Ships Passing In The Night ｜Markhyuck (OT21 AU)

Chapter 27

"What's wrong?"

Renjun almost didn't catch Jeno's question, voice thick with concern, as he watched Donghyuck haul Jaemin away by his shirt from over his shoulder. Warm fingers, barely grazing the sensitive skin of the back of his hand, made him jump almost out of his skin, and he turned to see Jeno leaning in so close that he could make out the individual eyelashes that framed eyes which radiated concern.

"What?" He hadn't been listening, which was unthinkable considering exactly who was sitting beside him, so he made an effort to focus as Jeno spoke again. He could ponder the unfathomable strangeness that was his friends later, if he survived his current encounter with the one and only Lee Jeno without spontaneously combusting.

"I asked if everything was okay and you shook your head." He did? He hadn't intended to, but, if he was honest, everything wasn't okay. Jeno was here in the drama studio, Jeno was entirely too close to him, and Renjun could feel the skin of his arms and face flaming at the proximity. He was sure that he looked an absolute picture, and the attractive soccer player watching him intently was probably regretting his seating choice right about now, but Jeno didn't need to know about any of that.

"Oh." Well, that was eloquent, Renjun thought to himself. Searching the farthest recesses of his brain, he tried to dredge up something coherent to add. "It's fine." Jeno hesitated for a fraction of a second, his gaze searching Renjun's face almost intrusively, and then the boy smiled and the moment passed as quickly as it had begun.

"That's good," Jeno said quickly, a wide, toothy grin still plastered across his face. "I didn't mean to interrupt you and your friends." He'd said something similar a few minutes earlier too, right before Donghyuck had abandoned Renjun to his conversational doom, and the older boy didn't like the idea that Jeno could think that. Renjun might not have any idea how to act normally around the boy he had been in love with since middle school, and, internally, he might be dying just a little because Jeno actually knew his name, but the last thing he wanted was to make that sad look come back into Jeno's eyes. He never wanted to be the cause of that again, and he was pretty sure, right now, he'd be willing to fight anyone who was.

"It's no problem." He resisted the urge to glance back towards his friends again, forcing himself to stay focused on Jeno. It wasn't all that hard, since the boy seemed to radiate charisma from his every pore. Renjun had often wondered what it would be like to have that kind of intensity focused solely on him and now he had his answer. It felt like he was going to implode from all the nervous energy, and he hadn't decided yet whether he liked it or not.

"So," Jeno began, tilting his head to the side, tracing the outline of the top of his ear with his fingers slowly.

"So," Renjun repeated, when Jeno didn't finish the sentence. For a few seconds, neither of them spoke, watching each other with thinly-veiled curiosity. For Renjun, it afforded him the chance to study the handsome features and facets of a face that he'd not seen up close since they began high school and Jeno started to become a hot commodity among their fellow students. He knew that Jeno had never publicly expressed interest in any one of them, so Renjun's interest in the younger boy would certainly never be reciprocated, but that didn't make his feelings any easier to ignore when Jeno smiled at him like that.

For Jeno's part, he seemed to be studying every single micro-expression that Renjun made, judging from the way that his expressive brows shifted and his eyes danced every time Renjun so much as blinked. He didn't know what Jeno could possibly find so interesting on his face, but fascinated would be a good way to describe the younger boy's demeanour. It was equal parts flattering and baffling, which didn't serve to calm Renjun's nerves at all.

"I was surprised to see you here today," Renjun offered, after it became clear that he would have to be the one to break the silence. Jeno seemed far too content just to stare at him, and it was making Renjun a little uncomfortable, given the constant scrutiny. "I thought you had soccer practice on a Wednesday afternoon."