Ashes | JENO

Chapter 31

"Ah, I should have studied more." Jaemin whined, ruffling his hair as he walked out of the lecture hall alongside Soojung. "That was a lot harder than I expected."

"I'm sure you did fine." Soojung said, shoving her hands inside her leather jacket, which was suprisingly a lot warmer than expected. The two had just finished a midterm, which Soojung honestly didn't think was that bad.

It was weird for the two of them to not see Jeno waiting outside their lecture hall as they made their way to the parking lot of the school.

"Well at least that's done and over with so I can focus on my favourite part of the day." Jaemin said, stretching his arms above his head as they stopped at where the group of motorcycles were.

"Yeah. Jeno's been pretty nervous all day though." Soojung said as she took her helmet out.

"I don't blame him, his mother's getting a pretty big surgery." Jaemin said as he moved forward, allowing Soojung to have more space. "You really need to learn how to ride one of these."

"It's not that I don't know, I'm just absolutely mortified. Plus, Jeno doesn't drive his bike like a rowboat on the streets, unlike someone." Soojung said as she got on the bike behind him.

"Hey, not all of us can avoid the cops." Jaemin retorted before starting the engine.

Soojung chuckled as Jaemin began speeding away, the two of them heading off to the hospital.

...

"Should it be taking this long?" Jeno asked, the male pacing back and forth in the waiting area.

Soojung was sitting on the chairs in her usual clothes, excused from her hospital shift for the night to make sure Jeno wasn't alone. Unfortunately, Taeyong couldn't make their mother's surgery in order to make sure the gang was running smoothly, but Ms. Lee needed multiple nights on the operating table anyways. The two brothers would take turns working with the gang and supporting their mother.

"Jeno, it's been an hour, take a seat. If the doctors come out now, that means that something went wrong." Soojung said, reaching out and grabbing her boyfriend's hand.

Jeno sighed as he stared at their lace fingers before taking a seat. "I know, but I'm still anxious."

Soojung gave him a small smile as he sat down beside her, grabbing his arm and giving it a soft rub. "Just take a deep breath. If you want to take your mind off it, why don't you think about where you're taking me this weekend."

Jeno chuckled at her words. "Where I'm taking you this weekend? When did we decide that?"

Soojung gave him a look. "What? Can my boyfriend not take me out on a date? I just finished a big exam and could really use a nice break from studying."

"I don't know, what if your boyfriend wanted to spend the day cuddling and binge watching your favourite show instead?" Jeno said with a twinkle in his eye.

Soojung smirked. "Oh, so the mighty Jeno wants to stay in and cuddle?"

The comment made Jeno's ears turn bright red, only making Soojung's grin widen. "Okay, fine. We can go out or do whatever your plan is."

"I'm just joking." Soojung told him. "I think staying in and cuddling is a great way to spend the day too."

Jeno shook his head before letting the girl rest her head on his shoulder, the two patiently waiting for Jeno's mother's surgery to finish.

...

"Lee Jeno?"

Jeno opened his eyes, both him and Soojung lifting their heads and seeing a nurse in standing in front of them with a small smile on her face.