war of love, jeno

chapter thirty

"Ding dong!"

Eunjin's ears perked up hearing the familiar voice at her front door. She carefully pulled her crutches closer, using them to balance herself as she walked towards the doorway.

"You know, you don't actually have to say ding dong? I heard you knocking," Eunjin laughed, opening the door wide enough for Jaemin to walk through.

Jaemin smiled, walking through the door happily as he removed his mask. "Yeah well, I wanted to spice it up a bit. I would've brought a housewarming gift if I wouldn't have been late. I'm assuming I'm interrupting your resting time right now."

Eunjin nodded, "I wish but I should be up for a while anyway. I was supposed to have class today but sadly I'm stuck here."

"Sadly?" Jaemin tilted his head. "We've been in school for less than a week but I'm already tired of it. Graduation feels so far away."

"Well, that's probably because it is," Eunjin commented, her feet beginning to hurt as she stood still. To keep herself from falling, she went over to the couch, letting herself fall gently onto the gray cushions.

"I should be the one up and asking if you want something while you're here but I'm feeling a bit lightheaded at the moment so help yourself to some breakfast before you leave."

Jaemin hummed happily, turning towards what he presumed to be the kitchen. Walking inside, he examined everything around him.

It was very chic and clean, the countertops quite literally shining as they reflected the bright natural lighting provided by the sun outside.

It was much nicer than at their base, where everyone was so busy it was hard to keep up with a cleaning schedule. They still made efforts to help out around but it still proved hard.

Jihan has better taste than I thought, Jaemin told himself, looking at the decorative paintings spread out around the small dining area.

He only took a few more seconds to look around before going over to the large black refrigerator, pulling it open.

He was happy to grab a regular water bottle, soon returning to Eunjin's side back in the living room. "You have a nice kitchen."

Eunjin smiled, "thanks. My roommate designed it. Speaking of said roommate," she looked down at her phone, noticing a new notification, "looks like she's on her way back home now."

Jaemin's smile nearly fell completely hearing the news. Jisoo had already warned him about getting too close to Eunjin when the girl was sick in his arms. The thought of them knowing he was around their mission after purposely asking another member to pair them terrified him.

He needed to get out quickly without causing any sort of scene. Eunjin would get suspicious otherwise. And if she were to get suspicious, questions would raise and that would risk his name accidentally being mentioned to the other girls.

Jaemin stopped in his tracks, pulling out his phone from his back pocket. "Oh, looks like my mother needs help with something. I should get going, I'm sorry."

Obviously, he was lying. Jaemin hadn't spoken to his mother in nearly five years and didn't plan on changing that any time soon.

He was sorry though. Sorry he had to keep lying. What kind of friend was he to continuously feed Eunjin lies about different things? And when was she going to catch on?

"That's okay," Eunjin nodded, carefully standing back up. Jaemin walked back over to her, grasping the baby carrier in his hands.

The two exchanged goodbyes before Jaemin left, the boy making sure to secure his plastic daughter in his car before taking off.

As he drove down Eunjin's street, a specific car caught his attention.

It wasn't new nor old, it was a basic gray car you could see anyone driving around. The thing that stuck out to him is that it was parked on the side of the road. Specifically, it was parked right next to the fence outlining the perimeter of the girl's yard.

It could've been a coincidence but there was a sickly feeling in Jaemin's stomach. As a precaution for Eunjin, he turned his car down the same street to get a look. He eyed the inside interior as he drove by.

Wait, that part of the gate is broken, he noticed. He was tempted to get out of his car and go check out if the wooden fence beside the car had naturally broken or if someone had done it purposely.

But he didn't have time to stick around, Jihan's car driving right past the street he was on.

Jaemin could see through the hole in the fence as her car pulled into their driveway, she and three other girls getting out. He had forgotten Chaeyoung was back.

He didn't linger around any longer, his right foot stepping down on the peddle as he drove away from the house.

"What are you guys doing back already?" Eunjin asked curiously, following the other girls in the kitchen.

"There was a major wait where we were gonna go eat so we decided to pick up food and have us all eat here together," Yuna smiled, taking a seat at the table.

Eunjin's confusion vanished as she took a seat next to her younger friend, the faint smell of the food the others brought finding its way to her nose.

"So you just let my well-cooked breakfast turn cold?" Jihan laughed, motioning towards the bowl of cereal on the counter.

Eunjin smiled apologetically, shrugging her shoulder.

Jisoo and Chaeyoung soon joined the two other girls at the table, Jihan still up getting the silverware for everyone.

But she was soon sitting back in her usual seat at the table, passing out the plates and forks. No one wasted any time, digging into the fresh smell.

Jihan politely waited for the others to get everything they wanted before reaching for the packages to get her own pick. But before she could actually grab anything, a notification popped up on her phone.

Her smile that once sat on her face straightened as she opened the notification. "Eunjin, did you have someone over while we were gone?"

Eunjin felt her smile slowly fade seeing Jihan suddenly serious. Before she could answer, a question presented itself to her.

"...how did you know that?"

dramaaaaaa

you know for a jeno book, this doesn't have many jeno scenes 🧎🏽‍♀️

so um i was supposed to post yesterday but forgot so 🧍🏽‍♀️ sorry. also, thanks for helping this book reach 10k reads already :D