Eyes Don't Lie

09

Eyes don't lie

09

Jeno was standing in front of Mark's house, preparing himself mentally before pressing on the bell. He could hear the sound echoing through the house and soon after that footsteps approaching before the door was opened and Mark revealed himself. The older boy was wearing a red hoodie and grey sweatpants, perfect for a sleepover. 

"Hello, come in," he greeted Jeno cheerfully and the two exchanged a handshake before Jeno entered the house and put off his shoes. Somehow he felt nervous. 

"Is someone else there yet?," he wanted to know while they were heading to the living room, placing the snacks he brought on the TV table when they arrived. 

"No, you're the first," Mark meant while examining what candies Jeno had bought. 

"Ohhh, purple jelly, nice," he said and grinned, then eyeing Jeno. 

"Do you want something to drink?," he then asked expectantly. 

"Yup," Jeno accepted and they both went to the kitchen, where Mark took out a bottle of lemonade from the fridge. 

"4up as you like it," he commented and smiled while pouring the beverage into a glass, it making a sizzling noise because of the fizz. 

"Mhm," Jeno meant and smiled, feeling a bit nostalgic. 

Him and Mark had always preferred the 4up soft drink from Sprighte, which Jaemin and Donghyuck loved. It had become the topic of an argument in their friend group more than once. Renjun had been the one who would call all of them stupid for this childish discussion back then. Jeno grinned at the memory. Then the ring of the bell was heard. 

"I'll open the door," Jeno announced as Mark was still busy putting the drink back into the fridge. He speeded to the front door, pulling it open, curious to see who had arrived. It was Donghyuck standing in front of him in shorts and a big loose t-shirt, looking ethereal as always. 

"Uh, hi," Jeno stuttered flustered and stroked the back of his neck awkwardly with one hand. 

"Hey," Donghyuck answered with a soft smile. 

"Can I come in?," he questioned coyly with a small chuckle as both of them were still standing on their spots, not moving. 

"Ah, yeah sure," Jeno rashly told him and stepped aside so Donghyuck could come in. 

"I got some grape gummies for you," the smaller boy announced and gave Jeno the package, who grinned and thanked Donghyuck happily. 

"Who's there?," Mark shouted from the living room, as Donghyuck was placing his shoes in the closet. 

"It's Hyuck," Jeno shouted back and started going back to join Mark on the couch. 

"Hi Hyuck," Mark said when Donghyuck came into the living room. 

"Hi," he answered and patted Mark's arm before sitting down in front of the two boys, facing them. 

"I'm so excited for this! We have to do all sorts of stupid stuff," he exclaimed to which Mark agreed and Jeno nodded, a bit nervous hearing it. Donghyuck was unpredictable so he had to be prepared for whatever 'stupid stuff' would be. 

Soon the other two boys were also sitting in the living room, Jeno planning on teasing Renjun about the fact that him and Jaemin had come together later. 

"Okay, so what do you all want to do first?," Mark asked when everyone was finished with greeting and putting their stuff somewhere. 

"I'd suggest we make the pizza, I'm hungry," Jaemin spoke, receiving some approving nods. 

"Me too," Donghyuck verbally agreed and already stood up, ready to go to the kitchen. 

"Alright, then, who wants to prepare it and who wants to put on some music, bring cushions and blankets and all that stuff down here to create a more comfy setting?," Mark questioned so that they could divide the tasks. 

"Uh, we could get the blankets and all that?," Donghyuck suggested while looking at Mark, who didn't seem to mind. Like that, the groups were already formed as the other three were needed for cooking. 

"Great, then let's see what we've got here," Jaemin said and started rummaging in the fridge for the ingredients after they had arrived in the kitchen, Renjun and Jeno washing their hands in the meantime. Jeno tried to push away the feeling of disappointment because he wasn't in Donghyuck's group. 

"Huh, where are the vegetables?," Jaemin mumbled and searched for them looking very confused. 

"Are you dumb?," Renjun chuckled and joined Jaemin in finding them with a grin on his face. The two bickered playfully, Renjun stating that it wasn't the first time Jaemin had been at Mark's house so he should know things like this to which Jaemin tried to argue against but eventually gave up, just watching Renjun with a smile and slight admiration and adoration in his expression. 

"I'll start cutting the mushrooms," Jeno announced and grabbed a cutting board and a sharp knife from one of the cupboards, Jaemin reacting with a disapproving "Ew", as he disliked those. Jeno just ignored it and concentrated on chopping. 

"Oh, I think it's the best if we ask the others what they would like on their pizza so we can regulate how much of each ingredient we need," Renjun noted while putting different pizza toppings on the kitchen counter. 

"Hmm," Jaemin agreed absently, already focused on washing some salad as a side dish. 

Renjun took that as a yes and rushed up the stairs, taking two steps at once. Arrived on the next floor, where the bedrooms were located, he stood still when he could hear faint noises talking. As he was walking closer, he was able to identify some of the words said better. 

"I've.. ...noticed that, with...Jeno..," he could hear Mark murmuring and even though he hadn't caught the whole sentence, the word "Jeno" definitely got his attention. 

Although he felt slightly bad he couldn't stop himself from eavesdropping, taking some silent steps so that he was closer to the door of the room the other two were in. Having found a good spot that wasn't too near to the door as he wouldn't be able to play dumb and pretend he had just arrived but close enough for him to understand what it was that they were talking about, he remained where he was silently. 

"I don't know. I'm confused," he could decipher Donghyuck's voice, which portrayed the confusion he was describing. The boy also sounded slightly desperate, perplexed. 

"It's okay. To be honest I feel the same way. I don't know if the way I feel about you is-" Mark replied but the sound of an object dropping down made it impossible for Renjun to hear the last part. He inwardly cursed at whatever had fallen down. 

"Sorry," he heard Donghyuck say with a laugh, and he figured that the noise had been caused by Donghyuck letting something fall by accident. That didn't mean he wasn't less pissed that he hadn't gotten the second part of Mark's sentence though. 

"Just don't think about me, okay? I want you to make some moves and then you tell me how it felt. And I'll be able to see how it felt for me too," Mark spoke, sounding genuine. 

Renjun could imagine the way he was saying this with the firm and honest expression he used to encourage others. At the same time, he realized that those phrases kind of seemed like the end of a chat, so he hurriedly turned around and walked down some steps on the stairs, then making loud noises while going them up again and also calling Mark's and Donghyuck's names to indicate that he was coming. 

"What do you want to have on your pizza?," he asked a bit breathlessly to make it seem like he had just run up the stairs, and entered the room to find Mark and Donghyuck casually talking about something else while holding blankets and pillows, looking up with neutral mimics after he had stepped in. 

"What did you two talk about?!," Renjun's mind screamed while he was pronouncing these words. 

Hehe. I hope you liked this and I could bring across the tension. ((: Thank you for reading!