Jeno

Here lies Na Jaemin

Beloved friend, brother and soulmate

2000-2019

With a final read of the tombstone and its black granite, he offers his goodbyes and turns his back to the grave. His head was still a mess after running into Renjun. He hadn't expected to run into anyone here, but apparently he did. After seeing Renjun, the red ribbon around the tree made sense. He was the one who tied it there. He always did like the colour red, now that he thought about it. He just

The thought of Renjun visiting Jaemin never occurred to him before. Which is silly now that he thinks about it.

Jeno wants to call someone. Spend the day with them rather than go to classes. He knows he can't, though, considering that other than Doyoung and Taeyong, he didn't have anyone he could talk to. Not the way he used to. And there was no way those two were going to skip their classes just because he can't handle going to his own. He can't even go to any family; his dad being out of the country and the rest of the family being who they were.

He doesn't have anywhere he needs to be either. Or anywhere he can go instead of class. His brain draws a blank the more he tries to think and the next thing he knows, he's kneeling in front of the grave again. The mud will surely dirty his pants, but that's the least of his concern. 

"What do I do?" he murmurs. Silence embraces him harshly, uninvitingly. He wants an answer, an answer he knows he's surely not going to get. There was no way. "I'm sorry, Jaem."

He sits there so long that people passing by give him looks, murmuring to each other as they stop by graves two or three away from where he is. It gets too much, so with a murmured goodbye to the grave, Jeno gets up and dusts off his knees. His hands tremble and he wonders if the bus had been a good idea. He doesn't feel like dealing with people.

He reaches the gate when his phone goes off. Stopping, he pulls it out of his pocket and reads the message.

TY: hey, think u can head home? sm1 called about the room. 

jn: Sure

TY: b there in nxt 10 mins?

jn: will be there.

He pockets his phone and starts for the bus stop. If it means getting to go home, he supposes he can put up with a crowd for just a few minutes. The wait for the bus isn't long, though the drive to his stop is shorter. Up the stairs and nearly by the door, he sees a guy standing outside. Fluffy brown hair stands out and, upon noticing Jeno's presence, a smile spreads across his face. His eyes are crescent shape as he smiles and he looks too innocent for this world. Unsure of what to do, Jeno stands still. Which must be what encourages him to initiate first.

"You must be Jeno," the boy says when he makes no move to greet. He stretches out a hand which Jeno accepts after a moment. "I'm Shotaro. I'm here to apply for the room?" His grip is firm, hand warm against his own though his cheeks are flushed. He doesn't stop smiling after they've let go of each other's hands.

"You're early," Jeno manages. Bonus points for stopping himself from mumbling. He almost smiles to himself. 

"I estimated. The bus came a lot sooner than I expected it to," he explains, stepping away from the door to let Jeno  by. Shotaro is decent in not hovering over him as he unlocks the door. More so in that when Jeno walks in, he has to tell Shotaro he can come in. 

It's clear they hadn't been expecting company; as neat and tidy as Doyoung and Taeyong can be, there wasn't enough time to clean before they left. While the room doesn't look too bad, it's a tad messy. Passing the kitchen, Jeno represses a sigh at the thought of having to do the dishes. He leads Shotaro into the little living room and gestures for him to take a seat. Taking a seat across from him, he bites his lip in thought, hands wringing together on his lap. 

"I'm not sure how to go about this," Jeno admits, looking up. His chest tingles with surprise to notice Shotaro already looking at him. The smile never once grows creepy or makes him uncomfortable; he feels incredibly at ease the longer he's on the receiving end of it. "Well, what do you do?"

Shotaro clears his throat. "I'm a dance major at the local university. In my third year."

Jeno can't detain his surprise. That would have been his last guess if he were asked to take one. Though Shotaro did look like a humanities student so he would have been guessing along those lines either way. He eyes Shotaro for a brief moment before turning his gaze to the coffee table between them. "Working?"

"I start tomorrow. I don't know if that will put me behind on rent, but I will definitely pay on time"

"You know you don't have to stress," Jeno says softly. He looks with a soft expression across his face. "Taeyong and Doyoung aren't the intense kind. And you seem honest enough that you'll surely pay on time. So, if you like the room and decide to take it, they'll probably be happy to have you."

They sit like that, Shotaro asking about Jeno and what he does and effectively taking Jeno's mind off the events of this morning. His chest doesn't ache and he finds himself smiling when the other talks. Their conversation comes to a stop when Taeyong walks in, smiling at Shotaro and setting his things down. They show him the rooms available and inform him that he'd be able to take his pick whereby they settle in kitchen, Jeno on coffee duty while the two sort out the arrangements. By the time Doyoung is home, they've bid Shotaro a goodbye and inform Doyoung about their newest roommate who will be moving in the next day. (Yes, that soon because Shotaro's parents were moving back to Japan and there weren't any available rooms on residence.) 

"You sure you don't want to go out for dinner?" Taeyong questions, a pan in hand. He was preparing to make something when he remembered that they hadn't done anything other than the pancake thing. Jeno shoots him an apologetic smile from his place on the couch. 

The truth was, he didn't want to go out. While Korea was big, the group had been small and within walking distance of each other. His run in with Renjun freaked him to the extent that he didn't want to risk any other run ins. The chances were slim, but he didn't think he'd like to take the risk at all. With a shaky exhale, he closes his eyes.

"We can order pizza or chicken or something." His voice is quaint in the silence, but he feels so run down that his normal way of speaking felt like too much effort. "But yeah, I'm sure I'd like to just stay in."

Doyoung who had been sitting beside him glances over. "Did something happen today?"

Something happened today. Small, but effectively constant in his memory. It shook him, though it really shouldn't have. He considers Doyoung's question; considers all the potential answers he could give. A handful of them rest on the tip of his tongue, but Jeno winds up shaking his head. 

"Nothing at all," he lies.