Here it is! TT Leave comments our lovely readers~ Xoxo.

“I don’t mean to sound too nosy but what’s wrong with Jeno?”

“What do you mean?” Mark asked through furrowed eyebrows as he closed the door that lead to the rooftop behind him, not quite understanding Jaemin’s spontaneous question. The younger had texted Mark that he wanted them to meet, a few minutes after the lunch bell rang; telling him that it was urgent and Mark was quick to make up an excuse to his friends and went to meet Jaemin, not even telling Jeno about it. “What’s wrong with him?”

“He’s been acting very strange lately,” Jaemin answered, frowned deeply as he sat down on the floor, crossed his legs. “He became dull and talks less than usual and I know that something’s wrong.”

After that night, when Jeno had dinner at Jaemin’s house, the older had been acting weird, so strange and so unlike him. He was in a daze; his head was in the clouds. And when Jaemin asked him what was wrong as he led him to the gate, he just shook his head and denied the notion, said he was alright, and then left quietly after he bid goodbye. But Jaemin knew he wasn’t, the way he left, that air of dejection as Jaemin stared at the elder’s retreating back was enough as a sign of affirmation to know that something wasn’t right.

Or perhaps, Jaemin was just overacting? Maybe he was. So he decided that he would give Jeno a week, that Jeno will probably get over it by then and tell him what was wrong. But it didn’t. Instead, the older was ignoring him, brushed him aside and avoided him completely like a contagious plague.

Jaemin tried being optimistic, tried thinking on the brighter side; that Jeno was only doing that because he needed space, to think and gather his thoughts. But it had been a week and still no luck; Jeno was still avoiding him. Just him! Jeno acted normal around the others but when it came to Jaemin, it was a whole different story.

Everyone had their breaking point and Jaemin just reached his; enough was enough. Jaemin had enough.

“It’s not really my place to talk about it,” Mark said as he sat beside the younger, leaned his back casually against the wall.

“Is something going on?” Jaemin looked over the older with such a curious gaze, his fringe softly fell to his eyes. “Can I help?”

“No offence, but why do you care so much?” Mark wasn’t trying to be rude, but the look Jaemin had on his face, that sense of urgency that radiated from his orbs, demanding a response, confused the older. “Why do you even care about Jeno so much?”

Jaemin blinked once, twice, thrice, digested the question in his head before he came up with a reply.

“Because I don’t like it when he looks down like this. It’s been a week, hyung. I’m worried. And I know you are too.”

Although taken aback by how honest he sounded, Jaemin knew it was real; that he cared about Jeno, that he dreaded the thought that something awful happened to Jeno that made him act like that.

The younger’s answer was something Mark had already expected.

Mark threw a glance at Jaemin’s direction; the latter had his eyes downcast, biting down his lips, his hands were tightly clutching his slacks, visibly flustered— embarrassed probably. The way he fidget awkwardly made Mark smile in fond, but the latter cleared his throat audibly, brought a hand close to his mouth so the younger wouldn’t see.

Jeno was lucky to have someone like Jaemin, no doubt, Mark thought definitely.

“I really can’t tell you. But you could always ask Jeno yourself,” the older said. “I’m sure he would.”

Jaemin shot his head back up almost too fast. “I don’t think I can,” he mumbled, too soft that Mark hadn’t almost caught.

“Why?” The lack of confidence on his tone and features made Mark frown and question the younger. That wasn’t the Jaemin he knew, Jaemin was never insecure with anything.

He opened his mouth but closed them again, stringing up words to form a coherent explanation to make his sentiments clear was a hard task. “Because…” Jaemin hesitated for a moment, debating with himself if he should tell Mark or not, remorseful at his own thoughts, afraid that the older will think indifferently of him if he knew.

“What is it Jaemin?” Mark has his gaze glued on him still, silently evaluating the younger.

“I just don’t think I can,” he admitted, choosing his words carefully, so anxious and so guarded. It hadn’t escaped Mark’s perceptive nature, of course. It made him thoughtful. The way the younger was acting, the manner of his speech, the way his uncharacteristically timid attitude showed up out of nowhere, it reminded Mark of Jeno in some odd way. His best friend was usually like that, scared and coy; it was almost the same as Jaemin.

They’re perfect for each other. Mark didn’t even need to convince himself.

