⊗ 24 ⊗

                                    

                                          



he felt completely miserable. 
not that it changed much from usually, but this time he really felt like the most miserable man on this planet.


these were words that jeno kept repeating in his mind over and over again as he was standing on the porch of donghyuck's house, debating whether he should ring the doorbell or just leave and lock himself in his endless sorrow again. 


jeno didn't even know why he was standing there, feeling the urge to speak to someone about what he was feeling. the poor boy didn't have close friends, and he would usually talk to renjun or jaemin, but the two boys were currently the reason of his misery, so talking to them was unconceivable – plus, he had no idea where they could be. this place had been the only thing to flash in his mind when he had decreed that he would need to have a talk with someone. why? he had accompanied jaemin there a few times so that the boy could spend some nice time with mark, and he recalls that jaemin had mentioned that the cat hybrid lived at donghyuck's house. 
so, long story short, donghyuck's had been the only place jeno could think of to find someone to talk with. plus, donghyuck was aware of his feelings, so he wouldn't need to explain everything over again and to hurt himself while thinking about it. 


"are you going to knock or...?"


the korean male jumped slightly as a voice startled him, causing him to flush beet red and turn around, revealing donghyuck, his house keys in hand and his eyebrow raised. 
"h-hey, i-i... h-huh..." jeno stuttered, completely losing the ability to form words because of his nervousness. 
"if you're looking for jaemin, i just dropped him and mark at taeyong and doyoung's. so, it's on their porch that you should be debating whether to knock or not." donghyuck sassed, walking to jeno's side and entering the keys in the lock to enter his house. 
"i-i, h-huh... i-i was acutally h-hoping to t-talk to y-you..." jeno admitted, fidgeting with his fingers as he looked at his feet. 
"with me?" donghyuck sounded surprised. "yeah, okay sure. come in, then."


jeno hummed before following donghyuck inside and taking a seat on the sofa when donghyuck invited him to do so. 
"so." donghyuck plopped himself on the armchair facing him. "what do you want to talk to me about?" 
"h-huh... m-mostly jaemin... a-and f-fellings..."
donghyuck let out an airy chuckle. "yeah, i can imagine that you're not here to tell me about your erection problems."
jeno's faced turned a deep shade of red at donghyuck's words, his eyes widening in surprise. "i-i-i... i-i d-don't h-have e-erection p-problems...!" the poor boy stammered hard, making donghyuck laugh lightly. 
"i was just joking, jeno." donghyuck explained. "relax, you're all tense."
"y-yeah..." jeno hummed, still shy because of what donghyuck said seconds before. 


there was a short silence during which donghyuck studied jeno's behaviour carefully, chuckling again as the boy appeared to be shyer than ever. 
"you sure don't act the same with me than when you're around jaemin." donghyuck pointed out.
"r-really?" jeno blinked.
"yeah. with me, you're all stuttery and nervous, as if you weren't confident enough, and as if you were scared i could hurt you." donghyuck explained slowly. "but when jaemin's around, you look nothing like that. you appear very confident and protective of the boy."