home, jaemin

chapter forty-five

"what's up, dudes?" jiyoung asked, letting go of jaemin's hand and plopping on to the couch beside jeno. "fresh dye?"

he nodded, eyes locked on the screen as he played carefully against nayeon- both of them relentlessly trying their best to beat one another.

jeno's hair had changed from dark blue to a maroon red color. jiyoung wondered whether his hair would fall out any time soon.

"you guys wanna play next? you're the only other couple here." renjun asked.

jiyoung looked to jaemin who just shrugged. looking back at renjun she shook her head, "no thanks."

"why not? you're crazy good, you could beat him in a heartbeat." jisung asked, taking a drink of his soda.

jiyoung nodded as she leaned back against her boyfriend, welcoming his arms wrapping around her and providing warmth.

"jaemin isn't competitive enough," she explained, playing with his fingertips.

"hey! i can be competitive." she heard him say.

she sat up slightly, turning to look at him, "really? you're gonna be competitive?"

jaemin nodded with confidence, "of course!"

she squinted at him and leaned forward, pecking his lips again. "you still sure?"

"do i get another kiss if i say yes?"

"no."

"alright, i'm lying."

jiyoung contently nodded, turning back around, pulling his arms around her as she laid her head on his chest and continued watching nayeon and jeno.

"hey, i thought if i told the truth i'd get another kiss," he complained.

chenle looked at him with a disgusted face, "take your couple-y stuff outside. bad enough i've had to put up with nayeon noona and jeno hyung, i can't have more people kissing and cooing at one another."

"someone upset he's still single?" jiyoung laughed.

"yeah, and four other dudes beside me." chenle agreed.

"man, that must suck for you guys." jaemin smiled, hugging jiyoung tightly. she smiled at chenle, watching him with amusement as he stuck his tongue out at her and jaemin.

a gasp came from donghyuck as he began slapping mark's shoulder over and over again.

"what? WHAT? STOP HITTING ME!" mark cried out, smacking donghyuck back.

"ow, OW! OKAY!" donghyuck yelled back, standing up. the others- besides the couple still racing- looked at him, waiting.

he realized and hurried on with his idea, "we should bake cookies together."

jiyoung sat up slowly, enjoying jaemin's fingers trailing up and down her back in a calming pattern. he was good at soothing people.

"that's a great idea. would your parents mind?" she asked him.

he shrugged, walking out of the room and racing upstairs to his parent's room. the others could hear him yelling for them as he got closer.

"i don't know how they survive with his constant yelling." renjun laughed. the others agreed.

"i won! haha, loser!" nayeon shouted, jumping up from her spot and pointing a finger in jeno's face.

"you're a cheater!" jeno argued back, threatening to bite her finger.

nayeon shook her head, "you just can't accept the fact that i won, yet again." she closed her eyelids, sitting back down beside him.

"whatever, i let you win." he pouted, wrapping an arm around her shoulder.

"sure you did," she smiled, kissing his cheek.

"yuck, yuck, yuck! two weeks since jaemin and jiyoung become a couple and suddenly all you people can do is kiss, kiss, kiss." chenle shook his head, covering his eyes.

"you're such a baby, they're just doing couple stuff. it's not even that bad," jisung laughed at his friend.

"we've got permission!" donghyuck jumped into the room happily. the others stood up, walking into the kitchen together.

"jaemin, that's too much, isn't it?" jiyoung asked cautiously, peering in at their shared mixture and all the chocolate chips her boyfriend had just added.

he looked from the bowl to her, his eyes suddenly getting trained on her.

"what?" she asked, confused. he didn't answer, making her wave her hand in front of his face.

he blinked but didn't say anything again, their friends' voices drained out behind him.

"jaem? you okay?" she asked concernedly, rubbing his cheek with her hand as she looked between both of his eyes.

he nodded slowly, "i was just thinking." his voice was quiet, different from his usual one.

"so suddenly?" she joked lightly, still looking between his eyes in case he was upset or anything.

he nodded, lifting his hand onto hers that rested on his face." i'm really glad i'm dating you," he finally said, making her slightly laugh.

"i thought you were upset," she whined, softly smacking his arm.

"i'm sorry, ji." he apologized, side hugging her.

"i accept your apology. and i'm also glad i'm dating you," she smiled upwards towards him.

too much happiness going on, we need to spice it up a bit 😏