blue gasoline ✿ nomin

032

"Shouldn't you be with your family right now?" Jeno asked as the younger entered his apartment.

"I could say the same to you," Jaemin replied, turning and cocking an eyebrow.

"Touché."

"That was your brother at the restaurant, right? What happened between you guys?" the bubblegum-haired teen pried. He knew it wasn't his business, but he couldn't help but be curious. The cringe that came from Jeno the minute the words left his lips was enough to tell him it was something that the latter was uncomfortable talking about.

With a quiet voice, Jeno said, "It's a bit personal."

"C'mon, you know everything fucked up about me," the younger urged, "It's only fair you tell me some things too." He didn't mean to come off as pushy as he did, but he was dying to know. Jeno knew so much about him, yet he hardly knew anything about the officer.

"We've just not talked much over the past few years, that's all," the ravenette dismissed.

"Did something happen?" Jaemin inquired. Either he'd get the information he wanted, or he'd get yelled at. He was fine with taking the chance on the latter if it meant there was also a chance Jeno would open up to him.

There was a long silence. Jeno was trying to figure out whether he should really tell Jaemin anything or not. At last, he decided that he should. Jaemin had been honest with him many times, and it wasn't fair for him to continue being closed off. "My sister died a few years ago," he finally croaked, immediately feeling his throat constrict and eyes get glassy. He hadn't talked about it since all his classmates and family friends stopped mentioning it years ago.

Jaemin instantly felt bad for making Jeno say anything at all. He knew how painful it was to lose someone close to you and then to have the wounds of the loss reopened by curious people. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have—"

"No, it's okay, you're right—you deserve to know some things about me too," the officer interjected. "That guy from the restaurant was my brother. He and Siyeon were twins."

"You don't have to keep going," the younger said softly as he noticed Jeno getting emotional. Obviously, it was a tough topic to talk about, and he already knew enough. It would just be torture for Jeno to continue.

"Just one more thing," Jeno cleared his throat. "She was hit by a drunk driver. That's why I can't stand you, or anyone else, drinking. You don't know how quickly you can change lives forever," he informed, the strength of his words crashing upon them both.

Within seconds, Jaemin had embraced Jeno in a warm hug. Flashbacks from the party Jeno dragged him away from fluttered through his head, as well as the several invitations to go grab a drink that was turned down. He felt so guilty for those times and wanted nothing more than to take them back.

Jeno hugged him back equally as tightly. Longing for his precious older sister coursed through his veins as he thought back on the terrible thing that had happened to her. All the years of refusing to think about it crashed down on him, and it was nearly an impossible task to keep his tears from falling.

"You shouldn't push your family away. They need you, you know," Jaemin said after a few minutes.

The older tensed. "I can't help it."

"They love you, Jeno. They're just as hurt as you are, and I guarantee they stay awake and pray at night for you to start speaking to them again."

Hearing that snapped something in Jeno. His kin had tried to keep in touch with him ever since it happened, but he just kept shoving them further and further away. It was selfish of him to ignore everyone else's grieving and focus on pretending nothing ever happened.

"You're right," Jeno said quietly. "Do you think I should go see them?"

"I think that would be a wonderful idea," the pink-haired boy smiled, finally releasing the hug they had been sharing.

The officer hesitated for a second, wondering if he should ask or not. In the end, he decided it was worth a shot, and he could use the company for this large step. "If you don't have anything planned...do you...do you think you could come with me?"

Jaemin grinned from ear-to-ear. He felt honored Jeno would even ask him to do something with him, even more so since that something was meeting the entirety of his family. "Of course."

Before Jeno could even thank him, Jaemin was on his way out the door. "I call aux!"

The black-haired male smiled fondly before grabbing his keys and following. His heart swelled at the sight of smiley Jaemin absolutely booking it towards the elevator, even though he was bubbling with anxiety at the thought of facing his family after all this time.

But one sweet smile from the bubblegum-haired boy was all it took to give him hope everything would be fine.

🔴🔵

"Don't worry, you're going to be alright," Jaemin said sincerely, poking Jeno's cheek with his index finger to lighten the mood.

Any other time, Jeno would've yelled at him for being weird, but he was too nervous to do anything of the sort. He wiped his sweaty palms against his pants and let out a long breath before mustering up the courage to knock on the door.

"Jeno?!" said male's mother practically shrieked when she opened the door to reveal her son who hadn't been to any holiday gathering in what felt like forever.

"Hi," the officer responded awkwardly with a small smile. This felt so unnatural, but that feeling was expected considering the distance he had forced upon them.

"I'm so glad you came!" she voiced, eyes still blown wide from the sight of her youngest son. "Who's this?" she then asked, obviously referring to Jaemin standing silently by his side.

Jeno glanced at the pink-haired boy briefly before looking back up to his mother. "This is Jaemin."

"Lovely to meet you," said male grinned, extending a hand to the woman.

Jeno's mouth almost dropped in surprise from witnessing Jaemin being polite. In the several months he's known the boy, manners weren't something he particularly exhibited. He wasn't about to complain though, especially when he saw his mother's impressed smile.

"You too, sweetheart," the woman responded, shaking Jaemin's hand. "Both of you come on in. We're all so glad you're here," she said, quickly ushering them inside as if she were afraid Jeno would run off if she didn't get him in fast enough.

"Who's here?" a voice rang from a couple rooms over. A few moments later, Taeyong's body shuffled into the foyer where the three were, immediately stopping in his tracks once his eyes rested upon his little brother and another boy he recognized from the restaurant.

"What the hell?"

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