Bad Blood [NoRenMin] ✔

21

Haechan is a distraught mess when Jaemin enters the room.

It's their last day here and he'd written his final paper this morning, only coming out not too long ago. Originally, he and Renjun had planned to meet up after their paper which would have been fine had they not mixed up times. As it turns out, Renjun only started an hour before Jaemin finished and so, he was on the other side of the campus with the others who wrote the same hours as he did. However, Jaemin almost forgot that Haechan was going home with Mark. What with his roommate barely being in their room in the first place, Jaemin was lucky he remembered who his original roommate was.

Entering their room, Jaemin came to a stop before he could so much as enter properly.

Haechan is pacing beside his bed covered from the head to the foot with clothing and if Jaemin squinted, he could vaguely make out the suitcase that was there. He didn't even notice that Jaemin was there.

"Haechan?" Jaemin queries, walking in slowly.

Haechan stops long enough to spare a glance in his direction, and then he's back to pacing. Jaemin sighs and, after dropping his bag onto the bed, steps over to Haechan's side of the room and puts an arm in front of his roommate.

"What?" Haechan groans, eyes flashing furiously. Then, as if realizing himself, his shoulders relax a little and he steps back with a sigh. "Sorry," he murmurs, taking a seat on the bed (and sitting on a t-shirt in the process, but Jaemin stays quiet.)

"What's the matter, Haechan?"

"It's semester break tomorrow, Jaemin," he says as if it is that obvious. "I'm going through with Mark tomorrow."

"Right," Jaemin says, brows furrowing. "You're going home with him."

Haechan shakes his head. He looks about ready to pull his hairs out and Jaemin cannot tell whether he's stressed or because of any sort of anxiety he was feeling toward the situation.

"So what's wrong?" Jaemin murmurs, taking a seat on his own bed. He leans forward and clasps his hands together, eyes never leaving the other as he waits for him to say something. Haechan looks up at him and Jaemin cannot help but be surprised by the pure fear and horror in the other male's eyes.

"What's wrong is I'm going home with Mark tomorrow. His mother absolutely hates me and I doubt I'll be making it home alive," he groans. His tone takes a tilt halfway through and is a little more high pitched than the first part of his sentence. "His mother hates me. She's always glaring at me and dinners were awkward. Being there for the entirety of semester break? I don't know if I could do that," he mutters, pressing his forehead into his palms. "She'll hate me even more considering I almost kept her little boy," he mimics what he imagines would be Mark's mother in this case before continuing after a pause, "Almost kept him from coming home."

The door opens then and only Jaemin glances over as Mark and Renjun walk in. One look at his boyfriend and Mark is hurrying over to his side. Not a word is exchanged between the two before Mark is already saying, "It's going to be okay, Haechan. It's going to be okay," he says and there is a plea in his voice as he takes hold of Haechan's hands, gently easing them from the other's face. He places a hand under Haechan's chin and eases his head up until they're locking gazes.

"She hates me, Mark. She's going to bake me into a pie and that's if I'm lucky," Haechan whines softly.

Jaemin, not much pleased with the distraughtness of his roommate, interjects. "So what if she hates you?" he queries. His question earns the attention of the entire room, but he doesn't give them a chance to speak as he continues. "That's on her and only her. You're not a hateable person, Haechan. You're probably one of the most likeable people I've ever met." The words are out there and it's far too late for him to take them back so he remains seated the way that he is. They're all staring at him, but he believes he hasn't said anything wrong. He just hopes the first bit wasn't too offensive—

"Did you really just say that?" Haechan murmurs, but he's smiling and his eyes may even be tearing up. "Was that a compliment from the Na Jaemin?"

Jaemin flushes, the tips of his ears burning. He nods.

"Come here and give me a hug!" Haechan is already out of his seat and pulling Jaemin up and into an embrace. They're both smiling and Jaemin catches Mark smiling as well.

As they pull apart, Mark nods. "Well, now that we've calmed Haechan down, shall we get your things packed before we head to the room?"

"We'll help," Jaemin says. When Renjun doesn't interject, he safely assumes the other is agreeing.

*

Mark and Haechan are gone and it's only Jaemin and Renjun.

They're seated on his bed side by side with the laptop propped up on Renjun's lap and Jaemin holds their coffees while the bowl of popcorn rests on his lap. He rests his head against the other's shoulder.

"So," Renjun starts as he scrolls through the list of movies. "Do I need to be as afraid as Haechan is?"

Jaemin lifts his head. "Of my dad?" He smiles, holding back the scoff that starts to form. "Of course not. My dad is going to like you. He was pleased to hear me bringing someone home," Jaemin admits and he watches as the crinkle forms along Renjun's forehead.

"You don't date much I'm guessing?"

Sheepish and a little embarrassed, Jaemin shrugs. "I've had one boyfriend other than you," he murmurs. He doesn't really want to speak more about it so he turns his head back to the screen and scrolls clicks on their selected movie for the evening.

Seeming to understand, Renjun shifts his gaze back to the screen and this time, he rests his head on Jaemin's shoulder. And despite the assurance he's given Renjun, he already feels a little nervous to be introducing his new boyfriend to his father.