"You didn't have to pick me up, you know. I know where Mark hyung lives and can walk there by myself." Jeno said with a small puff of breath at the end.

He's slightly sulking, because he feels like a child. But then again, he's not; it has become a small inside joke of theirs, and therefore he acts like he's upset.

The usual giddy feeling is there again, making him squirm a bit as he bites his inner cheek while the arm around his shoulders remains.

Glancing at Jeno, the latter continues to bite his inner cheek; getting a little painful now, when he hears a chuckle.

"I can't have you walking alone at times, Jen. There's a lot of bastards roaming around, especially near Mark's street."

"But the sun is still out!" Whining about, although he already knows the elder boy will not back down to make sure Jeno understands his intentions.

"That doesn't mean they wouldn't act up," Jaemin clicks his tongue, he pulls Jeno closer once they carefully cross the street, spotting Mark's familiar house.

"Whatever," Jeno mutters beside him.

"You like it anyway, stop pretending." Ears turning red as he turns his head to the side, trying not to show Jaemin his embarrassed look.

But Jaemin knows, he always does.

Arriving at Mark's front door, Jaemin was the one who knocks on the hard wood while Jeno shuffles on his feet, both waiting for someone to let them in.

Once the door opens widely, they were greeted by a sulking Donghyuck stepping aside, immediately letting them in.

"Lost a game already?" Jeno blinks at him with an amused glint in his eyes, guessing the cause of the tanned male's mood.

"Chenle fucking cheated, so unfair!" Donghyuck doesn't hesitate to complain to them, stomping his feet on the ground to emphasize how annoyed he was.

Giggling, Jeno pulls him by the wrist and leads Donghyuck along with him and Jaemin towards the main living room where the others were.

"You guys made it!" Mark exclaims, ecstatic about their presence. "Honestly thought a lot of us were busy today," he admits sheepishly.

"I canceled my club meeting for this," Renjun flatly said as he gives Mark a look, having the elder boy gulp nervously.

"He's kidding, it was already postponed before you invited us to come over." Chenle snickers, game controller in his hands.

Turning to him, Renjun rolls his eyes. "I'm not surprised you're happy about that." He mutters.

"Anything is better than having to listen y'all debate with boring long speeches." Chenle remarks, eyes focused on the game, "time is running."

"If you would've listened more and actually cooperated, maybe we would debate less and manage time wisely." Renjun continues to fight back.

The others snicker at them, knowing fully well Chenle doesn't care how annoyed Renjun is with him right now. He's not even paying too much attention to the elder boy.

Tuning them out, Jaemin pats the seat beside him, Jeno smiling instantly at the gesture as he claims the spot on the couch.

Jisung was on the armchair scrolling through his phone mindlessly, waiting for his turn on the controller as Donghyuck takes a moment to calm down a bit.

Looking up, he turns to Jeno for a moment and smiles. "Hi, Jeno hyung." Sweetly greeting the elder boy, smiling wider once he was greeted back, as sweet as his own.

"How about me?" Turning to an exaggerated frowning Jaemin, Jisung lets a chuckle tumble out of his lips.

"Hi to you too, Jaemin hyung." The said boy then grins, satisfied of what he got. Reaching over to quickly ruffle Jisung's hair in a loving manner.

Beside him, Jeno makes himself comfortable as Jisung averts his gaze from Jaemin to Jeno. There's that pitiful feeling again, but he brushes it off for now.

❈

"You guys should stay for dinner," Mark soon offers after he glances at the clock hanged up on the concrete wall. "Text your parents too."

"Are we cooking or ordering?" Jisung perks up from that, head turning away from the game which had made Donghyuck scream in joy when he sees his opponent's character dying.

"I don't think we can cook tonight, haven't restocked yet because mom is busy." The eldest boy amongst them replies in nonchalance.

"Well, you know what that means." Chenle has a mischievous grin on his face that has the others sigh.

"Who's paying?"

"Rock paper scissors," Jaemin suggests almost as a routine. Playing with the hair on the back of Jeno's head as the younger boy was watching his two friends play the game.

"Game on–"

"Hold on, let me b– FUCK!" Everyone shakes their head at the frustrated Donghyuck. "It's all Chenle's fault."

"Me?!"

❈

"I have the list of everyone's order, so if it's not the one you wanted, not my fault." Jaemin states, phone in hand ready to dial the fast food place.

"Why is Jaemin the one calling? He didn't even lose." Jeno rolls his eyes afterwards.

"Because Donghyuck is still grudging to make the call, we can't have him yelling at them." Renjun answers matter-of-a-factly.

"Can't we order Chick-fil-A instead?" Chenle's high pitched whine echoes in the living room.

"No, you lost. KFC was the most voted." Mark's answer has the younger whine continuously, kicking the pillow off the couch.

"Just order, I'm starving!" Jaemin clicks his tongue at the tanned male while waiting for someone to pick up the call.

❈

"Man! I wanted spicy!" Chenle pouts at his food once he opens it, realizing it wasn't exactly correct.

"Too bad, we're not ordering again." Jaemin was quick to shut him up with a strict look, "now eat your food."

"Yes, father." The younger boy grumbles on his spot, stabbing the food with his plastic fork as Jisung snickers beside him.

When everyone else was occupied with each other, Jaemin was left with Jeno; having their own little world.

"How's the food?" He pokes him with a question, watching the younger boy munch on his chicken.

Swallowing it down, Jeno chuckles. "It's okay, although they kinda forgot my slushy." Tone getting soft at the end as he was obviously bummed out.

Jaemin hums and inches his hand down to his pocket, "do you want me to order one for you?"

"What?" Jeno widens his eyes at the offer. "No, no– no need. We already ordered anyway and I don't want to cause you trouble."

"Baby, you never cause me trouble." Jaemin with his sweet words, sweet tone and sweet smile, has Jeno blushing again.

"But... It'll be unfair for the others." He whispers, glancing at their friends debating about something that Donghyuck had caused.

Jaemin rolls his eyes and places a hand on Jeno's thigh under the table, "so? They're not you, I care about you more."

"That's favoritism." Jeno deadpans.

"Maybe it is," Jaemin laughs quietly, leaning in to Jeno's ear. "Because you're definitely my favorite, Lee Jeno." Softly kissing his earlobe afterwards.

All Jeno could do was smile shyly, taking whatever affection Jaemin gave him as there's this running thought, brushing it off as always.