CHAPTER SIX→ the diversion

The ringing at the door caught both Jeno and Jaemin's attention, dragging it from their precious anime on the laptop screen.

"I didn't even know this place had a damn doorbell," Jeno commented. Jaemin shook his head as the two stood up. "It doesn't."

After the two made their way to the door and Jeno swung it open, their guest appeared in the form of Park Jisung, Jeno's younger friend who had called earlier.

Jisung, who held a tub of ice cream in each arm, also held his phone in hand, a YouTube video of some loud beeping noises playing through the speakers.

"Do you always have to be this flamboyant?" Jeno asked, referencing the siren noises that Jisung had used to get their attention.

"Does it look like I can ring the doorbell? I had to do this," Jisung retorted, inferring that he was incapable of setting the ice cream down to use his arms for any other purpose.

"Mhm. Come in, you weirdo. It'll be pointless to just stay at the door," Jeno spoke, stepping back as to allow Jisung to enter into the room.

"Hi," Jaemin quietly quietly greeted from the side. Jisung immediately turned towards him, dropped the ice cream dramatically onto the floor, and placed his hands on Jaemin's shoulders.

"Oh, so you can't put down the ice cream to knock on the door, but you can in order to molest Jaemin? Thanks man," Jeno commented, leaning down to pick up the poor abused ice cream and put it in his freezer.

Jisung, busy looking Jaemin up and down, placed his hands on either side of Jaemin's face.

"Your name's Jaemin?" he asked, staring at Jaemin with a gaze that nearly made him uncomfortable.

"Yeah, and you're Jisung...?" Jaemin replied, all too aware of the fact.

Jisung, not answering, continued commenting. "Ooh, sounds cute too. HEY JENO, YOU GOT YOURSELF A WHOLE PACKAGE, HUH?" Jisung called over to Jeno, nonchalantly letting go of Jaemin as he yelled.

Jaemin, suddenly embarrassed at the comment, glanced over to see how Jeno would reply.

"Don't you dare, Jisung. Go find someone else to flirt with when you're drunk," Jeno retorted, busily clearing freezer space for the ice cream pints.

"First of all, I don't drink. Second, I'm just saying he's a lot cuter than that ex-bitch of yours," Jisung said, his expression darkening a bit when he mentioned the girl.

Jeno, after finally shoving the ice cream in the fridge and shutting the door, walked back over to where Jisung and Jaemin stood. Putting his arm around Jaemin's shoulders, he thought of what exactly to say to Jisung.

"Literally everyone is cuter than her. Think of a better compliment, like... cutest in the whole world? That's definitely Jaemin," Jeno said, leaning his head on Jaemin's shoulder as a gesture of affection.

"I didn't come here to be a third wheel. Are you always this touchy with him? Because I would jump out a window if you ever got that close to me," Jisung commented, noticing how comfortable the two seemed together.

"Trust me, he's always like this," Jaemin spoke up, finally finding the nerve to do so. Jeno turned his gaze to Jaemin.

"You make it sound as if you don't like it," Jeno spoke, Jaemin rolling his eyes in return.

"Idiot, if I didn't like it, would I have slept with you? No," Jaemin spoke, lightly slapping Jeno's shoulder.

"You two did what now?" Jisung questioned, then sighed. "I'm gonna hope you meant literally. But really, if you always act that skinship-y with him, I hope he doesn't get tired of it."

"Oh, are you jealous now, Jisung?" Jeno teased, seeing the younger's expression.

"Hah! Jealous my ass, I'm just glad it isn't me you're clinging onto all the time," Jisung replied, glancing down at his phone as he got a sudden text message.

"Hey, so Taeyong is hosting this party later at his place and he wants me to come help set up. So I should probably get going," Jisung stated, reading the words on his screen.

"Yeah, sure. Tell him not to expect me, if you could. I'm not leaving the apartment today," Jeno requested, getting a laugh out of Jisung.

"Obviously, I know why you ain't leaving your apartment. I'll tell him that you're too gay to show up," Jisung replied, shoving his phone in his pocket.

"I guess I'll be leaving then. Bye guys," he bid, slowly heading towards the front door.

