𝗮 𝗹𝗲𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝘁𝗼 𝘆𝗼𝘂; norenmin

𝚜𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚎𝚎𝚗

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"Mark, could you go upstairs and get Jeno?" The boy's mother enquired gently, skilfully flipping a pizza and keeping an eye on the one already placed inside the oven. "Dinner will be ready in five minutes."

The ravenette gave her a 'thumbs up', slinking out of the kitchen, down the hall and towards the staircase. His mind was slightly preoccupied, having finished homework, had a shower, and cleaned up the living room...he was simply restless. When living with a boy suffering from chronic OCD, it was hard to believe that everything was as it needed to be.

He stopped outside his little brother's door and knocked three times, gently. Jeno hated out of sync rhythms, irregular sound patterns like four knocks, and indecisive speaking. So Mark, Mrs. Lee and Donghyuck had all trained themselves to keep things as perfect as possible for a teen they held close to their hearts.

"Jeno?" He called, hoping he wasn't going to have to wake him up.

"Yes?"

Oh, thank god, the older released a relieved sigh, he doesn't get enough sleep for me to feel comfortable waking him up. "Dinner's ready. Can I come in?"

Shuffling on the other side of the door resonated around the space, and eventually the younger ravenette pulled the door open for his older sibling. "I'll be a minute. You can come in."

Mark found Jeno to be extremely cute. He could remember almost every detail of their childhood, and imagined that anything the younger did was adorable. One of those habits was wearing loose clothing, covering up his own physique so that he didn't have to worry about mirrors.

As Mark trailed inside, letting the door click shut behind him, it came to his attention that he hadn't been in here in about a week. Nothing changed though....it rarely ever did. Though Jeno trailed wordlessly towards his desk to tidy everything up......again, apparently.

An envelope caught his eye, the shorter watching as his brother picked it up, folded the seal again and wandered towards his wardrobe drawer to slip it inside.

"What's that, Jen?" Mark enquired softly, making his way to stand behind him. The large stack of envelopes took him by surprise, causing the boy to feel as though he hadn't paid enough attention to something before.

"Love letters," Jeno responded calmly, totally honest with Mark about almost everything....his one secret being Donghyuck.

"Woah," the older chuckled, "I didn't pin you to be the type to write emotional lett-"

"Oh, they aren't from me," the younger quickly waved him off, placing the white paper casing down upon the last he received, and sliding the drawer shut. "I've received them."

"Oh....." Mark frowned, even more surprised to hear that. Since when did Jeno have an admirer? "Who's the sender?"

"Don't know. They only sign off with their initials, so I'm waiting for them to come to me in person so that I can reject them."

"Jen! C'mon, you've never dated before, or even considered it. This could be good for you. You should say 'yes'."

"Except I'm not interested...." the younger sighed, his gaze lowering to the drawer once again. "Mark, I don't know.....I'm just not really wired that way."

"I think you're just hesitant," the shorter sighed, pulling the other in for a warm hug. He brought his hand to the back of Jeno's head and motioned for him to rest it on his shoulder. "I think you're just not giving love a chance, because you're scared."

"I'm not good for people," Jeno murmured, utterly comfortable in his family's presence. "Who would want to put up with someone like me? Someone who has so many needs and issues as well as no flirtatious or appealing bone in his body."

"Because you're beautiful."

"That's-"

"It's true, and you can't change my mind," Mark teased, pulling away to flick the younger's forehead and fold his arms. "Even if you weren't as good looking on the outside as you are, your inside is stunning. Harmless, kind, means well, shy.....you're adorable."

Jeno eyed him sadly, close to tears with how nice the person in front of him was. I genuinely don't deserve him, he thought, and was probably correct. Yet if Jeno didn't deserve him, then neither did Donghyuck.

"I don't want to push you," Mark continued, shuffling towards the glass desk against the wall and tidying everything up for the taller. "I'm not a pushy person. But I do think that the instant you feel a connection to someone, you should go for it. You need to."

"......Maybe," the younger muttered to please the other, still finding his entire existence to be more of a hassle than a blessing. There couldn't have been anyone who knew him well that loved him. Even whoever 'H.R' was, would surely run for the hills the minute he realised that Jeno had a life changing problem.

"Okay, lets go and eat. You get skinnier every time I see you," Mark complained, poking his stomach before leading him out of the room. Jeno took his free hand and placed it on his tummy, knowing his brother was somewhat joking, though considering doing something about his lanky frame.

Maybe I should do more exercise, he pursed his lips, thinking more about it, then shaking his head, nah, I hate the look of sweat. It's actually one of the reasons Jaemin wears his uniform so untidily over the summer....right?

It was at that moment that the teen noticed....he kept finding some reason to think about the blue haired boy. Comparisons, ideas, daydreams. It couldn't have meant anything yet, though most definitely had the potential to evolve if he left it to brew too long.

Jeno couldn't allow for that. No matter how flattered he felt when Jaemin always came back for him.....the younger loved Renjun. And in a situation, imagine, where Jeno and Renjun were placed in front of him, he'd choose the Chinese boy.

So the answer was as clear as day.

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Bit of a filler~
But I wanted to establish more of a relationship with Mark and Jeno, so I hope it's fine.
Thanks for reading guys,
-lily