Lee Jeno was in the middle of rearranging his old CDs when he heard the insistent knocking on his bedroom window, startling him out of his thoughts. He frowned, taking out one earpod — he'd been listening to music on low volume, too afraid to disturb his mother that had gone to bed an hour ago — and looked outside.

He wasn't surprised at all to see one of his best friends grinning at him from behind the second-floor window, trying his best to balance himself on the small windowsill as he waited for him to let him in. Honestly, he’d be more surprised if he ever saw him use an actual door.

With a sigh, Jeno got up from the floor, shaking his head disapprovingly as he opened the window for him.

"Why'd you lock it like that?" Renjun complained as he took his hand, letting him pull him inside. "I could've fallen off if you didn't notice me out there."

Jeno rolled his eyes. “Exactly. You need to stop doing this. Seriously, mom’s said countless of times already that you can just use the spare key under the welcome mat. She doesn’t mind you coming over, so why do you insist on climbing through my window?”

Renjun shrugged, offering him a sheepish grin. “A bad habit?”

Nothing Jeno hadn't already heard so many times before. "One of these days you'll get hurt, you know? Mark my words."

He did not want to be there when– not an if but a hard when since it seemed pretty much unavoidable at this point– Renjun would finally fall down and hurt himself while attempting to climb up there. There was nothing he could do to help him, stuck inside his room, forced to watch it happen.

And that was exactly why he was trying to get Renjun to use the door like a normal person. Not only could he get hurt, but Jeno was worried that the day the old hag from across the street got enough of them and their gimmicks, she’d call the cops on Renjun for an act of pettiness despite knowing who Renjun was.

And Renjun was no better, really, as stubborn as they came. Or then he was just doing it out of spite to get a rise out of him. Which, now that he thought about it, wasn't completely out of the question.

Either that or Renjun was secretly a spider-monkey and Jeno's whole life had been a lie.

Jaemin, their other friend, had decided to try it just for kicks one time, climbing through the window only to end up all ragged and out of breath. He even pulled a muscle so bad it had made him swear to never do it again. Instead, he used the door like any other civilized member of the society.

But despite the constant threat of an accident, Jeno felt the need to bite his tongue and hold back every time he felt like really scolding his friend. He knew it was a habit so fully ingrained in Renjun's head that it was hard for him to comprehend they’d always leave their front door open for him any time he wanted or needed it.

The older was simply too used to sneaking out of the house in the middle of the night, hoping his family wouldn't notice he was gone till he got back, pretending he'd never left.

Even now, Renjun was giving him his best, most pitiful look so that he’d turn a blind eye on it again. "I promise I'll try to remember it the next time!" he promised. Again. 

It was a lie and they both knew it, but Jeno could feel himself soften nevertheless, his hand coming up to ruffle Renjun's messy locks. “I just hate it when you pull dangerous stunts like that. You shouldn’t be so careless,” he reminded, causing his friend to make a face at him while fixing his hair. He returned it with a pointed look, “I’m just worried.”

“Yeah, I know. And I think it’s sweet. Really. But you better hope Jaemin never catches you scolding me like a mom. He’d feel offended you’re trying to steal his job.”

Jeno scrunched his nose a little, agreeing. “He’d never let me live it down.”

“Yeah,” Renjun laughed, but then quickly stopped, hunching over with a hand over his middle, frowning. "Ow. Okay. That kinda hurt."

Jeno felt a spike of worry surge through him. He'd suspected something was off about his friend since he'd seen him struggle more than usual when climbing in, but he’d tried to brush it off as him being tired so late at night. It was clear he couldn't ignore it now though. He knew what it meant.

Wordlessly, he reached towards Renjun’s shirt and pulled it up, not giving him a chance to cover himself.

“H-Hey,” Renjun complained, but he had no real strength to fight off the school's soccer team co-captain. He knew it was too late anyway, Jeno had already seen it.

"Injunnie," Jeno whispered somberly, eyes taking in the extent of the new bruises covering the skin around his ribs.

Renjun looked away, furiously blinking away the traces of tears as he avoided his eyes. He didn't push Jeno away when he examined him from head to toes, trying to see if he had any open wounds or other bruises he should know about.

It would be futile; Jeno wouldn't let him go till he'd made sure there was nothing else he was trying to hide away, always assessing the injuries and making sure none of them needed any medical attendance. Like Renjun would ever listen to him anyway.

