three is the perfect number || jaenoren (norenmin)

dix

Friday night's weather was nothing short of dismal.

An absolutely gigantic house leered over Jeno and he shivered — the rain emptying buckets of ice water over his head has forced him to run right up to the door with no pretence, hiding under the tiny slit of shelter and waiting for the courage to knock to visit him. But his heart beat quickly, almost shallowly, a slightly nauseous feeling making him sluggish. What if I don't fit in? I'm nothing like those guys. What if they think I'm a loser? They're happy enough when we're playing basketball but what if I'm really just a nerd after all?

No, no, he scolded himself. That was an insult to his team. He'd only known them for a couple weeks, but they were nice, and they had invited him to this party of their own accord. They were nice people.

Jeno wasn't all that used to making new friends. And this party would obviously push them beyond teammates — they would become 'best pals' in Mark's words. Maybe he should stop viewing this as a challenge and more as an opportunity.

Ah. He was quoting Renjun's pep speech from yesterday night's phone call.

Surprisingly, his best friend hadn't been all that sour about the fact that Jeno was hanging out with his crush for the night instead of him. Jeno had thought extensively about whether he would be annoyed too. Jeno used to have to bite down frowns every time Renjun and Jaemin spoke — but he guessed there was no element of jealousy in Renjun's life. Only harmless pining.

There was a new type of apprehension in Jeno on the topic of Jaemin — Renjun and Jaemin were becoming closer, since they worked together now. They were finding middleground in their vastly different personalities. Jeno's stomach twisted, the feeling of being left behind overwhelming him for a second. Jeno was fairly sure that Jaemin was this close to sitting at their table at lunch, but would that mean Jeno would have to leave?

Jeno winced. And somehow... He'd surprised himself by making friends with Jaemin.

Jeno was shoved out of his reverie by a sudden, distant clap of thunder. He froze, suddenly administering his soggy jacket, his numb fingers. He still hadn't knocked on the door.

He took two deep breaths, trying to muster some confidence. He made an effort with his outfit today, which was unusual for him. He had finally used his contact lenses, which he was surprised to discover weren't all that bad. He had tried styling his hair, too — nothing much, running a brush and some gel through it. He thought it had gone okay, though there was still the nagging fear he looked like an egg wearing an oily wig — I'm doing it again. Stop.

Who was he even trying to impress?

He raised a hand, suddenly annoyed, and knocked on the door decisively. However, he jumped when someone answered it within a split second. Jaehyun propped the door open against the wind with his foot and looked up at Jeno, raising his eyebrows, letting out a low whistle. Jeno froze.

"Dude, nice jeans," Jeno ignored the way he was wiggling his eyebrows.

"Oh? Thanks, I found them rotting in my wardrobe yesterday." Jaehyun shook his head, then ushered him into the house. Jeno huffed, the sudden warmth taking him by surprise, then took off his jacket and went to hang it on the coat rack before discovering that it was so burdened with other jackets that he was afraid it would fall over. Everyone must have arrived already.

He just draped his jacket over the radiator, jumping again at Jaehyun's loud "Come on, the boys are in the sitting room." Jeno stuffed his phone into his pocket and followed.

The polished door was closed, but Jeno even from down the hall Jeno could hear the ruckus falling out within. There was something like a roast battle happening on the other side of the door. He raised his eyebrows at Jaehyun, who just bit back a grin and turned the door handle.