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"Mingyu Hyung!" Chenle shouted when seeing the man in front of the university's fountain where Donghyuck said he'd be. The said male turned his head towards the familiar voice, seeing Chenle, Renjun, and Donghyuck making their way over to him.
Chenle engulfed the older in a hug as soon as they reached him, making Mingyu chuckle at the younger's excitement to see him, "Hey kiddo."
"Who are you calling kiddo? I'm twenty, Hyung," Chenle pouted while detaching himself from the older.
Mingyu ruffled the younger's hair while saying a quick, "Sorry." Before turning his attention to the boy he has been wanting to see ever since he came back to Korea. "Renjun, you're looking more and more beautiful as the years go by, I see," he complimented, watching as Renjun's cheeks turned crimson. A sight he always loved to see.
"U-Uhm, t-thank you Hyung," Renjun replied while patting his cheeks with his cold hands in attempts to decrees the heat in them.
"Alright enough flirting or else I'm gonna vomit on all of you," Donghyuck complained, already having witnessed Renjun and Jaemin making out earlier. "And you-" Donghyuck pointed his fingers at his cousin, "-Don't go flirting with another person's man," he warned, making Mingyu raise his brows in surprise.
"Oh? You're taken?" Mingyu directed to Renjun, who furrowed his brows when thinking of an answer to the question.
"Technically, I guess. I mean we're not an official couple yet, but I'm sure we will be soon enough," Renjun beamed, as the thought of Jaemin crossed his mind.
Mingyu examined the younger's face, a tinge of jealousy washing over him at the sight of Renjun being so happy at the thought of his lover. "Well, I'd love to meet them," he said while forcing out a smile.
Donghyuck rolled his eyes at his cousin's obvious sourness towards the given news before saying, "Great, it's your lucky day. We were just on our way to meet up with the others at the mall nearby. If you want to come with, that is."
"Sure, sounds fun," Mingyu agreed with his gaze locked onto the brunette, who shifted uncomfortably under it.
"Jeno! I swear... where'd that brat go?" Jaemin muttered to himself while walking through the children's play area located in the center of the mall. "I feel like I'm babysitting a child," he complained, crouching over to see if Jeno hid inside of one of the playhouses.
"Jaemin!" Mark called, making the boy stand up straight while looking over at the two who were just outside of the play area laughing. There Jeno was standing next to Mark, looking proud of himself for tricking the younger. Jaemin felt his face heat up from the embarrassment Jeno caused him, having wandered around the play area looking for the boy, getting skeptical stares from the parents of the children who were playing around.
"I'm gonna kill those two," Jaemin seethed quietly as he strode his way towards the laughing hyenas.
The two boys distanced themselves from Jaemin as he arrived beside them with a threatening look on his face. "Hey we're in the mall, you can't harm your Hyungs in public," Jeno pointed out as Jaemin scoffed at his words.
"My Hyung? Ha! I only see one Hyung in front of me while the other is just a kid my age," Jaemin countered, making Jeno visibly gulp.
"Okay okay, enough, no one is harming anyone. Got it?" Mark said while standing in between the two with his hands against their chests.
Jaemin heaved a sigh while giving Jeno one last glare, mumbling a small, "Fine."
"Come on, I'm sure Jisung is getting bored waiting for us at the cafeteria," Mark notified while starting in the direction of the mall's cafeteria. Jeno quickly followed after, not wanting to be left alone with an angered Jaemin, who followed at a distance from the two.
As they made it to the cafeteria, they spotted Jisung sitting at one of the tables to the side while sipping on his bubble tea, ignoring his surroundings.
"Jisung-ah~" Jaemin called out, making Jisung flinch at the sudden voice. The three boys walked over to him, taking a seat at the table while Jisung kept Jaemin, who wanted to hug him, at arm's length.
"They're not here yet?" Mark asked, referring to the others.
Jisung shook his head in response as the words, "No, but Chenle said they're bringing a friend with them," came out of his mouth bitterly, thinking that this 'friend' was the guy Chenle possibly liked.
Jeno scrunched his brows while tilting his head in confusion, making Mark internally coo at how cute Jeno looked. "Do you guys think its Hyuck's cousin? 'Cause I remember Chenle saying something about him coming this week," Jeno predicted while Mark reached over to pinch his cheeks.
Jaemin and Jisung visibly drained at Jeno's words, hoping he was wrong. Jisung hated when Chenle gushed over this said cousin of Donghyuck's while Jaemin felt worried at the thought of Renjun falling for his old crush again. It was clear, both boys were not excited for Jeno's prediction to be right.
