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“Jisungie, don’t forget your wallet!” Jaemin holds the item out for the youngest to grab on his way out.
“Thanks Nana! Lele, Jeno-hyung, I hope you don’t miss us too much!” Jisung smiles at them as he hurriedly throws on his denim jacket and winter coat over the top. “I’ll make sure to send loads of pictures of the baby!”
“Jisung, your parents got a new puppy, that’s not a baby,” Jaemin smiles fondly, shaking his head and making sure that Jisung had all of his belongings, “but you’d better send photos! We don’t wanna miss out on any of that puppy action.
Jisung grins and pulls his shoes on, nearly falling over a dozen or so pairs in the process.
“You and Hyuckie need to sort these out when you’re back too, by the way.” Jeno nags, getting fed up of having to wade through a sea of his best friends’ shoes just to leave the house. Jisung waves his hand dismissively.
“We will, don’t worry Jeno-hyung. Or Hyuckie-hyung will, ‘cause he comes back from Japan the week before I come back. Plus some of these are Renjun-hyung's that he said he was gonna get rid of before his trip but didn't have time." Jisung's phone beeps in his pocket. "That'll be my parents here now so I gotta go, see you guys soon!” The three older boys take turns hugging him goodbye and then wave at their youngest as he exits, quiet falling over the flat.
“When are you getting picked up, Nana?” Chenle flops onto the sofa and grabs the bread he’d left on the small table a few hours earlier.
“My dad’s on his way now, he picked Jungwoo-hyung up first.” Jaemin smiles and starts putting his coat and shoes on. “You two will be alright without us, right? I mean we’re all only a call away if you need anything–anything at all–and I can come back easily if anything happ-“
“Jaemin, stop worrying,” Jeno laughs and pats him on the shoulder, “We’re big boys now, I should hope a twenty-year-old and a nineteen-nearly-twenty-year-old can survive together for a month and a half.”
“Yeah, Nana-hyung,” Chenle all but shouts through a mouthful of bread, “we’ll be alright. We have all of your numbers, plus Dejun-ge and Guanheng-ge are around if we need company and Kun-ge is always happy to help.”
“Alright, alright,” Jaemin concedes, deciding to do a last minute check of his belongings. A knock at the door startles the three of them, before Jaemin’s elder brother Jungwoo comes in, smiling amiably.
“Hey guys,” Jungwoo smiles politely at Jeno and Chenle, who wave in response, before turning to Jaemin. “Ready to go? Dad’s waiting.” Jaemin nods and after passing his bags to Jungwoo to take down, pulls his two friends in for a group hug.
“I’ll miss you guys! Don’t forget our weekly skype nights we’ve planned!” Jaemin laughs.
“How could we? Mark-hyung only mentioned it about fifty times before he left the other day.” Jeno laughs at the memory of Mark panicking thinking he’d lost his passport the day before his flight to Vancouver when it was already securely in his coat pocket.
“Anyway, enough making fun of Mark-hyung when he's not even here,” Jaemin grins. “I’m gonna head out, see you guys soon!” He gathers his last remaining bags and follows after his brother. Jeno and Chenle look at each other, realising its officially just the two of them left.
“Hey Lele, I bet I can beat you at Mario Kart now that the others aren’t here to protect you from me.”
“You wish! I’m the Mario Kart master!” Chenle grins and takes another bite of bread. “If you wish to challenge me, I must warn you you’re setting yourself up to fail.”
• •
Jeno hums to himself as he wipes the last few tables clean, the cafe empty apart from Dejun and Guanheng softly conversing over the counter. He can just about make out what they're saying, something about new additions to the menu and Dejun wanting Guanheng's opinion on them. He's just about to turn around and join the conversation when the bell near the entrance jingles, causing a gust of icy wind to blow in, dragging the poor customer in with it. Dejun immediately stands up and returns to his position behind the register, bowing slightly.
"Welcome to Déjà Brew, what can I get y- oh, hey Chenle !" Dejun smiles when he realises who it is. Jeno perks up at the name, standing up straight again and abandoning the cloth on the table amongst the leftover crumbs.
"Lele! What are you doing here?" Jeno smiles, turning to face the blond, "Aren't you supposed to be at home working on that history assignment?" Chenle, looking slightly pissed off, rather windswept and covered in a thin layer of snow, walks to the register, scanning the menu briefly.
"Please don't mention that thing to me if I hear one more word about the democratization of Korea, I'm going to set my essay on fire and then myself." Chenle says, a little shortly, before looking back at Dejun again, " I'll have a large iced mocha please, with an extra shot and extra syrup ." Jeno frowns a little.
