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Park Jisung and Lee Jeno did not get along. Jisung figured it mostly boiled down to just the competitive nature of their dance classes, which causes Jeno to irritate him so much. They were only in one actual class together, then in the dance club. In the club, it was when Jisung was the most annoyed by Jeno. Literally every single idea Jisung brings up, Jeno shoots down; it was getting demoralizing. He’d actually begun to wonder if he had no talent or creativity, but he figured Jeno probably just hated him because his teachers were all compliments. Plus, living with Jaemin only allowed for wallowing in low self-esteem for a short amount of time. True or not, it was annoying. Jeno is annoying.
Jisung is sweating, standing next to Mark, who is leaning on his chest, heaving. They both laugh and slump to the ground. Jeno is at the front, looking just as sweaty and seemingly giving pointers to some girls who asked for his opinion. He doesn’t want to admit it, but Jeno was at least a good teacher for the club. This was one of the rare times one of Jisung's ideas was being implemented because Jeno had been sick, and Mark took over. That meant for 3 days, Jisung got to unload every idea he could think of to someone who would actually listen, so he got to choreograph part of the dance.
Jeno approaches because, to Jisung's dismay, Mark and he are friends, “Hey, Jeno isn’t Jisung's section good?”
Jeno looks at Jisung, no sign of an expression, “yup,” he looks back at Mark, “I'll meet you and Hyuck at the library in an hour.”
Damn, Mark and his need to force amends between him and Jeno. He smiles sheepishly, “he basically complimented you.”
“Just because I'm younger than you doesn't mean I'm an idiot,” Jisung frowns, “don't patronize me.”
“He agreed!”
“A ‘yup’ is barely agreeing!” Jisung rolls his eyes.
The door to the room opens, exposing Jaemin with his bag hanging from his shoulder, “Jisung, are you done?”
He stands, grabbing his own bag from the pile in the corner, “Let’s just go.”
Jaemin frowns, following after him, “What happened?”
“Just Mark trying to make me and Jeno interact again, and as always, it's just embarrassing.”
Jaemin laughs, “he means well.”
“Well, I wish he wouldn't. Jeno doesn't like me. It’s whatever, who cares?” Jisung shrugs, running a hand through his damp hair, “I really need a shower.”
Jeno walks past them, sparing a wandering glance down at Jisung before speed walking ahead, Jaemin grabs his arm with force, “Oh my god, he just checked you out”
“What?!” He shoves him off, “Ugh, you're all crazy, seriously, I don't wanna talk about that guy anymore.”
Jaemin, for once in his life, takes pity on him and shuts up. Both are completely unnatural events, so Jisung decides he must look pathetic.
—
Jisung is upside down on his couch, playing some random game on his phone. Jaemin is on the phone with someone in the kitchen who seems to be trying to get him to go out. But all he can really gather is him saying something about a bad idea, and I'm not sure I should go.
Then Jaemin is hovering over him, “You’re coming with me.”
Jisung raises an eyebrow, “Leaving the apartment doesn't sound like something I'd do.”
“But yet it is something you're doing,” Jaemin starts moving around, throwing a sweatshirt at him, “come on, please. I also just let you rot at home; come with me this once.”
“Don’t you have a man of some sort to annoy?”
“He's out of town,” Jaemin whines.
“Ugh” he sits up, pulling the hoodie on, “fine, what are we doing though?”
“We're just getting food with Mark and Hyuck. I don’t want to third wheel,” Jaemin explains.
“I guess that's fair,” those two can be unbearable sometimes, Jisung thinks.
They get to the diner, and he ushers Jisung into the booth, trapping him in there. He's starting to feel slightly unsettled because Jaemin usually lets him sit on the outside for leg room. Not to mention, he seems uncharacteristically antsy.
“You're up to something, let me out,” Jisung demands suddenly.
Jaemin plants his feet on the ground, bracing himself to not be pushed off, “what I'm just sitting here waiting for our friends like you.”
“You're acting suspicious,” he trails off, staring at the door, seeing Hyuck, Mark, and Lee fucking Jeno walk in, “okay, well now I'm killing you.”
“No!” Jaemin immediately begins shoving lanky arms away from him.
“So do I wanna know what's going on?” Hyuck questions.
“He’s trying to kill me despite all the love I've given him.”
“Well I'm surprised he hasn't done it already because of that,” Hyuck smirks then dodges a aimed fist from Jaemin, “go on Jeno.”
They make Jeno sit directly across from him, but he doesn't even look up. Jisung is stewing; he's sure he's got a pissed look on his face. It's seriously been too much already lately from Mark trying to force Jeno to be nice to him, so it just felt over the top.
