"Jeno-yah," Renjun whines, sighing as he sinks himself further into the car seat. His hold on Jeno's hand tightens, and Jeno's pretty afraid of his hand dying in his vice grip but instead he laughs at Renjun's horrified face.

Jeno pats their intertwined hands with his free hand, "I'm not going anywhere, you can settle down."

Beside him, Renjun glares at him sharply but doesn't take his hand away.

Their manager calls out from the driver's seat, "It's really not that bad. Even Donghyuck and Jaemin did it."

Renjun pouts, Not that bad, my . Like he would know.

This all happened a week ago, and actually, it wouldn't have happened at all, if only he knew.

Their manager went to the company building, a sudden meeting in the company that needed him urgently or something. This would mean that he would come home late today and in extension, would not cook for them. When Chenle had gotten hungry and without the manager to cook for him, Renjun had to do it, afraid of the oily mess the younger would make, and what if he finished all the eggs in their refrigerator?

Two eggs cooking later, Jisung and Jeno had come out from their room to join Chenle in watching Renjun cook. Without helping. Brats.

It was when he was mixing the fried rice when he hears a message come through. Usually, Renjun doesn't look at his messages when he's doing something else, but when he glances at his phone and it's from their manager, he quickly opens it, multitasking while cooking.

From: manager-hyung
they're asking if you want lingual braces

He probably means the company, Renjun thinks. Shortly after the first message, another one comes through.

From manager-hyung
you know, the one behind the teeth

Renjun turns off the stove and serves the food, ignoring the cheers all around him and the already half-eaten egg at the table.

While the others are eating, Renjun is searching about the braces, or to be more honest, if it's gonna hurt. He doesn't get anything, though he could probably be a dentist specializing in lingual braces from the article he just read. He was just sending messages, asking the other members who have braces when someone speaks to him.

"It's rude to use your phone in front of the food, Renjun." Jeno scolds, nudging his foot against his under the table.

Renjun sends them quickly and puts the phone down, he was getting hungry anyway. He mumbles an apology under his breath and begins eating.

Jeno's still nudging his foot though, and he only stops when Renjun kicks at his foot weakly, asking with his mouth full, "What?"

Jeno swallows, motioning to the table with his chopsticks, "Whatever you were searching, it must've been important if you delayed your eating. What was it?"

"Oh, Hyung asked me if I wanted lingual braces."

"What are those?" Chenle asks, pausing from stuffing his face with fried rice.

"It's braces, but at the back." Jisung answers for Renjun, who was struggling to chew and swallow.

"Yes, those." Renjun says once the food goes down, then he tilts his head at the youngest, "You seem to know a lot about it."

Jisung, the shameless brat, preens under the unexpected praise, his shoulders nearly at level with his nose and tucking his unkempt hair behind an ear. "Well..."

"Does it hurt?" This is the only reason I haven't said yes, after all. Renjun thinks, glancing to Jeno, who always has something but seems to have lost his tongue today.

"Hm, Jaemin hyung told me it didn't," Jisung says thoughtfully and Renjun sags in relief, mind wandering to why Jeno seems to have nothing to say. In his blocked-out state, he misses Jisung say, "Though I'm sure it was just an act to look tough, you could hear him whimpering from here to the studio."

Jisung laughs, as if it was an old joke he loved to tell everyone in his spare time. Chenle, who understood everything he said, also screeched with laughter, because Jaemin's pain in their joy, apparently. Chenle's loud and sharp laughter snaps Renjun out of it.

"Wha—," Just then, a message comes, vibrating against the table loudly, though it's probably not Jaemin since he never picks up his phone.

From: doghyuckkie
they don't hurt at all only babies like jaemin whine about those things. get em!!

Oddly persuasive, but Renjun dismisses it when their manager messages him again.

From: manager-hyung
can you make a choice now? or do you need time?

Renjun glances at Jeno, who's looking at him curiously. Renjun asks him softly, "If it's okay with you?"

