~•~
~•~
"What are you saying?" Jeno said with hurt eyes, knuckles turning white from clenching the chains of the swing he was sat on. The sky was darkening the slightest bit from grey clouds crawling their way into the air, making everything seem tinted and dull.
Xiaojun looked towards Jeno from the swing next to him, looking into those darkened orbs with a sense of regret washing over him. "From what you told me... it seems like Hendery stayed long enough to make Jaemin forget about his power."
Jeno swallowed hard and folded his eyebrows together. "I don't understand. That makes sense, but what about everything else? It seems like he doesn't even remember Renjun causing this, or about my power. I mean... he acted like we were never dating and that we met during school."
The other visibly gulped and Jeno felt his heart drop at the reaction. "Well... how did you guys meet?"
The dark haired was taken aback by this, averting his gaze to the playground in front of them as he remembered the past. "I was buying flowers for my mom when I first ran into him and we ended up meeting at a bench not long after." Jeno explained and felt his eyes twinkle at the memory.
"And what about when... you know, when you first found out each other's feelings?"
Jeno thought for a moment and twiddled his thumbs together. "We confessed on a rooftop. But why do you need to know that?"
"Did it have anything to do with him growing flowers?" Xiaojun ignored his question and only pressed further.
The dark haired found himself pondering his question, wondering what he was getting at. "I don't... oh, he accidentally grew some flowers around me in the process. And there's also this orange rose," Jeno opened his coat and pulled out the beautiful thing, noticing the tops of some of the outside petals beginning to wilt. "He grew this a while ago. I don't really know the backstory of it, but I remember when I discovered it he told me he grew it by accident."
Xiaojun nodded his head, his suspicions unfortunately making sense now. "Everything somehow has to do with his power," the brown haired said in a whisper and kicked some of the mulch.
It didn't take a genius to know what Xiaojun was getting at. If Jaemin couldn't remember his power, he must not remember anything associated with his power. When he and Jaemin first met, he grew flowers. When they first kissed, he grew flowers. Everything he forgot, had something to do with his flowers.
Jeno felt all the energy drain from his body, leaving him staring blankly into space without a single muscle moving.
Does this really mean... that Jaemin doesn't remember being in love with him?
The feeling of his heart dropping sounded like someone accidentally dropping a textbook on the floor, catching the unwanted attention of all the other students. Except in this situation, the only observer was the bearer of bad news.
Jeno bit his lip harshly and tried to stifle a sniffle from his nose, raising a hand and resting it over his closed eyes.
"Jeno, I'm so sorry for this. I am indebted to you and all your friends. I shouldn't have trusted Hendery so easily-"
"No, this isn't your fault. You saved Jaemin, and although this is a minor setback, all that matters is that he is alive and well again. You don't owe me anything, In fact, I owe you," Jeno said with his head tilted upwards, taking a deep breath through his nose of the flowery air.
Xiaojun could only stare at the boy, frowning at how selfless Jeno was. He felt guilty about this whole thing, he has tampered with the relationship of his students and not in a very good way. But here Jeno was, visibly hurt by the fact that Jaemin can't remember much about them, but only caring about the fact that Jaemin was okay.
After a few moments of silence, Jeno stood up from the swing and started to walk away, but the sound of mulch crunching under his shoes caught the other's attention.
"Jeno," Xiaojun spoke sharply, causing the dark haired boy to turn around with slightly puffy eyes. Jeno only stared at him with an empty look, waiting for him to continue. "What will you do?"
Jeno stood there and felt a breeze whisp around them, contrasting the humid summer day with something a bit more refreshing.
"I'm going to do what's best for him."
And just like that, Jeno walked away from the park and left Xiaojun to stare off into space, a dark cloud settling over him.
~•~
"Where's the popcorn?"
"Get me ice cream while you're at it!"
"Use your manners, god you're all almost adults now," Taeyong hissed from the kitchen, wondering in his mind why his brother decided to have a huge get together extremely last minute.
The redhead walked out into the living room, placing two items onto the coffee table with a scowl on his face. The five boys including Jaehyun raised an eyebrow at the snack given to them.
