𝗮𝗿𝗺'𝘀 𝗹𝗲𝗻𝗴𝘁𝗵; norenmin

~forty three~

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"So who's turn is it to sleep together tonight?" Renjun asked as they all filed into their shared apartment, Jeno closing the door behind them.

After school finally finished, they chose to get a hot drink at their favourite cafe, which held precious memories, and stayed there for a lot longer than anticipated. But when all three had all the time in the world, things like that were a given.

It was edging closer to dinner time once they had arrived home, and unfortunately Jaemin was on cooking duty again.

"Jeno and Renjun," Jaemin responded softly, pointing at them together while sliding his bag off his shoulder and stretching out his arms while walking into the kitchen.

The other two sat up to the island and watched the blonde who had gained some skills along the way with food. Renjun was still perturbed by his methods though.

"It feels like I'm never on my own," Jeno admitted with a smile, "Like I never get the single room."

"Uh, ignoring when you burst in on Jaemin and I?" Renjun chuckled nervously, shivering at the memory. But that night created the exact tension they needed to clear the air and figure out how they felt about each other. So in a way, he was glad it happened.

"Oh yeah....."

The youngest started to chuckle, bringing a few eggs out of the fridge and laying them on the counter beside the hob, where he placed a frying pan.

They talked for a few minutes more about trivial matters, all wondering how to bring up the elephant in the room. The 'thing' Jeno had wanted to discuss.

"So....." the brunette murmured softly, "Mark is coming over tomorrow, yeah?"

The oldest nodded in agreement, "Yup. You guys don't mind, do you? It's not like I'd object for your friends to come over if you wanted them to."

"Don't have any," Jeno hummed.

"Mine live far away now," Jaemin spoke.

"Ay, you're getting good at this," Jeno beamed, leaning over the countertop to ruffle the blonde's hair.

Renjun beamed at him, also proud that Jaemin had been making such good progress. Ever since the day in the school bathroom, he had come along in leaps and bounds, and on top of that his parents were eternally grateful to his friends.

Jeno wondered if now was the time. It wasn't really his duty to ask, but somehow he felt that by being the original pinnacle of this strange relationship, he needed to do it.

"Look guys, we all know the time has come," he sighed, and Jaemin stopped moving around, looking back at him with a knowing look. Renjun too started to fidget with his fingers.

"What's the verdict?" The brunette continued, "We all know the feelings we have. Whether they're strong enough or real, we're not sure. But we're teenagers, aren't we? Are we even supposed to know what's going on?"

Renjun giggled, "I suppose not. It's just a pain that it hurts like this. Doing what we're all doing.....it's hard."

"And that's why I think it's time to make something a little more concrete. And there's one way to go about it."

Jaemin nodded slowly, pulling his sleeves up and leaning forward against the marble island.

Jeno pursed his lips, breathing in once to find some sort of confidence. "Let's try it this way. Jaemin?"

The blonde perked up, "Yes?"

"Will you go out with me? Will you be my boyfriend?"

The younger looked taken aback for a second, amazed with how forward Jeno could be when he wanted to. Having wanted to hear those words since basically he first met the boy, his answer wasn't hard to voice.

"Of course I do......" he smiled so brightly, one could almost feel the heat from it, "I love you."

Renjun's heart started to race almost painfully as the younger then turned to him, a smirk plastered to his face. It was nerve wracking even though he knew he was about to have a dream come true.

"Renjun?"

"Oh my god," the Chinese croaked hoarsely, "Stop teasing me with that look."

"Will you join us? Be my boyfriend?" Jeno asked gently.

Jaemin had to cover his mouth with both his hands to suppress his absolute happiness. The way he could see Renjun burning up from the question he had wanted to hear from someone his whole youth.

"Of course I'd say yes," the oldest fanned his face with his hand, "Now I feel all weird!"

Jeno started to laugh, taking their hands squeezing them assuringly. "You two are so easy to torment sometimes. A question is enough to make you both panic."

"Is that what this horrible feeling is?" Renjun joked, smacking the other's shoulder, "You can take it back!"

"Shy," Jaemin snickered. "But now it's my turn."

His voice was a little rough now that he was forcing out proper sentences. It was hard for him, but his family and now boyfriends couldn't have been more proud of him for trying this hard.

"Renjunnie," he whispered teasingly.

"Oh no," the Chinese giggled, "Connecting the other side of the triangle?"

"Yes. So will you be with me as well?"

"I'd cry if you said 'no'," Jeno ruffled the oldest's hair, "I don't want to have one of you without the other. We're a special kind of team."

"Then that's a definite 'yes', isn't it?" Renjun responded to Jaemin, taking his hand and giving it a kiss, "We are a team."

"Yes," Jaemin smiled excitedly, walking around the island to engulf the pair in a hug. "I'm glad you finally asked."

"Took you long enough," Renjun added sourly, smiling all the same as Jeno squeezed them in tighter.

He couldn't be sure, but Jeno knew this was what he wanted, whether it was what others wanted to see or not. From being an a-romantic teen and going to a lucky devil with two incredibly cute boys by his side.

They stayed like that for what felt like ages, cuddling because they could now. All those moments that made it feel like they had always been together were now justified.

"I swear to god, I love you guys so much," Renjun muttered softly.

"Love you too," Jeno and Jaemin answered in unison, chuckling at how in sync it sounded.

Finally......

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Yeah, so I definitely owed it to you guys to get this ship on the damn road.
I hope you're all satisfied with this development!
Ly~
-lily