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1.
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The first time they go to the mall, Jaemin has a hard time.
Jeno only knows what happened in the Outer Capitol Labs to a certain extent, but he knows more than the others, and he thinks it’s a bad idea to introduce Jaemin to an environment like this so soon.
But Jaemin is brilliant at pretending to be fine, so Renjun sends the two of them to the mall to get clothes, ignoring Jaemin’s protests that he likes tactical clothing, and not the trendy stuff they sell in stores.
“It’s loud,” Jaemin says quietly when they step inside. He looks unhappy, but Jeno is unsure how to help him.
“Yes. There are a lot of people here,” Jeno says. “Will you be alright?”
“I’ll be fine,” Jaemin replies tersely. Jeno has never been to this mall, but he’s quickly learning that most malls are the same, so he wanders over to the directory. The security guard standing at the front is eyeing them warily, but Jeno pays them no mind. He’s used to this — everyone looking at him like he’s a monster. Someone to be afraid of.
Even Jaemin is afraid. Not of him, exactly, but what he represents.
“Is there anything you want to check out first?” Jeno asks, pressing the buttons to bring up the clothing stores on the map.
“Glass box?” Jaemin says, staring up at the screen.
“Yes. This one isn’t for watching movies though, it’s for finding stores inside the mall.” Jeno gives up on trying to get Jaemin to pick something. He’s more familiar with pop culture and the current society because he watches TV, but Jaemin has always been uninterested. “Maybe we should just walk around first.”
“Okay,” Jaemin says. He’s being strangely agreeable today. He hasn’t threatened Jeno once, and he didn’t even bite Mark before they left.
Jeno knows what Renjun’s trying to do — he wants the Types of the family to get along. He thinks it hurts Jeno’s feelings when Jaemin brushes him off or avoids him. But Jeno doesn’t know how to explain that it’s more complicated than that when Jaemin hasn’t told Renjun much about what happened when he was captured by the president.
It’s not Jeno’s story to tell, so he lets Renjun arrange plans and try to shove them together, to heal what isn’t necessarily broken. He won’t ever say it aloud, but he thinks his relationship with Jaemin can never be repaired.
Not when he’s seen Jaemin at his most vulnerable. Not when he knows that the guilt haunts Jaemin at night when he can’t sleep.
No hard feelings, Jeno wants to say. He had learned that phrase from Mark only recently, after accidentally hugging him too harshly and leaving bruises all over his torso. He knows that Jaemin is still upset about their fights, even though Jeno has long since healed.
Jeno might have broken some bones, but he thinks Jaemin is the one still covered in wounds, invisible to everyone. Even Renjun.
A small child screams, and Jeno sees Jaemin reach for a knife, startled. He quickly grabs his arm to prevent him from drawing his weapon and getting them arrested.
“It’s okay. You’re safe here,” Jeno tells him. Jaemin looks uncertain, but he lets his arm fall back down to his side.
“Sorry,” Jaemin says miserably. “I think I wanna go home.”
“Okay.” They can get clothes another day. The point isn’t even the clothes — it’s about getting Jaemin assimilated. Jeno guides him back to the entrance carefully, keeping between him and everyone else to help block out some of the overwhelming sensations. “Let’s go home.”
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2.
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The second time is mildly more successful, but it’s only because Mark had suggested taking Jaemin to the Lindt chocolate store. Jeno helps Jaemin pick out a box of Lindor chocolates, watching fondly as he chooses each flavor carefully. The store attendant looks confused as Jeno explains to Jaemin what credit cards are and how they work, but seems to be familiar with Type.
“So what happens if you don’t pay off your… bill?” Jaemin asks, swinging the box of chocolates happily as they walk out of the store.
“Well…” Jeno does his best to explain bills, and debt, and interest, and credit scores.
Jaemin wrinkles his nose. “So, if you do not have… money, then you need to use your credit card more? But then the banks take advantage of the fact that you don’t have money to… take more money from you?”
“Um. Essentially, yes.”
“Don’t like it,” Jaemin says loudly. “We should tell Renjun to get them to stop.”
Jeno laughs. “Renjun has a lot of… influence, but he can’t just abolish the banking system. It’s different from Panem, where only the Capitolites used banks. Here, almost everyone uses them.”
“I don’t like it here,” Jaemin grumbles, but Jeno knows he doesn’t mean it. “Land of laws is boring.”
“But you’re happy with the chocolate?” Jeno asks, pointing to the box in Jaemin’s hand.
Jaemin considers for a moment. “I wish Renjun was here,” he says carefully, “but I am happy.”
Jeno thinks it’s the nicest thing Jaemin has ever said to him.
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3.
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The third time they’re sent to the mall to do Christmas shopping.
Jeno is excited — he learned about Christmas on TV, and ever since then he’s paid careful attention to the things everyone likes so he can pick out the perfect presents.
Jaemin is much more agreeable, but he still gets stressed out by the shopping crowd, everyone frantically buying their relatives gifts before Christmas Day.
