donghyuck replied, arms crossed over his chest as he wiggled his brows.
"him and that waiter have some kind of history. he was just making sure that the guy knew his place."sicheng explained to which renjun looked even more confused.
"before the three of you got together, we went here to have a drink, and the waiter was trying to flirt with jaemin. so, jeno walked up to him and told him to fuck off. and today was just a way to insist on the fuck off part i guess." taeyong explained, to which renjun nodded, finally understanding what it was all about.
"so... you're asserting your dominance now?" the boy asked, raising a teasing brow at his boyfriend, knowing very well that this was something that could never have happened before.
jeno blushed, shrugging slightly before looking at his two boyfriends.
"i don't want other people to hit on you. you are mine, and mine only." he stated. "and i want everyone to know that."
⊗
"thank you, have a nice evening!" renjun exclaimed, flashing their last customer of the day a smile before slamming the cash register shut and heaving out a loud sigh.
"and, another day finally ends." chenle stated, lying his head on the counter of the convenience store before turning his head to look at renjun. "we're five minutes late to close, as usual."
"chenle, we can't just throw the customers out." renjun rolled his eyes as he made sure to tidy the counter. "that lady literally wanted to buy a pack of ramen for dinner, i wansn't going to tell her to fuck off and have no dinner for tonight."
chenle scoffed. "you're too kind for your own good."
"at least, my kindness got me two boyfriends." renjun tackled back to his chinese friend, making chenle roll his eyes and stand up straight again.
"speaking of them, don't take hours closing the store, they're still waiting for you in the break room."
"i'm almost done." renjun nodded with a smile, eager to see the two loves of his life again.
a few minutes prior, at the time the convenience store was supposed to close, jeno and jaemin had appeared looking as handsome as ever, hand in hand and ready to fetch renjun so that the three of them could go together to the restaurant that the older had booked as a way to celebrate their first monthversary.
"they better have kept it pg13 in the break room." chenle mumbled, making renjun laugh at his comment.
"wow, you really are in a bad mood." renjun pointed out as chenle groaned.
"i'm just pissed that customers still get inside the store when it's written on the door that it's off hours." the younger chinese male replied, helping renjun with the tidying. "like, can't they read or something?"
and as if to prove chenle's point, a second later, the automatic doors of the convenience store opened, causing the small ring that signalled a new customer to tingle.
"sorry, we're closed!" chenle exclaimed, not even looking up from what he was doing and hoping that the customer would get away without further ado.
"o-oh... i-i guess i'll c-come tomorrow then..."
chenle let out a hum, 100% approving the customer's words as he went back to his job.
"so... you're going to let your boyfriend go away like that?" renjun asked confusedly, making chenle look up at him immediately before turning his head, his eyes falling on jisung, standing inside the convenience store with a shy smile.
"h-hi..." the tall boy waved at chenle, making the younger chinese male smile brightly.
"oh my god, jisung!" chenle exclaimed happily, dropping off everything he was doing after muttering a small "he's not my boyfriend yet." to renjun before approaching the giant male. "what are you doing here?"
"h-huh... w-well..." jisugn stuttered, glancing at renjun who gave him a comforting nod and a small smile. "i-i was wondering i-if... if y-you'd like t-to come w-with me... t-to... to the c-cinema...?" he let out with difficulty, his cheeks as red as the tomatoes chenle sent in the store. "m-my shift at t-the bar has been c-canceled t-tonight, so... y-yeah..."
"of course!" chenle flashed the younger a smile. "but isn't it supposed to be my job to invite you on dates?" he added with a brow raised.
"d-d-date?!" jisung's eyes widened in surprise.
"well, only if you want it to be." chenle specified. "but i'll be happy to bring you on a date."
"w-well... i-it's a d-date then..."
"perfect." chenle grinned, standing on the tip of his toes and lifting his arm to ruffle jisung's hair. "i'll quickly change then, and i'm all yours." he finished with a quick wink that had the boy flushing redder.
and a few minutes later, chenle was waving his chinese friend goodbye and leaving the convenience store by jisugn's side, both of them debating on whichever movie they would be watching and whether they would get sweet or salty popcorn.
renjun smiled fondly at them, happy that his dearest friend had finally found someone he cared for. jisung was a nice guy, perfect for chenle, and renjun really appreciated him. let's say that he was the reason why jaemin, jeno and him could be together to that day and spend their one-month anniversary in a beautiful restaurant.
once everything was at its place, the chinese male headed to the break room to fetch his two boyfriends and bring them to the restaurant, hopefully not getting there too late and missing their reservation.
as soon as renjun pushed the door of the break room open, he was surprised to see jaemin in his animal form running everywhere around the room, and jeno running behind him which laughing loudly, surely trying to catch him.
renjun chuckled at the sight, his smile widening when he saw jaemin jumping in his direction. renjun caught him in his arms swiftly, and soon after, jeno bounced on him too, causing the three of them to end up one on top of the other on the couch in a fit of giggles.
after a good laughing session, jeno was quick to stand up again, making sure that he wasn't squishing the bunny, and so, he allowed renjun to sit up on the couch properly, still with the bunny in his arms. jeno took this opportunity to plot himself on renjun's lap and take the rabbit from his hands and bring him face to face with him so that he could rub their noses together.
