Archive of Our Own

“Jeno, hurry! We’re going to be late!” 

“We’re not going to be late. We have 15 minutes before it starts.” Jeno comes down the hall, struggling to put on his jacket.

“But I know how you like to watch the movie previews, so come on!” Jaemin says, closing the door behind Jeno.

This was part of their Friday routine. It started 2 months ago. They would go out to the movies, then come home and watch reruns of cartoons until one of them decided it was late and they called it a night.

Jaemin silently thanks himself when they pull up to the theater. They wouldn’t have to wait in the line at the ticket booth since he purchased their tickets online yesterday. 

“Want popcorn?” Jeno half heartedly asks, already knowing the answer to that question. They always share a medium popcorn and a large drink. Two straws. 

Snacks in hand, they settled in their back row seats. They were watching a new action movie Jeno had been raving about for the past few weeks.

“Sorry, we missed the previews Jen.” The younger boy whispers.

“At least we got here in time for the movie.” He responds with a mouthful of popcorn.

The lights dim and the movie starts. 

It’s only half way through when Jaemin gets bored. It wouldn’t be his first choice for movie night, or even second or third, but with Jenos excitement about the movie, how could he say no?

Jaemin turns to Jeno who’s staring intensely at the screen. At least one of them is having fun. 

He reaches his hand into the popcorn bucket, only to be met with kernels. Well, there goes the popcorn. He puts the bucket on the ground next to him.

He slumps back in his seat. It wasn’t the worst plot in the world, just god-awful acting. How could anyone expect him to enjoy the movie when the actors speak as if they’re reading their lines off a teleprompter?

Jaemin grabs his phone from his pocket to check the time, 10:33 . Thank God, it’s almost over.

“Jaemin, put your phone down! You’re missing it.” Jeno whines. Reluctantly, he complies. “Fine.” 

A few (boring) minutes pass before Jaemin feels a tap on his thigh. 

“My hand is kinda cold, do you mind?” 

“Min-” Jeno cuts him off by intertwining their hands. 

“Your hands are warmer than mine. I don’t know why they make it so cold here.” He says, squeezing his hand. 

Jaemin swears his heart stops for a second before beating faster than ever.

Maybe it’s the way Jeno is running his thumb across the back of his hand or, maybe it's the tight feeling in Jaemins chest, all he knows is there’s no way he’s going to be able to focus on the movie now.

Jaemin stares at their hands, studying how particularly warm Jeno’s hand is and how well they fit together despite their obvious size difference. The only thing that broke him out of this trance was when Jeno let go. 

Applause fills the theater when the lights come back on. Jeno has always been the type to clap after movies, whether it was good or not. 

“Did you enjoy the movie, Nana?” Jeno asks once they get back in the car. “Yeah, it was good.” Jaemin says plainly, driving off.

“What was your favorite part? Mine was when Stella realized that even if she couldn’t make amends with her real family, she had made a new family with her friends.” Jeno says, enthusiastically. “You know how much I love the found family trope.”

“Uhm…that was my favorite too.” 

Jeno looks at him and rolls his eyes. “You barely watched the movie.”

 “Yes, I did.” 

“You did not. I saw you staring off into space.” He scoffs. “How come you didn’t like the movie?” 

Jaemin stares at the stoplight before taking a turn into their neighborhood. “The acting was off. It’s like the actors didn’t know their lines or something.” 

“What? The acting was phenomenal!”

“It was corny.” Jaemin shrugs. 

“You're corny.” Jeno mocks. Jaemin parks in front of their apartment. Jeno got out of the car first, wanting to stretch his legs.  

“Race you to the front door!” Jaemin locks the car, and darts towards the door.

“Cheater!” Jeno yells, running after him. 

When Jeno makes it to the door, Jaemin was already inside with a smug expression on his face. “Beat you.” 

“Only because you cheated.” He closes the door behind him. 

“Sorry, what was that? You’re going to have to speak up, I can’t hear you over the sound of my awesomeness.” 

Jeno rolls his eyes and walks past Jaemin to his room. Years of being friends with Jaemin has taught him many things, one of those being that there’s no point in debating with Jaemin, especially not when it comes to games, he’ll win every time.

“Jen, I'm going to take my shower now. You wanna call in the pizza?” Jaemin shouts from the other room. 

“Yeah, I got it.” He says back. 

He orders their usual, a small cheese pizza and a small Hawaiian pizza. When Jaemin comes out of the shower, it’s sitting on the table, still warm.

“Here. Dig in.” 

“Thanks,” Jaemin says before stuffing his mouth. “I’ll buy the pizzas next time, ok?” 

“No worries. I will continue to fuel your pineapple pizza addiction.” Jeno jokes. 

Jaemin rolls his eyes. He would deny but Jeno’s right. Ever since Donghyuck brought in a hawaiian pizza to work for him to try, it’s been his go-to order. Jaemin defends it as a wonderful combination of sweet pineapple, warm cheese and a savory ham while Jeno believes it’s the world's 8th deadly sin .

“I still don’t understand how you like pineapple on pizza. It just doesn’t match.” His face contorted in disgust. “Shut up, it’s good!” Jaemin throws a pillow at the elder but he catches it and throws it back, hitting Jaemin in the face. He huffs and rubs his forehead.

Jeno laughs, stuffing a soft piece of crust into his mouth.. ”Spongebob?” Jaemin nods in response, eyes now glued to the television. Jeno’s eyes flicker to the screen then back to Jaemin then again, each time lingering on Jaemin a little bit longer. He catches him in his peripheral vision. “Do I have something on my face?”

“No.” He chokes out.

“Then why are you staring?” Jaemin raises an eyebrow. “I'm not…” Jeno trails. 

Jeno’s eyes explore Jaemin’s face. His hair pulled back, giving Jeno full view. He examined the way his eyelashes curled, how pulp his lips looked, what stood out the most was the pink tint on his cheeks, almost as pink as Jeno’s hair. It looked so soft—which is why Jeno didn’t stop himself from reaching his hand out and placing it on his cheek. “You’re really pretty Nana.” 

Jaemin’s eyes grow wide. This is new. “Thanks.” His chest grew tight for the second time tonight.

His face heats the elders hand like it was his own personal radiator. It only took Jeno four seconds to realize what he had done and pull his hand back.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to…” He trails, not being able to find the words to explain what he just did. Jeno has a prominent blush on his face that’s traveling down to his neck. “I think I'm going to head to bed a little early. I’m going on a run tomorrow.” 

“Wait Jeno.” He doesn’t stick around for what Jaemin has to say. He scurries to his room and shuts the door in a quick manner causing a slam to echo through the apartment.

What just happened? 

-

Jaemin wakes up pissed.

6 months ago, Jeno decided he was going to put a real effort into working out. Which meant 6 months of him waking Jaemin up when he leaves at five am. 

“God, the suns not even up yet.” Jaemin stumbles out of bed, trudging himself out of the room. 

He’s still half asleep but he decides coffee will help him wake up a little. Events from last night flood Jaemin’s memory. He feels a flush creep up his cheeks . 

Jeno thinks I'm pretty… 

Why did that make Jaemin feel so weird? A good weird but still… weird.

In an attempt to distract himself, Jaemin turns on the television. He flips through channels until he sees something interesting.

However, an hour later, he finds himself not watching the movie at all and instead scrolling through his phone. He saw a few reviews of the movie they watched last night. It seems like most people agreed with Jaemin’s opinion on the lackluster movie.

Keys jingle in the lock and the front door opens.

“How was your run?” He asks, not looking up from his phone. “It was good. I cut it short because I got hungry.” Jeno answers, grabbing bread from the pantry. 

“I made coffee.” 

Jaemin got up to put his mug in the sink but he freezes once he steps in the kitchen. 

“Wow.’ He says, thankfully, quiet enough that Jeno doesn’t hear. Jaemin shouldn’t stare, he knows that, but he can’t help it. He tried not to focus on the way Jeno’s back muscles were on full display or the way sweat dribbled down past his waist. 

What the hell? 

“So what do you think?” Jeno turned around, breaking him out of his daze. “Huh?” 

“I said you should come with me on my next run.” He repeats, stuffing bits of sandwich in his mouth.

Great, now his abs are practically begging to be looked at. “Sure… Wait, what?” He asks, after realizing what Jeno had said. “Absolutely not. Early morning runs are not my thing. We both know that.” 

“We don’t have to run. We can ride our bikes!”

