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“Jaemin, you ready?”, Renjun shouted through the door, “otherwise I’m leaving without you.”
They were heading out to an all night buffet in honour of Jisung finally, finally making it to 18. It was sad to see the last of them growing up so fast, and normally Jaemin would have been all over it, fussing over their youngest like the rest of them, and congratulating him tearfully but tonight, he really wasn’t feeling it.
He hadn’t felt well all day; he’d eaten barely anything for breakfast, yet his stomach still felt uncomfortably full, but he figured it wasn’t bad enough to take a rain check. It was nothing a little rest couldn’t fix. He’d lazed around for most of the day, cuddling with Renjun in their bed, and slept for a while too, but it hadn’t shaken the nauseating fullness that had plagued him. But once again, he’d only shrugged it off, and began to get ready.
He’d selected a comfortable pair of slacks and a jumper, seeing as the buffet wouldn’t be too fancy, but he was still conscious of the fact it was a birthday dinner. He was about to slip the jumper on when his stomach gave an almost inaudible rumble and lurched painfully, almost doubling him over with the force of the cramp. Luckily it passed as quickly as it came, and he pulled the jumper on quickly, hands coming to rest on his unhappy tummy. Unfortunately, even though the cramp had passed, he could feel his insides revolting against him, and a slight ache had settled in.
“Jaemin, I’m leaving in 2 minutes!” Renjun didn’t sound happy.
Jaemin gave one last frown at his stomach and pulled his hand away from where it had been. “Mmph, I’m coming now!”
“What the hell took you so–are you okay?” Renjun broke off, looking worried.
“Hmm? Sorry, I’m ready to go now!” Jaemin feigned ignorance, even as his arms came to circle around his midsection.
“I said, are you okay?”, Renjun repeated impatiently, “you look a little off.”
Jaemin didn’t want Renjun to know how bad he felt, because he’d force him to stay home and he didn’t want to disappoint Jisung, or the rest of the boys for that matter, so he brushed off Renjun’s worries and continued out the door. “I’m fine, Junnie, you worry too much!” He sent threw a dazzling smile back at his boyfriend and disappeared out the door without another word.
Renjun narrowed his eyes after him suspiciously, he knew when his boyfriend was lying and he knew that Jaemin hadn’t been feeling well that day, that boy was too transparent sometimes. However, he also knew that Jaemin didn’t want to share, so he left it alone.
———
“Jaemin! Renjun! You made it!!”, Jisung looked ecstatic to see them, running to pull his older friends into a crushing hug, a hug that hurt Jaemin more than he’d like to admit. Renjun glanced over at him as he drew in a shaky breath, but didn’t say anything, instead turning to greet Jeno, who looked just as excited to see them.
Jaemin regarded Jisung in a fond manner, as they all did, but this kid was his child. He practically raised that brat, goddamn it. Which is why it was a little difficult to see him like this, all grown up. He pinched Jisung’s cheek fondly. “Look at you, all grown up. I remember when you were in diapers.” He chuckled as Jisung squawked indignantly, ignoring his whines of protest, but really his mind was far away. His stomach had settled a little on the ride there, but after being jostled by Jisung’s enthusiastic hug, the ache had returned. He still felt too full and was beginning to panic a little about food. They were at an all-you-can-eat buffet after all. He resolved to eat a little, as much as he could stomach, and then he’d stop.
He allowed himself to be dragged to the table, where he was greeted by Chenle, Mark, Donghyuck and Jeno, who had all missed him just as much as he’d missed them. Donghyuck immediately dived into some anecdote from his workplace, something about every single person in his company being married to one of their coworkers, and how he was the only one that wasn’t. Jaemin didn’t miss the look he shot Mark, who was engaged in a heated debate about...grass? with Chenle, who was holding hands with Jisung underneath the table. Seeing them all together again made his heart swell, and he forgot about how bad he felt for a while. Just being with his best friends again was enough to calm him down a little and he sent a soft smile towards a blushy Renjun, seated next to him, who leaned into his space and kissed him quickly.
Jeno returned with a plate heaped high with food, and plonked it on the table with a bang. Just the smell of it was enough to turn Jaemin’s stomach, even as his mouth watered. The table dispersed as the boys wandered off to grab their meal, and Jaemin watched as Mark grabbed some potatoes, and Renjun spooned some peas onto his plate. None of the food really appealed to his poor stomach but he grabbed a couple of pizza slices to please his friends. He waved off their complaints and offers of food, saying he was fine with his own plate.
While the rest of them engaged in a loud conversation, Renjun took a moment of silence and pulled Jaemin close. “Hey Minnie, are you sure you’re feeling alright? You’ve barely any food on your plate.”