"Woah... I guess you're right," Mark voiced out when seeing Hyuck, Renjun, and Chenle walking towards them with a tall male beside them, assuming that was Hyuck's cousin.
"What! Shit...," Jisung groaned, not wanting to deal with an aching heart today.
Chenle leaped towards the boy's table when spotting them, wrapping his arms loosely around Jisung's neck from behind while greeting everyone cheerfully, "Yo! Did you guys miss us?" He bent down to glance over at Jisung's face noticing the tinge of pink dusting his cheeks while the boy shook his head.
"N-No."
Chenle pouted but didn't leave from his spot as the others made it to the table a few seconds after him.
"Everyone, this is Mingyu. Mingyu this is everyone," Donghyuck introduced with a bored tone while taking a seat beside Jeno, who was now in-between him and Mark.
Renjun rolled his eyes at Donghyuck's poor introduction, turning to look at Mingyu who was awkwardly standing by. "That's Jeno, Mark, Jaemin, and of course you already know, Jisung," he reworded, watching as Mingyu nodded his head towards the boys in greeting.
"Nice to meet all of you."
"Wish I could say the same," Jaemin muttered under his breath, staring daggers at the tall male. Renjun looked over to Jaemin, perking up when seeing the two vacant seats next to him. He grabbed Mingyu's arm, pulling him towards the seats, sitting beside Jaemin who sat on his right while Mingyu sat beside him on his left.
Jaemin immediately pulled Renjun's chair closer to him, placing a soft kiss on the older's cheek, who blushed at the sudden affection. "J-Jaemin, what are you doing?" Renjun asked while scanning the younger's face.
Shrugging in response, Jaemin placed an arm around Renjun's chair while looking over at Mingyu who wore no expression as he kept his eyes trained on Renjun. Pissing Jaemin off for staring at his Injunnie.
"Renjun, your hair got darker since the last time I came here," Mingyu commented while lifting his hand to touch the boy's hair. "It's pretty."
Laughing at the comment, Renjun playfully swatted Mingyu's hand away before fixing the strand of hair back in place.
Everyone else at the table could see the steam coming out of Jaemin's ears as he stood up from his chair, saying he was going to go buy a drink and cool off. Renjun watched Jaemin's retreating figure before turning his attention to the boys at the table who sat silently staring at the scene.
"I'm no expert, but I think you should go after him," Jeno suggested, seeing as Jaemin seemed very upset.
Renjun nodded as he stood up from his seat, following in the direction Jaemin went. He knew Jaemin was upset about Mingyu's comment and action towards him, but he didn't want the younger getting upset over these kinds of things. He wanted it to be known to the younger that he doesn't plan on leaving his side for a very long time.
Spotting Jaemin in line at one of the restaurant in the cafeteria, Renjun stopped in his tracks when seeing a girl approach him. She had a beautiful smile spread across her face when talking to Jaemin, occasionally grazing his arm with her hand. Renjun had to admit that the girl was beautiful. He felt his heart tighten at the sight of his Nana smiling back at her and laughing at whatever she said.
Before Renjun could walk up to the two to break off their conversation, a hand grabbed his wrist spinning him around to see Mingyu who had determination written all over his face.
"They look good together, huh?" he said while glancing over at Jaemin still talking to the girl. Renjun glanced back at the sight, not wanting to admit that they did. Mingyu scanned the younger's face, a little stir of hope swirling in his heart as he saw how sanded the younger was. "I can tell he likes her."
Renjun furrowed his brows while looking back up to Mingyu. "He doesn't like her," he stated in more of a reassurance to himself.
"But look," Mingyu pointed over to the two making their way out of the cafeteria. "It doesn't seem like he's in a rush to get back to you," he convinced.
"You don't know Jaemin, so you can't assume his intentions with a girl he's probably helping," Renjun reasoned, trying not to lose his trust in Jaemin.
Mingyu stared down at the younger in thought. Maybe it wasn't such a good idea for him to come in between the two, seeing as Renjun seems to really like the guy. "You're probably right." he sighed. Watching as Renjun left him to go back to the table.
Renjun fought with his mind as he walked at a slow pace, twirling the ring on his finger.
'Nana wouldn't leave me... But he seemed really interested in her... Ugh, what am I thinking? I'm his Injunnie, he would never do that... I hope.'
tbc...