RENDEZVOUS

24 | confrontation equation

thursday never was the best day of the week - so close to the weekend, yet so far away. but this thursday was a whirlwind of frustrated thoughts for jaemin, and he could hardly contain his bitterness all day.

what right did jeno have to go around making those stupid accusations? he knew nothing about jaemin's relationship with nancy. it wasn't like that... he had to be wrong.

"oh, hey," said nancy, looking rather under the weather as she approached jaemin's desk during the revision session that morning. the dark circles under her eyes were more prominent, and the colour less vibrant in her face. anybody could tell she wasn't sleeping properly.

"what," jaemin muttered, caught up in trying his best to shove as many equations into his head as possible. the first of two math exams was that afternoon.

"i-i don't have a protractor because it, um, it broke, and i was wondering if-"

jaemin slapped his spare protractor into her hand and cast his eyes back down at his work, doing everything he could to hold himself together. even if that meant ignoring the makeup caked over nancy's cheek that did little to hide the angry red mark underneath.

"great, thanks," nancy spat, irritated by how unresponsive he was being, and slowly crept back to her seat.

jaemin barely got through that math exam.

the questions all merged into a blur on the page, and all of the equations he'd been trying so desperately to remember were nothing but a lost memory. he fidgeted with his black biro, flicking the cap on and off... and on and off again until it was even annoying himself.

he just couldn't rest until he knew the truth.

"...and that is your time up! please remain silent as we collect the papers as other candidates may still be working."

jaemin closed the front page of the exam booklet and snapped the lid back on his pen. even as he filtered out of the exam hall with the others, he was still shaking. jeno wouldn't lie to him, would he? there wasn't a reason logical enough for him to lie, and not even jaemin could come up with anything good enough.

there was no evidence to prove jeno to be a liar. nothing.

with a sigh of exasperation, jaemin stormed out into the corridor and seized his backpack, slinging it over his shoulder. if anyone deserved to know the truth, surely it had to be him. he was strongly starting to consider just straight-up asking nancy what was going on.

"oh, jaemin."

and she made it all too easy for him.

jaemin spun in her direction, eyes ablaze. "what," he answered bluntly.

nancy's eyes were rimmed with red again, and the tear streaks down her cheek had washed away some of the makeup hiding the ugly patch of crimson blooming beneath it. "this is yours," she said, handing jaemin back the protractor she'd borrowed earlier. she tried to zip her pencilcase shut, but scratched her fingers on the shards of her own broken protractor inside.

jaemin inhaled deeply. he shoved the protractor in the pocket of his school trousers and set his jaw. "we need to talk," he said, and his tone left no room for refusal. he grabbed nancy by the wrist and dragged her outside into the open air around the back of the school.

"jesus, what is wrong with you?" nancy demanded, tearing her arm away from jaemin's grasp.

"i'm just so fucking confused, okay?!" jaemin exploded, "i'm sick and tired of people lying to me, and keeping things from me all the time! for once i'd just someone to care about how i feel, not that you'd even understand."