Last year, Jaemin bought both of them matching bikes for Jeno’s birthday. They only rode them once because Jaemin got tired halfway on the trail and they had to turn back. They’ve just been collecting dust in Jeno's room ever since.

“Jen, you know that’s not a good idea.” 

“Please, Jaemin~  I’ll pick the shortest trail….. We can even stop for breakfast afterwards!” Jeno pleads. 

Jaemin didn’t say anything. He walked past him to the sink, placing his mug down. “Jaemin…” He whines, leaning himself against the counter. “Come with me.” 

Jaemin’s brain is mush. How is he supposed to stand and have a conversation when Jeno’s chiseled, glistening abs are right there? How could he say no?

“You’re getting your sweat all over the counter.” He rolls his eyes, ignoring Jeno’s pleas. Jeno sighs and wipes the counter with a paper towel. “See, it’s gone. Now, please agree to come with me.” 

“Fine.”

Jeno’s eyes lit up and he sent Jaemin a smile. The same smile that made his chest constrict last night.

“You won’t regret it! I promise.” He practically beams at Jaemin. 

“Go take a shower, Jen. You stink.” Jaemin scrunches his nose.

“Yeah, whatever.” He smirks, walking away. 

With the little sanity left in him Jaemin shouts a reminder to Jeno that he should “put on some clothes next time”. The water faucet turning on is the only response he gets.

-

Jaemin has come to a conclusion. He’s going crazy. The blue hair dye finally reached his brain and it’s making him lose his mind, that has to be it. 

He needs to tell someone about these strange feelings, so he does the only thing he can think of—invite his friends over so they can tell him he’s not going crazy.

However, it seems like they’re just making fun of him. 

“Why are you guys laughing? This is serious.” 

“We’re sorry, It’s just funny.” Donghyuck stifles his laugh that was trying to escape. 

“It is not.”

“It’s a little funny.” Renjun shrugs. Jaemin throws a stuffed animal at his head. “Ow.” 

“Listen, I just want to know what all of this means. Why am I having all these weird thoughts?” He huffs and sits down on his bed. 

“You mean thoughts about how hot you think Jeno is?” Donghyuck snickers.

“Shh! Oh my god! He’s going to hear you.” Jaemin got up to peek his head out the door. Jeno’s door was wide open. He was sitting on the edge of his bed with his headset on, talking to someone on the other end. 

Jaemin stuck his head back in and closed the door. “Just tell me that I'm not being weird, please?”

“You’re not being weird, Jaem. You just have a crush on him.” Renjun offers. 

“I do not have a crush.” He rushes out.

Renjun and Donghyuck share a look. “Jaemin, you definitely have a crush on him.” Donghyuck says. 

“Just because I think he looks hot after his morning run doesn’t mean I like him.” He exclaims in defense. 

“I agree but that combined with you analyzing his hand and the whole abs situation… it seems like you do.” Renjun reasons.

“I didn’t analyze! I just noticed how soft they were, that’s all.” 

“Baby, do you hear yourself right now?” Donghyuck chuckles. 

Jaemin does hear himself. He groans and puts a pillow over his face. It’s not a crush, is it? Just because he likes Jeno’s abs, likes holding his hand, enjoys being called pretty, and doesn't mind his hand on his cheek does not mean he likes him. He just enjoys Jeno’s touch, that’s all.

“I don’t have a crush.” He mumbles.

“It’s okay if you do. It seems like he might have a crush too.” Donghyuck assures. “I mean, he made up some lame excuse to hold your hand. When he got caught staring, he touched your cheek and called you pretty and now he’s walking around shirtless. Sounds like crushing behavior to me.” 

“He does not.” 

“He totally does.” Renjun chimes. 

“Shut up. I don’t like him and he doesn’t like me. He’s just like that, touchy and stuff.”

They went back and forth like that for a few minutes before Donghyuck cut them both off.

“Maybe he does or maybe he doesn’t but there’s only one way to know.” 

“How?” 

“Ask him.” he deadpans.

Well, that was a stupid idea. Jaemin is not going to ask his best friend of 15 years whether or not he has a crush on him. “Absolutely not.”

Donghyuck scoffs, turning to Renjun. They share looks once again. Renjun shrugs in a ‘what-can-we-do’ type of way. They sit in silence for a few minutes, trying to figure out another way.

“I’ve got it!” Renjun exclaims. “Play along.”

He sits back grinning to himself like it was the best idea he’s ever had. Meanwhile, Donghyuck and Jaemin sit with confused expressions.

Renjun sighs, rolling his eyes. “If he’s being touchy… touch him back—hold his hand.” 

“You’re a genius.” Donghyuck lunges forward at Renjun, engulfing him in a hug. “Get off, Hyuck.” He only squeezed him tighter.

“This could work.” Jaemin agrees, hesitantly. “But what do I do if he isn’t into me and he thinks it’s weird I'm being all touchy?” 

“He’s not going to think it’s weird. You said he’s the touchy one, he’ll probably enjoy it, especially since he has a crush on you.” Donghyuck smirks.

“He doesn’t.” 

“Yeah, yeah. We’ll see.”.

-

Donghyuck and Renjun decide that Jaemin should start out with nice gestures. So here he is, at the 24-hour corner store, strolling the aisles looking for Jeno’s favorite snacks. 

As he’s paying for the snack, his phone buzzes in his pocket.

from jeno: hey, where did you go?? you shouldn’t be out so late

Jaemin chuckles, It’s only 7:30. He grabs the snacks and exits the store.

from jaemin: went to store, coming home now

A few minutes after sending that text, Jaemin makes it back to their apartment. 

“Jen, I'm home.” 

Jeno sprints down the hall and into the kitchen. “You got snacks?” Jaemin pushes all the snack on the table over towards Jeno.

“For you.” Jaemin gives a forced smile. Jeno’s eyes brighten. “All of them?” 

“Well, not this one.” He says, grabbing a bag of chips.

“How come you only got one thing?” 

“I wasn’t that hungry, plus I wanted to pay you back for the pizza.” 

Jeno's eyes flash over the snacks. He frowns but doesn’t say anything, leaving Jaemin confused. 

He could’ve sworn he saw Jeno buy them before. 

“What’s wrong? Did I buy the wrong thing?” Jaemin chews on the inside of his cheek. 

“No. I really like these but… you didn’t have to pay me back, Nana.” Jeno murmurs. He pushes 3 bags of gummy bears towards Jaemin. “Here. You can have these. I’ll feel bad if you only have one thing.” 

“I mainly bought them for you. Don’t feel bad, really, I'm not even feeling that snack-y.” Jaemin pushes them back. 

30 minutes later, They’re in Jeno’s room sharing a bag of chips and playing computer games— Well, more like Jeno is playing and Jaemin is giving commentary. 

“Jen, what is that?” Jaemin points, blocking Jeno’s view. Jeno moves his head to the left. “Nana, move.” 

Jaemin laughs, moving his hand further into Jeno’s line of vision. Jeno groans and pushes his hand out the way. Taking that as a challenge, he widens his hand to cover the screen. Jeno’s eyes bulge as he moves his head to see. “Jaemin, what the hell?” 

The screen flashes red with the words “YOU LOSE” in the center. “Dude!” he shouts, furrowing his brows. Jaemin laughs at the elders' contorted face.

“Oh sorry, was I in your way?” 

Jeno moves his face closer making Jaemin’s smile falter. Jaemin catches a glance of how Jeno’s lips are pressed in a tight line and his nose is crinkled. 

Since when was Jeno so cute?

“You should really work on your angry face. You look like someone stole your ice cream.” 

Jeno’s facade drops as he breaks into a smile. “Shut up.” 

Jaemin walks over to Jeno’s bed, throwing his head in between the pillows. 

“Why are you laying down? I thought you wanted a turn.” Jeno turns in his chair. 

“Your sheets are nice.” He ignores. Jeno’s sheets are soft, well softer than his, and they smell good—A mixture of vanilla, cinnamon and… well Jeno. 

“Yeah, I know,” Jeno responded. “Now get back over here.”

“I don’t know how to play. I’ll just watch you.” Jaemin readjusts himself to the end of the bed.

“Come sit. I’ll teach you.” Jeno pats the chair beside him.

Reluctantly, He goes over to the chair. 

“Jen, What do I do?” He says, moving the cursor around on the screen. 

“So you can either play as a protector or a looter. If you loot, you have to find the hidden weapons around the map but every weapon is guarded by protectors so you’ll have to shoot them down. If you’re a protector, you have to defend the weapons and shoot looters.”