Albeit astounded by that side of Jaemin he hadn’t encountered before, Mark thought it wasn’t fair, to both Jeno and Jaemin, to keep the younger in the dark, to not tell him anything about Jeno. But Mark had his own worries as well.

“Look, don’t take this the wrong way but Jeno’s going through a lot recently, his head is pretty messed up and it has been worrying me as well,” he started. “But I’m his best friend, I hope you understand that and what it is entitled for. I honestly think I’d be betraying his trust if I tell you anything.” He tried being as gentle and as truthful as he can so Jaemin would comprehend easily. However, there was no sugar coating it, no matter how close he and Jaemin were, and even if he was Donghyuck’s best friend, Mark’s loyalty will always be with Jeno.

Jaemin hadn’t made a comeback after the younger was done talking, he was looking at Mark intently, searching his eyes, making sure that Mark was being serious. And he was. When Jaemin’s eyes softened, his shoulders slackened and he gave the older a nod, silently telling him that he understood him entirely, Mark was grateful.

He felt relief wash over his troubled being upon voicing out his distress, letting the younger understand how conflicted he was, torn between helping Jaemin and siding with Jeno. He was Jeno’s best friend, true, but he can’t tell anyone anything about the said boy just because they wanted to. It doesn’t work like that.

“I’m thankful that you’re looking out for Jeno, Jae,” Mark said, smiling as he turned to look at afar, admiring the distance sky, radiant colorful rays that accentuated the clouds, before he continued, “he likes to act cool and be reserved but he’s actually hard headed and I can’t thank you enough for putting up with him. Seriously, thank you.”

“Well, someone has to,” Jaemin joked, making Mark chuckle. “Jeno’s a nice friend. It’s the least I could do.”

Just a friend? I don’t think so.

“Well it’s nice to know someone else is looking out for him. But if you really want to know what’s going on, ask him. He’ll tell you if you do, knowing him, he will,” Mark asserted before the latter shot up to his feet, dusting his pants as he did.

Jaemin was confused as he watched the older walk away from him and headed towards the door, not bothering on emphasizing his statement; it left the younger curious and unsatisfied.

“Hey, hyung! What do you mean by that? What do you mean by Jeno will tell me if I ask him?” he shouted after him, urging the older to continue, but Mark only gave him a wave as a reply, hadn’t even turned around, his figure slowly disappearing as he left and closed the door with a click, leaving no room for the younger to ask any more questions to satiate his inquisitiveness.

Seriously, what does he mean by that?

It was already pass 7 o’clock in the evening when Jeno decided to go back to the classroom to fetch his bag. Although the school was almost deserted, especially the high school department, he wasn’t afraid, not at the slightest as he made his way through shadowy hallways. He had been walking around campus since dismissal, killing time, trying to calm himself, and straightening out his own diverged thoughts with much effort. He had been on edge lately, his inner demons chewing him alive, and it wasn’t fantastic.

Jeno hated it most when he acted that way, when he becomes detached, when he shuts everybody out irrationally, but it had to be done. He didn’t want to bother anyone; he didn’t want to be a nuisance; he didn’t want to hurt them like they did to him. The easiest way out was to distance himself, quite pitiful, but he’ll get over it, eventually.

Upon entering their classroom, slowing opening the door, careful not to make any noise, an unexpected guest sitting on his desk, holding onto his backpack like it was his own, had welcomed Jeno.

“Jaemin?” he asked, blinked his eyes repetitively to adjust to the murkiness of the space, wasn’t sure if it really was the younger since the room was dark and the lights were turned off. Jeno took several hesitant steps to where the figure was; the light that came from outside that passed through the windowsill was the only source that illuminated the room and when Jeno was finally near did he confirm that it really was Jaemin. The boy turned around and gave him a smile, faint shadows gracefully dancing across his beautiful face. Although it was dim, Jeno could still make out Jaemin’s gorgeous features that Jeno was fond of.

“I’ve been waiting for you,” the younger said softly, as if afraid to break something.

Although it had been awhile since Jeno was last given the chance to be alone with Jaemin like that, the scenario itself wasn’t actually appealing. After all, it was the sort of encounter Jeno wasn’t pleased to have, especially after everything that happened to him lately. Jeno wasn’t ready to face the said boy, not yet when he still hasn’t resolved his own issues; he still had a lot of things to fix before he could even muster the self-courage to talk to Jaemin again, without any reservations unlike before.

