EXTRICATE * lee jeno

『chapter』 『⁶⁴』

jⷬeⷮnͤoͮ

it was pretty awkward to be honest.

he hadn't seen the rest of his members in so long that it didn't feel normal. there was nothing to talk about, and there wasn't even a sense of deja vu or sentiment that you get when talking to someone that you loved after a long time.

it was just... dull.

"jeno hyung, are you gonna come back to the company soon?"
"nope, not really."

an awkward pause.

"do you want to be in the new comeback though? we've started recording already."
"not really, if i have to be in it then maybe i guess."

an uncomfortable silence.

"hyung, do you even want to be an idol anymore?!"

jisung burst out, the stifling atmosphere basically killing him.

but his sudden outburst didn't prove to do any good, in fact ended up doing the opposite. jeno picked at the sandwich in front of him, wondering why he even had to do this.

"jisung, stop, i'm sure jeno will choose the right thing when he's ready."

there were many things jeno wanted to say, but he wouldn't say any of them. not because he didn't have the stomach to, no, because he didn't feel there was a need.

"did you get rid of that weird sasaeng?"
"pardon?" his first word in a while.
"the one who claimed that you harassed her at school and kidnapped you?"

were they talking about heloise? sasaeng fan? what?

"what do you mean?"
"you're not making excuses for her, are you?" chenle looked at him with a shocked expression, "sasaeng fans aren't good people hyung, you shouldn't let her think she is. she kidnapped you."

he was still so confused.

"no one kidnapped me, chenle-"
"do you like her?"

he almost spat out his food. none of this made any sense. who were they talking about?

"what do you mean-"
"do you like her? the sasaeng fan, is that why you're making excuses for her?"
"chenle, leave jeno alone. you know it's not like that."

mark inserted before going back to eating silently. and the rest of the time was spent a little bit like that.

"consider coming back to the company at least please. jirin noona misses you, you know, she keeps on blowing up my phone because she hasn't seen you."
"if she really missed me she would tell me, jisung, tell your cousin to shove her care up her ass."

it wasn't the time to laugh, but the oldest really wanted to laugh at how taken aback jisung seemed.
"you've changed a lot, you know, you never used to be like this. you were nice."

"would you be nice? if everything you thought you wanted was taken away from you, would you be nice? you don't understand how horrible that idol life is, it makes you so narrow minded towards the world. if you lived a second like a normal person you'd understand how much better it is away from all that suffocating bullshit."

"jeno, im getting tired of your self pity. yes, i get it, the company took stuff away from you, yes i get it, the rumours tainted your image. but if you actually worked hard to get your act back together instead of sit on your ass and wallow in self pity, maybe you wouldn't be here right now."

the atmosphere died once again. jeno pondered on what had just been said. that was it. his final straw.

"no, i don't care. i don't want to. you can leave now."

☎️

no bcs im in such a pissy mood where i could acc cut a bitch but its not that deep. so i won't, i'll just give them a look that'll kill bcs anything more would give me a jail sentence.