"Lele, you don’t even like coffee." Chenle pays for his drink and walks over to his favourite spot right near the counter, all but throwing his bag on the extra chair.
"You’re right, but I need it to help me get through the rest of this essay if I’m gonna get it done before midnight." He sighs and drops his head on the desk with a rather loud thud, muttering to himself about dumb lecturers and December deadlines. Jeno winces a little and turns to Dejun, mouthing a quick, 'don't put the extra shot in', before going over to the other boy currently sighing into the table. He pushes Chenle's bag onto the floor and takes its place, resting a hand on the back of Chenle's head gently.
"You’ll be okay, Chenle; last time I checked you were over halfway through, right?" Chenle nods into the table. "See, you've already got the hard part done! You just need to make sure you have all your arguments sorted out and then you're well on the way to finishing. Then we can enjoy the rest of the month until we have to start thinking about second semester," Jeno runs his fingers through the back of Chenle's hair comfortingly. "Do you want me to help you? I'm about due a break now anyway, right Dejun-ge?" Jeno asks, smiling up at the boy who had brought Chenle's finished drink over. Dejun checks his watch and nods.
"Yeah, you are," he smiles, "not that it's busy anyway." Dejun adds, laughing and walking back over to join his boyfriend. Jeno smiles fondly at his coworker and looks back at Chenle, who was now resting his chin on the table and looking up at Jeno with hopeful eyes.
"You’ll really help me? Oh my god Jeno you're a literal life saver," Chenle grins up at him and his heart flutters a little, his cheeks reddening slightly.
"It’s really no problem, I’m already finished anyway." Jeno says, having finished his essay only a few days after it had been assigned. "You could have asked for my help earlier, you know? I wouldn’t have minded." Jeno laughs cheekily, knowing full well Chenle was a little too proud to ask for help, and Chenle sheepishly grins back at him.
"I know, I know," he says, reaching into his bag and pulling out his laptop, opening the essay and pushing it towards Jeno. "Thank you, hyung." Jeno flashes a smile at him, then grabs the laptop and settles back into his chair, reading through what Chenle had written so far.
As Jeno reads, Chenle pulls out his phone as something to do, but quickly finds himself staring at Jeno instead. His eyes trace the lines of his hair, the ends of his fringe falling into his eyes. He studies the outline of his nose, down to where his tongue sticks out of his lips as he concentrates. Chenle smiles to himself, eyes moving back up Jeno's face to his eyes, which were no longer looking at the essay, but back at Chenle.
"Are you staring at me?" Jeno asks, trying to hold back a soft smile. Chenle's eyes widen a little and his cheeks flush pink.
"Um," he coughs slightly, "sorry." Chenle looks away, cursing himself for being obvious.
"No its okay," Jeno grins, watching the way Chenle's cheeks slowly get redder. "I know, I’m just too handsome to look away from." he laughs quietly, looking back at Chenle's essay. Chenle looks back at him briefly, noticing that Jeno's cheeks are also the slightest bit red and he can't stop smiling. He bites his lip softly and goes back to looking at his phone but his thoughts are filled with Jeno.
"I’m gonna have to go talk to Kun - ge about this," he muttered to himself, making a mental note to drop by the library on his way home.
Across the room, Dejun and Guanheng, who had watched the entire exchange, were laughing quietly to themselves, voices low so that Chenle and Jeno didn't overhear them.
"So, when do you think Chenle will realise?" Guanheng asks as he sips his coffee, grinning at Dejun over the rim.
"Bold of you to assume Chenle can tell someone likes him without them having to tell him directly to his face," he laughs in response, looking back at the two who had begun working on the essay again. "He ’s smart but can be such a dumbass sometimes."
"Says you, it took you months to realise I had a crush on you even after I straight up told you." laughs Guanheng, remembering the days before they had started dating.
"In my defence, we were drunk when you told me, so that's not my fault."
"So was I, but I still remember how cute you were when I told you, and you started blushing and tried to run away but I grabbed your wrist and-" Guanheng was cut off by a hand over his mouth, Dejun blushing red.
"Do you mind not telling the entire world about that," he laughs, feeling Guanheng grinning wider under his hand. He hears a muffled 'but I love you though' under his palm before the bell jingles again and a large group of customers walk in. The two of them jump up and move behind the counter, Guanheng still grinning at his boyfriend's cuteness and Dejun still blushing as he begins serving the customers.
"Jeno, sorry to interrupt but breaks over." Guanheng says over the counter, gesturing at the sudden influx of customers with his head.
"Ah, sorry Chenle," Jeno smiles apologetically at him, standing up.
