snowflake [2]; nomin

the story of the two blonde boys

―°❆ chapter ten ༺°―

"Uncle Nono! Look at me!"

"Jeno! Come down from there, you little troublemaker!"

Jaemin watches the entire scene unfold with a tiny grin. Jeno had only looked away for one second and mini Jeno had already managed to climb a meter up in the JJ tree, so the older had to climb up after him, snatch him and successfully carry him down to the ground again.

"You could have fallen off!" Jeno scolds the little guy. "Uncle Nono was scared and he doesn't want to get in trouble with your dad," and although Jeno tries hard teaching the little guy a lesson, mini Jeno only laughs right into the older's face.

"Uncle Nono, your face is funny when angry!" he giggles.

Jaemin shakes his head and makes his way over to them. He walks up behind mini Jeno and swoops him up into the air, earning a surprised shriek followed by fits of small giggles. "You haven't seen Uncle Nono when he's very angry. He becomes really scary then," Jaemin says as he puts the little guy down.

Little Jeno looks up at his Uncle Nono who's now showing off his healing eye-smile. "I don't believe that," he says turning to Jaemin again. "Tell me a story, Nana."

"Now?" Jaemin widens his eyes.

"Yes," the little boy grins.

Jaemin sits down before the two Jeno's and spends a moment on making up a story. "Once upon a time, there were two adventurous souls. Two boys who went by the names Ji and Le," as Jaemin speaks out the sentence the big Jeno's smile fades and their eyes lock. Jaemin only smiles at him and moves his gaze back onto the little Jeno.

"They both had blonde hair and eyes so dark and mysterious, holding on all the adventures the two had been on. One day," Jaemin says. "Ji and Le met five other boys their age, and they went on yet another adventure, this time with their new friends. But the thing was, that for the first time in their life, something unusual happened."

The raven-haired feels his throat tighten as Jaemin continues on the story.

"Le suddenly became very tired of going on adventures and he didn't want to go anymore. One of their new friends told him a nap would help, and Le decided to go to sleep," Jaemin surprisingly keeps his expression cheerful telling the story of the two blonde boys, but Jeno can't hold it in. He lets out a muffled hulk and quietly walks away, but little Jeno doesn't notice, way too into the story his uncle Nana is telling.

"Ji didn't like to be awake when Le wasn't, so he went to sleep too," Jaemin smiles.

"What then?" Little Jeno asks with big eyes.

"When they woke up," Jaemin speaks. "The five other boys were gone and they were in a totally different world, but Le was finally excited and ready for a new adventure. So the two went hand in hand on, as they walked on to another chapter in their life," he pauses. "Which reminds me of the moral of this story."

"What?" little Jeno asks.

"You need a nap!" Jaemin yells and picks up the little guy. "So you're ready for your next adventure, just like Ji and Le."

The big Jeno watches the two walk away and closes his eyes to try and calm down a little.

. * :. ❆

"Contraseña."

Jaemin cringes. "Mark's dad seriously put the password as 'password'? I would've expected more from him, then again, he's Mark's dad so it makes sense."

Jeno chuckles but he stops as he glances in through the door that now has opened. "Can you," he gulps, "go in first?"

"Are you scared?" Jaemin asks concerned.

"A little," Jeno mumbles.

Jaemin looks at him for a moment more before walking past him and in through the door to the cube. "It's dark," he says. "Where's the light switch?"

"There isn't one," Jeno answers him from outside. He still hasn't gotten the courage to go in, let alone look. "Ask the computer to turn it on, it controls everything in there," he adds.

It isn't long before Jaemin appears in front of him again. "I don't know what to do. Come in and help me," the younger begs and takes Jeno's hand. "It's okay," he soothes and leads Jeno into the building, the older exhaling deeply to calm his nerves.

Jeno sees nothing but darkness as the two enter. He takes a second to collect his thoughts before speaking. "Computer, turn on the lights," he says audible enough for it to be heard, but nothing happens so he clears his throat. "Computer, activate," he then says and a little 'ding' goes off. "Turn on the lights."

The lights flicker on and Jeno's stomach drops as the room becomes visible to the eye. The familiar white walls come to life and his gaze falls onto the overthrown chair that is still laying the same way it did when Jeno kicked it over in rage six years ago. The whiteboard looks the same, still decorated with small doodles Renjun and Donghyuck drew.

Jeno feels the tears run freely and Jaemin just stands in awe at the sight of the room. "Is this all you had?" he asks in shock.

"No," Jeno answers him. "There's downstairs too," he sniffles and points at the stairs.

Jaemin lets out an 'oh' and the two eventually makes their way downstairs. The walls downstairs are filled with Renjun's old drawings, most of them being of his favorite character moomin, and the kitchen is still messy from the last meal they had down here. Jaemin has a lot of questions as they make their way from room to room, but he keeps them to himself to let Jeno get some space.

The entire thing is hard for Jeno, and Jaemin lets the older cry freely without saying anything or touching him. But when they reach the work out room and Jaemin's gaze falls onto the punching bag, a loud gasp erupts from him and he runs over to examine it.

The leather it's made of is torn in places and it looks so destroyed that Jaemin can't believe his eyes. "How much did you use this thing?" he asks in disbelief and looks at Jeno.

The older's face is dull. "Hours every day, sometimes even till I would pass out from exhaustion," he mumbles and catches the look of pity in the younger's eyes. "But it's in the past," he adds.

. * :. ❆