Mid Summer

thirty four,

Once Mark had finished showering and changing out of his sweaty soccer uniform, the four of them stand there, debating whether or not to split ways, or do something together.

Before Jaemin could get a word in about how he was tired and wanted to back to his dorm (no, not to get away from Donghyuck. At least, not entirely), Donghyuck opens his mouth.

"I'm thinking I might just crash for the night," he mumbles, avoiding eye contact with all three of them. "You guys have fun if you're going anywhere."

And with that, Donghyuck sends them all a small smile and turns around to head back to his dorm.

Mark's eyebrows furrow, trying to decipher what Donghyuck could have meant by his words, but instead, he gets distracted by Jeno tugging on his arm.

"Nana said he wants to go get some food. Wanna join?" He asks Mark, tilted his head ever so slightly, just enough where it looked incredibly adorable.

Mark thinks about it.

He could either go with Jeno and Jaemin to get some dinner, it seemed tempting after his game, or he could go and run after Donghyuck, since he was still insanely confused about what had happened with him. Donghyuck was alone now anyways. And when was the next time Donghyuck was going to be alone?

After internally debating with himself for a while, Mark finally makes up his mind.

——

"Jeno, you have a key," Donghyuck groans, opening the front door. "You're not Jeno."

Jaemin smiles wryly.

"Disappointed?"

Donghyuck's mouth forms an 'O' shape, before he realizes what he's doing and closes his lips.

"Maybe," he smiles. Small and unsure, Jaemin notices, but still there.

"May I come in?"

Donghyuck nods, opening the door wider to accommodate Jaemin's slim frame. Once the latter is inside, Donghyuck closes the door, and suddenly his dorm room is ten times smaller than what it usually is.

It's not suffocating, surprisingly. There was tension, no doubt, unspoken and almost tangible. But Jaemin takes a seat on the bed he knows belongs to Jeno, he can tell from the polaroids which are framed on the bedside table. Polaroids of himself and Jeno, just him, and of them with Jeno's cats, Nana and Cinnamon. Guess which one Jeno bought first.

"What happened to that paper of yours?" Donghyuck asks, blurting the words out without even thinking about it first. Sometimes, he curses the fact that he has no filter.

"What?" Jaemin asks, tilting his head to the side, kittenishly if Donghyuck looked hard enough. "Anthropology?"

Donghyuck simply hums, sitting down on the edge of his own bed while picking at the loose threads of his pillowcase. He'd have to change those soon.

"I handed it in, it's fine," Jaemin assures, ducking his head as he mutters his next few words. "But it's embarrassing... That you had to see me like that..."

Donghyuck moves on to fidgeting with his cuticles, edging on making them bleed if he picked hard enough.

"I'm sorry," Donghyuck starts, finally looking up at Jaemin, just anywhere but his face. "For making you cry."

It not only surprised Jaemin, but Donghyuck too. In the time which Donghyuck has known Jaemin, he didn't think he'd be the one apologizing first. And he also didn't think he'd ever sincerely apologize to Jaemin.

It was kind of crazy to Donghyuck, how his views on Jaemin have changed. They went from not knowing who he was, to despising Jaemin's soul with his entire being, and then slowly but surely pushing all of his prejudice away and realizes what Na Jaemin was all about.

And Jaemin thought it was weird too. Weird to look at Donghyuck and not think that he was a boyfriend-stealing, rude and self centred boy. When he really thinks about it, he and Donghyuck have a lot in common. Beside romantic partners, Donghyuck reminds Jaemin of himself sometimes. Like how he gets possessive over what's his, how Donghyuck prefers sweets more than sours, and like how Donghyuck was a huge fan of takoyaki. Don't ask Jaemin how he knew that, he and Mark were out grocery shopping and the latter mentioned it.

Jaemin shakes his head.

"No. I'm sorry," he apologizes. "I've been really rude to you, and you didn't deserve that Donghyuck..." He smiles ruefully before continuing. "I've said some things which I regret, you don't have to try to wedge yourself into this relationship. We all like you Donghyuck. All of us," the younger says, making sure to accentuate the fact that all of them wanted Donghyuck to be apart of their relationship. He knows for a fact that Jeno and Mark do, it was really obvious. Donghyuck knew that too, but Jaemin wants Donghyuck to know that he wants him as well. Maybe not as much as Mark or Jeno, but everything comes in time.

"Are you overwhelmed?" Donghyuck asks, slowly looking Jaemin in the eyes for the first time. "Is it... Overbearing? For you, the three of us?"

Jaemin gulps, not used to being put on the spot like that.

"T-Three?" Jaemin swallows, stuttering against his better judgement. He didn't want Donghyuck to think that he was second guessing things. Because as unorthodox and as unconventional as it was, Jaemin likes three boys, and he's positive that in the future, he's going to b in love with those three boys.

So maybe at first the thought of three was overwhelming, it scared him a lot at the moment. But Jaemin knows what he wants, and he's ready to face this relationship head on.

"It's hard to... Take in at first..." Jaemin settles on answering. "But if you really want it," he continues, meeting Donghyuck's eyes. "Then it's worth it."

Donghyuck will pretend like the way Jaemin looks at him when he says that doesn't make his heart flutter, because it'll all happen in time.

One step at a time.

Because Jaemin was different. Jaemin was fragile, and Donghyuck wants to handle him with care.

And Jaemin knows that too. That Donghyuck needed to be handled with care.

So slowly, but surely, the two of them both silently promise themselves one thing: that, no matter what, they'd treat each other right.