𝗮 𝗹𝗲𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝘁𝗼 𝘆𝗼𝘂; norenmin

𝚝𝚠𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚢

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"You should tell him," Chenle hummed as he gazed out Renjun's bedroom window over to Jaemin's. The blue haired boy had habitually forgotten to pull his curtains, and proceeded to undress for bed. Eye candy for the ravenette.

"Tell him what?" Renjun responded absentmindedly, writing Jeno yet another letter just to push his anxieties off his chest. Thank god the tall male hadn't a clue who these confessions were from.

"Tell Jaemin that you like Jeno. He should know."

The oldest threw his pen down, glowering at his cousin and pretending to shoot his own temple out of irritation. "He wouldn't understand, Lele. Nobody sees Jeno the way I do...."

"He's hot."

"But that's the outside," the brunette started. "You haven't seen his cute points. Like his generosity on a good day, or his love of perfection. He even fixed my hair the other day...."

Chenle furrowed his brows, not receiving any such impression from spying on their conversation earlier on in the day. To him, Jeno looked like a pretty face hiding a hell of a lot of secrets. "Okay, so you can see all these things. Why not relay this to your best friend? Someone you're supposed to trust?"

"It's not like Jaem ever tells me about his crushes," Renjun retorted with a snide tone, picking his pen back up to continue his scripture. "Besides, we're not like that. Even when we were little, we never pried into each other's love lives."

"Well, duh. You had, like, the biggest crush on him when you were twelve. Of course you weren't going to tell him," Chenle gritted his teeth. And now the bloody tables have turned, and the whole thing is reversed.

"Mmm, and I grew up," the older sighed, signing off with his initials before rereading the letter carefully to spot any non-existent mistakes. "He's still playing around like a child."

"That's his personality."

"Indeed."

Fuck this, I'm not getting anywhere with him, the younger inwardly hissed, leaning against the window sill and returning his sights to the beautiful boy across the garden. It was officially only Huang Renjun who couldn't see how breathtaking Jaemin was.

"So, imagine someone came along one day and swept Nana off his feet...." the Chinese boy began, tapping his index fingernail off the painted white sill softly, "Would you be fine?"

"Of course," Renjun looked up at him as he folded the sheet neatly. "I'm turning eighteen this year, Lele. I'm not twelve anymore. And I like someone else."

Chenle hummed, shaking his head with disappointment before sliding the curtains across and blocking his view of his cousin's neighbour. His heart felt heavy with the knowledge he held, wanting to share it with anyone who would listen.

Jaemin clearly loved Renjun.
Renjun loved Jeno.
And that Jeno kid had some sort of relationship with Jaemin if he talked about him nearly as much as Renjun explained.

A triangle, the tall male scoffed to himself, drawing out an invisible triangular shape with his finger. A perfect fucking love triangle where nobody wins. This'll end in tears, won't it?

"Let's head to bed," Renjun murmured, sliding the letter into his bag before getting up from his desk. "You're going home again tomorrow anyway. Don't stay up too late."

"Yes, Mum."

♤♤♤

"You think you like someone?" Mark repeated, sitting across from his little brother on his bed. His expression shifted from one of confusion, to utter excitement. "Jeez, Jen! Tell me about them? Is it a girl? A boy? Nice? Cold? Short? Tall?"

"Shhhh," the taller hissed, waving his voice away with his long sleeved t-shirt. "No need to broadcast it."

"Sorry," Mark muttered, getting comfortable. "So, go on. Talk about it."

Jeno pushed his dark hair back, keeping his eyes set on his crossed legs. "You told me before.....that I should go for it if I ever liked someone...."

"I did."

"Well, this time is different. He likes," his breath hitched, "Someone else. Someone he's known forever."

"So? Fight for him-"

"I'd lose in an instant! You literally have no idea what he's like...."

Mark sighed, scratching the back of his neck and wondering how the hell he could tackle this conversation. He and Jeno were very close, but the younger wasn't a very emotionally open person. Mark always dragged those sorts of things from him.

"Look," he began, "To have someone like you turn your head is an honour, and I'm sure this guy would understand. He'd be flattered to know you like him."

"I'm at a complete disadvantage. And it's not like I'll bother battling it out either. I'm just glad I have it in myself to fall in love at all."

Mark rubbed his eyes with sheer frustration, wanting to go and solve this problem for him. But this wasn't his place to step in, and manipulating the situation would've been foolish and selfish.

Selfish for wanting to give Jeno everything.

"Well...." his voice trailed off, his raw emotions subsiding and making room for the inner calm he had taught himself to tap into. "Is he good looking? As handsome as you?"

Jeno flushed fuchsia pink, covering his face with his hands and shrugging. "More than me...."

"Is he nice?"

"He's the only guy who'll give me the time of day. He never pushes me for answers, doesn't go out of his way to touch me most of the time, seems happy when I answer him.....He's genuinely good to me."

"Nice," Mark smiled, thankful that there were at least multiple reasons for Jeno to like this person, and not just the superficial answer of 'he has a nice face'. "What's his name?"

"Jaemin. He's in my year, and a lot like you."

"How so?"

"He's quite popular, but not egotistical. Sometimes I hear the girls talking about him in my class....."

The older elicited a short breath, caressing the other's cheek fondly before moving to stand up. "I'm glad you've found those feelings, Jen. I've been worried about you. I don't want you to grow up and be alone."

The taller peered up at him, his heart aching for some inexplicable reason.

Maybe it was because his first love was unrequited.

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