Jeno eyes widen and he seems startled. "What? Of course it's fine, it's your teeth." He says sincerely.

"Well," Renjun glances at the younger two if they're listening to their conversation, but the two are thankfully stuck in their own world. "You always said that they were cute, and if I were to fix that..."

"It won't make me like you any less, if that's what you're worried about." Jeno reaches for his hand, and Renjun catches it halfway, an instinct both of them have. Renjun smiles warmly at Jeno and he smiles back.

But the sweet moment gets ruined when Chenle groans, "Ugh, what is that sickening smell, Jisung-hyung?" The two of them sniff the air dramatically, and Jisung flinches suddenly, pinching his nose. Jeno and Renjun look on, unimpressed with their act.

"It- It smells like– love." The two of them move out of their chairs, Jisung speedily talking, "Sorry, we gotta get out of here, this smell is really sickening!" Dumping the dishes in the sink, Chenle barely makes it out of the room without bursting into giggles.

"Ah, damn it." Jeno says when the door closes with a loud click since the noise followed the two out. "They were supposed to wash the dishes."

"How about this," Renjun steers the topic back on track. "I'll get my teeth fixed but I'll save this one." He points to his snaggletooth, and Jeno looks like he's about to protest but Renjun smiles at him, and his teeth shows, his cute little crooked tooth shows. And Jeno, he can't resist such adorableness.

Jeno scoots his chair closer to Renjun and he pinches his both his cheeks, pulling him closer, and sweetly kisses his nose. "That's okay."

Renjun sends an affirmation to their manager with his small demand, and the company agrees. They get him an appointment at the dentist their company usually goes to for their idols in a week, and Renjun wasn't nervous at all, since it apparently didn't hurt.

But everything goes under when the night before his appointment, he gets a message. An alarming message.

From: winwinie-hyung
IT IS HELL ON EARTH why? are you getting ?

Renjun blinks, and inside, he's already panicking a bit, but he wants to know more, first.

To: winwinie-hyung
yes what do you mean by hell

Renjun thinks it's pretty obvious, it probably hurts like a but a part of him won't accept it, not when he spent all week relaxing and he's not ready for this.

From: winwinie-hyung
what do u think it means lmao I MEAN IT HURTS LIKE U CANT EAT AFTER

Jeno comes into their shared room in his pajamas, drying his hair off with a towel, he finds Renjun in the corner of his bed, frozen. A bit afraid, he cautiously steps closer to the other, embarrassingly flinching really hard when Renjun grabs his forearm.

"What do I do." Renjun's flat tone worries Jeno and he looks miserable. He hands his phone to him noiselessly, and Jeno takes it warily, afraid of a jumpscare, maybe.

To: winwinie-hyung
but donghyuck said that it doesnt hurt though, jisung too

From: winwinie-hyung
donghyuck?? really???

From: winwinie-hyung
don't listen to that brat he whined to me for days

From: winwinie-hyung
I EVEN BOUGHT HIM ICE CREAM WTF

From: winwinie-hyung
what does jisung know he dont have it

To: winwinie-hyung
hyung

Renjun's 'hyung' looked so miserable, Jeno could almost hear it. In another chat window, Renjun loses his composure.

To: doghyuckkie
YOU ARE A DIRTY LIAR

From: doghyukkie
ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ

To: filthy liar doghyuck
oh my god do u know what you've done

From: filthy liar doghyuck
ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ

From: filthy liar doghyuck
ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ yes i know

Renjun hides his face between his knees, sighing deeply. Jeno sits beside him and hugs him, rocking him slightly. "Maybe hyung is overreacting, It can't be that bad." Actually, Jeno was there when Jaemin got his braces, it was bad.

"I trust hyung better than Donghyuck though." Comes Renjun's muffled reply, and Jeno stops rocking him, and instead, he moves Renjun's balled form to face him and tries to pry his arms away.

Renjun is unexpectedly strong. "If it makes you feel any better, I'll come with?" At this, Renjun stops struggling, letting Jeno pry his arms away. He looks up at the taller male, who's brushing his hair away from Renjun's eyes and is sporting a comforting smile.