He points to the bag in the right lower corner. “Here’s your inventory. It has a bunch of guns and ammo that I already own and when you get new weapons, it goes here. If you get shot and you need health, it’ll be here.”

“If the health bar runs out or you’re shot at close contact, you’ll lose.” He concluded. “Do you get it?” 

Jaemin nods, clicking start on the screen. The game drops him off in a run down city. He was on the looter team. His teammates all run off to different parts of the map while he runs to a building on the left. 

Jaemins character goes upstairs. He finds nothing in the first two rooms. The view from the window lets him see two protectors standing off to the side. 

“Can I shoot them through the window?” Jaemin asks, aiming at the other players.

Jeno nods his head and Jaemin shoots. He hits one of them and the player falls to the ground.

“Move from the window now, he knows you’re in here now.” Jeno inputs.

Jaemin moves his avatar down the stairs and out of the house. He ran behind a wall right next to the spot he shot the other avatar. He aimed, shot him and then shot him again.

“And I thought you didn’t know how to play.” 

Jaemin grins. “I don’t.”

Jaemin shoots down two more characters before his character gets shot. 

“Where did that come from?” Jaemin’s eyes search around the screen. A shot hits his character again, and then again but from a different direction. 

“Jen, wha-”

Jeno puts his hand on top of Jaemins and moves the avatar to crouch behind a tree. He opens the inventory and applies health. 

Jaemin stares at their hands. Jeno is steadily clicking away at the screen. Is Jaemin supposed to let go of the mouse? He didn’t want to. He wanted their hands to be touching. 

This is not weird. He just enjoys physical affection from his best friend. Everyone feels that way. 

Jaemin feels himself slightly deflate when Jeno takes his hand off. 

“Here.” Jaemin looks back at the screen. Jeno had won for him. 

“T-thanks, Jen.” He looks down at his hand again. He missed the pink haired boy’s touch already. What if he just grabbed his hand? Would Jeno push him away? ask him why? 

Jaemin thinks back to what Donghyuck and Renjun said earlier about “pushing his limits” and seeing “how far Jeno would let him go”, so he might as well try it now.

He slowly moves his hand into the other’s lap. He looks up to search Jeno’s face for any type of emotion. He notices how Jeno’s eyebrows twitched. He hesitantly grabs Jeno's hand and begins tracing his palm lines.

A silence takes over the both of them—the only sound is Jaemin’s rapid heartbeat that he’s trying his best to ignore. He continues to rub over the lines, memorizing every dip, every rigid end. Distracted with palm studying, he didn’t notice the boy staring at him. 

“What are you? A palm reader?” Jeno says with a smile. Jaemin looks up at him, face ablaze. 

He loosens his grip but doesn’t completely let go, not wanting to completely break the contact. 

“No, but your hands are soft.” Jaemin mumbles but Jeno hears it. He lowers his gaze, not being able to stand the elders crescent smile.

Jeno lowers his head down to meet Jaemins. “Are you going to tell me my fortune now?” 

Somehow, he works up the courage to look Jeno in the eye. They were soft and endearing which only made Jaemin blush harder.

“Shut up.” Jaemin pushes him and turns to face the monitor. “Are you going to play or not?” 

Jeno shook his head and grabbed Jaemin’s hands. “I don’t wanna play anymore. It’s my turn to palm read.” 

Jaemin’s brain turns to mush again. He watches as Jeno traces over every line, every curve, even the mole on the bottom of his palm. His hand begins to sweat.

Should I pull my hand away? Sweaty hands aren’t exactly cute.

Jaemin looks for any sign of disgust on Jeno’s face but there isn’t any—just a doe eyed gaze and a soft smile. 

Pretty. 

Jaemin wants to tell himself that he’s being ridiculous and he should stop thinking of Jeno in that way but he doesn’t. Instead he allows it. He allows himself to enjoy Jeno’s touch, to enjoy the warmth and the softness of the other hand. The contrasting size and texture—it’s like their hands were complete opposites yet made for each other.

“Jaemin…” He trails off.

“Yeah?” 

“I see something in your future.” 

“Oh yeah, What?” Jaemin plays along.

“I see a bird flying above you… plopping a big turd on your head.”

Way to kill the mood.

Jaemin scoffs, pulling his hands out of Jeno’s. “You are so annoying!” He punches him in the shoulder. 

Jeno throws his head back laughing. Jaemin crosses his arms and rolls his eyes. 

“Come on, Nana.” He puts his hands up in defense. “It was funny.”

Jaemin rolls his eyes again but his mouth cracks into a smile. “It was not.” 

“No but seriously, be careful around birds. They’re plotting against you.” He laughs again. 

Jaemin whines, punching him again.

When Jaemin makes his way back to his room, he closes his door and sits for a second. He traces over his palm lines softly. Jeno’s hands felt so nice. Jaemin misses it. Just a little. (a lot).

“God.” Jaemin huffs, pulling out his phone and dialing Renjuns cell. 

“So maybe I have a small crush.” 

-

Jeno must be superhuman. It’s the only explanation for why he has so much energy at 5 in the morning.

Jaemin trudges his bike on the sidewalk, following behind Jeno.

“Jeno, how much farther?” He asks for the third time already.

“Stop whining, we’re almost at the trail.”

They make their way across the crosswalk and to the front of the park. If Jeno was on his own, he would have chosen the path further into town but he picked this path specifically for Jaemin.

“It’s the way, Nana.” He hops on his bike and Jaemin follows behind.

They ride on the smooth pavement cut between the trees. The wind brushed through their hair and the moon shone through the trees. Despite the sun not being out, the path was lit with lawn lights to ensure early risers and late night walkers wouldn’t miss the sights.Tulips and daffodils lined the paths and birds chirped in the trees while squirrels ran off of them. 

“It’s nice, right?”

“Yeah, no wonder you wake up so early. It’s really beautiful out here.” Jaemin takes a quick peek up at him and smiles. 

“You should see the trail behind the university! It’s super pretty but pretty long though, so you probably wouldn’t be into that…”  Jeno trails off.

Jaemin frowns. Although he's right, he still wanted to see the pretty scenery. 

“Maybe you can record a video of the trail next time you go.” He suggests. 

He zooms past him, turning his head back to shout. “Sure thing, Nana.”

“Jeno, don’t leave me!” Jaemin pedals fast behind him. 

By the time they made it to the end of the trail, the sun was rising and a few cars were on the road. 

“That was oddly nice. It’s weird being outside so early but I guess it wasn’t so bad.” Jaemin says putting his bike on the kickstand and taking a seat next to Jeno on the bench. 

Jaemin breathes heavily, leaning his head on Jeno’s shoulder. Jeno takes a swig of his water and passes it to him. “I told you to bring an extra water bottle.” He says, ushering him to finish it off.

“Do you think you’ll want to come walking with me tomorrow?” 

Jaemin shook his head on Jeno’s shoulder. “I can’t. I’m too tired and I think my legs are going to be sore for the next week and a half.”

Jeno laughs, turning his head to look Jaemin in the eyes. “You’ll be fine, Jaemin.” 

They sat there for a few minutes, staring at the sunrise and the cars passing by them. Resting their eyes as the warm awakening sun dries the sweat on their foreheads.

Jaemins eyes are still shut when feels something on his knee. He moves it slightly, hoping whatever it was would fly away but when it continues, he swats at it, earning a yelp from the other boy.

“Ow” He snatches his hand away. “If you wanted me to stop, you could’ve just said so.” 

“Sorry, I thought you were a bug.” Jaemin trying to hold in his laughter.

“Yes, because my hand on your knee feels like a bug.” He scoffs, rubbing his hand. 

“Oh, stop being a baby. I didn’t even hit you that hard.” Jaemin rolls his eyes. 

“You did. I’m going to get a bruise now. Look at how red it is.” He puts his hand in Jaemin’s face. 

Jaemin grabs Jeno’s hand and holds it place. Without thinking, he places a kiss on the back of the boy's hand. 

“There. I kissed it better. Happy now?”

He turns to send the boy a fake smile but he quickly notices Jeno’s face is flushed. His eyes wide and fixed on their hands. 

Why did I do that? 

Jaemin immediately drops the hand and starts getting up. He hops back on his bike. “Is that bakery place open yet?” He asks, staring at the ground.

Jeno blinks at him, stun written all over his face. “Huh? Oh, y-yeah! It should be open by now.” 

He walks to the bikes and hops on. He turns to look at Jaemin, who was still avoiding eye contact. Jeno turns back around and begins to lead the way. “Come on. It’s right around the corner.” A small smile grows on his face when he hears the younger pedaling behind him.

