unrequited | nct dream

chapter four

It was a quiet Wednesday afternoon when I found myself sat at The Coffee Delight, waiting for a certain cotton candy haired boy. Jaemin had basketball practice, so I chose to finish up my homework in the meantime.

The air was starting to get colder and Jeno was getting a lot warmer. He apologized the very next day and brought me my favorite chocolate in hopes of getting me to forgive him, which I unfortunately fell for. It was so hard to stay mad at someone like Jeno, someone who never has bad intentions. Besides that, he offered to do the annual project with me to which I refused, reasoning that I had found another partner. Little did he know that partner was Jaemin.

Jaemin and I had been meeting up frequently after school, both to do our project and plan for our ‘relationship.’ It was almost like creating a video game because we somehow managed to figure out every little detail. Like when it all began and who made the first move.

I was lost in my thoughts when the bell near the door rang, signaling that someone had let the chilly air in. Jaemin slid into the booth in front of me, running a hand through his hair.

“Hey, girlfriend,” he smiled teasingly. I cringed almost immediately.

“Here's your coffee, it wouldn't be as cold if you showed up a little earlier,” I said with a lighthearted scoff, sliding the warm drink to him.

“Sorry, practice held me back. Also, I think people are already catching onto us.” Jaemin says with a tinge of excitement in his voice.

I chuckled in response. “What do you mean?”

“Well, Jeno and Mark wanted to go get ice cream after practice, but I told them that I was busy, and then they gave me an off look. I mean you know how they are, they knew something was up.”

My eyes widen in realization.

“Gosh darnit, you're right. I've cancelled on Tzuyu and Yerim three times since last week, we were supposed to go to the mall today, but I said I had to take my dog to the vet.”

“Don't worry though, it's a good thing, the more they're onto us, the more believable it is.” Jaemin replied, taking a sip from his coffee.

“I'm really nervous about tomorrow.” I state with a sigh. Jaemin only smiles at me.

“Don't be, you always wear Jeno's jersey, right? The only difference is that, tomorrow you'll be wearing mine and supporting me as a girlfriend rather than a friend.” He says reaching out to grab my hands.

I only nod with a smile shadowing over my lips as I look out the glass window at the cars zooming past, with my hands clasped in his.

Jaemin's hands were cold, despite the warmth in the café. Nonetheless, they brought comfort to my body, knowing that tomorrow was going to be one hell of a day.

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The entire day I had been jittery, it felt as if one wrong sentence would throw me off the game. However, now that I was standing right in front of the gym, my feet felt as if they wouldn't move.

Why did I agree to this? Maybe it wasn't too late to back out, if I left right now, then I would have the possibility of never doing this ever again. Although, at the same time, I would be letting Jaemin down. I mean that wouldn't matter… right?

“Aye, there you are!” Donghyuck shrieked from behind me, interrupting the battle in my brain. Well, maybe if you hadn't been thinking so much, you could have gotten out of this.

“Heyy Hyuck.” I smiled back, wrapping my arms around the opening of my jacket, hoping to lord that it was doing justice in covering up the gigantic ‘13’ with ‘Na Jaemin’ labeled at the top.

“Wait, let me show you to our seats.” He says, taking my hand and dragging me to the bleachers. Donghyuck was unobservant, so it was easy to get past him. If only everyone was like that.

Everyone was sat at the top row of the bleachers, in front of the huge Falcons logo. However, the first person I spotted was the boy with the pink mop on his head. I guess he must of felt eyes on him, because before Donghyuck and I could even reach them, he turns around with a big smile sporting his face.

“Hey babe, you made it!” Jaemin yelled from the top of the bleachers catching everyone off guard. Chenle and Jisung stop throwing popcorn at each other, Tzuyu snaps her head up from her phone, Renjun searches the parameters of the gym, and I stop in my tracks with widened eyes.

Donghyuck turns around to look at me and then back to Jaemin and then back to me. My heart was hammering against my ribcage, I knew it was going to happen soon, but I didn't realize that it would happen this fast.

Jaemin quickly comes down the steps and envelops me into a reassuring hold, telling me that everything was going to be fine.

“I was waiting for a good luck kiss from you.” He says afterwards. His arm wrapped around my waist and brought me closer to his chest.

“I- you guys see that too, right?” Hyuck says pointing at us.

“Wait, since when has this been going on and why didn't either of you tell me?!” Yerim exclaims with a big smile.

“Is that why you've both been so ‘busy’ lately?” Mark questioned teasingly.

With all the murmuring and excitement around us, I looked at the one person I was doing this for. Jeno's face was stone cold as his arm slid away from Areum. I managed to look away from him, despite feeling his diminishing stare on me.

“Okay, okay, we'll answer questions later! We've got a game to win, right guys?” Jaemin’s signature smile was big, no one would be able to tell that it was staged.

“Yeah, let's go!” Mark yells causing Jaemin to drop his arm around me. The three were ready to go before I grabbed Jaemin's hand last minute.

“Wait…” I say with a small smile on my lips, catching Jaemin completely off guard.

“Don't forget your good luck kiss.” I mentally cringed as I reached up to peck his cheek. Sudden heat emits throughout my body as I hear whistles behind me, but that soon washes away when I make eye contact when Jeno's stone hard gaze.

As soon as the boys leave, I get bombarded with questions from left and right.

“Okay, how long has this been going on?” Yerim eagerly asked.

“Since the party at Mark's friend's house.” I reply trying my best to sound as natural as possible.

“What drink did Ten feed you that out of all the guys out there, you go for Jaemin?” Renjun says with a sarcastic scoff leading Donghyuck to high five him.

“Ugh, I knew something was up, you never cancel on plans with anyone.” Tzuyu smiles from ear to ear.

“Okay, but let me put down some guidelines, y'all can't act lovey dovey in front of my salad.” Donghyuck exclaimed, playfully wagging a finger at me as if I was his dog who disobeyed him.

“Oh, please. As if you would ever go near a salad.” I bluntly responded causing laughter to emit.

As happy as I was about succeeding, my heart felt heavy as I looked at everyone's smiling faces.

Little did I know, this was only the beginning.

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ok I literally never update,

idk what's going on anymore.

school is slowly draining my life out.

have a nice read,

vote and comment pls.

xxLARA

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