Chapter Text
"Fine!" Yukhei yelled finally. He stormed out the door, slamming the door behind me.
I barely had the time to think "good riddance" when my phone rang. I answered it sluggishly, deeply depressed that I missed the opening credits of my favorite TV show. "Hello?"
"Another one, eh?" Jaemin said into the phone.
"Was it that loud?" I asked sheepishly.
"What do you think? I live two apartments away."
"That's a truly depressing thought," and it really was. I was going to be the talk of the building again. Great. My mother was so going to kill me.
"Want me to come over?" Jaemin said.
The thought perked me up. "Have I told you lately what a truly wonderful friend you are? Sometimes I feel like you're the only one who gets me."
"If you really want to show me how thankful you are, you'd better save me some of that ice cream."
"Eh?" I gasped. "How did you know?"
"I know you better than you think!" He said vaguely. "I'll be there in ten minutes." Beep.
I stared at my phone in bewilderment. Really, there was no hello, and still, there was no goodbye. Jaemin was lucky he was my best friend, or else I wouldn't have let him treat me like that.
* * *
True to his word, Jaemin arrived at the apartment in ten minutes. In no time, we were both sitting on the couch sharing the big vat of Haagen Dazs.
"So you guys are officially broken up?" Jaemin asked, taking another scoop of the mocha almond fudge.
I snorted. "For now. Yukhei's been having a lot of pissy spells lately. But sooner or later, he'll change his mind. He's like a lost puppy. He needs someone to tell him what to do. You know, be the brains behind the operation. He's not willing to admit it, so he gets mad."
"Yukhei's hot-headed huh?" Jaemin said.
"More like dense."
"Dense?" Jaemin laughed. "Come on, Renjun! You're talking about the guy who thought vegetarian was someone who worked as a pet doctor! You really think 'dense' is the word for him?"
"Okay! The guy's a downright idiot! But hey, he has his good points!" Despite myself, I was replaying my date with Yukhei the night before. It had started out innocently enough, but when you're stuck in an empty house, watching a rerun of US TV sitcoms, you get bored. And well, we had nothing else to do so we started kissing... then touching...
"Earth to Renjun!" Jaemin was waving his spoon in front of my face. "Don't space out on me now. Did you have that much fun last night when you were at Yukhei's?"
I looked at him stunned. "First the ice cream and now this? How do you always know?"
"Like I told you on the phone, I know you better than you think."
I watched the boy sitting next to me. Jaemin was so focused on scraping the bottom of the ice cream tub that he looked like he was digging for treasure. When he had finally gotten a spoonful, he ate it happily, a contented little boy look on his face. Was this really my best friend?
"What?" Jaemin asked when he looked up.
I laughed. "Nothing, I was just watching you eat."
"Hmm. That sounds strangely psychotic of you."
"Ha ha, very funny" I threw a pillow at his head. Jaemin dodged it and laughed.
"Better aim next time," he said. "But anyway, what are you going to do about Yukhei? Are you sure he's going to come crawling back to you?"
"He does it every time," I said matter of factly.
"Will you take him back then?"
I was silent for a moment. "I dunno. Besides the make-out sessions, there isn't much to the relationship. Yukhei's not much of a talker unless it's about football or his looks. I don't really care if he doesn't come back. But if he does, I might consider it."
"But look what he did to you, Renjun." Jaemin pointed to my shoulder. Yukhei had left red finger marks where he had gripped me.
"Oh, that. He was just being an idiot."
"Whatever you say, Renjun," Jaemin shook his head, "I'm just worried about you." Jaemin had a concerned look on his face, one that he'd begun showing me ever since I started going out with Yukhei. It meant that things were serious.
"Hey, we've been over this," I said, "I know what I'm doing. I'm a big boy who's perfectly capable of handling myself."
"But can Yukhei handle himself?"
I said, standing up and taking our spoons and empty Haagen Dazs container to the kitchen sink, "Yes. But that isn't a problem now since we're 'broken up'. And if anything, I can just rear throw his ass. I didn't take four years of judo for nothing, you know."
Jaemin sighed. He looked up at me with his brown eyes and said, "You're right. You don't look it, but you sure pack a punch. I know I shouldn't worry, but I do. Just take care of yourself, alright?"
"I always do, babe." I leaned back on the counter and watched Jaemin's reaction. I was expecting another lecture, but it didn't come. He just sat quiet as the closing jingle of my favorite afternoon show blared on TV. "You know, I really appreciate you being concerned for me. And once you start going out with Chenle, I'll be doing the same for you."
Jaemin laughed suddenly. It was a laugh that I rarely heard from him and it sounded sort of bitter. "That won't be happening anytime soon."
"Why? What happened? I thought you and Chenle were getting along great."
"That was until he started going out with Jisung."
"Jisung?! The linebacker of the football team? No Way!"
"Yes way. Chenle said he wasn't really feeling me. Said Jisung was more of his type." Jaemin said glumly.
I frowned. It figured that Jisung was more of Chenle's type. He liked guys tall, buff, and stupid. Not surprisingly, Jisung was Yukhei's best friend and possibly more dense than he was. "Forget about him, Jaemin. He isn't that great anyway. There are other fish in the sea."
Jaemin gave me a small smile, "Thanks, Renjun. But I gotta be going now. My mom will be home soon and she'll go all psycho on me if dinner isn't ready. I'll talk to you later."
After Jaemin left, I sat on the couch and continued thinking about him. Poor guy. This was a real blow to his ego. It was bad enough Jaemin practically pawned over Chenle, but to have him dump him for Jisung? That was just cruel. I decided I was going to talk to him about it more later. He needed a friend, and I was it. As a bonus, it was also an excuse to get away from the whole Yukhei affair. "Lord knows I've had enough of him already," I muttered, putting my feet up and turning my attention back to the TV.