When they step inside the bakery, the smell of warm bread and fresh coffee fills their noses. Jaemin’s face brightens when he sees the cheesecakes in the glass window.

“Hi, welcome to Pa- oh hi Jeno!” A friendly voice says from behind the counter. It belonged to a tall, black haired boy with a name tag that read “Jisung”.

Jeno smiled at the boy, exchanging greetings. 

Jaemin silently stood beside him, taking in the scenery of the place. The walls were painted a tan brown with minimalistic artwork strung along them. There were few customers—an elderly couple with their grandchild and a woman sitting by herself. 

“…and you must be Jaemin! Jeno’s told me a lot about you.” Jaemin only catches the last part of the sentence. 

Jeno talks about me? 

“Really?” Jaemin turns to look at Jeno who’s trying to hide his blush—he’s not doing a good job.

“All good things I hope!” He adds.

“Definitely. Almost everyday he comes in talking about how…” Jisung trails off when he sees Jeno shooting him a death glare. Jaemin glances at the both of them, raising an eyebrow. 

Strange.

“Well anyways, what can I get you guys?” Jisung perks up, changing the subject.

They put in their order and found a table near the window. Jeno got a strawberry cheesecake, while Jaemin got the blueberry.

“You come here everyday after your runs?” 

Jeno nods, shoving a strawberry in his mouth. “Pretty much” He muffles.

“Strawberries should be banned from the world.” Jaemin says under his breath. 

Jeno shakes his head. “You’re really missing out, Nana. Strawberries are a gift from God.” 

“Not mine.” 

Jeno lets out a breathy laugh and grabs a blueberry off Jaemin’s plate. 

“Hey!” Jaemin reaches for his arm but Jeno pops it in his mouth before he can get it. 

“That was my last one.” He crosses his arms and slumps in his chair.

“Oh sorry, were you going to eat that?” Jeno mocks,  scrolling through his phone.

Jaemin rolls his eyes and continues back at his cake. 

Taking another look around the bakery, he notices that Jisung was the only employee working this morning. Jaemin watches as he prepares more chocolate chip bagels to go on their bagel wall.

Soft music continues to play from the speakers while a few more people come in. 

It’s super cozy here. No wonder Jeno comes here all the time. 

That thought reminds Jaemin of Jisung’s earlier statement. “ Jeno’s told me a lot about you. ”

“Jen?”

“Hm?”

“What do you say about me to Jisung?” 

Jeno stiffens and slowly looks up at him. 

“Nothing really.” He answers.

“Tell me,” Jaemin frowns. “He said you talk about me a lot.” 

“I don’t talk about you that much.” He says shifting uncomfortably in his chair. 

“Don’t lie, Jen. I want to know what you say about me.” 

Jaemin watches as his face reddens and he chews on the inside of his bottom lip. Jaemin chuckles at the sight of the nervous boy.

He looks cute. 

“Don’t be so shy about it. Just tell me one thing you said about me.” 

A few silent moments pass before Jeno speaks up.

“I told him about our Friday nights. Sometimes he’ll help pick out movies to see with you. He’s the one who told me about the movie we saw the other day.” 

Jaemin smiles at the response. Enjoying how nervous he had gotten over the simple question, Jaemin decides to ask another.

“Is he the one who gave you the advice to make up a terrible excuse just to hold my hand?” 

Jeno opens his mouth to speak but nothing comes out. The heat from his face travels to his ears and neck. 

“I-it…it wasn’t an excuse. My hands were cold.” 

“You’re good at a lot of things, Jen. Lying is not one of them.”

Jeno brings his hands over his face to hide the now very obvious blush on his cheeks.

“You can hold my hand whenever you want, you know. You don’t have to make up an excuse.” 

“Shut up, I didn’t want to hold your rough hands. I’m serious, my hands were just cold.” Jeno bluffs. 

Jaemin nods, sarcastically. “Right, Of course.” 

“Hey, you’re the one who wanted to hold my hand last night,” Jeno pointed out. “You grabbed my hand and started palm reading.”

“I did not.” 

“You totally did. You were all like, “Oh my God, Jen. Your hands are so soft” He mimicked.

Jaemin kicks Jeno under the table. Jeno tries to kick him back but Jaemin moves his chair before he can.

“Damn, what’s with the violence today? First, you hit me and now you’re kicking me?” Jeno laughs. 

“I didn’t hit you on purpose earlier. I said I was sorry.” 

“Oh yeah, right before you kissed my hand,” Jeno teases. “What was that all about?”

Now it’s Jaemin’s turn to be embarrassed. He ducks his head, trying to hide his blush. “I was kissing it better.” He mumbles. Jeno chuckles, satisfied with his answer. 

“I think it worked.” Jeno puts his hand back in Jaemin’s face. “See.”

“Don’t mock me.” Jaemin huffs, swatting his hand away. 

“Oh, but you can mock me all you want? No thanks.”

“Shut up.” Jaemin kicks him again. 

Jeno dodges the kick and pulls out his phone to take a picture of Jaemin. 

“Delete that.”

“No.” He whines. “I’m going to put it in my “Nana” album.” 

“Album?”

Jaemin asks, peeking his head over Jeno’s phone.

136 pictures & 13 videos.

“Woah.” He whispers.

Jeno chuckles and passes him the phone. As he scrolls through the album, he realizes that some of the pictures went back years. There were pictures of them in middle school, high school and a few elementary photos. 

“I can’t believe you have all of these.” Jaemin smiles down at the screen. 

He clicks on a photo of the two of them wearing Monsters Inc costumes. They were 13 and it was Halloween night. They had spent that whole night watching movies on Jenos counch and getting full off candy. Jaemin remembers it well because he got a super sick afterwards and had to go home early the next day.

He clicks on another photo. It was of him laying on the couch, smiling up at the camera. It was taken on their first night in their apartment. 

They hadn’t moved in the beds yet so they spent that night on the couch. Despite being stuffed on the couch, it was a fun night. They played card games all night and fell asleep during their fourth round of Uno.

“Send me these.” Jaemin said, giving the phone back. “I’m going to make a folder for you too.”

He pulls out his own phone and takes a picture of Jeno. “First in my collection.” 

Once they finished their food, they said their goodbyes to Jisung and headed on their way home.

When they get home, Jeno takes his shower first, then Jaemin. When done, he decided that after biking at 5 am for an hour and a half, taking a nap was greatly needed. 

-

Jaemin wakes up a little after 12. First thing he does is pull out his phone and text his group chat.

from jaemin: hey, are you guys busy rn? 

He desperately needed to tell Renjun and Donghyuck about his realization——He had a crush on Jeno and there was no denying it. 

from renjun: we were just about to go on a picnic, you can come along if you want!

from jaemin: are you guys sure? I don't wanna interrupt your plans.

from donghyuck: you won’t be, it’ll be fun if you come! :D

from jaemin: i’ll meet you guys there

Jaemin sets his phone down and walks into the living room. Jeno was sprawled out on the sofa scrolling through his phone. 

“Jen, i’m going to go out with my friends soon.” Jaemin says, walking over to him on the couch. 

Jeno sits up and moves his legs so Jaemin can sit. He sets his head on the younger shoulders and loosely wraps his arms around him. 

There goes my heart again.

“Where are you guys going?” He mumbles into his shoulder. 

“Picnic in the park, the one with the duck pond ”

Jaemin ignores the tightness in his chest and puts his hands on Jeno’s head, brushing his fingers through his hair. Jeno leans into the touch.

“That sounds nice,” Jeno smiles. “I hope you have fun.”

“Thanks, Jen. I’ll bring you home some food.” 

Jaemin attempts to stand up but Jeno tightens his arms around him. His body heat warms Jaemin’s cold body.  

“Just stay here…. just for a second.” He whispers.

This is nice.

The contrast of Jeno’s soft locs in Jaemin’s rough hands is something he knows he’ll still be thinking about at the end of the day. As much as he doesn’t want to, Jaemin slithers out of his arms. Jeno whines and tightens his grip. 

“I’ve got to go, Jen.”

Jeno sighs in response and lets go. Jaemin ruffles his hair one last time before going back to his room.

He throws on some clothes and grabs his belongings and heads to the front door.

“Have fun, Nana.” Jeno shouts before he shuts the door. “Don’t get pooped on.”

Jaemin is the last one to reach the park. Renjun waves him over and pats the ground next to him. 