"It's okay Jeno, you can't help it," Chenle nods, pulling his laptop back towards himself, "I might head to the library to get some books out for this anyway, thanks for the advice!"
"Sorry I couldn’t help more, I’ll definitely help you out at home later if you want though," Jeno adds, putting his apron back on, "see you soon." He smiles gently and after one last fond look at Chenle, makes his way back to the counter.
Chenle watches him, slowly saving the document and packing his things away. Jeno looks so handsome when he makes coffee, he thinks to himself, blushing again when he realises what he just said. Chenle shakes his head a little, packing away even faster and putting his coat back on. He stands up and waves to the three boys, Guanheng waving back and telling him to come back soon before Chenle opens the door and heads back out into the ice, making his way towards the library.
• •
Jeno opens the door to the shared flat, sighing as he shakes the larger raindrops off of his umbrella, dropping it in the umbrella rack and slipping his shoes off, kicking them towards the pile of shoes—mostly Donghyuck’s and Jisung’s—crowded around the already full shoe rack. He throws his bag onto the floor next to the sofa and flops down onto it, letting out a breath he didn’t even know he was holding in. He runs a hand through his hair, closing his eyes and settling into the soft cushions, cursing the unexpected rainy January weather while relishing in the feeling of his numb fingers regaining sensation.
“Jeno-hyung, that you?” Chenle’s voice carries into the living area from the kitchen. Jeno smiles softly at the familiar voice. He gets up and heads towards the other room, pulling his sleeves down over his still red hands.
“Hey Lele,” he casts his eyes over to the other boy stood near the oven, pulling a batch of muffins out as he smiles towards Jeno. “Been busy?” Jeno looks around to see various baked goods scattered all over the kitchen sides.
“I got bored, and I didn’t wanna go out in the snow by myself,” Chenle places the muffins on the cooling rack one by one as Jeno moves closer, attempting to grab one. “Jeno! They’re fresh out the oven, you’ll burn yourself.” He slaps Jeno’s hand away, dropping the tray on the side with a clatter. Jeno pouts.
“But Lele, they smell sooo good - chocolate chip? And something else, maybe...”
“Gingerbread chocolate chip, now let them cool down properly or you aren’t getting anything at all.” Pulling off his flower patterned oven gloves, Chenle runs a hand through his hair. “And besides, we should think about dinner before we pig out on muffins.”
“I mean I guess you’re right, I am pretty hungry,” Jeno states, sitting at the breakfast bar and checking the notifications on his phone. “What are you gonna make today?” Chenle grins at Jeno.
“I’m not making anything today, it’s your turn to cook.” Jeno looks up from the message to Jaemin he was in the middle of typing and stares at Chenle in shock.
“Me? But I can’t cook,” he whines, “that’s why you always cook for us!” He quickly finishes his message, dropping his phone back on the counter and grinning a little at Chenle. “I hope you’re looking forward to instant ramen,” he says, laughing, “I might even add an egg in if I’m feeling fancy.” Chenle rolls his eyes a little and grins back at him.
“Okay fine, how about I teach you how to cook?” He watches Jeno consider his offer. “If you don’t learn how to cook soon then after we graduate you’ll either starve to death or die of a nutrient deficiency.” He pauses. “Or you’ll go into debt from ordering takeout every single day.” Jeno whines in response.
“Lele, I’m pretty sure instant ramen is one of the most important food groups,” he grins a little, “and who says I won’t end up living with you after we graduate anyway? Rent prices are far too high for us to live alone.” Chenle rolls his eyes but smiles, making his way over to the sink to start clearing up. “Need some help?”
“That would be great,” he turns the tap on, pulling now empty baking trays towards him and throwing a nearby towel at Jeno, “start drying, and think about what you wanna make while you’re at it.” Jeno whines again, catching the towel and moving over to the sink to help.
“But Lele, I don’t know how to cook,” he says, grabbing a tray and wiping the bubbles off, “can you at least help? You always teach Junnie to cook Chinese food so maybe you could teach me too? I could eat Chinese food!” Jeno looks over at Chenle with hopeful eyes, smiling so cutely Chenle feels his cheeks flushing a little.
“Okay fine, I’ll help,” Chenle holds up a finger to stop Jeno mid-cheer, “but on one condition.” Jeno nods vigorously, eyes brightening.
“Anything!”
“Anything? You mean that?”
“I don’t like that tone, Lele. What are you planning?” Jeno eyes the other boy suspiciously, moving onto the stack of plates that needed drying. Chenle smiles innocently, wiping down the sink and pulling off his rubber gloves. He turns to lean against the side, folding his arms and staring at Jeno.
