Bad Blood [NoRenMin] ✔

26

The rest of the semester break flies by in no time. Their days after the attack mostly consisted of indoor or early adventures as to not stay out late, and sometimes, when Jaemin couldn't sleep, he'd sit in the living room and his dad would find his way to his side and they would talk. The thing about the attack was not only did he run, but he was with Renjun when it happened.It only brought back unwanted memories of Jeno and himself. Constant nightmares met him since then; ones where instead of getting away, the vampire takes Renjun.

Renjun was driving. He insisted when it was clear Jaemin hadn't gotten any sleep once again, but despite how long the drive was, he wasn't feeling very tired. He kept his gaze out of the window, wanting to say something, but not quite sure what that something should be. He can feel when Renjun looks at him only to look away, and he wonders what the other is feeling. How he has been since the attack. However, not wanting to bring up that topic or so much as discuss it again, Jaemin turns to look ahead. "You and my dad seemed to get along," he notes softly. He looks to Renjun to find him smiling sheepishly.

"I guess so," he replies. He keeps his gaze on the road (and yeah, he feels pretty damn safe right now), but he isn't done speaking, Jaemin realizes from the pause in his voice. Though when he doesn't say anything, Jaemin frowns.

"What is it?"

Renjun shakes his head. "Just wondering, is your dad superstitious?"

"Superstitious?"

"Yeah, like, does he believe in all that magic stuff? Witches, vampires, werewolves?" Jaemin's eyes flicker to the steering wheel as Renjun tightens his grip, knuckles turning white in colour.

He doesn't respond to the question immediately, pausing to take in all of Renjun who seemed rather stiff and uneasy. "No, of course not," he chuckles, finally deciding to speak. "He's spoken about them over the years, but he knows none of those are real." Another pause from Jaemin as he and Renjun lock gazes for a moment. He tilts his head. "Why? Did he say something?"

Shaking his head, Renjun says, "He just asked me whether I believed." There's a waver in his voice, as if he didn't believe what he was saying, but if he was lying, Jaemin would be able to know, right?

"That's weird," Jaemin murmurs instead. He turns back to the window, and he shifts forward. Renjun's head whips around to look at him. "There's a coffee shop." Jaemin looks at Renjun who rolls his eyes in response, but nevertheless, he pulls into the parking lot area. Jaemin grins.

"Did I ever tell you that you're my favourite person?"

"Not enough."

*

Haechan is already back and when Jaemin walks in, he's pulled into one of the tightest hugs ever. Not wanting to think he didn't like it (because he actually really did), he wraps his arms around his roommate as he returns the hug. This only makes Haechan giddier as they pull apart.

"Did you somehow get nicer over semester break?" he queries, his tone letting Jaemin know that he's only joking.

"Whatever helps you sleep at night, roomie." He walks over to his bed and dumps his bags down before turning to Haechan again. "So I see you've made it back alive."

It takes Haechan a moment to realize what he's referring to and the moment that it clicks, his smile falters and he huffs loudly. "Just about," he responds. "But his parents decided to come back with us so I had to bring all my stuff here," Haechan practically groans as he slumps onto his bed.

"They came back with you guys?"

Haechan nods. "Since we're only back at classes tomorrow and everything, his parents thought they would visit and Mark could show them his room and walk them around town," Haechan explains. "But I'm pretty sure it's because the witch decided to see for herself if our stories add up."

"Mark will be back in no time," Jaemin assures him. "I mean, you managed an entire semester break with her and by the sounds of things, that has got to be some kind of talent," he continues. The way Haechan's face lights up at this, he knows he's saying something right.

"You're probably right," he murmurs.

"Oh, no, I'm definitely right." With that, he's about to settle when Haechan clicks his fingers, earning Jaemin's attention once again.

"Your friend stopped by to see if you were here yet. It seemed pretty urgent," Haechan informs. The fact that Jaemin didn't have all that many friends here to begin with made it easy enough for him to guess who it was.

"Urgent how?"

"Urgent like he said you need to call him when you get back. He seemed like he was about to fuse." And the fact that Jisung seemed about to fuse meant that whatever it was, was definitely not good news. Jaemin thanks him and pulls out his phone. He presses it to his ear after punching in the numbers and, considering what got them to be friends in the first place, he decided to step outside. The hallways were still empty, which kind of made sense considering the time. People would probably be flooding in tonight.

"Hello?"

"Jisung." It's all Jaemin can think to say. The fact that the younger is answering yet not saying anything just yet made Jaemin nervous. More nervous than he was about his dad meeting his boyfriend.

"Oh, hey." There's a pause. "Can you meet me downstairs?"

"What's going on?" Jaemin demands, already making his way down the hallway. He's rushing down the stairs, only passing a lift of the hand as an apology every time he bumps into someone.

"Please don't fall down the stairs," Jisung muses. "We kind of need you right now."

"I won't if you tell me what is going on," Jaemin supplies. When Jisung sighs, he can practically imagine the boy rolling his eyes, which he cannot help but smile at.

"I don't know exactly. Kun is here. He says we need to get to the bar. Taeyong isn't picking up and neither is Winwin so we need to go," he urges. The franticness in his voice is what has Jaemin speeding up.

"As long as I'm of use and not just a ride," he says as he comes to a stop. Jisung and Kun turn around, both looking at him with smiles.

"You're never just a ride," Jisung assures.

Not wanting to waste another moment, the three hurry to Jaemin's car and head off. After requesting to drive, Jaemin ends up calling shotgun which earns them a whining Jisung in the back.

He pulls out his phone and sends Renjun a message before looking over at Kun. "Do you know what's going on?" he queries.

Kun gives a sideways glance, and he's biting on his bottom lip. He's nervous, Jaemin realizes. Which means he doesn't know what is going on. Nodding, Jaemin slides back into the seat and looks out of the window.

"Whatever it is, it can't be too bad, right?" Jisung's voice is softer than ever. Not even he seems to be believing his own words.

Jaemin nods. "Hopefully not."