He and Jeno both don't speak, just listening to the other 3 chatting, mostly Donghyuck and Jaemin gossiping. He's absentmindedly stirring his milkshake he ordered, when he feels it. At first, it's just a tap against his foot. He thinks it's an accident, but then there's a more purposeful graze against his ankle. He looks up, and Jeno is still just sipping his drink and scrolling on his phone. Looking at Mark and Hyuck, they're right next to each other, so it couldn't be him, and if it were Jaemin, he'd make it known to the whole table. And probably also be doing it to everyone else, too to be honest. He wasn't even sure what this was. It was Jeno, it had to be Jeno, gently rubbing the side of his leg absently. It looked like he wasn't even aware he was doing it while Jisung was turning pink. Is this man really playing footsie with him with no idea?
Suddenly, Jeno looks stunned and shuffles in his seat, seemingly pulling in on himself. He only glances at Jisung for a second and looks away, effectively hiding behind his screen.
Jaemin wraps an arm around his shoulders, “Why is my jisungie all pink?”
Jisung shakes his head, “Nothing can, we go home yet.”
“Ugh, you and Jeno are the exact same, I swear, if you guys didn't like dance, you'd never leave the house if you found a way.” Donghyuck rolls his eyes.
Jeno huffs, “I like to go out uh, sometimes.”
Jisung stares at him quizzically, he seemed shy? Has Jeno always been shy?
“You two are a couple of introverts, and that's okay.” Mark nods, seemingly trying to push Donghyuck out of the booth, “now let's go.”
“See, that wasn't so bad, right?” Jaemin asks as they slip into the car, “I'm sorry for blindsiding you, okay? It was their idea, they said neither of you would go.”
“So Jeno didn't know either?” Jaemin shakes his head, Jisung huffs, “well, that was a waste of time if you didn't notice, and I hate all of you.”
—
It wasn't a club day, so Jisung did what he usually did and made his way towards the room. He usually liked to sneak some extra practice in if he could. When he approaches this time, though, he hears loud music leaking out.
Walking up, he peeks through the small windows on the door to see who is inside. Jisung tries not to stare with his mouth wide open, but he's pretty sure he failed. Inside is shirtless Jeno with newly dyed red hair.
He's not sure how long he's standing there admiring Jeno’s form. Yeah, dancing form, I'm just looking at him dancing, he thinks. But his heart tries to plummet out of his ass when Jeno's eyes meet his on a spin.
Jisung turns to hightail it outta there immediately, but Jeno is to the door faster, “Jisung!”
He freezes and slowly turns to Jeno who looks just as surprised as him that he stopped him, “hey, I was just seeing if the room is available, but it's cool, I don't need it.”
“Oh I’ll leave soon, but,” he seems hesitant, “can you just help me for a moment? I was practicing the choreography for the dance club, but in your part, there's something I'm not sure I'm doing right.”
Jisung stares at him wide-eyed, trying to keep his eyes trained on his face, “oh, okay.”
He sits on the floor behind Jeno watching him run through the part a couple of times. He can see where he's stumbling and what the mistake is easily.
“Oh, I see.” Jisung stands and touches Jenos' shoulder and slowly directs him with light touches, “can you see? Here,” he moves Jeno’s shoulder as he moves his own, “like that.”
Jeno’s fingers brush his, and Jisung looks up in the mirror to see Jeno's face dusted pink, “thanks, Jisung.”
They don't say another word, Jeno just leaves.
—
Jisung is down into a half split stretching, Lee Jeno is a row back laughing with Mark. He spares a glance for a moment and covers his mouth, laughing harder. Internally, he sighed, feeling like they were giggling about him.
“Everyone, line up,” the teacher calls. They fall into their places, “okay, I'm gonna list off who you're partnered up with for the dance, you'll perform your work in a month.” She’s going down the list and then, “Jeno and Jisung.”
Jisung's heart drops; he can't work with Jeno. He's feeling a bit like he’s going to crash out, but takes a deep breath. He can just talk to his teacher; everything will be fine, he thinks.
As class comes to a close, he avoids Jeno’s stare and makes his way to the front, “teacher, could I switch partners? I'm just not sure how well Jeno and I will realistically mesh.”
The teacher smiles, “I think you and Jeno will complement each other nicely, and you're the two best dancers in class, so it makes sense.” Her eyes drift behind him, “Don't you agree, Jeno?’
“Yup,” Jeno pops the p obnoxiously.
Defeatedly, Jisung sighs, “Right, okay.” He turns to Jeno when the teacher walks away and unintelligibly says, “uh, so”
“Let's swap numbers,” Jeno offers his phone out, and Jisung scrambles to do the same, “and let's take a look at the time sheets for the rooms.”
“Okay.”
They walk up to the sign-up sheets to find bad news; the rooms only allow 3 days out of sign-ups, and they're all full except incredibly shitty times.
Jeno huffs, “Well, lucky us” he scratches his head, double-checking the pages, “We’re gonna have to do two unfun times one early and one late.”
Jisung groans, “I guess whatever we have to do.”
