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Jaemin stopped up after Jeno’s words. Even Jeno was in shock over what had just come out of his mouth. There was no thought put behind it. The words came out by themselves. Jeno continued walking, leaving the still Jaemin behind him. It felt like he was in a cheesy drama, he wanted to cringe at his own words. He did not know that he had the ability to say something like that. Especially to someone who he barely knew until a few hours ago. As he reached the bus stop, he felt a hand holding him back from going any further. He almost fell backwards from the sudden force. He turned around and faced the panting Jaemin. Jeno had only walked a few meters, so he had no idea why Jaemin was so out of breath. It took a few seconds before Jaemin looked back up at Jeno.

“What do you mean by that?” Jaemin asked, his throat sounding hoarse.

Jeno was confused. Were his words not clear enough?

“By what?”

-“By… that”

Without giving much of an answer, Jeno just smiled. He meant what he said, despite the fact that he was in denial at first. He had the feeling of wanting to make sure that the other male got back safe. He wanted him to be safe. He wanted to be able to see him again the day after.

The bus arrived a few seconds after. Jeno got in first, with Jaemin following close behind. Jeno was trembling all over but did his best not to show it. He was nervous and hoped that his words didn’t scare Jaemin away. He found two seats at the back of the bus, one of them near a window, the other right next to it. Jeno sat on the inner seat, closest to the window, Jaemin placing himself beside him.

“Let’s switch seats, it’s easier for you since you get off first” suggested Jaemin.

Jeno shook his head.

“I promised to walk you home”

Jaemin’s facial expression changed. He looked down to his feet as he began fumbling with his fingers.

Are you also nervous?

Wanting to ease Jaemin’s nervousness he decided that making the situation a little lighter hearted would be the best thing to do now.

“I mean… unless you don’t want to” Jeno moved his head down to Jaemin’s height, so that Jaemin would be able to hear his words. Loud and clear.

           “We can still switch seats”

Jaemin turned his head, which turned out to be closer to Jeno’s than what he had expected. He held his breath, his eyes turning wide at the sudden closeness. He wanted Jaemin to say something. To round off the conversation. He allowed him to have the last word. But as the silence continued, Jeno’s body couldn’t take it anymore. The silence got interrupted by the sound of hiccups coming out of Jeno’s mouth. Now even more flustered than before, he quickly placed both hands on top of his mouth to conceal the sound slightly before turning his head, so it faced the window. On the reflection of the glass, he could tell that Jaemin was as flustered as himself. The other male was sitting tall but still had his look fixated on his feet, taking time between each blink. Jaemin’s face was as red as Jeno’s. Only Jeno moved as a natural reaction to the endless hiccups, other than that, both boys sat still.

“Don’t”

Jeno turned around and looked at Jaemin. He observed his still red face and his moving lips.

            “Don’t move”

Jeno knew what Jaemin meant by this. He nodded, despite the fact that Jaemin was still looking down, and stayed seated on his seat, moving his body so that he sat comfortably. Jeno did not take his eyes of Jaemin and he noticed how Jaemin slowly raised his head and turned it to face Jeno.

--

The bus drove for a while. The boys no longer gazing at each other, but now simply enjoying each other’s company. They did not talk, they remained still. The silence was calming for Jeno and he hoped that Jaemin felt the same way. The silence felt nice. But he noticed the amount of time they had spent on the bus and was now curious of when Jaemin was supposed to get off.

“Where do you live?” now sounding curious, Jeno wanted to ask more questions.

-“A few stops back”

Jeno turned his head and saw Jaemin’s smug smile. Did this mean that they had already passed his stop? What was his intention of this?

“Does this mean that…”

-“Yes”

“But why?”

-“For no apparent reason”

Jaemin’s smile stayed the same but Jeno just nodded and turned his head, accepting that fact that they would either have to get off the bus and wait for another one going the other direction or wait for this bus to reach its final destination and let it drive back.

Without saying a word, they quietly agreed on the latter.

--

Jeno had slept well that night, despite having arrived home later than usual and therefore getting a smaller amount of sleep than he was used to. Surviving on the unfamiliar four hours of sleep seemed tough in his head, but he was coping just fine. He managed to wake up on time and get ready before heading to school.

His mind was only filled with one thing.

In the middle of the bus, he noticed a familiar figure. He squished himself into the crowd of people and looked down on the half-asleep Jaemin. With a smile on his face, he gave the boy a happy “good morning”, his face glowing making everyone around him energized just by looking at him. Jaemin looked through his half-closed eyelids and a smiled crept on his face as he recognized who it was that was talking to him. The seat next to Jaemin was occupied by his bag, which Jeno eyed and signaled Jaemin to move. He did so and allowed Jeno to join him.

“Did you sleep well?” a ray of sun illuminating half of Jeno’s face, making small shadows form under his jaw and cheekbones.

Jaemin nodded in response.

“How about you?”

Jeno copied Jaemin’s earlier action.

The bus ride was once again quiet, and they both followed each other into the gates of the school. As they walked inside, they headed for the lockers, Jaemin following Jeno over to his locker.

“Where is your locker?”

-“I never use it”

As Jeno was in the midst of packing his bag with the day's subjects, another presence joined them.

“Good morning!” a loud and cheerful ring was delivered by Lucas. Jeno answered back and continued with his earlier duty.

           “Who is this?” Lucas pointed over at Jaemin.

”Oh, this is Jaemin” Jeno nodded over at Jaemin who had been looking at Jeno the entire time. Jaemin looked up and gave Lucas a small wave, in which he returned.

“Nice to meet you” Lucas flashed his smile at Jaemin, which the other boy also returned.

Lucas looked down to Jeno, his eyes and face in awe. Jeno chuckled and mouthed to Lucas;

“I know right”

i'm crying

i just found this old couple shot they had together and it's the cutest thing to ever exist

-A