“Here,” Renjun passes him a sandwich once he sits down. “Hyuck made them.” 

The edges of the bread were cut off—just how Jaemin liked them. He hums as he takes a bite. 

“It’s good, Hyuck. Your sandwiches are always so good.”

Donghyuck pulls Jaemin into a tight hug and rocks him side to side, squeezing a little too hard.

“At least I know my years of working at Subway didn’t go to waste . I made the cookies too.”

Donghyuck lets go and Jaemin rubs his arms. 

“God, Hyuck. Do you have to hug so tight?” 

Donghyuck gasps and fakes an offended expression. “Renjun enjoys my tight hugs.” 

“Renjun enjoys everything you do.” Jaemin snaps back.

Renjun chuckles and puts his arms around Donghyuck. 

“He’s not lying. I really do.”

They smile at each other and Renjun leans in to peck him on the cheek. Donghyuck giggles and returns the action. 

Jaemin’s shifts awkwardly and clears his throat. The two boys break apart from each, still having dopey grins on their faces.

“So… this was definitely supposed to be a date and I interrupted. I’m sorry.” Jaemin says.

“No, it’s okay—really. We wanted you to come.” Renjun reassures him.

Guilt was still written all over Jaemin’s face so he decides to lean over and give him a hug. 

“Don’t feel bad we wanted you to be here.” He says again.

“Plus, sooner or later, you’ll be going on double dates with us.” Donghyuck adds.

“Yeah. You should’ve brought Jeno, this could’ve been a double date.” Renjun says, arms still clinging to him.

“I couldn’t bring him because I need to talk to you guys about him.” 

Renjun lets go, looking him in the eyes and then at Donghyuck, whose eyes were lit up with curiosity. “Tell us!” 

“You guys were right,” He starts. “I have a crush on him and I'm pretty sure he has one on me. Well, I hope he does.

“Told you.” Haechan blurts out.

Jaemin rolls his eyes. 

“Yeah, yeah.”

“What made you realize? Did the plan work?” 

And so, Jaemin retells the events from the past few days, giving them details of his every detail, every action, every thought.

“You guys are so cute.“ Renjun pokes Jaemin in the side. “See, I told you he had a crush on you.”

“Aw, he talks about you. That’s cute.” Donghyuck squeals and pulls Renjun into a tight hug. “Did you ever talk about me to your friends, Junnie?” 

“No.” Renjun deadpans. Donghyuck sucks his teeth and rolls his eyes. Renjun giggles, giving him a peck on the cheek. 

“Don’t be sad, Hyuckie. I talk about you all the time now so it makes up for it.” 

Jaemin jokingly gags at the sight and Donghyuck throws a cracker at him. 

“He’s just so cute. I wish I would've realized earlier.” 

“So are you going to confess?” Renjun exclaims.

“I mean, yes... I’m a little nervous about the whole thing, I don’t want to get this wrong and mess us up.”

“Do you have any ideas on how you want to do it?” 

Jaemin shakes his head. He had only come up with the idea to confess on the drive over here. He hoped they could help him with the whole process.

“Hyuck, how did you confess?” 

“I accidentally told him I loved him over the phone. I immediately hung up and avoided him for like a week until he showed up at my house and made me explain. I basically just told him the truth—how head over heels I am. He felt the same and now we’re together.” 

“I regret waiting so long though. I was miserable the whole week he avoided me.” Renjun adds.

“Well, I wanna tell him in person, face-to-face you know.” Jaemin asserts. “I don’t want any room for misinterpretation.”

“Okay, we’ll let’s brainstorm.”

And that’s what they did. For the next hour and a half, they bounced ideas off one another until they came to a final decision.

“I’m just going to tell him flat out.” Jaemin sighs, every idea seemed to be either too fancy or just completely unlike him.

“Like a speech? or a song? Wait, better yet, a poem?” 

“A song might be too cheesy, plus, I doubt i’ll be able to remember all the lyrics if I look at him. However, a poem….” A crinkle near Jaemin’s eyes appears and his mouth breaks into a wide grin.“You’re a genius, Hyuck.” 

“I know. I get that a lot.” He smirks, earning a punch in the shoulder from Renjun. 

When they went their separate ways, Jaemin made sure to pack a few sandwiches and cookies to go.

“Jeno, I’m home.” He says, closing the apartment door behind him. He sets down the food on the table and walks to his room. He changes into different clothes and walks back out to see Jeno standing in the kitchen.

“Thanks for the sandwiches, Nana.” He says with a full mouth.

“Yeah, I thought you’d be hungry. Try the cookies too, they’re really good.” 

Jeno nods and takes a bite. He closes his eyes and throws his head back. “Donghyuck has seriously got to open his own bakery.” 

Jeno takes another bite before giving the last piece to Jaemin.

“Thanks.” He says, stuffing it in his mouth. “What have you been up to since I've been gone?” 

“Homework,” Jeno sighs. “I still have like 2 more assignments to do.” 

“Do you want some help? I know I'm not a math major or anything but maybe I could still help.”

“It’s alright, Nana. I’ve got it. Thanks for offering, though.” He says before slipping back into his room.

Jaemin finishes off another cookie putting the few leftover sandwiches in the fridge. He walks back to his room and shuts the door.

He pulls out his journal from his desk and his guitar from the wall. He plucks the strings and writes something down in his journal.

It had been a while since Jaemin had gotten the chance to practice his guitar. He hums along with the melody he jotted down a few weeks ago.

He picks up the pace, eventually singing through the whole song, editing lyrics as he goes.

“That’s not...” He mutters to himself. 

He plays again, again and again until he can find the perfect rhythm. When he finds it, he props his phone up in his desk to record.

He records himself playing a few times before putting his things away and sitting back on his bed. Scrolling through the videos he took, choosing the best one and posting it to his instagram.

He scrolls through his phone for a few more minutes before he hears a knock at his door. 

“Come in!” He shouts.

Jeno peeks his head in the doorway. “I heard you playing just now.” 

Jaemin groans and scrunches his face. “Oh sorry, Jen. I didn’t mean to be so loud.” 

Jeno shakes his head. “No, it was nice to have background music.” He says, taking a seat on his bed. “New song?” 

“Kinda, I wrote it a while ago but I’m only now actually taking it seriously. I got the melody but the lyrics aren’t so easy to come by.” 

They’re sitting criss-cross across from each other. Their knees are touching but Jaemin’s way too distracted by Jeno’s insanely wide smile to react to it.

“What are you smiling about?” 

“Let me help you write.” 

“Absolutely not.” Jaemin answers without missing a beat. “Last time you helped write lyrics, you just repeated the same words over and over.”

“Hey! I only repeated when I couldn't find a rhyme. ‘Heart of pie’ could’ve been a hit.” 

“Not with lyrics like ‘cross my heart hope to die, you’re the only pie of my eye’ .” 

“Poetic masterpiece.” Jeno shrugs. 

“I think i’ll write them on my own this time.” Jaemin says, earning a thumbs down from Jeno.

“Did you come in here to bother me or did you finally realize you need my math expertise?” 

“Neither,” Jeno snarks. “I came to ask if you wanted to play some video games again. I downloaded the new Pubg update, did you want to play with me?”

A smile ghosts Jaemin’s lips. “I’ll just watch you play this time around. I’m too tired to be in the gaming mood.” 

Jeno grins, dragging the younger to his room. Jaemin makes himself comfortable on Jeno’s bed.

“Playing with others?”

“Yeah, with Jisung.”

Jaemin perks up at the boy's name. “Do you guys play together often?” 

“Most of the time. I usually play with Jisung and his boyfriend but other times in just a random lobby.” 

Jaemin hums and sets his head onto the pillows. He’s instantly engulfed with Jeno’s welcoming musk. A soft smile appears on his face. 

Why did Jeno’s bed seem so much more comfortable than his? While imagining what it would be like to hug Jeno, he feels himself slip off into a dream.

Jaemin’s laying on Jeno’s chest, stroking his cheek while he runs his fingers through Jaemin’s blue locks.

Their warm bodies pressed against each other. Their breaths jagged and hesitant. Jaemin’s thumb travels Jeno’s face, gracing him across his mole once more.

Without thinking Jaemin leans in and presses his lips on the mark. A small gasp comes from the boy causing Jaemin to lean back a few inches. His eyes search for a hint of disdain on Jeno’s face, but there is none, just an increasing blush and a small crinkle next to his eyes. 

Jaemin watches as Jeno’s eyes dart down to his lips and then back up. He copies Jeno’s actions and chuckles softly. “Jen?” He says. “Can I?” 

