RENDEZVOUS

23 | clash of clans

afternoon exams were the worst. but jeno had decided that the wednesday afternoon physics exam had been the worst one yet.

trudging out of the exam hall, defeated, he burst out of the main doors of the school, desperate for a breath of fresh air. he hadn't expected the exam to be that hard, and it had thrown his laid-back attitude he'd been keeping up all week.

jeno was suddenly filled with an unfamiliar emotion: doubt.

he was always so sure of himself, so chill, so easy-going. now, he was worried. worried that the exams would only get harder, worried he would fail them all, and worried his after school revision style would hinder all of renjun's grades too. and yet in the back of his mind, the thought of nancy leaking the video still lingered, keeping him constantly on edge.

jeno stopped and scuffed the toe of his shoe on the tarmac. renjun wasn't coming over for the rest of the week and jeno was feeling very melodramatic about it. although the exam made him want to take off home and cry with his cats, he wanted to check in with renjun before leaving, to ask how the exam went. he wanted to hug him, hold his hand, or brush his fluffy hair out of his eyes. just see him.

their relationship was complicated, as was jeno's relationship with his sexuality, but they needed each other. jeno didn't know what he'd do without renjun.

"jeno!"

jeno spun around in hopefulness, only to find jaemin approaching him instead. what if he asked more questions? as much as jeno hated to keep his best friend in the dark, he was afraid of what would happen if he told jaemin the truth about nancy.

"hey," jaemin said, catching his breath as he reached jeno, "so, um, how did the exam go for you?"

jeno's expression clouded and he gave a grim sort of smile. "alright," he answered.

jaemin nodded shortly, not quite knowing what to say. it was weird; usually they could laugh and talk so easily. recently though, things had gotten awkward between them.

"jen," jaemin began, daring to ask the question that had been on his mind, "about what you said the other day-"

"i don't know what you mean," jeno blurted.

jaemin rolled his eyes and gave jeno's arm a light punch. "come on," he reasoned, "you know what i'm talking about. can't you just tell me what the heck you meant by it?"

"i didn't mean anything," jeno said sharply, "just drop it, yeah?"

a frown of bemusement flickered across jaemin's features. "i don't get why you're being like this," he remarked, "i'm just asking. and nancy's my..."

"your what?" jeno cut in, the frustration of keeping such a secret finally building up inside him, "she isn't your girlfriend, jaemin, anyone can tell that."

"hey!" jaemin snapped, hurt by jeno's words, "you don't know anything about us-"

"you wanna bet?" jeno cut in, taking a breath, "i know that you're a gullible, lovesick idiot, and she's a lying bitch!"

jaemin inhaled, eyes turning defensive. "don't call her that," he warned.

jeno scoffed, getting right up in jaemin's face as he taunted him. "i also know that whatever you think you've got with her is a bunch of lies, and it's all in your fucking genius head-"

"as if you can say anything!" jaemin exploded, giving jeno's shoulder a hard shove, "you act like you know everything about girls but it's all a load of bullshit since you've never been in a fucking relationship."

"yeah? well you act like you know everything about me, when really you don't have a fucking clue!" jeno shoved him back, sending jaemin stumbling back a few steps.

jaemin spun back round and raised a fist, and that was when jeno finally snapped.

"she's using you, okay?! nancy doesn't want to be with you, and she's only been keeping you around so you can do all her work and write all her revision notes. you've just been too fucking dense to realise-"

"shut up!" jaemin burst out, launching himself at jeno and grabbing a fistful of his shirt, "you're just jealous!"

"j-jealous?" jeno spluttered, the anger boiling through his veins making him react and push jaemin back.

"you're just jealous that i've got what you wanted!" the adrenaline coursing through him made jaemin irrational and unreasonable, but it was the best argument he could muster to fill in the holes in his self-spun fantasy.

"i don't want your fucking made up girlfriend!" jeno retorted, his voice somewhere between a growl and a screech.

"stop it, both of you!"

renjun was suddenly there tearing them apart, struggling since jaemin was still grabbing jeno's collar and jeno still had a fistful of jaemin's hair.

"i don't know what's going on, and honestly i don't care!" renjun shook his head at the both of them, "i'm going home to study for the math exams, and if either of you has the least bit of sense, you'd do the same."

"renny-"

"later, jeno," renjun sighed, stalking away as fast as he could to where his mom's car was waiting.

jeno huffed and straightened his school tie, whilst jaemin ran a hand through his hair to flatten it out. jeno refused to say another word to him and marched the rest of the way to the school gates, tears pricking his eyes and threatening to fall.

his heart ached. he'd managed to destroy his friendship with jaemin and risk whatever he had with renjun in mere moments, and it didn't even end there. what if jaemin mentioned anything about what had happened to nancy? it was a straight, one-lane road to ruin.

and the thought of hurting renjun was mortifying to jeno.

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a/n:
this one was a lil shorter but there was nothing more to say fam

jeno finally snapped??

what do you think will happen as a consequence?

see you next time on: i ruin the lives of innocent characters :)