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“Come on, Jeno! It’ll be fun,” Jaemin insists, tugging at Jeno’s arm gently and getting all up in his face, grin as wide as ever and eyelashes battering about all over the place.
And Jeno’s really at a loss, because he hates hates hates scary things, but he loves loves loves Jaemin. He knows haunted houses are all just actors and makeup and props, but for some reason knowing this fact does little to calm his anxiety. Still, Jaemin really wants to go in, and Jeno’s a complete sucker for him and will more or less do anything he wants, regardless of what common sense might suggest.
(“Hmmf. If Jaemin jumped off a bridge, would you?” Doyoung asked him pointedly once after witnessing Jeno agree to sneak out with him one night. Jeno is supposed to be the well behaved one.
He’d rebuffed him, but afterwards Jeno considered Doyoung’s sarcastic remark and thinks maybe he would. Maybe.)
Underneath them, the sound of the water beneath the pier laps gently. There’s not a lot of people out today, probably because it’s kind of overcast, which means Jaemin is extra touchy-feely. He rests his chin on Jeno’s shoulder, nuzzling at his neck with his nose.
“I don’t like scary things,” Jeno reminds him in a last ditch attempt to get him to change his mind. The fact he used the phrase ‘don’t like,’ not ‘hate’, is enough for to Jaemin to sense he’s already won this battle.
“But you’re cute when you’re scared, baby,” Jaemin purrs in his ear in that same whining tone as before. His hands travel down from Jeno’s side to his fingers, where he holds them, gently tugging again.
“Well,” Jeno sighs, breathing out and steeling his last remaining nerve. “I guess you’re about to find me really fucking adorable.”
Jaemin squeals, jumping up with such a pretty smile on his face and wow yeah Jeno would really do anything for that smile. He’d jump off a bridge for that smile, seriously.
In fact, he thinks as Jaemin guides him into the darkened entrance, he might just rather do that.
“I’m so sorry,” Jaemin coos at Jeno, stroking his hair down. Jeno’s breaths are ragged and his heart is beating so rapidly Jaemin is truly concerned. “God, I’m the world’s worst boyfriend. I’m sorry, baby. I should’ve never made you do that. I didn’t think-”
“Stop apologising, Nana,” Jeno scolds. He’s just about caught his breath back. He was a little embarrassed at the reaction he’d had back there.
Now Jeno doesn’t believe in gender roles (and of course, that’s not what this is, anyway) but he’s always prided himself on being able to protect Jaemin. He dotes on him and looks after him and takes pleasure in it, honestly. It’s satisfying being able to be that person for him. Which is maybe why the situation is made all the worse right now.
There wasn’t even anything to be protected from anyways; it was just a jumpscare. Some woman dressed as a ghost just appeared from nowhere right on front of him and Jeno had freaked out, forcing Jaemin out of the fire exit.
Jaemin’s lips press into a line for a moment, then he leans into Jeno’s face, close as always.
“I’m sorry,” he whispers dramatically, eyes boring into Jeno’s, unblinking. It’s enough to bring Jeno’s vitals back to normal, the familiarity of those beautiful brown orbs, always sparkling.
“Aish, stop,” Jeno can’t help his smile, reaching up to bop Jaemin’s nose with his finger. He grabs his hand and pulls him along away from the haunted house and onto the boardwalk of the pier.
“So, was I cute?” Jeno ventures, as their hands swing between them.
“You’re always cute, noob. You know that.”
Gosh, Jeno’s definitely used that exact line on Jaemin before. Sometimes, he thinks they’re becoming the same person as time goes on. They pick up more and more of each other’s traits, and it’s been pointed out more than once. It’s even becoming obvious to Jeno now. Sometimes they say the exact same thing at the exact same time.
Jeno’s picked up habits from Jaemin, too. In fact, Jaemin’s eyelash battering strategy works pretty well on the hyungs if Jeno wants something. And if it doesn’t work, if you cling to them, asking ‘please~?’ in the cutest voice you can muster, they will most probably cave.
“Aw that was romantic but then you called me a noob.” Jeno sighs. “You should really treat me better, do you realise how much stupid shit I do for you?” And he means it in the best of ways, but Jaemin suddenly looks guilty.