"Jeno-yah," Renjun scoots over to Jeno's inviting arms, looping his arms around his neck and burying his head on Jeno's neck. "You're honestly the sweetest boyfriend anyone could have."

Jeno giggles because one: he's ticklish, and two: praises are a huge thumbs-up. Nonetheless, he circles his arms around Renjun's waist and pulls him unto his lap, crushing him in his strong hug. "Of course I am."

Renjun pulls away from the power hug after his lungs were crushed, holding Jeno away by his cheeks, pouting. They share a staring contest for what felt like an hour, before Renjun pulls him in for a short, sweet kiss.

Jeno chases Renjun's lips, looking as dazed as the day they first kissed, and it makes Renjun want to do it again. Instead, he whispers, "Thank you."

Jeno smiles lazily, "Anything for my cutest boyfriend."

However, right now, with Jeno's hand dying in his grip and Renjun's terrified, heavy huffs of air getting louder as their manager parks the car in front of the building the dentist is in, Renjun isn't exactly in the mood to be cute.

"Breathe," Jeno puts a hand against Renjun's chest and he almost laughs at how fast it's beating. He guides Renjun to take proper breaths before exiting the car. Before Renjun even has the chance to look up at the tall, intimidating building, Jeno pulls the hood of the jacket he's wearing over his head, avoiding the crisis that was Renjun running away.

Renjun still hasn't let go of Jeno's hand, and the younger sort of feels icky from how his palm is now wet thanks to Renjun's sweating one.

The trip to the dentist was short, with Jeno holding Renjun's head down like an officer, the older of the two doesn't see how high up the elevator went, nor does he see the growing smile on Jeno's lips. The door chimes when they enter, and, as expected, it's empty. The customers here are usually SM artists, or their staff, so it's no surprise to any of them.

The dentist, a nice lady with a pretty smile, welcomes them in with a twinkle in her eye. "Hi there, you must be Renjun." She stands from where she was lounging before, and ushers Renjun inside the operating room, Jeno in tow.

"Now then, I've know what you've probably heard," She talks as she puts on her gloves, gesturing to her equipment as Renjun settles on the operating chair. Jeno stands awkwardly on the side since Renjun still has that death grip on his hand and probably won't let go anytime soon. "And I assure you, it's nothing like that at all!"

The standard procedure goes and the assistant was even kind enough to give Jeno a seat right next to Renjun. The dentist keeps glancing at him and their intertwined hands, and when it's time to give Renjun anesthesia, she looks to Jeno.

"Renjun, I know it's scary to do it alone but, your friend here is distractingly handsome, I'm gonna have to make him leave, okay?" By distracting, she really means being an obstacle, since Jeno's been blocking her equipment since he came here.

Renjun freezes, unconsciously tightening his hold on his boyfriend's hand. She notices it, and rushes to reassure the boy. "Not immediately, maybe right after the shot, you're not afraid of needles, are you?"

Jeno knows this shot, has been a victim to it and a witness to see how Jaemin got completely destroyed by it, and by all means, he doesn't want Renjun to see it.

When the dentist goes away to prepare the shot, Jeno sneakily slips his hand away from Renjun, who lets out a surprised noise when Jeno cups his stuffed cheeks and quickly pecks his forehead. Renjun looks up at him in wonder.

"To comfort you," Jeno smiles at him, eyes disappearing. "I swear it's not that bad."

Renjun is still looking up at him, and he doesn't speak but there's a tender look in his eyes, and he blinks once, and says without breaking eye contact, "Mh-hm, okay, I believe you."

Jeno breaks into a bigger smile and ruffles his hair, "Heh, you're too cute." He continues on petting Renjun's hair, a technique he learned during movie nights that makes Renjun instinctively close his eyes.

"Everything's sorta numb." Renjun says, his mouth full of cotton. Literally.

