dicey ↬ nomin

Ch.38

"Jaewoo is going to really hurt Jeno when I leave."

Chenle's eyes widened. He already knew how bad it got when Jaewoo was in a terrible mood, but the fact that Jeno had literally done the opposite of what he wanted, he realised the gravity of the situation. "Then don't leave," he whispered quickly. "Please stay."

Jaemin's eyes said enough to Chenle for him to understand that he couldn't. If he stayed, he was only prolonging what was bound to happen anyway. "I don't want Jeno to suffer anymore."

At this, a loud thud was heard from the other side of the room. They glanced over and saw a sleepy, confused Donghyuck with hooded eyes from a night spent talking to his boyfriend until an unreasonable hour of the morning. He was on the floor with his left arm still on the bed and he had accidentally pulled the duvet off the mattress with him. "Jeno?" His voice cracked from his deep morning voice. "Jaewoo? Fill me in."

He stood up on tired and weak knees with his duvet wrapped around him like a burrito. His little face and fluffy light brown hair poked out the top and the tufts of bedhead stood up in different directions.

"Morning," Jaemin smiled, but it wasn't a real smile because he was too worried for that. "Let me fill you in then."

***

"So basically, we need to convince Jeno to call the helpline or go to the police," Chenle said out loud to summarise the long-winded conversation because Hyuck was still too dazed to interpret.

"Yup. But how? That is the question," Jaemin sighed.

Donghyuck blinked and tilted his head. "I don't think it'll be too hard, now that Jaewoo knows that we all know. Before, Jeno was only holding his silence because he thought that we could all get hurt otherwise. To stay silent now would be putting us in more danger. Jaewoo knows that we know, and that means that we are also in danger now."

Chenle nodded eagerly. "And Jeno would do anything to make sure we don't get hurt. He's been hiding this for years as proof of the pudding."

Just then, the boy himself walked in accompanying the flush of the toilet down the hallway. "So I took a long time because the loo was blocked. I had to use the toilet plunger to unearth all the buried demons that dwell in there-" he stopped talking and walking when he noticed the cold, serious expression on their faces. He frowned and looked from face to face. "I swear I didn't have diarrhoea. The loo was-"

"That's not it," Donghyuck assured him with a small smile. It didn't reach his eyes, but he did attempt for it to.

Jaemin nodded and patted the spot on the bed beside him. "Sit down, broski, let's chat. We have something to discuss with you."

Jeno immediately thought he was implying their kiss, so he blushed and cautiously stepped towards them. "Okay, but why do you guys look so shell-shocked? Was it that surprising?"

Jaemin cleared his throat and darted his eyes to the two boys to try and tell Jeno that that was not what he was referring to. "Just sit right here." He patted the spot again with a nod of his head. Jeno scratched his head in confusion and frowned, but he did what was asked of him and slipped onto the mattress awkwardly.

"Did I do something wrong?"

Jaemin's heart hurt when Jeno said that because it was definitely not the case. "No, you didn't. It's about Jaewoo. We need to talk about what's going to happen in the future."

The other two nodded and gritted their teeth. Chenle sighed and looked over at his brother. "We know that Jaewoo is going to absolutely slaughter you. Jeno, you need to call the police." Straight to the point, the direct route smacked the ravenette in the face because he had most definitely not been expecting this. At all.

Jeno looked down and bit his lip. It wasn't just about him anymore - it was about Donghyuck, Chenle and Jaemin now too. This must have been the hundredth time Chenle had had this conversation with him, but it was definitely the most effective. "It's been so long though," he whispered sadly and squinted his eyes at his hands. He held them gently on his lap. "They'd question why I hadn't spoken sooner."

"But they'll save you," Jaemin leaned towards him and tried to capture his gaze. "And you'll be safe."

The boys nearly started to smile when they saw that Jeno was considering it. In all the time Chenle had known about the abuse and implored him to speak up, he had never seen that look of contemplation on his face. He had never even seen him consider it. And now, just hearing the pink haired boy who used to be a thorn in his side and had grown to be someone he loved, Jeno was finally getting on the right track.

"He tried to hurt you twice now," Jeno sighed, the words stabbing him much deeper than the wounds inflicted upon him by his tormentor, because Jaemin's safety meant more to him than his own. "And he'll hurt Chenle and Hyuck now too. He might even try it on the littlies."

The three supporters leaned towards him in anticipation. "Sooo," Donghyuck pressed. "You're going to listen to us?"

A weak nod indicated agreement and a flood of relief washed through not only the three boys, but also Jeno because he knew it was the right choice. He realised that it would have been the right choice a long time ago as well, but he had been too naïve and scared back then. He wasn't any of those things now, and his fear for his own safety wasn't as strong as his fear for his friends' safety. He nodded again with a stronger motion and looked at them. "I'll do it." The words felt foreign on his tongue because it was the first time in a long time that he had made a decent decision.

"You need to tell Mrs. Kim first," Jaemin added. "She has been there for you this whole time and you ignored the support. It'll be a complete shock for her if you do this behind her back."

"She's been waiting for you to talk to her for a long time," Chenle murmured and placed his hands on his knees. Jeno's small nod put him at ease. "We'll be here for you on the other end, through thick and thin."

"Through hell and high water," Donghyuck added.

Jaemin's mind didn't work fast enough for him to think up am inspirational idiom on the spot, so he gave an inspirational pat on the shoulder instead. "We'll stay up here. Come and get us when you're finished."

Jeno nodded uncertainly and blinked some panic out of his mind. His hands began to sweat because he was scared. He was scared of how Mrs. Kim would react. He felt like he had betrayed her somehow by denying her knowledge on his life. She was his mother and she had the right to know. He bit the inside of his cheek and gave a shaky, breath 'I'll be back soon' before he stood up and walked towards the door.

"We've got your back," Jaemin smiled and raised his fist.

Jeno smile back and looked at them one last time as he stepped out of his bedroom. He had to tell Mrs. Kim one way or another, and now was better than later. He just didn't want to see the look on her face when she found out that one of her angels was a wolf in sheep's clothing. It would break her heart.

But it had to be done.