Acads got us stressed to the point that we don't get decent sleep anymore and we were only able to finish this chapter cause we had a one week break from school, all thanks to our uni's sports fest and halloween. This has been one hell of a chapter. Me and axidreinn are just glad its done with. Enjoy and comments are loved! ^^

Jeno leaned back against his chair, a soft huff escaped his lips as he looked up to the ceiling of his room, digesting the fact that he just finished another beautifully written book from his shelf, the imagery of the unforeseen ending still lingering in the back of his mind. He was in peace, in solitude, and surrounded by nothing but the endless pit of possibilities, of fancies he is confronted with when engrossed in reading. The latter really enjoyed quiet moments like this.

But… nothing lasts forever.

After some time, every thought he had about the book, even the most quotable lines the protagonist said immediately left him when a knock coming from outside his door distracted his usual train of thought.

He stared at the wooden door for a while, quite confused as to why would someone disturb him at – he glanced over the part of his room where a wall clock is conveniently hanged– 4:47 on a Saturday afternoon.

Curious for the reason of the sudden intrusion, he sighed.

“Do come in,” he said loud enough to be heard from the other side of his room.

A familiar face of a middle aged man properly dressed in a tuxedo, wearing matching polished black shoes and white gloves on his hands had slowly opened the door and smiled apologetically at Jeno for the younger had an unpleased expression written on his face.

“Jeno, young sir, I’m sorry to disturb you, but you have visitors downstairs,” told the head butler of their household after he bowed as a greeting.

He tilted his head to the side at the statement.

What visitors?

As he was about to speak his reply, he saw his best friend together with Chen Le and Winwin pepping from behind the butler’s back, waving at him with wide smiles on their faces.

Oh, that visitors.

“Actually, we’re already upstairs Mr. Lim. But thank you for going through the trouble of telling Jeno we’re here.” Mark sneered as he dodged the elder’s rather large form and entered Jeno’s room without notice and much care for he already felt at home, patting the older man’s back lightly. Mr. Lim could only return the grin with a nod and a familiar smile. Mark was practically family after all.

Jeno sighed once again, shook his head before he smiled right after.

“Mr. Lim, thank you for informing me about this unannounced visit,” he said, stressing the word ‘unannounced’ for his friends to hear. “Could you be kind enough to prepare some snacks for our guests here?

“Absolutely. I will tell the chef right away.”

Jeno was satisfied. He nodded his head. “Thank you Mr. Lim. You may go now,” he told the man politely, showing his gratitude for what he had done for him.

Mr. Lim bowed again before he took his exit, leaving the four to themselves as he quietly closed the door behind him.

And as by cue, Chen Le rushed and dropped himself into Jeno’s kings’ sized bed in one nook of the room. It was the first thing he saw in the room and was tempted to dump his body on it the minute he laid his sights on it.

“So soft,” the youngest purred as he buried himself into the soft mattress and mountains of pillows that Jeno had.

“Yah Lele, you’ll get your outfit all crooked,” Mark scolded the younger. But Chen Le didn’t listen, enjoying the softness and the apparent vanilla scented fragrance of the sheets beneath him.

“What are you guys doing here this early? The party isn’t until 7 in the evening right?” Jeno felt the necessity to ask after seeing how the three guys who were in his room were currently dressed, not minding what Chen Le was doing to his bed, putting the book he had finished reading on a small table to his right.

One cannot say that what they are wearing is somewhat all over the top but it also isn’t close enough to the usual casual clothes that would typically wear for a plain Saturday afternoon just to pay him a visit.

Mark was wearing a denim jacket above a plain white shirt, tight fitting washed ripped jeans and a pair of the latest Nike Air limited edition white shoes. Winwin was sporting a red camouflage-designed sweatshirt, also in tight jeans— highlighting his slender legs, and a pair of brown timberland combat shoes. Before the youngest dived into his bed, Jeno had caught a quick glance of what Chen Le was wearing. He wore simpler clothes if compared to the two before him. He had put on a white hoodie, black denim shorts and black vans paired off with long white socks. It looked comfortable yet still cool in the way the younger carried his self.

Therefore, Jeno concluded that they were already dressed for Ten’s party that was still hours away.

“Yeah Mark, what are we doing here again?” asked Chen Le when he pushed himself back up from the elder’s bed to turn to them, after realizing that he doesn’t know why they are at Jeno’s in the first place aside from his and Winwin’s own personal reason of being there.

Truth be told, Winwin and Chen Le tagged along with Mark as an excuse only to see where Jeno lived, because even if they’ve been classmates and friends for years already, they’ve never actualy had the chance to see and be inside his house even once. Today was their perfect opportunity.

“I asked the both of you to tag along for a very important reason. We’re here to do this young man a favor,” Mark stated with a smug look on his face as he gestured at his best friend.

Winwin just shrugged when Jeno questioningly turned to him, asking for an explanation since Mark will probably give him none, then the older asked, “So, what do we need to do?”

“We need to make Jeno look good for tonight’s party,” he told them as he walked towards Jeno’s walk in closet.

“But hyung already looks good,” Chen Le said in a matter of fact as stood up and followed behind Mark.