Jeno softly nods.

Jeno closes his eyes and Jaemin takes it as his cue. He takes one last glance before he closes his eyes and leans in. 

“FUCK” 

Jaemin jolts up from the bed, his wide eyes pace the room. 

“He came out of nowhere,” Jeno shouts. “Shit.”

He turns to look at Jaemin who was staring back at him.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to wake you.” He frowns. “I died.”

Jaemin groans. The clock next to him read 9:54. He frowns, burying his head back in the pillows. 

That dream was… different. 

He closed his eyes tightly, silently hoping to get back to the dream. He wanted to know what it would feel like to kiss Jeno, even if it’s just in his dreams. 

“Ji, I think I'm going to call it a night.” Jeno says before logging off.

Jeno climbed in his bed next to Jaemin. He felt Jaemin’s body go stiff as he dropped his arm over the younger man’s waist.

“You can sleep here if you want.”

Jaemin feels Jeno’s breath fanning on the back of his neck. Their bodies were pushed together, spooning. His throat grows tighter when he hears the boy say, “Is this okay?”

“Yeah, it’s okay.” He croaks out, not wanting to say more in case his voice gives out on him. 

Jeno takes a deep breath and buries his face in Jaemin’s neck. He tightens his grip on his waist a bit. “Still okay?” He whispers against his skin.

Not trusting his voice, he nods.

The silence was loud. The only sound was their two rapid hearts beating in harmony.

The sun peeking through the blinds is the first thing Jaemin sees when he opens his eyes. Squinting his eyes, his gaze shifts to the figure in front of him. 

He must’ve changed positions in his sleep because he is now staring right at Jeno. Jaemin swears his breaths halt for a second.

Jaemin has seen Jeno sleep before but never like this. He looked so relaxed, Jaemin wished he hadn’t left his phone in his room, otherwise he would have snapped a new picture.

His eyes shift their focus on Jeno’s slightly parted lips. His soft breath fans on Jaemin’s cheeks. 

As he remembers this same scene from his dream, his eyes stutter to another point—Jeno’s chest, loosely pushed up against his own. 

He buries his head in Jeno’s warm chest, letting his heartbeat be his lullaby. 

Just for a few more minutes.

He’s woken up again by soft fingers caressing his temple. “Good morning, Nana.”

He never thought he’d be here in this moment, cuddling in bed with his best-friend-turned-crush and not wanting to get up at all.

“You didn’t go on your walk this morning.” He says, plainly.

“I wanted to stay in bed with you.” 

Jaemin watches as Jeno gets flustered by his own words, a heat reaching his ears and he buries his head in his pillows. 

“That was cringe, sorry.”  He cringes. “I just felt like staying with you. So what if I miss one day.”

That makes Jaemin’s chest tighten, again.

“Unfortunately, I do have class today and I can’t be late again, last time I missed our guest speaker.” Jeno walks over to his closet.

“What do you think, this tan hoodie or this sweater?” He asked, holding up both options above his head. 

“Well considering that those are both mine, I say find your own clothes.” 

“C’mon Nana, we share all the time.”

Jeno’s right. They practically shared everything; secrets, food, an apartment, and now apparently, a bed.

“Wear the hoodie and you can have the sweater, it’s kinda ugly anyways.” He laughs, getting himself out of bed too.

“Hey! My mom bought you this sweater.” Jeno shouts.

“Which is why you can have it.” He smiles, Jeno rolls his eyes in return.

An hour after he left Jaemin starts to get himself ready for work also. He slips out of the apartment and into the driver's seat of his car.

“Morning, Jaemin.” Donghyuck says as Jaemin walks through the bookstore doors. 

“Look what came in this morning.” He was holding up a set of winter themed reading lights. His smile shines brightly on his face, making Jaemin chuckle. He had never seen someone so happy for reading accessories. 

Maybe that’s what happens when you work at a bookstore for too long.

“Pretty cool, Hyuck. Do you need any help putting them on display?” He says, putting his bag down behind the counter. “How many boxes are there?”

“Actually, you were assigned to stay on the register today.” 

And with that Jaemin starts his shift, he spends most of it making paper cranes with sticky notes and telling customers that they, in fact, do not sell the Fifty Shades series.

While on his break, he gets a call from Jeno.

“Jeno? Aren’t you supposed to be in class?” 

“My next class isn’t for another 20 minutes, I just wanted to ask you something.”

“Shoot.”

“How about we go see Avatar this Friday? It’s really long but I heard it’s totally worth it, Nana.”

Jaemin wants to say no because who wants to sit through a 3 hour long sequel especially if they’ve never even seen the first movie but he can hear how excited Jeno sounds over the phone and he can only imagine the look on his face right now, and that was enough to make him give in.

“Fine.”

A small sound of shock comes from the other line. “You really said yes! I thought I was going to have to be more convincing.” 

“Yeah, I thought so too.” He says half heartedly, not really wanting the other to hear.

He does.

“Seems like you can’t say no to me, huh?”

“Yeah, yeah,” Jaemin rolls his eyes. Jeno’s right . He can’t say no to him. “I’ve got to get back to work.”

“Bye, Nana! Have a good shift!” Jaemin swears he can hear the other smiling through the phone. 

“Bye, Jeno. Have a good class.” 

Jaemin comes back to the register with a little extra pep in his step. Sure, he didn’t want to watch a 3 hour long movie but at least it was 3 hours he could spend with Jeno.

-

It’s only the next day when Jeno realizes he can abuse his power.

It’s Thursday, both of the boys schedules were clear so they spent their entire day lounging around the house. Jaemin napped for most of the day, only waking up two hours ago, while Jeno played his game.

“Jaemin, come with me on a walk.”

Jaemin looks up from his phone to see Jeno dressed in his angel cat hoodie, some black jeans, with his pink hair in a wavy fashion.

There he goes, looking as beautiful as ever. 

God, how had Jaemin never noticed the beauty that had been living in the next room over? All these years of being friends and Jaemin is only now realizing how pretty Jeno looks even when he was just in casual clothes.

“Didn’t you take a walk this morning?”

“Yes, but I want to take one with you.” 

“It’s cold though.”

Jeno sighs and plots himself right next to Jaemin on the couch.

“Please…” He whined, clinging on to the boy's arm. “Don’t you want to take a late night stroll with me?”

He stares up at him with puppy dog eyes and his lips in a slight pout. 

Jaemin stares back at him, unconvinced. 

Jeno frowns but almost animatedly, Jeno’s face brightens as his idea strikes.

“Please go on a walk with me, Nana.”He asks again, moving his arms to latch around the younger boy's neck this time. With their faces closer Jeno can see the redness on Jaemin’s cheek and ears. 

“S-stop staring.” He stutters, standing up from the couch walking towards the door. 

“Come back! Where are you going?” 

“You wanted to go on a walk, right?”

Jeno smirks and shoots up. “I knew you’d give in.”

The boys step out into the night with Jeno leading the way. He takes his hand and pulls him along.

“Where are we going?” 

“Not far.”

Jeno smiles and leads them in the opposite direction of their apartment. Their intertwined cold hands bump into their thighs as Jeno picks up the pace. The nights were getting colder and Jaemin hadn’t grabbed a coat on his way out of the house. 

They made it to the crosswalk that connected their neighborhood to the corner. The light was green but the streets were empty. “Come on.”

He drags him to the end of the street where the local ice cream shop was. The blue neon sign flashes “Open” onto their faces. 

“I didn’t bring my wallet, Jen.” He pouts.

Jeno doesn’t respond, instead he opens the shop door, dragging the boy along to the front counter.

“Hi, Welcome to Sugar Alley. My name is Minji, what can I get you guys?” 

“I’ll have two scoops of mint choco in a waffle cone, Please!”

He squeezes the others hand, silently urging him to order. 

He looked at Jeno confused for the second time tonight but he orders anyway. “Coffee, one scoop in a cup.”

Jaemin smiles at the boy knowing his exact order. Two scoops had also been too much 

Jaemin grabs both of their ice creams when they are brought to the counter. While Jeno pays he finds a table near the door.

“Do you like your ice cream, Nana?” He asks, taking a seat.

“We had ice cream at home, you know. We didn’t have to go out.” 

Jeno pouts. “You didn’t want to go out with me?” 

Jaemin chuckles softly at the phrasing. “Of course, I wanted to go out with you. It’s just that… we had ice cream at home, you didn’t have to spend your money on me“

“I wanted to!” He interjects. “I like buying you things.” 

