dicey ↬ nomin

Ch.33

"Do you know what?" Jeno said as he sat on the toilet seat with his knees tucked into his chest. "People these days have cast iron bladders. And our friends should have checked on us by now."

"Well, if they haven't come yet, let's give them five minutes. If not, then I can hoist you over the door, okay?"

Jeno nodded and lay his head back against the tank. "Ugh. I can't breathe when your cologne is so strong."

Jaemin shrugged and smelt his shirt, looking at Jeno in thought. "I'll wear it less often, then, if it acts as a repellant."

His eyes widened and he mustered up the most normal expression even though the words did faze him. "Why would you want to attract me?"

"Why wouldn't I?" Was the retort, which was foreseen by Jeno, but not outsmarted. He didn't really know how to answer as he hadn't thought that far ahead.

"So where did our rivalry go?" He asked quietly and tilted his head in confusion, changing the topic completely. "I mean, we just kind of.....started to get along."

Jaemin pursed his lips in thought and leaned against the partition with his arms folded. "I dunno. We had that agreement to get along, because both of your friends were close with my friends, and we didn't want to hinder that, but when did we actually start to be friends?"

"It must have been when you delivered pizza to us." He scratched his chin and chuckled, showing off his little smile and making Jaemin's heart skip a beat.

"Here, here. We can have none of that, Mister."

Jeno sighed and grumbled. "What now? You always kill the mood."

"Look, if I'm trying my best not to make your heart beat with my devilishly handsome good looks, then you have to stop making my heart skip a beat. Deal?"

At this point, Jeno just didn't even know what the boy was going on about, so he just nodded along and agreed to another deal that would probably be broken just like the last one. After all, they weren't truly deals if they didn't care much about them. "But back on track: the pizza. Do you still work there?"

"I do indeed," he grinned and placed his hands in his pockets. "Why? Do you want complimentary accessories every time you order? 'Cause dude, you didn't even have to ask-"

"I'd like a job there," he cut in quietly and looked up at the younger, trying to do puppy eyes but not knowing if they worked or not. It was getting really warm in the tight space and the air was quite humid between them.

"Aww, too cute!" Jaemin squealed when his face blushed. He pretended that his heart beat didn't speed up and that his face wasn't the colour of a ruby. "I can't wait until you sleep over tonight. We're going to have so much fun." He sort of wanted to hug Jeno, sort of stay in here longer with him, and he sort of wanted him to open up more, talk more about himself.

Jeno looked down and shrugged his shoulders, the sound of voices approaching down the hallway. "Finally," he sighed in relief and stood up off the toilet seat, stumbling from the pins-and-needles in his legs and falling onto Jaemin in a moment of clichéd surprise. Their breaths mingled for a moment while Jaemin tried to stand Jeno up, but he was barely able to feel his limbs.

"Be careful," he said in concern and held his shoulders, leaning him against the door. "You're lucky I caught you, or you would've flown straight into the door."

"Thanks," Jeno murmured in return and felt the pins-and-needles disappear. Jaemin's hands were really warm and his stature was able to support the weight of someone falling. This made Jeno turn red again at the prospect of nearly knocking the door off its hinges by accident.