Mid Summer

nineteen,

When tryouts for the junior varsity soccer team are over, Jeno forgets all about his worries, because he's sprinting up the stairs of the bleachers, towards where Jaemin is sitting with his book, completely ignoring Donghyuck.

With the excitement coursing through his viens and the adrenaline in his blood, Jeno also ignores Donghyuck, going straight to Jaemin and ripping the younger out of his book.

The first thought Jaemin has when Jeno touches his arm is that Jeno was sticky which meant he sweat too much, and the younger would appreciate it if Jeno didn't bring him into a bone crushing hug when he was sweating buckets.

"I made it," he whispers into Jaemin's ear, instantly putting a smile on the latter's face. "Congratulate me." Jaemin can hear the teasing smile in his voice.

"I'm proud," the younger whispers back, finally bringing his arms up and around Jeno. From where Jaemin face is in Jeno's neck, the elder can feel Jaemin's smile.

When Jeno looks up, he sees Donghyuck staring at him, from where his head is perched on Mark's shoulder.

"Congrats," Donghyuck mouths to him, and Jeno's eyes crinkle more, if that's even possible.

"Him too," Jeno mouths, cocking his head slightly in Mark's direction.

Mark made it on the team as well.

When Jeno pulls away from Jaemin, he can see Mark do the same out of his peripheral.

"Good job," Mark says softly to Jeno, turning around to face the other couple. The atmosphere instantly gets tenser with everyone acknowledging each other. "You're good."

"Thanks," Jeno says, almost breathlessly for some reason. "You're good too."

Silence ensues, but Mark is quick to diminish it.

"I heard there's a drama club," he says, and Jeno can see Donghyuck's eyes sparkle at the sound of it. "Into that?" He continues, directing his question at Jaemin.

Tentatively, Jaemin nods.

Mark grins.

"Join with Hyuck, he loves theatre."

Jaemin tries to smile at that, out of common courtesy, but he's pretty sure it came out as more of a grimace.

"Jaemin does too," Jeno mumbles.

"Jaemin can speak for himself," Donghyuck scoffs, grabbing Mark's hand and dragging him away.

"T-Talk to me if you wanna know more about the drama club!" Mark stutters over his shoulder, before Donghyuck picks up his pace and force, dragging the two of them away.

"I don't think Donghyuck likes me," Jaemin sighs, leaning his head on Jeno's shoulder. "But that's fine, I don't like Donghyuck either."

Jeno just hums.

——

When Jeno walks into his dorm room, Donghyuck is already there, reading a book.

But when the door opened, he shoots a head up and glares at the elder, who just tries to ignore the younger's gaze and take a shower.

"I don't want Jaemin joining the drama club," Donghyuck suddenly says out of the blue.

Jeno shoots him a look.

"Jaemin can do whatever he wants," Jeno replies, fishing out a pair of basketball shorts from his drawer.

"Yeah, but I'd prefer if he didn't. Put in a word or two about that."

Jeno sighs, turning to face Donghyuck, and for once in his life, forcing a smile into his face.

"Jaemin loves theatre. I wouldn't want anything getting in the way of that," he says simply, and Donghyuck opens his mouth to speak, but Jeno continues before he can. "And you love theatre too. So don't let anything get in the way of that either."

Donghyuck keeps on opening and closing his mouth like a fish, not finding the right words to say.

He didn't expect Jeno to say something like that.

So he just settles on glaring at the elder.

——

"Jaemin," Mark calls, catching the attention of the former boy.

"Hm?" The younger hums, turning around to face Mark. "What's up?"

For sure, Jaemin hadn't really liked the idea of rooming with Mark at first, but since it's already been a week since they've moved in together, Jaemin has learned that Mark is just a quiet and respectful boy, and that disliking him and treating him poorly simply because he had three tattoos on his body was kind of shitty.

Mark closes the door of their dorm before walking over to Jaemin, who's eyes have now widened with question towards why Mark was making his way to him.

His eyes widen even more, if possible, when Mark holds him by the shoulders.

"Jaemin," he starts, taking a deep breathe in and then out, closing his eyes and then opening them again. "I like you. Would you like to go on a date with me?"