“Better then,” the older corrected. “Better than the usual Jeno.”

“Uh, question. Why does Jeno need to look good anyway? I mean better?” asked the oldest inside room who decided to sit on the bed Chen Le was at earlier, rather than trailing behind to where the other two had went off to.

“Duh, hyung. It’s obviously to impress someone we probably know of since Mark here wants Jeno-hyung dressed up for the party.” The youngest then came out, together with different hanged clothes on his hands that he had hand-picked from the array of clothes Jeno had inside his enormous wardrobe, clearly telling the latter that they had started rummaging inside his closet before he hurriedly went back inside, softly mumbling that he had forgotten something.

“Really? Who’s the lucky one, Jeno?” the eldest had to ask. “Why do we not know anything about it?” Winwin was hyped up all of a sudden; he was honestly surprised at what the youngest had said. Jeno is not really the type to be interested about another person so quickly.

To be honest, Winwin really didn’t like Jeno when he met the latter a few years back unlike Mark and Chen Le. The reason why he thinks like that is because the younger male, with crescent moon-like shaped eyes when he smiles and a timid personality, appeared to be a cold person when they first met. Jeno was reserved and mindful of his words and Winwin wasn’t like that at all, somehow, their personalities seemed to clash.  But as time passed by and he got to know the real Lee Jeno, his impression on him changed. For the older, Jeno was really caring about others, soft spoken and tends to be quite most of the time. But when you stare into his eyes if you got the chance like Winwin had, one will think otherwise. He’s really kind, really. But it still gets to Winwin sometimes how guarded Jeno is, heedful of other people, and that he will only let a few in his defences. And Winwin was glad he was one of them. So it is such a big of a deal and relief to him to know that the younger male was interested in someone. Finally, Jeno was warming to other people aside from his usual group of friends.

This was just his opinion of Jeno though; Winwin can’t really say nor do anything about it.

“Huh?” answered Jeno, not entirely sure what his friends were talking about, their words sounded alien to his ears.

“Come on, there’s no need to be shy Lee Jeno. Just tell us who it is,” pursued Winwin.

The younger opened his mouth to say something but closed it again. He really wasn’t sure what to tell when he himself didn’t even know what they meant.

“Hey Jeno! Come over here!” called Mark from inside his closet, which made the former heave a soft sigh in relief, glad to be able to escape Winwin’s searching gaze and curious questions.

The moment he got in his closet, an arguing Mark and Chen Le in the middle of the room welcomed him.

“This should be the one Jeno-hyung should wear since his style is rather simple yet sophisticated,” retorted Chen Le.

“Then this should be what he’ll wear to catch people’s attention. They’re not used to him wearing this, it’ll catch them off guard,” countered the older.

“No hyung, this should be the one!”

“Listen to me, Lele. THIS is what he should wear.”

“No, THIS!”

“THIS!”

“I SAID, THIS HYUNG!”

“NO LELE, THIS!”

And because Lee Jeno knew that there would be no stop to this nonsense bickering, he went on and grabbed the tops that both had chosen; a zebra skin patterned long-sleeved polo and a not so simple but kind of classy looking black sweatshirt. He then went to a corner where more clothes were hanged and grabbed a pair of black ripped jeans that he thinks will suit the outfit that he has in mind, and proceeded to where his numerous collection of shoes where put, shelves after shelves against a wall and snatched the first pair of white shoes that he saw.

“Can both of you please go out? I’m going to change,” he requested at his still arguing friends to make them stop before they get on each other’s faces.

They stood still for a second, to look at Jeno, blinked cluelessly at him before they went outside and continued arguing in whispers.

He sighed as he watched the two leave the area for him to dress in peace.

Why do they need to make such effort just to dress me up for the party again? To impress someone? And who could that someone be?

He sighed once again at the thought and it made him think about how many times he had sighed that day since his friends arrived. Having a normal, noise-free day just seemed impossible if one has friends like those three outside the room. But Jeno didn’t mind, he liked them and was prepared to suffer the consequence of having a non-peaceful life if it means having them around.

 As he finally finished changing into the clothes he had picked, he viewed his reflection in the mirror and judged how he looked.

Hmm, not bad and it looks casual enough for a party, he said in his mind as he eyed himself in every possible angle.

It’s not that he doesn’t dress up often; he does if it is required of him, but if it doesn’t, he will just simply wear something that he thinks is appropriate for the occasion. He doesn’t really care of what others think of him, and if he does at times, he doesn’t take it to heart unlike other people would. Jeno was his own man; other than Mark, he knew who he was, better than anyone after all.

He studied his outfit one more time, trying to figure out if it really does suit him since he doesn’t want Mark to nag him into changing one more time if the older deemed his attire to be unfitting.

After deciding that it looks fine on him and deciding against the idea of styling his hair since it appears neat just the way as it is, without further ado, he immediately went out of the closet to let his friends see how he looked.

The moment he was out in the open for his friends to see what he had come up with; they suddenly stopped talking to gawk at him.

(A/N: Wtf our kid looks so handsome here asdfghjkl)

And boy was he handsome.

