Strawberry Pocky // Nomin

Ch. 5: "Prince-ly"

[Jaemin POV]

"... And so I ran back here," Jaemin explained his story to eveyone.

They all listened, grins escaping from them.

"Why are you all smiling?" Jaemin frowned.

"Haha, looks like you ran into Jeno," Ten laughed.

That name.
Jaemin's mind went blank as all he could sense was the shivers running up his spine.

He's the guy hyung was talking about.
Lee Jeno...

Jaemin suddenly felt all eyes on him.

"Dude," Johnny put a hand on his shoulder, smirking. "You don't happen to have a thing for our Prince Lee, do you?"

"Prince Lee..?" Jaemin was still blank.

"Prince Lee Jeno. Prince Lee because he's 'prince-ly'," Doyoung clapped.

*crickets chirping*

Why are there crickets chirping when its like 2 in the afternoon?

"*ahem*, anyways, Jeno's the so-called 'Prince Jeno' because of the guy's personality," Yuta broke the ice. "The boy is a gentle speaker, and most girls love him."

Jaemin sighed in boredom.

Oh. So he's a typical white-horse-Prince guy.
Okay, forget that, IM STARVING.

Jaemin shrugged and then reached for his bag of sweets...
Well, what was his bag of sweets.

Sharper than ever, he glared at Jisung and Chenle, gummies in thier mouths, chewing slowly until they realized they had been caught.

"YAH! JISUNG! CHENLE! GET BACK HERE!" Jaemin ran out the door after them.
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(Jeno POV)

"...I'm sorry..." Jeno looked at her.

Sung MinHee. Professor Sung Yeo's middle child.

She looked at me with wrinkled eyebrows, obviously hurt. She yelled in frustration.

"You'll regret not picking me, Lee Jeno!" She turned swiftly, her hair flipping in his face.

She turned the corner, and Jeno exhaled in relief.

That's the eighth one today...

Jeno reviewed the people who confessed to him today. Six girls. All related to school professors.
Two guys. One a senior, the other, an old classmate.

"I'm sorry, I just don't feel the same way..."

That was a lie. He didn't feel the opposite way. He didn't hate them nor even saw them there.
He didn't feel anything.

He had never felt like vindicating or acknowledging people as people. They were like a blurry transparent slide over his eyes.

He was simply better by himself. He saw what was real.
He didn't need others.

He would protect himself.

I could really eat a whole cake now. Should I go for chocolate or vanilla creme?

Jeno dismissed his self assesment.

That other boy, Na Jaemin...
He's kinda cute...?

Jeno walked to the cafeteria, not aware that he was thinking about how beautiful Jaemin was and when he would see him again.
------
[Jaemin POV]

"Come over today," Jaehyun smiled. "We just moved so a housewarming party would be nice."

"Okay!" Taeyong stood up, enthusiastic. He then retreated to his seat, embarassed.

Jaehyun chuckled.

Jaemin zoned out. He heard something about party plans and food.

"Jeno--"

"What?!" Jaemin blurted. "Oh... Sorry."

"Like I was saying, we should make Jeno and Jungwoo come," Ten continued. "I haven't seen them in a while."

"How do we ask Jungwoo though, Hyung?" Mark questioned. "He's not the type to answer the phone."

"Ahh about that...." Taeil smiled. "I've been bumping into him recently at the book cafe downtown. I could go check."

"You can't Taeil," Doyoung realized. "You just said you would help Taeyong and Jaehyun cook."

"WinWin and the Dreamies are going to the store with me so...Kun? Lucas? Johnny and Ten?"

"Ten and I have to go grab some board games," Johnny sat Ten on his lap, only to get yells from WinWin that there were children in the room.

"Actually, I have to meet up with my boyfriend..." Kun blushed.

"Man! Hansol's back already?!" Yuta smiled wide. "Bring him over Kun!"

"I'll ask him..." Kun drifted into his own cute world.

"Well, Lucas?" Taeil asked. "Are you busy?"

"I don't know him man..." Lucas shrugged. "Send me a picture and I can."

Taeil smiled and nodded at Lucas, but there was a hint of strings attached.

Lucas didn't notice though, and added Taeil's number.

"Jaemin, could you get Jeno?" Taeyong smiled. "You seen to have better luck at finding him than us."

"Uhm.. Sure," Jaemin remembered that he could talk. "I'll try."

"Great!" his brother clapped. "Party's at 8pm. And... It's Friday too so... Pack your sleeping bags!"

Everyone cheered and gave consent, while Taeyong looked lost in space. Jaemin laughed.

"Taeyong hyung, think about your plan to get into Jaehyun's bed later!" Haechan grinned.

"Ouuuu, Haechan, aren't you a bit eager to think about your plans on Mark?" Chenle smiled.

Haechan dived and shut Chenle's mouth before the boy spoke too much. Mark was flustered, but smacked Haechan and Chenle. Chenle begged Renjun for help and eventually...

Everyone sighed as the Dreamies fought. How is it possible to hear dolphin sounds?
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(a/n: It's friday!! 😆😆😆😆

DOUBLE UPDATE AHEAD~
Expect the next part in a few hours. 😉

Question: What's your favorite outfit era for any group?

Answer: I love NCT U's uniforms from "BOSS", BTS's "Blood Sweat & Tears" photoshoot outfits, and for all you girl group stans, I would die to have the outfits from Red Velvet's "Bad Boy" MV.

There's more, but I'll spare yall the trash talk. 😂😂😂😂😂        )