Jeno leans forward, writing on the sheets, “You don't have a car, right?” Jisung nods, “Well, the 6 am one, I guess I'll pick you up, don't make me wait around, be ready.”
He doesn't let Jisung say anything, just leaves. Rude and confusing.
—
In the morning, he wakes up to his 5 am alarm that pisses him off. Jisung is not a morning person at all. When he checks his phone, there is a text that just says send address, he assumes it's Jeno. Dropping a map pin, he gets up and speeds through his morning routine.
When he leaves his room, he's shocked to see Jaemin, “Why are you up?”
“I'm up against my will,” he throws his dance bag down by the door, “I have a project for dance. My partner and I got left with the shit times for this week.”
Jaemin nodded with a yawn, “Well, I just got home.”
“Ew stop fucking your teacher, seriously,” Jisung cringes, grabbing his water bottle from the fridge.
“No way,” Jaemin's grin is wide, “it's too good and plus he's not my teacher anymore, boyfrienddd.”
Jisungs ears perk up at this, “Really? Congratulations seriously”
He tries not to think about what he's going to do if Jaemin moves out with Jaehyun, or even worse, they all live together. He shudders, that can't happen.
There's a knock at the door that Jaemin is now unfortunately closer to, “Who's here this early?” he opens it and looks confused, “uh.”
“I'm here for Jisung,” he hears Jeno’s deep morning voice from the doorway.
Jisung’s face is red, avoiding Jaemin's gaze, he gathers up his bag, “I'm coming! Bye, Jaemin!”
“You are explaining this later Park Jisung!” Jaemin yells down the hall after them.
“Ugh, sorry,” he lets go of Jeno's arm, he used to drag him down the hall, “I try not to give him the chance to embarrass me.”
“Too late,” Jeno deadpans.
When they're at the studio, it seems like Jeno has already made all the decisions without him. He's setting up the music and doing stretches. Jisung's eyes are definitely not completely trained on his sleeveless arms. He's wearing some sort of muscle tee that looks like he's already sweated in.
Before he can stop himself, he asks, “Did you work out?”
Jeno's eyes meet his in the mirror, seemingly just noticing Jisung's watchful eye, “yup,” a grin is on his face, “every morning, that's why I offered to pick you up.”
“Oh,” Jisung tears his eyes away, “so you picked the song already?”
“Yup.”
Jisung has to resist the urge to roll his eyes. He hates that damn word. By the end, the two of them are sweating and sitting on the floor, catching their breath. Jisung is lying down, hair fanned out on the floor, while his chest heaves.
“Your lines were really good,” Jeno says and then asks if he doesn't want to acknowledge that he paid Jisung a compliment, “Okay, I'm gonna grab a snack, I'll be right back.”
Jisung watches him go, then, despite him trying to fight it off, his eyes fall shut; he's so tired.
“Hey, Jisung, we are actually pretty much out of time.” Jeno stops looking at the boy, realizing he's dead asleep.
He crouches next to him, brushing a strand of hair from his eyes, “cute.”
It's this moment that the door slams open, startling Jisung awake, “get out, losers it's our turn.” Donghyuck yells with Mark in tow, he tilts his head, “Aren’t you two supposed to hate each other?”
Mark slaps a hand over his mouth, “shut up.”
Jisung is flushed, staring wide-eyed at Jeno, “uh, sorry, didn't mean to fall asleep.”
Jeno ignores him, “We’re going, sorry guys.” He grabs his and Jisung's bags, then stands over him, offering a hand, “Come on.”
Jisung takes it; Jeno effortlessly lifts him from the ground. Jeno doesn't speak to him, just speed walks off in a direction. Jisung is almost jogging to keep up with him.
“Jeno!” Jisung runs into his back when he suddenly stops, making him bump into his back
“What?” Jeno asks, “I'll text you the next time.”
Jisung can't do anything but stare as he takes off down the sidewalk. He frowns and pulls out his phone, texting Jaemin that he's gonna need a ride home.
When Jaemin shows up looking concerned, he finds Jisung looking defeated on a bench.
“Hey,” Jaemin sits next to him, “what happened?”
“Nothing really, honestly,” he smiles weakly, “I think he just forgot he drove me here, and well, I don't have classes today, so.”
Jaemin laughs, “Why didn't you just remind him?”
“Well, I kinda fell asleep…” Jisung groans, “and then he was basically running away from me, I had done enough.”
“You fell asleep?” Jaemin asks.
“Literally in the middle of the floor.”
Jaemin stifled a laugh, and Jisung whined, hitting him, “I'm sorry! It's funny, come on.”
“Just take me home.”
“Fine, fine, let's go, you baby.” He throws an arm awkwardly around Jisung's shoulders that are a little too tall for it, “how'd this stupid thing between you two even start again?”
Jisung sighs, trying to recall. He remembers being new and frustrated that he kept hearing Jeno's name with a comparison to him. It felt like it was constant all the time. And he just wanted to be his own person and make a name for himself. In hindsight, Jisung shouldn't have let it get to him at all, but he never claimed to be the best at dealing with emotions.
