neologize

tennis ball - renmin

prompt: #9: "you're in love with him." - renmin

jeno watched from his chair as renjun paced around the room, back and forth, like the ticking hands of a grandfather clock. he was worried too, of course, but renjun was taking it to another level.

"jun, it'll be alright," jeno tried to reassure his friend for the eighth time that they had been sitting in the waiting room. "they just need to get some x-rays."

renjun's hands made themselves at home in his head, tugging at the strands of hair. "there's so much that could go wrong.

jeno sucked on his teeth as he surveyed the way his friend was driving himself crazy. reassurance hadn't worked. option 2 it was, then. distraction.

"renjun, why are you so concerned about jaemin, anyway? i don't recall you ever being this worried when i went to the er for my broken ankle," jeno mused, tapping a finger on his lip.

"because it's jaemin! how could i not be concerned for him. and i was worried for you too, but they put so many drugs in you before you even got to the er that you were laughing. nothing to be worried about there," renjun paused his pacing to look at jeno pointedly, then he resumed walking holes into the ground.

"renjun," jeno caught renjun's wrist when he passed in front of him and pulled him down into the seat next to him, "it'll be okay. jaemin will be fine. he's only in here for a sprained wrist. you know this isn't the first time it's happened."

"it's more risky the second time. if jaemin can't play tennis anymore, he's gonna be devastated," renjun muttered, looking down at his hands. his knuckles were white from gripping the arms of the chair so tightly, and jeno frowned.

"that doesn't explain why you're so worried, though. aren't you taking it out of proportion?" jeno wondered.

he looked over at renjun, the older's worried eyes glimmering under the light, his face drawn taut as he clenched his teeth. he was the epitome of worry, and jeno just couldn't figure out why.

understanding dawned on jeno at once as he recalled a conversation the two of them had had at jaemin's tennis tournament last weekend. the two of them were bored of watching the matches, jaemin had won his and they didn't really care about the other teams. renjun had asked jeno how things were going with donghyuck and jeno had been quick to talk his ear off about the date they had just gone on. then jeno had asked whether renjun liked someone, since he seemed different, more distracted these days. the thing was, jeno had noticed that renjun had been acting differently for months by then, but he had decided to keep it to himself.

jeno had noticed that renjun had been more jumpy around jaemin, and he'd started caring about his appearance when the two spent the night at jaemin's house. sometimes jeno would catch renjun staring at jaemin, a troubled look on his face, and now it all made sense.

"you're in love with him," jeno breathed, knowing he was correct as renjun's eyes widened and he swung his body towards jeno.

"what the hell? where'd you get that from?" renjun laughed nervously; of course he was trying to save himself until the end. god forbid anyone found out that the huang renjun had feelings.

"i'm your best friend," jeno sighed, "i'm not gonna judge you. i'll make fun of you later. right now, i'm gonna tell you that everything's gonna be fine and you can tell jaemin your feelings."

renjun leaned his head on jeno's shoulder, a small gesture of trust, but for renjun, it meant everything.

"i'm worried about jaemin. it feels like he's been playing more recklessly, like, i don't know, he's been trying to get hurt on purpose," renjun confessed, and jeno nodded.

he'd noticed the same thing, but he'd thought that he was trying to look tougher in front of someone. renjun's explanation made sense, and jeno wouldn't doubt that it was true.

renjun pulled his feet up onto the chair, wrapping his arms around them and setting his chin atop his knees. he was tired, all the anxiety from before finally leaving his body. he wasn't calm by any means, but the rational part of brain told him that jaemin would be perfectly fine.

"are you two here for na jaemin?" the doctor inquired gently, sending them comforting smiles. 

the two boys stood, nodding their heads vigorously, "we're his best friends," jeno informed her. 

she nodded in understanding and flipped through the papers in her hand. "jaemin seems to be doing just fine. we ran an x-ray and he does have a hairline fracture, but painkillers and no arm activity should help him recover. he should be able to use his wrist in 6-8 weeks."

renjun blew out a breath of relief and jeno nodded. "thank you so much, doctor. can we see him?"

"yes, of course! his room's right there. a nurse should bring the discharge papers right in," she said and walked away.

jaemin looked up with a goofy smile from his hospital bed as his best friends walked in slowly. renjun's mouth dropped open at the smile and jeno just chuckled. leave it to jaemin to cheer everyone else up when he was the one in the hospital.

"jaem, we were so worried," jeno started first, taking a seat in the chair next to his bed.

"i'm fine," jaemin assured, waving his casted hand in front of their faces. he had gotten a pink cast, matching his hair. then his face fell as he noticed renjun still standing at the door, a frown forming on his face. "injun?"

renjun sniffed and came closer, blinking away the few tears that had fallen. he took a seat gingerly in the chair on the other side of jaemin.

"what's wrong, injun?" jaemin asked, reaching out and gripping renjun's hand.

jeno didn't know how he didn't see it before, it was clear that they both liked each other in the same way. he stifled his grimace as renjun shoved jaemin's shoulder.

"ow?" jaemin looked up in surprise.

"you're an asshole. why are you getting injured on purpose out there? you fell on your own wrist. you lost the match because you injured yourself. why?" renjun wasn't joking, his eyebrows were raised as he watched jaemin struggle to find words.

"injun," jaemin trailed off, his gaze downcast with guilt.

"explain," renjun demanded and jeno could feel the cold resonating in renjun.

"okay, okay. so you see," jaemin scratched the back of his neck with his uncast hand, "iwantedtogethurtsoyou'dfinallypayattentiontome?"

if jaemin had wished for renjun to not catch that, he was in the wrong. renjun had heard every word and he fell short. "what?"

clearly, it wasn't the answer he had been expecting. he scooted forward, closer to jaemin, gathering his bearings. soon, there was a small smirk on his face as jaemin's face burned red.

"you wanted to catch my attention by injuring yourself?" renjun looked like he was trying to stifle a laugh.

jaemin's face got even redder as he rubbed a hand over it in hopes to cool it down. "yeah?"

"you're an idiot," renjun laughed and leaned forward, pressing a soft kiss to jaemin's lips.

jeno cleared his throat awkwardly, trying to remind them that he was still in the room.

jaemin and renjun cracked up, pointing at jeno's disgusted face, before they leaned in for another kiss.

jeno fake-gagged, eliciting another round of laughter. jeno soon joined in, shooting a quick smile to renjun.

it was clear that the two had nothing to worry about, their wild attempts to catch the other's attention had worked.