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“I’m exhausted.”
“Me too.” Jaemin let out a shaky laugh.
Jeno and Jaemin slipped into a booth at the far corner of a random diner. It had been the weekend, and the two boys, being bored out of their minds, thought it would be a good idea to go skydiving. After all, they were at the age where they could do all kinds of things on impulse - and probably regret it the very next day - while still considering it worth it at the very end.
They’d been hanging out quite a lot the past few days, especially considering the rest of their friends were busy with college work - or, like in the case of Mark and Donghyuck, going on dates - whilst their own majors didn’t really have for them to do much.
“Why did we think this was a good idea?”
“Well, we were bored and had nothing to do-”
“And you insisted I come hang out with you for like, the tenth time this week.”
“Hey, you had full freedom to turn me down but you agreed instead.”
“Maybe you’re not that bad of a person to hang out with after all,” Jeno raised an eyebrow, “And maybe skydiving is actually fun.”
Jaemin pretended to be offended, “You thought I would be boring?”
“Honestly? Yeah.”
Jaemin huffed and turned away from Jeno, and Jeno tried not to laugh.
The two of them had gotten very close due to the endless amount of time they spent together - Jeno was almost sure that he’d miss Jaemin’s company if they were to stop their daily loitering sessions all of a sudden. He’d be lying if he said he hadn’t grown a soft spot for Jaemin.
Before Jeno could say anything else, a waitress came in to take their order.
They sat in comfortable silence after that, and Jeno took it as an opportunity to get lost in his thoughts.
While jumping from the height of what he thought was about 10,000 metres off ground, watching Jaemin being his overly enthusiastic self - even when they were plunging towards the earth at an ungodly speed - a sudden realisation had hit him.
Now, some people may find it quite bizarre for such an epiphany to have struck him as he plummeted towards the ground - and so did he.
He liked Jaemin.
They hadn’t known each other for very long, and he didn’t know how he was so sure, but he liked him.
It wasn’t exactly like how those romance novels would have described it - sparks flying everywhere at every touch, heart turning to complete mush whenever the person was near (Although, the butterflies were definitely there, but you didn’t hear that from him) - it was just the feeling of warmth and comfort brought by Jaemin’s presence.
And of course, Jaemin being quite the flirt, using pick up lines ever so often on Jeno - who wondered how he could remember so many - didn’t really help with the way his heart swelled because of the tease.
It wasn’t easy to find someone you instantly clicked with, but Jeno believed he had found that someone.
The dinner went by fast, with them sharing random short stories and occasionally cracking jokes.
After finishing their meal, Jaemin suggested that the two get ice cream - claiming that ‘Dessert is always a must after dinner.’ - from the parlour right across the coast.
They walked side by side around the corniche - hands lightly brushing against one another - as they devoured their ice cream.
They stopped to stare into the ocean - and Jeno couldn’t help but think that Jaemin looked absolutely beautiful under the moonlight as it illuminated his features.
Snap out of it , he told himself, you’ve only just met him.
But his impulsiveness got the best of him.
“Hey, if I blurt something really random right now, you wouldn’t mind it, right?” Jeno broke the comfortable silence, a faint smile stretching out on his face.
Jaemin scrunched his eyebrows in confusion but smiled warmly nonetheless.
“I guess not.”
“This may sound very weird,” Jeno started, “and cheesy,” he chuckled, “but back there, while we were skydiving, I realised something.”
“Yeah?”
Jeno paused.
“I think I might like you.”
Jaemin looked slightly taken aback, but Jeno didn’t turn to look at him.
“I don’t know how I’m so sure, to be honest,” Jeno started rambling, “I’ve never actually liked someone before? Well, not like this, at least. It feels kind of weird, somehow, since I’m not really used to these feelings and everything. And not to mention the fact that I’m not even sure if you feel the same way. Like, you flirt with me a lot but I figured you probably do that with most people and-”
His rant was cut off by a pair of lips as they came in contact with his own.
Jaemin’s lips were soft and the sweet taste of vanilla was still lingering in his mouth, swirling together with the hint of chocolate flavour in Jeno’s mouth. Jeno couldn’t help but think that vanilla and chocolate was a combination that went really well together. It was quite addicting, actually.
Their lips moved in perfect sync and Jeno wanted to stay there kissing him forever. It was his first kiss and it turned out to be way better than he had imagined - but sadly, all good things must come to an end.
Jaemin pulled away for them both to catch their breath. He placed his forehead on Jeno’s and closed his eyes. Their heavy breathing was the only thing that could be heard in the profound silence of the night.
“You’re cute when you ramble,” Jaemin whispered.
Jeno was too dumbfounded to reply. He could feel the heat rising onto his cheeks.
“You’re also an idiot.” Jaemin bit back a smile as he continued, “I like you too, dumbass,” Jaemin was grinning now, “in fact, I’ve liked you for a while now. And yeah, I do flirt with my friends sometimes, but I never really go overboard unless I genuinely like someone.”
“But we haven’t known each other for very long, how could you have-“
“I guess it just felt right.”
They stood there staring at each other for a little longer until they realised it was getting late, after which the two set off for the bus station nearby.
“That was your first kiss, wasn’t it?” Jaemin turned to look at Jeno with twinkling eyes.
“Shut up,” Jeno muttered while his face turned as red as a tomato once again.
Jaemin threw his head back as his chest rumbled with hearty laughter.
“You’re too cute.” He let out in between laughs.
After the two made it back to their respective homes, Jeno couldn’t sleep. He was too busy pondering over how his confession had affected their relationship. Were they still friends? Or were they more?
“I can’t do this.” He muttered to himself as he picked up his phone.
"Hello?"
“Hey, Jaemin.”
“Jeno? What’s up?”
Jaemin’s voice was laced with sleep and Jeno felt a little guilty for having called him so late.
“Hey, I’m sorry for calling you,” He bit his lip, “I couldn’t sleep…”
There was a short pause on the other end.
“It’s okay, I couldn’t either.”
“So…”
“So…”
“...What were you doing?”
“Looking up at the ceiling and not being able to fall asleep. You?”
“Same.” Jeno let out a nervous laugh.
There was an awkward silence on both ends.
“Hey, uh, I wanted to ask something.”
“Go ahead.”
“So after that, you know… what does that make us? Like, friends don’t normally do that, right?”
“...I don’t know, what do you want us to be?”
“Well…”
Another short pause.
“Lee Jeno, will you be my boyfriend?”
Jeno’s heart almost stopped.
“Hello?”
“If I say yes, will you take me out again tomorrow?”
Jaemin laughed, and Jeno couldn’t help but melt at the sound.
“I’d take you out any day. Say, would you prefer a lacrosse stick or a baseball bat?”
“You’re unbelievable.” Jeno chuckled while shaking his head.
“You didn’t answer me.”
“Yes,” Jeno whispered, “I’d love to be your boyfriend.”
That night, the two went to sleep with giddy smiles, rosy cheeks and fluttering hearts.