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Seated at a dining table served with delicious food you'd only get on Christmas day, Renjun wondered how he got convinced to spend the holiday here, in Jisung's apartment.
He sat silently in between Jaemin and Jisung who were talking across the table to Doyoung and Mark, waiting on Taeyong to bring the last serving of food. Fiddling with the ends of his sleeves, Renjun stared blankly at the plate in front of him. It's been so long since he's had a proper meal like this and he felt a little overwhelmed with their hospitality.
"Okay! Here comes the final dish," Taeyong announced, walking out of the kitchen with his festive apron on, carrying the beautifully golden turkey on a serving plate to the center of the dining table. He seated himself at the end of the table between Jisung and Doyoung who were drooling over the freshly cooked food.
"Hyung. Can we eat now?" Jisung begged, giving Taeyong puppy dog eyes.
As soon as the words, "Yes," left Taeyong's mouth, everyone was quick to fill their plates up, all except Renjun. The boy uncomfortably sat on his chair waiting for everyone to finish grabbing their food first. He didn't know why he felt so tense. He's eaten with them before and has shared multiple conversations. So why did this feel like he was intruding on their Christmas meal?
Feeling the warmth of a hand slide in between his thighs, near his knees, Renjun turned his attention to Jaemin who had a look of concern on his face.
"You okay? Aren't you gonna eat something?"
Renjun slowly faced forward to the food on the table, seeing everyone had already finished serving themselves. He hesitantly brought his hand out to reach for the bowl of mashed potatoes, but could barely reach it.
Watching the boy struggle, Jaemin grabbed the bowl with his free hand, passing it over to Renjun who gave him a small smile in thanks.
After filling his plate with a piece of turkey and a whole lot of mash potatoes, Renjun began silently eating his food. Everyone sitting at the table was busy having conversations with each other to even notice his silence. But Jaemin never took his focus off the boy.
"Hey. Are you enjoying the food?" Jaemin softly spoke while rubbing circles with his thumb on the boy's thigh in an attempt to soothe any nerves.
Renjun felt his cheeks heat up at the gentle action as he gave Jaemin a small nod in response. This was the side of Jaemin that Renjun liked very much. Caring and gentle as if he was a delicate piece of China in Jaemin's eyes.
"Renjun." The said boy looked over to Mark who had a large smile on his face, giggly from his last conversation with Taeyong. "We're throwing a small party here tonight. If you're interested you can just stay over," he informed, giving the younger some time to think.
"Can I bring friends?" Renjun asked, hoping Donhyuck would come back early from his trip to tag along with him.
"You can bring whoever you like Renjun," Doyoung answered while wiping his mouth with a napkin. "The more the merrier."