“ I hope you’ve been paying attention in class, Jeno.” The Mandarin flows smoothly off Chenle’s tongue, and Jeno’s jaw drops just the littlest bit.
“Lele, no, that’s not fair,” Jeno pouts more as he speaks, “my Mandarin isn’t that good yet.”
“ Sorry, I’m a foreigner, I don’t speak Korean ,” he grins wider, watching Jeno quickly finish drying and putting the dishes away as he whines,
“You’re so mean, Chenle.”
“ Sorry, I don’t understand .” Jeno sighs and closes his eyes, trying to find the right words.
“ You will , wait no I mean, will you teach me how to cook, Chenle ?” Jeno’s Mandarin is still quite accented, and doesn’t flow anywhere nearly as smoothly as Chenle’s does, but Chenle grins happily nonetheless, feeling proud.
“ I’d be happy to, Jeno ,” he smiles and takes Jeno by the hand over to where he keeps the cookbooks, “let’s make disanxian, that’s easy to make and tasty too, Have you tried it?”
“ Last time you and Junnie made it, I tried a little ,” the sentences come out a little slowly and staggered, but Chenle smiles brighter with every word.
“ Well this time you can eat a lot! ” Chenle laughs, opening the book to the disanxian recipe. “ And hopefully improve your Mandarin at the same time – not that it’s not great already .” Chenle winks at Jeno and turns to start collecting the ingredients. Jeno feels his cheeks heating up at the praise.
“ My reading and writing is okay but my teacher says I need to speak more ,” he pauses to think of the correct grammar, “ he always says making Chinese friends is the best way to learn to speak. Good thing I have you and Junnie then, huh?” Jeno grins, realising he slipped back into Korean briefly when Chenle turns back to frown at him. “Oh oops, I’m supposed to be speaking Mandarin, what do you want me to do, Lele? ”
• •
“ And we’re done !” Chenle grins as he watches Jeno turn the stove off, stirring the dish a few more times.
“ Wait, we’re done ?” Jeno smiles incredulously, looking over at Chenle . “ Really? I cooked ?”
Chenle, busy filling two bowls with rice for them both, nods at him, smile growing even bigger at the other boy’s excitement. “You did, and you managed to do it without speaking in Korean too! Plus, it looks delicious,” he winks and takes the bowls over to the table that was already set for two. “Put it into that dish on the side and bring it over, I’m starving!”
Jeno carefully transfers the food into the serving dish and carries it over proudly, ears pink and smile plastered over his face. “Do you think it tastes good?” He bites his lip a little, eyes looking over the table setup and eventually meeting Chenle’s, which were smiling back kindly at him.
“There’s only one way to find out,” Chenle pulls out his chair and sits down, licking his lips at the scent of the food, “sit down so we can eat!” Jeno mirrors his actions, looking surprised when he notices Chenle has his phone out and pointed towards him. “First, we need to document this – ‘The day Lee Jeno actually cooked and didn’t eat instant ramen or order takeout’.” This makes Jeno laugh, and after he throws up a peace sign and gives Chenle’s camera a trademark eye smile, the phone is quickly put away and Chenle picks up his chopsticks.
“At least I know it can’t be a hundred percent terrible, you did most of the work, Lele.” Jeno shoves a spoonful of rice in his mouth, a little nervous of what the other though of the food. Chenle shakes his head, picking up a piece of aubergine.
“You did amazing, hyung! Besides, whether I helped a lot or not, you learned something today right?” Jeno nods in response, chewing slowly as a shy smile grows on his face from all the praise. He watches a little nervously as Chenle takes the first bite, then relaxes when he sees Chenle light up. “Jeno! This is delicious!”
Chenle akes a bite of the potato next, then pepper and rice at the same time. With each bite, his smile gets bigger and Jeno’s nervousness disappears. Spurred on by the praise, Jeno reaches for his own mouthful of food, and is pleasantly surprised.
“Oh? It’s not bad?” A genuine eye smile appears on Jeno’s face this time as he continues eating, and Chenle finds himself wishing he could stare at Jeno smiling forever, and that he was brave enough to ask that one little question he’s been wanting to ask for weeks now. He realises he’s been looking at Jeno’s lips for a little too long now and looks away, blushing.
“Lele? Did you hear me?” Jeno smiles a little at him, a small smirk playing on his lips. “Or were you too busy staring at my lips?” Chenle’s eyes widen and he flushes darker, caught out. He swallows the mouthful of disanxian and rice he was chewing, unable to meet Jeno’s eyes.
