Monopoly | Norenmin

Astray

Renjun scrunched his face slightly, pressing his thumb behind his ear on a point that had been throbbing for the past hour. He had a strange philosophy, if somehow he made the pain worse, it would go away. Obviously that isn't how life works but that wasn't going to stop him. If he needed a damn doctor, he'll go to a doctor.
"Jun, what are you doing?" Jaemin furrowed his brows at the elder boy, mindlessly swirling his bubble tea.
Renjun cracked his head to the side with a small groan, "I have a headache. I need the pain to go away."
Jaemin silently reached for his bag as Renjun rubbed his temples, trying to ease the pain. He honestly just came today to talk with Jaemin, going to his morning class and hoping to skip his afternoon one in favour of soup and blankets. He was slowly regretting being a semi-decent person though, wishing he just stayed home the entire day.

Why he did anything for Jaemin was a mystery to him.

Jaemin slid a bottle of water toward him, giving him a sheepish smile. Renjun stopped the bottle from rolling, looking up at the boy and raising an eyebrow. The younger male simply shrugged, casually looking out the window. "You said you had a headache."
"I'm fine," Renjun stood the bottle up, pushing it back toward Jaemin. He muttered a "thank you" though as Donghyuck's words echoed through his shitass of a brain. "He cares for you and that's why he's doing this."  Yeah, yeah, he got it. Jaemin was the definition of a prince-
Renjun scrunched his face slightly as he realised what he had thought, trying to mentally scratch it out and rewrite it. Jaemin...had...a...princely aura...? Jaemin cared and he should try a bit to care back.

Renjun shook his head slightly and looked up, only to make eye contact with Jaemin softly gazing at him. Like he was special, which made Renjun a little concerned and honestly made his heart kind of jolt in its place. Though to be fair he wasn't used to making eye contact with Jaemin without glaring at him, so it probably was just that. He narrowed his eyes at him, nodding at him to speak what on Earth was going on in his mind.
Jaemin shook his head, smiling down at his drink as he played with the straw, "No, no, you just live in your head a lot, that's all."
Renjun jolted his head back slightly before scoffing, "Well yeah, don't get much from real life, you know."
With a few nods, Jaemin looked back up, his eyes sort of sparkling. Though they had been sparkling more and more these days than they had in the past. Maybe there was something he gained from the plan as well. 

"You look cute when you're in your head."

Renjun's eyes widened, leaning back in his seat a bit. He puffed his cheeks, looking out the window to take away from the fact he was completely caught off guard by the comment. Not that Jaemin hadn't complimented him in the past, it just felt stranger now that Renjun didn't entirely loathe him anymore.

Just a bit of distaste.

Like the aftertaste of stomach acid, you know?

Where it's there, but it could be so much worse.

I don't know what I'm getting at.

Renjun huffed, trying to change the topic to stop his head from leading him astray. "Weren't we here for a reason?"
Jaemin's smile dropped, just like it had every time he had mentioned the plan. Maybe he didn't get that much out of it. Renjun simply waited for Jaemin to start, the brunette nodding his head slowly as he looked down gloomily at the table. It was like he was trying to guilt Renjun out of this. It was his damn idea though, he should learn to follow through with his own ideas. 

"I'm good, I started applying for jobs actually, so that might give you a bit more time," Jaemin nodded, forcing a smile on his lips.
Renjun bit his lip, sighing through his momentary mental conflict and breaking into a pitiful smile.
"you don't have to do that, you know."
Jaemin's head darted up, startled slightly by the words that had come out of the smaller boy's mouth. "What?"
Renjun stared at the boy before hime, clenching and unclenching his hand repeatedly in contemplation. Was he really going to do this? Should he? Slowly, even as he debated with his mind, he lifted his hand. He reached over the table and gently poked Jaemin's cheek, just like the younger had done before. "you don't...you don't have to pretend to smile, I-I-I'd rather you show me...what you actually feel."

Jaemin blinked blankly at him, a smile twitching on his lips, more genuine. One that Renjun preferred. "God, what the fuck is happening to me?"
"I'm...I'm good, don't worry, Junnie."
Renjun nodded when Jaemin suddenly slapped his hand over his mouth, "Sorry."
"Huh?" he furrowed his brows at the boy.
"I said...Jun...nie..." Jaemin dragged out awkwardly, definitely trying not to say it again and not offend Renjun.

The problem was that Renjun didn't actually notice.

Still he scoffed, taking a sip from his drink. "Yeah, you better fuckin be."
Jaemin chuckled to himself, taking a sip from his own drink as well, "What about you?"
Renjun nodded, a bright smile making its way on his face, "yeah, it's been really good. I'm...I'm stupidly happy." He laughed softly to himself, shaking his head a bit as he got a bit overwhelmed. It was always the case with Jeno. Just spending this small amount of time with him made him overly happy, especially after spending so long barely speaking to him. It was nice to have him in his life again. It was nice to melt into Jeno's side again as they watched movies, laugh and chat during their breaks as they stuffed their faces with food, to hold Jeno's hand once again as he fell asleep on his shoulder. It was nice to be with Jeno once more. It felt like ice cream, a sweet gift he'd crave for, and when he got it he'd indulge himself.

He looked up to see Jaemin smiling as softly as he always did. He got it, what it was like to be in love with Jeno. In that way he was kind of happy that someone shared that wonderful feeling.

Astray. You see? The problems he had been having.

Renjun clicked his tongue, rolling his eyes as he folded his arms in front of his chest. He had to save himself somehow, he couldn't be...soft or whatnot. "Just keep doing what you're doing."
Jaemin nodded, taking his drink into his hands. He pointed up at Renjun. "We can't get caught. Not when we've come this far."

"Get caught doing what?" Renjun and Jaemin's eyes widened, both their heads darting to Jeno who was looking at them with furrowed brows. The boy crossed his arms as Renjun unfolded his, silently dropping them to his drink.
While Renjun was busy trying not to die and slip up, Jaemin just laughed under his breath. "What do you mean?"
Jeno leaned down, face centimetres apart from Jaemin's. Renjun let his eyes dart to the side, not wanting to witness bullshit that could ruin his mood so fast. Jeno chuckled slightly, quirking an eyebrow up. "Really?"
"I have no idea what you mean, Jeno Lee," Jaemin smiled, leaning closer to Jeno's and lightly brushing his nose against his. Jeno smiled brightly, lifting his head up and placing a kiss on Jaemin's forehead, the boy embracing the bliss of his touch.

Renjun took his drink, rolling his shoulders back. He glanced up at the two laughing quietly between themselves, sighing to himself. He silently slid himself out of the booth, walking past Jeno. He quickly thanked the staff before turning to the door. He had to get out of there before their bullshittery clogged up his brain. He already felt like shit, there was no reason to purposely make it worse.

As he placed his hand on the door handle, he reluctantly glanced over to the table, just to let it settle through his system that Jeno was still taken by Jaemin. Just to witness what he didn't have just yet.

Instead, he was greeted by Jeno and Jaemin looking back at him, Jeno cocking his head into the samoyed look once again. He blinked for a moment before sending both of them a smile, the two returning the gesture though Jaemin's face seemed to droop slightly. Jeno waved at him, a light gesture that Renjun hesitantly replicated.

Things just felt out of place. So just to make sure he didn't deal with it just yet, he quickly pulled the door open and made his way out.