dicey ↬ nomin

Ch.9

Jeno was lying on Jaewoo's bed while the said male sat at his desk, flicking through the pages of his book. He really did seem to be the model student, which was why everyone liked him. Jeno sighed and looked at the ceiling, contemplating the news about Dongwoo.

"Jeno," Jaewoo hummed and spun around in his chair to face him.

Jeno rolled onto his side and looked at him with dull eyes, completely worn out from the events that had happened only minutes prior. The taller boy had completely coloured Jeno's tummy area blue and purple, leaving no spaces. He said it would make him look pretty, but Jeno couldn't have felt uglier. He hated Jaewoo. He hated that he no control and that even when he had a brave moment, he would eventually fall into Jaewoo's trap.

"I'm going out to meet up with Kei. Come with me," he asked in a monotone voice, obviously bored with his studies and wanting to do something else. "You want to see him too, right?"

Jeno couldn't deny that he wanted to see his old friend, but he'd rather have met up with him with Chenle and Donghyuck. "Are Hyuck and Lele coming too?" He whispered dully with a raspy voice.

Jaewoo sighed and leaned on the back of his chair. "If you want. Now go and get ready, we're meeting him at four o'clock."

He concealed his victory smile and struggled to sit up, feeling his muscles scream in agony. Not to mention the scabs raking his back, often causing a bad night's sleep from the pain. He was covered in dried sweat and tears and Jaewoo had to pull him into a standing position. Instead of leaving Jeno to walk to his room alone, the boy followed him all the way up with his arm around his waist to make sure he didn't fall.

"Be quick." And with that, he disappeared back downstairs. Jeno followed him with a deadly glare until he couldn't see him anymore and then he leaned against the wall beside his desk. He was so angry with himself that he didn't at least throw one punch at the guy.

He had a really quick shower to get rid of the sweat and the smell of Jaewoo's cologne which always seemed to cling to him no matter how far away Jeno stood from him. His ab area was in a deplorable state and the hot water stung his back in great multitude. His eyes wouldn't release tears now though, because even if he cried today in front of Jaewoo, he hated crying on his own. It simply meant he had given up, and that thought had never even crossed Jeno's mind. Sometimes he couldn't help it though, and other times the tears were like a little sanctuary.

"Jeno?" Chenle's voice called through the door. "I'm back from Jisung's house! I'm going with you to see Kei!"

"Okay!" He called back and jumped out of the shower, drying off and getting dressed. Walking out of the their en-suite, he clapped eyes on Chenle, who was wearing a white t-shirt over black jeans. "Did you dress up for Jisung?" He smirked.

"N-no!" He protested and looked down at his attire. "I'm just making an effort. Plus, we're going to see Kei. We haven't seen him since he left, you know?"

Jeno nodded and grabbed his phone. "Donghyuck and Jaewoo are coming too."

"I know. Donghyuck told me as soon as I walked in."

They headed downstairs and Jeno quizzed Chenle on his study date with the younger boy. He was especially interested in the fact that Jisung was an only child, expecting the boy with such a docile personality to have had another sibling.

"Guys! I'm so excited to see the lil' runt again," Donghyuck squealed as they came downstairs. The light brown haired boy had his arm around Jaewoo's shoulder, grinning from ear to ear. Jaewoo was talking to Ms. Kim while she wrote out a letter for them to give to Kei's parents.

Chenle went over to Ms. Kim and draped himself over her shoulder, watching her write. She poked his nose, causing him to flinch back, and then she passed him the sealed letter. "I entrust it to you."