sour (nomin)

18

The next few few days passed in a blur. Jeno moved out, became extremely close with his fake girlfriend (who now hangs out with him every day), Jaemin hadn't uttered much of a word, practice had been excessively tiring him entirely, and he hadn't felt the usual energy surge through him during interviews or public appearances.

He was mentally and physically drained, and he didn't know how much longer he could last. He knew he was being cold and mean to the rest of the members, but he couldn't bring himself to care. He didn't know what was going on with his body and why he felt he was seemingly shutting down. 

He knew it had something to do with Jeno, but didn't care enough to admit it to himself. 

The familiar warmth that radiated off of Renjun's hand brought Jaemin out of his suffocating thoughts, causing him to look up and take in his surroundings of the main room in their dorm. 

"Hey, can we talk for a sec?" Renjun asked in a quiet tone. Jaemin nodded softly and slowly stood up from his seated position following Renjun in to their room. 

"You have to talk to me, I know it's about Jeno and I know you're sad and trying to work through things in that head of yours but you're really bringing down the rest of the group. Especially Jeno! The amount of time he's spent staring at you with that worried look could be time well spent practicing!" Jaemin cracks a smile at Renjun's attempt at a joke. 

"I know, I'm so sorry. I- I guess, honestly I don't know. My mind is completely scattered and I just need to get Jeno out of it for good," Jaemin says, his tone soft but apprehensive.

"Or you could just tell him you're in love with him and we could all live happily ever after," Renjun says in a sing-song voice, Jaemin rolls his eyes at that.

"I'm not in love with him and I never have been, you need to get over that!" Jaemin says, folding his arms across his chest, as he realizes how much he's missed Renjun's bickering.

Renjun sighs dramatically before giving Jaemin a soft smile. 

"Why are you looking at me like that?" Jaemin asks suspiciously.

Renjun tackles Jaemin in a bear hug, causing them to sprawl across Jaemin's bed. They ended up in a laughing heap, their limbs tangled together and their hearts content.

"I've missed you Jaemin, please don't do that again," Renjun says, worry lacing his relieved tone. 

"I didn't go anywhere," Jaemin says nonchalantly.

"You know what I mean, just please come back to us. All the way. We miss you NaNa," Renjun says cutely.

"Hey, don't call me that," Jaemin says jokingly.

"I know, I know! That's only for Jeno, we get it you two are in love," Renjun says rolling his eyes obnoxiously. 

"Renjun, can we please not talk about Jeno?" Jaemin felt the coldness that had filled him not minutes ago trying to prod its way back in. He had no desire to go through what he had felt these past few days every again.

"Oh, sorry, I'll stop I promise," Renjun says quickly. 

Jaemin let out a breath he didn't realize he had been holding and snuggled in to Renjun's side, not wanting to leave.

"Can I sleep?" Jaemin asks quietly after a few minutes of comfortable silence. 

"Yes! yes please do," Renjun says in a whisper, though the excitement wasn't very well hidden. Jaemin smiled at Renjun's enthusiasm, as he knew Renjun just wanted him to have a good night's rest for once. 

It wasn't long until they both got their wish.

AN: Okay I'm sorry, it's super super short, Today was really... stressful? Idk anyways, sorry!!! Love y'all!