“I- uh, sorry,” he stumbles over his words a little, grabbing his drink.
“Don’t be, it’s cute.”
“Cute?” Chenle manages to look back at Jeno to find him staring back at him, spilling his water a little in surprise.
“Yeah, I think –you’re- cute, Lele.” Jeno says through a mouthful of rice, leaning over the table to wipe up the spill. “I think you’re really cute, actually.”
Chenle doesn’t know how to respond to that, especially when Jeno is so close all of a sudden. So he doesn’t. They finish their meal in silence, neither boy looking up from their food at risk of making eye contact again.
“I’ll wash up this time.” Jeno stands, collecting the empty dishes and taking them to the sink. Chenle watches him for a moment, then stands and follows him, bringing the rest of them. “No it’s okay Chenle, I know you must be tired from all that baking you did today, go sit down.” Jeno smiles gently down at him as he places the dishes in the sink, and Chenle decides it’s now or never.
“Jeno.” Surprising even himself, Chenle takes Jeno’s hands in his own and bites his lip softly, taking a deep breath.
“Chenle?” Jeno is surprised, both by the sudden contact and how soft Chenle’s hands are. He opens his mouth to speak again but Chenle shushes him gently.
“Let me speak first, please?” Jeno nods. Chenle’s hands are shaking a little, so Jeno gently runs his thumbs over the back of them, comforting him.
“Take your time, Lele.” There’s a long pause, and Jeno isn’t sure whether Chenle is going to continue talking or not, but he continues to rub soothing circles over the other boy’s knuckles and smile encouragingly until he does. Chenle opens and closes his mouth a few times, but before Jeno can say anything else comforting, Chenle opens his mouth one more time and–
“ I like you, Jeno .” Jeno stops rubbing circles.
“You– me, what?”
“I like you. A lot. And I’ve only just realised that I’ve really really liked you for a long ass time now.” Jeno’s grip on his hands tighten but he doesn’t say anything else, just smiles a little. “I think I’ve known for a while that I liked you, but I didn’t fully realise until it’s just been us two these last few weeks. And, I- we’ve had so much fun and at first I just thought it was a dumb crush and that it would be really awkward just the two of us but then, then you’ve just been so nice to me that it grew.
“I’ve honestly had such a good time with you but if you don’t feel the same we can still be friends?” Chenle looks up at Jeno, expectantly. “But if you want some time to think about it, that’s fine too.” He tried to pull his hands away but Jeno holds tightly onto them.
“You really don’t know anything about boys do you, Lele?” Jeno’s smile reaches his eyes this time. It’s as if he’s glowing and Chenle can’t help but smile back. “I like you too, dumbass.”
“You do?” Chenle’s eyes widen and he smiles even brighter than before.
“ Zhong Chenle , I like you. You’re the biggest idiot I know, but that’s okay because you’re my idiot. ”
“ Is this you asking me out, Lee Jeno?”
“ No, but this is.” Jeno pulls Chenle closer and holds his cheeks softly. “ Chenle , will you be my boyfriend? ” Chenle grins and nods.
“ Only if you’ll be my boyfriend first, Jeno.”
“I asked first !”
“Okay fine, I’ll be your boyfriend then.”
“That sounds nice, ‘my boyfriend, Zhong Chenle ’.” Jeno smiles widely, stroking Chenle’s cheeks with his thumbs. “But the real question is, am I allowed to kiss my boyfriend, Zhong Chenle?” Chenle flushes pinker than ever, the colour reaching the tips of his ears, and he nods shyly.
“Only if you stop saying ‘my boyfriend, Zhong Chenle’, ‘my boyfriend, Lee Jeno’.” He grins up at the other who smiles fondly back, suddenly fully aware of the close proximity. A few loose strands of his hair shift in time with Jeno’s deep, calming breaths. Chenle’s tongue peeks out to wet his bottom lip without him even realising.
“I’m going to kiss you now Lele, is that okay?” Breathless, Chenle nods.
“Please.” Chenle’s eyes close of their own accord as Jeno closes the almost invisible gap between them and presses their lips together as softly as he can manage. Chenle immediately softens and holds onto his waist, leaning into him and kissing him back. He feels Jeno smile against his lips and squeezes his sides gently, making the other smile even more, pulling away the tiniest bit.
“Your lips are so soft, Lele.”
“I use chapstick, unlike you,” Chenle grins and opens his eyes, looking up at Jeno who was already staring back at him.
“Hey, I asked you out so I can just as easily un-ask you out.” Chenle softly pecks Jeno’s lips again, ears still pink but eyes full of happiness.
“Lee Jeno, you’re never getting rid of me.”