Work Text:
na jaemin was a regular sixteen year old boy, he went to school, he got moderate grades, he hung out with his friends on weekends and played video games in his free time.
but to jeno he wasn’t. to jeno he was the most beautiful person to exist. to jeno his smile was like lightning in the darkness and his touch like heroin and he couldn’t get enough. he wanted him so badly it was physically painful.
jeno and jaemin had been friends for most of their lives. both grew up in the same neighborhood and hung out with the same friends. one day when they were three, jeno brought jaemin with him home. jeno’s mom instantly treated jaemin like her own son and their moms became best friends. in kindergarten they’d met huang renjun, a quiet boy who loved drawing. the first time jeno saw one of renjuns drawings he had told him “wow, that’s so cool!”, jaemin had agreed and since that day renjun had started hanging out with them. on the first day of middle school they had met mark lee, a canadian boy who was actually one year older then them but had just moved to korea and who didn’t have any friends yet, lee donghyuck, a boy who made jaemin, jeno and renjun laugh the first time he spoke to them, and zhong chenle, a chinese boy who wasn’t super confident in his korean yet but who he still managed to befriend donghyuck (which wasn’t a big shock, since haechan managed to befriend everyone).
they were the bestest of friends. they hung out every day after school and had sleep overs every weekend. but everyone knew that jaemin and jeno’s relationship was different. they were always together, even when the rest of the group wasn’t. the other boys would catch them looking at each other when the other didn’t notice. but then came park jisung.
park jisung was 2 years younger than jaemin, jeno, haechan and renjun. chenle was the one who introduced him to the group after they’d gotten to know each other at their soccer practices. everyone loved jisung, jeno did to, but after he started hanging out with the group, jaemin started to pay less attention to him. jeno felt jealous. at the time he didn’t even know what jealousy was, but he was irritated any time jaemin and jeno would talk and even as much as look at each other. jaemin was his bestfriend, not jisung’s.
he never told anyone about his jealousy, since he felt guilt for it. he knew that jaemin and jisung were just friends, just like the rest of them, but he couldn’t help it. it was then, at the age of 14 that jeno realized his feelings for jaemin were more than just regular love towards a friend. he loved jaemin. no, he was in love with jaemin.
the first person he told was haechan. it wasn’t willingly, haechan had forced it out of him when he came over to jenos house to study. haechan had noticed the way jeno would look at jisung and jaemin when they were together and had threatened to tell them if jeno didn’t admit it. jeno, of course, didn’t want jaemin, the boy he loved, to know his feelings about him since that would most likely ruin their friendship. he didn’t want jaemin to get uncomfortable around him and stop hanging out with him. he loved him, but he didn’t want that to destroy their friendship.
which is why he now, two years later, still hadn’t told jaemin about his feelings. jaemin and him were closer than ever, jisung was still there but he was so busy with school work he no longer had as much time to hang out with the group. jeno would never admit it, but it made him happy to have jaemin to himself. or so he thought. “jeno, i need to tell you something” “what is it?” jeno asked with a small smile on his lips, he always had a smile on his face while looking at jaemin. “you see that boy over there, the one who just transferred to our class?” jeno nodded “he’s so cute, yesterday when i dropped my books in the hall, he ran to help me!!! i think i’m developing a crush on him” jaemin shyly admitted.
jenos heart dropped. of course, being a teenage boy, jaemin was no stranger to crushes, and this wasn’t the first time he’d told jeno about one of them, but it still made his heart drop every time. sometimes he wishes he could tell jaemin about his feelings for him, but he knows jaemin won’t feel the same, and he doesn’t want to risk their friendship.
“oh yeah he’s cute”, jeno answered. “you think so??? i didn’t know he was your type? is he your type? otherwise what is your type? you’ve never told me” you , jeno thought. “nothing special, i guess just someone who has a good personality and can make me happy” jeno said. “ughhh that’s so boring and basic! don’t you have any physical traits you like?? like maybe someone taller than you, or someone with blond hair????” jaemin questions. someone who looks like you, jeno thinks.
“no not really” jeno answers. jaemin sighs “i know you do. everyone does!!! but i won’t force you to tell me, just know you can always tell me anything, i won’t judge you! okay? you know that right?” jeno did know that. but he also knows that when jaemin says that he means jeno can tell him anything he may be too embarrassed to tell anyone else, something like “oh i accidentally fell today during my presentation haha” not something like “oh hi jaemin i have feelings for you and not in a friendship type way i’m literally so in love with you i would do anything you asked me too even if you told me to fly to the moon or to walk on water”. jeno is sure that if he was to ever tell jaemin about his feelings for him it would get awkward between them. there’s no way jaemin could ever like him back, he literally just told him that he’s developing a crush for a guy he’s literally only known the existence of for like a week.
“of course i know that jaemin. same here, you can always be honest with me” jaemin squeezed at jenos side. “i’m so happy to have you in my life jeno. i don’t know what i would do without you as my best friend”