[ a/n: important announcement at the end of the chapter!! i would appreciate if you read until the end <3 ]

━━━ ☆★☆ ━━━

it was time for the chinese homies reunion!

the iconic trio finally made plans to meet after what felt like a decade. yangyang had no dance competition upcoming which was why he had finally time for his fellow mates.

therefore, his friends claimed him for a day. they decided to hang out at yangyang's place with the reason of him having "the best gaming equipment" according to chenle. (his set-up wasn't even that impressive and extravagant but he owned pink cat headphones and chenle was all over it.)

it was noon and the three of them were already gathered at yangyang's house. renjun and chenle made themselves comfortable on his bed and chatted with the host who was preparing the wii u and the controllers for the game at the same time.

after everything was settled, the latter joined them on the bed and selected a character to play in 'super smash bros'.

it was beautiful to see that three friends have come together on a calm sunday to spend some quality time together and to strengthen their bond.

"DAMN, RENJUN. DON'T BE LAME AND USE SHIELD ALL THE TIME", yangyang mocked his best friend, intentionally attacking his character.

"THEN STOP SPAMMING THE SAME ATTACK, IDIOT", renjun called out, trying to flee from his player who kept on assaulting him with the same move.

"YEAH, YANGYANG. STOP EATING US", chenle yelled in agreement, frowning while wearing the pink cat headphones. however, his expression changed into a shocked one as realisation struck him. "wait, that came out wrong—"

"IT'S KIRBY'S ABILITY, DUMMIES. THEY ARE SUPPOSED TO EAT YOU UP TO COPY YOUR SKILLS", yangyang explained shouting, letting his selected player run after his friends just to annoy the hell out of them.

"in fact, kirby will always eat you up and leave no crumbs", the latter added proudly, finally succeeding in coping the abilities of renjun's character.

"i hate you, yang", the two-toned haired boy groaned in annoyance, "you fucking copycat."

a cocky grin was plastered on yangyang's face as he continued getting on all their nerves.

it was all fun and games until his friends decided to team up and gang up on him, making his grin falter in an instant.

"HEY, GUYS. THAT'S NO WHAT WE AGREED ON. STOP IT!", the brown haired boy protested desperatedly, trying to fight both of them at the same time and struggling to do so.

"THAT'S NOT FAIR!" (by nct u)

renjun had a menacing smile on his face while chenle laughed like a maniac as their characters cornerned yangyang's.

"now watch us slaying", the two-toned haired boy announced maliciously, wearing a grin as wicked as chenle's.

"literally!", the sophomore yelled out, feeling too entertained by the situation and seeking revenge.

a cold shiver was sent down yangyang's spine when he witnessed his friends turning their backs against him.

"RENJUN, FUCK OFF WITH PALUTENA", the brown haired boy shouted, giving his best to protect himself from the killer duo who was about to execute their plan, "AND CHENLE, SCREW YOU WITH DONKEY KONG."

it was definitely peaceful and totally not hateful. they were absolutely bonding in super smash bros without their friendship being at stake.

the next few rounds remained as chaotic, messy and noisy as the first one. screams, gasps, protests and cursing filled the tense air. threats, accusations and, once again, swearing were thrown all over the room at each other.

there was lots of betrayal and twists in those rounds, nonetheless, their stomach started aching from laughing their asses off. their cheeks were hurting as well from smiling all the time. they were clearly all having fun, laughing at and with each other despite their snarky and hilarious remarks and comments.

after a few rounds, they were tired of only fighting each other. therefore, they decided to spice things up by introducing strong npcs in their multiplayer rounds.

they all loved the challenge but despised the rivals because they were lowkey (highkey) kicking their butts — uh, i meant the npcs were at an equal level as them and proved them as competent opponents. obviously!

another round of cursing, yells and insults from chenle and yangyang sounded in the room.

however, renjun remained calm the whole time. certain thoughts kept cruising in his head, distracting him from retorting to his swearing friends and annoying other rivals.

his odd behaviour aroused suspicion, nonetheless, the two younger boys were too busy fighting off their enemies to question it.

"hey homies, hypothetical question", the two-toned haired boy finally spoke up after a while, having enough of being alone with his thoughts.

even though his friends were highly focused on playing and their eyes practically being glued on the screen, they managed to respond with a 'yeah?' and 'spill it'.

"how do you know you're crushing on someone?", renjun asked the question so casual and nonchalant as it was the most normal thing to talk about in a boys' gaming session. a short pause followed before he cleared his throat, "especially if that's on someone of the same gender?"

"HUH—", chenle and yangyang shouted in unison with their heads turning to their friend in sync. surprise and confusion were written on their faces as they did not see that question coming.