Jaemin frowns but he doesn’t protest. He takes his last spoonful of ice cream and pushes it to the side. Jeno offers some of his but Jaemin refuses, explaining that he has “had enough ice cream for a cold night”.

“Ice cream in November probably wasn’t a good idea, huh?” Jeno says, standing up and reaching his hand out for Jaemin to grab. He leads him to the door, Jaemin throws his empty cup out on the way. “Probably… but it was worth it. Thanks.”

Jeno smiles but it quickly fades when he takes a second glance at him. 

“Did you not grab a jacket before we left?” 

“I didn’t have time.” Jaemin shrugs. “You were practically rushing me.”

“Oh, I was rushing you? You’re the one who got all blushy and rushed out the door.”

“I did not.” Jaemin defends.

“Right, right. You definitely didn’t blush and become a stuttering mess.” Jeno smirks. 

Jaemin rolls his eyes and clenches Jeno’s hand. “Shut up, it’s not my fault you got so close to my face. What was I supposed to do? Smile at you.” 

“You could’ve moved closer.” Jeno says, but only to himself.

“Here.” He says, loud enough for Jaemin to hear this time. He lets go of his hand to take off his jacket and wrap it around Jaemin’s shoulders.

The younger boy doesn’t think twice about putting it on. His face strikes with guilt when he sees the boy look down at him with now rosy cheeks. Jaemin grabs his hand and shoves it in the jacket pocket. He rubs along his hand with his thumb in an attempt to warm up both of their hands. “Are you trying to warm me up?”

“Is it working?”

Jeno cracks a smile. “Yes.”

There they are, standing in the December cold. Warm hands matching their warm insides. Faces ablaze and hearts beating faster than ever. 

“Let's go home, Nana.” 

-

“Cheater.” Jeno huffs, struggling to catch his breath. They had planned to race up the stairs but as always, Jaemin ran off before Jeno said to start.

“Come on, Jeno, Aren’t you supposed to be the athletic one? How do I beat you every time?”

“Because you cheated.” He closed the door behind him and took off his shoes.

“I did not, but even if I did… you should’ve caught up.”

Jeno ignores the younger boy's antics and walks to his room. He stops halfway in the hallway and turns back to ask Jaemin if he wanted to play games again. 

As much as Jaemin wanted to go into Jeno’s room and ‘accidentally’ fall asleep in his bed again, he had other business to take care of. He needed to mentally prepare for tomorrow, confession day . 

“Maybe tomorrow, Jen. I’ve got something to work on.”

“Okay, I'm here if you need me.” 

Jaemin nods and they both go to their respective rooms.

Jaemin facepalms as soon as he closes the door. He takes a deep breath, and then another. 

“It’s fine. It’ll all be… fine.” He mutters to himself, grabbing the small notebook from his dresser. He flips to the back to find the untitled poem he had spent all day writing. 

Now coming to the realization that tomorrow was the day, panic was arising on Jaemin. 

He looks at the page and begins to recite every word, changing the tone and his inflection over and over again.

What if he hates this?

What if I misread the signs wrong and he just thinks of us as really good friends?

What if I ruin everything?

Jaemin’s stomach churns at that last thought. Surely, he wouldn’t ruin everything with his confession. Even if Jeno didn’t like him back, they would still be best friends, right? 

Right? 

He pulls out his phone and dials Renjun’s number. 

“Hi Jaem!” He says when he picks up.

The corner of Jaemin’s lips lift slightly when he hears Donghyuck also greeting him in the background.

“Hi guys.” He tries to mask the tremble in his voice but it doesn’t work. Renjun knows him all too well.

“Jaemin? What’s wrong?” 

Jaemin groans and puts his head in his palm, stressing away at his eye sockets like that was going to take away his doubt. It didn’t. Although the fact that the jacket smells exactly like Jeno helps calm his nerves a bit.

“I.. uhm.. I-I’m just getting nervous… I was going to confess tomorrow but… what if I got it all wrong? What if he just thinks of me as a good friend and I end up fucking it all up. ”

Renjun frowns on the other line. “Oh, baby. It’s ok to be nervous but I really do think he likes you. Just as much as you like him. Think about what’ll happen if you don’t confess, you won’t ever know what would’ve been. I think you should still confess, Jaemin, but even if you don’t, I'm here for you, okay? Good or bad outcome, I’m here, We’re here.”

“I just don’t want to lose him.” 

“You won’t. He cares about you too much.”

After a few sighs and seconds of silence, Jaemin speaks up. “I’m going to go through with it tomorrow.”

“That’s good, Jaem. I hope things go well. Call me afterwards and tell me everything?”

“Of course.”

“Bye Injunnie. Bye Hyuck.”

Jaemin feels a slight weight lifted off his shoulders. He would for sure go through with the confession. It’s just a matter of Jeno’s response. 

“Might as well.” He says to himself, standing up.

He puts the notebook back in his dresser drawer and leaves the room. He makes his way to Jeno’s room. He had made up the lame excuse of returning his jacket in case he didn’t want him in there anymore but obviously that was the overthinking talking because Jeno practically beams when he sees Jaemin in his doorway.

“I thought you had something to do?”

“I finished it already. I thought you were going to play games?”

Jeno’s computer was off and his desk was untouched. He was lying in bed scrolling through his phone.

“Jisung can’t play tonight and I didn’t want to play alone.” 

Jeno turns on his bedside lamp and ushers Jaemin over. Jaemin starts to take a seat on the edge but Jeno flips the side of the covers for him to lay down instead.

His heart starts pounding faster than it already was and his ears burn like they’ve been touched by the sun.

Jeno wraps his arm around his waist when the younger lays down. He pulls him in closer and nests his head in the crook of Jaemin’s neck.

“Nana.”

The childhood nickname vibrated against Jaemin’s skin, sending shivers up his spine. 

“You’re comfy.” He mumbles, sniffing the younger's hair. “Wait… Did you use my shampoo?” 

Jaemin scoffs and pushes him to the side.

 Idiot.

“Why couldn’t you just keep it nice by calling me comfy?” 

Jeno lets out a laugh and pulls Jaemin back into his grasp. He takes another small sniff before giggling against the younger scalp. “I thought maybe I was using way too much but no, it’s been you stealing it all along.” 

“What happened to us sharing all the time?”

“Yeah but my shampoo! It’s like 20 dollars and it’s so small”

Jaemin huffs and gives a half hearted apology. 

“I’m just playing, Nana. I don’t mind you using it. It makes you smell like me and… I like that.”

Jaemin blushes, burying his face in his hands. 

God, how can he say something so shameless? 

“You don’t have to get all shy about it.” 

“I’m not shy.” He says 

“You’re hiding behind your hands.”

Jaemin moves his hands from his face and pushes Jeno away once again. “Shut up.” 

“Okay, okay. I’ll stop.” He sits up to put his phone on the counter and slumps back down next to Jaemin. 

They sat there for a few moments. Side by side, silent, staring off into space. Jeno searched the bedsheets for Jaemins hand, slowly rubbing his thumb against the palm once he found it.

“Can you stay here tonight?” Jeno whispered out into the open. “Please?” He added when he was met with more silence.

It’s not that Jaemin didn’t want to spend another night in Jeno’s bed, he was just overwhelmed with the thoughts of tomorrow.

If he did stay the night, would this be the last? Would this be the last time he got to hold his hand? 

Jeno speaks up again. “Y-you don’t have to if you don’t want….It’s just…I like...having you here. It’s nice. Comforting.”

Every doubting thought in Jaemin’s mind dissolved.

“I’ll stay, Jen.”

Not that Jeno could see him, but Jaemin smiles and turns to face him. “You didn’t have to get all shy about it.” He mocks, earning him a shove from the elder.

Jaemin wakes up to a flash of light. “Cute.” He hears.

He shoots up, scooting a few inches. He squints his eyes and puts his hands up to the camera. “What ever happened to ‘Good morning’?”

“Good morning, Nana. I made eggs.” He’s smiling down at his phone, flipping through the pictures he just took. 

Jaemin rolls out of bed, staggering his way out the door but not before rolling his eyes at the grinning boy. “Delete those.”

Jeno doesn’t answer, instead he just joins him at the kitchen table. “These are my prized possessions. I can’t delete them. Plus, you look so peaceful sleeping 

Jaemin groans and shoves eggs in his mouth. 

Jeno snaps another photo and Jaemin flips the camera off. “You’re annoying.” 

“You love me.”

