AEONIAN

chapter 43

"Haechan, let him go", I ordered.

The two brothers turned their head towards me, realizing that I witnessed most of the scene they caused. Jeno looked down while Haechan was surprised to see me.

"I thought you went inside already?", Haechan questioned, looking at me in the eyes.

"How could I when I heard the two of you shouting at each other", I deadpanned. I looked at Jeno who was quiet the whole time. "Why are you here?"

"I wanted to talk", Jeno muttered. He fiddled his fingers, not knowing how to approach the situation with the tense atmosphere.

"I'm giving you ten minutes, let's go inside", I said. "Haechan, go home. You just got here. Get some rest."

I headed inside my brother's place, Jeno following right behind me and the two of us sat on the couch. He had his hands clasped together as he looked at me from time to time.

"Haechan really had to blow my cover", I whispered to myself.

"Do you really still want to be with me?", Jeno asked seriously and straightforward, his eyes not leaving me.

"I don't know anymore", I honestly replied. "I'll see."

"If you want to date him, I'm not forcing you to not date him", Doyoung suddenly entered the living room, making things even more intense. He was wearing glasses and had his retainers on. He sat down on a chair and looked at the two of us. "I'm trying to not be the bad guy here."

"You're always the bad guy", this time, it was Taeyong who entered the room. He walked towards Doyoung and was beside him. "You're always so stingy."

"Shut your mouth you—"

"And you said you don't curse", Taeyong mocked. He looked at the two of us, seeing that the atmosphere was ruined. "Oh, whoops. I'm sorry."

"At this point it should be you two who end up together", I sighed, looking at the two arguing. I looked away and saw Jeno holding back his laughter. The atmosphere was totally wrecked by the two of them. "I'll think about it. Just go home and think about your company."

"Just say yes already, I'm already impatient", Taeyong whined. It looked like as if he was watching the two of us on the television. "This is even more stressful than a Korean drama."

"You don't even watch them often", Doyoung argued.

"Let's just leave them", I whispered to Jeno and he nodded, the two of us leaving the scene without them noticing it.

"So, what now?", he asked. He had a straight face on, can't tell whether he was disappointed or not. "What will happen to us?"

"We'll wait for our timing", I showed a small smile. "Take care, Jeno."

The smile on his face was bright after hearing me call his name.

"Sleep well, bu— Hyerin", Jeno bitterly chuckled.

Jeno left and I returned back to the living room, to see the two still arguing.

"I do the cooking in this house", Doyoung argued.

"But I clean this place!", Taeyong shouted back.

"And I am sick of the two of you arguing every single day", I joined in.

"Where's Jeno?", Doyoung asked, looking around.

"He left. The two of you were too engrossed with each other", I answered back.

"Did you say yes?", Taeyong asked.

"I didn't give an answer yet", I replied. "I'll wait for our timing."

"Oh wait, about timing...", Taeyong muttered as he thought about something.

"Am I the only one smelling something burning?", Doyoung asked, looking at the two of us.

"I forgot about the cookies!", Taeyong rushed to the kitchen, trying to save his overcooked cookies.

"Well, that was unexpected", I chuckled.

☼

"Hyerin! Just in time!", Chenle exclaimed as I took my seat. "Since our graduation is next week, the teacher asked us to answer a question."

"What question?", I asked, not knowing anything about what was going to happen.

"She said she'll announce it when she comes back", he replied.

"If it's about the future, I'll say that I'm totally not interested", Jisung joined in. "Why can't life be on my side."

"Don't worry, the ghosts beside you are literally on your side", I joked but he immediately took it seriously, falling off his chair. "I was kidding!"

"Oh my god, I can't believe you", Chenle laughed at Jisung.

"I don't like you two", Jisung muttered, getting back on his chair. "I'm telling the two of you on Jaemin."

"Alright class", our teacher walked in and looked at all of us. "As we're all going to part ways starting next week, I'll be asking you one last question as your homeroom teacher."

"What is it, Ma'am?", Junkyu, our classmate, asked.

"What is the first thing you'll do when you graduate?", the teacher answered. "Now, I want to hear it from Kim Hyerin first."

"Out of all the students", I sighed and made my way to the front of the class, my hands in my pockets. I was slightly nervous, but knew exactly what I was going to say.

"Now, Kim Hyerin, what is the first thing you'll do when you graduate? Is it another goal or something else?". the teacher asked.

"I'm going to invest into something that I've wanted to invest in for the longest time", I answered.

"And what may that be, Ms. Kim?", she asked.

"Happiness."

[ a/n: dotae ruining the moment at its finest 🤗 tbh i have the worst writer's block for this story. ]