𝐂𝐚𝐟𝐞 || 𝐍𝐨𝐦𝐢𝐧

14 || Advantage

A/N: Do comment!! They give me motivation to finish the story!!

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"I'm checking out now, let Jeno know," The brunet male continued in a whisper while patting his coworker's shoulder, "Best of luck"

His limbs ached, his cheeks the most because he had to smile the entire day. The crowd had been extra wild that day, there were lines queued outside the cafe. And this was just because of Saturday night's stunt. The unsubtle whispers and glances gave it away. 

However, Renjun wasn't one of them. He never showed up.

The wild crowd kept the two busy and they didn't get time to talk.

The backdoor creaked open, and Jaemin's head whipped towards Jeno, who was folding up the sleeves of his black button-up. Cold chills ricochetted against his own skin. He locked his hands together so he didn't fidget or rest them against his thumping heart.

"You must be tired"

Only then Jaemin finally noticed the agonizing pounding of his head. He managed to whisper a small "Yeah"

"Do you need some medicine? I can get it for you-"

"No need. I'm fine. Just need some sleep", his voice wavered.

Jeno neared the younger, "Are you sure? You look sick"  

Upon further inspection, he realized Jaemin had drained of color. Silence. The subtle shaking of Jaemin's hands gave it away.

"Jaemin, are you scared?"

More silence.

Jeno's frown nearly knitted both his brows together. He took a step forward to a frozen Jaemin and placed his hands on either side.

The taller's touch felt like molten lava to Jaemin's frozen skin.

"Is everything okay? You can talk to me"

Jaemin's thoughts tangled further into an asteroid of chaos.

What is Jeno even saying? How is he not angry? Why is he not shouting? I brought him so much trouble today. Shouldn't he be raising his voice? What the fuck is happening?

Even more silence. The shorter's voice seemed to be stuck in his throat.

Jeno gave up trying to get him to talk, instead, he pulled out a seat and helped Jaemin sit. The older squatted down to reach Jaemin's eye level and waited.

The battle was Jaemin's confusion and fear against Jeno's determination and concern. Jaemin lost. He tore his eyes away when he felt like he was tearing up.

Jaemin looked out the window. Blinding jets of colors sped by on the black canvas.

The raven-head's cool cheeks burned crimson with the feather touch of Jeno's fingers moving his head and thus returning their eyes to the trance. Looking back into the eyes that were filled with the warmth of a lover, Jaemin lost composure.

With one swipe of a thumb against his tear-stained cheek, Jeno clenched his teeth as he fought the urge to just collect the male in his arms and never let go. But he wasn't his, not yet.

"Why are you scared, Nana?"

Nana.

"I don't know"

"I'm not going to hurt you. I will never hurt you and I'd rather have the blood of millions on my hands before I let someone else hurt you"

The warmth on the younger's cheek flooded his entire body with a weird feeling. It was new, to say the least. Jaemin felt as if he could breathe, the air seemed fresher, his lungs felt more open and his heartbeat was rapid enough to break the world's fastest marathon record. But not because he was scared, it was this new... feeling.

Jaemin saw much more clearly now, his eyes cleared of the tears.

He saw a gorgeous man, whose milky hair, now let loose strands from being disrupted at work. Whose siren eyes looked at him with love stripped down to its rawest form. Who kneeled in front of him worrying for his health instead of shouting at his stupidity.

The latter's eyes flickered down to Jeno's lush lips and back up to his knowing eyes. The distance between them narrowed, inch by inch. Until it stopped.

"We shouldn't be doing this right now,"

So fucking close.

Jeno's eyes strayed away as he continued, "I can't take advantage of you"

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tbc