bad chemistry

twenty - four

Jeno opens his eyes soon after a few hours, as he dozed off earlier when Minju offered. He sits up carefully and rubs his eyes slowly, realizing that that was the first time that he has gotten a proper sleep for the past few days. He turns his head and stretches his arms as he looks over at his phone. Minhyung has dropped off his things in front of the door, and Jeno stands up to make his way towards the door. But he sees his backpack in front of the room that Minju let him stay in. He looks around as he wonders without even noticing of where Minju might be.

There isn't any food around the counters, and the fridge seems empty as well since Minju wouldn't be able to make some food for herself. Jeno sends her a quick text on where she might be, and her manager immediately answers instead of that Minju is filming her screen times. He knows the passcode to her house, so Jeno grabs his wallet and makes his way towards the convenient store. Walking into the elevator, he hums an unknown tune as he feels the elevator moving down to a different floor.

Before he could realize it, it stops at the floor of where his cousin lives. He freezes immediately as his head looks up slowly from the ground as a familiar voice asks curiously, "Jeno?"

"Taemin hyung."

"YAH! You never visited!"

His older cousin runs into the elevator and drags him into a big bear hug as he smiles happily with the other. Jeno awkwardly hugs him back as he doesn't know how to respond to this situation. The elevator soon closes, and the two separate since they start to make small conversation. Taemin then offers to buy Jeno dinner, in which Jeno couldn't really deny.

"So why are you in our apartment building?"

Jeno stares at the food in front of him as he doesn't know how to reply to this. He couldn't reveal Minju's identity nor can he lie to his cousin. He clears his throat softly before replying back quietly, "A friend lives here...I came by to sleep over at his place."

"Wow, I'm offended. You don't even visit me but you visit your friend."

"I was going to, but it was pretty hectic these days. I was planning to see you."

Taemin laughs as he teases his younger cousin as he continues to grill the meat on the grill. They both decided to eat at a Korean barbeque place since he wasn't sure on what else to eat. He feels bad about not cooking as he hasn't seen his cousin in forever and doesn't know what to say to him. Looking around, he orders some vegetables with some soup.

Jeno eats quietly as Taemin places the meat onto his plate with excitement as he keeps talking nonstop about his job and other family issues. Chewing on his food mindlessly, he glimpses at his phone without a thought as a message pops up into his phone.

It is from Minju:

"Hey, I'm going home right now. Did you eat anything?"

Jeno quickly responds back, "I'm eating right now."

"Oh...okay."

He didn't know how else to respond but Taemin snaps him out of his spaced out state, "Are you dating these days?"

Jeno's confusion rises as he looks over at his older cousin, who is giving him a smug expression. Jeno laughs out due to absurdity, and he continues to say, "No! Hyung, I'm not in the state to date anyone."

"Jeno, you know you smiled brightly....right when your phone rang."

Jeno's expression turns into a confused one as Taemin smiles with a deep sigh afterward. He calls over the waitress and pays for their food, as Taemin urges Jeno to leave, "Go."

"Go where?"

"To her."

"Who?"

"The one you're texting right now.. I'm sure she is waiting for you."

"No way."

"Listen to me."

Minju pouts softly and without even knowing when Jeno is already eating without her. She wants to eat with someone and not with her manager since that's what she has been doing for a few days straight. Her manager looks over at her through the back mirror and asks worriedly, "Hey you okay?"

"Huh? Yes, I'm good.."

"You're pouting."

"I am?"

Her manager laughs at her with a deep chuckle as he slowly arrives at her apartment complex. "Yes, you were. Now go up, we're home."

Minju gets off the car with her things and waves her manager to leave so that she can go rest from shooting. She turns towards the door to enter into the lobby before someone stops her from entering. Jeno clears his throat softly and looks down at her, "Hungry?"

Minju rolls her eyes playfully before she replies sarcastically, "No. Not really."

Jeno's hand automatically goes up as he gently plays with her cap, and she whines with soft annoyance. He laughs without even thinking as Minju's heartbeat starts to beat a little faster than before when she heard him chuckle. She swears that her cheeks are starting to redden, so she quickly turns around towards the direction of the lobby. "Let's go. I need to be on a diet anyways."

"Weirdo. Let's go."

Looking around, Minju's eyes widen to his comment as she crosses her arms and lowers her tone, "Go where?"

"To go eat. You shouldn't starve. I may just be the police officer watching over your place, but I'm going to make sure I do the things that your manager would do."

Minju is taken aback by his sudden confidence and switch in tone, as she turns her body around to face Jeno once more. She smiles tauntingly as she replies back with a teasing manner, "Oh, so you're now my bodyguard now?"

"More than that."

"What do you mean?"

All of a sudden, Jeno lowers his face down so that he can be on the same face level as Minju. Minju's face starts to heat up slowly as he leans in closer towards her face but making sure to keep his distance. His dark, glistening orbs stare into her own brown, sparkling eyes as they don't speak at all during this. Soon realizing their position, Jeno backs away from her and rests a hand on the back of his neck. His eyes blink quickly in a manner that indicates that he is flustered as well.

"Come on, let's go eat."