So he feigns confidence in the middle of a group of people who were raving to him about Jeno, saying he was almost just as good, “I bet I can dance even better than that guy.” It was probably more the tone than anything.
When he turned, Jeno was standing there, eyes wide-eyed, “oh.”
Jisung didn't even really give him a chance to say anything, and didn't even apologize. Simply brushed past him, then spent the next year avoiding Jeno like the plague. When they were together, Jeno didn't look at him, only acknowledging him if he absolutely had to.
Jaemin, from the driver's seat, gasps, “I cannot believe this is my Jisungie’s fault.”
“I-it didn't even seem like that big of a deal!! I was nothing but nice after that, and he just ignores me, glares at me, and won't listen to any of my ideas at dance club,” Jisung sighs, “I know, I know, okay.”
“Maybe you should just apologize for it, maybe it really did get to him or something,” he smiles at him, “and I mean it's been better lately, right? And you have the project together, you should try to get along.”
“Right.”
—
Jisung keeps everything extremely cordial with Jeno. Jaemin was right; it was his fault if there were any actual bad feelings between them. He'd been extra nice and bit his tongue every time Jeno shot down any of his ideas for the dance club. It was actually confusing because when they were brainstorming for their project, he was extremely open to all of Jisung's ideas. Now they're lying down in the middle of the room, taking a 5-minute break, scrolling on their phones when the door opens.
Jaemin is grinning and sings, “Jisungieee.”
“Jaemin!?” Jisung sits up, shocked to see Jaemin standing there with food in hand.
Jeno barely spares a glance.
“I thought you would be hungry afterwards, and I'm not going to be home until late, so I figure I'd drop this by.” He sets the food on the couch and looks at Jeno, “There’s some in there for you too Jeno.”
Jeno looks up from his phone, surprised, “oh, thanks.”
Jaemin looks between them with a raised brow, “Shouldn’t dancing be happening at dance practice?”
“Get out,” Jisung deadpans.
The man laughs heartily and runs over, kissing him on top of the head, “I'll be home late, late, okay?”
“Okay,” Jaemin leaves, and Jaemin seems agitated, Jisung tries to brush past it, “You ready to keep going?”
Jeno simply got back into position and started the music. They’re going through the routine with ease and no errors; it's nearly finished, they only really need a few more moves to meet the requirements.
When they’re finishing up, Jisung is rummaging through the bag and sees that one of the containers has Jeno written on top of the take-out box.
“Here,” Jisung holds it out to him, “this one is yours.”
“Ah uh.”
“Just take it, Jaemin always gets way too much, and so that means I'll never get around to also eating the portion for you.” Jisung smiles, pushing it into his hands, “Take it.”
Jeno takes the box, “Tell him I appreciate it.”
“I will,” he hesitantly offers, “do you wanna just eat here?” he hopes that together is implied.
There's an awkward air around them, then Jeno speaks, “Jaemin probably shouldn’t show up when we're doing practice, it's a distraction.”
He doesn’t give him a chance to respond and just leaves.
Jisung scoffs, “Maybe he really is just a jerk.”
Jisung ends up awake until the late hours when Jaemin finally returns. He comes in with that stupid smile he has plastered on his face every time he sees Jaehyun.
“Jisung? Why’re you still awake?” Jaemin flops on the couch next to him.
“I couldn't sleep, I guess.”
“Mhm, how’d your practice go? Did you guys finish the routine?” he asks
Jisung rolls his eyes, “almost, but you won't believe this, he really said it was too distracting for you to be showing up at practice.” He sits up properly, “All you did was drop some food for us both off! And we were taking a break.”
Jaemin's features warp into something unreadable, “Oh, really?”
“Don't be upset, Nana, he’s stupid.”
“I'm not upset, Ji. He’s right! Next time I'll come at the end.” Jaemin smiles like he knows something Jisung doesn't, “It’s a reasonable request.”
Jisung frowns, “Why are you taking his side?”
“There are no sides, calm down!”
—
Jeno is walking to his next class when his path is cut off by none other than Na Jaemin. He looks at the boy in front of him, who is smiling ear to ear. He tries to step around him, but Jaemin simply side steps to stay in front of him.
“Hello, Lee Jeno.”
“Hello,” he awkwardly folds his arms across his chest, “what’s up? Is everything okay with Jisung?”
If it's even possible Jaemin's smile gets even bigger, “I see, just as I thought,” he leans forward, “I want you to come over for dinner and a movie,” just as Jeno is about to speak Jaemin waves his hands stopping him, “please don't say no! Jisung will be so lonely if you don't show up, my boyfriend is coming and I don't want him to feel left out,” he hands Jeno a piece of paper, “yeah I have a boyfriend, Jisung doesn't though in case you didn't know. And that's my number just in case,” he places the paper in his hand when he doesn't reach to take it, “now it is supposed to be tonight but I could reschedule if need be.”
