Guilt Trip {Noren}

Chapter 10

Renjun still couldn't stomach that thought, all through physics and maths. Of course, he was asked at least three times, to which he simply shrugged and said yes. Somehow he couldn't understand the subsequent wide grin the asker had making their way back to their desk.

"I thought he hated us all," he overheard someone say just after the lesson.

"Apparently not."

"Are you kidding? He probably still does." Ah, that person had the right idea. "Jeno though? I would've expected better from someone so seemingly stoic." Never mind.

"How does it feel? You know..." another classmate had the nerve to ask. Renjun rolled his eyes.

"Why does everyone have so much to ask? We're dating, that's all there is."

"I mean..." Renjun's expectant stare shut him up. Meanwhile his heart thumped away at the prospect of "Am I really going through with this?"

"That's him, right?" Jaemin pointed to a lost looking figure from their usual spot under the tree. Chenle squinted his eyes.

"Probably." Jisung nudged Jeno, to his left.

"Go get him then."

"Oh. Should I?" But Jaemin had already pulled Jeno up roughly by the arm, pushing him in the general direction of Renjun.

"Save us your rants and just go." And so Jeno jogged up to where Renjun had been wandering in loop-de-loops for the past three minutes. Renjun turned around again, just when Jeno reached him.

"Babe." Jeno swiveled him around. "You should get your eyes checked."

"O-oh," Renjun said, and then became immensely aware of the eyes on them. "Babe. Yeah. That's a thing now."

"Get used to it," Jeno said, leading him by the waist to the tree. Renjun could almost feel a bowling ball in his stomach from the double meaning of that, because yeah- he really would have to get used to it.

Jaemin did a quick once-over of Renjun as he sat down. Jeno's arm was now around his shoulder.

"Come to think of it, I don't think I've met you yet, Renjun. I'm Jaemin," he reached out a hand for Renjun to shake, which he took immediately. "Treat him good, or else," he mouthed, retracted his hand and sat back against the tree with a proud smile.

"Don't be like that, Jaemin..."Jeno playfully warned, slapping his friend on the arm. "And Jisung?"

"Hm?" The boy in question looked up from slurping noodles. "Oh. Yeah. I know Renjun." And he went back to the noodles. Perhaps Jeno had bitten off more than he could chew. Chenle jumped in straight after to introduce himself, and then proceeded to reel off how weird it was now seeing Jeno with a boy now, although not offensively.

"-but I'm sure you'll be fine!" he finished off brightly.

"Uh, thanks, I guess," Renjun offered an awkward smile. The warmth of Jeno's arm was now burning into the side of his neck, so he swung it around so that he was holding his hand on his knee.

"Mhm, cute," Jaemin casually commented whilst Chenle let out a mini-squeal. Jeno breathed a sigh of relief.

"So am I, right?" he squeezed Renjun's hand as a signal, maintaining a gentle smile in his direction. Come to think of it, Renjun's eyelashes looked beautifully long at this angle.

"Of course!" Renjun said a little too animatedly, but Chenle laughed at that. Jisung was now playing some sort of video game from his phone in silence but occasionally sighing in frustration. Jaemin was by his side- coaching or scolding, Renjun couldn't tell.