Mystery Tattoo | Norenmin

Chapter 24: Lee Donghyuck

Donghyuck was angry.

No, that's not the correct word.

Donghyuck was livid.

He had spent the past several months hoping, praying, that Jaemin and Renjun would come to their damn senses and realize what they were doing.

Jeno was practically wasting away.

Now, he had no idea if Jaemin and Renjun knew what they were doing but at this point, they should have. Donghyuck had to painfully stand to the side and watch as Jaemin and Renjun spends hours, now days, away from Jeno. He had to watch as Jeno's eye smile slowly went away, his face now permanently etched with a frown, eyes always seeming close to crying.

He had tried to talk to Mark about it but Mark being the oblivious fucking idiot that he was didn't realize anything was going on and insisted that Renjun and Jaemin would never abandon Jeno. That was exactly what had stopped Donghyuck from acting sooner.

It had seemed fine in the earlier months after winter break when school didn't take up much time and the tattoo parlor wasn't flooded with customers. Back when Jeno didn't mind the long hours that Jaemin and Renjun worked, back when Jeno used to smile through the decreasing love.

But now, Donghyuck couldn't stand it anymore.

Jeno had become someone important to him and he affectionately remembered when he had brought Jeno onto his radio broadcast, resulting in lots of uncontrollable laughter. Donghyuck actually really enjoyed being around the happy Jeno, he wasn't afraid to show him affection and return the caring gestures that Donghyuck gave him.

Around two weeks ago Jeno had actually shown up at Donghyuck and Jaemin's dorm on the one day where Mark had been busy and he had actually been there. Jeno had made some of Jaemin's favorite cookies and had asked if Jaemin had maybe come to the dorm and forgot the text him.

Donghyuck ended up inviting Jeno to spend the night with him but Jeno had politely refused, handing the cookies over to Donghyuck to eat before leaving.

He couldn't stand it anymore.

He would have talked to Renjun and Jaemin but he couldn't reach them either, they seemed to busy for anyone else in the world. Not Donghyuck, and not Jeno.

This is why Donghyuck found himself bounding into the coffee shop when he saw Jeno sitting there staring at nothing. The soft guitar music greeted his ears but he honestly couldn't have given a damn as he pulled a chair up to Jeno's empty table. Even that sight brought an ache to Donghyuck's heart.

"Jeno, what the hell are you doing?" He asked and saw Jeno still as he looked surprised at him. He saw Jeno's hand fiddle around the cup he was holding.

"What do you mean, I'm not doing anyth-"

"That's exactly my point!" Donghyuck couldn't help but interrupted exasperated. "Jeno, it's not hard to see that you're hurting." Donghyuck started and he could see tears start to well up in Jeno's eyes. He could see this was going to be a hard conversation to have for the both of them, his own throat starting to close up with emotion.

"Jeno, let's take a walk. Okay?" He asked standing up, softening his face and his tone. Jeno just nodded in response and got up to follow him, placing his cup on the counter to be washed. They walked out into the warm evening air and Donghyuck quickly took Jeno's hand in his own.

He saw Jeno looking at him with a confused expression in the corner of his eyes but he just proceeded to drag Jeno along the concrete paths that crisscrossed over campus. Donghyuck proceeded to walk for around 5 minutes with Jeno's calloused hand in his own soft hand.