espresso shot ; njm ✔️

42

all of us

jaemina
good morning
i have to tell u guys smth

lechen
if u got aera 🤰 then u have to pay
child support urself 

pkaera
chenle. 😐

lechen
sorry 😔 continue

jenojams
it's all good here, u can tell us anything

jaemina
no no i wanna say it in person
it's kinda important

hcfullsun
where do we wanna meet up then?

mmarklee
my place!

kmskyy
*our
and that works w me too

hajeongchoi
m e too it's pretty central

hngrnjn
ok speak now or forever hold ur peace

kingjisung
ok what time?

jaemina
let's do in an hour

kmskyy
kk! see yall

_____

"mom, we're going to haneul's!" aera called out as she, jaemin, and jisung were putting on their shoes. 

"all three of you?" her mother replied back.

aera hummed in response.

"okay, have fun!"

the three of them bustled into one car, with aera driving as jaemin was too nervous and jisung simply didn't want to.

"i drove last time!" he retorted, tossing the keys at aera. 

"i don't even like driving," she whined back. however, she didn't want to argue too much because she knew jaemin wanted to reach the house as soon as possible. 

they reached fairly quickly with aera speeding half of the way there. 

"okay, maybe i will drive," a very frazzled looking jisung said as he stepped, or rather, stumbled out of the backseat. "that was absolutely horrible, why do you never brake while turning?"

however, he was left outside rambling to himself when he realized his sister and jaemin had already made their way inside. 

"it's always me," he grumbled, trudging up the driveway. 

as soon as everyone had gotten settled in the tiny living room, jaemin didn't hesitate before telling his friends about his issues with his health and home life. even though he wanted to cry and crumble into a ball, aera being right next to him and rubbing circles on his hand with her thumb let him know that he was okay.

"and that leads me to where i am today," jaemin finished, slumping his shoulders as he could finally release the tension. 

the first person to react was jeno. he didn't say anything, only attacking jaemin with a hug and soon being followed by chenle, haneul, and eventually everyone else. half of them were in tears. 

even donghyuck, who wasn't a super sensitive person, was hurt. "did you not think for a second that we wouldn't try to help you?" nothing about his tone was harsh though. his voice was laced with pure pain. "did you not trust us?"

mark added onto his friend's words. "dude, you have all of us. nine people who would do anything for you."

"fuck your parents, we're your family, we're your brothers," renjun said, anger rising in him. "and ever since we met the girls, they're sisters."

by now, jaemin really was crying, allowing the tears to fall down his cheeks. he didn't know how it would turn out, letting out his feeling to his friends, but now he knew. it was comforting. 

he realized who his actual family was, and how people didn't need to share the same blood to be a family. 

as he gazed down at the girl who had guided him through it all, he mouthed, i love you.

aera simply smiled back him, gently putting his hand on his face to wipe a tear. giving him a kiss on his cheek, she whispered, "i love you too."