Chapter Text
As expected, Jeno communicates mostly with random thoughts and cat memes. Jaemin doesn't mind at all. It's a sweet sort of ache, to carry long conversations without seeing each other's faces. They call sometimes, spend the whole night on the phone, and after the third time, Mark sternly tells Jaemin to do that on the days he doesn't have to get up at an ass o'clock in the morning to go to his shitty part time job.
It's October already, but the weather doesn't seem to have gotten the memo. It's not as deliriously hot anymore, but the summer is still going strong, as if to make sure Jaemin doesn't forget those two weeks for even a second, even though it was almost giving up when they first arrived at the guesthouse.
The house is suffocating. They came back after a breath of fresh air to a space that's humid and heavy with bad memories, which haven't yet been overshadowed by the more pleasant ones, the ones from before. Mark buries himself in things to do just to get out, and when he can't do that, he either drops on his bed to sleep off his exhaustion or sits on the porch out back and looks ahead at nothing in particular. He lets himself be pulled into smoking again, too, but Jaemin threatens to go back to the streets, if he doesn't stop. And the only thing Mark hates more than being inside the house is the thought of Jaemin out there, alone and barely surviving. So he stops. They're like two birds that caught a whiff of freedom once and now are slowly dying in their cage.
Jaemin's engaging in Mark's favorite pastime one day, sitting outside with his sunglasses on and staring the sun in the face. Ending summer stretches inside him, bleak in a dangerous sort of way, almost as if he might forget everything he's supposed to be.
Mark walks out to the porch and says, face almost crumbling, "Let's sell the house."
Jaemin offers him a supportive grin and says, "I'll order pizza, if you don't cry."
Mark nods.
"Jaemin-ah," he mumbles half an hour later, mouth full and tears streaming down his face, "are we gonna be fine?"
Jaemin hums, takes another bite, chews carefully, swallows.
"We're already fine, though, aren't we? Which means we're gonna be more than that, we're gonna be fantastic."
Mark nods, gets the food down his throat with some difficulty and reaches for another slice.
They are fine. Even if Mark isn't going to stop struggling with his parents' death anytime soon, even if they have no relatives that would support them without waiting for a chance to grab anything of value Mark was left with for themselves, even if Jaemin is back to feeling nothing but regret, just multiplied by the number of days those two wonderful weeks had, which feels like a lot more than the number of days any other two weeks have ever had. They're fine, they have each other and they're going to survive.
•
It's almost November, then. Mark is busy dealing with the house sale with Johnny and Dongyoung's help. Jaemin goes to his shitty job every day, a jacket on his shoulders and a scarf around his neck. There hasn't been a single word from Jeno in ten days.
Jaemin knew they were eventually going to drift apart. He knew, and yet, he's still disappointed. He makes sure not to think he's in love, even in passing. It would be such a silly thought, with all those other, much more important things going on. It would be so stupid to be in love with a boy who was never supposed to be his from the very beginning. They were perfectly aware of the nature of their relationship. Two weeks, nothing more, an occasional phonecall or message after they went back to their respective lives. Even though Jaemin spent those two weeks in Neverland, and Jeno didn't have to go back to anything, because he was already there. Has always belonged there. Therefore, Jaemin isn't in love. He just doesn't like his life very much. He'd just rather live on Jeno's balcony or in his pocket, maybe. Just that. Nothing more. The summer has ended a long time ago.
"Don't you wanna go back to school?" Mark asks one day.
Jaemin nearly pulled a muscle carrying boxes from the supply truck into the store, where he has his shitty job at, and is now lying on the floor, face down, a cooling pack on his back.
"We talked about this, hyung," he groans. "I don't have enough money for school."
"Jaemin-ah."
Jaemin chances a glance and, as expected, Mark's mouth is pulled down into a thin line.
"Don't," Jaemin says only.
He's too tired for the conversation about taking Mark's family's money for his own needs. It has happened so many times already, and Mark still doesn't understand the amount of Jaemin's gratitude. That if he took any more, he couldn't bear it. He's constantly tired, lately.
Because Mark respects his decisions, however reluctantly after so many arguments, he indeed doesn't. He only kicks Jaemin's foot on his way out of the room. They're fine.
