𝗮𝗿𝗺'𝘀 𝗹𝗲𝗻𝗴𝘁𝗵; norenmin

~twenty nine~

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Renjun couldn't face either of the boys the same way he used to. Seeing Jeno made his heart pound uncontrollably, which he hated with every fibre of his being. And seeing Jaemin made him feel like he was looking at a rival.

He was looking at a rival. Whether the blonde admitted it or not, he liked Jeno. Love was too strong a word yet for three teenagers who had only met a few months ago, but 'like' was reasonable.

"Hey, could you pass me up that ribbon?" A girl asked while climbing a tree. They were out the forest, both the events committee and the majority of second year. Even Jaemin had sucked it up and joined in.

Renjun bent down to grab the pink fabric and lifted it up to pass it to the younger. His eyes widened upon seeing her skirt fly up in the wind. He had a fill view of her underwear......but he felt absolutely nothing. Not a single ounce of guilt like a boy should've, no sexual desire, no need to continue staring....nothing at all.

"Uh, excuse me...." he gulped, not sure how to tell her, "Your.....your skirt....I can see your.....um...."

The female turned to him from up in the tree, frowning at first, then realising what he meant. "Oh, oh my god. S-sorry, I should've been more careful." A light pink dusted her cheeks as she tried to hide her flustered expression, "Thank you Renjun."

Sighing a breath of relief, the older waved it off. "It's nothing. It would've been rude of me not to say something."

She smiled brightly, taking the ribbon and tying it to a branch, attaching a clue to the end of it for the hunters when the event began.

The small teen attempted to climb down, though struggled greatly, so Renjun decided he couldn't watch anymore and offered to help. "If you want, I can catch you. No malicious intent, I promise."

Chuckling at his words, she nodded in agreement. Taking a deep breath before letting go, she fell back into the short male's arms, making him stumble backwards, but save her all the same. He had his arms locked around her waist, while she was a blushing mess in front of him.

Someone cleared their throat behind them both, and the pair separated quickly to see who it was. Jaemin was watching them with folded arms and an expression Renjun could only describe as angry. Beside him stood Jeno, quietly fiddling with a clue card and looking at anyplace else but him.

"Oh, um," the Chinese began, feeling his cheeks heat up. He had no reason to explain himself to both Jaemin and Jeno, but equally he felt he had to.

"I-" the girl lightly touched Renjun's shoulder, "I'll go help the girls over there." Her eyes fell onto the pair waiting patiently for their friend. "Talk to you some other time...."

The older nodded, waving slightly even though he didn't know her personally. Then, getting quite literally yanked from his daze. Jaemin was pulling his face around to look at him. He then started to sign, pouting like a child.

"Who was she? Do you like her? I saw you looking up her skirt! I think she was hitting on you!"

"Oh relax," the older sighed, thinking that this jealousy was getting out of hand for whatever reason. "I'm not interested in her, and she was just thanking me for helping her out. I was being nice."

"You're too nice..."

"Is that bad?"

Jaemin paused, looking at the older up and down and not having a response for his comeback. It only bothered him that Renjun was so nice because it made him a target for people to 'move in' on him. Regardless of how the blonde felt about Jeno, he was too selfish to let anyone have Renjun either.

Jeno finally stepped in to talk as well, not having the nerve to say anything before. "She seemed nice...."

Rolling his eyes, Renjun shoved both of them back by their shoulders. "What's all this about? Huh? Why are you making these accusations? She just needed my help!" With that the oldest walked away, feeling flustered, frustrated and annoyed.

Jaemin was still acting up, which needed to stop. But what hurt was that Jeno had nothing else to say but 'she seemed nice'. Did that mean he didn't see Renjun in any other way than a friend? Was he up for supporting him in a different relationship?

Would either even care if he told them he liked boys?

Without even realising it was happening, little tears started to fall. He looked down at his feet as he walked, passing various people who asked him what was wrong or who seemed concerned for him. He was popular after all.

But he didn't respond. Instead, he let the tears blur his vision as he looked for a quiet spot to clear his head. Not watching where he was going, he accidentally bumped head first into Jisung, stumbling backwards and being caught by the younger.

"Renjun?" He questioned, brow arched curiously. Then the junior noticed the older was crying, and pulled him over to the side by the wrist. "Hey, you okay? Did Jeno say something?"

"Ugh! Why did you assume it was Jeno? Why not.....someone else?"

Jisung shrugged, "I don't know....I guess I thought you liked him or something. I mean, the only times I get mad are when someone's trying to flirt or fight with Chenle, or when Chenle can't tell I like him. It's frustrating. And.....those look like frustrated tears."

Renjun groaned, leaning his head against the taller's chest and starting to sob all over again. "He didn't even care. He and Jaemin both saw me with this girl, but Jaemin flipped out and Jeno didn't even c-care....."

Jisung rubbed his shoulder comfortingly, "I'm sure he does care. Jeno just isn't great at showing it, and even I could tell. Jaemin on the other hand.....I'm pretty sure he likes you more than he lets on."

"Psh, yeah right. He glared at me today for sitting next to Jeno."

"It's not impossible."

The shorter looked up at the pretty teen. "Why can't I just have them? Just this one thing I ask for? Why is life making everything so fucking complicated with friends, and love, and all these horrible feelings. I hate it!"

"That's right. Vent as much as you want. In the end, things will be as they should," Jisung smiled in attempt to make the Chinese feel better. "Those two will come around."

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