Chapter Text
If Jeno was being honest, this was all Jaemin’s fault. Somehow, it was always Jaemin’s fault.
And if he sat down and thought about it properly, then okay, maybe it was a no one's fault. But it all started with Jaemin anyway.
Jeno gets a call on Friday evening while he was laying in bed, sorting through the laundry he had washed a few days prior. The dorm’s laundry machine had been under maintenance and was getting fixed by the end of the week but Renjun had begun complaining about the pile of dirty clothes that were gathering at the edge of Jeno’s bed. It was too close to their shared closet and it was beginning to look like an eyesore, so like a good roommate, Jeno willed himself to walk over to the nearest laundromat.
That’s how he ended up on a Friday night with his laptop sitting on a pile of folded t-shirts playing his 2nd video essay of the night when his phone vibrated by his bedside table.
Jaemin’s contact number flashed on his screen. “Yoo,” he balanced the phone between his right cheek and shoulder, then decided against it when it slipped out of his grasp. “What’s up?”
“Hey, buddy,” Uh-oh, was the first thought that popped into Jeno’s mind when he stretched his numbed feet across the bed. Jeno had spent enough time with Jaemin to know that he only called him ‘buddy’ when he was bringing bad news. But they were nearing the weekend and Jeno was feeling generous enough to give him the benefit of doubt.
“Whatcha' doing?”
Now this, had the gears in Jeno’s head spinning. That was strike two at this point. Jaemin never asks about his day this late at night. Those questions were specifically reserved for complaints about their early morning classes over mediocre and overpriced coffee.
“Nothing much, I’m just doing laundry. Why?”
“Did Renjun tell you to do to that?”
“No,” the lie flew past his lips a little too easily. For the better part of a year, Jaemin had continuously teased him about being slightly intimidated by his own roommate. And Jeno, as much as he was aware of how transparent he could be at times, refused to let Jaemin believe it.
Though could anyone really blame him? Renjun is intimidating. Jeno knew for a fact that Renjun knew at least half the student body, is fairly sociable and gets along with even the most annoying frat bros at their college (though Jaemin would argue that said frat bros aren’t that bad, but that was primarily because his boyfriend was one of them). And it’s not that Jeno wasn’t sociable, but sometimes spending hours upon hours holed up in your dorm room drawing circles and understanding architectural theory can turn you into a bit of a hermit. Thankfully, Renjun didn’t spend as much time in their dorm as Jeno does, but that was either because he was too busy doing lab work or going out with friends. For once, Jeno didn’t mind going to bed with back problems so long as it meant he could have as much silence in the room as possible.
“Can we just get to the part where you tell me what you need?” He threw his socks and underwear (who needed those folded and sorted anyway?) into a drawer and calls it a day. Then started organizing his clothes into the closet. By now, Jaemin had switched to being on speakerphone and Jeno could hear shuffling on his end, almost as if he was getting ready for bed.
A small part of him wished they could switch places for a moment because instead of immediately going to bed after doing the laundry, he has about two essays to start on, both due in a week and both of which he had just begun researching for.
“Right,” Jaemin paused. Then more shuffling. “Do you remember that basketball game you bought tickets for? The one on Sunday?”
“Yeah,” Jeno laughs, “Pretty sure I remember the game we’re supposed to go to this weekend. Also, that reminds me, can you bring over an extra pair of sneakers before we go?”
“Why?”
“I think I left my good sneakers back home last time I visited during the break. I only have the ones I wear every day now,” Jeno snuck a glance at the shoe rack and winced at the sight of his worn-down Nike Air Force 1s. They paled in comparison next to Renjun’s shoes. Jeno couldn’t lie, he might also be slightly jealous, in addition to his intimidation. “Plus we’re the same size.”
“Well, you can come over and get them whenever you want,” Jaemin said and paused for a little longer than usual before Jeno’s sleep-addled brain finally pieced a few things together. Jaemin had called for a reason. “Because I don’t think I can make it on Sunday.”