"i got you, nana." he declared before pecking the furry space between the bunny's ears and placing him on his lap to pet him as renjun's arms made their way around jeno's waist to pet the rabbit too.
"you guys were chasing each other again?" renjun asked, knowing that this was one of jeno and jaemin's favourite activities. they could spend afternoons around the house or the park, running after each other without getting tired.
"yes." jeno nodded. "but today i managed to catch out little nana."
in a blink of an eye, the rabbit that was on jeno's lap transformed into jaemin, the male ending up sitting on jeno's lap who was still sitting on renjun's.
"you didn't catch me. renjun did." jaemin raised a brow, wrapping his arms around his two boyfriends the best he could.
"oh, yeah? whose lap are you sitting on right now, then?" jeno asked.
"well, yours, but you're on renjun's." jaemin pointed out. "so, if we're thinking like this, he is the one who caught both of us." he continued. "which means that neither you, nor i won."
jeno hmphed. "cheater." he whined, making jaemin chuckle lightly.
"so, are you guys ready to go? there's a reservation waiting for us." renjun announced, poking the two males' sides and making them squirm at the same time.
"oh, yes!" jaemin nodded happily. "but can i have a kiss before?" he added, doing his best puppy eyes to both jeno and renjun.
"alright." jeno replied. "but that's only because you didn't win either. if you had won like usual, it would have been no kisses. perhaps that way you'll let me win next time."
jaemin chuckled while shalking his head. "never." he whispered as jeno closed the gap between their faces anyway, placing a long peck on jaemin's lips.
jaemin pulled away after a few seconds, squirming on jeno's lap so that he could reach renjun's lips with his own and drop another kiss on them before pulling away with a silly loving smile.
"i seriously don't know what i would be doing without the two of you..."
"oh, trust us, baby, neither do we."
⊗
just like most weekends for the past months jeno, renjun and jaemin had spent side by side, being able to call each other boyfriends, the three males were wandering around the city, discovering their surroundings together and stopping every now and then when they would notice an interesting shop.
it was wonderful how fast things could change in this world.
how fast buildings were constructed, replacing a void by gigantic towers that could host hundreds of people.
how fast the landscapes changed, causing nature to disappear to the profit of cement and concrete.
how fast relationships evolved, making people go from strangers to friends to lovers.
and how fast time passed, erasing mistakes of the past and replacing them by opportunities for the future.
jeno, renjun and jaemin were aware of those changes, and this was mostly what they sought during their little weekend outings, when they roamed freely around the city, hoping to find something new, something that had changed to something better, the same way their relationship had.
"is it me or has this façade been repainted?" jeno asked with a frown, stopping in the middle of the pavement to look up at an old-fashioned building that he walked past almost every day on his way to class but of which he couldn't seem to recall the colour.
"huh... i don't know." jaemin shrugged, not recalling one time when he had paid much attention to this very building.
"hadn't it always been white?" renjun questioned, searching in his memory.
"i swear it was beige before. i'm not entirely sure, though..."
as jeno and renjun debated on the colour of the façade, both giving their opinion on which colour would fit the building best and what changes to make in order to make it look more fitting in this modern environment, a certain shop at the corner caught jaemin's eye and pushed him to get a closer look at it.
once he was close enough, he could clearly read the sign above the door that said "na foundation". a quick look at the two show windows made him understand what it was.
inside, a few objects were on display, each of them being linked to a small etiquette on which was a quick background story and a date. jaemin knew these objects all too well, he still had them clear in his mind despite his efforts trying to earse them from his mind.
"look at that... the monster has finally reappeared again..."
jaemin felt a lump form in his throat as he found himself standing face to face with a woman that he never wanted to see again; cho ryuwon, the woman that had made his life a living hell after discovering that he was the son of her husband's mistress.
she was standing in the doorway of the na foundation, looking down at jaemin from the top of her expensive high heels. as usual, she was wearing an inestimable dress and looked like she could have every man at her feet.
"i knew you'd get abandoned." she snorted. "who would want to keep a monster like you with them, anyway."
the hybrid stayed frozen on his spot, not being able to move.
he had no idea why he was stuck in place, why he couldn't run away, why he couldn't scream for his boyfriends to come and help him.
he was just stuck there, his eyes locked with that woman's as he feared what could happen next, whither it was with what she said or what she did. she was the kind of girl to be able to go overboard, and she had already gone overboard more than once when it came to jaemin. whether it was insulting him, locking him in a cage or even giving him out to the first person she could find – which had ended up being the best thing happening in jaemin's life, but he didn't know that at that time.
jaemin felt awful standing there, unable to do anything.
for the past months, he had tried so hard to forget about his past, about the lies and about the pain he had been through because of what his father had done. he had never asked to be born, and yet here he had found himself, being a bastard child from a hybrid mistress and a rich man with a crazy wife. he would have rather ended up in a poor family than in a place that he couldn't even call home. he had never been able to meet his real mother, never really been treated as a son by his father, and been abused by his father's wife.
god, how much he wanted to get rid of this past he had, and somehow, he was happy that he had been able to do so for the past months, as he spent time with jeno and renjun, and with his friends who had slowly made him feel like someone normal. and he thought he had succeeded to detach himself from his dark past. but in fact, as he stood in front of cho ryuwon in all of her splendour, he realised that his past seemed to always come back to him and refuse to let him go fully.