Jeno smiled back, rather forced, not like his usual ones. And Jaemin saw right through it. “What are you doing here?” Jeno asked.

The question might seem ordinary, an innocent query, but Jaemin heard it differently. It sounded bitter, somewhat irritated when it passed through Jaemin’s ears. His heart throbbed painfully— it hurt— but Jaemin wasn’t going to deny it, he knew. Jaemin knew that he wasn’t wanted by the boy; Jeno didn’t what him there.

“Mark-hyung told me you’ve gone missing again.” He decided to ignore the pang he felt and just went on with the conversation. “I can’t find you anywhere so I decided to wait for you here instead.”

his ego, his pride, Jaemin threw everything out the window when he decided to wait for Jeno even when he knew that the older was obviously avoiding him on purpose. He needed to talk to Jeno, they both needed to talk about it, to patch things up, to fix whatever needed to be fixed between them. It was selfish and childish of him, but Jaemin needed the old Jeno back, and if he needed to take a few risks for it to happen, even if it was uncertain, so be it. Jaemin had tough skin after all; Jeno wasn’t the only one who was stubborn.

“You’ve been waiting for me? All this time?” Jeno was surprised even if he knew at the back of his mind that that was what the latter did, it still left him flabbergasted. “What if I didn’t come back? You would have waited for nothing.”

Jeno didn’t mean to make that question sound in the way that it did, it was purely unintentional, but Jaemin did not know that. The younger’s heart was frantically beating in his chest at the underlying meaning in Jeno’s words; it was starting to get painful each passing second.

“I just knew you would,” Jaemin managed to croak out, it almost came out muffled since he was flustered. “That you’d come back and realize that was waiting for you.”

Jeno didn’t say anything, not wanting to show that the younger’s words had an effect on him, and instead went on to fix his things, took his bag from the younger when the latter handed it to him, which only resulted to the uncomfortable stiff silence that hung heavy in the air between them.

Jaemin— who had been thinking of a way to breach the topic to Jeno first as he waited for him— cut to the chase, avoided further more stalling, “Why have you been avoiding me?”

“I haven’t,” the older replied impassively, but the way his body stiffened marginally made Jaemin think otherwise. The younger snorted.

“Stop lying,” Jaemin frankly said, bordering close to a hiss, unimpressed. If Jeno was going to lie, at least he should try a little harder. Did he honestly thought that Jaemin was gonna believe him if he was like this? The bastard. “I hate it when you do that.”

Jeno was about to open his mouth, to defend himself from the younger’s accusations, but Jaemin beat him to it. “If you think I wouldn’t notice then you’re dead wrong. I know something’s up. I asked Mark-hyung but he won’t tell me anything. So I came to talk to you.”

“It’s nothing serious.”

“If it’s not serious then why can’t you look at me in the eye anymore? Why are you forcing yourself to smile whenever I’m around, huh? Why do you look sad? Have I done something wrong? I’m sorry if I did, I had no clue and-”

“It’s not you,” Jeno cut him off. This time, he stared at Jaemin’s eyes directly, holding his ground, and returned the intense glare he had been receiving. “Really. It’s not you.”

Something in Jaemin’s chest ached when he saw how tired Jeno looked, with those bags under his eyes. It was painful to see, but he pushed that feeling aside.

“It’s not me, it’s you, right?” Jaemin cackled lightly, ran a lazy hand through his hair. “Try something better.”

What kind of cliché noon time drama was this anyway? Jaemin thought. That line has been over used too many times. What was Jeno playing at?

“You know you can tell me anything, right?” Jaemin added, but Jeno wouldn’t listen, he was already walking towards the door, planning on leaving him behind again. Jaemin immediately stood up, almost knocking down the chair as he did. “I know we haven’t been friends for that long for you to open up easily but I’ll try to understand.”

No answer.

“I know I’m immature but I could help if you need me to.”

No answer yet again.

Jaemin was desperate. “Please, just give me the chance. Please Jeno.” Jaemin’s voice was starting to crack; tears were welling in the corner of his eyes in frustration. It was pathetic. “Please…”

That particular tone Jaemin used, so frantic and broken, made Jeno stop dead on his tracks. He turned his head to the side, but not actually looking at Jaemin, his back still facing the younger. “You want to come to my house for a while? I’ll tell you everything there,” he proposed.

Jaemin felt like he accomplished something big right then and there.

The walk to Jeno