Fortunately, it didn’t seem too bad overall; just regular bruises, some darker than the others, but that was the extent of it. Jeno almost recoiled at the somber thought. ‘Regular’ was just an awfully brute way to phrase it, but it was the closest to the truth.

“I haven’t even looked in the mirror yet," Renjun admitted quietly, assuming the worst from the silence that had fallen over them. "Are they that bad?” He tried to smile, to put on the brave face he always did when he assured them he was fine, but the corners of his mouth were twitching, making it look more like a grimace of pain.

Jeno shook his head a little. He’d seen Renjun sport worse, but thankfully it happened on very rare occasions. His family didn't want a case compiled against them after all. "I think it's not that-"

“I’m here es!” Jaemin exclaimed loudly as he slammed Jeno’s bedroom door open, arms thrown in the air to really highlight his entrance, his whole body buzzing with energy like he’d just downed twelve cans of energy drink. Which, knowing Jaemin, probably wasn’t that far from the truth.

Hearing no reaction, he paused, blinking at the sight of Jeno lifting up Renjun’s shirt, his other hand flat against his bare stomach as Renjun supported himself with his hands on Jeno’s shoulders. In a second, his lips turned to a devious smirk.

“Oh dear. I sure hope I didn't interrupt something interesting,” he teased while wiggling his eyebrows, drinking in the adorable, startled, caught-in-the-act kind of expressions on their faces.

Jeno flushed deep red, and Renjun laughed before wincing again, causing Jeno to fuss all over him again till he slapped his hands away and pulled down his shirt. "We were being decent," Renjun assured. "Though Jeno was just starting to get all handsy with me. Shame."

K.O.

Jeno spluttered, face heating up incredibly as he crossed his hands over his face, whining quietly to himself. "You two are the worst! The worst! I can’t believe I’m friends with either of you.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Renjun dismissed with a careless wave of his hand. “But I’m fine, seriously. Doesn’t even hurt.” He managed to sound convincing right up until Jeno poked his sides, making him hiss and double over in pain.

Jaemin scoffed, “Right, and I’m Mother Theresa. Don’t lie, I saw your bruises from the door. If that isn’t bad, I don’t know what is.”

“It’s not that bad,” Renjun insisted again, whining. “My skin’s just too sensitive! You could poke me and suddenly I have the bruise the size of a tennis ball.”

“Bull,” both Jeno and Jaemin called out at the same time, not letting him lie through his teeth like that. The two of them whipped their heads towards one another, eyes wide.

“Jinx!” Jaemin yelled out, flashing one of his marvelous grins. “You’re at my mercy now, Jeno boy. Get wrecked!” But then he remembered the time and cringed, pulling an imaginary zipper over his mouth. “Right. Sorry. You can talk now.”

Jeno was already full-on glaring at him. “Yell one more time, and I’ll throw you out the window,” Jeno threatened with a stern finger pointed at the youngest.

They all knew he wouldn't have the guts and his mom would have his head for that, but they'd rather not test his patience either. Especially when they knew how important it was for Jeno’s mom to get her well-deserved sleep.

She was a nice person, really, kind and patient and all things wonderful, but even she could get grumpy if she didn’t get enough sleep before her next shift.

Jaemin, like the child he was, didn't seem to mind putting his life on the line, silently mocking Jeno's threat by making faces behind his back.

After he was satisfied enough with his own petty behavior, he smiled proudly to himself and skipped straight towards a giggling Renjun, pulling him into a tight hug and making him cry out in pain.

“Jaemin! Don’t touch me, it hurts.” Renjun pushed him away with a glare.

“Oh, so now it hurts?” Jeno asked, grumbling to himself from across the room. Renjun shrugged, having the decency to look a bit embarrassed; He had nothing to defend himself with this time.

“I can just kiss it all better! Wanna bet?” Jaemin asked as he made exaggerated kissy faces at him while batting his lashes like he was trying to act out a scene in a cartoon. Renjun squeaked and jumped further away from his reach, trying his hardest to keep his face far away from him.

Seeing his chance to strike back, Jeno stepped closer and quickly copied Jaemin, puckering his lips and making his own obnoxious kissing noises on the other side of Renjun's face till he was reduced to nothing but a laughing, smiling mess, making them both smile proudly at the sight of it.