“What?” He shot up from the floor, almost knocking his knee into his bed frame. The closet door to his right was left wide open. “But, we’ve been planning this for weeks now!” The whine in his voice would have been funny if he wasn’t so caught up in the moment, “What?”
“I know, I know, I know. And-before-you-get-mad,” the words slipped out of Jaemin’s lips like a slippery slope. “I have a really good reason. I swear,” he sighed, “I asked for an extension up until Tuesday for this paper I’m writing, but it’s really overdue and my professor is getting on my ass about it. He says the longest extension he can offer me is this weekend. Which means…”
Jeno sighed, his two fingers pinching the bridge of his nose. He should have known academia would find a way to fuck up his weekend plans someway or another. “You’ll be busy on Sunday.”
“Yeah.” Jaemin sounded apologetic at least.
“Well, a heads up would have been nice… I already bought the tickets for us and everything.”
“I know. I will pay you my share of the tickets, I swear.”
Jeno physically deflated. This was supposed to be the one week he was allowed to kick back and relax with a friend. He even had an outfit planned (somewhat), and he’s never done that!
“Hey, you could still go!” Jaemin tried his luck at salvaging Jeno’s dampened enthusiasm. “It’ll still be fun. Men are still going to be shooting balls into hoops! That’s still exciting!”
It managed a dry chuckle out of him at the very least. But he knew he couldn’t push the blame onto Jaemin entirely. These things happen. Another heavy sigh threatened to spill past his lips and Jeno ended up boring holes into his messy drawer filled with unsorted socks and poorly folded underwear, “It’s fine. I’ll just find someone else to go with me. It can’t be that hard. Who doesn’t love basketball?”
💋
Apparently, the rest of the world because every friend Jeno has on campus just happened to be busy on Sunday. Which, okay, he admits, ‘friend’ was a bit of a loose term. There was Chenle in his Architectural Design History and Theory class, who he knew was obsessed with basketball, simply because it was the only thing they seem to have in common. But even he was busy for the weekend, going on a pre-planned date and ‘I’ve already seen that team play last weekend!’. Damn him.
Then there was Mark, Jaemin’s frat bro boyfriend - someone he was actually friends with this time. And Jeno was positive about approaching him because Mark has always been really sweet. Jeno had met him through orientation week, then introduced him to Jaemin a month later and their dynamic naturally managed to click into place ever since. Jeno might even go as far as to call himself cupid for basically setting the two up together. He was exactly Jaemin’s type. Chiselled face and goofy, corny enough to entertain Jaemin’s never-ending antics. Mark was down to earth and not the typical kind of person you’d find clustered in a frat house, nursing the drunks off their floor. But living on Greek row also meant that he was a busy man most of the time.
“Sorry, Jen. We’re hosting an event this weekend and I need to make sure everything goes right. Sorry, man. I wish I could help.”
Jeno’s shoulders drooped on the other side of the line, but he wished Mark good luck as genuinely as he could before hanging up.
Afterwards, there had been a few other people too. There was Park Jisung from Jaemin’s Advanced Classical Mechanics class and then there was also Donghyuck, who Jeno had known since high school but attended a different college. But they were all busy in the end with their own excuses and by the end of Saturday evening, Jeno had managed to burn through his entire contact list without a promising basketball buddy.
He flopped onto his creaking bed, more hopeless than he was this morning. Maybe he’ll really end up going to the game alone like a loser. Jeno buried his face in his hands and let out a series of sighs. He didn’t realise the front door was pushed open until a voice drove him out of his train of thought.
“Tough week?”
When he lowered his hands, he saw Renjun looking back at him from where he was toeing his shoes off by the front door. He was dressed in a flashy white jacket with a sheen of sweat coating his face where glitter had been smeared all over his eyelids. His cheeks were slightly flushed in pink - drunk, Jeno thought. At least someone had fun tonight.
“Yep,” was all he could say before he pulled his body up by his elbows, his head falling into his pillow.
