Puzzle Piece 𖢻 ∫ JaemJen

𖢻 Chapter Twenty-Seven: Unfair

Johnny did not put anything suspicious in the juice, to those who are wondering.

He sits across from Jaemin, the latter flashing him friendly smiles here and there as they ate while he and Jeno bring topic after topic.

"Where are the kids?" Johnny asks, tilting his head to the side. It's a late reaction, really. However, that doesn't mean Jeno is calm about it from the way Johnny looked at him.

"They're out tonight..." He replies, glancing slightly at Jaemin beside him who grows quiet and listens carefully to the change of topic.

"Out?" Johnny raises a brow, "and what do you mean by that?"

"Chenle is out to a sleepover with his friends, I asked one of my trusted old highschool friends to babysit Jisung for tonight, Donghyuck, you remember him right?" Jeno asks with a light and friendly tone.

Johnny scoffs sarcastically, "yeah I remember him, he flirted with you a lot." It was Jaemin's turn to raise a brow, however he looks more amused than bothered.

"John, you know how he is... And that's just how our friendship worked. He knows his limits." Jeno reassures him with a small smile.

To his dismay, Johnny made him frown again after saying, "and why did you send the kids out? Late at night too?"

"Johnny, don't twist it and make it seem like that..." Jeno pleads a little.

"Seem like what? Jeno, you let my kids out late at night–"

"With trustworthy people." Jeno emphasizes as he cuts him off. "And it's not like they're roaming around, also... They're my kids as well."

"Why didn't you let them join us for tonight? Doesn't seem like a family dinner to me." Johnny comments with a twitching smirk.

Jeno huffs, fingers curling around his empty glass. "Because it is not a family dinner and I don't think it's appropriate for them to join us right now."

"Oh, you don't want them to see their dad?" Johnny sneers.

"It's not like that." Jeno grits his teeth, "for tonight and some occasions, no because it's not appropriate."

"Just say you don't want them to see me, Jeno."

"Shut up, Johnny. Please," Jeno says with an exhale following suit almost as if he's tired. "I don't want to fight with you."

"Are you admitting you are wea–"

"My apologies to interrupt," Jaemin butts in, clearing his throat as he eyes Johnny intently. "But since this is an adult meetup, I would like to get to know Johnny more if that's okay..."

The elder man blinks at him while Jeno takes his time to calm down, Jaemin's hand instinctively reaching for his to squeeze it comfortingly.

Johnny hums after a while, "sounds good." Jaemin smiles at him kindly while rubbing his thumb in circles on Jeno's knuckles from underneath the table.

Jaemin talks to him professionally yet also in a friendly manner, knowing when to talk and when to stop to listen to Johnny's words.

Knowing what to say and what he should keep quiet about. Kindly disagreeing with Johnny's opinions on some topics as the elder man was so sure he was right.

Unlike Johnny, he bombards Jaemin questions about anything. A lot of them are... Quite immature– Jeno would like to say this would look like a classic highschool get-together for others.

Johnny asks Jaemin about his past so much, invading all kind of privacies and trying to get something out of the blue haired man.

Jaemin kindly refuses to answer a lot of them, swiftly changing the topic to an approachable one while Jeno tries to stop Johnny's antics.

Although, the elder man does keep going back to it every once in a while, making the other two men think it was the last of it for a second.

Jaemin remains calm, professional and still friendly towards Johnny despite his opposite attitude, Jeno quietly thinks to himself that Jaemin is indeed a patient man.

And that is one of the reasons why he admires him.

"So, Jaemin."

"Hm?"

"Would you like to know Jeno and I's history?" Johnny has a smirk on his face as Jeno practically chokes on his beverage.

Jaemin blinks, "I beg your pardon?"

"Jeno and I's history, you know, how we got together and all. Our firsts and stuff. Interesting things."

Jaemin quietly huffs out a breath, "I'm sorry, Johnny. But I wouldn't really like to know–"

"Oh, are you bothered?" Johnny tilts his head to the side mockingly. "Is it because you're together?"

"As I was saying," Jaemin clears his throat with a small glare. "Yes, I am bothered because I don't want to know confidential information without your consent."

"You have mine." Johnny grins, "I would love to tell you about our love story." He insists.

"Well, I don't have Jeno's permission." Jaemin says while glancing over to the said brunet man beside him and turning back to Johnny. "I need permissions from both of you."

"Doesn't matter, I insist." The elder man for some reason wants to bug them so much tonight, on his and Jaemin's first meetup.

The blue haired man shakes his head with an apologetic smile dancing on his lips. "Once again, Johnny, I wouldn't like that. It is unfair."

Johnny huffs loudly as Jeno mumbles out after a long time, "let's clean up the table shall we? It's getting late."

Jaemin nods in agreement, "we can help you with that."

"Why should we?" Johnny butts in, crossing his arms as he stares down at his ex spouse. "That's his job, his role, his duty as a lover."

"Like what I said just a second ago Johnny, that would be unfair." Jaemin was quick to defend Jeno.

"No matter what role or job you supposedly have, you need and offer help. Everyone does." He states.

"Come on Jaemin, why don't we just sit in the living room or somewhere and get to know each other more like you said and let Jeno do the work." Johnny complains.

Jeno hides his amazement at Jaemin's patience when the blue haired man says, "with all due respect, Johnny, I don't think tonight is applicable for us."

He smiles again and suggests in a light tone, "maybe next time, though."

𖢻

Thoughts???

Also, I just got back home from school lmao I wasn't able to take a power nap in the afternoon like usual so my head hurts and I'm pretty tired :(((

Anyways, hope you enjoyed!