"Oh, and Jaemin, if Jeno starts acting like a dick, come find me and I'll help you beat him up," Jisung stated, giving a warning glance to Jeno before returning to his cheerful state. "Byyyeee-" he ended, sprinting out and slamming the door before Jeno could react.

"I swear to god, that kid is a mess," Jeno said, stepping away from Jaemin to go lock the door. 

"He did bring us ice cream. I like him," Jaemin reminded, ignoring how Jeno shook his head in response.

"So, could we go somewhere? Now that Jisung's gone?" Jeno offered, Jaemin raising an eyebrow in reply.

"Didn't you just say you aren't gonna leave the apartment today?" Jaemin replied, although not opposed to the idea.

"Come on, you expect me to be honest to Jisung? Anyway, I just remembered that I left some homework at school and I don't want to die tomorrow when it's time to turn it in," Jeno spoke, fidgeting with an air of uncertainty. "I mean, you don't have to come with me. I could just quickly go and get it..." he continued, not wanting to force the menial task upon Jaemin.

"Wow. Classic Jeno, leaving the homework at school. I'll come with you, might as well get some exercise from the trip," Jaemin said, grabbing Jeno's arm and unlocking the door which Jeno had just then finished locking. 

These boys are so indecisive.

After going through the process of exiting the dorm room, making their way to the ground floor lobby, and walking the short distance to the school building, the two found themselves in the empty hallways, treading casually towards the lockers.

"Jaemin, did you hear that?" Jeno suddenly asked, pausing where he stood and glancing around. Jaemin stopped as well, suspicious.

"I didn't hear anything?" he responded, eyeing their nearby surroundings for the source of any noise. Jeno simply shrugged.

"I guess it's nothing. Anyway, my locker's just over here. We can grab the papers and get out of here," Jeno dismissed, stepping over to said locker and opening it up. After finding the work he needed, he shut the door, folding the work and putting it carelessly in his pocket.

The two quietly walked side by side back towards the entrance, making light conversation. Preparing to turn a corner, they abruptly stopped upon hearing the conversation of two people.

"Yeah, what I'm really trying to say here is that it's just not gonna work out. You should dump her, look for someone else," a rather familiar voice spoke, the other person choosing to stay silent.

"What the hell, is that Chenle?" Jaemin whispered to Jeno, immediately getting closer to the wall and peeking around the corner carefully. Jaemin immediately stepped away, not risking the chance of being seen.

"It's Chenle and Winwin... why are they even here right now?" Jaemin questioned, not knowing why either of the pair were at school or even together. Jeno chose not to inquire who Winwin was, at the moment. He couldn't be blamed for not knowing someone from the other dorm.

"I suppose we could just leave another way?" Jeno proposed, although not entirely sure if the building had another convenient exit.

Hearing Winwin and Chenle start to bring their conversation to a close, Jaemin glanced at Jeno, too shaken to plot an escape.

"Listen, if we just calmly turn and walk the other direction, he won't hear us and nothing will happen," Jeno stated sensibly, trying to let a logical mindset influence his decisions.

Yet all of that went out the window the moment Chenle decided he wanted to call Jaemin, and the loud ringtone erupted, echoing in the hallway.

"Jaemin?" Chenle called out as the boy in question frantically tried to mute his phone.

The sound of hurried footsteps approached the bend of the hallway, leading Jeno to come to the most rational decision as to how to avoid questioning:

By doing the most cliché thing in existence.

Jeno, although trying not to be too forceful, immediately pushed Jaemin against the wall of lockers, pinning him by the wrists. Jaemin, admittedly startled but understanding the plan, tried to calm his heart rate as Jeno pressed up against him.

The unaware Chenle stepped around the corner, his gaze landing on the pair just as Jeno pressed his lips to Jaemin's neck, the unfamiliar sensation startling Jaemin into releasing a tiny squeak.

"Uh- Chenle?!" Jaemin forced out, trying to act surprised at the Chinese boy's presence, but also trying to ignore the strangely pleasant feeling of Jeno gently nibbling on his neck. Chenle blinked, processing the situation, before immediately looking away.