“You do way too much for me.” He replies, eyes trained on the wooden boards of the pier. He can see the water between the cracks. It’s pretty windy out, so the waves are licking up at the railings either side of them. “I don’t deserve you at all.”
They reach the end of the pier, and Jeno observes Jaemin’s profile the same way he always does. Jaemin wraps his arms about the railings, leaning forward and looking out of the vast expanse of grey sea before them. It’s all Jeno can do to stare. Jaemin’s face makes Jeno wish he was good at art, or writing, or music, because he really wants to capture the beauty he sees somehow. Yet, he’s no good at any of those things, so it’s all he can do to drink in what he sees whenever he can and commit every mole, every eyelash to memory. His lips seem extra pink today, his cheeks equally as rosy.
“It’s funny you say that because I think that all the time about you,” he says honestly. It’s not that Jaemin does anything to make Jeno feel insecure – he’s just so lovely that Jeno can’t believe it sometimes. Still, he’s always able to quell the thought quickly, because although he’s never said it aloud, meeting Jaemin made Jeno believe in soulmates. It’s cheesy, but he just knows there’s no one else out there that could ever compare to Jaemin. He’s not just Jeno’s boyfriend; the word seems inadequate somehow. Jaemin is his best friend, his teacher, his lover. (His everything).
“Maybe we don’t deserve each other then,” Jaemin turns to face him, eyes light as he moves forward, arms resting around Jeno’s waist. And they’re smiling, grinning even, at how absurd such a statement sounds.
“Maybe we don’t…” Jeno’s eyes curl into his signature half moons at Jaemin in his chest. When they hug like this, he can feel his anxieties lift and somehow he feels lighter. “Or maybe we do. Either way, I’m very much in love with you, so I doubt it matters that much.” He murmurs into Jaemin’s hair. It’s a hazelnut colour on the ends at the moment, but his black roots are showing, and it smells familiarly sweet. The thought crosses Jeno’s mind that that’s why his shampoo has been disappearing so quickly lately-
“Ugh, stop doing that Lee Jeno!” Jaemin groans, palms flat against Jeno’s chest as he pushes him away.
“I- uh- wait, doing what?” Jeno stumbles, resembling a lost puppy.
“Saying things that make me want to kiss you!” Jaemin accuses and he doesn’t even look like he’s joking.
“What’s stopping you?” Jeno asks, eyebrows raised. The expression melts off Jaemin’s face in an instant, and he looks smug as always once again.
“Oh you know - nothing. Can I kiss you?”
Jeno wrinkles his nose. “Why are you suddenly ask-”
But before he can finish his sentence, Jeno suddenly has a Na Jaemin attached to him by the mouth, arms reaching up to wrap around his shoulders instead, fingers brushing at the nape of Jeno’s neck. His lips and cheeks are cold from the wind, but somehow Nana always seems to be warm. He radiates it, like the sun. Like he’s making the warmth just for Jeno.
Jaemin’s mumbling something incoherent against Jeno’s lips, something about being so lucky, when the first few splashes of rain fall.
Unfortunately, they are at the end of a pretty long pier so the likelihood of them avoiding the worst of the rain is rather slim.
(“We could go back to the haunted house?” Jaemin grins.
Jeno flicks him.)
“Okay, so home?” Jaemin asks, but he keeps leaning up for kisses.
Jeno could laugh because Na Jaemin is entirely his home. It wouldn’t matter where they’d go if they’re together, and yet they not only share a home, but a room (and most nights, a bed – Jaemin can’t sleep well alone).
“Sounds perfect.” Jeno agrees as the rain begins to come down harder. Jaemin pecks the corner of his mouth one more time before taking a few steps back, teeth sinking into his lower lip.
“Catch me if you can!” Nana suddenly bursts, already bolting away from Jeno back down the pier. Laughing, Jeno watches Jaemin’s legs carry him ahead, his mind beginning to conjure up ways he can get back at his boyfriend for the haunted house.
There is, of course, plenty of time for him to get revenge. Maybe he’ll get it tomorrow, or the day after. Or perhaps the day after that. He can think about it later, when he’s lying in bed tonight with Jaemin’s warmth radiating into his side. The thought alone lifts the corners of his lips. Jaemin spins, eyes connecting with Jeno mischievously, taunting him in an unspoken dare. Catch me if you can, he mouths, words lost to the wind.
Jeno runs.