Jeno thinks his mouth must be hanging open for a while, looking confused. He thinks about saying no, but there's just something about this guy that makes him feel like he can't. Plus, he doesn't really want Jisung to feel left out, “Uhm, no need, I can do tonight.”
“Yeah, awesome, text me if you need the address again,” he starts walking away, then stops, “Oh, don't tell Jisung the dinner is a surprise! Oh, and text me for real, I'll send you the details because I'm running so late!” And then literally takes off.
It's then that he catches a glimpse of Jisung walking towards the practice rooms. What had he just agreed to? Jisung already didn't like him, and he really didn't want to make it worse, and on top of that, Jisung made him fucking nervous. How was he supposed to make it through an entire dinner party with Na Jaemin, his mystery boyfriend, and Park Jisung, who Jeno had decided was the most attractive person he'd ever seen, and act normal? He already felt like he was sweating.
He pulled his phone out, sending Jaemin a non-intelligible text simply reading ‘Jeno’. He figured he'd better get that out of the way, and in a predictable Jaemin nature, he replied immediately and had a lot to say. As if he hadn’t already just talked Jeno's ear off no less than 5 minutes ago.
Heyyyy!!!! Okay, so the dinner is actually for Jisungs birthday, so just that heads up :D Make sure you tell him happy birthday! So well have dinner and watch a movie, then after well go meet up with everyone else. Oh my god, I'm so excited I got Jisung, the best gift. Oh, that reminded me for sure, don't feel like you need to get him a gift or anything, okay? Oh, and no dress code, of course xD !! It's gonna start early because of the later stuff, so 5 pm. And do not tell Jisung or else!!!!!!!
Jeno reads the texts, shocked, Jaemin had even told him they could reschedule. Reschedule Jisung’s fucking birthday if he can't come of all people, as if Jisung even wants him there, why is only he invited to the dinner? His stomach hurts. Why does it feel like he's being set up? And no present, no he has to get a present.
His mind starts swimming, what does Jisung even like? He’d always avoided even talking to him because he was so attracted to him and thought he was dating Jaemin. He's not dating Jaemin. Jisung has no boyfriend. And apparently does like boys. Jeno is going to throw up on the sidewalk. He suddenly realizes he's been standing in the same spot, frozen, and people are now starting to look at him funny. He forces his feet to drag himself forward towards the practice rooms where he has club activities.
When he walks in, everyone is greeting him, but it's like his head is pounding in his ears as he makes a beeline for Jisung.
He uncharacteristically smiles up at him from his spot on the floor, “Jeno?”
“What do you like?” Jeno asks nervously.
“What do I like?” He looks so confused, but then he's thinking, “uh, like stuff or like hobbies.”
“Stuff.”
He blinks at him, still looking confused, “I like these little guys,” he reaches down to his back, holding up a clear bag holding a couple of little green guys sitting, “they're smiskis, I don't know, I think they're cute,” he looks at Jeno again, “are you okay? You look kinda pale and sweaty.” Cute cute cute.
“No, I don't feel well,” he adjusts his bag, breaking eye contact, “take over for me, you're good at teaching.”
“You're complimenting me? In the dance club? You won't even listen to my ideas,” Jisung frowns, clearly becoming more confused.
“I have to go,” he walks out of the room where Donghyuck and Mark are walking down the hall, “I told Jisung to take over today, but he might need help. I need to go do something.”
“Dude, what the hell is going on? Jaemin just texted me that you're going to Jisung's birthday party? Now you're telling him to take over for you when you usually don't let him do anything in there, lowkey,” Mark asks as if he'd been planning to the second he saw him.
Donghyuck smirks, “You forgot the part where he's getting dinner with them first.”
Jeno's stomach flips, “I don't know, okay! Jaemin just showed up here now, I'm stressed and going to the mall to get Jisung a gift.”
“You look like shit,” Donghyuck unhelpfully supplies, “and you refuse to talk to Jisung like ever, how are you going to shop for him?”
“Listen, I didn't know I was being mean, I didn't mean to! And why didn't either of you tell me he wasn't dating Jaemin? I thought he was this entire time.” He rubs his face, and his stomach sinks even further, immediately knowing he shouldn’t have said that.
Donghyuck grins widely, “Oh shit, you're into him, and like realllly into him, and you’ve been into him,” he laughs, “and somehow Jaemin fucking put it together, that's so funny.” He pauses, thinking, “Am I blind and stupid?”
“Oh my god, shut up, shut up, okay, I have to go buy a blindbox for him and try not to throw up.”
Mark frowns, “Maybe you would feel better if you just threw up,” and then shrugs, “and just like maybe that isn't the best gift?”
“He collects those little green guy blind boxes. Goodbye.”
