Mid Summer

nine,

"You're packing now?" Jaemin frowns, watching as Jeno micro-folds his t-shirts.

"I like to do things in advance." Jeno explains, grabbing another shirt and folding it the same way.

"It's June 5th," Jaemin mumbles, picking at his cuticles. "Isn't it too early?"

"It is never too early," Jeno tsks. "You leave everything for the last minute."

Jaemin sighs, continuing to play with his cuticles.

A few more moments go by in silence before Jeno stops packing, now skeptically looking at his boyfriend.

"What?" The elder asks, looking at Jaemin, who wasn't looking at him. "Is everything okay Nana?"

"You didn't go for a walk that day," Jaemin mumbles, a slight pout forming on his features.

Jeno is taken aback. How did Jaemin know this?

Was Jeno that easy to read?

Was he that bad of a liar?

"W-What?" He stutters, still looking at Jaemin from across the room.

"You lied to me," Jaemin shrugs, finally picking up his head and looking at Jeno. "Why'd you lie?"

Jeno opens and closes his mouth like a fish out of water, struggling to find the right words to say.

He couldn't really get out of this, there was only one way to answer.

Truthfully.

"You're gonna kill me," he whispers, making his way to sit beside Jaemin.

The younger turns to him and smiles, but Jeno can see how sad he looks behind it.

"Maybe," he whispers back, looking back down at his lap. "Liar."

Jeno sighs, and he thinks that he really has no one but himself to blame.

Jaemin hates liars, he's made that crystal clear in the beginning of their relationship. For some reason though, Jeno still thought he could get away with lying to Jaemin, especially when the latter knew that he wasn't a good liar to begin with.

"I met some people when I was getting your medicine," Jeno starts, staring at Jaemin's side profile to be aware of any reactions. "I met... Donghyuck."

In Jaemin's head, he questions how it was even possible, how the odds of the universe were so against him that they made Jeno and Donghyuck meet, while in his heart, Jaemin feels it plumet to the ground.

Is this... What it feels like to get cheated on?

In the back of Jaemin's mind, he thinks it's a stupid question that he's asked himself, but that's what it feels like.

Slowly, the younger's head turn to stare up at Jeno, who's smiling sheepishly while staring at Jaemin's expressionless face.

"You met Lee Donghyuck?" Jaemin asks, tone also void of any emotion.

Jeno hums.

"I did."

Jaemin nods, ponders over the words which have been exchanged and then decides on telling Jeno that he was an asshole.

"You're an asshole," he says. "Why didn't you tell me?"

Jeno knows that he'd have to go into detail if he told Jaemin, since the latter would keep on asking questions.

"It's a long story—" Jeno starts, but the younger cuts him off.

"I have time."

Jeno takes a deep, shuddering breath, shaking his shoulders free of tension before starting his story.