drama⚘⚘ nomin

five

He really keeps his promise and walks me home every day. And he tries to stay out of trouble, at least when it's about me. But after a while, when the hatred towards me slows down, he starts thinking impulsively again.

I already have a bad feeling when he doesn't wait for me after my class, so I hurry to our classroom where he had his last one and we'll have the next one - where Mrs Kim is going to announce the piece she chose. I start panicking when I get closer but Jeno must be in there, and he may be getting himself into trouble I could keep him out of. For once, I may be able to give him back some of his protection.

As expected, he stands in front of the blackboard, pulling one of his male fans close by grabbing his collar. I can't hear him even though the class is silent, he's hissing something into the frightened boy's ear. Someone slightly touches my shoulder and I flinch at the touch.

"We couldn't stop him last time," Renjun says, Donghyuck standing right next to him, "but you probably can."

"I..."

"Just try it," Donghyuck scoffs, without being mean. I gulp but after seeing Jeno again, his body trembling in anger, I manage to push through the small crowd around them. Most of them are surprised to see me or don't even notice me, but when I step forward to grab Jeno's arm, everyone does.

"Wh-" He's startled enough to let go of the boy who starts coughing right away and I drag him away from the staring people and out of the classroom.

"Jaemin-"

"What are you doing?!"

"He deserves this," Jeno growls, "I don't care about the consequences."

"You do. What if you get detention this time? What am I supposed to do without you?! They're going to kill me! Is that what you want?!"

"No," Jeno mumbles, "I'm sorry. I'm just... so angry at them for hurting you."

"I know." I smile at him gently. "But punching them doesn't help me."

He takes a deep breath. "I'm trying not to. If I didn't, I would've punched so many more of them. Sometimes I just... stop thinking about what happens to me."

"Don't let them do that to you," I beg, "don't get into trouble because they talk about me."

He looks down, sighing. "I'm sorry, Nana," he mumbles, his anger blown away.

"It's okay." I start moving my fingers over the back of his hand. "Just find a way to deal with this. Without punching them."

He smiles slightly. "I'll try." With that, he straightens his back and looks at me, softly squeezing my fingers. "Thank you, Jaemin."

"Thank you," I reply quietly, "for still getting angry at them." He chuckles and we start walking towards the empty hallways leading to the Physics, as usual. But Donghyuck and Renjun step in our way, both of them looking at us with a strange gaze.

"Jeno, do you... have a minute?" Renjun asks. His smile seems forced. Jeno immediately looks at me, but Donghyuck speaks before he can.

"I'll take care of him. Don't worry, I won't hurt you," his smile seems to be real, "it's really just a short moment. And we don't want our Prince to get mad at us for not watching over his pri- friend."

"You're okay with that?" Jeno asks me and I nod. Not really, but I should try to trust them. If they disappoint me, I can tell him I was right about them.

He lets go of my hand and follows Renjun, leaving me and Donghyuck behind.

"You guys seem to be pretty close, huh?"