Birds of a Feather | '00 Liners

Chapter Seven

Jeno didn't feel any guilt about leaving Renjun out until his friend sat next to him during lunch. Seeing Renjun after so long—their last get-together with Jaemin was roughly two weeks ago—had regret and shame welling up in his chest. The knowledge that Renjun had been potentially ghosted by his closest friends twisted and churned his gut.

But he played it off and attempted to advise Renjun into rekindling his relationship with Donghyuck. He figured that if they got back on track with one another, then everything would go back to what it used to be between them, and they could spend their last year in high school together in absolute peace.

So, imagine Jeno's dismay when Renjun and Donghyuck approached him and Jaemin with sets of wings perched atop their backs.

It wasn't to say that Jeno was disturbed or anything. He couldn't say he was disappointed either since Renjun's and Donghyuck's relationship had improved beyond Jeno's expectations. Perhaps he was...discomfited with the rapid development of zero to one hundred.

Or maybe he just didn't like the idea of his closest friends dating each other, but there was such a glaring nuance in that theory, in that half-assed explanation of his: Mark and Donghyuck's relationship was precisely like that. Long-time friends, back when they were all younger and dumber than they could ever hope to be in the future. And then, suddenly, out of the blue, romance bloomed and settled between them. Blossomed on their backs with the agonizing shifting of bone and muscle, the breaking and tearing of their skin. The spilling of blood, the thickest of bonds binding them together with majestic wings of feathers.

So what was different with Renjun? What about Renjun made Jeno want to hurl when he saw those navy feathers with diamonds of white?

"Congrats," Jaemin said, breaking through the stunned silence between him and Jeno.

A pleased flush settled on Renjun's cheeks, and Jeno wanted to phase into the cement sidewalk they stood upon. 

"Thanks," he said, all modest and timid. "I didn't realize how quickly the process went when your feelings were requited."

"The beauty of love," Jaemin said sagely.

"I wish it wasn't such a pain in the ass to deal with, though," Donghyuck bemoaned. "I just bought new clothes, and now I have to cut holes in the back of all of my shirts!"

Renjun laughed, thoroughly pleased and throaty, something Jeno desperately wished he heard more often during the break. 

"How do you think I feel?" Renjun jested. "I have to wing-proof my entire room so that my molting doesn't muck the place up."

"Well, I can just help you out with that," Donghyuck said. "Since I am the wing expert in our group and all."

"We've done enough research during your Mark breakdown to know how to do that much, Hyuck," Renjun deadpanned.

"Reading about something and actually experiencing it are two completely different things!"

"Oh, and I'm guessing you found that out during your first rodeo?"

"Careful, Renjun. If you bully me any more, I just might shed a few feathers."

Jeno turned away from Renjun's and Donghyuck's jestful bout to share a long-suffering look with Jaemin. Jaemin turned away first and approached the bickering couple with a clap of his hands. 

"While your argument with one another is extremely pleasant, I would much rather do this outside of the heat."

Renjun and Donghyuck locked eyes with one another.

"My place or yours?" Renjun asked.

Donghyuck sighed, stretching his arms above his head, "My mom's probably worried about us, so my place."

And so, they set off at a steady pace down the sidewalk toward Donghyuck's home. Renjun and Donghyuck walked side-by-side, bumping shoulders and brushing the tips of their wings together. Jeno trudged alongside Jaemin, an ugly seed of emotion swelling, churning within his stomach.