Doubler || NCT || Completed

49

"Stop it", Chenle whined when Jaemin hugged him aggressively. "I'm busy!"

"Busy with what, Chenle-ya?" Jaemin cooed childishly, shaking the younger boy from side to side, not letting him leave the couch where he had captured him.

"Let me go", Chenle wailed when Jaemin obstructed his escape attempts with an effective wrestling lock. "Bully someone else."

"No one likes my hugs", Jaemin complained and turned his head in order to pout at the others.

"I like them!" Jeno objected right away.

Jaemin beamed at him while blocking yet another one of Chenle's attempts to get away from him.

"You like everyone's hugs, though", Haechan pointed out, not lifting his gaze from his Nintendo Switch. "So, it doesn't really count."

Jaemin's smile fell.

"It does count", Jeno defended his honour.

"Does it, though?" Yujin asked and grinned at Jeno's offended face.

While she had hated every single one of the 22 rounds of Uno, it had helped her tense shoulders to relax. Chenle and Renjun had been really competitive, Haechan had tried to cheat at every given chance, Jaemin had enjoyed the general chaos and Jeno had tried to keep everyone from each other's throats. Their rowdy behaviour had made it nearly impossible for her to worry about the future.

Jeno expressed his disappointment in Yujin's betrayal by turning his body on the couch, lifting his legs and planting them unceremoniously into her lap. The action surprised Yujin and she peeked at the others conspicuously, trying to gauge their reactions. She didn't want them to overreact.

Jaemin noticed right away and his eyes started sparkling as if he had received a lovely surprise gift. Chenle was still busy trying to detangle himself from Jaemin's choke hold - Yujin was starting to suspect that Jaemin had forgotten that he was still hugging the younger guy against his will - and Haechan hadn't lifted his eyes from his tiny gaming machine ever since the cursed Uno championships had ended. Renjun was almost as quick to notice as Jaemin, and in his eyes Yujin could see a mixture of concern and disapproval. It was clear which one of the two emotions was aimed at her and which at Jeno.

Finally, Chenle seemed to have had enough of Jaemin mishandling him because in a blink of an eye his human body disappeared and a tiny, dark-brown sable peeked its head through the neckline of his t-shirt. The sable glared at Jaemin who was cooing and trying to catch him again.

"Stop being so cute, Lele-ya!" Jaemin exclaimed in an adoring voice when he failed to catch the sable. The sable flashed his sharp, white teeth at him before proceeding to jump off the couch and climbing swiftly on top of the shelf that contained a lot of knickknack, some gaming gear and books.

Jeno's legs were heavy in Yujin's lap so she pinched his ankles and when he didn't react, she tried to push his legs down from her legs. He ignored her attempts, pretending not to feel anything when she poked his feet. She threw him a glare but he avoided it with a sneaky grin and looked at Haechan instead.

"Haechanie, isn't tonight your turn to cook? What are we going to eat?"

"It's Renjun's turn", Haechan dodged the question, still not lifting his eyes from his game.

Renjun's face darkened. "No, it's not. It's yours."

"Didn't Chunja granny invite us to have dinner at her place?" Jaemin pointed out.

Chenle the sable let out a happy noise.

Haechan's face lit up as well. "She's such a good cook!"