“Homework?” Renjun began peeling his clothes off and Jeno had half the mind to look away, even though he was sure they’ve seen each other naked a handful of times. Staying in a tight space with someone for almost an entire year blurs the lines of where boundaries used to lie. But still, Jeno was a good roommate, so he pretended to go on his phone.
“No,” he laughed, strained, “It’s just this thing that came up. No biggie though.”
Usually, Renjun would accept it and leave it at that. Casual conversations like these were normal between them. It was always a little stiff and awkward but it was done out of courtesy so Jeno couldn’t say that it bothered him all that much. It was actually kind of nice. But this time, Renjun seemed to ask for a bit more than courtesy. “Sounds like a biggie.”
Jeno lifted his head off his pillow, only to see Renjun slide into a pair of sweatpants that had been lying on the floor for the past week. His nose wrinkled instinctively. “It’s just that I was supposed to go to a basketball game with my best friend, but he kinda cancelled on me last minute because of schoolwork.”
Renjun was dressed in a t-shirt now, a size way too big for his frame and Jeno had to blink a few more times to remind himself of why it looked so familiar until he realised it belonged to him.
But this hadn’t been anything new. In fact, it’s been going on for a few weeks now. It was common knowledge that between the two of them, Renjun owned way (seriously, it was ridiculous), way more clothing than he did. So, it was only natural that he took up most of their closet space. But this also meant he’s couldn’t keep track of most of the clothing items he owned.
So when he turns to Jeno in the wee hours of the morning, t-shirt in hand, asking who it belonged to, the only thing Jeno’s murky brain could think of was the image of Renjun in one of his t-shirts. Ok, so what if Renjun is attractive and he looked good in Jeno clothes. Yes, maybe it does get annoying that he was slowly running out of his own clothes, but he promised himself that he would bring it up to Renjun sooner or later…
“Damn, that sucks.” Renjun’s dirty laundry was thrown into a basket in the corner of the room before he jumped into bed. “So, technically, it is because of homework.”
Drunk Renjun was a lot more talkative than sober Renjun, Jeno noted. This might be their longest conversation yet, aside from that one time they spoke about which side of the room they wanted.
“Yeah, I spent the whole day asking around if anyone else was free tomorrow.” Jeno laughed again, at nothing in particular - it was a habit that takes over instinctively whenever he feels a bit nervous. He buried himself in his blanket under the guise of sleepiness to conceal the awkwardness in his voice. Talking to Renjun felt intimidating even when he was slightly drunk.
The lights in the room are turned off a minute later and more rustling was heard on Renjun’s end as he settled back comfortably into his bed. “When’s the game?” He finally asked and Jeno had half the mind to give himself a pat on the back for keeping the conversation going for as long as he did. He couldn’t wait to tell Jaemin about this and rub it in his face. “Tomorrow.”
He could’ve sworn that Renjun had fallen asleep when the conversation died there and he went back to scrolling on Instagram for a few minutes. But then, Renjun’s voice cut through the darkness and silence - a lot smaller and lighter than it was minutes ago.
“Well, I’m free tomorrow.”
It took Jeno another minute to figure out the implications. And then his thumb stopped scrolling. Or froze. He wasn’t sure.
“Oh,” was all he could say. But then he realised how dumb it sounded just escaping past his lips. ‘Did your cute roommate just offered to go with you, what are you doing?!’ He could practically hear Jaemin screaming in his head. Well, this was definitely not where he imagined this would go.
“Oh, you don’t have to if you don’t want to. I wasn’t trying to make you feel bad for me or anything, plus do you even like basketball?” he had initially laughed it off but couldn’t bring himself to turn his head towards Renjun’s side of the room - afraid he’d catch him sighing in relief. And that was something Jeno’s ego could not handle after the amount of rejection he’d gone through today.
“I think I have the whole shooting a ball through hoops part figured out,” Renjun’s voice had a slight edge to it, but in a way where he sounds like he was fighting sleep and attempting to sound teasing all at the same time. “I just haven’t been to a basketball game in a while. And I’m free tomorrow.” From the corner of his eye, Jeno saw the way Renjun shifted to face him. “But, if you’re not comfortable with me coming, it’s fine.”