Jaemin’s stomach starts to churn. He had almost forgotten. Today is the day.

“Shut up.”

Jaemin didn’t feel like eating anymore. He looks over to his best friend. He stared as if he was studying for a test. The smile that grew on his lips, his eye mole that was now creased, the red tips of his ears, his messy bed head Jaemin wanted to remember all of it. 

“Take one of us.”

Jeno holds up his phone, snapping a photo of the two of them. Jaemin’s hair was wild, matching Jeno’s. Their faces are slightly swollen and pale.

“Send it to me.” 

“But we look bad.” Jeno laughs, zooming in on his hair. “I don’t care. I want it.”

Jaemin’s phone dings with receival. He favorites the photo, saving it to his photo album. He smiles at it, mustering up a small amount of confidence to say: “You look cute, Jeno. Like a puppy or something.” 

“Is this your way of calling me a dog?” Jaemin laughs at Jeno’s scowl. 

“Don’t pout, puppy.” He says, patting Jeno on the head. Jaemin runs out of confidence when he sees Jeno’s furrowed brows. “Now, I’m going to go shower. We have a long day ahead of us.”

And it was a long day, indeed. It’s 7 pm and the two boys are sitting in their designated theater seats. Jeno had insisted they get there early so they could watch previews. Jaemin couldn’t focus on the previews at all, too busy typing away in his phone.

from jaemin: guys im panicking :(((

from donghyuck: DONT 

from donghyuck: he likes you back!

from renjun: are you going to give him the poem after the movies?

from jaemin: yeah, i left the poem sitting on the table… it’ll be the first he’ll see when we come back home

from jaemin: i’m scared that maybe i read all of these signs wrong and what if he gets upset or weirded out about it?

from renjun: try to stay calm, okay? i’m 1000% sure he likes you but even if he didn’t, he wouldn’t hurt your feelings. He'd never do that.

from donghyuck: don’t talk yourself out of it! we are rooting for you!!

from renjun: good luck jaem!! although you won’t need it!! 

He slips his phone back in his pocket.  Anxiously, he twiddles his thumbs. He takes two deep breaths and then the theater turned dark, queuing the movie. 

Jaemin feels Jeno’s warm hand finds its way to his. 

“No excuse this time.” Jaemin says, meekly, trying to make light of the anxiety pooling in his stomach.

“I don’t need one anymore.” He smiles.

Jaemin might have underestimated how long 3 hours truly is. He was fully awake 30 minutes in, frequently whispering to Jeno about how cool the graphics were. 30 minutes after that, he took a bathroom break. Now he’s an hour and twenty minutes in and he’s already taken a small nap that only ended because the audience erupted in gasps, now he can’t even focus on the words coming out of Jake Sully’s mouth. He’s too busy staring down at his sweaty intertwined hand and his shaky, free one.

When the pair make it to the car, their hands are still interlocked. Jeno opens the door, gesturing to the passenger seat. “I’ll drive us back.” He shuts the door and scurries to the other side. 

Within a few (bumpy) minutes, they’re home. “Jen, I don’t even know how you get to and from school, you drive like a maniac.”

“Well, you drive like an old man.” He says, opening the apartment door. Jaemin takes off his coat and eyes the brown notebook sitting on the table. Anxiety bubbles in his stomach and a tremble starts in his gait. 

“I’ll call in the pizza.” Jeno says, sitting on the couch. 

“Wait!” Jaemin hastily walks over to the couch. He thinks about it for a second and decides to sit on the opposite end of the couch. 

“I- Uhm…. something to show you.” He says in a meekly voice. Jeno notices the sudden change in the younger demeanor; his shoulders narrowed in like he’s trying to be as small as possible, his eyes fixed on his hands, and the shake in his voice.

Jaemin grabs the notebook and flips to a page in the middle. He gives it a few scans before handing it over with shaky hands. “I… wrote this.” 

Jeno reads it quietly, the ends of his lips lift up and when he gets to a certain line he breaks out into a full smile. He even lets a giggle escape.

“This is really good, Nana. Who knew you were such a romant- '' He looks up at the shaking boy. “W-woah, Jaem. What’s wrong?” His voice laced with concern, he sets the book down and puts his hand on Jaemins knee. 

“Nana?”

Jeno swirls his thumb in circles on Jaemins knee, watching as he tries to form out his next sentence.

“Jeno… You know you’re my best friend, right?”

“Uh, Yeah. I sure hope I am.” He laughs, nervously, not wanting to appear like he was laughing at him.

“I’m serious. You’re my best friend and I never want to lose you.”

Jeno’s thumb stops and he takes his hand off of Jaemin to engulf him in a hug. “You’re not going to lose me, Jaemin.” He trails off before speaking up a few seconds later, “Where’s this coming from?”

Jaemin leans his entire body into the hug, burying his face in Jenos neck and wrapping his arms around his waist. 

“The poem I wrote…. It’s for you.” 

Jaemin feels Jeno tilt his head. He doesn’t get it. Jaemin takes a deep breath, one probably longer than any he’s even taken before. 

Jaemin imagines himself backtracking; saying it was just a joke and that it didn’t mean anything, but he couldn’t. He had worked too hard on gathering this courage, he wasn’t going to let it slip through his finger tips.

“I love you.” He says. It comes out quieter than he expected but they both heard it. “I wrote a love poem because I feel that way about you. I’m in love with you.”

Jeno pulls away to face Jaemin, staring at him intensely. “You love me?” 

Jaemin hangs his head low. “Yes,” He mumbles. “A lot.”

Silence suffocates them for a number of seconds before a sob erupts from Jaemin, his head bobbing while his hands go up to rub his eyes. “I’m so-”

“I love you too.” He rushes the words out so fast that Jaemin almost couldn’t understand. Almost .

With blurry vision, Jaemin can make out Jenos smiling face. His eyes are also teary but somehow, still happy.

“Don’t cry, Nana. You’re going to make me cry.” He cupped Jaemin’s cheeks, wiping away his tears.

“You love me back?” Jaemin hesitates to make eye contact but when he looks up the elder is already staring at his eyes. “Like… love, actually?”

“Of course I do. How could I not?”

Warm tears stream from Jaemins eyes onto Jenos hands. He sobs harder causing his whole body to shake.

“Nana, Baby… don’t cry.” The endearment flies from his lips like he had been stuck in his throat the whole time. He wipes his tears once more, leaning forward to kiss Jaemins cheek ever so slightly. When he leans back up, his own tears have fallen. 

“I thought I was going to ruin us. I thought you wouldn’t want to be my friend anymore.” Jaemin says once he settles down. His voice, wet with emotion.

“Nana, there is no way to ruin us. I’m always going to want to be your friend. We’ve been together all these years, nothing could get in the way of that.” Jeno wipes his tears away with his sleeve. “How come you thought that, though? I thought it was pretty obvious that I liked you. I mean… we’ve been sharing a bed for the past week and a half. I’m constantly trying to hold your hand.” 

Jaemin cracks a smile. From anyone else’s perspective, it would have been obvious Jeno was crushing on him but from Jaemin’s, he was second guessing every sign of affection he was given. Even after Renjun and Donghyuck assured him, he still didn’t believe it. How could he be so blind? 

“Yeah.. I guess I just thought… you were being friendly or something."

Jeno throws his head back, scoffing. “Oh yeah because cuddling you to sleep and wanting you to smell like me are platonic things.” 

“You never know, maybe you could have just liked sleeping next to someone.” 

“You. I like sleeping next to you. I like waking up next to you.” Jeno cradled Jaemin’s face in his hands. “I like being with you, Jaemin.”

His eyes flicker to Jaemins lips and back up to his eyes. Jaemins looks up at him with need and approval, practically begging him to lean in. So he does.

Jaemins soft lips mold with Jenos and he swears it’s a feeling he’s craved all his life. Something so familiar, yet foreign to him. He deepens the kiss, pulling Jeno closer by the neck. All his pining and desire, pushed into one simple movement. 

They slowly pull away, not wanting to let the satisfaction get away just yet. Jaemins face is beyond flushed, Jenos is too.

“Now, as much as I would love to keep kissing you, I need to mark this memory.” He pecks his lips again before pulling his phone from his pocket and snapping a picture of the two with their lips interlocked. “‘My new favorite picture in the album.”

“What was your favorite picture before?”

Jeno smirks. “Wouldn’t you like to now?"

“Actually, I would”

“We should really call in the pizza now. I’m starved.”

“Hey, don’t try to change the subject. What was your favorite picture?”