"hey, why are donkey kong and kirby both on fire? what did you do? bros, that's not how the game works. we're gonna lose to the npcs!", renjun wondered irritatedly and furrowed his brows while continuing playing like he just didn't drop a bomb of secrets in the room.

his frown deepend when yangyang pressed a button, resulting the game to be on halt. "fucking pause, renjun", the brown haired boy demanded, putting away his controller to have a glance at his best friend.

"what did you just say?", yangyang asked calmly, dedicating his full attention to the two-toned haired boy. his gaze switched into a serious but caring one.

chenle copied yangyang's actions and took off the pink cat headphones, surprising the two-toned haired boy. the latter realised that it was going to be serious.

"uhm...", renjun began awkwardly as his cheeks became flushed due to the embarrassment he felt.

his eyes averted the prying gazes of his friends, instead glancing at the wooden floor.

"i feel lately so... confused", he confessed quietly, finally sharing his thoughts that were bothering him the whole time. his cheeks were tinted a darker shade of pink, showcasing his timidity about the situation.

"confused with your feelings?", chenle approached cautiously, having an idea what his friend might be going through. his eyes softened as he glanced at his friend.

silence engulfed the thick and tense air as renjun maintained silent and continued staring at the floor. yangyang and chenle exchanged worried looks, the two of them being concerned about their friend.

a frustrated sigh escaped renjun's lips, interrupting the silence and drawing their attention. the two-toned haired boy simply nodded as answer, not being able to form any sentence and bring any words out.

"we can talk about it, renjun", yangyang offered kindly, nudging softly the older boy. the latter lifted his head, meeting his eyes. it was the first time that the brown haired boy had seen his best friend in such despair.

"talking could help you sort out your thoughts and give you some clarity", chenle commented caringly, putting the headphones aside to focus completely on his friend.

"you can tell us anything! gaming can wait", the brown haired boy reassured, putting an arm around his friend's shoulder, "and so can we! we've all day."

"you know, we're chinese homies after all. don't forget out special bond", the sophomore quoted and wore a cheeky grin on his face.

soft chuckles left renjun's lips, amused about the sneaky kid using his own words against him.

"yeah! the holy trinity!", yangyang agreed confidentally and fist-bumped chenle, "and we promise that we won't judge. i won't bully you, okay?"

"i'll bully yangyang back if he drops a mean comment!", the youngest among them suggested enthusiastically, making the host of the house scoff.

"hey! that's not how it works!", the brown haired boy protested and frowned, hearing chenle giggle mischievously.

the two of them started to bicker passionately in chinese with yangyang complaining that team work worked differently.

fortunately, they were the only one's in the room with no random passengers nearby judging them (unlike last time where chenle and renjun bantered).

while the two of them were bantering, the two-toned haired boy grimaced and observed them quietly. he felt a sense of gratitude and was reminded of how supportive and caring his friends actually were.

"are you guys finished fighting? when can i tell my story?", the oldest among them chimed in, pretending to be annoyed when his little grin betrayed him.

the two younger ones turned to their friend sitting in between them, pausing their silly banter for now.

"oops- sorry, bro!", yangyang apologized laughing while chenle couldn't stop giggling. the former finally stopped his laughter unlike the orange haired boy. therefore, yangyang punched the sophomore to shut him up — and it miraculously worked (with the side effect of chenle giving him an offended glare).

the two of them shifted their attention back to renjun who was waiting patiently for them to be calm.

a moment of silence followed afterwards, letting the anticipation and tension in the room rise.

renjun's throat felt dry, strangled and suffocated by the feeling of pressure and truth he had to finally face.

"i think... i've fallen for jaemin", the two-toned haired boy stumbled over his words, having found the courage to speak his mind and admit his feelings.

his friends let out the loudest gasps known to mankind, followed by asking questions right away at the same time.

"you're into jaemin?!"

"you're gay?!"

yangyang sent a judgemental look, an 'are-you-fucking-serious-right-now' look, to the sophomore, placing his hands on his hips and shaking his head in disappointment. "wasn't it obvious that he was gay??"

chenle let out an offended gasp and mirrored his look that said 'are-YOU-fucking-serious-right-now' before shrugging his shoulders. "renjun has never officially made a statement about his sexuality and i didn't want to jump on any conclusions bro??", he defended himself, scoffing.

"wasn't it obvious that he's into jaemin?? they've been acting so sus the past couple of weeks", the orange haired boy commented, making renjun blush in embarrassment.

"like you can't tell me they are no homo for each other. hell nah, they are FULL homo for each other", chenle added, receiving a glare from the oldest boy.

"chenle, shut it—", the two-toned haired boy demanded scoldingly, however, he got cut off by his best friend.

"well, first at all, how could i know that when i don't regularly hang out with the drama club members??", yangyang argued, crossing his arms in front of his chest.

"second of all, it'll make him gay if he's into jaemin and third of all-", the brown haired boy pointed out, nonetheless, it was his turn to get interrupted by his best friend midways.

