Birds of a Feather | '00 Liners

Chapter Twenty-Three

Jeno turned toward Jaemin expectantly. He'd been curious and anxious about Jaemin's disappearance, so seeing him in such a calm state was...off-putting. Enraging. Because didn't he know? That there were people worried about his well-being and stability? Didn't he care?

Jeno knew his anger would only worsen their delicate situation. So he clenched his fist and ignored the burn in his back.

Jaemin had since gone pale in the face. A bad sign, but at least he wasn't getting ready to storm off like before. "You mean, why did I disappear off the face of the planet for a week?" Jaemin said. "Because I believe that question has an easy answer."

Jaemin's gaze went over Jeno's shoulder, and Jeno didn't have to look to know who was on the receiving side of that stern stare.

"What happened to accepting my apology?" Donghyuck whined.

"I never said I wasn't going to clown you afterward," Jaemin teased, wiggling in his seat giddily.

"That doesn't answer the question," Jeno interrupted. "Not really."

Jaemin flitted his eyes over toward Jeno, narrowed and calculating. "Should I spell it out for you, no-jam?" he asked, coy and mocking.

Jeno snorted incredulously. "Better just show me, since I'm oblivious."

Jaemin stood from the couch, gaze still intent on Jeno. Before slowly, surely turning around until his back faced everyone else. He tugged at the hem of his shirt until it was just barely covering the small of his back.

But even that was enough to have a gasp escaping Jeno.

A wing binder so far down the back could mean only one thing...

"Whose are those for?" Jeno asked, quiet and timid. Ashamed of his earlier outburst.

"Those are Donghyuck's," Jaemin replied, just as quiet. Just as ashamed.

Jeno heard Donghyuck gasp from behind him. "Mine?"

Jaemin pulled his shirt further up and exposed a brief lapse of pale, pale skin before introducing another wing binder. "These are Renjun's." He hastily tugged the back of his shirt over his head, denying the moment its proper impact, ignoring Renjun's broken whimper. "And these are...yours, Jeno," he finished, voice but a hushed whisper.

Jeno stared, horrified, at the final wing binder that strained and tugged at the meat of Jaemin's shoulders. That squeezed his ribs so tight Jeno could count them. That suffocated and crushed the fluttering pair of wings underneath them.

No one reacted. No one could.

Jeno, with mortification paralyzing his limbs and adrenaline deafening his ears, spoke first.

"Take them off."