under the clouds - nct, norenmin

☁ 11 ☁

jaemin ran across the school's corridors looking desperately for jeno's classroom.

he had his timetable in his hands, but he couldn't find his classroom.

why were they numbered so randomly? even after a few weeks spying on jeno and renjun in this school, jaemin wasn't used to the numbering and he kept losing himself.

he absolutely needed to find jeno right now to prevent him from going home and to have a conversation with him about his hatred towards renjun. the chinese male's classes ended one hour later, and jaemin intended to make jeno and renjun hang out together – with him, because otherwise, they couldn't stay alone without fighting.

so, jaemin ran inside the corridors to find jeno's damn classroom.

"ahh!" jaemin exclaimed when he tripped on his foot and fell in the middle of the corridor.

hopefully, a kind soul was there, preventing him to smash his head on the ground, but making him land in a firm chest.

"you seem to love bumping into me." jeno chuckled, helping jaemin to get up.

"s-sorry. i tripped."

"it's okay, don't worry." jeno smiled. "where were you going this time? are you still running after renjun?"

"no. i was looking for you."

"oh." jeno smiled brighter. "well, here i am."

"yes." jaemin chuckled. "i wanted to hang out with renjun and you after school, but as renjun finishes in one hour, i wanted to hang out with you in the meantime."

jeno smiled again, finding jaemin very cute.

"yeah, okay." he said. "i'm not a big fan of renjun, but i can forget that for an afternoon for you."

jaemin smiled back, his cheeks going redder.

"let's go to the playground, there will be benches to sit on." jeno said.

the two boys walked towards the playground, finding a bench under the sun and sitting there next to each other. they spoke about nothing and anything for half an hour, laughing together and enjoying each other's presence.

"jeno?" jaemin caught the other boy's attention after a while.

"yeah?"

"can i ask you a personal question?"

jeno nodded. "of course."

"why do you hate renjun?"

jeno didn't answer right away.

first, he turned his head, not looking into jaemin's eyes, and then he sighed.

"i don't really hate him." he said. "it's just that our first encounter wasn't the most pleasing one, and since then, we've been acing the same, never trying to make things better."

"oh..."

"sometimes, i'd like to make our relationship better than what it is right now, but i don't know... i feel like he's trying to piss me off on purpose..."

jaemin furrowed his brows. "what makes you think that?"

"well... he always tells me i have no friends, which is true, and i don't mind it. actually, i have you now, but before, i had no one. and i shouldn't be bothered by it, because many people tell me, and i don't care about it. but when it's him... i don't know... he says it with so much venom in his voice that it hurts me. and so, i reply with harsh words to defend myself..." jeno told. "i know it's childish and everything, but i can't- we can't help it actually. our relationship has always been like this."

"and..." jaemin looked at jeno in the eye. "don't you intend to change that?"

jeno shrugged. "i don't know if he would be okay with that."

"i'm not asking about him. i'm asking about you." jaemin said.

jeno stayed silent, looking into jaemin's mesmerizing eyes.

"would you like to start everything again with renjun?" jaemin asked.

"i guess, yes." jeno replied.

"then, what's preventing you to do so?"

"i don't know... everything. him."

jaemin put a hand on jeno's shoulder. "i'm sure he's thinking the same as you. you two should talk."

"i think you're wrong, jaemin." jeno told. "renjun hates me. he's always coming to fight. there's no way he would be willing to start off again."

jaemin chuckled. "jeno... have you already asked yourself why renjun hated you?"

jeno shook his head.

"then think about it now. why would he hate you?"

jeno thought for a few seconds, recalling every single one of his encounters with the chinese male.

"i... i can't find anything. i mean, each time we fight, the reason behind it is childish. i can't find any solid reason why he would hate me particularly."

jaemin nodded. "well... that's perhaps because he is as lost as you in this relationship."

jeno abruptly turned his head to look at jaemin.

"did you ask him the same question you asked me?" he raised a brow.

"i don't know... perhaps i did, perhaps i didn't..." jaemin smiled. "it's your job to find out how to solve this mess, not mine."

"but..."

"i don't want my two only friends to be on bad terms. i feel like you could be so close together, yet here you are bickering like elementary kids..."

jeno looked at his hands for a while, thinking about jaemin's words.

"the bell is about to ring. we should go in front of renjun's classroom to pick him up." jaemin declared, rising to his feet. "you're coming?" he added, holding out his hand for jeno to take it.

jeno nodded and put his hand into jaemin's, letting the anglel drag him towards his enemy's – or not – classroom.

☁

"finally!" jaemin exclaimed when he stepped inside his house at the end of the day. "i don't feel like i've not been of no use for once."

first things first, he made his wings reappear and deployed them, flying a bit around the house to enjoy what he couldn't do under the clouds.

he landed on his couch with a long sigh and squirmed to find a comfortable position.

today had been a success.

not only had he learned that neither renjun nor jeno hated each other, but he had also convinced them to stop bickering about everything and build a friendly relationship.

in one afternoon, jaemin had done more than during the previous weeks, and he was proud of that.