When the Time's Right | Norenmin

二十

But I wanna feel all that
love and emotion
Be that attached to the
person I'm holding
Someday, I'll be falling
without caution
But for now, I'm only
people watching

- People Watching by Conan Gray

"Okay I'm back!" Jaemin said happily as he reached Mark, Donghyuck and Lyria trailing behind.

Mark cleared his throat, standing up straight as he saw Donghyuck.

"Mark, this is Lyria and Donghyuck," he introduced, gesturing to the two. "Although I'm sure you already know him." He said as he looked at the man next to him, a grin on his face.

"H-hi!" Mark said, trying not to embarrass himself in front of his crush. "My name is Mark Lee." He said as he bowed to them, the two bowing back.

"Anyways, Mark, Donghyuck, I know you guys happen to have the same last name so why not go talk about that? It might be nice to relate!" He said as he took Lyria's hand, dragging her away to the garden with him as he shot the two a sweet smile.

"What was all of that about?" The teen asked once they were out of sight from the two.

"They like each other so I'm trying to set them up." He said brightly as he glanced back into the ballroom, seeing that the two were in fact talking, an obvious blush on both of their faces.

Lyria laughed. "That's amazing, but shouldn't you be more focused on your own love life?" She questioned, a small grin on her face once she saw Jaemin's face turn red as well.

"I-I'm working on that." He said sheepishly.

Lyria rolled her eyes, but glanced behind him and smiled. "You know what your highness, you stay right here and let me handle this." She said, patting his shoulder as she headed back into the ballroom, leaving the prince alone.

Now that he was by himself, Jaemin sat down on a bench and allowed himself to simply think, reflect.

Of course, his mind wandered back to him kissing Jeno just a few hours ago, and he buried his face in his hands.

Maybe that's why they haven't talked to me all night, he thought. Usually the couple included him quite a bit in their antics at each ball, but tonight they haven't at all.

They're probably a bit annoyed with me, I shouldn't have held the kiss for so long, he thought.

But, I did almost pull away and he leaned forward...

He bit his lip nervously as he looked into the ballroom. He caught a glance of the couple heading near the door to the garden and immediately stood up, heading back into the palace from a different door.

Jeno and Renjun were dancing happily in the middle of the room, laughing to themselves as they whirled around the floor.

They noticed Jaemin standing by the table of food, talking to another man. The two of them frowned, a strange feeling growing in them.

"Why is Jaeminnie talking to that guy?" Renjun asked, a slight hint of jealousy in his tone. Jeno shrugged.

"I don't know..." He responded, having a sudden urge to go over to Jaemin and take the prince away.