dicey ↬ nomin

Ch.3

"What about us?" Donghyuck pouted, annoyed that Jaewoo never seemed to care about anyone other than Jeno.

"You too," he looked at Chenle and Donghyuck and smiled, leaning in to give them a greeting hug. Jeno just watched with a blank face, neutral. Jaewoo glanced darkly at Jeno from over the boys' shoulders.

Chenle broke out of the hug and trailed over to the black haired boy, linking their arms. "Yeah, we're late because we bumped into Jaemin." He had eagerly broken out of the hug, ginger about touching the boy who he knew had a dark side.

"Eh, Jaemin?" Donghyuck smiled. "He's so nice. A bit crazy, but nice. My friend Mark is close with him, so I kinda sit with him in class sometimes, but you two don't get along, do you?" He narrowed his eyes at Jeno questioningly.

Jeno just shook his head before Chenle pulled him into the kitchen. "Who's Jaemin?" Jaewoo called after them, to which Jeno shrugged.

"An idiot at school." With that, Chenle and Jeno went to greet their "mother". The other two watched as their backs disappeared into the kitchen.

"Who's Jaemin?" Jaewoo asked Donghyuck inquisitively and folded his arms.

A light brown haired Donghyuck smiled and pulled the other boy into a side hug. "He's a guy at school. He fights a lot with Jeno because they're both popular, but I think they secretly fight because they like each other's company. Don't tell Jeno I said that."

Jaewoo nodded, his dark brown hair blurring his vision. With a sweep of his hand, his hair flicked off his forehead. "I guess I'll just have to make sure they don't get too close, then."

"What was that?" Donghyuck asked in confusion, not having caught what the taller boy said.

"Nothing, Hyuck. Let's go."

***

"We're back!" Chenle called and gave their "mother" a fright as he tackled her in a hug.

"Ah, hi boys." The middle-aged woman smiled sweetly when she turned around, receiving Chenle's hug. She patted his back before pulling away and giving Jeno a friendly wink, knowing that he wasn't much into hugs and the alike. She had known Jeno for so long that they didn't need to hug to express affection anymore, choosing to subtly show their happiness. Everything about Jeno was subtle, including his moods, facial expressions, gestures and dialogue.

The lady was mid height, the same height, perhaps, as Donghyuck, and she had long brown hair. She didn't look her age, which was forty-five, and instead looked about ten years younger. She and Chenle had a very close relationship, almost credibly mother-son if Chenle wasn't an orphan.

"How was school?" She asked and ruffled Jeno's hair, earning a look from him that could kill.

"It was meh."

"Jeno, Jeno, you say this everyday. How about you expand your vocabulary and retry?" She smiled apologetically and examined her nails.

Jeno huffed in fake annoyance but smiled nonetheless. "It was boring. I've been fighting with Jaemin even more, and I think the teachers are beginning to notice. I might have a detention coming my way."

Chenle jumped into the conversation to defend his friend, "But it isn't Jeno who starts the fights."

"Thanks."

"I've got your back," the Chinese boy winked and smiled giddily before beckoning him upstairs. "We'll see you later," he called to the lady.

"Oh! Jaewoo has exams at his school tomorrow, so remember to let him rest!" She called.

Chenle sneakily shook his head, linking his arm with Jeno again. He really hated Jaewoo, knowing what he did to Jeno and getting away with it just because he was able to. It made him want to grind his teeth every time he saw the guy.

"Jeno?" Jaewoo's voice called, his head peeping around the bottom of the staircase as the two ascended. "Oh, hey Chenle. Do you mind if I borrow him for a minute?" His smile was so charming and genuine that Chenle felt sick to the stomach with anger. His hand instinctively wrapped tightly around Jeno's in an act of protection.

He looked over at his friend with a small glare of urgency, but the boy just brushed it off and smiled at Chenle, pretending to be at peace with himself as he called back down to Jaewoo. "Sure, man. What's up?" He gave Chenle's hand a gentle, assuring squeeze as he let go and nervously walked down a few steps. Jaewoo proceeded to take Jeno's hand with a grip tighter than he let on and dragged him down the stairs.

The house they lived in was well-accommodated to the amount of children boarding there, with a large downstairs and upstairs area. Their "mother" - Ms. Kim - stayed downstairs with a few of the younger kids, Jaewoo and Donghyuck while Jeno and Chenle stayed upstairs with the other kids. This was to make sure that the little children who could hurt themselves on the stairs stayed on the ground floor under adult supervision along with Jaewoo and Donghyuck, who she deemed mature enough to be an adult for them too.

Jeno and Chenle were the adult figures for the children upstairs so that they could go to them in the night with any accidents or night terrors. These ranged from sleep talking to screaming to walking around and potentially hurting oneself.

"Okay, lighten up your grip," Jeno hissed as he was pulled into Jaewoo's shared room with Donghyuck, who wasn't there at the moment. "What the hell?"

Jaewoo closed the door and turned to Jeno with an unreadable expression. "You can drop your 'confident' act now, we're alone."

"I don't know what you're talking about,' Jeno shrugged, suppressing his trembling hands as he was beckoned over. "This confidence isn't an act." He was actually really scared. He could hear his heart beat so loudly and he felt that his tormentor could too.

Jaewoo chuckled darkly and looked around his room briefly, noting the open window and to keep his voice down before walking over to the shorter boy and stopping with literally a centimetre between them. Jeno didn't step back and Jaewoo didn't move forward, but since Jeno had to look up to meet the other boy's gaze, he felt so small. His eyes were beginning to lose their tenacity, what with the intense stare he was receiving. His breathing was shaky because he was waiting to be hit or yelled at, but Jaewoo suddenly pulled Jeno into a tight hug, swamping him with his large body. "Then why are you shaking."

"Huh?" Jeno squeaked as he felt himself shake uncontrollably, unmoving as Jaewoo's arms worked their way from his back up to his neck and Jeno's eyes widened in anticipation. His hands tightened around Jeno's neck and he felt his breath hitch with lack of oxygen, but he just continued to stare Jaewoo dead in the eye without trying to pry the hands off his neck. They grew increasingly tighter until he could feel Jaewoo's fingernails begin to penetrate his skin. Feeling the burn of tears in the back of his eyes from the pressure, he let out a strangled gasp for air. "Stop," he croaked angrily, and then Jaewoo halted his actions.

The coughing fit that was supposed to follow never happened, leaving Jeno feeling really dizzy and weightless. For a moment, he didn't feel fully convinced that there were lungs in his chest, because he couldn't feel how hard they were working to collect oxygen.

"Hmm, stay away from that Jaemin character - he sounds suspicious." Jeno didn't show any sign of agreement or disagreement and just stood there glaring at the boy while he shook and trembled, his hands massaging his pained neck. "I have exams tomorrow, so don't disturb me."

Finally feeling like he could actually breathe, he exited the room and watched as Donghyuck came bounding down the stairs. "Wow, you're shaking. Don't tell me: Jaewoo left our window open again and now the room is cold."

Jeno chuckled and nodded, his voice hoarse and weak. Luckily, the boy didn't seem to notice. "I'm going to collect Heeoh from self defence classes now, but feel free to tag along."

"I'll get ready then," Donghyuck smiled and ran into his room, blissfully unaware of the happenings in that room only a few minutes prior.