The Rules | JAEMIN

Chapter 24

When Jaemin finished class, he was walking out with Soojung, chatting about their course when he caught sight of a girl in a Phoenix jacket outside with Jeno.

"Here." Ayeon said, passing the leather jacket in her hands to Jaemin. "It's Zhilan's but you probably already know that."

"Why are you giving it to me?" Jaemin asked as he took it from Ayeon's hands. "You literally have class with Renjun, who shares a room with her."

"The maknaes exposed you." Jeno said as Soojung took his arm.

"Exposed me?" Jaemin asked confused. Ayeon nodded.

"Specifically Chenle. I believe his exact words were 'Jaemin and Zhilan jiejie came back this morning together and Renjun was not happy.'" Soojung said with a giggle.

Jaemin narrowed his eyes at her before he felt Ayeon poke him. "Relax Jaemin, we're happy for you. About time you get a girlfriend."

"Wait, who told you?" Jaemin asked as the three of them stopped whatever they were doing to stare at him.

"Omo." Soojung exclaimed, covering her mouth.

"Wait you two are dating?" Jeno asked. "I thought Ayeon was just fooling around."

"I was." Ayeon said, a smirk forming on her face as Jaemin finally realized his mistake, tilting his head back in frustration. "Wow, nice going Jaemin."

"Ugh." Jaemin groaned, ruffling his hair. "Don't tell Renjun though, he might beat me up."

"You know you're like five times stronger than him, right?" Ayeon pointed out, raising an eyebrow.

"We're also talking about Jaemin here." Soojung added with a smile.

Jeno on the other hand knew both his friends well. Very well. "What happened?"

Jaemin bit his lip. "We got into a fight."

"About you dating Zhilan?" Ayeon exclaimed, a bit too loudly though as students turned towards them, worried about why the Phoenixes at their school were causing a commotion. Jaemin immediately shot her a look. "Whoops."

"Okay but you still didn't answer her question." Soojung said, her tone serious. "What happened, Jaemin?"

"He just doesn't think I'm good for her." Jaemin confessed, shoving his hands in his pockets. "He doesn't think I can give her the support that she needs."

"Well then prove him wrong." Ayeon said, as if it were nothing. "You're her boyfriend now and there's nothing he can do to change that."

"Okay but this is Renjun." Soojung argued. "No offence Jaemin, but have you ever thought about why Renjun said that?"

"Soojung sweetie, I love you but Renjun doesn't think as much as it seems like he does." Ayeon said, shifting her attention to the other girl. "We're talking about the same person that is constantly cursing in the art room because he placed the wrong colour on his palette."

Jaemin watched as Soojung pouted, turning to her boyfriend. "Jeno?"

"I'm kind of with Ayeon on this one, sorry love." Jeno said, rubbing Soojung's arm. He glanced towards Jaemin. "If Renjun's anything like his sister, then you know that they both are a bit harsher than they actually mean. We just forget about it sometimes."

"I mean if he were taller." Ayeon mumbled and they all held in their giggles, knowing that it wouldn't be very nice of them to make fun of Renjun's height when he wasn't there.

Jaemin did feel a lot better though, knowing that he had his friends' support going into this new relationship. After talking to Zhilan the previous night, it made sense for Renjun to be worried about the girl, especially with her bad history with her ex.