"shut up, yang. let me finish first", renjun ordered and exhaled tiredly, rubbing his temples.

"anyways, it's true that i've never said anything about my sexuality", the latter confirmed, seeing how chenle gave yangyang a look that screamed 'see?-i-was-right!'.

"i didn't truly know it myself because i didn't really care about it a lot. i was rather unbothered and didn't give much of a fuck until-", the two-toned haired boy explained, however, paused mid-sentence. his heart pounded crazily as he let the next words slip out of his mouth.

"until jaemin showed up...", he finished quietly his sentence, causing chenle and yangyang to squeal in excitement.

renjun, however, let out an annoyed groan and buried his face in his hands. "then, things got more complicated. my feeling's grew more complex and confusing the better i got to know him and the more time i spent with him."

the two-toned haired boy removed his hands from his face, nonetheless, his gaze was glued on the floor.

"everything's messing with me. he is messing with me."

"wait—", yangyang's excited face quickly switched to a serious one as his eyes darkened at his words. "what do you mean by that? how is he messing with you? is he playing with your feelings? is he hurting you? is he a jerk to you?", his best friend interrogated, being on alert as his protective side came out of him.

renjun's head perked up as his eyes widened in shock. he wildly shook his head, crossing his arms like the letter x. "no! that's not what i meant!", the two-toned haired boy objected in panic.

"what do you mean then?", yangyang asked skeptically, raising his eyebrow. renjun averted the gazes of his friends' once again, not being able to look into their eyes while saying the next words aloud.

"we have these moments that are so intense that i don't know if we're really just friends or... more than that", renjun admitted quietly. his heart started pacing when his mind ran back to all the shared moments with jaemin.

"ooooh, i smell a situationship", chenle noted, nodding to himself. ephiphany spread across yangyang's face as he finally understood why his best friend felt so confused.

"do you want to give us some examples of those moments?", the orange haired boy inquired curiously, seeing the blush of the oldest one darkening.

"of course only if you want to!", he added quickly and understood if he didn't like to share them. after all, these moments must be intimate and private.

"no, it's fine. i need to talk about them with someone anyway... so that you guys can judge if that's an actual situationship", the two-toned haired boy gave in, pulling nervously at his collar of his shirt and clearing his throat.

[ ★ ]

yangyang and chenle were quite responsive about the things renjun shared with them.

the fact that jaemin drops pick-up lines and is so damn flirty with renjun got them grinning ear to ear, making the former feel creeped out by them.

the fact that renjun held hands with jaemin twice got them squealing so loudly that they were afraid that the neighbours would hand in a complaint.

the fact that jaemin pays attention to the little details of renjun, asks him about his interests and lets him ramble about his likes got them giggling nonstop and at the same time, made them feel single.

the fact that jaemin makes renjun feel that way — feel seen, heard, appreciated and loved — got them so gagged that they thought it was a whole kdrama.

oh boy, but there was one thing that topped everything.

the fact that jaemin and renjun exchanged cheek kisses after their art museum date (and even the fact that he insisted on calling their outing a date) got them screaming, shouting in pillows, yelling at each other, shaking each other's shoulders, punching each other's arms, kicking their feet and, to add the cherry on top here, attempting to do a back-flip in euphoria but ended up miserably failing it and almost breaking their backs on yangyang's mattress.

were they totally freaking out and acting like the biggest fanboys known on earth? no, obviously not, never ever. they denied it and corrected the term 'fanboys' to 'enthusiastic supporters who happened to show authentic and responsive reactions'.

"enough for now. i'm not going into any details anymore. i suppose you have a picture in your mind now", renjun cut off, making the two younger boys sulk in protest.

"well, i don't know about chenle but i definitely don't. it's too abstract for me which is why you need to tell us more", yangyang requested disgunstingly sweet and tried to give him a cute, pleading puppy look.

"me too", the orange haired boy agreed pouting and joined in giving cute looks. in return, the two of them received a smack on the back of their heads from the oldest one.

"OUCHHH", they both yelled dramatically, rubbing the painful, hurting spot of their head. "ha, losers", renjun snorted, feeling amused by his extra friends.

[ ★ ]

"i still can't believe that renjun did the first move and kissed his cheek first", yangyang began in a teasing manner. nevertheless, he got cut off when a pillow was thrown at him, making him shut up for just a mere second.

"OUCH, WHAT WAS THAT FOR??", the brown haired boy cried, displaying an extremely offended and dissatisfied look on his face.

"for underestimating me, idiot", renjun responded, showing him his middle finger even though he was surprised of himself that he did the first move. well, his friends don't need to know every single detail, right?

"for real, yangyang", chenle agreed, finding an excuse for throwing something at him too. his eyes glinted with mischief when he shot a pillow at the brown haired boy who gasped loudly.

