in my own summer | norenmin

chapter 09 | sometimes, i regret

when jungwoo is shaken awake, he's suddenly greeted with the aroma sneaking in from the kitchen. yawning, he lazily reaches his head and looks over at aiden.

"i made dinner," he says softly. it felt a little odd sometimes when jungwoo did hear him speak korean. ever since he moved back home, he had been fairly firm on using cantonese instead. "come on."

jungwoo could listen to his voice all day.

his rumbling stomach happily pulls him out from his chair and he walks hand in hand with aiden to the dining room. aiden is excellent at cooking, as he is talented at most things he does. while eating, aiden eventually brings up:

"when exactly are we planning to visit your family?"

jungwoo freezes. "haven't thought about it."

"that's fine," aiden says simply, taking another bite of his food. a small one. "just came to mind. it's been a long time since we've moved, right?"

"uh-huh."

if anything, jungwoo does miss his parents. a lot. it hasn't even been at least a full year in hong kong and yet, he's already missing doyoung's cooking whenever he comes to visit and taeil's comforting singing voice. then he comes to his little brother.

how did he fuck up so badly? it was frustration. his parents calling him and telling them that jeno looked beat up and jungwoo refused to say anything for the longest time, eventually feeling terrible about not telling their dads. so, he did. he kept doing it, even if that promise they made back when jungwoo was fourteen and jeno was ten, wrapping their pinkie fingers together and swearing to never tell each other's secrets.

jeno broke the promise himself, anyway, when he told them about jungwoo's plans to move with his fiancé but perhaps it's justified....

aiden's eyes soon round and soften, and his curious look fades into sympathy. "oh yeah, you told me about the thing with your brother. i think talking in person could help. when i got into that fight with my parents over us dating, we talked in person and heard each other out and made up. it might work for you, too."

"maybe," jungwoo mumbles. maybe that phone call wasn't a good idea.

it's all jungwoo's fault, isn't it?

🎸

the next day, jeno spends it with jaemin over at his place, having asked to come over. renjun was busying with his classes, which meant it would be just the two of them.

"jun was in a bad mood all morning," jaemin tells him as he lets jeno into his flat. "i don't even know why. asked him and he just brushed me off."

"oh..." jeno whispers.

renjun did seem like a moody person in general, at least off of his first impression alone. the second time jeno even spent time around him, he was acting nice and happy until felix came to visit and suddenly he was sullen and moody. perhaps that's just how he is.

"we can watch a movie," jaemin says with a smile, brightening the mood. "or i could show you all my vinyl records."

jeno's eyes brightened. "actually, i'd prefer that."

at that point, jaemin was beaming brighter than the sun. he led jeno along to his room, opening the door and letting him walk in first. as jeno did, he took in his surroundings and was a little charmed by how it reminded him of his room a little.