parents | na jaemin

NINE

jeno's birthday festivities caused the weekend to fly by, and before ahyoung knew it, it was time for school again. internally screaming at herself for continuing to suffer from sleep deprivation, she groggily got ready for school, grabbed a banana from the counter, and headed to the bus stop. 

moments after her arrival to the stop, the bus arrived and ahyoung got on, squeezing herself in between all of the other students. it was small moments like this where she was grateful jaemin had offered to calm down a little, because now she didn't have any bruises to accidentally bump into a seat or someone's backpack.

when she got to school, she stepped out of the bus, smiling at the sight of jeno waving at her by the entrance. she walked quickly, skillfully navigating through the human traffic to make it to her best friend. 

"well someone got a good night's sleep," jeno chuckled, noticing the dreary expression on ahyoung's face. 

"i was trying to edit a video and lost track of time," the girl sighed, letting out a yawn immediately after. "and now i have korean literature, a class where i definitely won't fall asleep because it's obviously the most amazing class ever!"

"never go into acting," jeno snorted, pushing ahyoung into the school building. "i would say see you in math, but i doubt you'll be awake enough to pay attention to me." 

"mhm," ahyoung nodded sleepily.

the pair began walking up the stairs to the second floor, where ahyoung had her korean literature class. jeno, being the gentleman he was, always walked ahyoung to her first class in the morning, despite his class being in the first classroom on the ground floor. 

"thanks nono," ahyoung smiled as they arrived at her classroom.

"always," jeno smiled, the corners of his eyes turning upward. "i'll see you in history for our project."

"thank god jaemin started cooperating with that," ahyoung said, letting out a sigh of relief. 

jeno's face turned sour. "i swear that boy is up to no good. this act of his is seriously so--"

"i heard my name!"

ahyoung whipped around to see jaemin standing behind her, a mischievous grin lining his face. he slung his arm around the girl, startling her and visibly angering jeno. 

"uh jaemin, can you not?" ahyoung said quietly, straining her neck to look at the boy next to her.

"let her go," jeno said through gritted teeth, shooting daggers into jaemin's eyes. 

jaemin let out a laugh at his words, removing his arm from ahyoung's shoulders. "relax," he said coolly. "i simply decided i want to put in time and effort now," he continued, referring back to the project. "and we're practically done. just have to practice presenting. anywho, i'll see you in history," he said, pointing his finger scarily close to jeno's forehead. "oh, and ahyoung, i heard my mom calling yours about dinner again soon," he said in a singsong voice, his voice fading as he walked away from the two friends.

"i'm going to kill that motherfucker soon," jeno muttered.

ahyoung let out a snort. "okay well, maybe concoct that murder plan of yours on your way to class, because you're gonna be late if you don't start walking now."

~

much to ahyoung's surprise, she didn't fall asleep in korean literature. that would either be in due to the fact that her teacher, mrs. seo had begun an exhilarating conversation about ancient korean poetry, or the fact that jaemin, who sat next to her, had discarded the thought of sleeping in class to talking ahyoung's ear off the entire time.