the amor files: lumos || jaemin na

year two - did someone say...

"this cannot be real." the disbelief on kannika's face is bordering hysteria and denial as she stares at the boy in front of her. jaemin shrugs, side-eyeing jinah, who is determinedly staring out of the window of the train compartment they were seated in, refusing to acknowledge the bane of her life.

"if i ignore him for long enough, maybe he'll disappear," jinah thinks, trying to distract herself from his annoying presence. 

"how did you learn that word?" kannika demands, turning to jeno with a severe look, as if the wizard had anything to do with the situation. jeno raises his hands, as if to swear of his innocence. 

"kannika, i'm all for wreaking havoc that will annoy the hell out of my sister and her best friend but i have no idea what that word even means. how can i teach him something i don't even know?" jeno says, but kannika doesn't miss the twinkle in his eyes. 

"jeno..." she warns threateningly, but she doesn't get a chance to finish, interrupted by the ever-cheerful whistle of the hogwarts express.

"isn't high time for the two of you to leave now?" jinah says finally, ripping her eyes away from the blur of people on king cross station's platform. jeno pauses, unsure whether to take her seriously or not when she continues, "i mean mother and father aren't looking anymore. you guys don't need to pretend anymore."

a look of hurt flashes on jeno's face but jaemin's is carefully made up, his young stature giving away nothing about his inner feelings. the air in the train compartment is tense, with kannika's eyes darting between her best friend, her brother, and his best friend. 

"jinah, i - " jeno's thought is drowned out by the sound of the compartment door banging open, donghyuck and renjun squeezing their way in. jinah groans, leaning her head against the window once more. 

"how is it that you guys find each other like this no matter where you are? is it the body odor? the raging prepubescent boy hormones? i can never tell." donghyuck is only taken aback for a moment before bursting out into a fit of laughter, dark eyes twinkling with good-natured fun as he exchanges a look with jinah. jeno's eyes narrow but he quickly brushes it off, figuring that he was making a mountain out of a molehill. at least, he better be.

"jinah, i think your insults could match renjun's now. and renjun has a nasty mouth," donghyuck says, groaning when aforementioned potty mouth places a well-aimed elbow to the rib. kannika perks up at this, her eyes narrowing when she turns to the smallest of the troublemaking boys.

"i should have figured," she says. "it was you, wasn't it?" 

renjun's eyebrows furrow, trying to figure out what she was going on about before his eyes brighten in realization, only to dim once he realizes the imminent danger. 

"i don't know what you're talking about," renjun says, his voice cracking and essentially giving him away. jinah's annoyance fades a little, curiously looking at kannika. 

"what are you lot going on about? what did renjun teach?" she asks, glancing between her brother and his friends but a single, particularly lecherous fellow. kannika blinks, and a faintly reddish tint glows on her skin. 

"it's inappropriate to say for muggles, jin. i don't think i can say it," she says, swallowing thickly. the corner of renjun's lips threatens to tilt upwards and he shifts from his position next to donghyuck to look at jinah. 

"you didn't hear the word that kannika's been having a heart attack over, jinah?" the lilting quality of his voice has jinah backtracking, sensing that perhaps curiosity wasn't the best course of action in this situation - especially when it concerned any of her brother's friends. 

"yes," she says carefully. "of course i did."

the shit-eating grin on donghyuck face only grows, and jinah has to fight against all of her survival instincts to not throw them out of the train compartment. or the window. she really had no preference. 

"really? do you think you could say it for us then?" donghyuck finishes his friend's thought. jaemin, who had been eerily quiet, stares at jinah, as if he were challenging her to say whatever it was that had gotten kannika so enraged. 

"why would i say something that would upset kannika to satisfy you morons?" jinah says tightly, but it doesn't affect jaemin, who had seemingly come to life with competitive spirit all of a sudden.

"it sounds like you're just not brave enough to me, jinah. say it. why won't you say it? too scared?" jaemin leans forward, almost getting into jinah's face. she doesn't move from her position, unwilling to give up her grit to a boy with too large of an ego to see the end of it. 

"no. because i might be a slytherin, but i'm no snake, jaemin," jinah says, and she almost regrets it because she can feel the temperature in the booth drop by fifteen degrees the minute the forbidden word leaves her mouth. jaemin bristles, retreating back to his post against the cushions, staring at jinah strangely the entire time. 

jeno clears his throat, but even that dies out when kannika looks at him challengingly, figuring that facing the hufflepuff's wrath was much less preferable to his best friend. rightly so. 

"you know, jinah, i really respect you. you've got a strong heart. and a hell a lot of guts," donghyuck drawls, the smirk on his face softening around the edges a little. jaemin's eyes flash to donghyuck and then back to jinah quickly, displeased with whatever he thought he saw before standing up abruptly. 

"does anyone have any coins? i've got a real itching for a chocolate frog right now," he says, stretching his arms nonchalantly, as if he hadn't gotten up in a rush.

renjun just shakes his head, offering kannika and jinah a quick smile before following jaemin out of the compartment. jeno sighs, but waves to jinah nonetheless to find his rambunctious friends. donghyuck is the only one left in the now peaceful compartment but he too leaves soon enough, winking at kannika as he does. he almost makes it all the way out the door when he turns back, a smug smile itching to lift the corner of his lips. 

"nutsack. the word was nutsack."

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a/n: heehee finally a longer chapter for once. from here on out, years 2-4 will go by pretty quickly and then slow down when we get to year 5. thank you so much to everyone who is reading and voting on my baby <3 ily so much