Ice Cream | NoMin

Chapter 23

"Eat your lunch, Jeno," Donghyuck reminded gently, noticing that Jeno seemed lost in thought, his gaze drifting from his untouched food to the crowded cafeteria. His eyes kept searching, clearly hoping to find someone familiar. Since he returned yesterday, there was one person he had desperately wanted to see-but Jaemin was nowhere to be found.

The others noticed his distraction, especially the way he kept glancing up every few seconds, looking disappointed. Jeno wanted to ask about Jaemin sooner, but he'd been wrapped up in explaining things to his friends and promising not to disappear on them again.

"I... I haven't seen J-Jaemin. Is he... absent?" he finally asked, his voice quiet as he stared down at his untouched lunch.

Renjun raised a brow, surprised. "Honestly, I was expecting him to be the first one here to welcome you back," he admitted. "If anyone was worried sick, it was Jaemin. We were all concerned, sure, but with him, it was something else. Even if he didn't say it outright, you could tell just by looking at him."

Donghyuck nodded, his face softening. "Now that you mention it... where is he?"

All eyes turned to Mark, who was sitting quietly, his gaze drifting to the side as if avoiding their questions.

"Oh, don't look at me like that." Mark waved his hand defensively, but it was clear he knew something.

"Where's Jaemin? Mark?" This time, it's Giselle who asked.

Mark scratched his head, glancing uncertainly at everyone. "He's around. He's here at school, but I'm not exactly sure where. He's been... really, really busy."

"All of a sudden?" Renjun asked, frowning. "So busy that he didn't notice Jeno's back? That doesn't make sense. He's been waiting for this day."

"Exactly," Karina added. "He was the one who handled everything when we went to the police station."

"Was he absent yesterday as well?"

Mark shook. "He's busy."

"Really, huh?"

Mark sighed, looking as frustrated as the rest of them. "I wish I knew what was going on, honestly. I'm still waiting for him to tell me, too. But I don't have any answers yet. And I wouldn't tell you anything even if you threatened to keep this sunshine away from me," he said, pointing at Donghyuck. "But please... don't do that."

Donghyuck rolled his eyes but couldn't help smirking, easing a bit of the tension. Yet, the unspoken question still hung in the air-what was really keeping Jaemin away?

"You like that, huh?" Giselle teased, nudging Donghyuck with a grin. He rolled his eyes again, though a faint smirk betrayed him.

"I know you two like each other," she continued, amused. "Why don't you just start dating already?"

"Ugh. I still hate him for saying those horrible things," Donghyuck muttered, his expression sour.

Mark sighed, reaching out to take Donghyuck's hand gently. "Hey, you're still mad about that? I told you, I didn't mean it like that. I already said sorry, didn't I?" He pouted.

Donghyuck scoffed, though his grip tightened just a bit. "Oh, you can't blame me! No one's ever said things like that to me. Obviously, it's going to take a while to move on."

Giselle chuckled, watching the two of them bicker, and shook her head. "Honestly, you two are impossible."

Jeno sighed, dropping his gaze to his untouched food. He'd tried to find Jaemin yesterday, going to every place Jaemin might usually be-the student council office, the library, even the faculty hall. But it was like Jaemin was deliberately avoiding him, slipping out of sight whenever Jeno got close.