“No, no, I didn’t say that.” He puts his phone down when he felt the tip of his ears turning a shade of red. He’s glad the room is bathed partially in darkness aside from the frog-shaped nightlamp Renjun has by his bed. Then the wave of panic washed over him all too quickly. His cool, intimidating roommate wants to hang out with him. Tomorrow. Okay, cool. No biggie. “Um, I mean, you can come if you want. I don’t mind.”
“Really?” Renjun pressed further and when Jeno turned to look at him, he could see that his eyes were squinted. “‘Cuz it sounds like you kinda mind just a bit.”
“Nope,” Jeno retorts, already sinking further in his blanket. “Don’t mind at all. Not at all.”
💋
“And you’re sure it wasn’t a fever dream?” Jaemin’s voice was laced with judgement when Jeno called him the morning of the following day, recalling his and Renjun’s conversation the night before.
“No, I wasn’t even sick yesterday,” he hissed. Then sighed. Maybe a fever dream was easier to accept rather than the bubbling anticipation and anxiety he felt pooling in his stomach.
“Why didn’t you just tell him you didn’t want him to come with?”
“Because I do want him to come with,” Jeno said and meant it. “It’s not that I don’t want to go with him, we’ve just never spoken properly before outside of the dorm and I don’t want to make it…”
“Awkward?”
“Yeah…”
Having your pretty cool and fun roommate thinking you’re boring was not ideal. Especially since Renjun has seen him at his worse (in the mornings) and only knows him when he comes home to the dorm late at night. Jeno thinks he must look like a loser for being holed up in their dorm all the time.
“What do you even have to prove to him?” Jaemin asked and the sound of his fingers clicking on his keyboard travelled through the line. “Isn’t he kind of…” Jeno could imagine him waving his hand around in the air, “an ass?”
“He’s not an ass,” He found himself defending Renjun, even though he barely has enough material to work with. The bottom line was, he doesn’t know Renjun. But he wants to. And that’s the point. “We just don’t talk that much because of our different schedules. And friends.”
“And this is definitely not because of your incessant need for everyone to like you?”
Jeno paused.
“Whaaaaat? No.”
Jaemin didn’t sound too impressed if his lack of response was anything to go by.
Fine, so maybe Jeno hasn’t met a lot of people who don’t immediately become friends with him. He could admit that he likes being liked. But he wouldn’t call it an incessant need. That’s just being dramatic. “Whatever, you’re not helping. I’m hanging up,”
“You called me?” Jaemin huffed, but he doesn’t hide the lilt of amusement in his voice. “And you’ll call me again later when this goes horribly wrong and awkward.”
“Stop jinxing it! You’re the worst.”
The call ended after Jaemin went on a long tangent about his morning coffee ordeal where he had to visit three (“Can you believe it, Jen? Three!”) coffee shops until he found one that would make his coffee order perfectly.
When he finally hung up, Jeno spent the rest of his early morning sorting through his notes and organizing after his hectic week. It also helped delay the inevitable - texting Renjun about tonight’s plans to make sure it was in fact, not a fever dream after all. When he was done organizing and reorganizing and organizing again, he sat at the edge of his bed and fell into a one-sided staring contest with his phone.
[ 9.30, me: hey, renjun. so about tonight, we’re still- ]
“Ugh,” he slumped into his headboard. That makes it sound like I asked him out on a date. So maybe Jaemin was kind of right. Maybe Jeno was severely intimidated by Renjun and maybe he still wanted to be liked by everyone, but he’ll never let Jaemin get the satisfaction of knowing he was right.
[ 9:32 a.m, me: hey 😊 so about tonight! the game- ]
Too enthusiastic, what if he cancels and it’s embarrassing for me, Jeno pondered over his options and moped in bed for a little while but ultimately realised was going to have to text Renjun sooner or later.