Jaemin hated lying to his boyfriend, but he didn’t want him to know about how sick he was. At the smell and sight of all the food, his stomach had begun churning horribly, and he could barely breathe because of how full his stomach felt. He sucked in a deep breath. “I–yeah, I’m fine, my stomach is just feeling a little funny, it’s not a big deal.”
Renjun looked worried. “Are you sure you wanna eat? You don’t have to, no one is making you do anything.” He placed his hand over Jaemin’s stomach and winced when he felt an upset gurgling emanating from within. “Doesn’t sound good,” he glanced at his boyfriend, “are you sure you’re okay Min?”
“I’ll be fine Junnie, please stop worrying. Look!” He picked up a slice of pizza and took a large bite. It tasted like cardboard and he wanted to spit it out immediately but he chewed and swallowed it to appease his boyfriend. “See, I’m fine! Now enjoy your food, silly.”
Jaemin watched Renjun give him a wary glance as he turned to talk to Jeno. He gave a sigh of relief when he finally turned away, as it allowed him to wrap his arms around his stomach tightly without being seen. He let out a quiet moan. It seemed to clench at the thought of even finishing his food, because now that he’d started, he couldn’t stop, or Renjun would get suspicious. He fed himself mechanically, chewing and swallowing without much thought. There were only two pieces, nothing really, but it seemed like an eternity to Jaemin, who had tried to finish them as quickly as he could.
When he’d finally finished, he pushed his plate away and leaned back in his chair, trying to breathe under the weight of the food he’d consumed. It had been nothing, but afterwards, it had settled like a rock, and he felt so sick. His hand slipped under his jumper to feel at his stomach, and he grimaced when it bubbled unhappily beneath his palm. God, his stomach just felt so bloated, and the small amount of food he’d eaten left him with an agonising ache that seemed to linger for too long.
———
The dinner actually ended quite early, with Chenle saying he had a special date night planned at home. Donghyuck had waggled his eyebrows suggestively but Chenle had put a stop to that, firmly stating: Disney Movie Night. They’d all cheered at that and soon enough they were all on their way, promising to meet up again soon.
Jaemin was still having a lot of trouble with his stomach, he’d hoped it might have settled a little bit, but it really only seemed to get worse. On the ride home, he’d begged Renjun to drive them, and he sat slumped in the passenger seat, one hand desperately trying to massage the ache away, but to no avail. When they’d reached their place, he could barely walk, both arms encircled protectively around his middle. The cramps had him bending almost to the ground and Renjun was becoming increasingly anxious about his poor boyfriend’s state.
When they reached their shared room, Jaemin immediately discarded his clothes for the night, trading them for an oversize t-shirt and trackpants. He collapsed limply on the bed and curled up with a pained whimper. Renjun came in just then, and helped him under the sheets. “Junnie, please, it hurts so much, please.”
Renjun hushed him and slipped in behind him. “Oh baby, I know. Here, Junnie will rub your belly for you, okay?” He began to massage comforting circles into Jaemin’s stomach, eliciting a series of soft moans that he tried his hardest to stifle. “Is this helping, my love?”
“Ah-hnghh, a little bit, I don’t know. Just–just keep going.”
For all of Renjun’s good intentions, it didn’t really seem to be helping. Jaemin was close to tears, and Renjun was at a loss.
“I’m so sorry lovely, this isn’t really helping is it?” He peered worriedly at Jaemin, who looked...not much better, eyes shining.
Jaemin didn’t reply as he struggled through the next wave of cramps. He was feeling increasingly worse now, he knew Renjun was trying to help but his ministrations had only served to rile up his stomach even more. He gasped as a tight, piercing pain shot through him, and he felt something shift to his lower stomach. He whimpered softly again and suddenly he felt too full. The pressure was awful, making his head spin at the tension and he couldn’t handle it anymore. “Please,” he bit out, gasping as he stumbled out of bed, “I’ll be right back.”
It was an embarrassingly long time before he came back again, looking pale but a lot better. “Feeling any better?”, Renjun asked softly, patting the bed beside him.
Jaemin slipped back in gingerly, and snuggled up against his boyfriend, still cradling his stomach carefully. “Huh, a little bit. It still hurts a lot , but I don’t feel overfull anymore.” He gave a pleading look to Renjun, who chuckled. “Come here, you baby.”
Jaemin obliged and snuggled even closer, adjusting himself accordingly so his boyfriend could reach his stomach. He let out a pleased murmur at the feeling of Renjun’s warm hands on his achy stomach. “Mm, love you Junnie,” he mumbled, eyelids drooping sleepily as the sweet sounds of Renjun’s voice filled the air.
Renjun smiled softly at his boyfriend, pausing his lullaby briefly. He’d certainly been through a lot that day. “I love you too.”