He opened his arms and even bothered to turn around in circles for them to clearly see what he was wearing before he faced the three, spared them a small smile and asked, “How do I look?”

A minute or so had passed but still nobody said anything, they just kept on looking at him. Jeno then cleared his throat to get them back to their senses because he was getting pretty awkward with the gazes they had on him.

After being momentarily amazed at his best friend’s rather surprising transformation, Mark jokingly wolf whistled and said, “Dang man. You look gorgeous. You won’t really get unnoticed by anyone for sure. But if you do, they’re no longer human.”

Jeno was used to being called handsome or attractive by a lot of people before, it wasn’t actually new for him. But he would be lying if he said he still doesn’t get flustered when someone compliments him every now and then. He rubbed the back of his nape embarrassingly, causing Mark to sneer at him. “Thanks?”

“Hyung, can you be my boyfriend instead?” Chen Le blurted out of the blue, still stunned and had his mouth slightly agape, eyes gleaming at the older. “You’re really handsome.”

“No Lele, you already have my cousin,” Jeno chuckled at what the younger was implying before he came to him and ruffled his hair a bit. “He’ll be sad if he heard you say that I was more attractive than he is.”

“But you are,” Chen Le pouted which only made the latter let out another breathy chuckle. “Don’t tell him I said that though.”

“Sleek. Not bad guys,” commented the oldest, who also couldn’t help but admire the younger. Jeno had always been eye-catching, but today, he was dangerously striking and he just changed his clothes! “I’m sure that person you’ve had your eyes on will fall for you immediately after seeing you tonight.”

“No doubt with that hyung,” Mark retorted, a proud grin on his face as he had his arms crossed.

“Uh, so who am I trying to impress again?” Jeno asked, still completely unknowledgeable about what they have been talking about since earlier.

“Really, Jeno? Really?” Mark asked, not entirely sure if he heard his best friend right.

Jeno shrugged, looking rather curious and only nodded which made Mark run a hand down on his face.

“Do you remember the one we talked about last week with—?” before the older could finish, Jeno cut him off.

“Oh, that? Before lunch time was over? The –”

“Yes my friend. That.”

After hearing Mark say those words, a picture of a familiar guy came to his mind which made his lips curl up a little to form a small smile. Even though he does not really know who this Jeamin was that Mark had been talking about and what he really looks like, he still hopes it was the one he saw and imagined to be.

On the other note, Chen Le and Winwin exchanged puzzled looks to each other; both are lost as to what Mark and Jeno are talking about for they gave no chance to finish the other’s sentence. They do not know if they were doing this intentionally or is it because of the deep understanding they share that words don’t need to be said and sentences don’t need to be finished for the both of them to understand what the latter and former meant.

“Well, come on downstairs guys, I’m sure they had prepared something for us to eat already.” Jeno said in a very unusual lively tone. And the sudden boost in his energy and demeanour was clearly evident and noticeable that it made Mark raise an eyebrow, Chen Le’s brows to almost meet, and Winwin’s mouth to form a ‘o’, who immediately understood the reason of this hasty change in Jeno but didn’t voice it out loud.

Someone might be in love, Winwin thought while looking at the younger’s back as they went out of the latter’s room, amused at the thought.

As they made their way downstairs, Chen Le observed the house with busy eyes, trying to catch every small detail that comes into his attention.

It really doesn’t have any significant difference from ours in terms of space aside from the design and how quiet it is in here. The youngest said in his thoughts and curious as to why it is so hushed despite its scale, he asked Jeno out of a whim. “Jeno-hyung, why is your house really quiet? Where are your parents? I hadn’t seen them at all since we arrived here,” he asked while looking around, searching for some clues on where the elder’s family might be at. Ever since they arrived, all Chen Le saw was the house maids and the butlers— no one else. Everyone knew that Jeno was an only child but it was really weird that there was no one there in his household besides him and the staff.

The younger was waiting for an answer but no reply came. He looked on ahead and saw that the other three seemed to be so engulfed with whatever it is they are talking about that Chen Le’s question was overlooked. 

He pouted, knowing that no one might have heard him, or so he thought.

Jeno, on the other hand, noticed that Chen Le was dismayed which was apparent on the pout he had on his face when he looked back to spare him a glance. He then asked, “Lele, is something wrong? Did you say something?”

Still pouting, Chen Le replied, “No hyung, don’t mind me.”

“I’ll walk with you,” the latter offered as he tugged on behind, standing beside the younger as they made their way down the ridiculous amount of staircases before they reached the living room. “To make sure you’re not lonely here at the back,” and he showed his infamous eye smile to the youngest, Chen Le’s mood instantly lifts.

“Hyung, you are aware that what you just said is too cheesy right?” he asked while urging himself not to laugh at the elder’s choice of words but failed.

“I am now,” Jeno sniggered.

When they got situated on the living room, around a rather fancy looking coffee table, in front of the huge flat screen television, snacks were then served by the house staff in trays, which they thanked the moment it was put on the table for them to consume.

“Hey guys, what did you get for Ten-hyung?” Mark asked, who’s now sipping his tea, had his back leaned and legs c