"This is not ice cream," Chenle said and crossed his arms, Jisung shaking his head next to the boy.
"You're right. It's hummus and pita chips and this is all I'm giving you," Taeyong folded his arms and ate a chip in spite.
The one who invited all of them to his house had finally entered the room after being who knows where, looking at the six curious eyes that carefully picked at some pita chips. He wove himself through the seats, sitting next to Mark on one of the couches. But of course everyone was too mystified by the strange snack to notice his presence.
"I'm... im gonna try it," Donghyuck said with a gulp at the end, dipping the chip into the creamy savory sauce, then raising it to his mouth with a shaky hand. Jeno just deadpanned at him while Mark cheered him on, everyone else only staring with wide eyes.
Donghyuck ate it, and his brown orbs blew wide.
"How is it?!" Jaehyun asked from the couch next to Taeyong, tapping his foot nervously.
"It's..," Donghyuck began, swallowing the chip and placing a hand on his heart. "It's... amazing."
Mark cheered and they all sighed in relief, reaching for chips like wild animals and trying it for themselves. Jeno just sighed and made eye contact with his brother, both of them having eaten this snack hundreds of times and knowing damn well it was delicious.
Eventually, Jeno cleared his throat to get everyone's attention, some of them only now noticing he's here. And when they did, all hell broke loose.
"Jeno? Why'd you invite us here?"
"Yeah, and why is Jaemin not here?"
"This is just like when you told us he was in the hospital. He's okay, right?!"
"I haven't seen him since the zoo."
"Me neither."
"Why are we here, Jeno?!"
"MeOW?!"
Jeno was about to implode from all the questions at once, but they were all stopped by Jisung who just sat there with an innocent look on his face.
"Um, why did you just meow? You're... you're in human form," Donghyuck pointed out and Jisung just shrugged. Awkwardly looking back towards Jeno, the dark haired raised his hands to calm everyone down.
"Guys, it's nothing nearly as bad as that. I just have something to tell you," Jeno started, exhaling a deep breath as he braced himself for what he was about to say. All eyes were now on him, and honestly it just made him feel more stressed and nervous.
"There's something off with Jaemin, and I don't know if any of you noticed recently," Jeno said, looking to everyone before his eyes landed on a wide eyed Jisung.
"Actually, he was being weird at the zoo. He asked me why I wear this hat like it wasn't obvious and it was just super weird. But I thought it was because I was tired."
Jeno pressed his lips in a flat line and nodded.
"I don't understand. Jaemin seemed pretty content when he woke up and everything," Jaehyun spoke and raised an eyebrow. Since it was only evening of the same day they went to the zoo, he hadn't seen Jaemin since he dropped all the power squad off at their houses. All he knows is that he and Jisung passed out when they got home, and that was that.
"Yeah, but even I could sense something off with him," Donghyuck said and got a sideways look from everyone. "What? I'm good at reading people."
"I don't remember anything really, but at the same time I was too tired to even notice I had my right shoe on my left and left shoe on my right," Mark said and looked down at his shoes with a saddened look.
Not even knowing what to say to that, Jeno shook his head and decided he should continue.
"There's a reason for it... Did Mark tell you guys about the bad thing with Hendery's power?"
Everyone looked confused, staring at Jeno with not a single flying clue as to what he meant. Jeno shook his head and knew Mark wouldn't have said anything, so now he had to explain the bad part.
"If he has control of the person for too long, it can erase more than their power. Such as memories, to intelligence, all the way to making the person disappear entirely."
Jaehyun suddenly got very serious, making Jeno meet eyes with his hardened ones. "You mean you let him use his power on Jaemin knowing that?"
"I-it was the only way I could think of. And Xiaojun promised me..."
Jaehyun crossed his arms. "So what happened? It seems to me like trusting him was a mistake if anything happened to Jaemin."
Jeno rubbed his head and closed his eyes tightly. Seems like this was going to be a lot more stressful than he envisioned. The others only sat silent with the tension building in the room. "Jaemin, he... Hendery kind of... well-"
"Hendery was there a tad bit too long, when erasing Jaemin's power that is," Mark cut in, obviously able to read Jeno's mind like always. Jeno looked to him and the blonde nodded, beckoning for Jeno to continue.
