the next day, jeno was determined to have a talk with renjun and sort things out.

the fact that him and jeno had feelings for the same person shouldn't separate them.

it's not because two people like someone that this someone likes them back.

maybe he likes one. maybe the other. and maybe none of them...

anyway, jeno was determined.

he had revised his speech a few times before falling asleep even though he knew he would be so stressed that he would completely mess up.

jeno, renjun and jaemin met up in front of the school first thing in the morning, as usual.

jeno could feel the tension hanging in the air because of renjun and him, but he didn't voice it out, because jaemin seemed unbothered by it.

he wasn't as bubbly as usual, but he still lifted up the mood a bit.

jeno and renjun accompanied him to his first class – they were still oblivious of the fact jaemin didn't actually have classes.

once jaemin entered the room – of which he would get out after a minute – jeno and renjun found themselves alone.

usually, they would walk together towards the closest classroom and then separate, but this morning wasn't a usual one.

as soon as jaemin disappeared from their sights, renjun's smile disappeared, being replaced by a scowl. and, as jeno was about to ask renjun a question, the chinese walked away, quicker than usual, completely ignoring jeno.

the korean followed renjun across the corridor and looked at him entering one of the art classrooms.

he stood behind the open door to have a glimpse of renjun.

"good morning."

"oh, good morning renjun. you're here early." the teacher smiled at him.

"i really wanted to paint."

"good to know." she smiled.

jeno stood still, watching renjun pick up a painting in progress and fix it on his easel.

he kept his eyes on the small chinese shuffling around every cupboard of the room.

"where are the pain tubes?" he asked to the teacher.

"oh, the hygiene services passed this week end and threw all the old tubes away. you have to get new ones in the art closet. you know where it is?"

renjun nodded.

"can you bring a few of them for your classmates please?"

"of course." renjun smiled before making his way out of the classroom.

when hearing that, jeno glued his back to the wall, wishing renjun wouldn't see him. and he didn't. renjun walked straight across the corridor, not glancing sideways, and this way, not noticing jeno. 

jeno followed renjun across the empty corridor – classes had already started, but jeno didn't give a damn about his classes, he would rather make up with renjun before going back there – but he made sure he was silent, not to grab the chinese's attention.

he followed him towards the last floor of the building and looked at him entering one of the janitor's closets of the corridor.

jeno approached the door that renjun had left open and glanced inside.

it was the closet which contained all the art stuff. easels, canvas of various seizes, palettes, paint brushes, paint tubes... everything, from the floor to the ceiling.

when he got there, renjun had already picked a few tubes which he held with difficulty under his arm.

and if that wasn't difficult enough, he was standing on his tippy-toes, trying to grab a tube that was at the very top of the shelf, but his hand was nowhere near reaching that.

"you want some help?"

"AH!" renjun exclaimed, letting all the tubes he was holding fall on the floor. "you fucking scared me!"

"sorry..." jeno rubbed his nape. "let me help you."

jeno approached renjun, and lifted his arm effortlessly to grab the tubes renjun was reaching for.

"thanks." renjun grumbled before picking the tubes on the floor.

jeno crouched next to the chinese to help him.

"can we talk, please?" he asked.

"what do you want to talk about?" renjun scoffed without looking at him.

"we need to talk about jaemin."

renjun stood up, his arms full of tubes. jeno did the same.

"i don't see what we are going to talk about, lee. you like him, i like him, we're rivals."

"jaemin will be sad us if we start fighting again." jeno said calmly.

"but what do you want us to do?" renjun rolled his eyes. "love isn't something you can control."

"i know."

renjun looked at jeno without talking, jeno doing the same.

"aren't you going to talk?" renjun asked not so gently. "i need to finish my painting."

"jaemin has his own feelings. we can't hate each other because we both like him when we didn't ask him what he thought about it." jeno spoke that sentence that was on his mind since yesterday.

renjun blinked a few times, keeping his mouth shut.

"you're right..." he mumbled after a while.

"so, we both need to talk with him." jeno told.

"don't tell me what to do."

"renjun... why are you this stubborn. we're friends now."

"in front of jaemin, we are." he spat. "otherwise, you're my rival."

jeno rolled his eyes.

renjun was a tough one.

one second being an adorable teddy bear that you want to squish in your arms, and the next being a venomous snake, ready to attack.

"alright, alright. but do you agree that we should talk to him?" jeno asked. "he may like one of us. or he may like none of us. we can't force him."

"and what are you thinking about?"

"one afternoon only with him each. we hang out and have fun. we can confess there."

"i'm first." renjun said immediately.

jeno nodded.

"there are rules though." jeno added.

"what again?" renjun sighed.

"we can't force him. if he doesn't want to do something, or if he isn't comfortable, we let him be. remember he may not like any of us."

renjun tapped his foot on the floor impatiently.  "yeah, okay. can i go now? i can't bear seeing that face anymore."

and with those words, renjun left the janitor closet, passing next to a confused jeno who still had paint tubes in his arms.

"oh, my hell... how can this boy be this cute yet annoying and bitchy..." he asked himself, walking a few metres behind him to bring to his art classroom the remaining paint tubes – and also to stare at the way renjun's outfit revealed his curves perfectly, because damn, that boy sure knew how to dress, and he may have a big mouth, but he looks hot as hell.

what jeno didn't know, in fact, was that renjun enjoyed very much being the one to make the rules and having jeno at his mercy; and so, hearing jeno's heavy steps trailing behind him had made a smile appear on his face, and had caused his heart to beat faster than it should have.