"I'll just leave," Chenle blurted out, keeping his gaze towards the exit as he quickly scurried out of sight. Jaemin exhaled, seeing that Chenle wasn't going to stay and question him. However, now that the crisis had been averted, his focus turned entirely to Jeno.

"Mm, Jeno, he's gone now, it worked," Jaemin said quietly, Jeno waiting a moment before slowly pulling himself away from Jaemin and catching his gaze.

"We should run into Chenle more often," Jeno smirked, Jaemin immediately knowing the meaning of the statement and lightly punching Jeno in the side. Jaemin warily reached up to touch the now sore spot on his neck, slightly wincing at the pain.

"Tell me that's not going to leave a mark..." Jaemin spoke, trying to fully assess the severity of the bite. Jeno smiled suspiciously, choosing not to reply. "Lee Jeno. If people start to question me because of one single bruise, I can and will blame you," Jaemin stated, crossing his arms as if he was sulking.

"I can give you a few more to blame me over, if you want?" Jeno said, earning him a blunt shove from Jaemin. 

"Maybe later. For now you should just cool your jets, we've got ice cream and anime back at your room that needs to be taken care of," Jaemin said, turning and beginning to walk briskly towards the school's exit, Jeno hurriedly running to catch up to him.

"Not trying to rub it in or anything, but that looks way worse in the sunlight," Jeno commented, glancing at the red mark on Jaemin's neck. Jaemin glared at him, not sure why that comment was necessary.

"Again, this is entirely your fault," Jaemin replied, keeping pace with Jeno as the pair walked down the sidewalk.

"My fault? Good, glad that it's not from anyone else," Jeno said, causing Jaemin to turn and stare at him.

"What, would you be jealous?" Jaemin teased, nudging Jeno playfully. "Would you be if it were me?" Jeno replied, a smug look gracing his face.

"That is beside the point," Jaemin switched topics immediately. "What I'm saying is that there's no way to explain this without bringing you into it," he said, imagining his friends' reactions upon hearing the story.

"Why not bring me into it? I don't see what's so bad about telling them Lee Jeno gave you a love bite," he stated, wrapping his arm around Jaemin's shoulder. Jaemin obviously noticed Jeno's choice of word, feeling an uncomfortable heat rise to his face.

"Stop talking, you're not helping," Jaemin responded firmly, shaking Jeno's arm off of him. Instead, Jaemin silently took Jeno's hand in his, giving it a firm squeeze, then leaving their fingers intertwined as they continued to walk side by side.

"You know, despite the whole dorm rivalry thing going on, I think it'd be nice if you could meet my friends sometime," Jeno brought up, "Besides Haechan, I think we've already scarred him for life."

"Poor guy. Guess he can't handle confident gays," Jaemin spoke, getting a laugh out of Jeno. 

"He's pretty gay himself, actually. He just wasn't prepared for you to show up," he responded, thinking reasonably.

"If anyone's friends should be shocked, it's mine. I've never dated anyoneㅡ I'm the one here who's love life is more dead than an actual corpse," Jaemin spoke honestly, then noticed the mischievous expression on the older boy's face.

"I can help revive it, I know CPRㅡ" Jeno's offer was cut off by Jaemin promptly stepping on his foot. 

"You're being awfully anti-flirt today. Why, do you want me to stop?" Jeno questioned, making sure he wasn't annoying Jaemin.

"No! No, it's cute. You're... cute. But, um, you should save it for when we get back to your room," Jaemin admitted his reasoning, as well as letting a little bit of homo slip out. Jeno smiled at this.

Jeno at once leaned over, giving Jaemin a firm kiss on the cheek before stepping back.

"Whoever gets to the dorm first gets to feed the other person ice cream!" Jeno blurted out before abruptly dashing off, followed only by the sound of his shoes slapping on the pavement.

"What?!" Jaemin barely had time to understand the challenge before he took off running towards Jeno, suddenly determined not to lose this pointless game.

Let's just say that Jeno really hoped he'd win this time...

He knew Jaemin's expression would be worth it.

CHAPTER SIX→ end.