He could feel everyone's stare, suddenly becoming nervous especially with Jaehyun giving him that one look that can put anyone on edge.
"I'm so, so sorry, but Jaemin doesn't remember his power. Or anything related," Jeno finally managed to croak out, tilting his stiff neck downwards to not see anyone's faces. He could only imagine what they look like right now, how they must be confused and shocked.
Chenle inhaled sharply and placed a hand over his mouth while Donghyuck and Jisung had similar reactions. Jaehyun could only purse his lips as he heard Taeyong next to him drop a pita chip. And alike to when he first stepped foot in here, Renjun only stayed quiet.
"That makes so much sense now," Jisung uttered to himself and stood up, walking to the side of the couch Jeno was sat on. "I mean, this isn't nearly as bad as him being inside the hospital with no consciousness, though."
Jeno peered up at the cat boy, seeing him flash a sad smile to try and calm the dark haired down a bit.
"I agree with Jisung, but what does this mean now?" Chenle cut in. Jeno inhaled once more and finally brought his plan to light. Hopefully everyone would be on board with it, since it would be the best for Jaemin.
"We pretend we don't have powers. Pretend we don't know he had a power. And if he gets confused, stop what you're talking about immediately. I know this sounds insane to keep it secret, but... something tells me this is the right thing to do. We were close to losing him, and it's obvious he's already bothered by that. So I feel we need to at least create a fluffy blanket to shield him from hurting more. He can't remember any of our powers and trying to force him to remember will make him unhappy."
Everyone stared at Jeno with mouths slightly hanging open, no one uttering a word as they thought about Jeno's suggestion. But all the dark haired could look at was Jaehyun, trying to study his expression.
"So, What you're saying is we practically lie to Jaemin from now on?" Donghyuck asked, trying to swallow this pill all at once.
Jeno nodded slowly and looked towards Renjun now, wondering why the boy was being so quiet. "Yes... I know it sounds rash, but how would we confront him? His memories are all messed up and it would only cause him to become confused more and more. I wouldn't want to put him through that."
Jaehyun cleared his throat loudly and even startled Taeyong next to him, Jeno finally looking back over and swallowing his spit. They kept eye contact for what seemed like hours, until the man finally spoke up.
"I hate to say it, but you're right. But, how do you know he has memory loss for sure?" Jaehyun said and made relief flood through Jeno. For some reason he was expecting to be scolded for the idea.
"He, um, he didn't know what I meant about the Renjun situation or anything and didn't remember being out of body. Also from what Jisung said it seems he doesn't remember our powers as well as his own. I mean, he didn't even remember the flower shop. So those are the main things that we should avoid talking about."
"This is too heartbreaking, why do we have to do this?" Chenle whined and slumped in his seat, earning a comforting hand on his shoulder from Donghyuck.
Jisung frowned and shook his head. "Jeno... this is so selfless. Are you sure?" the cat boy said with hesitation in his eyes. I mean, he would have it the most difficult since he lives with the flower boy and has permanent cat ears. This was something big.
Jeno felt his mouth go dry as he stared at the floor, thinking back to when he was at the flower shop with Jaemin and tried to kiss him. He felt his eyes begin to sting again, but he shoved the feeling away and straightened himself up.
"Yes... I'm willing to do it for Jaemin's sake."
A silence settled over them as they all looked back and forth between one another. Chenle suddenly broke through the silence, leaning over into the center of the seating area and out stretching his arm.
"I'm willing, too," the green haired said, surprisingly having a serious expression for once in his life.
Donghyuck put his hand on Chenle's and nodded, Mark following behind. Soon, Jisung and Renjun joined along with Taeyong and Jaehyun. This only left Jeno who stared at them with slightly wide eyes.
"Well?" Chenle said and nodded towards their hands.
Finally, Jeno stood up and placed his hand on theirs. They all looked at each other for a moment with distressed gazes, knowing this wasn't a commitment anyone was very fond of. But some things just had to be done. This would be the new reality now.
"Fighting!" they all yelled and slowly withdrew their hands. Everyone looked solemn and saddened as they all began to gather their things and leave since the discussion was now over. But there was still one thing Jeno had to make sure he mentioned so that it was never brought up again.
