blue gasoline ✿ nomin

042

The day had finally come for Jaemin to go to court and testify against the man who wreaked havoc on his winter break. Thankfully, nerves hadn't taken any sort of toll on him, and he was more than ready to send this bastard where he belongs. Seeing Donghyuck's crutches leaned against the table just fueled him further, and he radiated rancor-induced confidence as he marched up to the stand.

He sat down behind the microphone and made sure he was sitting straight. For the first time in forever, he felt the need to actually look professional and not like some lousy teenager who's head isn't screwed on right. It was difficult to keep his composure, though, when he made eye contact with Jeno in the audience—the latter biting back a chuckle at Jaemin's completely opposite aura. Jaemin didn't even know the officer was going to be here, but his presence was certainly a comforting one, urging him to do his very best to get this man behind bars.

"Hello, Mr.Na, we just have a few questions for you," a lawyer greeted, her voice cold and boring.

The pink-haired boy nodded, sneaking a glance at Jeno and Donghyuck for one last burst of encouragement.

"Okay, is this the man you seen on the evening of December 23rd at the New Horizons Store?" the woman asked firmly, slightly moving her hand to motion towards the perpetrator sitting behind a table with his lawyer.

"Yes," he replied instantly, hardly sparing the man a look.

The lawyer asked him several more questions all relating to what exactly happened that night and how Donghyuck managed to get shot. By the end, it was obvious that sick bitch was going to jail for what he did, and it was very therapeutic to see justice being served.

As soon as the judge adjourned the court session, Jaemin and Donghyuck embraced in a heart-warming hug that made almost everyone feel soft on the inside. They were both ecstatic the culprit hadn't escaped justice and that they were still able to hold each other and not be forced to talk to a stone for as long as the other lived.

"We did it!" the pink-haired boy exclaimed, skipping towards Jeno once he noticed the latter lingering around, obviously wanting to talk to him but not knowing how to.

"You did it," the older replied with a proud grin.

Jaemin's heart fluttered at the officer's gratifying words as he bit his lip and clasped his hands in front of him. "Are you busy tonight? You can come over if you want."

The ravenette paled a bit before he cleared his throat. "What if your dad sees me? He'll probably castrate me if he sees us within a three-mile radius of one another."

"You think he cares? He's just glad I'm not seeing someone who shoots up heroin every ten minutes. You'll be fine," the smaller boy assured with a chuckle.

"If you say so..." the older mumbled. "What time should I come?"

"I'll text you. I'm going to spend some time with Donghyuck after we just kicked some criminal ass," Jaemin replied with a pleased smirk. "See you tonight, cutie."

"Yeah, okay," Jeno muttered shyly.

🔴🔵

The officer pulled into the driveway of the Na's, which he hadn't done since New Year's. Honestly, he was still traumatized from being caught by Jaemin's father, but who could blame him?

The maid let him into the house, permitting him to go up to Jaemin's room unaccompanied—which the teen had obviously instructed them to do. Without another word, he took the familiar path to the younger's bedroom and pecked on the door a few times.

"Come in!"

He opened the door and entered, swiftly shutting it behind him so there was less of a chance of Jaemin's father seeing him.

"Are you that worked up about him seeing you?" the pink-haired boy teased, thoroughly enjoying how spazzed out Jeno was over the possibility of meeting his dad again.

"The embarrassment I've endured has been enough to scar me for life," the older replied with all sincerity.

Suddenly, Jaemin's playful gaze turned suggestive, causing Jeno to gulp. "But he for sure won't come in here, so we can do whatever we want."

"D-don't be nasty," the officer demanded, trying to keep his blush at bay. He wasn't used to someone constantly trying to get him in bed, to say the least. To be honest, he had contemplated it many, many times—but each time he came to the conclusion they would be better off to not take such a defining step until they were at least significant others.

"You never let me have any fun," Jaemin pouted, but he certainly wasn't as sullen as the last time his advances got shut down. Still, it didn't change how he felt. To him, relationships were validated through physicality—something that theirs seemed to lack almost completely. He wasn't used to not going all the way super early into things—but then again he had only had flings and a serious relationship. However, this technically wasn't even a relationship at all yet.

"And you never let me have any peace."

"You signed up for that! I didn't sign up for celibacy!"

"We've not even gone on a date yet, but you want to go all the way? That's a pretty low standard," Jeno tutted, but immediately wished to take it back when he noticed Jaemin's pissed off expression.

"Well, at least I'm not a fucking prude! You'll hardly even kiss me!" the teen snapped, crossing his arms over his chest defensively.

The black-haired man scoffed and clenched his jaw, all feelings of regret morphing into annoyance. "You're not even my boyfriend, I'm not entitled to kiss you all the time," he replied sharply.

"Why am I not your boyfriend, huh?" Jaemin asked accusingly. "You already told me you love me, so either you lied to me and you don't really like me, or you're being a fucking coward and running away like you usually do," he spat, taking several steps closer to the man in front of him in an attempt to become more menacing.

"How dare you call me a coward when you're the one who can't face their problems and uses a bunch of other shit to drown them out! You can't spend your entire life running away and doing coke, Jaemin. You're no better than I am," the taller hissed, not even thinking before the words stumbled out of his mouth. It was no doubt he had gone too far this time, as both their tense postures fell and tears began to well in Jaemin's eyes.

"Literally go fuck yourself," the bubblegum-headed boy croaked out, trying desperately to keep from bursting out crying for the nth time in front of Jeno.

"Jaemin I—"

"I don't want to hear it. Leave me the fuck alone, you asshole."

Jeno figured it was best to keep his mouth sealed for now, so with his head hung low and a guilty heart, he left the room altogether. He was no stranger into getting in trouble for saying things without thinking, but this time was for sure way too far.

Once the officer had closed the door behind himself, Jaemin stumbled to his bed and began crying. This seemed to be how most of his nights ended these days. All the emotions swirling around inside of him were making him sick, so of course, he was going to numb himself the only way he knows how to. Jeno was right: he does always run away from his feelings. It didn't matter, though, because he could care less right now as long as he stopped his turmoil for at least tonight.

"God fucking dammit," he whispered, pulling his shaky knees up to his chest and covering them in fresh tears and a touch of blood.