fourteen days and twenty-eight kisses ; nct jaeno

day 3 ;

"Alright, class," Jaemin's class' Music teacher called as she laid her things on the teacher's table. "Are all of you aware of the upcoming music project?"

"No," The class chorused except for Jaemin, who was smiling as he was already aware, thanks to Jeno.

"Really?" Their Music teacher asked, raising an eyebrow. "Whatever, whatever. Anyway, the Music project is a performance for the upcoming Valentine's day—"

The class erupted into different reactions: "Oh, my god!" "Awesome!" "Gross!" "Do we have to do this?"

"I'm not done," The Music teacher pointed out, making the class fall silent. "Anyway, the mechanics for this project is you will have to pick a partner and a performance to do. Partners can come from the other section, while the performance can be singing, dancing, or acting, as long as it is appropriate for the event and for your age, as well."

Snickers passed by the room at the mention of for your age, making Jaemin roll his eyes as his response to his classmates' thoughts.

"When is the performance?" one of Jaemin's classmates asked.

"A day before Valentine's day," The Music teacher answered. "because the pair with the best performance will perform on the actual event for Valentine's day."

Oohs and aahs erupted around the classroom.

"Valentine's day is in two weeks, so as soon as now, you should pick your partners and decide on what to do for the project," The Music teacher advised, sitting down and picking up a folder. "So far, only a few pairs had signed up."

She scanned through the contents, then looked from the folder to Jaemin as she said "One of them is Lee Jeno and Na Jaemin."

Jaemin's eyes widened with shock. He looked at Donghyuck, who was looking back at him with an amused smile on his face as he sat on the other end of the classroom.

Jaemin turned back to their Music teacher, who was still looking through the folder.

Jaemin didn't remember signing up for anything.

Did Jeno do this?

-

As soon as it was dismissal, Jaemin rushed to the exit of the classroom, wanting to talk to Jeno about the unannounced sign up when he had suddenly and strangely found him right beside their classroom door.

"Jeno—" Jaemin screeched out of surprise, not expecting him to be standing there. "What the fuck, Jeno?! Yoy scared the shit out of me!"

Jeno's lips curved into a small smile, taking Jaemin aback.

It was different from his smiles on the day after their breakup...but seeing how it still wasn't reaching his eyes, he knew it wasn't enough.

Strangely, this made Jaemin's heart twist in his chest.

"Jaemin?" Jeno called.

"Yeah?" Jaemin answered, still stunned.

"What happened to you?" Jeno asked him, raising an eyebrow as he adjusted the straps of his backpack on his shoulders. "Just a minute ago, you were rushing, but now, you're just standing there. Is there something up?"

With that, Jaemin was reeled back to reality.

"Yes, there is something up!" Jaemin exclaimed, surprising Jeno. "How could you sign us up together for the project like that without my consent?!"

Jeno nodded while drawling out an ah, as if he finally understood what he was fussing all about.

"I didn't think you'd find out about that," Jeno admitted under his breath.

"Jeno!"

"I'm sorry!" Jeno apologized, raising his hands in surrender. "I admit, I did sign us up without telling you, but that doesn't mean I wasn't thinking about telling you."

Jaemin huffed, starting to walk his way towards the school exit. "What does that mean?"

"I wanted to ask if you were alright about us being partners," Jeno mumbled, trailing behind Jaemin with his hands stuffed inside his pockets—a gesture Jaemin knew Jeno does when he's flustered. "but I didn't get to do that because I was too—"

"Shy?" Jaemin cutted Jeno off, smirking.

"What—"

"Pfft, Jeno was shy!" Jaemin teased, turning to him and smirking wider. "Ain't that the cutest thing?"

"I suddenly regret signing us up together." Jeno muttered, making Jaemin laugh.

"I'm just kidding," Jaemin pointed out. "Also, I'm actually alright about being partners with you."

Jeno looked up at Jaemin, his face lighting up. "Really?"

"Really," Jaemin repeated. "because after seeing our adorable Lee Jeno act all shy, I could expose you to the others."

"I'm dropping you."

"There's no use, because I still know the truth."

After laughing at Jeno rolling his eyes, Jaemin continued. "Besides, working with you would be so cool, with your epic skills in doing everything. You can sing, dance, act, and play the guitar! Talk about a talented boy.."

Jaemin smirked as he noticed how a light tint of red was brushing across his cheeks.

"I'm not that cool," Jeno denied. "and even if you are, we can't forget about you. You're awesome at singing and dancing, too."

Jaemin felt his heart strings tugged at Jeno's compliments. Even though it wasn't a lot, he still felt flustered over his words, especially at how he said it so sweetly, and how he added a sweet smile in the end, as if he wasn't playing with his emotions enough.

"Thanks," Jaemin simply stuttered.

As they arrived in front of his house, Jaemin turned to Jeno with a look of realization as he said "Oh, I realized that this whole partner thing can help us with something else."

"What?" Jeno asked, intrigued.

"The dare," Jaemin answered, immediately regretting mentioning the dare as he saw how Jeno's face flickered with a different emotion only for a second.

"Oh," Jeno mumbled. "I guess you're right."

With that, Jeno leaned in, planting something that didn't really seem to be a kiss on Jaemin's cheek, because he just barely brushed his lips against his skin.

Jaemin returned the gesture with as much—well, less force in it, trying to hide the confused feelings in his heart.

As Jeno waved at him and walked away, Jaemin watched him, wondering about how he thought towards this whole thing they were forced to have between them.

Was it really working?