Ice Cream | NoMin

Chapter 14

Jeno witnessed his mother's loss of appetite each day after the previous incident. She isn't saying anything, but he can tell she is affected by it.

Their home is quiet, and his mother has been locked in her room for some time. The doctor advised her to rest for the time being and stop working, but she couldn't just stop working.

"Do you want to eat something, Mom?" he asked through the door. He waited for her response, but when she didn't respond, he decided to return later. 

She's still upset about what happened last time for sure. Of course, it was the very first time that his brother talked back. 

"I'm going outside for a while," he said before exiting the house.

It's the weekend, and he and Jaemin are supposed to find some people for their research paper survey. Jeno, however, couldn't leave his mother at the time and told Jaemin that they should do it the next time. He told him he had an emergency, which thankfully Jaemin understood.

Well, of course. Whatever his reasons are, Jaemin will always understand him. 

He never thought of Jaemin being understandable like this before and Jeno was glad to discover it. 

He's just really nice. 

Now, Jeno is worried. 

What will happen if his mother discovers his friendship with Jaemin? First and foremost, she never failed to remind him not to associate himself with Jaemin, and she continues to insist that they are competitors, not friends.

What exactly is it about Jaemin that his mother hates?

She's acting as if Jaemin's family took something from her that she'll never forget, and she's forcing Jeno to exact her revenge.

Is she acquainted with his parents?

His mother had no idea how happy he was when he was with Jaemin.

The worse thing is, as the time passes, the way Jeno sees Jaemin is getting deeper and he's aware that it's more than a friendship. He realized that his friends were right but still, he couldn't tell this to Jaemin. 

He's not ready. 

Will he ever be? 

They were just friends, and Jaemin is clearly being nice because that is who he is. That is his character. He's so nice and sweet, how could he not fall in love with him?

Of course Jeno's happy too because he has friends and never left him despite how strict his parents were and couldn't go with their trips in the past. They were very understanding that Jeno shouldn't get into trouble or else, they will never see him again.

But the comfortable and safe feeling that Jaemin brought him is different and strangely, he keeps seeking it.

Jeno is so sure that Karina is suffering too from this. Her parents won't stop bugging her as well. 

She cried last night because her mother is constantly telling her to end her relationship with her boyfriend and start dating Jeno instead.

That is completely absurd. How could they just tell her to break up with her boyfriend as if it were the easiest thing to do, especially when she loved him so much? Seriously, what are they thinking?

It's almost dinner time, but Jeno doesn't have an appetite to eat.

So, he went to the park alone instead, sitting down on one of the benches nearby.

The park was empty, except for some children that play around the playground with toys and swings and some teenagers just like him who hang out by the bench.