"O-oh, and also, guys," Jeno said and caught everyone's attention. Mark knew what he was going to say so he only looked downwards, feeling pity for his friend.
"Don't... don't mention me and Jaemin dating. A-alright?" Jeno bit his lip and earned some confused looks from some of them. Taeyong widened his eyes and knew he needed to chat with him later.
"Jeno... did he-" Donghyuck was about to start, but the dark haired shook his head.
"He doesn't remember. It's okay though," Jeno felt the corner of his mouth twitch downwards as he fidgeted with his thumbs.
No other words were spoken as the green haired boy dropped his things and ran over to Jeno, hugging him tightly as the others walked over. Just from that little gesture, Jeno felt all the emotions flooding in again.
He tried to ignore the tears returning as he chuckled through his heart throbbing. "Guys, I'm okay..."
Everyone was bear hugging the daylights out of Jeno, all except the dark haired boy who continued to stay back with Jaehyun and Taeyong who gave the group of boys concerned gazes. Renjun played with the hem of his jacket, feeling anxious all of a sudden.
The group stayed like that for a while, until they all decided that they were a bit too tired once more to stay any longer. Jeno did interrupt most of their naps to be honest, so he had no problem with it at all. But he did also get threats from most of them that he better come to them if he gets upset about it, to which Jeno could only nod. He's so grateful for his friend group, but still couldn't help that tiny hole now forming in his heart.
Jeno waved them all goodbye, watching as everyone left with pity filled smiles. That was one thing he didn't want them to worry about, and here they were not letting him even breathe. He couldn't help but raise an eyebrow at Renjun who was the last to leave, watching the boy pull on his hood as he gently closed the front door behind him. Renjun was almost nonexistent the whole time, and it made Jeno wonder what was going on in his head.
The dark haired sighed loudly and fell over the couch, laying upside down with his legs in the air and head dangling off the seat. He closed his eyes and felt the dry stickiness from the tears, taking an arm and wiping his cheeks with his wrist.
Finally, he could be alone and finally think things through for himself. But that didn't last long, because the moment he opened his eyes, he saw a face looking down on him with red bangs over darkened eyes.
"Ah! What the heck Taeyong, you scared me!" Jeno yelled and shot himself up, finally sitting properly on the couch. Taeyong sat down next to him, folding his eyebrows tightly and staring deep into his soul.
Jeno was about to say something since he was frankly getting very uncomfortable, but was cut off when his brother wrapped his arms around him in a comforting hug. The dark haired's eyes widened, but he felt his face relax as his eyes dimmed once more.
"I'm so sorry Jeno... this must be so painful for you... He was you first after all-"
Knock knock
Both of them stiffened as Taeyong tore away, walking from the couch and over to the front door as Jeno peered from the couch. Probably someone forgot something and had to come back for it, but what he didn't expect was to see the exact honey haired boy that seemed to be the topic of today.
"O-oh, Jaemin... Uh, Jeno, someone's here to see you," Taeyong said hesitantly, moving away and opening the door for Jaemin to step through.
"Um, Taeyong?" Jaemin said and looked over at the redhead. The older stiffened and hummed as a response. "Would it be alright if I slept over? I already sent Jaehyun a text."
Taeyong looked over to Jeno who only stared in shock, feeling his heart dying in his chest.
"I-I suppose," Taeyong said and nodded. "But my night shift starts soon, so..." he continued and gave Jeno a very apologetic look. Jeno could only clench his teeth, wondering why the younger had to come over right now. He honestly felt he needed some time to mull things over by himself, and seeing Jaemin just made him feel more anxious.
"That's okay!" Jaemin smiled and walked over to the couch Jeno was sat on, sitting on the other side with a bag of some sort. "Me and Jeno will probably only play video games anyway."
Taeyong swallowed and nodded, grabbing his keys as Jeno could only glare at him.
"Okay! I'll be back by morning then."
Jaemin waved him goodbye as Jeno felt his soul leaving his body, not even having enough confidence to turn and face the other.
