in my own summer | norenmin

chapter 19 | at least i said sorry

hours pass. aiden and jungwoo's parents came back. jeno hasn't.

his parents don't question what happened, as if they probably already know. aiden, however, did, preferring to talk about it alone together in the guest room.

"how did it go?" aiden asks calmly. jungwoo doesn't even want to talk about it. he just wants to feel him, like pulling him into a tight hug or simply kissing him to distract him. way better than acknowledging the argument between him and his brother.

"terrible," jungwoo admits anyways. "i apologised like i was going to but jeno ruined it."

aiden almost seems like he doesn't exactly believe that, furrowing his eyebrows. "he did? how?"

"by bringing up that i kicked him out of my old flat after he got into that fight."

"well," aiden bites his bottom lip and he thinks for a moment. "from what you said, you were a little mean, woo."

jungwoo already knows this. he told himself this. "yeah, i ack —"

"i know, i know you did," aiden suddenly says quickly in cantonese before his gaze softens again. "i know you acknowledged that. but, i can kind of see why your little brother is still upset over it."

he opens his arms, and jungwoo gladly lets himself fall into his embrace, resting his cheek against aiden's chest. he can't count how many times he's fallen asleep like this on his fingers. just one of the many things that made xie aiden wonderful.

"you blew up at him again, didn't you?" aiden then adds. "i know you, jungwoo. we've been together since college."

"yes," jungwoo reluctantly admits before closing his eyes. at least i said sorry.

"don't fall asleep now!" aiden says with a light laugh. "but, gosh, woo. once you two stop being angry at each other, it'll get better. but it has to be an effort from the both of you, not a one-sided attempt."

"yeah," jungwoo nods, his eyes still closed. he's going to fall asleep again, like he always does.

one thing to distract himself for a few hours.

when he wakes up, he feels fingers softly running through his hair, lightly pushing his fringe from his face as jungwoo's eyes slowly began to open. he smiles up at aiden, who smiles back.

jungwoo slowly leans away from him, and without words exchanged between them but for the looks they gave each other, they both lean in to connect their lips into a kiss. a short one that needn't last long, and when they pull apart, jungwoo can feel his heart flutter.

"you'll talk to your little brother, right?" aiden asks, almost hopefully.

"yes," jungwoo retorts, only to make sure aiden doesn't keep bringing it up. he simply kisses him again, but instead prolongs it.

🎸

jeno ends up hanging out with yangyang.

his parents are out, and yangyang had already brought kun over as well as junhyuk, telling jeno he was a pleasant surprise and that he was going to ask him to come over, anyways.

according to him — jeno hadn't asked the others himself — yuta was said he was busy with something unspecified and couldn't come, dejun says his sister came to visit with her family, and mark was spending time over at donghyuck's place, something he's been doing a lot of lately.

they end up playing a game of uno while having a conversation.

jeno happily places a green plus four down and watches the expression upon junhyuk's face turn into horror. "so, you said you're looking at flats, yang?"

yangyang nods. "uh-huh. but i should probably get a full-time job first, so i won't have to ask my parents to help me pay rent or something."

"ah."

"if it helps, you could stay with me in the meantime," kun shyly adds and yangyang looks over at him, suddenly unable to stop smiling.

"well, why didn't i think of that?" he exclaims before kissing kun's cheek. "but, please take four cards."

"wha — oh," kun's simper is quickly replaced by a frown when he reaches for the pile.

jeno continues to talk and laugh, but he can't help but feel a little down about his own argument with jungwoo. though, once they stopped playing and yangyang was bugging kun while in the kitchen, jeno felt like confiding in junhyuk.

jeno knew junhyuk was fairly new to the group, strung in by yangyang after they met once at an arcade. they might not be as close as jeno is with yangyang, but a friend was a friend, and junhyuk could definitely offer advice.

jeno stands off to where junhyuk was alone, and the other looks up from his phone, putting it away. "yeah?"

"have you ever got into a fight with someone and...and you never seem to be able to make up with them?" jeno starts off carefully. junhyuk looks like he's thinking before he nods.

"yeah, i fought with my step-brother once," he answers. "i was mad for days but i got over it once i realised i was being stupid so i just said sorry and he said sorry to me," he shrugs. "we hugged and that's it. why, you can't apologise to someone?"

"yeah," jeno admits. "my older brother."

"maybe figure out what you both did wrong and apologise that way, i don't know," junhyuk shrugs. "i'm not good at advice."

how helpful, jeno thinks amusedly. "well, thank you, i guess."

"uh-huh."

but it does make jeno think. he's an idiot, right? jungwoo was right to be angry with him. perhaps he made the argument happen in the first place; jeno's bottom lips begins to tremble. junhyuk notices, and looks like he's going to ask if he's okay, but yangyang interrupts him.

"let's eat!" he exclaims.

turns out, the couple had put together four sandwiches. a little sloppily made but appetising nonetheless. yangyang happily picks out a sandwich for kun first before anyone else, and then taking his own, leaving the last two for the others.

jeno eats, the group spends time watching tv, and jeno eventually seems to fade a bit away from them and calls jaemin. he lets himself let out all of the sadness he still feels from earlier to him, and the comforting words through the phone from the other end work well enough to ease him.

he's fully rolled away from everyone else, in the dark as his friends remain in the light of the television. jeno whispers, "can i come over tomorrow and stay the night?"

jaemin sounds eager. "please do. renjun's had a bad day."

"aww," jeno says in the same soft, quiet tone. "okay. why did he have a bad day?"

"a story i barely know," jaemin says. "i should go, though. jun's complaining again."

"alright," jeno smiles. "bye. tell renjun i said hi."

"will do," jaemin says before shyly adding. "love you."

jeno blushes and is thankful even though no one is looking at him, his face is hidden in the dark. "love you too."

the call ends, and jeno lets himself wallow in his spark of happiness.