kdrama | l.jn

f o r t y o n e

"So tell me. What's up?", Jeno asked, closing his bedroom door.

"If Somin wanted to kick someone out from the university where her mom is a member of the management board, could she convince her mom to do it?"

"I-I mean, technically she could. If Somin wanted and could do something like that, she would've done it easy."

Aerin sighed, sitting on his couch and running her hands through her hair eventually messing them up in frustration, "Hey, hey, hey, easy.", Jeno said, grabbing her hands, "What happened?", his voice was soft and smooth, dripping in concern.

Aerin couldn't say it, she didn't want to say that her brother lost the chance of his life because of her. She knew how important SM University was to Mark, she saw it, that little light in his eyes everytime he made her listen to his melodies and lyrics, how he always smiled when he showed her the demos he recorded with her, how he was so happy when he got a compliment from his professors. SM was a big opportunity for Mark, it could've open many doors for him afterwards but now, everything was gone in a blink of an eye. Every all nighters he pulled just to perfect his songs, all the stress and implication, all of that for nothing because Aerin had to get on the nerves of a little rich girl.

So many tears welled up in her eyes that they overflowed, one tear falling onto Jeno's hand, "Wo wo wo, Aerin...are you okay?", he asked, really worried her sudden state.

"Do you have any useless paper that I can tear? It helps me calm down.", she mumbled against his chest.

"Uhm...How about my math lessons?"

Aerin sat on Jeno's couch, tearing his math lessons into tiny pieces and theowing them into the bin while looking blankly at the ground. Her eyes were still glossy as she tried her best to keep herself calm. She never was the type to cry, at least not in front of someone. She had always managed to control her emotions and think clearly about what to do next but it didn't seem to work this time, even destroying useless algorithm wasn't helping.

"Aerin...talk to me, please.", Jeno begged, handing her one of his sweatshirts.

She stopped what she was doing and grabbed his sweatshirt, putting it on. She was engulfed in a cloud of Jeno's smell, smiling unknowingly. She held out her arms for him to pull her up and he did, immediately pulling her into a warm hug.

"Mark got expelled from SM University."

"What??! You think Somin did something-"

"Can she?"

"I mean, she could have but I don't think her mom would agree if there wasn't a real reason to expel him. Why was he expelled?"

"The report said he bullied and stole songs from another student, threatening them and all. That is so not Mark, I mean look at him. He's as scary as a rainbow."

"That's true."

"I can't help but think that it's my fault. If all the things that happened with Somin didn't happen, my brother would still be in the school of his dreams and everything would be fine."

"Everything wouldn't have been just fine. This-", he motioned between him and Aerin, "-wouldn't have happen."

Aerin put her head against his chest, saying, "I like this."

"I like you.", he replied, pecking the top of her head.

"I like you too.", she replied back, taking Jeno by surprise as she's never told him something like that before.

"Cuddles?", he suggested and she nodded, accepting the display of affection. He brought her bridal style to his bed, earning a little gasp from Aerin as he picked her up and dropped her on the mattress. He settled his body next to her and therefore their cuddling session had started, "Do you have a plan?"

"Oh yes, happening a lot earlier than I expected but I'm going to make her regret ever messing with my family."

"Atta girl!"

a/n: jeno said aerin>>>>math and aerin said mark = 🥺😇👶🌈