soliloquy ↬ chensung

Ch.11

"Would you like some-"

"No. I wouldn't."

Jeno pouted and playfully punched Jaemin's arm. "Silly boy, you didn't even hear me out."

"You were about to offer me weed or something."

"...."

Jaemin rolled his eyes and turned his attention back to the teacher, who was animatedly describing something geographical. He and Jeno had been placed at the very back of the classroom beside each other. Renjun was sitting at the front of the classroom. All that could be seen was the top of his fluffy brown hair moving around while he diligently took notes.

"Oh dear, Na Jaemin. You're crushing on the serpent lord."

The pinkette turned to him, arms folded and his chair pushed back slightly to allow him to lie back a little. "Where did you contrive that theory?"

"I'm all-seeing."

"No, you're just a bit creepy. You clearly observe me."

"...Creepy is a bit of a push, isn't it?"

"Not when it comes to you."

"Aww, I thought we had something going on."

At this, Jaemin's eyes narrowed and a faint, subtle blush scarred his cheeks. "Don't talk about that at school, you numbskull. And plus, we were eight years old."

Jeno hummed and looked down at his desk in thought. He then raised his gaze to Renjun as well and tilted his head. "You didn't actually deny it."

"Deny what?"

The raven-haired boy raised his eyebrows in exasperation. "Crushing on the serpent lord!"

The whole classroom went silent and all eyes very clearly turned to the back of the room where the outburst had originated. The teacher folded his arms and leaned against the chalk board. "Please, Mr. Lee, do tell us who the serpent lord is."

His intention was to embarrass the boy, however it backfired when Jeno confidently answered "Renjun". The said boy scrunched his nose in distaste and ignored the happenings at the back of the classroom.

"And you're "crushing" on the so-called "serpent lord" - them being Renjun?" He pried further. This teacher's life goal was to make Lee Jeno feel embarrassed because the kid never seemed to.

"No, but Jaemin is."

At this, Jaemin lifted his book and smacked him on the back of the head. "That isn't even funny! Take it back!"

Jeno just shrugged and lounged in his chair. The rest of the class went back to their lesson in an agreed fashion without ever vocally implying that they were just going to forget about what had just happened. He tilted his head and twiddled his pen. "I won't take it back because we aren't kids and so we shouldn't be petty."

"Exactly. We aren't kids anymore, so stop acting hung up over our pre-teen relationship. It was just a bit of fun at the time and children don't understand real feelings."

"But you keep acting like we don't know each other." A small pout dampened his features. "You've been blanking me all through school and now that you loiter in the gym to watch rehearsals, you find it in yourself to acknowledge me?"

Jaemin didn't say anything in return and just watched the geography lesson from afar. He pursed his lips and felt the pair of eyes finally drift away from him to focus on the teacher too. Jeno's frown wasn't completely unnoticeable, but he chose to ignore it along with the presence it belonged to.