He made it to the mall and started feeling better after he stopped to get a drink and gather his thoughts for a moment. He still felt like he was drowning in overthinking a bit, but at least he could finally hear himself think on top of it. When Jeno finds the store he needs, he wastes no time; he picks three boxes. Then hesitates and grabs one for himself after all, Jisung was right, they were cute. He leaves with them in a bag and sits on a random bench. He pulls his out of the bag and opens it to find it to be the same one Jisung had attached to his bag. Matching. He shoves the thought back and places the little guy carefully in his bag's side pocket, then neatly wraps the bag around Jisungs.
His phone buzzes with a text from Jaemin.
[Jaemin]
Still coming right?
[Jeno]
Yeah, I'm going to be there, uh so is the dinner a surprise?
[Jaemin]
No he knows its happening.
[Jeno]
He just doesn't know I'm coming
[Jaemin]
yeah!
Jeno drafts a message, Are you really sure it's okay? Jisung doesn't like me that much, and I just don't want to ruin his birthday. Jeno hesitates over the send button, wondering if he sounds like a complete loser, but hits send. Everything with Jisung is going against what Jeno usually knows about himself. Sure, he'd always been introverted, but usually was still confident, but Jisung made him so nervous it felt like he couldn't just approach him and be honest. He sends the message.
On the other end, Jaemin stares at his phone and whines, “oh my godddd”
Jaehyun, across from him, cutting the vegetables, looks up, “What is it?”
”Jeno is worried he's going to ruin Jisung's birthday,” Jaemin mocks, strangling himself, “they're so cute, I just need them to cooperate with me.”
“Are you sure meddling is a good idea? Won't Jisung be mad?” Jaehyun sighs.
Jaemin looks at him with no expression, “I don't remember asking you for an opinion on my dealings with Jisung’s love life.”
“Yes, well..”
“Jaehyun, shut up,” he says while furiously texting on his phone.
“You know you're really nice to everyone else.”
“Let's not pretend you don't like that I'm mean to you,” Jaemin grins, kissing him on the cheek.
Jaehyun can't exactly deny that with the amount of proof there is, “I love you.”
“You too, baby.”
Jeno arrives exactly on time with his backpack, holding Jisung's gift. He thinks about the probably extravagant gift Jaemin had gotten him and wonders if he'd be able to just privately hand these off to Jisung without everyone looking at them. Jaemin had let him in and placed him on the couch with the TV on and a snack while Jeno tried to also pretend the man in the kitchen wasn't definitely his teacher from a semester ago.
The door cracks open at about 5:30 he'd just finished helping Jaemin set the table for the four of them when Jisung walked in. He awkwardly tried to almost hide behind Jaemin and Jaehyun, but Jisung had obviously seen him.
“Happy birthday, Jisungie!” Jaemin speaks so animatedly and nearly tackles the taller one in a hug and kiss on the cheek.
Jaehyun looks at him with a smile, “Don’t worry, I also thought maybe they were dating when I first started going after Jaemin.”
“Oh I'm not really uh,” Jeno stammers.
“It's okay, man.” Jaehyun pats him on the back, then steps forward, also giving Jisung a quick hug.
Jeno shuffles forward hesitantly to stand in front of Jisung, the other two heading to grab drinks from the kitchen.
He looks up at him, “um, happy birthday.”
“Thanks Jeno,” he smiles softly, then surprisingly steps forward, wrapping his arms around him, “I didn’t know you were coming.”
Jeno lets himself press into Jisung’s head, resting on his shoulder and wrapping his arms around his waist, “Jaemin invited me.” Jeno wonders if Jisung can feel his heart racing, “I was a little confused, but it's your birthday.”
They step back, and Jisung moves to set his bags down, “Well, I hope he didn't bug you too much. I'm sure you tried to say no, and that really doesn't go well with Jaemin.”
“I didn't try to say no,” Jeno admits.
“Oh,” Jisung stares at him, surprised, “I'm glad you came.”
“Me too.”
“Quick, you two come eat before we run out of time,” Jaemin calls, setting the drinks down with Jaehyun.
The dinner goes by smoothly, the only hiccup being Jisung’s knee constantly sitting against his.
Jeno feels awkward walking into the bowling alley next to Jisung with Jaemin and Jaehyun, as if he were important enough to Jisung at all. It also seemed like truly all of his and Jisung's friends overlapped because they were all here. Donghyuck specifically seems to be watching him with an incredibly amused face. Jeno breaks off from them, opting to stand with Mark and Donghyuck.
“So now you're even showing up to family occasions?” Donghyuck grins.
“Shut up,” Jeno huffs, “Jaemin told me to, and I don't think that guy takes no for an answer.”
“Yeah, you might be right,” Mark pushes Donghyuck to start entering their names so they can start bowling.
There's a loud commotion from behind them. He turns to see Jisung lifting a shorter blond off the ground in a hug while they both laugh, “Who is that?”
