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41.

"Take care guys and text when you reach home."

Jaemin stretches his arms out and Jieun gives him a side hug. Adoring the two, Jeno lightly taps Jieun's head.

"You too. Don't hesitate to call us if you feel something is wrong. We all are always a call away."

Jieun smiles wide. "Aww thanks so much guys. It means a lot."

Jaemin glances behind Jieun, towards Renjun and huffs. "It's unfair. Why does he get to stay while we have to leave?"

Renjun rolls his eyes. "Should have behaved to not get a curfew." Chenle finds it funny enough to burst out laughing. 

Haechan's eye twitches. "Jieun, let me hit him just once." Jeno shakes his head and proceeds to grab Haechan and Jaemin by their arms. "We need to leave now. Unless either of you wants another curfew."

Jieun giggles at how Jeno drags Haechan out the door but gives Jaemin only a light push. Chenle high fives Jisung and follows suit. 

"Finally some peace..." 

Jieun looks at Renjun disapprovingly, but he shrugs and turns around to walk to the kitchen. However, Jisung blocks his path. Renjun raises a brow at his actions.

"If you feel hungry at night, you're free to use any of the snacks but no touching my ramen stash."

Jieun runs a hand over her face. "Ji, I don't think-" 

"Above all, do not put even a foot inside noona's room." 

"Jisung!" Jieun looks back and forth between the two boys and puts her hands on her hips. "Oh come on you two. Let's not make this Mark-Hyuck 2.0." 

However, Jisung pays her no heed and continues to stare down Renjun. Moments pass and Renjun finally looks away, the tips of his ears turning red.

"Like I would have any need to go to her room."

"Good, cause you don't want to get on my bad side."

"One would think you are the older one among us." Renjun mutters under his breath but Jieun hears him and finds his irritated figure adorable. 

Jisung hugs Jieun goodnight. Before walking away, using two fingers he motions back and forth between his eyes and Renjun. 

~~~

"Need a hand?"

Jieun whips around with a hand on her heart. "My god,  Renjun you scared me!"

Renjun shrugs and moves closer, next to the sink. Wordlessly, he picks up the drying cloth and a washed plate. Jieun shakes her head, then resumes washing the dishes. 

"I heard Jeno and you talking."

Jieun stops washing a bowl midway, the running water from tap being the only sound in the dimly lit kitchen. Renjun takes the bowl from her hand, finishes washing it and closes the tap. He then remains still beside an unmoving Jieun.

"You don't have to- I'm not upset or disappointed in you, if that's what you're thinking."

"You're not?"

"Did you want me to?" Renjun asks, a hint of curiosity and anticipation evident in his voice. Jieun looks at him from the corner of her eyes.

"I just... thought..."

Renjun turns to the side, to face Jieun. "Did you want me to be upset Jieun?"

Jieun's gloved fingers drum on the edge of the sink as she carefully thinks of what to say. "Maybe...? Like I don't know, maybe feel a bit affected because- because..."

"Because Jeno likes you and confessed to you."

 Jieun isn't sure if it's her imagination or if Renjun's voice is actually tense while saying that sentence, but she looks at him. She finds Renjun already looking at her, a deep look in his solemn eyes.

"Can I be honest?" Jieun gives a light nod. "It felt uncomfortable." He puts a palm over his chest and fists his shirt. "Here. I didn't know why." He tilts his head closer to her. "I have a hypothesis though."

Unable to hold eye contact, Jieun diverts her eyes to the ground. "I think, I understand. After all..." Renjun hums, encouraging her to speak. "When Jeno- when he confessed, my heart was beating really fast..."

Renjun feels a tinge of hurt and anger when he hears those words. The feelings being directed more at the fact that he is Jeno's friend and cannot be mad at him. Before he could fall further in a pool of negative thoughts, Jieun gently touches his fingertips. 

"Let me finish." Renjun's confused look is so endearing to Jieun that she can't help but smile at him. "My heart was beating because I was thinking about you."

This time Renjun averts his gaze. "Jieun please. If this is a joke, I don't-"

"I wanted you to be there. With me." Jieun clasps her hands behind her and clears her throat. She purses her lips, looking out the window and towards the lone star out in the dark sky. 

"Because otherwise it felt like I was betraying you. Because I feel the same way around you as Jeno does for me." 

~~~

"Detective Taeyong, it's been half an hour. I still don't see a single soul."

"I'm right behind you, you know."

Jungwoo lets out a sigh of frustration. "At this point, it's better to just head inside than freezing, waiting out here."

"I'm afraid I can't let you do that Mr. Kim Jungwoo. Keeping you safe takes precedence."

"Wait! Isn't that-"

Unlike Jungwoo who was waiting alone in the car, Taeyong and Johnny, who could see each other from their hiding positions, exchanged looks. 

"Jungwoo please stay in the car."

"What? I want to join! That was definitively-"

"Yuta keep an eye on him."

"Hey-" Jungwoo doesn't get much say as Johnny and Taeyong break down the storehouse doors. Minutes pass and there's no update at their end. There are neither any signs of them nor are they audible on the in-ear pieces. 

"Detective Yuta, shouldn't we go in? What if they are in danger?"

Although sharing the same worry himself, Yuta knows going against Taeyong's orders would mean risking Jungwoo's safety. "They'll be fine. They are not easy to-"

Before Yuta can even complete his sentence, the in-ears make a high-pitched static noise and following it, the sound of a loud explosion fills the air. 

"What was that noise? Are you guys okay? Hello?" Doyoung's frantic voice echoes through the in-ear. 

Disoriented all of a sudden, Yuta and Jungwoo grab hold their foreheads trying to stop the dizziness and the ringing in their heads. Dread settles in the pit of their stomachs when they finally register the scene in front of them.

"Taeyong. Johnny. Come in. Taeyong? Johnny?" Doyoung starts panicking more when he receives no response. "What's happening there? Jungwoo? Yuta? Someone answer me!"

"T-the storehouse..." Jungwoo murmurs, his blood running cold. "It just exploded..." Yuta completes for him.

Noooo! My babies!!😭Please be alright. 😭

On the flip side, Renjun-Jieun have been getting closer. What do you think, was it fine or too rushed?

Have you guys been liking the story so far? 

Any predictions as to what might happen next?