Rumor Has It | NCT DREAM

Chapter 11

"Mark!" Mina exclaimed as she opened the front door, her brother standing in front of her. She gave him a big hug as he patted her head.

"Wow, since when did you like me that much." Mark joked as he walked into the house.

"It gets lonely sometimes." Mina said, helping Mark with his bag. Their parents were both business people, often leaving their children behind when they went on trips for the company. The two made their way upstairs to Mark's room.

"I heard you've been with Jieun and the Dreamies a lot." Mark said, putting his bag down. Mina glared at him, making Mark laugh as he put up his phone.

"Jieun keeps me updated, you know." Mark said to her. Just then, their doorbell rang.

"I'll get it." Mark said, running to the door. Mina quickly followed him.

"Jeno?" "Mark?" The two boys looked at each other, confused. Mina giggled, approaching the two boys.

"Jeno's driving me over." Mina told her brother, picking up her bag. Mark nodded, letting his sister go.

"Drop by if you're not too busy with Jieun." Jeno said, giving Mark a wink before he left. Mark shook his head, smiling to himself as he closed the front door of their house. He quickly dialled a number, putting the phone to his ear.

"Jieun? Are you ready? I'll pick you up in a bit."

...

It was a dreadful Monday again. Haechan groaned as he sunk his head into his arms, laying it down on the desk.

"Go back to sleep." Renjun said to him as he doodled in his sketchbook. Haechan turned his head away from him, facing the door of the classroom. His eyes fell on the girl walking in. He watched as Haerim bumped into her shoulder as she walked by, eyes widening as the girl flinched back.

"Watch where you're going." Haerim snarled to the girl. Haechan's eyes followed the girl as she stayed silent, slowly taking her seat.

"Aish Soojung didn't even apologize." Haechan heard someone say. He shot up, turning to face the voice. He glared into their eyes.

"Your voice is annoying me." Haechan said before turning back to the front. He looked from the corner of his eye to see if Soojung had noticed, but she was busy looking at her notes.

"Why don't you be more obvious." Renjun said softly, earning a smack from Haechan.

...

"Jeno-ah." Jeno clenched his teeth, the high pitched voice ringing in his head. He turned around to face Haerim.

"What do you want?" Jeno asked her, annoyed.

"Did you see the latest post?" Haerim asked, batting her eyelashes. Jeno held in a gag.

"Nothing that comes from Rumor Has It is true." Jeno said, closing his locker with a loud bang. The students in the hallway turned to look at Jeno. Haerim awkwardly smiled, trying to grab Jeno's arm.

"Jeno-ah, don't be so mad." Haerim cooed. Jeno swung her arm off.

"Haerim, we broke up last year. Stop following me. Stop texting me. Stop trying to put yourself into my life. I don't want to be with you so just drop it!" Jeno said, loud enough for the other students to hear. As his words ended, as whispers began spreading through the hallways. Tears begain welling in Haerim's eyes and for a moment, Jeno felt bad for the girl as she ran down the halls.

"Well that's awkward." Jaemin said as he stood beside his best friend.

...

Rumor has it that Lee Jeno doesn't actually like Kim Haerim. Poor girl was seen running through the hallways in tears. Jeno is probably a player like Na Jaemin.

~ Anonymous

...

"Jaemin, have you ever dated before?" Mina asked the boy as he approached her locker. Jaemin shook his head.

"No, never." Jaemin admitted.

"He liked this one girl for a really long time. They worked together on school projects and hung out a lot. Turns out she liked Jeno though." Renjun said, butting into the coversation. Jaemin's ears became red from embarassment.

"Aw, that's unfortunate." Mina said, giving the boy a small smile of encouragement.

"Yeah but it's okay, I like the single life." Jaemin said, a wide grin on his face.

"I find it so weird that they keep bringing up that Jaemin's a player." Mina said, showing Renjun and Jaemin her phone screen.

"I think it's because Jaemin's a natural flirt." Renjun said as Jaemin pouted.

"He acts all cool and stuff on the outside, but one time he was sent to the nurses office after spraining his ankle during soccer and Jeno said he was flirting with the nurse the entire time." Jaemin shot Renjun a death glare, making Mina giggle.

"It's not my fault, it's just my personality." Jaemin whined as the three of them made their way to class.

...

"Noona, are you going to come to our soccer game?" Jisung asked Mina as they made their way to the cafeteria. Mina gave the boy a smile, nodding.

"Normally I wouldn't but since three of you are on the team, I guess I have to." Mina told him.

"Yay!" Jisung said, jumping up. His eyes widened as students turned to look at him, quickly calming himself down. After the two got their food, they made their way to their table where their friends were waiting.

"Where's Haechan?" Mina asked, noticing the male was missing.

"He needed to drop something off for the musical theatre teacher." Renjun said, munching on his food. "There he is now."

The group of friends turned to where Renjun was pointing, seeing the Haechan walk into the cafeteria. Soojung was walking by Haerim's table, tray in her hands full of food. Mina noticed a foot sticking out, wanting to say something but it was too late. Soojung had tripped over Haerim's foot, the food from her tray now over the her school uniform. The whole cafeteria became silence from the commotion.

"Watch where you're going." Haerim said, looking down at the fallen girl.

"What the heck, Haerim, you tripped her." Jaemin said, a bit too loudly as his voice echoed through the cafeteria. Haerim shot daggers from her eyes at Jaemin from his comment. Soojung was paralyzed, silently sitting on the ground. Haechan stood there, behind the girl, shocked at the scene in front of him. He pondered about his actions for a moment, not quite sure of what to do. He took a deep breath before stepping forward, grabbing Soojung's hand.

"Let's get out of here." Haechan said, pulling Soojung out of the cafeteria.

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Haechan soft side? I think so :)