war of love, jeno

chapter twenty

"Aren't you supposed to be in class right now?"

Jeno shrugged, ignoring Donghyuck as he looked through the different t-shirts. "None of these really fit his style, do they?"

"Nah," Donghyuck waved them off, turning away from the rack of clothing. "He just wears Adidas. And that mint green hoodie. It's like his signature look at this point."

"I thought Jaemin didn't even like getting birthday gifts," Yuna suddenly spoke up, walking over to the two boys with Mark following.

"What kind of friends would we be if we didn't get our best friend a birthday present?"

Yuna shrugged, "friends respecting their best friend's wishes of not receiving gifts for his birthday?" She got closer to Donghyuck, examining the shirt in his hand.

"It's too tacky, isn't it? He doesn't wear shirts with words on them," Donghyuck shook his head, putting it back on the rack.

"Renjun said you had an upcoming project for your literature class," Mark spoke in a low voice to Jeno, the two somewhat distancing themselves from Donghyuck and Yuna. "Why aren't you at the college now?"

Jeno seemed uninterested, picking at a few things on the shelves. "I'll have a partner. Whoever they are can message me and I'll do the project. No need for both of us to be there."

"I feel like you're just taking advantage of how nice your teacher is," Mark pointed out with a lifted brow, looking away from Jeno as he bent down to examine some candy.

Jeno shrugged, looking around to find anything appealing. He had nothing else to say and thus silence filled a bubble over them, Jeno only following his older friend to the register.

"Here," Mark stated, pushing the item he just bought against Jeno's chest.

Jeno looked down at the circular piece of plastic. "Why do I need a wad of gum?"

Mark began walking back to Donghyuck and Yuna, still keeping an eye out for anything that would suit Jaemin. "So you can stop smoking all of the cigarettes. Jaemin said gum helped you last time so we can hope it'll help you this time."

Jeno scoffed, "yeah, no thanks. I don't need-"

Mark stopped in his tracks, squinting his eyes shut harshly before turning around towards Jeno. "Look, I know you're having a hard time right now but I've already almost lost you once. I'm not about to let it happen again. Especially to cigarettes."

The older boy turned back around, not waiting around for Jeno to say or do anything.

Jeno took a moment standing in place to think about Mark's words, looking at the once insignificant package that now held a thousand words.

He looked around to see if anyone had noticed. No one had, as most people apart from the workers had scurried off as soon as he and the others walked in.

"This is cute."

Mark and Donghyuck looked at the piece of clothing in Yuna's hand, determining their own opinions. "Looks more Donghyuck style than Jaemin," Mark pointed out.

"None of you even have style. Half the time when I see you all you're either shirtless in joggers getting patched up or you're bundled up in a hoodie three times too big."

"That's a lie. I have style," Donghyuck pointed out, grabbing the piece of clothing from her hands.

"Really? And what exactly is that style?" She instigated, watching Donghyuck place the shirt in front of a mirror and pose.

"Chic, fancy, fashionable. Something you're clearly not," he glared, pinching the front of her gray shirt that sat loosely over ripped jeans. "Those knee wholes are so big there's barely any fabric left!"

"Okay since when did wearing a black turtleneck and black skinny jeans make you fashionable?"

"You two are immature," Jeno scoffed, stepping in between the two to examine a t-shirt.

"Am not."

Mark and Jeno stared at the two in disbelief, the corners of their lips threatening to go upwards at their childish attitudes.

"I'll be right back," Jeno suddenly said, turning away from the group as he pulled out his phone.

Looking down, he was a bit caught off guard seeing the new message from an unknown person.

From: Unknown
is this lee jeno?

quick notice: next chapter is going to be about a day or two late because i'm a bit focused on school and finals rn!