“Oh that's Jisung's childhood friend. I met him the last time I was here. His name is Chenle, pretty sure that was Jaemin's gift.” Mark nods along and gives a reassuring smile, “he's nice and, emphasize on friend, please don't back track, you've made so much progress.”
“Seriously, please, it would be so much better if you and Jisung were friends,” Donghyuck sighs, “no more having to plan around you guys.”
Renjun approaches, having caught the tail end of the conversation, “Jeno and Jisung friends? Am I hearing that right?”
Jeno looks down, “I don't wanna be his friend.” Renjun looks annoyed, while Donghyuck and Mark have knowing faces, “I just need some time to lay some groundwork; he's barely realizing I don't hate him.”
Renjun looks between Jeno and Jisung standing in the distance, “Oh, that actually makes so much sense.”
“Just don't tell him anything, okay?” They all nod, “God, I hate feelings.”
Jisung approaches them, Chenle in tow, “and this is Jeno, you haven't met him, we’re in club and class together, he's an amazing dancer.”
“Oh, so this is Jeno, the hot dancer guy who doesn't listen.” Chenle smiles, offering a hand. Jisung is hitting him in the arm, whispering, " Shut up, nice to meet you.”
“Ah yeah, I guess I'm hot dancer guy who doesn't listen,” he takes Chenle’s hand to shake and swallows all the shyness and nerves, opting to be bold for once. He glances at the other once, “Jisung's face card is too lethal; it was easier to just avoid talking to him.”
Chenle belts out a laugh, “I could see that, he's got a hot nerd thing going, so you know if that's your type.”
“It is,” jeno smiles with a nod. He looks up at Jisung, who is sporting now bright red cheeks, “happy birthday again,” he turns and opens his bag, grabbing out the bag, “I didn't get time to wrap them. Jaemin barely told me about this today, so…”
“You got me a gift?” Jisung takes it, opening the bag, “Oh! That's why you were asking what I liked, I was so confused.”
“Yeah, I just wanted to get you something,” he shrugs, “I got one for myself too”
“You did? Which did you get?”
“The same one you keep on your bag, got lucky, I guess, so you don't get a repeat,” Jeno moves to sit next to Mark, feeling somewhat overwhelmed by everything he'd just pushed himself to do. Not to mention, he thinks this is the longest he's spoken to Jisung.
He watches him go around the rest of the party, about as social as he's ever seen him. Jeno has fun, he does, but he'd be lying if he wasn't a little disappointed that Jisung was way too busy with everyone to come around to their group much. Plus, he was really having a hard time getting up the courage to say anything else anyway. He decided he was overwhelmed and had done a lot today, so he figured it would be okay to go home a little early.
“Jeno!” It's Jisung, he's lightly jogging out of the building, “wait, wait”
He stops walking towards Jisung, “Whoa, you don't have to chase me,” he laughs, “sorry, I should've come and said bye, I'm a bit tired after today, so I was just gonna head home.”
Jisung nods, “Okay, and uh yeah, I just came out here to say bye.”
“Oh okay,” Jeno looks around, “bye, I'll see you tomorrow.”
Jisung rolls his eyes, catching Jeno’s wrist, pulling him forward, wrapping his arms around his waist, “See you tomorrow”
Jeno is frozen in shock for a moment, then lets his arms snake around Jisung's neck, “yeah,” bodies pressed together, “see you then”
—
Over the next month, Jeno and Jisung's relationship has completely shifted. In a positive way, they were definitely friends at this point. With something more lingering underneath kinda undertone. Today was the first day, though they were going out of their way to hang out with nothing else causing it. They'd hung out quite a few times after dance practice, but this time it was a random weekend, and Jisung got the guts to text him randomly.
[Jisung]
Hey Jen, do you wanna hang out? Jaemins not here, I'm so bored.
[Jeno]
That text sounds somewhat suggestive, home alone you say?
[Jisung]
SHUT UP, never mind, don't come here.
[Jeno]
Too late im already on my way.
[Jisung]
No you aren't
[Jeno]
You just texted me that you're home alone, of course I'm already on my way.
Jisung huffs, sitting up from his bed. Jeno is always teasing him like that. He starts fretting around his room, cleaning up, then he gets paranoid. Should they not hang out in his room? Just in case he does think something is up, but maybe something is up, or he wants something to be up. Jisung shakes his head, he can't think about this; he's spiraling. That seemed to be his new regular train of thought when it came to Jeno.
He wasn't sure how long he had been thinking for, but apparently a while, because he jumped when there was a knock at the door.
He rushes across the apartment, opening the door, “hey!”
“Hey!” Jeno smiles, stepping forward and embracing Jisung, “I'm glad you texted”
“Oh?” Jisung wraps his arms around Jeno too, kicking the door shut with his foot, “why’s that?”
Jeno happily squeezes him before letting go, “I finally get revenge for all the times Donghyuck has ditched me.”
