Birds of a Feather | '00 Liners

Chapter Eleven

With his extensive knowledge of heartbreak and unrequited love, Jaemin could tell precisely what Jeno was going through. And even if he didn't have such a tragic love life, he would have still figured out why Jeno was so anal about the whole ordeal. Jeno was probably the easiest for Jaemin to read since they'd been together longer than anybody else in their friend group.

The downside of reading your friend like an open book: you found out things you would have rather been ignorant about.

Case in point:

Jaemin was wrestling Donghyuck off of him, cackling and squirming underneath Donghyuck's insistent prodding and probing, and happened to catch sight of Jeno's stilted figure.

Standing from the ground, giving Donghyuck one last playful push, Jaemin made to approach Jeno. Maybe to lift the unpleasant atmosphere that had fallen over him and Renjun in the few short moments they'd been talking to one another. Perhaps to just slide in to grab his and Donghyuck's drink to leave them to work out their apparent misunderstanding.

None of the above happened, of course, because Jaemin came to a screeching halt when he noticed the minute, unmistakable silhouettes of sprouts taking shape underneath Jeno's shirt.

Jaemin made brief eye contact with Renjun. He released a silent breath of relief when he recognized the ignorant gleam held within Renjun's eyes. Jaemin approached Jeno from behind, throwing an arm around his shoulders, and smiled at the bemused, wide-eyed expression sent his way.

"Hey, Jeno," he said pleasantly. "I've gotta talk to you real quick."

Jeno's eyes made a quick flicker toward Renjun, tongue making its brief appearance to wet his lips, before meeting Jaemin's gaze once again. 

"Okay," he said. 

He nodded. Short and curt. Painfully awkward.

Jaemin squeezed Jeno's shoulder and snatched the tea carrier from his grasp. He held it out toward an eerily quiet Renjun.

"The Coffee Milk is for me," he said as he dropped the carrier into Renjun's open palm. "Don't let Donghyuck's puppy eyes win you over again."

Renjun scowled, but his admittance for his own weakness appeared in a pleasant flush. 

"Just go tell your dirty little secret to your bestie already."

Jaemin laughed, delighted, and wandered further into Donghyuck's home with Jeno in tow. He veered off into the hallway's guest bathroom and locked the door behind himself. He turned toward Jeno, who stared at him with reluctant gratitude.

"Shirt off," Jaemin barked, harsher than he had intended with the adrenaline running high in his blood. 

Taking in a deep breath, forcing his heart back into a steady beat, he repeated softly, "Please take your shirt off."

Jeno shuffled atop the bathroom's mat, a shameful flush filling in the earlier starch, panic-stricken skin of his face. 

"This doesn't concern you, you know," he muttered pitifully. 

His fingers inched along the hem of his shirt as though his body was going directly against his words.

Jaemin snorted, unamused, "The well-being of one of my friends is always within my concern."

And I don't want you to suffer like me.

Jeno, seemingly losing his defiant will, tugged his shirt over his head. He dropped it to the tiled floor beside him and crossed his arms across his chest, his earlier flush seeping into his collarbone.