It's Friday, which means Jaemin can even sleep on that floor, if he chooses to, because Saturdays are his off days. He can rest and go back to browsing better job offers tomorrow. He zones out, not thinking about anything of importance. He's not sure how long he stays like that, but his back is numb by the time the doorbell rings.
He hears Mark make his way to the hallway, then the door open and then-
"Oh my god, this is not fucking happening right now! Are you shitting me? What the fuck!"
Jaemin instantly gets intrigued. The only people who visit them are Johnny, Dongyoung, sometimes Yuta and the mailman. Mark doesn't react this way to any of them. His heart starts pounding for no reason.
"Jaemin-ah!" Mark calls. There is shock and laughter in his voice. "Get your lazy ass over here!"
Jaemin parrots him soundlessly, indignant, but gathers himself off the floor without telling Mark it wasn't up to him to lie on it in the first place. His back must be better, because Jaemin can only feel a slight pain pull at him, when he moves. He barely registers it, much too preoccupied with guessing and hoping.
"Lee Jaemin!" Mark yells again, impatient.
Jaemin rolls his eyes, and walks out of the room. He can see Mark standing in the open door, but the corner of the hallway prevents him from seeing their guest. He feels a little dizzy from excitement.
But even that building emotion doesn't prepare him for seeing Lee Jeno on their doorstep.
"MOTHERFUCKER!" Jaemin exclaims, the word pulled out of his throat. He has so much he wants to say, that it's all confusing, and he's stunned for just a second. "What the fuck! Are you nuts?! Are you absolutely fucking insane? What are you doing?! How is this happening?"
And Jeno, standing there in all his pale glory, with grin blinding and hair almost white, only laughs like a lunatic.
"Okay, let's just get inside first," Mark says quickly. "Before we get another noise complaint."
Jaemin wants to glare at him for being an A grade hypocrite, since he was just shouting obscenities himself just a minute ago with the door wide open, but he can't take his eyes off of Jeno to even do that much.
"You changed your hair," Jeno says, still giggling like he's gone mad.
Jaemin gestures at his head that used to be covered with black just a little over a month ago.
"No shit," he deadpans. "Are you preparing camouflage for the winter? You wanna turn invisible? Is that it?"
Jeno just laughs again, and finally steps inside, only to crash Jaemin in a tight hug. He still smells like flowers warmed by the sun. Jaemin is going to cry.
Jeno raises his head and pulls away just enough to look at him.
"I liked the pink, but blue suits you better," he says with a brilliant smile.
Jaemin wants to kiss him, but he doesn't know where they stand, when they're here, in the real world. The hallway of Mark's house feels wrong for them. Jeno laughs a little again, and presses their foreheads together.
"Why are you hesitating now? We had sex a week into knowing each other."
"Gross," Mark notes. Jaemin forgot he was there for a bit. "I'll just, uh, you know, I'll go and… um, bye."
Jaemin refuses to look away from Jeno's face, so he mostly hears Mark leave them alone instead of confirming it with his sight. Jeno isn't smiling anymore, even if his eyes are.
"What are you doing here?" Jaemin murmurs. "I thought you," he pauses.
He's not sure that he wants to really start crying right now.
"I'm sorry," Jeno says immediately. His hands cup Jaemin's face. "We promised to keep in touch and I know I messed up. There is an explanation, but I don't wanna make excuses. I'm really sorry, Nana."
Jaemin exhales. The chance of him crying isn't as ominously big anymore.
"I want them, though," he says with a provocative grin.
"Huh?" Jeno asks.
"Give me the excuses, Lee Jeno," Jaemin tells him.
"The weirdest dude on the planet," Jeno snorts and boops Jaemin's nose with his own. "So the excuse, right?" Jaemin nods. He feels like he's floating. "Okay, well, it all boils down to me grabbing my phone only when I had to, because I literally had no time to do anything else on it. I don't know if you've heard, but Hyuck has been sick the past two weeks-"
"That little shit!" Jaemin cuts in, scandalized. "He didn't tell me anything and we talk almost every day!"
"You do?" Jeno asks, blinking at him adorably.
"Yeah!" Jaemin huffs, then deflates a little, "well, mostly about clothes and boys… but he could have mentioned it!"
"Huh," Jeno says, rubbing Jaemin's arms absently, "I'd think he'd wanna complain, he always complains about everything."
