RENDEZVOUS

26 | sleepover for sad boys

jaemin dragged his feet out of the school building and into the blinding sunlight of the friday afternoon. he knew the exam couldn't have gone that well. the entire time his mind had been clouded with thoughts and worries - heartbreak towards nancy, and guilt at the hurt in daehwi's eyes in the bathroom before.

jaemin was a mess.

what he really needed was someone to talk to about his problems, someone to confide in. but after his fight with jeno, his best friend wasn't exactly an option.

"oh, hey, jae."

luckily, another option was sitting right outside the school gates, swinging his legs from the top of the wall.

jaemin squinted up into the sun to see the shadow of donghyuck's face in it. "oh, hi, hyuck," he replied in a similar way, "aren't you going home?"

donghyuck let out a heavy sigh and stared sullenly into the distance. "i don't want to, if i'm honest," he said, "watching jisungie and chenle be all gross and cute together makes me feel kind of sick."

jaemin frowned at that. what problem could donghyuck of all people have with displays of affection? he was the master of pda when it came to xiyeon. "but what about-" he began.

"don't," donghyuck interrupted, and his voice got all choked up and foggy as he jumped down from the wall. he cleared his throat and took a breath before adding, "you look terrible though. are you okay?"

jaemin ran a hand through his tousled brown hair and his shoulders shook with a sigh. "um... no, not really," he admitted, "i've pretty much fucked up every part of my life." he let out a sarcastic laugh and rubbed tiredly at his eyes.

donghyuck suddenly linked his arm with jaemin's and started walking in the direction of his house. "wanna have a sleepover at mine?" he suggested, "we can steal jisung and chenle's sleepover snacks and talk about how shit our lives are."

jaemin cracked a tiny smile. "i'll text my mom," he said, and they walked the rest of the way to donghyuck's house.

when the two of them arrived, the smell of pasta sauce was already drifting out into the hall, and extremely loud beyonce was leaking from the CD player in the kitchen. jaemin smiled at the bubbly atmosphere donghyuck's mom had created despite being the only one at home.

"mom!" donghyuck hollered as he kicked off his shoes in the hallway, "can jaemin stay over tonight?"

"of course!" came the instantaneous reply from the kitchen. the cheery tone was uplifting to both boys, whose hearts were both broken in two. "how was the exam? or should i not ask?"

donghyuck and jaemin exchanged a glance and both winced.

"uh, probably not, mom!" was donghyuck's pained response. he dumped his bag and jaemin did the same, and they trailed into the kitchen where donghyuck's mom was dancing to beyonce.

"hey, boys," she smiled at them, "do you want to maybe grab some snacks from the store? my purse is on the table."

donghyuck raised an eyebrow at her in suspicion. "free food?" he questioned, "whatever we want? what's the catch?"

his mom sighed then, but admitted, "okay, jisung asked me to get the big marshmallows for chenle but i haven't been able to get out today. can you get them for me? oh, he also said he wanted jelly babies because they're chenle's second favourite."

donghyuck scoffed, but he started fishing through his mom's purse all the same. "you baby him so much," he said, "but i suppose we can get some snacks..."

"thanks, sweetheart, you're a lifesaver," his mom gushed, reaching out to ruffle his hair. "if you go now you'll be back before school finishes?"

jaemin got out his phone and started making a shopping list. "big marshmallows... jelly babies... anything else?"