Jisung laughed, “deserved.”
Things feel a little awkward just the two of them with so much time to spare. Usually, it was limited, which made things simple. They fell into a steady back and forth with the movie they were sort of watching filling the holes.
“You always sit so far away from me,” Jeno laughs from his side of the couch, “you scared of me?”
“What?! Why would I be scared of you?” Jisung moves to sit in the middle of the couch.
Jeno does the same, “Well, I thought more because of the stuff at your birthday party?” He shuffles awkwardly, letting their arms press together, “and I don't know, maybe you're still caught up on when we didn't get along? I really didn't mean to be like that, you honestly just made me so nervous.”
Jisung shakes his head, “I'm not, and that whole thing was my fault anyway.”
Jeno frowns, “huh?”
“Because I said that thing about dancing better than you, I didn't even mean it, I was just annoyed I barely knew you” Jisung lightly grasps Jeno's hand, “I'm really sorry”
Jeno stares at him, “I seriously have no idea what you're talking about, I don't even remember that.”
Jisung doesn't even know what to say. He'd been fretting over this forever in his head, thinking Jeno hated him for it.
Jeno grasps his wrist, “Jisung, you good?”
“This entire time, I really thought that was what caused you to not like me”
“No?” Jeno pats him on the shoulder and looks away, “it’s exactly what I said before, you make me nervous,” he shrugs, “I was attracted to you, and I thought you were dating Jaemin.”
At that moment, their conversation is cut off by Jaehyun and Jaemin coming back, Jaemin's annoyed, “the place was closed!” He whines, flopping onto the couch, “you sure got here fast”
Jisung moves closer to Jeno making space for Jaehyun, “shut up, Jaemin.”
He giggles, and Jaehyun crowds his space to distract him. Unfortunately, distracting quickly turns to kissing. Jisung groans and stands up, dragging Jeno with him.
“You don't wanna be here for this, trust me,” the two of them pull on their shoes, “we can just go get some practice in.”
Jeno doesn't need to be told twice, not wanting to stay at all to see the quickly escalating makeout session on the couch. He holds the door open, letting Jeno rush out first. Down the hall, he quietly mentions they can take his car. Jeno suddenly feels a bit self-conscious about bringing up his attraction to Jisung again, especially when he kept not saying anything about it.
At the practice rooms, he expected to feel fine again. That seemed to usually be how it worked with Jisung, as long as he had a distraction, he could function just fine. But not this time. Watching Jisung go through the movements was doing nothing but riling him up. He kept stumbling into Jisung, getting especially distracted by his hands and the way sweat was starting to make his shirt cling to him. Jisung suddenly pauses, and with a laugh, he grabs Jeno by the shoulders.
He steps close so Jeno can hear him over the loud music, “Hey, I thought we were finally past this, why are you running into me so much?”
Jeno feels flustered and stutters, “Jisung, what are you not understanding?”
“What do you meannn?”
Jeno finally frustrated throws his arms around Jisung's neck and pulls him down to his level. He presses their lips together. Jisung is surprised and unmoving for a moment. Jeno is worried, then arms are winding around him. Jisung's hold is tight and encompassing, his hands bunching up Jeno’s shirt. Jisung's teeth graze Jenos's bottom lip. Jenos fingers push under jisungs shirt and press into his waist, urging him to follow his steps backwards.
Jisung does clumsily, then stares shocked at jeno who is grinning up at him from the couch, “jeno wh-”
“Sit here” jeno pats his lap, “come on, Ji.”
Jisung nods and moves to awkwardly straddle Jenos ' lap, “okay.”
“Do you want to keep kissing jisung?” Jeno asks.
Jisung doesn't answer, just letting himself lean in again, softly capturing his lips again. His hands hold Jenos' face, kissing him deeply. He breathes deeply through his nose, Jenos fingers pressing into his waist, trying to pull him closer. The anxiety in the back of Jisung's mind about this being risky slowly fades as he feels jenos tongue slide against his. He finds himself leaning forward, melting into jeno completely, the exchange of open mouthed kisses growing more heated. Jisung was suddenly really regretful of his inability to afford to live without a roommate as jenos hands fall to his hips, fingers tugging at belt loops. Jisung whines into jenos mouth, hips rolling forward.
jeno gasps into his mouth, nipping at jisungs lip, “fuck jisung, I like you so much.”
Jisung's head falls to jenos shoulder, “I like you too” he kisses jenos neck softly, “i kinda wanna kill jaemin right now”
jeno laughs loudly, “Are you trying to take me back to your place, Jisung?”
Jisung rolls his eyes, “Maybe.”
Jeno's hand comes to the back of his neck, pulling jisung in for another kiss, “another time, maybe a date first?”
Jisung flushes, “Right, yeah, a date first is a good idea”
“Yeah,” jeno whispers, rubbing his side, “after that, we can do whatever you want.”