GO [NCT DREAM]

II

Right in front of him, with a bloody nose and battered form, was his best friend.

—

Jaemin
18 April 2018

Jeno froze, then grabbed Jaemin's hand and pulled him.  Jaemin ran with him, deciding now probably wasn't the best time to ask questions.

None of the boys slowed down, continuing to run away from the sirens. Jaemin felt like they'd been running forever, and luckily they stopped.

"We'll rest here," one of them panted. He seemed to be their leader.

"Are we safe here?" Jaemin turned to look at the person who spoke and recognized him. It was Haechan, one of Jeno's friends who Jaemin rarely spoke to.

"They stopped following us a while back, I just kept us going to be safe," the leader said. He turned to Jaemin, then to Jeno.

"Who's this?" he asked Jeno.

Jeno looked at Jaemin, then let go of his hand.
"Don't worry about him, we're going to go talk." Jeno led his friend away from the other three, then grabbed his arm.

"You need to leave. You saw nothing here and you're not going to say anything about it tomorrow."

"What? Why?!"

"Just listen to me, Jaemin. You need to go home and forget about all of this."

"No."

"Go home!" Jeno yelled.

"I can't go home!"

"Stop being ridiculous! Just leave!" Jeno started to leave, but Jaemin was fuming and was not going to let him.

"I ran away! I couldn't stand being around my parents anymore and their stupid plans for me! I've told you about this before, Jeno!"

"It's not—"

Jeno was cut off when he noticed the leader guy coming towards them. He quickly composed himself.

"Are you trying to cause a scene?!" He asked Jeno.

"No, sorry. Can I talk to you?" The leader nodded and led Jeno away. Jaemin was left standing on the street, freezing and hurt.

He walked over to Haechan and the other boy who were resting a few yards away. Jaemin sat down on the curb beside the blonde kid.

"You're Jaemin, right?" the boy asked. Jaemin looked at him closely, then realized it was Jisung.

He nodded, and the two sat quietly for a while. Haechan joined the two on the curb, sitting on the other side of Jisung.

"What are you doing out here? I thought you were Jeno's normal friend," Jisung said.

"What do you mean by normal friend?"

"You're not like all of us. You've got family,
friends, and a proper home. You fit in."

Jaemin took some time to process everything Jisung said. Did Jeno not have those things? How did the four of them get by? All sorts of concerns and questions were swirling around in Jaemin's brain.