Shall We? | NCT Lee Jeno ff

Chapter 10 - Jeno

Jeno's face was flushed and he found out that Hyun Nam's was too when she turned on the lights. "I'm not, like that..." Hyun Nam mumbled, but Jeno couldn't hear it.

"What?"

"I said, I'm not that type," Hyun Nam grunted and hid her face. Jeno's embarrassment broke into a laugh, looking at how embarrassed Hyun Nam was by his words.
"I was just teasing you. Of course, I know you're not like that," Jeno smiled and for some reason it just made Hyun Nam hide her face even more. He stood up, brushing off the dust that was on his clothes when he was on the floor, but his jaw dropped as he looked around the room. Their conversation had distracted Jeno from where they were. Jeno thought the room would be filled with cleaning supplies but it wasn't, it was filled with books on shelves. The books were all fictional and were mostly romance. Almost every book that was on the shelves was on Jeno's 'to-read' list. He was in awe.

"Did the library hide these books from us? Is this their secret stash? Look, at these books, Hyun Nam. They're amazing," Jeno exclaimed and took one book out of the shelves, reading the back. Jeno looked over to Hyun Nam to see her reaction to this breathtaking sight. But he didn't find a reaction similar to his. She was still blushing, probably from before, but she wasn't surprised by the room at all.

"You knew about this?" Jeno gasped, putting the book he was holding back to its place.

Hyun Nam looked around and nodded slowly.

"That's so cool, you must be always coming here. I didn't know the library had these," Jeno smiled, but Hyun Nam didn't seem to totally agree with his words.

"These are not the library's books. These are all mine," she sighed, finally giving in. Jeno covered his mouth, saying something an artist should not be caught saying. He took another look around the room. These books are all hers.

"But why? You don't have enough space at home?" Jeno asked, thinking that she must've had too many books to even fit more. She shook her head. Jeno couldn't think of any other reason for her to store her books in this room.

"Because we have talked and met a lot, I'm going to tell you the reason. Nobody knows the books in this room exist except the librarian. I paid the librarian to let me keep my books here, I've been doing this since I was 16," she had a sad smile on her face, looking at all her books.

"My dad doesn't allow me to read fictional books, he says it's not important or useful. I loved reading, I can't stop reading fictional books. They are the very thing that keeps me grounded. So, I have this locked room for myself here," her sad smile turned to a happy one. Jeno couldn't believe what he was hearing. He didn't know that Hyun Nam's family was that strict. He could understand what her father meant but to take away your daughter's hobby? That was too cruel for Jeno to imagine doing to his own children in the future. Hyun Nam sat down on the floor, staring at the ceiling. Jeno was very bad with these kinds of situations, he didn't know what to say.

"After all this, how do you feel?" he asked, sitting next to her. He tried hard to not make it sound like a therapist-patient conversation. She moved her gaze to Jeno. She stared intently into Jeno's eyes, slowly her face cracked a smile.

"I feel good. As long as my dad doesn't know, I'm alright," she beamed. Jeno's face was now pink. Seeing her smile amidst all her problems and struggle was admirable, Jeno found that hard to do. Her smile was filled with content and joy, she was satisfied with what she has. It almost lit up the room, and Jeno's gaze fell to her li-

"Come on, we gotta go. I'm guessing they're not here anymore," she stood up and extended her hand to help Jeno stand, which he took. They separated in the library, Hyun Nam going outside first just in case there were still her father's men. Jeno could see a tiny bit of Hyun Nam through the bookshelves. She turned to look at him, barely seeing him though, and smiled. As soon as her car went off, Jeno walked back to his dorm.

"I'm tired," Renjun yawned, plopping himself next to Jeno on the living room's sofa. Mark and Haechan directly went to bed after they came back, only giving Jeno silent waves before walking to their rooms. Jisung and Chenle weren't back yet ("Shooting went a bit longer," Jisung texted to the group chat, sending a picture of Chenle covered with milk Jisung accidentally spilled). Jeno laid back, Renjun beside him, half-asleep. They were watching the television before Jeno's phone suddenly rang.

"Who is it?" Renjun asked Jeno who didn't pick it up, he only stared at it.

"I don't know, no name," Jeno replied.

Renjun sighed annoyingly and turned it off for him.

"It's probably those sick sasaengs," Renjun grumbled before falling asleep again. He was again interrupted by Jeno's phone.

"They keep calling," Jeno sighed and turned it off for it to ring again.

"Just answer it," Renjun snapped and Jeno did. It was silent for a moment. Before Jeno could hang up, there was a voice. A man.

"Hello, Lee Jeno. It's been a while," the man said. From his voice, Jeno could sense that he was merely a schoolboy, probably a senior.

"I know what you did to my brother and you will pay. So watch out," the boy said, Jeno could feel him grinning over the phone. Jeno was silent.

"Ugh, give it to me," Renjun snatched the phone away from Jeno.

Jeno was still silent.

"Don't call again. Please stop," Renjun kept himself from lashing out on the phone but the man hung up already.

"It was probably a prank call," Jeno tried to smile but Renjun couldn't have it. He groaned and went back to sleep, these things always trigger Renjun's anger. Though, it wasn't a prank call. Jeno knew it wasn't, it kept him on edge. His eyes became hazy and he immediately excused himself to his room. As soon as he locked his door, Jeno dropped to the floor. His arms and legs struggled to support him. He helplessly reached for his breaths. His heart beat faster and faster. His past was creeping up to him. 

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