renjun chewed on his lip, as focused as he could be. jaemin's body was rigid, tense in anticipation. 

   renjun swung his arm back, and when he brought it back to the front, he let go of the rock. it hit the water once, twice, and then one last time, skipping three times before sinking. 

   "no way, i finally did it," renjun gasped.

   "i told you practice makes perfect," jamein beamed. he found pride in himself from having taught renjun how to do it. "it was only a matter of time," he pat renjun on the back.

   the smaller male turned to him and almost opened his arms for a hug before stepping backwards awkwardly. "it only took me three thousand tries," he chuckled, attempting to cover up the sign of affection he almost showed.

   jaemin pretended not to notice, ignoring the sharp pain in his chest. "well, be proud of yourself anyway. some people probably take three thoundand and one tries, but you're not one of them," he praised cheesily. renjun punched him in the arm, laughing.

   "wanna try one more?" jaemin asked. renjun looked at him like he had the plague or was crazy—or maybe just a mixure of both. "if i never hold another rock again in my life, it'll be too soon," he dismissed the idea. 

---

   neither renjun nor jaemin were aware of how much time had passed as they now sat on a bench, still facing the water. the silence was comfortable, but renjun was getting sleepy and there were things he needed to say before he left for the night.

   "jaemin," he hesitated. "hm?" the younger answered instantly, patiently waiting for what renjun would say next. "i'm sorry about what i said last time," renjun started slowly, "i meant most of it, but... i don't think i meant all of it, and i'm sorry if i hurt you."

   he was met with silence and he couldn't tell if he preferred it over whatever jaemin would say next or not. the ravenette eventually spoke, interrupting renjun's thoughts.

   "it's okay, i think i needed to hear it anyways," jaemin said quietly, and he meant it. he'd always felt sorry that he never knew how everything had been for renjun, on his side of the story. hearing what renjun had to say gave him a sense of clarity.

   renjun let out a yawn before deciding that it was time to go home. he stood up, causing jaemin to look at him longingly. "i actually had a lot of fun today," renjun admitted. jaemin smiled, standing up himself. "you don't make such bad company yourself, renjun-ah."

   they stood before eachother, almost awkwardly. it felt weird to just walk away, but neither of them knew what to do in place of it. renjun cleared his throat, "take care of yourself, okay?" "you too," jaemin replied. his voice held regret that neither of them were ready to talk about. so renjun turned around and walked away.

   he only made it three steps before jaemin grabbed his arm, pulling him towards him, and crashing their long-waiting lips together.

-----

word count: 519

twenty-eight chapters leading up to the first kiss

✎ ---- dreaminghyuck⤾