PRETEND || JENO

0:9

:sky:

"I appreciate what you're doing for me, Jeno. All the clothes, for letting me stay over. I've always-"

"Yeah, yeah, no need to do all that sappy stuff. And don't start crying."

"I'm not going to cry."

"Still."

I scoff.

"There are extra blankets in the closet. You have your own bathroom. If this were a hotel, you'd be paying me thousands, but it isn't, so you're lucky." Jeno heads for the door. "I'll be in my bedroom."

"Thanks-"

He shuts the door.

<•>

I can't sleep.

Despite all that happened today, and this very comfortable bed, I can't seem to keep my eyes closed for more than a minute.

As much as I wanted to drift away from reality in this cloud of comfort, I couldn't.

I keep...thinking.

I finally give up and got out of the bed.

I walk over to the bathroom and stared at myself in the mirror.

Hm...

Now that I think about it, I never really get the chance to examine myself in a mirror.

Yeah, I see myself in reflections wherever I go, but I don't have a mirror in the bathroom at my house. And the mirrors at school are always full of words and residue from vandalism.

I grin.

I look a little more fresh. I guess a little happier too maybe.

Maybe it's because I'm away from home.

Maybe it's because I'm not stuck outside in my toxic, mosquito filled, nature graveyard.

Maybe it's that.

I break eye contact with myself and leaned down to rinse my face in the sink.

Ah, that feels good.

Cool water on my face.

I dry my face off with Jeno's shirt and left the bathroom.

What should I do?

I peek my head out of the bedroom and scanned the empty, dark hallways.

Can I roam around?

I want to go see Jeno's backyard. When I first saw this place, I caught a glimpse of it and it looked pretty nice. I didn't see much, though.

I'm sure I'm not breaking any rules. I'll just go check it out until I get tired enough to fall asleep.

<•>

Whoa...

A decent sized backyard with a light wood patio, healthy green foliage aligning the brown fence, and an outdoor seating set with a unlit fireplace in the middle.

It's dark, but I was still blown away by how nice everything looked.

I wish I had a backyard like this. I wouldn't mind being locked out of the house if this was my backyard.

The darkness seemed to be stronger than my vision, so I couldn't really see anything. The cold air was stinging my skin, but I still made my way over to the lounge chairs in the middle.

I laid down on the chair and gazed into the sky.

The sky looks so amazing.

What a great night to be out.

Hm, when I'm in my backyard, how come I don't see a sky like this?

I see nothing.

But darkness.

All of a sudden, the entire backyard lit up in a second. Fairy lights that were invisible in the dark lit up all around me, revealing their location on the trees and bushes, chairs and decorations.

I sit up and see Jeno standing by the house with his hand on the wall where a light switch was.

"Couldn't sleep either, huh?" He runs a hand through his hair, walking over to me. "You chose a good night to come out."

I pull my legs to my chest. "Sorry..."

He breaths out lightly. "Don't be."

"I-It looks really pretty here."

"It was a birthday gift from Jaemin." He plops down on a chair besides me. "He loves the outdoors and he said that my backyard is a perfect size from some sort of decoration. I don't really get it, but it's cool, I guess."

He looks towards the night sky as he spoke, but my eyes stayed on him.

"Jaemin was about to add a koi fish pond and a whole water fountain, but I told him not to. This was good enough." He turns to me with an eye smile. "Don't want any future guests to accidentally fall into a pond when they come out at night."

I softly flinch when I see him smiling so cutely with his eyes, but I look away to focus on something else.

"Here." He takes off the jacket he was wearing and held it out for me. "Put this on."

"W-What about you? Aren't you cold?"

He shrugs. "I come out here all the time without a jacket. The warmth from all the lights seem to be enough for me. Just put it on."

I take it and did as told.

"Thanks." I smile at him.

We both turn away from each other and back to the clear night sky.

Jeno lays down with a satisfied sigh and put his arms behind his head.

I did too.

It was in the middle of the night and it was freezing, but the view of the sky sure did distract us from thinking about it.

The dark blue and black gradient with tiny, little shiny white dots scattered all around, portraying a breathtaking visual of how our universe looked like without the wall of clouds.

"If I was still with my parents, I wouldn't be able to see something like this." Jeno, out of the blue, comments.

"...yeah, at my house, I wouldn't see something as relaxing as this."

"I figured."

"Hm?"

"I'm not saying we're the exact same, Sky, but we have some connections." He looks at me, his smile quickly fading. "I can relate to you. More than I thought actually."

I stare aimlessly in the night.

Jeno Lee relating to me?

Well, this is something I definitely would not have expected.

"I live alone because of my parents." He shares. "They are workaholics, always gone, always busy. But because of that, they have a lot of money."

"That explains why you're able to go out to eat a lot?"

"And how I manage to live alone in this nice house." He sighs. "Living with a rich family seems like a dream, doesn't it? But it's more dulling than it is fun. See, I like fun. I like adventures. I like doing things I'm not supposed to. If I live in that house full of proper, fancy, classy people, I can't do the things I want."

"How were you able to move out?"

He reaches one hand towards the galaxy and his eyes followed. "I promised my parents that I'll be able to learn a lot of things on my own if I move out. That was enough to convince them. Right now, they think that I know how to do my own laundry, how to cook for myself, and how to drive. I know how to drive, but everything else...I lied."

"How is that relating to me?"

He turns to me with a straight face. "I wanted to leave my family."