Touch || Lee Jeno

twenty-eight.

"Can you pass me the salt, Ru?"

Mrs. Choi's calm request snapped Ru out of her daze. She quickly reached for the salt that was behind her on the counter, handing it over to Mrs. Choi across the dining table. Mrs. Choi gave her a grateful smile, which Ru would've reciprocated on a normal given day, but instead what came out could almost be mistaken for a pained grimace.

She didn't know what was wrong with her. Well, she did, but she didn't know why she couldn't just keep it in.

A week had already passed, and everything felt more and more like a fever dream. She just couldn't process it. She had gotten so used to the little house, the plain rice and laver breakfast, the rusty swing out front at the neighbor's, Dabin's loud thumping feet. She didn't want to think about it— it made her nauseous.

That's not to add the big bomb she discovered about Renjun's mom the very same night. How could everything unfold so close, so fast? And like this?

Now, she only had the room-temperature soup to keep her occupied.

"Is Jeno coming to pick you up again?"

Ru filtered out her thoughts hastily, just enough for her to answer, "uh, yes— yes, he's picking me up."

Even so, her heart was twanging. How could Mrs. Cho speak to her so casually? Talk about Jeno as if he was still going to be part of her life— as if Ru was still going to be part of her life?

She averted her gaze, focusing her attention on the little boy beside her. Dabin chewed innocently, and Ru wondered if he knew too. Would he be just as hurt as she was? Prickly jabs attacked her lungs as she snapped her vision away— that's not possible.

Once she started staring at the door, she couldn't look away; she was wary of Mrs. Choi asking her more questions. As if her soulmate could feel the tension— and maybe he could— a clear ringing buzzed from the front door, allowing the household to know of a presence at the front door.

Ru shot up from her seat; her chair scraped unceremoniously against the floor and she felt herself cringe. The couple looked up at her expectantly. "I, uh—" she swallowed as she fumbled with her words— "I'll get going now."

Mrs. Choi smiled warmly, and Ru met it with a half-assed bow, reaching down for her backpack before making her exit. She dragged her feet across the hall, swinging the front door open and shutting it behind her with a loud thud. She leaned against the door, irrationally out of breath.

"Morning," the sweet baritone voice called out to her.

She looked up to a pair of glossy, dark eyes and a cheeky smile. Jeno's hands were in the pocket of his uniform trousers as he walked up the steps towards her. "Ready?"

Ru breathed out, pushing herself off from against the door. "Yeah," she nodded.

She craned her neck instinctively behind the boy's broad shoulders, expecting— or hoping— to see his best friends waiting too. She forced her shoulders not to slump at the empty sight behind him.

The whole week since that night at the mall, Jeno had barely spent any time with the rest of the boys. He chalked it up to wanting to 'spend more alone time with his soulmate', but even someone as clueless as Ru could see how Jeno could never quite seem to meet Renjun's eyes.

Jaemin and Donghyuck were just as baffled about the situation, but she's glad they were choosing to stick by Renjun for the time being; she felt guilty enough as it is that Jeno was acting the way he was— that was another thing entirely.

The morning ambience was briefly interrupted by a constant buzzing in Jeno's back pocket. After a while, it became hard to ignore. She looked over to him gruffly retrieving the device from his pocket, punching at the silent button until the buzzing stopped.