What the hell was wrong with him? It’s just Renjun.
Renjun, the guy he sees every day the moment he goes to bed and the second he wakes up. Renjun, who complains about how the air conditioner was too cold at the highest temperature. Jeno squinted his eyes and began to type.
[ 9:34 a.m, me: hey renjun, it’s jeno (jic u didn’t save my contact lol), just wanna make sure we’re still on for tonight’s game? it’s at 8. text me back! ]
Jeno hits ‘send’ before he has time to mull over his choice of words or sentence structure. Play it cool, yeah, he could do that. He tossed his phone on the bed and got to work laying out his outfit for tonight. But when he cracked his closet door open, he found the absence of a green hoodie that hung neatly the night before glaringly obvious.
Jeno groaned, loudly this time and his hands found their way into his hair out of frustration. Now, this is getting annoying. Renjun must’ve snatched that hoodie on his way to class this morning. He really needed to talk to him about this.
Almost as if he was summoned, Jeno’s phone pinged loudly all the way from his bed.
[ 9.38 a.m, roomie renjun: worry not, ur contact was saved lol see u there :) ]
Jeno’s shoulders deflated in defeat when a part of his chest blooms in warmth at the thought of Renjun having saved his number. The only time they’ve ever texted was when Renjun had apparently brought someone over for the night, subtly hinting at Jeno to spend the night at Jaemin’s. But aside from that, they’ve never really had a reason to text each other.
The longer he stared at the little smiling emoticon, the clearer he could imagine Renjun’s small, crooked grin through the screen. He sighed and scavenged through his drawers for a new outfit. That conversation could wait for another day.
💋
By the time 7.30 p.m rolls around, Jeno was gripping the tickets in his sweaty hand, waiting outside of the arena. Renjun wouldn’t be coming for another 15 minutes but he had to come prepared with a set of conversation starters just in case. Just follow the script in your head and this shouldn’t be awkward, he had to reassure himself on the way here. Jeno had sent a picture of his outfit to Jaemin (just in case), for moral support and validation, and grumbled lightly when he merely received a thumbs-up emoji as a response. But he didn’t dwell on it much. Jaemin had a deadline to catch and Jeno had much bigger things to worry about.
Ask about his day, how his classes are going, if he had dinner-, Jeno listed off in his head. They were solid conversation starters but he made a last-minute decision to scrap the last question. It sounded too much like an easy segue into asking Renjun out to dinner and despite living together for a whole semester, he doesn’t think he’s ever even seen Renjun eat before.
He wasn’t aware of how much time had passed but it was enough when he saw a blob of brown hair in the distance, blonde highlights setting him apart from the rest of the crowd. Even from a distance, Jeno could see Renjun making a beeline towards the entrance, his eyebrows pinched to the middle as if he’s searching for someone. He was dressed in nothing but a plain, black jacket and some worn-out skinny jeans he wore often.
Uh, Jeno’s brain provided. Renjun was dressed a lot more casually than he had expected. Jeno didn’t want to admit that a small part of him was dreading being the more underdressed half of their duo.
It took him another moment to realise that Renjun was searching for him. The tickets crumpled in his palm when he extended an arm out into the sky and waved frantically in Renjun’s direction.
A wave of amusement passed by Renjun’s features and it rendered Jeno a little flustered when he realised how silly he must’ve looked.
“Hi,” Renjun said, a little breathless from his brisk walk to the entrance. A large line of people seemed to be filing in before them
Keep it cool, a voice in Jeno’s head reappeared. “Hey,” so far, so good.
Renjun’s gaze immediately fell on his figure, looking over him as if he was sizing Jeno up. And it wasn’t until they were standing next to each other that Jeno realised just how much shorter Renjun was compared to him. Not by much, but it was still a sizeable difference. Jeno’s lips could have easily grazed his forehead if they were ever pressed closely together.
“You look good,” Renjun said, and the words spilt out so naturally past his lips that Jeno almost missed it entirely.