"so, you came here because you were abandoned and you are looking for a shelter again?" the elegan woman grinned like a maniac. "well, too bad, but i still don't want to do anything with a monster like you. go live on the streets or whatever." she spat. "mr. na may have been your father, but i was certainly not your mother, and i don't owe you anything."
before jaemin could break down completely, pressured by words that didn't even concern him but that were too heavy for him to handle, an arm wrapped around his waist from behind and a comforting scent invaded his nostrils, giving him all of the comfort that he needed in this very situation.
"good thing he doesn't need you to find him a shelter, then." renjun spoke, glaring at the woman and pulling jaemin closer to his side.
"pardon?" the lady questioned, looking between jaemin, renjun and jeno who was on jaemin's other side.
"you are the woman who gave jaemin away at that auction, right? mr. na's wife?" renjun interrogated to which the woman cleared her throat and straightened her back.
"who else could i be?" she huffed.
"well, i have a few things to tell you, then." renjun informed. however, before he could continue his speech, jeno took a step forward, beating him of a second.
"you are the worst person out there to exist, abusing such a perfect soul as jaemin. he is a precious jewel that is worth more than anything you can put your filthy hand on, and as his boyfriends, we will never let out get your hands on him or even try to disrespect him." jeno declared, meaning each and every of his words as his eyes threw daggers to the woman standing in front of him. "it's a good thing that you handed out jaemin to us. at least, now, he found people who love him for who he is and who would risk their everything for him. and this means that he can erase you and your filthy existence from his memory to embrace fully the happiness and love he deserves."
by the end of jeno's speech, cho ryuwon's eyes were as wide as saucers and her mouth slightly agape in shock, just like jaemin's. renjun was looking at his boyfriend proudly, his arms crossed over his chest as jeno had mostly voiced out everything renjun would have wanted to spit at her face.
"y-you... you..." the lady stuttered. "y-you're telling me that t-this monster found people who love him?"she asked completely dumbfounded.
"i'm telling you that he found people not as obcessed with money and fame as you are." jeno replied. "and that is for the better, because he'll now be able to live the life he deserves, far from you and your bitchy attitude."
the woman didn't dare answering after that, too shocked to even process what had been said.
"nana, baby?" jeno called, intertwining his and jaemin's fingers under the woman's astonished eyes. "do you have one last thing to tell the lady before we make her disappear from our lives?"
with quivering lips, the hybrid slowly lifted his head, looking at the woman he despised so much in the eye before swallowing the lump in his throat.
"i hate you." he spat without stuttering once, letting his heart speak up the words that had been buried down there for so long and that he feared to ever pronounce.
"heard that?" renjun asked, looking at the woman. "he hates you, so you better fuck off and never show up into our lives again."
and with that being said, renjun linked his hand with jaemin's other hand and pulled his two boyfriends away, leaving cho ryuwon behind for real this time, and leaving the three of them with much lighter hearts. it seemed like now that they had spoken up those words that had been running on their minds ever since they had learnt what had happened between jaemin and this woman, they could finally let this matter go and forget about it to live fully without caring about it. and this was a relief for all three of them.
"it feels amazing." jeno let out, a grin displayed on his face as he let himself being dragged by his boyfriend.
"it really does." jaemin nodded in approval, being in a similar state as his boyfriend.
"i believe it does." renjun chuckled. "but what feels so amazing?"
jeno and jaemin exchanged a glance both recalling what had gotten out of their mouths just second prior as they talked to someone who had hurt them to the core.
this feeling did feel so amazing, and neither jeno nor jaemin thought they would be able to get enough of it.
"not being powerless anymore..." jeno replied, a boot of confidence taking over him as renjun smiled proudly at them.
all it had taken was adopting a rabbit, a bunch of lies, and falling in love for him to gain more self-confidence and do something about this trait of himself that he hated so much.
now, jeno was able to fight back.
now, jeno was able to stand out for himself.
now, jeno was able to protect those he loved.
and all of that because he had become powerful enough.
all of that because he wasn't so powerless anymore.
⊗ the end ⊗
hello lovelies, so we finally reached the end of powerless
not gonna lie, it took me sooooo long to write and i feel kind of frustrated to know that it took less than a month to be published fully...
but anyway, despite my frustration over this story, it was always a pleasure to read your lovely comments which truly made me happy and motivated me to keep writing as much as i could.
you guys are so precious, and i sincerely appreciate your love and devotion, they make me so happy.
please take care of yourselves!
love you lots <3<3<3
p.s.: i'm sorry for not being able to publish yesterday, i'll try to write a short yet cute epilogue for tomorrow to make up for it <3