Jaemin on the other hand, reached into his bag and pulled out some microwave popcorn along with his Nintendo switch. The glimpse of blue and red caught Jeno's attention, the older finally mustering enough courage to even glance in his general direction.
"I came over to make sure you go to bed at a decent time since you looked so tired. I know it's a lame excuse, but... I just couldn't wait until tomorrow," Jaemin softly smiled at Jeno who looked away when their eyes met, feeling embarrassed for some reason.
Once the switch was all set up, Jeno clenched the red remote in his hands as Jaemin had the blue, both of them playing Mario kart like back then. Jeno couldn't find it in himself to talk at all, so he let Jaemin loudly yell when he either won or lost by himself.
The night was slowly drawing itself in, and just at sundown did Jeno start to feel tiredness really hit him. His eyes became heavy as Mario kart became blurry, and it hadn't even been an hour since they started.
Jeno's kart went flying off the map and at first Jaemin thought it was normal, playing rainbow road and all, but he noticed it was strange when his kart kept falling in one direction.
Pausing the game and glancing over at Jeno, he noticed the dark haired nodding his head back and forth as he tried his best to fight of sleep. Chuckling slightly, Jaemin turned off the tv and gently shook Jeno.
Jeno peered upwards tiredly and looked at those hazel orbs that made him feel sane again. The room was darkened by now, and he couldn't help but become lost in those eyes that were barely visible.
"Let's go to bed now, alright?" Jaemin smiled slightly and held out a hand, Jeno staring at his outstretched fingers for a moment before his stomach sunk again. He grabbed the hand gently, almost as if he'd hurt Jaemin if he were to grip any harder.
Jaemin guided the tired boy upstairs, kicking his room's door open and leading Jeno to his bed. Once the older saw where he was, he climbed in with the help of Jaemin lifting the comforter for him. The honey haired walked around and crawled on the other side, facing Jeno who tilted his head in confusion.
"You're... you're sleeping up here?" Jeno asked, slightly nervous but keeping it hidden behind his tired eyes.
Jaemin stared at his fluffy hair going all over the place from shifting around, feeling something bubble in his stomach as he laughed. "Of course, we are best friends, right?"
There it was again, those horrifying words that made Jeno wish he could disappear into the bed. "Yeah, stupid me."
Jaemin looked at Jeno's side profile from the soft moonlight coming in through the window. But let's be honest, the light was most likely light pollution from the town. Jeno's eyes were closed and Jaemin had a clear view of his eyelashes gently resting on his face. Something felt off all of a sudden, and he couldn't pinpoint it.
"Hey, Jaemin?" Jeno spoke without moving, causing the younger to awkwardly clear his throat as he turned to face the ceiling.
"Yes?"
"Sorry... about earlier and all. I was off in my own world and was too tired to even notice I was talking nonsense. I think I was daydreaming to be honest," Jeno continued and smiled at the thought, his eye smile being present once more. Of course unknown to Jaemin, it was faked.
Jaemin felt relieved that he had brought it up. After all, it had been killing him since Jeno stormed out earlier that day as to why he was acting so weird.
Even though he wanted to ask about the whole kissing thing, Jaemin stayed quiet as he heard the older softly snore next to him. He shoved some of his honey bangs out of his face and kept his gaze on the ceiling, but slowly raised his hands into view.
Why does something feel like it's still missing? Even despite the very thing about today finally being solved?
Studying his hands carefully, he couldn't figure out for the life of him what it was. Eventually his limbs got tired and he dropped them to his chest, glancing at his side once more to Jeno who had drool coming from the corner of his lips. Jaemin silently chuckled and shook his head gently.
Oh well, maybe things would turn back to normal tomorrow without all this sleep deprived confusion. At least that's all he could hope. All he could do for now was forget today, and let things fold out naturally.
Exhaling contently with a small troubled feeling, Jaemin drifted off into a dreamland along with Jeno.
💐💐💐
Bzjddn sorry I took over a week to update I've been pretty busy this past week n stuffFf
Anywho
HAPPY 18-19K HOLY CHEEBUS WHEN THE FLUTE DID THIS HAPPEN
Ahem also awaken the world is one of my fav albums to exist now so-