"Yeah, I kno—" Jeno replies but is cut off when she comes back in.

The terror needle comes and Jeno places his hand over Renjun's eyes, and he blinks in confusion behind it. He was about to protest when the dentist says cheerfully, "Okay, say aah!"

Opening his mouth widely, his protests die on his tongue, and she throws a thankful glance in Jeno's direction before sticking the huge needle into Renjun's gums, and the sight is so grotesque that Jeno cringes away from it. It seems that a lot of her patients are also afraid of the needle since it's so huge, it looks like it was taken out from a game.

After four more shots, Renjun can't see or feel anything, though he was conscious that she was injecting anesthetics into his mouth, he doesn't really understand why Jeno covered his eyes. He can only squint up at Jeno when he takes his hand off, eyes smiling down at him as he waves goodbye.

"Good luck Injun-ie, I'll be waiting outside." He smiles one more time before waving, stepping out from the room. Renjun waves at him shyly, and his hand sort of feels empty without Jeno's in it.

"Sweet young boy, isn't he?" She moves closer to him, prodding at his mouth with a metal rod, "You're lucky you've got one as a boyfriend." She smiles knowingly at him and Renjun flushes under her gaze, smiling bashfully before his face drains of any color, she can't know.

She seems to notice this as well, and she gestures zipping her lips up and throwing the key away, throwing a thumbs up at Renjun. Renjun's lips twitch into a smile.

They waited about two more hours before she was done, and in that time, Jeno already asked their manager if they could stop by the convenience store on the way home, since Renjun can't eat anything hard yet.

Jeno hears from the other room, "Bye Renjun, I'll see you next month!" Before Renjun steps out from it, looking as normal as ever but Jeno knows that isn't the case.

"How'd it go?" Jeno asks after Renjun plops himself beside him, automatically resting his head on the younger's shoulder.

Renjun doesn't reply for a while, and when he does, it's in a really small voice. "It wath fine."

"What?" Jeno's throat clenched, his giggles threatening to come out.

"I thaid- said, it wath-" Renjun groans quietly, "It wath-, wath- was fine."

Jeno giggles then, and Renjun slaps his chest hard enough for him to wince. He links his arm with Renjun's, standing up and pulling the other with him, thanking the dentist and leaving the place.

Silence greets then outside, and when they enter the elevator, Jeno says in the most serious tone, "Speak more, your lisp is cute."

Renjun rolls his eyes at Jeno's cheesy line, but it doesn't lessen the growing blush on Renjun cheeks. He gazes at Jeno and does a half-scoff-half-laugh when Jeno's cheeks are also tinted pink.

"Why are you embarrassed? You're the one who said it!" Renjun says incredulously, his lisp becoming more prominent in his speech. Jeno has to stifle his laugh.

Jeno shrugs and he resists the impulse to wrap the smaller in his arms, with his arms crossed and unconsciously pouting, eyebrows creased together. Instead, he settles for putting his arm around his shoulder, guiding both of them back to the car.

Their manager greets Renjun, asking while opening the door to the driver's seat, "Everything good?"

The two tumble into the back seat, and Renjun replies shortly while buckling in. "Yup."

"Say 'yes sir' instead." Jeno teases, poking Renjun in the waist. The older swats it away, clicking his tongue, "No thanks." He slips and his lisp shows anyway, and he groans when their manager starts chuckling along with Jeno.

"You guys are mean." He whines, throwing a disapproving look towards both of them before looking out the window. Jeno sidles up to him after a while, hugging his waist and resting his chin on the older's shoulder.

Jeno doesn't say sorry, but Renjun does sigh in content and cuddles closer to the other, but it's their version of apologies and forgiveness.

The rest of the car ride is silent, both the boys half-asleep on each other, and their manager drives them to an empty convenience store. He shakes them gently, waking Jeno first.

"Hey, we're here." Jeno stirs and squints outside, waking up slightly when it's the same convenience store their group often frequents when they were trainees, though they still go here often. It's no miracle their manager would drive them here.