That was not a part of any script Jeno had conjured up in his mind. “Uh,” he stumbled over his words as his tongue felt twice its size from how much he was fumbling his words. “I’m- no. I,” he took in a shallow breath and tried not to think of how hot his ears had grown in response. Renjun seemed to have found it funny if the growing smile on his lips was anything to go by. God, the night hasn’t even properly started. “Thank you.”’
“You, also,” Jeno nodded in his direction, but his eyes were looking at anywhere but Renjun. A word hung on the tip of his tongue, but his brain felt fried enough that he’d gone back to fumbling over his own words.
Renjun puts him out of his misery with an airy laugh. “Thank you.”
💋
Once they found their seats and the game started, everything else fell into place. Thankfully, not much conversation went on after that but Jeno was surprised to find Renjun more thoroughly invested in the game than he had initially expected. They cheered together and Jeno found it a bit funnier than he should have when their shoulders slumped simultaneously each time the opposing team would score another point. Renjun must have caught on sometime after the first half of the game, grinning to himself when Jeno caught his eye.
They spoke a little bit more after that, about things they’d usually find themselves talking about in the dorm. Jeno found out that Renjun had apparently been working at the coffee shop on campus for a few weeks now and it was the main reason he hadn’t been in the dorms as much as he used to. He worked odd shifts and usually came in on days when Jeno wouldn’t normally have class.
“That’s why I never see you there,” Jeno pursed his lips and took a sip of his water, “Jaemin and I go there all the time before our class starts but I usually just stay in when I don’t have class.”
“Yeah, I can tell,” Renjun smiled, a bit too teasingly, “You’re usually in bed when I get home.”
Jeno flushed a little at the observation, feeling like he had just been laid bare. Renjun lived with him. So of course, he would take notice of things like this. “Yeah, I’m just not really a big fan of going out much. Need to save all that energy for me to cry while doing assignments, you know?”
He’s surprised it managed to squeeze a genuine laugh out of Renjun, the kind where his front teeth jut out from under his top lip as if he was biting down the sounds from escaping his mouth. Jeno doubts it would make much of a difference, the stadium was already packed and loud as it was. He wished he could shift a little closer to hear Renjun’s laugh.
But he didn’t dwell on the thought for long, knowing his cheeks would turn against him in a matter of minutes. Oh, Jaemin would have loved to bear witness to Jeno’s embarrassment.
Now, that they were properly into the game, a small part of him was glad that Jaemin had been busy for the weekend and that Renjun was so willing to take him up on his offer (even if it was barely one, to begin with). Renjun proved to be good company, and it was nice knowing they would go home tonight being closer to friends than they were to strangers.
Jeno had busied himself with his second drink of the night when the first timeout was called.
Renjun had been on his phone for a few minutes and visibly flinched when the loud buzzer went off. His foot which had been rhythmically tapping on the floor flew up and kicked the seat directly in front of him. Jeno had to hide his laugh between his teeth when the angry group of teenagers had sent Renjun a glare, which was then passed down to Jeno when Renjun had noticed his tickled smile.
He had a playful frown dawning his face and his nose wrinkled into a button which made Jeno think of how eerily he resembled an angry cat. The thought only made him giggle even harder. Renjun may have tried keeping a straight face for the first few seconds, but the way his lips twitched in amusement didn’t go unnoticed in Jeno’s eyes.
The crowd wooing had been the only thing that pulled him out of his laughing fit.
His first instinct, naturally, had been to scope out the court. Unless something had happened in the few minutes he had shifted his focus onto Renjun instead, there shouldn’t be much to woo about. The teams were gathered around their separate benches, arms flailing around animatedly as they conversed with each other, much too far for Jeno to decipher with his poor vision.
So, his second instinct was to turn his focus to the jumbotron in the middle of the stadium. The screen had been so large, you couldn’t miss it even by a mile. Bright with lights and flashing colours that would make even the dullest crowds look exciting. And with his poor excuse of eyesight, Jeno could spot exactly what everyone had been gushing over.