“So many people,” Jaemin hisses distastefully.
“Yeah, they’re all looking to get Christmas presents.” Jeno cranes his head around to look for a Christmas tree like they do in the movies, but this mall is empty of one. He had been hoping to distract Jaemin with the shiny baubles, but no such luck.
Someone bumps into Jaemin from behind, and he inhales sharply, closing his eyes. Jeno can practically see him mentally counting to ten, and hopes that Donghyuck’s techniques work, or they’re going to have some blood on their hands. Literally speaking.
Luckily, Jaemin seems fine when he opens his eyes. He follows Jeno obediently as they wander into a clothing store.
“It’s Renjun,” he hears Jaemin say, quiet but delighted. He turns around to find Jaemin staring at a massive advert on the wall, modeling some attire from the store. Renjun Huang, Champion of the People, the ad proclaims. Jeno still remembers the ceremony where he’d been awarded that title and many others. Jaemin had gotten a medal and title as well. He’s recognized as the “champion’s guard dog” now, but Jeno knows the title pleases him.
“He looks nice,” Jeno offers, and Jaemin nods, quiet and still as he gazes up at the photo, blown up larger than life.
“Everyone sees him,” Jaemin says, frowning.
“It is a pretty big advertisement,” Jeno agrees, but Jaemin shakes his head.
“No, like…” He huffs out a breath, clearly frustrated. Jeno tries to wait him out, but he doesn’t finish his sentence. Instead, he leaves Jeno to wander around the store and look at clothing, and Jeno does his best to subtly trail behind him, feigning interest in racks nearby so he can pretend he’s not keeping an eye on Jaemin.
He finds a nice sweater to gift to Mark, then picks out a pair of jeans that he thinks Jisung will like. Jaemin leaves the store with nothing, though he pauses to stare at the advert of Renjun on the wall before he goes. Jeno wishes he could read his mind — what was going on inside Jaemin’s head to make him so sullen and lost?
As they walk through each store, Jeno picks out as many presents as he can carry. The employees in the store seem confused by his presence, especially when he’s asked what his email is for promotional purposes only for him to inform them he doesn’t have one.
“How do you have a credit card if you don’t have an email?” One girl who looks to be Jisung’s age asks suspiciously. Jeno just smiles awkwardly and hurries out of the store with his purchase clutched in his arms, a fox plushie that he plans to give to Jaemin, who was too distracted by the claw machines at the front to notice Jeno’s actions.
On the way home from the mall (after a particularly grueling argument between Jaemin and a woman who had cut in line at the gift wrap station), Jaemin stops in his tracks, tilting his head like a dog. Before Jeno can ask him what’s going on, he darts off into an alley. Jeno yelps and chases after him, but by the time he gets there, Jaemin is lifting a dumpster with one hand and picking up a small, ragged creature with the other.
“A cat,” Jaemin says, letting go of the dumpster. Jeno winces when it clatters loudly to the ground, looking around to see if anyone’s noticed. “It’s so small.”
“Be careful,” Jeno cautions him. He doesn’t understand why the kitten isn’t afraid, but he worries that Jaemin will accidentally crush it with his abnormal strength. It doesn’t even mewl; just curls up in a tiny ball in Jaemin’s hand.
“I want to keep it,” Jaemin declares.
“Cats make me sneeze,” Jeno says, because even though he’s been genetically mutated to be superior to the human race, he’s apparently not immune to allergies.
“That’s why I want it,” Jaemin insists, because he likes to make Jeno’s life difficult. But he looks happier than he did at the mall, so Jeno doesn’t protest. “Renjun will like it. He likes cute and fragile things. Like Mark.”
Jeno wisely chooses not to comment on Jaemin calling Mark cute. Instead he sighs and says, “we’ll have to take it to a vet.”
“Okay,” Jaemin says easily, following Jeno out of the alleyway. “Jeno?”
“Yes?”
“What’s a vet?”
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4.
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Renjun comes home from another brand photoshoot and invites them all on an evening out. Jaemin is the first to appear at his side, dressed more like an assassin than a regular civilian. In comparison to Renjun’s cute slacks and suspenders combo, it looks almost comical.
“You’re coming too, right?” Mark asks Jeno, eyes glittering with hope.
Jeno had originally planned to run through the Jisung-and-Chenle Obstacle Course for Types in the backyard this evening, but he’s never been able to say no to Mark. “Of course I am.”
“Yay! Outing, outing!” Chenle cheers, bouncing around. His hair is pink now from his obsession with an animated TV show he’s been watching lately, something to do with spies and a false marriage that Jeno doesn’t really understand. “Can we go to the mall?”
Renjun falters. “I thought we could go to a nice restaurant.”
“Jaemin doesn’t like nice restaurants,” Jisung protests.
“That’s not true!” Jaemin scowls, but it is and they all know it. He gets fidgety in formal settings and the small portions served in fancy dining establishments aren’t enough to satiate his appetite. But Renjun likes them, which is why Jaemin has learned to tolerate them
“I’d like to go to the mall,” Mark says thoughtfully.