“You’re so cute like this! Makes me want to nom on your cheeks,” Jaemin cooed, reaching over with his long arms to pinch his face, making Renjun whine as he tried fighting his hands off of him again.

“No one gets to eat my cheeks! They’re the source of all my smartness.”

Jeno and Jaemin shared looks.

“Even more reason to,” Jeno concluded.

“Yeah,” Jaemin agreed with a nod, pretending to be all serious but always going for the dramatics. “I agree. The case of Renjun infecting us with his bull quota today has been reached and exceeded with outstanding numbers. We need to stop this epidemic before it’s too late for all of us.”

Renjun rolled his eyes, “Watch out, or you might end up catching all my gay germs instead.” That was all it took for the mood to suddenly drop. The sight of his friends' stunned faces made him quickly avert his eyes and clear his throat, feeling more than a little awkward.

It wasn't like his childhood friends didn't know he was gay since they were the very first people he'd officially come out to, but it wasn't exactly a secret his coming out fiasco had caused him some unnecessary troubles in all aspects of his life either.But it was very on brand of him to ruin the mood like this when they'd tried their best to cheer him up.

Renjun felt like . 

Stepping away from them, he loosely hugged his waist, trying to get them to just forget it. “Anyway, can we go to sleep? I’m getting a bit tired.”

“Yeah, of course," Jeno quickly agreed. "Want some spare clothes?” Renjun nodded. “You know where to find them.”

Renjun gave him a tense smile, trying to ignore the heavy weight of guilt settling inside his heart, knowing he was always bothering his friends like this to the point they already expected him to come over most nights. He just really didn’t have much of a choice.

“Thanks,” he mumbled as he got his usual pair of PJs; a gray, loose shirt that was too small for Jeno, and a pair of his old black shorts he had to tie tighter around his waist so they wouldn’t fall off. His friends gave him reassuring smiles before he slid inside the bathroom, swiftly changing somewhere no one could see him.

He trusted his friends with his life, but he'd always felt a bit insecure with his body, too self-conscious of all the marks decorating his skin. And now, after constantly causing the mood to die, flaunting his bruised skin like it was as normal as it was to him just felt like an overkill. He knew it bothered them even if they kept it to themselves. 

Like he'd asked. Made them promise in the fear of worse consequences.

Nothing ever worked. They'd tried. After, Renjun thought he'd die. He probably almost did. So he didn't want it anymore.

He didn't want them to see all the marks on him after a rough day at home. He wanted them to pretend, to go on and act like he wasn't such a ing mess all the goddamn time.

Releasing a shaky sigh, Renjun got out and couldn't help but smile a little at the sight of his friends laying on top of Jeno’s bed, talking excitedly about something — probably that new monster movie hitting the cinemas next month — and laughing together like they'd never felt more at peace.

Like he wasn't constantly bothering them and making them worry. It was in little moments like these that he actually felt like he could breathe.

Just knowing they'd always leave a spot his size in the middle made his heart flutter. He loved climbing into bed with them and cuddling all night. He loved how loved they made him feel. And god, Renjun was more than ready to call it a day and forget everything that had happened the past few days. Yes, please.

Renjun jumped on the bed with excitement, making the other two laugh at him as they watched him crawl under the covers, waiting till he got all settled before clinging onto him with all their limbs.

Jaemin hoisted his leg over his waist as per usual, trapping him under them, while Jeno made sure his face was resting comfortably against his chest, arms reaching past him and settling on Jaemin’s waist while caging him in between them.

Renjun knew he’d get too warm sooner or later, wanting to crawl out of their reach and stretch his limbs that would surely get attacked by painful pins and needles, but for the moment, he wouldn’t change it for anything.

He let out a content sigh, eyes fluttering shut in the comfort of their presence. He could feel Jaemin reach for the covers, pulling them properly over all three of them, and their arms only tightened protectively around him after they’d settled in better.

“Good night Renjun, good night Jeno.”

“Goodnight both of you.”

Renjun was about to respond when he felt it, the soft kisses being pressed against his hair and his forehead, making him hum a little to himself, reassured and already drowsy.

Jeno and Jaemin just always made sure he’d never go to sleep before he’d smiled for them, and he couldn't be more grateful for his friends for always being there for him.

“Good night, Jeno, Jaemin.”

He felt them shift around for a bit more, content with the warmth they provided, before finally drifting off to a dreamless dream, a faint trace of a smile on his face.