In big, bold letters, the words ‘Kiss Cam’ had been smacked across the screen, with a heart surrounding it and an empty space in the middle where its victims would eventually meet their social demise. It was an easy concept to grasp. Share a kiss, you get wooed. Deny a kiss, you get booed. It was social suicide and the perfect modern torture device, in Jeno’s opinion.
And it wasn’t that he hated it, he was sure the love stories birthed from Kiss Cams were plentiful and real. Everyone loved corny displays of affection. Even him. But it was the moments that lead up to the kiss (or rejection) that was unbearable. Jeno has to bear witness, along with 20,000 other people the millisecond of silence that falls over the room when it lands on a new pair and the way their faces filled up with a kind of dread over the big screen. He had always felt a twinge of guilt whenever it happens. Like he had some kind of moral obligation to turn away, to save these people of one less embarrassment.
But Jeno was only human and he couldn’t deny himself the curiosity that tickled his chest whenever the Kiss Cam appeared. It was like a train wreck you couldn’t look away from.
Renjun seemed to be just as invested when Jeno saw him pocket his phone in favour of craning his neck up, eyes glued to the big screen as it shifted from pair to pair. It started sweet with an old couple, who had clearly been married for many years. It went by smoothly as they shared a quick smooch and received a roaring cheer from the crowd. He swore he even heard Renjun wooing at the sight.
But the next couple wasn’t as lucky. It had been clear they were dating from the way their arms were draped around each other, but if Jeno had to take a guess, he’d assume they had an argument prior to this because one had stood up in a hurry, storming off out of frame, only to be chased down by their partner. But this was the fun part about Kiss Cams. They were all complete strangers to him. He could assume anything, make absurd narratives in his head and there would be no way of knowing if it was real.
Still, he cringed at the way the crowd booed after them. The opportunity to watch the next unfortunate pair the cam lands on was lost on him as his phone buzzed in his pocket, demanding his attention. Jeno squirmed in his seat as he dug his phone out, seeing the notification pop up from his lock screen.
[ 9.10 p.m, jaemin: hows the date going? 😁 ]
Jeno grumbled under his breath. Even when he was swamped with work, Jaemin still somehow makes time to tease him to no end.
[ 9.11 p.m, me: dont u have a date with your paper? how’s that going btw ]
A ting came a second later and Jeno made sure to lower his brightness in case the person sitting left of him was feeling rather nosy. He had caught a glimpse of the message when it popped up.
[ 9.11 p.m, jaemin: tried masturbating twice to feel motivated. now i just wanna die. ]
Jeno snickered at his phone and quickly typed a response back.
[ 9.11 p.m, me: gross. don’t die. you still owe me last week’s coffee ]
This time, the message back had not missed a beat. Jaemin sent a large emoji of a middle finger, abusing the iMessage effects just to prove his point. It only made Jeno snicker even louder to himself.
He had been in the middle of writing back an equally crude response when he felt a finger poking into his arm. Initially, he dismissed it as Renjun clumsily bumping into him until he felt it again, much more aggressively this time. So much so, that Jeno was forced to tear his eyes away from his phone completely, in favour of offering Renjun his full attention.
What he got in return was a set of big, doe eyes, looking back at him expectantly. And Jeno felt like he was missing pieces of a puzzle because now, he was acutely aware that not only was Renjun staring at him but so were the next few rows of people below him. Then he felt the heat on the back of his neck because why does it feel like the whole room is staring at me? Jeno peered around with darting eyes to find that everyone was either looking at him or had their eyes transfixed on the big screen in the middle of the stadium. And then he heard the cheers floating in the room, gushing and filled with encouragement.
It had done nothing but solidify the dread that had begun to sink into his stomach. He knew it before his eyes even lifted up to the big screen, but still, nothing could have prepared him for seeing his face plastered all over the jumbotron - the words Kiss Cam floating right over his head. And in that small, heart-shaped banner, Renjun’s face was just as bright and clear next to him. Jeno didn’t need amazing eyesight to know the implications.
