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"There will be a field trip next week, so make sure to pack all your necessities" the teacher announced to the class.

A field trip?

Jaemin was not quite fond of the idea of traveling with the rest of his class to somewhere desolated. He had the idea that they would either go hiking, camping, fishing or all three of them. Residing in a cabin nearby or sleeping in tents. He loved the nature and would have loved to go on a trip if only he was by himself or accompanied by a maximum of three people, which in this case, wasn't how it was going to be. He sighed and shifted his focus as the teacher began to teach.

--

During the lunch break, he met up with Lucas and Jeno. The three boys were sitting outside enjoying the sunlight, trying their best to enjoy the canteen food.

"I wonder how much food they cook here on a daily basis" Lucas lifted up his sandwich, examining it carefully.

-"Probably a lot"

"Yeah, probably"

"I wonder how much they throw out then"

-"Probably a lot"

"Yeah, most likely"

"I wonder…"

-"Save your wondering for philosophy class"

"But we don't have philosophy class…"

-"Be quiet and eat your food"

"Okay"

Jaemin was sitting next to Jeno, looking at them bickering at each other like an old married couple. They reminded him of Donghyuck and him. He had not seen his friend for a week despite both of them living so close to each other. Donghyuck's mother notified Jaemin when he was at work during the weekend, that Donghyuck was not feeling well and had been resting since the day they had visited the "treehouse".

What an idiot.

He chuckled to himself, thinking back to how excited his friend was when showing off his piece.

"What are you laughing at?" Jeno questioned.

-"Is it us?" Lucas added.

Jaemin shook his head.

"I just got reminded of something"

Jeno and Lucas looked at each other, both looking curious at what it was Jaemin was smiling so happily at.

"What did you think of?" Jeno asked, his voice filled with curiosity and interest.

Jaemin proceeded to tell them the entire story about his friend and the platform and how he had built it even though he was not physically strong enough, contrasting his very strong mentality. Donghyuck was someone Jaemin was very fond of and boasting about him to others was something he would gladly do. Not that he would ever admit it to Donghyuck, but he was very honored to have him as a friend and he admired his strong sense of confidence and perseverance, wishing to come up to the same level as him one day. He continued telling about his friend until the bell ringed and he continued whilst they were walking up to class. Jeno and Lucas kept their mouths shut and listened to every word being said by Jaemin. Hopefully, they were showing actual interest. Jaemin had a tendency to get carried away when talking about the things he liked, only thinking about the listeners afterward. Most times he would feel guilty for saying too much, having this idea that everyone who listened to him would feel bored after a few minutes into the speech. He was beginning to feel a sense of attachment towards the other boys. They were his first friends after a while and he was beginning to believe that he could trust them. He wanted to be able to trust them.

--

The rest of the week felt empty. Not having any cleaning duties after school was nice but he missed being alone with Jeno. He went to work some days of the week and on Thursday he finally got new news about Donghyuck. Donghyuck visited his mom's shop around 40 minutes before closing time, whilst Jaemin was in the middle of getting the shop clean. He heard a cough and looked up to see Donghyuck smiling brightly at him. Jaemin dropped the mop and ran over to give his friend a brotherly hug and a pat on the back.

"That took a while, how are you coping?"

-"Eh, could've been better"

They chatted until closing time, Jaemin doing the chores whilst Donghyuck followed him.

After closing the shop and locking the doors, the followed each other home.

"Anything interesting at school lately?"

Jaemin had promised Donghyuck that he was going to keep him updated throughout his leave, he wanted to make sure that his friend knew the things happening at school so that he wouldn't be too behind when he returned.

"I got some new friends" Jaemin smiled, feeling a bit shy and also slightly ashamed for not being very loyal to Donghyuck.

-"Finally"

"What do you mean by finally?"

-"I don’t want to be your one and only friend it is good to meet new people"

"It helps to create your true identity"

"What do you mean by that?"

-"Trust me"

"I've been reading a lot of books lately, I know what I'm talking about"

Jaemin nodded in slight confusion, acting like he knew what Donghyuck was talking about.

-"Anyways"

"Tell me about these new friends of yours"

"One is called Jeno and the other one is called Lucas"

-"Okay, anything else?"

"In detail or just briefly?"

-"I have time"

"Give me the deets"

The stopped up in front of Jaemin's house and sat down on the stairs in front of the front door.

"So,"

"I met Jeno during cleaning duty last week and he was so so quiet when I first met him. But when he seemed to get comfortable, he began speaking more. We also take the same bus to and from school, so we meet there too" he said with a smile glowing from his face. He was looking down on the asphalt beneath their feet, making big gestures with his hands, expressing himself vividly. Excitement filled up his energy tank as he continued on about Jeno.

-"Wait a minute" Donghyuck stopped Jaemin from his speech and began to wriggle with his eyebrows.

"Who IS this Jeno dude?" emphasizing the second word.

"He is…"

"I don't know" Jaemin began fumbling with his hands. He wasn't sure, but he really thought of Jeno as a new friend of his. He was beginning to care about him as well.

-"Do you like him?"

Jaemin stood up with a set, no longer having his eyes on the ground but staring at whatever was in front of him.

"What are you talking about"

-"Nothing, I just thought…"

"I'm not gay" he laughed nervously.

-"I never said you were"

Jaemin was lost for words.

"I'm going to go inside now"

He patted Donghyuck on the top of his head.

"See you later"

He closed the door behind him, barely getting to hear Donghyuck's response. Leaning against the door, he was breathing heavily, out of breath for no reason. Oblivious of the thoughts thundering around inside of his head.

What is this feeling? What are these feelings?

He was thinking of crescent moons. Two particular ones.

"Get a grip Jaemin"

He pushed his back of the door and walked over to the kitchen to prepare for his dinner but got surprised when he saw a familiar feminine figure standing in front of the stove, preparing something he couldn't see what was.

"Oh"

"Hi mom"

It was a week since he last saw his mom. His parents would always be busy working and would usually be asleep when he came back from work himself. Even though the lived in the same house, the chances of seeing each other were rare. He had gotten used to it by now but still missed seeing their faces.

His mom turned around and looked at him. She was smiling widely, even when her face showing a definite look of sadness. She had obviously missed her son.

-"Come here, tell me if this is good" she gestured Jaemin to come to her. She fed him a spoonful of stew. It was warm and felt filling already by the first bite.

"Is it good?"

Jaemin nodded and wrapped his arms around his mom.

"I missed you"

His mom copied the gesture and began massaging Jaemin's back, patting him slightly, rocking back and forth slowly.

-"I missed you too"

"Is dad sleeping?"

She nodded as they let go of their embrace.

-"How's school?"

Jaemin smiled and began telling his mom about most of the events from the past week. He had forgotten about his conversation with Donghyuck for that small while and talked blissfully about the good things, omitting the small talk that had happened behind his back.

"We are going on a field trip next week" he turned around to grab the paper out of his backpack and give it to his mom, who read every single word carefully before signing the bottom of the paper and giving it back to Jaemin.

-"Be careful"

"I don't want anything to happen to you"

He rolled his eyes at his mom overprotectiveness.

"Nothing is going to happen mom" he stretched the sentence for a few seconds, a whiny tone in his voice.

She took a step closer to her son and reached her arm up to tap his shoulder.

-"You never know"

ch ch ch ch chewing gum

  ch ch ch ch ch ch chch chch

ch ch ch ch chewing gum

   gumgum gumgum gumgum gumgum gummm gummm

I love family bonding time :')

-A