webtoon » chenle

二十七

WHEN Ryujiin's hair was fully dry thanks to jeno's professional hair drying, jeno neatly kept the hair dryer and they both sneaked outside. scared that even the slightest noise will make jaemin go haywire.

outside in the kitchen, haechan sat at the table, trying to be as quiet as possible. the soft sounds of piano music filled the home as jaemin cooked quietly. jeno knew that jaemin plays piano music when he's stressed.

he cleared his throat. "hi um... ryujin and I are going out for a while. we'll be back soon. bye" he spoke fast, then grabbing ryujin's wrist before leaving.

jaemin didn't say anything. he turned to look at haechan who gulped at the attention.
"h-hi? "

"are they dating? "

the fear left haechan's body as he looked at jaemin with mild confusion.

"what? no. I don't think so"

jaemin hummed, slowly turning back around to the stove. "jeno doesn't always act like that.. "

"but maybe... he has a crush on her?" haechan shrugged. "it's kinda obvious or is he just very nice"

jaemin paused for a moment looking at the wall before looking back down at the food he was cooking. "no, jeno is moody"

there was silence for a moment.

"but if they date, I'll be happy for jeno... he'll finally have someone else to make him happy"

jaemin's words were soft. his tone had the slightest hint of sadness.
haechan quietly looked at jaemin while playing with his fingers. he bit his lip and looked down, knowing there was someone else who quite obviously had a crush on ryujin.

---

WALKING down the road to jaemin's favorite coffee shop, ryujin and jeno didn't speak. an awkward wall was formed between the two. neither knew what to talk about or what to say to break the silence.

jeno had his hands in his pockets, looking straight in front of him as he walked and ryujin was looking at the ground, watching her feet as she walked.

"we're here" jeno's voice broke the silence. there wasn't much emotion to his tone. it was just a plain statement.

ryujin looked up at the cozy looking coffee shop that was apparently jaemin's favorite.

"the coffee here is aromatic, jaemin likes the coziness too" jeno said before taking a step into the shop. ryujin following behind.
when they were in the coffee shop, the aroma of fresh coffee beans flooded their noses. the shop played soft r&b music and it wasn't as noisy as one would think. jeno casually went up to the cashier to order.

"oh, it's you again" the cashier said to jeno.
"yes it's me. anyways, can I get a cup of jaemin's regular coffee? "

ryujin raised an eyebrow. wondering how often jaemin and jeno came until the cashier would know their regulars. but at the same time, jaemin only drank one kind of coffee - 6 or more shots of espresso with a lot of ice, sugar and probably a small cup of water to mix the whole thing. anyone that drank his coffee would instantly regret, the bitterness too much for anyone despite there being multiply cubes of sugar added to it, or maybe none at all.

jaemin is a weird man. he drinks pure expresso and eats sugar cubes before bed. that probably explains his daily sugar rush or over excessive amount of happiness.

"alright, one battery acid coming up" the cashier said. ryujin giggled hearing jaemin's coffee get labelled as battery acid. but jeno's expression barely changed. he just paid the money and waited at the side. this made her wonder how many times he heard the phrase.

a few minutes passed. jeno was scrolling through his phone while waiting for the coffee. meanwhile, ryujin took a seat at one of the tables, admiring the coffee aroma and daydreaming while listening to the r&b music.

there was no exact topic to what she thought about. it varied many topics to recalling if she's done all her homework, how hyunjin was doing, is it laundry day yet, and maybe her most favorite yet embarrassing thought, the clothing shop incident with chenle.

a little embarrassed smile crept on her face. her mind remembering how close up she was with chenle. yet again, she was thinking all of this while looking at lee jeno.

his gaze fixed on his phone with no expression, his thumb mindlessly tapping away, and obviously, his godly side profile.

he was indeed beautiful, but she was determined to admire him for his personality. she knew jeno well enough to not judge him based on his looks. she wanted to admire his personality as well.

but she didn't know that doing so, will make her heart more confused than it already was.

---

"one battery acid drink for jeno! "

the voice of the cashier knocked ryujin out of her messy thoughts. she looked at her phone, 20 minutes had passed.

that coffee took awfully long,, she thought. or maybe it was because the cafe was too busy.

the most she could hear was jeno mumble a soft thanks, barely giving the cashier and eye contact. his gaze went to her, giving her a small signal to leave. she got out of her seat, following behind jeno. the shop door letting out a little rung when the door closed.

---

"we're back" jeno mumbled when he opened the door. jaemin turned around from the dining table.

the smell of food filled their senses. jaemin had already finished cooking. jaemin's eyes darted to jeno's hand that held the coffee. jeno held the coffee in front of jaemin. "for you"

jaemin looked at the coffee, then back to jeno. "for me? "
jeno nodded and hummed, waiting for him to take the cold coffee from his hand.

a smile crept on jaemin's face. "thanks jeno"

for once after a while, ryujin saw jeno smile.

"you're welcome jaemin"

"alrighttttt soft moment over, let's eat dinner" haechan's loud voice made every flinch except jeno. jaemin snickered and glared at haechan. "ya ya ya, let's all eat the food I cooked"

"smells great" ryujin complimented the chef, aka jaemin. she took a seat and took a whiff at the food in front of her, humming in delight.

"eat up"

I was actually wondering, how do you like the whole story line of this story in general? like from chap 1 to this chap. because everytime I look at this book  feel like it's nothing but cringe and clicheness.