"Exactly!" Jaemin agrees.
"Well, anyway, he's been sick, and so have some of our other staff, a flu season or something, and with Jisung and Chenle gone for school, we're so understaffed I could barely catch any sleep. Renjun would kill you in three seconds flat, if you walked up to him to ask for anything, and the Parks are too busy to even search for some new employees. It's crazy, man, I'm telling you."
"But they let you come here to visit?" Jaemin asks incredulously.
"I mean, Hyuck feels better now, so I made him take over for a bit," Jeno shrugs with a shit eating grin. "Also, I'm not here just to visit."
"Okay?" Jaemin says unsurely. "Then why?"
To tell you he will never see you again, Jaemin's brain suggests evilly. Jaemin shakes off the thought.
"Mark-hyung should be here for that, actually," Jeno says.
He seems strange, kind of hopeful maybe. Jaemin doesn't know what to think about that.
"Hyung!" he yells. "Come back here for a sec!"
Mark peeks out from the kitchen and joins them when he deems it safe enough.
Jeno steps away from Jaemin to look at both of them.
"I was actually sent here," he admits with a small smile. He looks nervous now. "To ask if you'd be willing to work for the Parks. I know it's kinda ridiculous and out of nowhere, and you probably have stuff that keep you here, but auntie took a liking to Jaemin right away, and I know you're capable and that we could use your skills at the guesthouse and the park."
Jaemin stares at him in stunned silence, heart wild, and he knows Mark is equally as shocked.
"I, uh, also know that you're selling the house," Jeno continues a little awkwardly, when he doesn't get any response. His eyes are wide now.
"How?" Mark asks faintly, then clears his throat. "How do you know that?"
"From Chenle," Jeno says.
Obviously. Mark and Jaemin decided not to tell anyone they're selling the house before the deal was finalized, so even Donghyuck, whom Mark texts every other second, didn't hear anything about that. Jaemin is sure Mark knew Donghyuck was sick and just didn't tell him, the traitor.
"Right," Mark rubs his forehead with a sigh. "Of course."
Chenle has a way of knowing things, of finding out what no one else can possibly find out. He must have been the one to subtly suggest the Parks employ them. Jaemin mentally scans their group chat to make sure he wasn't the one who spilled, but they rarely talk about anything of importance there, so that couldn't have been the case.
"That's why I came here," Jeno adds, unnecessarily. "Would you consider it at least?"
Jaemin and Mark exchange looks. Jaemin shrugs and nods, barely able to keep still with this exciting development hitting them right in the face. They were on a good way to destroy their cage, but now maybe they won't need to look for a new one. Mark blinks owlishly at the floor for a second, but Jaemin can see the smile forming in the corners of his lips.
"You don't have to answer now," Jeno adds quickly.
They're still standing in the hallway, which seems silly with such an important conversation going on. Mark finally looks at Jaemin again and nods.
They're doing this. They both want to be free.
Mark can't hold back anymore and he grins at Jeno, shrugs just like Jaemin did a minute ago and says, trying for casual, "Why not? I heard Donghyuck is beautiful during every season."
Jaemin and Jeno let out identical coughs that fail to cover up their snorts. Jaemin feels like he's going to burst any second, and it's from something disgustingly positive this time, not regret.
"What?" Mark frowns. "Did I say something weird? But it says that on the park's website? Right?"
Jeno places a hand on his shoulder and says gravelly, "I don't think it does, no."
"Hey, I've read a lot about the park and I'm sure I saw that Wolchul-"
Jaemin can't hold back his laughter anymore. Mark throws him a glare and begins to search the apartment for his phone.
"I'm gonna find it, just you fucking wait," he mutters, mostly to himself.
Jaemin and Jeno leave him to it. Jeno reaches out to hold Jaemin's hand, his fingers as warm and wonderful as they were in the summer.
"You know," he murmurs, for only Jaemin to hear. They're so close all of a sudden. That feeling of something more, of sweeping past time, of bottomless universe just under his feet creeps up on Jaemin out of nowhere. It settles over him like a thrilling but familiar traveler cloak. Jeno's lips brush his ear, when he leans even closer and whispers, conspiratorial and full of mischief, "I bought new socks."
Jaemin's stomach swoops. He didn't kiss Jeno goodbye, but he does kiss him hello again.
•••