Beautiful // Nomin

~41~

Sry, yeah I'm not at school today

I'm visiting Jisung

Jeno saw the messages from Jaemin once he got home from school. Oh. Visiting Jisung, that was it? Why didn't Jaemin tell Jeno? Jisung and Jeno were close too, after the birthday party, Jeno reasoned fiercely. Of course he'd also want to know how the boy was doing.

He was close to slamming the bedroom door before swinging his backpack across the room and jumping onto his bed, feeling like a blob. He lay there, motionless, staring at his door for about five minutes, before dragging himself up and plopping himself into his desk swivel chair.

He should do his homework, really. But he didn't feel like it, and these days Jeno only did what he felt like doing.

He felt like turning on his PC and playing League, so that's what he did. To his delight, his online friend "Yu" was on.

He'd only met Yu on Saturday, but Jeno was already spilling his whole life to this friend. It's an introvert thing, you know, when you can't talk to anyone face to face, but online, your mouth runs WILD.

There was also a lingering bitter feeling though, because spilling his problems was something that he used to tell Jaemin. Well, Jaemin wasn't beside him anymore, so the job had been handed off to someone else.

Yu was actually in fact a girl, but that didn't really bother Jeno, for some reason. Chatting with her on the voice mic seemed perfectly normal, like he'd known her forever. She understood him, and that's what made him like her even more (not romantically, of course).

Today they connected and were in the midst of battling when Yu started the casual conversation. "So how's your love life update?" because Jeno had told her everything after that night he was drunk.

Jeno sighed as he focused on the game. "I don't know, I really like him and everything, but."

"But what?"

The occasional long pauses in conversation were made up with the clicking of computer keys.

"I dunno," Jeno mumbled. "We're just friends and he's been avoiding me I guess."

"Avoiding you? Why? Why don't you just tell him you like him or something?" Yu said. She had a tendency to be blunt.

" 'Cause I got a girlfriend," Jeno said miserably (?).

"Ohh. You didn't tell me that," Yu replied before tacking on quickly, "I mean, break up with her if you like someone else. Right?"

"It's not that easy," Jeno said, thinking of his parents. And of course, his online friends didn't know that he was actually some rich-ass kid who was just going through an emo phase.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, she still likes me."

Yu didn't reply right away because she was busy in conflict on the game. "But it's not good to lead people on."

"I know," Jeno sighed. "But my feelings, whether I like her or not, don't matter if our parents also know each other for years, and they've already set us all up and everything and everyone already thinks/knows I'm gonna marry her."

"Damn kid, sounds like some rich aristocrats' family."

Jeno groaned. "Sounds about right, unfortunately."

"Well tell your parents then, they wouldn't make you marry someone you don't love, would they? That'd be so wrong."

"The problem is, I might still love her. Is it a possible to love her and my friend at the same time? It's like I have two crushes. So weird, I'm not a polygamist I promise," Jeno whimpered.

"Oh nah, totally understandable," Yu waved it off over on her side. "When did you realise you were bi?"

"Recently. When I realized that I actually like him. I was like dead-sure I was straight this whole time, which is why I never listened to my girlfriend and stopped hanging out with that guy friend. It's just a big mess, I should've stepped out of it sooner. I—"

Jeno's words were cut off with the presence of a voice that wasn't from his headphones. He whirled around in surprise to find his noona standing in the doorway, with a look on her face that seemed like a mixture of surprise, confusion, something that Jeno couldn't quite read.

"Uh, be right back, my sister's here," Jeno apologized to Yu quickly.

"Aight."

Jeno took off his headphones and turned off his gaming screen. "Mija-yah, when did you get here?" he asked with wide eyes, genuine surprise. His sister was a university student in Seoul, and he'd had no idea that she was coming home this week.

Mija winked and gave a pretty smile. "I wanted to surprise my little brother~" she laughed and came over to give Jeno a hug.

She walked over to his desk and motioned to his PC. "You've been gaming again? Eomma told me that you got out of that addiction," she said casually.

"It's not an addiction," Jeno mumbled. "I just decided to get on after a while. I haven't played for forever."

Noona wasn't about to expose that she'd heard Jeno talking something weird about polygamy and being bi, but she'd heard his whole side of the conversation, all right. So she cleverly asked, "How's Kiara?" to see how her dongsaeng would respond.

Jeno tugged his hood back on, snug over his hair and rolled onto his bed lazily while making inhumane dying whale noises.

His sister laughed. "What answer is that?"

"Kiara's good, I guess," Jeno's voice muffled through the pillow he'd face-planted into.

"Seems like—"

Jeno's phone on the desk suddenly rang, and before Jeno could leap up and grab it, his noona had already seen the caller. "My...love...?" She giggled. "That's cute, Nono." Of course she thought "my love" was referring to Jung Kiara.

No! Jeno hyperventilated as he realized that he'd never changed Na Jaemin's name back.

"Give me it," he came quickly and snatched at his cellphone but in the process, accidentally picked up the call.

"Jeno-yah?" Jaemin's male voice rang clear on the other end.

"Not now," Jeno said hastily before ending the call, then diving back onto his bed and burying himself in the blankets, out of embarrassment. Not that any of those actions would make his noona disappear or forget anything she'd just witnessed.

"Uh..." Mija started.

"That's just her boyfriend!" Jeno yelped in defense.

Mija squinted, and Jeno froze as he realized his mistake. His sister pointed out the obvious, "Aren't you her boyfriend...?"

"Who, Kiara?" Jeno sniffed and pretended like he didn't know what was going on.

"Yeah? Wasn't that her?"

"..." Jeno peaked one eye from out of the blanket and looked at Mija pitifully.

"Hm~?" his sister smirked in response and looked at him like he'd been caught red-handed.

Because he had.