dicey ↬ nomin

Ch.30

When Jeno awoke, his face was nuzzled so cozily into Jaemin's chest that he couldn't breathe. He didn't open his eyes because he knew that the light would sting but he lifted his head up so that he could breathe while still snuggling. The warmth was inviting and the small murmurs of Jisung and Chenle told him that the duo were awake. He exhaled softly, like a content child, and fluttered his eyes open slowly.

Jaemin's mouth was open as he breathed, showing off his set of sparkly white teeth. Jeno closed his eyes again and noticed the heavy weight on his shoulder which proved to be Jaemin's arm draped over him. It was warm and secure, making Jeno want to stay right where he was and go straight back to sleep. These days, he always worried about what would happen during the day, but this morning was different.

"Are Mark and Hyuck trying to be bullied?" He heard Chenle whisper in exasperation, but since he was on the inside of the single bed, he couldn't simply look over the edge to see them.

"What are they doing?" He asked quietly while trying not to wake anyone else up.

There was a rustling sound from the duo as they sat up to see Jeno over Jaemin. "You're awake? Good morning."

Jisung snickered quietly and pointed down at the pair on the mattress, although Jeno still couldn't see them. "Well, Donghyuck sort of has his leg over Mark's waist, and Mark has his upper body twisted away from him. His arm is up Hyuck's top, but not in a sexual way, and he is literally lying there with his eyes open."

"They look like a painting," Chenle added in a hushed tone. "Mark looks like a Sistine Chapel angel."

Jeno let out a small laugh, closer to a sharp exhale, and blinked some more tiredness out of his eyes. The arm over his shoulder tightened and pulled him in closer as if to tell him not to be noisy anymore, making a stifled squeak elicit from him from the unexpected movement. Jaemin's hand fell loosely into Jeno's mid back and sent tiny little sparks up his spine because of the area he wasn't used to being touched in.

"Oh, a fly just landed on Mark's open eye," Jisung mentioned in a mixture of wonder and disgust. Mark certainly must have been a comatose sleeper if that sensation didn't wake him up.

After a few moments of silence and soft movements from the pair across from Jeno, he heard Chenle's soft voice whisper over to him. "You've changed so much." It was faint, but audible, although sounding like it wasn't supposed to travel that far.

He consciously tensed because he wasn't sure of his friend was giving him a good or bad observation. "In...what way?"

The Chinese boy hummed quietly and clicked his tongue. "A few months ago, you wouldn't have ever had anything good to say about Jaemin. Now look at you; snuggling and acting friendly. It's...nice, actually. It's better than hearing all that cussing you used to do about him."

Jeno looked up at Jaemin's face and the soft, delicate features of it. His lips were perfectly bowed and his eyelashes were long like fans. Remembering what they had chatted about last night, he smiled faintly. "Maybe he isn't as bad as I thought. I guess you find friends in the most unlikely of situations."

Jisung's mouth opened to reply, although he didn't get the chance to. "Is he really just your friend though?" A voice asked wryly before an answer could be received. It made him freeze, along with Jisung and Chenle, because it was most certainly none of their voices.

"Renjun?" Jisung hissed quietly and guardedly. "So you were awake this whole time?"

"Maybe," he said quickly before directing the conversation straight back to what he wanted to talk about. "But anyway, Jeno? Do you seriously think that the lummox beside you isn't your soulmate?" If he didn't play matchmaker for them, they'd be doomed.