<5>

8.5K 317 100
                                    

<><>

Jeno wakes up to the sound of his alarm blaring in his ears. He slams his hand down onto the off button and swung his legs off the bed. He pauses for a moment, listening to hear if his mother was awake...or if she was even at home. After a minute of silence, Jeno confirms to himself that his mother was probably passed out somewhere, on the floor or otherwise.

He gets up and stretches his limbs, making his way towards the bathroom. He opens the door and much to his dismay, there lay his mother, passed out on the white tiled floor.

"Mom..." Jeno squats down in front of her and brushes her hair out of her makeup smeared face. "God you look like a mess." He reaches down and takes the empty beer bottle from her hand. Standing and throwing away the bottle, Jeno leaves the bathroom, figuring that brushing his teeth wasn't a big deal; plus he didn't feel like spending his whole morning nursing his mom back to health.

Jeno goes back to his room and gets dressed in his classic white hoodie and black jeans. He slips on his sneakers, grabs his bag, and makes his way towards school.

<><>

"Renjun please help me study~~" Jaemin whines as his arms are sprawled across the library table.

"Jaemin stop whining, I need to finish editing this speech for YangYang."

"Who caressss~ Mrs. Min is brutal and I don't understand the homework."

"Well it's not my fault that you got moved to her class." Renjun states, not looking up from his computer screen. "Just review your notes."

"But-"

"No buts Jaemin. Take out your notes and do your homework. Now let me work." Renjun glares to his friend. Jaemin groans but still takes out his notes and problem sheet. With a small mutter of "I hate logarithms" and another glare from Renjun, Jaemin starts doing his work.

<><>

Jaemin walks into his history classroom (thankfully that didn't change, because he loved Doyoung) and sits in his usual window seat at the front. He leans back and smiles when he sees his teacher walk in.

"Well hello Jaemin," Doyoung smiles and sets some folders down on his desk. "How's your new schedule?"

Jaemin groans, remembering his new math teacher. "Most of it is fine, but I had to switch into Jeno's math and Mrs. Min is really strict."

The teacher laughs and pats Jaemin's shoulder. "I'm sure you can handle it. You've managed a lot more in the past."

"Yeah yeah..." Jaemin sits up straight and gets out his notebook as the rest of the class comes in.

<><>

Jeno enters his house, gagging at the scent of alcohol and old rose perfume. He closes the front door and locks it (just in case).

"Mom?" Jeno makes his way throughout the house, checking the living room, kitchen, and laundry room. No sign of his mother. He tries calling again. "Mom? You here?"

A groan from upstairs signals a yes, and the teen makes his way up towards the bathroom. He sighs when he sees his mom in the same state he left her this morning. He grabs her underarms and lifts here, grunting in the process. "Come on mom...let's get you cleaned up." A string of incoherent sounds come out of the woman's mouth and Jeno lets out an exasperated sigh. They make their way towards her room, well, more like Jeno just drags his mom there and flops her onto the bed.

"Mom...take off your blazer." Jeno says strictly, slightly annoyed that his mom was still in her work clothes from the day before. The woman blinks slowly and lifts her head, only to have it fall back onto the pillow. Jeno rubs his face and takes the coat off for her, along with her shoes and socks. He then helps her under the covers and Ms. Lee is soon sound asleep. "Well at least one of us can rest easy." Jeno glares at the woman in the bed before walking away and closing the door.

He soon comes back with a glass of water and pain meds since his mother was horribly hungover again. He sets them down on the bedside table and turns off all the lights before leaving the room once more. "Rest well..."

Jeno heads back to his own room and takes out his homework, hoping to finish it before he has to go back to deal with his mom.

It was the same thing every week...heck every day. Jeno would awake Monday morning to see that either his mom was passed out somewhere in the house, or just not home at all. He'd then come home and nurse her hangover. He'd prepare dinner and make sure that she's well rested before doing what he needs to do.

His mother works every Sunday, Wednesday, and Thursday at a local restaurant as a Host. When she wasn't drunk, she's a very sweet and caring woman...but she's only sober about 3 days out of the week. Jeno himself works every Tuesday at a convenience store down the road. They make enough money to live by, but most of their savings were either used for taxes, bills, or alcohol. Usually the third choice was the biggest receipt.

It was less than ideal for Jeno, but he made do with what he had. He grew up strong and independent. He worked on his studies and living towards his future. But growing up in conditions where you had to live for yourself everyday with no one to watch over you except a drunk mother who doesn't know who she is half the time, takes a toll on you. Jeno grew up practically on his own, not needing anyone else in his life, it made Jeno a difficult person to befriend. He could survive without friends or soulmates, so why need to meet any?
That was until he met Mark. The older boy didn't really care what Jeno thought, he stuck with him until Jeno stopped finding him annoying. They respected each other, both mysterious and strong. They didn't ask for each other's back stories, all they needed was the reassurance that they had each other in their corner.

When they found Jisung, they were already 3 years into their friendship. Park Jisung in his own right, was a worrisome kid. He didn't have a tragic past or a hurtful home...but when Jeno and Mark found him crying on a bench at 12 am when he was only 14, they decided that they would be there for him. They practically raised the boy, he spent more time at Mark and Jeno's houses than his own.
His home life wasn't bad...it wasn't anything. He was the. Youngest of 4 kids, and was always overlooked, so he chose to label Mark and Jeno as his family.

The 3 boys had been through a lot together, and nothing could change their bond. They fought, joked around, and trusted each other. They had a pack, and nothing could break it. Not family, not other friends, not soulmates.

Jeno eventually falls asleep at his desk, working on Mrs. Min's math homework.

<><>

<Okie here's a bit of a filler but also some background info on our pals Jeno, Mark, and Jisung. I'm so sorry it took me so long to update, this weekend was hectic cuz my sister was going back to school and I had a ton of school work because midterms come out this week, yadda yadda yadda...anyways I hope you like it. ALSO WTF THANK YOU FOR OVER 100 READS I LITERALLY JUST STARTED THIS FWOIHFEOIHF>

Mark MeWhere stories live. Discover now