𝗖𝗛𝗔𝗢𝗧𝗜𝗖, ɴᴄᴛ ᴅʀᴇᴀᴍ

𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐓𝐖𝐄𝐋𝐕𝐄

"You can't be serious?" Donghyuck puts down his can of soda to look at Jaemin, who was seated in front of him.

"Nope. They really popped out of nowhere after almost 5 months." Hyuck rolls his eyes, picking up his can again, but pauses before taking a sip. "What is this nonsense?" 

The other three boys turn their heads in the same direction Hyuck was looking. "Isn't that Liu Yangyang?" Renjun questioned, narrowing his eyes at the boy. 

"Yeah, but more importantly why the hell does he have his arm around Minju?" Jeno's jaw clenched at Donghyuck's words, turning around so that his back is facing the couple.

"Calm down, guys. He's her boyfriend." Jaemin laughed at his suspicious friends. 

"Minju has a boyfriend?!" Donghyuck exclaimed, eyes wide.

"Yeah, apparently so." Renjun grumbled under his breath.

Jaemin eyed the short Chinese boy next to him, confusion written on his face, ultimately deciding to just ignore it. "Wait, but Hyuck, did they really just expect you to be fine with their unannounced arrival?"

"Huh? Oh, I don't know. It is their house, so they can probably come and go as they please. It's not like they care what happens to me." Donghyuck bitterly says through seethed teeth.  

The boys fell silent as all of them knew the tough situation their friend was facing at home. After a few minutes of busying them with the food in front of them Jeno finally spoke up, "Did they hurt you?" 

All three looked up at him at once. Jeno looking Donghyuck in the eyes, making the latter break the eye contact by dropping his head. Jaemin and Renjun send each other a knowing look, diverting their attention to the boy in question. 

"My mom hit me, but I left before she could try anything else. My dad obviously didn't care one bit." Hyuck breathed out, eyes still looking at his tray. "I went to Renjun's afterwards, so don't worry too much, okay?"

Donghyuck's words hung in the air for a while, none of them saying a word. Renjun, Jaemin and Jeno were all aware of their friend's struggles. It had been years and at this point all of them were just as mad as Donghyuck was, but as mad as they were they mostly feared for their friend. They feared that one day they weren't going to be able to help him. That Donghyuck's parent's words were going to affect him so badly, that nothing they say or do will ever make it better.

"Hey, Hyuck," Jaemin started, "You always have us, okay? We're your friends, we're your family. And we'll always be right here, no matter what. I promise you that."

Donghyuck looked around the table at his three best friends' reassuring faces and smiled at them. "Thanks, guys." He softly laughed. "Now can we stop being so sappy? I'm just trying to drink my soda without crying."

The other three laughed at Donghyuck's words and finished their lunches just before the bell rang for the end of lunch.

»

"Let's just meet up at my house on Friday and then drive to Jaem's for the party." Jeno suggested to his friends.

The four were heading back to class after lunch had ended. They swiftly made it through the sea of students, mostly because no one wanted to be in their way. An advantage of being the most popular boys in school.

"Sounds good. Right, Jun?" Donghyuck nudged the boy that had zoned out.

"Y-yeah, I'm good with that idea. Just text me the details." Renjun said.

The other boys nodded their heads, entering their classroom one by one. "Oh, you're helping me set up, right?" Jaemin asked, entering the classroom last.

Jeno and Donghyuck looked at each other then back at Jaemin with a pained expression. "Aw, come on, guys. You always do this!" Jaemin whined.

Renjun laughed at the boy and made his way to his desk close to the window. "I'll help you, don't worry."
A wave of relief washed over Jaemin at Renjun's words.

"Yeah, that's only because Minju's going to be there too." Donghyuck said, teasing his best friend. Renjun's eyes widened, quickly denying the claim, swinging his arms around.

Jeno locked Hyuck in a headlock, laughing as the younger begged to be released. Jaemin laughed at his friends, looking around the classroom, realizing that there weren't many students there yet. Still looking around the room, his eyes met familar ones.

He shot Heeseung a smile and a small wave, making him look away almost immediately. Defeated, the boy sighed and made his way to his desk behind Renjun's.

"What was that about?" Renjun asked, turning in his chair.

Jaemin only shrugged, plopping his head on his arms. Renjun looked at the boy in disbelief, then tilting his head to side in the direction of Heeseung. The boy jumped in his seat when he realized Renjun caught him staring. Diverting his eyes back to the book in front of him, his face was coated red.

Confused as ever Renjun faced the front again, where Jeno had finally let Donghyuck go. Jeno was sitting on top of his desk, laughing at Donghyuck who was rubbing his neck to relieve some of the pain.

It has nothing to do with you, Renjun. Let it go, the boy's subconscious kept telling him, but Renjun was stubborn and didn't allow anything to dissuade him that easily.

i just want to say thank you to everyone who reads this book. your reads mean so much to me and it makes me even happier when i see people adding this book to their reading lists and voting too. thank you so so much for the support, i'll continue to write this story for you 💗💗 - j