"Renjun," Jeno shakes the other who's up already but still groggy from sleep.

"I'm up, I'm up." Renjun slides the door open, stepping out gingerly, pulling his hood over his head, and rubbing his eyes with his sweater paws while waiting for Jeno to exit the car.

They walk shoulder-to-shoulder into the convenience store, quietly arguing about what flavor of noodles they should buy, and buying two soft serve ice cream afterwards. They chose to sit in the leftmost corner of the store, where no one can see them. They must look suspicious, both of their hoods over their heads, covering their faces so that they're indistinguishable to others, and sitting too closely to one another.

Jeno says lowly, "You should probably eat, we already ate while you were at the dentist." He pushes the seafood noodles closer to the older, and he takes it wordlessly.

Jeno scoops ice cream into his mouth, continuing, "Hyung will probably make you stew for a week or so,"

Renjun looks at him skeptically, "Does it really hurt that much?"

"I don't know, that's just what Hyung did when Jaemin got braces."

Renjun slurps his noodles loudly, and Jeno can see that he's not really chewing. "Hey, chew." Jeno chuckles, and Renjun gives up pretending.

He slouches over the table, groaning, "Ugh, I give up, it really does hurt." Jeno joins him in slouching over the table and they face each other, cheeks squished against the surface.

"Maybe I should chew your food up before you eat it." Jeno teasingly offers, and Renjun moves away from him in disgust.

"That's disgusting." He said with a slight lisp, scrunching up his nose.

"Or maybe we should go get ice cream every other day," Jeno offers, and he smirks slightly when Renjun lights up a little, perking up. "And maybe, instead of Hyung cooking for you, I'll be the one to cook for you." Jeno adds proudly, but Renjun seems to deflate, looking elsewhere.

"What?" Jeno squawks, sitting up in defense, "I don't cook often, you know. You should be flattered that I'd cook for you."

Renjun doesn't look him in the eye, gazing outside like he's disappointed in what Jeno said. "Hooray," He says soullessly, smiling bitterly. "I get food."

Jeno pouts, "Good food." He corrects the older, but Renjun doesn't correct himself, saying nothing.

"You don't like my cooking." Jeno says flatly, face devoid of emotion.

Renjun's face is also stone hard, when he looks Jeno dead-on the eyes and hits Jeno with the cold truth. "You cooked for me a total of three times, and I ate raw food three times."

Jeno doesn't have anything to say to that, he still feels thankful that Renjun finished his food even if it was undercooked, didn't complain, and also ate Jeno's portion because he couldn't eat it. "It's filled with my love?" Jeno tries.

"Me eating your food is the definition of love." Renjun deadpans, but a second of silence has him softening, "but I heard porridge is good food when you first get braces, so I'll give you a fourth chance." Renjun grins and it's Jeno turn to light up, looking around briefly before he takes Renjun's cheeks in both his palms, and quickly pulling the smaller towards himself, pecking his forehead, then his cute little nose, then his chapped yet still plump lips.

Renjun gasps, weakly pushing Jeno away, hissing, "What— Are you crazy?"

But Jeno pays him no heed, looking dreamily into his eyes, "You're seriously the best boyfriend ever, I won't waste this chance." He holds Renjun's hand in one palm and his other is in a 'fighting' pose.

"Yeah, yeah, okay," Renjun looks anxious, turning paler by the second. "You're seriously gonna pay if anyone saw us." He glares at Jeno, who only shrugs.

"Relax, there's no one here. I checked," Jeno reassures him, "No windows, no cameras, no mirrors, no bell chimes, and the cashier can't see us." He lists out smartly, and Renjun rolls his eyes, only Jeno would make sure to check just to do a stunt like that in public.

"Now, come on, I still have to buy ingredients for your best porridge ever!" Jeno stands, trash in one hand and Renjun's hand in the other, pulling him along.

Maybe not being able to eat is alright, as long as he gets to eat Jeno's badly made porridge, made with love.