He was on the Kiss Cam. With Renjun. His roommate.
Shit.
The world had turned sluggish in his view and the only thing that had pierced through the intensity of the situation was the feeling of an infinite dread spreading through his body. Mentally, it had paralysed him in place but he found his limbs moving on their own accord.
Jeno moved his hands back and forth, attempting to throw the camera off of him with a smile fixed on his face and the heat on the back of his neck scorching him to ashes. This was worse than anything Jaemin could have ever teased him for. Jeno could take a few side comments about how slightly awkward it was to hang out with Renjun for the first time ever, but being on the Kiss Cam with him on live television? He felt like he’d dug his own grave.
He doesn’t want to know how he was being perceived - if there was someone amongst the rows of people making their own assumptions about him. Maybe they thought Renjun was an ex. Or his crush. The possibilities were endless.
The crowd had started to react and he could hear a few rows cheering them on, while other rows had booed him for attempting to shoo them away. And Jeno didn’t think of stopping to check on how Renjun was taking all of this in, but he was sure he wasn’t doing any better.
That was until he felt a hand on the back of his neck and another hand tugging at the sleeve of his jacket. When Jeno turned around, he found Renjun’s face dangerously close to his, cheeks slightly flushed. The knowledge that there was a small chance of Renjun blushing at the thought of kissing him made his ears ring alongside the adrenaline and the blood rushing to his head.
“-you?” He watched Renjun lips move to ask a question, but his fried brain had processed none of the words.
“What?” Jeno asked, a little too loudly.
Renjun’s pinched eyebrows flattened against his forehead as he shifted closer, asking once again, “Would you mind if I kissed you?”
And Jeno’s brain could comprehend nothing but the feeling of the words flowing into his ears, leaving a buzz on his brain.
Oh.
Had Renjun just asked to kiss him? His pretty, roommate Renjun that laughed at all his jokes despite getting half of them?
Whatever thought process that had gone on in Jeno’s head prior, he found himself nodding dumbly at the question, as if thousands of people were not looking at their every move.
A teasing smile quirked at the edge of Renjun’s lips, “Yes, you do mind?”
“I don’t mind,” Jeno whispered, impatiently before he could allow himself to overthink his own choices. Every single one that led up to this point.
But his mind drew a blank when Renjun leaned in and his cologne permeated Jeno’s thoughts. For many months, Jeno had unintentionally gotten himself familiar with the way Renjun smelled. It may sound invasive, but when you live with someone and the space is as much theirs as it is yours, there’s always going to be a scent that lingers in every corner of their little dorm. For the most part, Renjun smelled like a summer rain or the earth after a long thunderstorm - cosy and warm, always ready for bed. But other times, he smelled like freshly baked cupcakes, right out the oven - sweet and teasing.
At the moment, he smelled like a mix of both as his lips pressed softly against Jeno’s. The crowd all around them cheered in response and Jeno would have been more concerned about the stupid sound effect playing on the jumbotron over a picture of them kissing if he wasn’t so caught up in the act. Caught up in the way Renjun was kissing him. Renjun was kissing him.
It had been so different than what Jeno had imagined it to feel like (not that he imagines kissing Renjun very often). But he had pictured something faster, a little dangerous with too much adrenaline.
Renjun is eccentric. Fun, in every sense of the word. Even with the little time they’ve spent together, Jeno could tell he was the kind of person that could carry a conversation with just about anyone. But Renjun was kissing him so gently, the hand on the back of Jeno’s neck working so well at calming his nerves that for a moment, Jeno had forgotten of the audience watching them. God, now Jaemin really won’t let him live this down. He’s going to have to bribe him with overpriced coffee for the next few months.
When Renjun pulled back, Jeno found himself almost embarrassingly leaning back in until reality had crashed down on him only moments later as he peeked at Renjun’s lips, pink as his cheeks.
Oh shit, was the first thing that came to mind. He had just made out with his roommate, one of the most sought out people on his entire campus, on live television.
This was all Jaemin’s fault.