Monopoly | Norenmin

The Line

"MINNIE!"

Jaemin whipped around only to have Renjun crash into him with tears streaming down his face. Renjun held on to him tightly, mumbling on about how they had to stop. They needed to stop. He couldn't bear to make Jeno any sadder and after his epiphany he figured it out. He'd be okay. He loved Jeno. He'd be okay without him no matter how much it would tear him apart. Who fucking cared about anything or anyone if someone was getting hurt?

Jaemin pulled the boy slightly away from him, cradling the elder's form as best he could as he tried to figure out what was making Renjun distressed. For such an observant human, Jaemin was really dense with his actions. Selfish bastard. He didn't care, did he?
Renjun couldn't think of anything better to do than to curse the boy out, yelling at him as he gripped so strongly to him. He wanted Jaemin to know how much he fucking hated him. How much damage he was doing. He wanted to make sure Jaemin wouldn't run away. Or maybe he wanted to never let go of him. He really didn't know in the moment. He continued swearing and screaming at Jaemin, partially thankful for the fact that they were in a more secluded area of their campus but also angry at the fact that no one else would hear about how much he hated Na Jaemin. How much of a bad person Na Jaemin was. How horrible he was for doing such shit.

Jaemin slowly reached up, cupping the smaller boy's face causing him to go silent. Na fucking Jaemin. "Junnie, you need to tell me what's happening."
Renjun huffed and puffed, staring at Jaemin's face for a long while before he did something he'd been meaning to do since the beginning of time.

The younger boy went into a slight shock as Renjun's hand came into contact with his face. Renjun gulped as he panted, clenching and unclenching his hands as Jaemin processed what had happened. He watched as Jaemin slowly came back, nodding to himself before looking back at him.

"...okay."

Renjun stared back at him with gritted teeth. He didn't know exactly what he expected from the man who wouldn't even hit a mosquito, but he wished had a little bit of a different reaction.

And then Renjun simply crashed into him. He felt Jaemin quickly wrap his arms around him which was making him feel both so much better and so much worse. He held onto Jaemin's jacket, mumbling how they were wrong over and over, that things weren't working. Nothing was working.
"What do you mean?" Jaemin asked quietly into the boy's shoulder.
Renjun shook his head into his jacket. "He's just getting sadder and sadder, Jaem." He looked up, his eyes pleading with his words. "Just stay with him."
Jaemin's face fell slightly, subtly shaking his head a bit. "No, no, not yet. I told you we can't just yet."
"He's not happy, Jaem. He was happier with you," Renjun gestured back as his voice grew more frantic. "It's not working."
"It will work," Jaemin gripped at Renjun's shoulders.
"Jaemin."
"Please. Please, I don't want you to be upset anymore," Jaemin explained desperately, Renjun noticing how he was trying hard not to hurt him. Why couldn't he put the same damn effort into taking care of his fucking boyfriend?

"I'm not upset," Renjun looked back at him with a slight fire, trying ever so slightly to counteract the ocean depth of Jaemin's eyes.
Jaemin rolled his eyes, sighing, "Renjun, I know you. You don't like Jeno and me together."
"Yeah, but it's for a very different reason than you think," Renjun raced out as he tried to save a relationship that wasn't even his.
"What?" Jaemin furrowed his brows at him, confused beyond his years and still a bit fired up from their small argument.

Renjun glared at him, grinding his teeth a little to avoid explaining himself. Jaemin didn't need to know. He just needed to stay with Jeno. Renjun could only shake his head at the boy, sighing and simply holding onto Jaemin's waist in exhaustion. How horrible of a person he was.

Jaemin's eyes darted up, his face still in worry as he made eye contact with someone behind them. Renjun swallowed a bit, still recovering as he glanced over his shoulder.
Snorting a little to himself, Jeno had stopped in his tracks with furrowed brows, looking at Jaemin and Renjun looking about five seconds away from killing each other. Or maybe just Renjun with Jaemin trying to tame him.
"Yeah...hi...what the fuck?" Jeno laughed a little, cocking his head at the two.

Renjun squeezed Jaemin's side slightly, silently telling him to stay put as if he were a puppy. He then broke out of Jaemin's grip and sped walked over to Jeno, grabbing the boy's hand and pulling him toward Jaemin. If Jaemin wasn't going to try to make things better, he was. In Jeno's ideal world, they were both there, getting along as if they were friends. Jaemin was his friend. He wanted to create that perfect world for him. It was the only thing he could do at this point.

He wanted to create the epitome of comfort for them, a source of light and warmth. And it wouldn't work if Jaemin didn't fucking cooperate for at least ten minutes.

He reached the youngest of the lot, grabbing his hand as well. With a large forceful grin, he quickly pivoted and linked both his arms with theirs, squashing himself in the middle of a Nomin sandwich. Renjun looked up at both of them, his smile slowly becoming his own as he pulled them both down the path. Jeno broke into small fits of laughter which put part of Renjun's mind at ease, the taller boy happily skipping like a little child with him. But before Renjun could let his shoulders relax he caught the panic in Jaemin's eyes, the subtle shaking of head, and everything fell down the drain with it. Renjun subconsciously held on to the two just a little tighter, hoping that maybe Jaemin would loosen up. Nothing worked.

Renjun laughed awkwardly, "Come on! Three amigos waiting to conquer the world together!"
His laughter died down slightly, Jaemin gently prying himself out of Renjun's touch. "I...can't." He bit his lip, looking down to the smaller boy. "I have to be somewhere."
"No you don't," Renjun's words tumbled out quickly, desperately trying to cut him off.
Jaemin sighed, shaking his head a little, almost disappointedly though at him or at himself Renjun didn't know. "I have work, Jun."
Renjun inhaled deeply, trying to repress the stupid urge to breakdown. He glared at him, swallowing down the pain in his chest. "...can't you...just..."
Jaemin hesitated for a moment, staring into the crumbling boy's soul before he shook his head slightly. "I...I gotta go. I have a class to teach."
"Do you have to?" Renjun could feel Jeno droop a little, the grip on his arm loose like he didn't know if he should keep what he had. Jaemin looked up to Jeno, the pained look amplifying slightly in his eyes before he nodded.

Renjun looked to Jeno. Surely he'd be on his side. Surely he'd want Jaemin to stay.
Jeno looked to Renjun, sending a pitiful smile before looking back up to Jaemin. He shook his head. "You should go, Jaemin." He grinned up at him even though both of them could see through it. "You don't wanna be late."
Jaemin smiled at him, differently to how it used to be. At least he did still smile. He quickly leaned over, pecking Jeno's forehead and ruffling Renjun's hair before he darted off. Was he really going to teach a class? Maybe he was just being a prick again. All Renjun knew was he didn't like how Jaemin and Jeno were becoming strangers. He wished he never agreed to something so stupid. And now the plan will work and Jaemin and Jeno won't know each other. A simple spell that shattered everything.

This is what he wanted at one point. Before all of this he was Jaemin's sworn enemy, and him ridding himself from the equation felt perfect. When did this change be so horrid?

"He's...he's just teaching," Jeno smiled, looking down to Renjun. It didn't take a genius to see how upset he was about this. How he forced a smile. Renjun didn't want to be upset anyone anymore. But if Jeno found out, he may just lose one of the most important people in his life.