“Me too,” Jeno agrees immediately.
So they go to the mall. Jaemin seems much happier with Renjun at his side, but Jeno can’t help looking over at him. It’s become a habit at this point to watch over all of them — to keep his family safe.
“Why are all of these the same?” Jaemin asks, gesturing to a rack of shirts that are identical. Now that Renjun is here, he’s unloading question after question that he must have been saving from his first trips to the mall.
“Mass production,” Renjun answers. “They’re made by machines.”
“Like me,” Jaemin points out.
Renjun smiles fondly. “Not quite like you. You’re one of a kind.”
Jeno averts his eyes when Jaemin pulls Renjun in for a kiss. He looks past Chenle and Jisung who are poking through a stack of jeans to find Mark examining a soft looking sweater with a teddy bear on the front.
“What do you think?” Mark asks when he catches Jeno looking. “Should I get it?”
“It looks nice,” Jeno says. “Blue would suit you.” Mark’s skin is a healthy tan now from spending so much time under the sun, and he’s no longer scrawny. He’d fill out the sweater well, and the color would look pretty on him.
Anything would, really.
“You think so?” Mark scratches the back of his neck bashfully. “I’ll get it then.”
Jeno is happy to follow Mark around as he shops, carrying his bags the same way Jaemin holds Renjun’s. He’s saddled with Chenle’s too, but he doesn’t mind. They end up in the food court for dinner, and Jeno has to help Jaemin with the self-serve kiosk when he can’t figure out how it works.
“You learn really quickly!” Mark compliments him. These are words that Jeno has heard before, from the scientists in the lab, but it sounds nice coming from Mark. It makes him feel like he’s worth something.
When they wait in line for their food, Jeno watches as Renjun brushes Jaemin’s hair away from his face, his eyes sparkling with fondness as Jaemin grins down at him. Their love for each other is evident in everything they do. Jeno wants what they have.
“Jeno!” Chenle and Jisung pop up on either side, eager to show off their most recent purchases. Jeno hadn’t seen them wander off; he’ll have to keep a closer eye on them. They’ve got some kind of mini remote controlled drone. “I’m going to modify it so it can reach up to 20,000 feet.”
Renjun turns around sharply, because he’s got a sixth sense for these kinds of things. “Nothing illegal,” he tells Chenle sternly.
“I do, like, eleven illegal things on a weekly basis,” Chenle whispers to Jisung once Renjun has turned back around. Jeno is grateful they aren’t Type — he can’t imagine how much more trouble they’d get into if they were superhuman.
When they get to their table, Mark turns to Jeno and slides over a container of food. He’d ordered from a different restaurant, and Jeno’s mouth waters when he smells the spicy garlic scent of the fries Mark had bought.
“Try these!” Mark encourages. “I got them for you because they looked good, and I know you’re always hungry.”
Over the sounds of Jaemin trying to feed Renjun twice the amount of food he could stomach, Jeno beams at him, accepting the container gratefully. Mark is always giving him extra food or bringing him snacks because Jeno has the appetite of a whale.
He may not have what Renjun and Jaemin have, but he is still loved.
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5.
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The fifth time he goes to the mall, it’s not with Jaemin but to get Jaemin. It’s been six months since they’d last seen each other. Mark is at his side, and Jeno can tell that he’s nervous about going behind Renjun’s back.
“Hi,” Donghyuck greets them at the spot they’d decided on. Jeno cranes his neck, and Donghyuck guesses what he’s looking for. “Jaemin is just in the bathroom. He accidentally touched something sticky and got really upset about it.”
“Did you fix him?” Jeno demands, forgetting all of his politeness.
“There was no fixing,” Donghyuck says. “He was never broken. But yes, I did what I could. He’s a handful, isn’t he?”
“Yes,” Jeno says, “but he’s ours.”
When Jaemin steps out of the bathroom, he looks different. It’s not just because his hair is longer, but there’s a light to his eyes and he seems more confident in himself. He catches sight of Jeno and Mark and he doesn’t smile, but he doesn’t frown either which is a win in their books. “I miss Renjun,” are the first words he says to them.
Jeno hadn’t expected anything less. “Let’s go see him.”
Jaemin steps closer to Mark and carefully settles his hand over his chest, right where his heart is. “Still here?”
“Yes, Jaemin, I’m fine. Still alive and kicking,” Mark says, grinning because he’s just like that. Six months apart or not, Mark and Jaemin are still Mark and Jaemin.
“Unfortunately,” Jaemin says, then turns to Jeno. “Jeno?”
“Yes?” There is no Jeno and Jaemin, but Jeno thinks there could be, now that Jaemin doesn’t look so haunted anymore.
“Thanks for picking me up.”
Jeno thinks he could cry. “You’re welcome. Let’s go home.”
“Yes.” Jaemin’s smile is wistful. “Let’s go home.”