Mid Summer

forty,

"Hi. I like you a lot, pretty boy you."

Mark chuckles, putting a hand on Jaemin's waist lovingly.

"I know." He smiles, scrunching his nose when Jaemin lands a kiss on his nose. "I like you a lot too."

"Good," the younger beams, looping his arms around Mark's shoulders. Their height difference wasn't that big, Mark being taller by just a few inches. Still, the pink haired boy had to go on his tippy toes to plant a full mouth kiss on the elder's lips, and Mark kept him steady by tightening the grip on his waist.

"Public displays of affection are not allowed," comes Donghyuck's monotonous voice. He has Jeno latched onto his arm, lazily dragging behind the younger. "I'm calling the police."

"You're just crabby," Jeno says, earning a shove from the younger boy. "Crabby and stressed."

Donghyuck glares at Jeno, the latter simply smiling a small smile in return.

"Anyways," Donghyuck starts, turning his attention to Jaemin and Mark. "I suggest the library. I don't know about you guys, but I have a shit ton of homework."

"Like a library date," Jeno mumbles to himself from where he's perched on Donghyuck's shoulder.

Mark's eyes widen and his face pales ever so slightly, and Donghyuck has to hold his laugh in.

"You're scaring Mark hyung, Jeno. I don't think he's ready for that." Donghyuck jokes, which evokes Jaemin to steal a glance at Mark, and for sure, he's now red in the face.

"The library sounds good," Jaemin says, silently lacing his fingers with Mark's. He doesn't know why he did that, he just liked physical contact. And plus, Mark's hand was warm and soft, so he loved holding it. "I have to annotate a book." He adds, and if he leans more of his weight onto Mark, the latter doesn't say anything about it.

——

It's quiet in the library, as per usual. The only thing was that it was unusually packed. There wasn't normally many people in the library on campus, since there were cafes and bookstores nearby. A lot of people preferred to work there, but it was insanely full in the library today.

"It's not even exam season what the fuck," Donghyuck scoffs, dumping his backpack onto a surprisingly empty table. There were two chairs on each side, so Jaemin seats himself down beside Donghyuck while Mark and Jeno take the two seats in front of them. "It should be deserted."

Mark shrugs, taking out his laptop and his notebook. He has a history project to work on, one which he wasn't really excited about. History was most probably the most boring subject to ever exist.

"I'm gonna go check out the encyclopedias," Jeno announces, getting up and pushing his chair back in. Before he can leave, Jaemin gets up and decides to accompany him.

"I'll come with you."

Donghyuck scoffs.

Mark snorts.

"Don't use this as an excuse to make out."

Jaemin's cheeks tinge pink while Jeno simply squints his eyes at the other two boys. The older one grumbles before leaving the table, Jaemin following in tow.

"What do you need an encyclopedia for?" Jaemin asks, casually twining his pinky with Jeno's.

Jeno urges the butterflies that were swarming wildly in his stomach to calm down at the action, turning his head to the side so that Jaemin couldn't see his blush. Then, he answers the question.

"English class," he answers, pulling Jaemin towards the encyclopaedias. Jaemin's pinky is slipping from his own, and Jeno fixes that slipping his hand into Jaemin's.

Jeno was looking through the wide variety of books, before he settles on one which looks like it could be very helpful. He skims through it as effectively as he can while still holding onto Jaemin's hand, because he'd be damned if he let go. However, when he feels a tug at his hand, and the warmth of the boy he loves slipping away, Jeno can't help but rip his eyes away from the book in his hands and towards where Jaemin's pink tuft was disappearing off to.

"Injun!"

At the name, Jeno's blood runs cold.

Injun.

Huang Renjun.

Jeno puts the book back onto the shelf without much thought, heading to find Jaemin.

It doesn't take long, obviously, and Jeno soon spots the younger boy talking animatedly about something to Renjun. Renjun's face has changed so much since the last time Jeno saw him. The fat on his cheeks have disappeared and his hair was now a light blond. Jeno can't deny, the Renjun looks good. But he will deny that he was interested in what Jaemin and Renjun were talking about, something he didn't care too much about.

However, the way Jaemin's eyes sparkle and the way his lips move faster than Jeno's ever seen— that's something to care about. He also notes the way Renjun stares at Jaemin. Renjun looks at Jaemin with the utmost amount of fondness and adoration in his eyes and Jeno wonders if the elder boy ever got over his feelings from four years ago.

Warmth draped itself over Jeno's back, and hands find their place on his waist. Jeno knows who it is, by the chin digging into his shoulder.

"What're you looking at, cutie?" Mark asks, slowly swaying the two of them side to side. Mark wasn't too big on public displays of affection, so Jeno doesn't really know what's gotten into him. But he's not complaining too much. Why would he anyways?

"Huang Renjun," he answers, momentarily forgetting the fact that Mark probably doesn't know who Renjun is. Or at least, that's what Jeno thought.

"Injun?" Mark asks, pressing his cheek against Jeno's.

"How do you know—" But before Jeno could finish asking his question, he turns speechless when he sees Donghyuck attack Renjun from the back, hugging the elder tight in a back hug. "No way..." Jeno gapes, turning his head to look at Mark. He's utterly horrified when he sees Mark smiling lightly at the scene.

"It's nice to see Jaemin getting along with Renjun. I bet you and Renjun get along great as well." Mark starts, pecking Jeno lips once, softly.

"Mark, no—" Jeno starts, eyes frantic, but the elder continues before he can.

"Injun was there for Hyuckie when he was going through a lot," Mark admits, returning his gaze to the scene in front of them. "If Injun wasn't around... Jeno, I was so scared..." Mark admits quietly, sending out a message Jeno didn't want to receive.

"Injun?" Jeno asks again, trying to fit it into his mind that Injun, Huang Renjun, was there for Donghyuck, their Donghyuck. "Yeah..." He starts, squinting his eyes at Renjun. Apparently, Renjun was there for Donghyuck. Renjun, the antagonist in Jeno's blossoming high school love with Jaemin. The same Renjun who Jeno couldn't stand to see pin over Jaemin. Huang Renjun, who looks like he's still in love with Jaemin.

"Mhm... Injun's special."

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i'm sorry for not updating in a long time, i wasn't cheesing when i said i lost inspo :(