"YOU DISRESPECTFUL TURDS. I'LL KICK YOU GUYS OUT", the host scolded, feeling offended by his friends who were sharing malicious laughter together.

after all of them calmed down, either from laughing or shouting, they continued having a conversation about literally everything — from the most ridiculous and outrageous topics to the deepest, philosophical subjects ever. that's how normal conversations between friends look, ain't it?

when chenle and yangyang had a hot debate about which ninjago character had the best character developement, renjun didn't take part in their discussion. instead, he watched them with a warm smile filled with gratitude and appreciation.

his mind felt at ease and clearer after having talked things out. relief washed over him as he was glad that he didn't get judged for his thoughts.

it was difficult for him to bring up such topics about himself. his friends accepted and supported him for who he was and how he felt.

it was now jaemin's turn to accept how he felt or maybe even reciprocate his feelings.

"hey, why are you smiling like a fool?", yangyang asked teasingly, snapping his best friend back into reality.

"because the answer is obvious and you don't get it, fool", renjun responded nonchalantly, pretending to have listened to them the whole time when he wasn't, "lloyd had the best character developement."

the brown haired boy gasped in bewilderment and offense, opposing his statement while chenle was in favor of it. the latter laughed maniacally, clapping his hand wildly in amusement.

"SEE, I TOLD YOU. IT'S LLOYD."

"OH, FUCK OFF. IT'S OBVIOUSLY KAI."

[ ★ ]

not only the iconic chinese homies had a reunion, but also the detective boys had a meeting.

"we've gathered here for an important matter, detectives", donghyuck introduced professionally, standing next to a whiteboard and holding a stick with a goofy pointer finger attached at the tip.

"thanks to jeno, we were able to assemble at his place to hold this urgent conference", the purple haired boy mentioned and pointed to his best friend with that stick.

"you practically forced me and claimed my home as our meeting place", jeno commented and rolled his eyes.

"we ain't any detectives, too. we ain't in brooklyn 99", the latter remarked, crossing his arms and leaning his back against his pillow on his bed.

"shut up, jen. let me have this moment", the purple haired boy glared, sour expression on his face.

"it's even the 99th chapter and it's such a funny reference! it's also funny that we're all detective lee because our last names are all lee. so, just shut up before i kick you out."

mark and jeno exchanged amused looks and shrugged their shoulders, both of them knowing that their friend yap nonsense, especially when it's jeno's house and he can kick hyuck's ass out, not the other way around.

"moving on", the youngest among them cleared his throat and straightened his posture, "we're going to discuss things related to our mission."

donghyuck placed his pointing stick at the huge, colorful words written on top of the whiteboard.

"operation: fowtcbtnroj(afasnftm)", he read out in a stern voice, spelling the whole word, letter for letter, even saying the brackets aloud, with confidence and ambition.

the two older boys blinked several times at the board and at the purple haired one. confusion and irritation were spread across their faces.

mark sat next to jeno, raising his eyebrow and his hand after hyuck had finally finished reading out the title of their mission.

"yes, markie?", the latter pointed the stick at his friend, clearly having too much fun with it as he kept on playing with it.

"what does the... extravagant abbreviation stand for?", the canadian asked cluelessly, brows furrowed.

"glad you asked", donghyuck smirked before taking in a deep breath and saying the title aloud in one go, "the abbreviation stands for 'find out who's the culprit behind those nasty rumors of jaemin, bracket open, and find another shorter name for the mission, bracket closed'."

an angelic smile was plastered on his face while jeno and mark stared dumbfoundedly at him.

"okay, yeah, i admit we need a shorter and simpler name for that", donghyuck dropped his smile and agreed sighing, not satisfied with the title himself.

"but we have priorities — finding that fucking asshole first!", the latter exclaimed determinedly, pointing at the big question mark next to the word 'culprit' on the whiteboard.

"let's sum up the information we've already collected", the purple haired boy began, shifting the pointer to the bullet points that were already written down on the board.

"firstly, jaemin's fanclub has disbanded for a while."

"so glad that they had dissolved cuz that was a weird ass cult", jeno commented, his seatmate hummed in agreement.

"secondly, there is an accusation that members of the fanclub had spread the rumors — according to some sources."

mark nodded in approval, remembering vividly of having asked his friends, friends of his friends and fellow classmates.

"and last but not least, the perp who caused this whole mess wants to harm jaemin or ruin his reputation. it is clear that he is the target due to all the incidents and attacks where jaemin had to suffer and became the victim.", donghyuck listed before letting out a frustrated sigh, "however, the motive and identity of the culprit are still unknown."

"but guys, we have a lead", mark chimed in, his voice sounding optimistic, "we have the list of the people in jaemin's fan club."

"exactly!", the purple haired boy agreed enthusiastically and pointed the stick at the canadian, "mark, you're the best among everyone."

"what the fuck does that mean? we're just three people", jeno asked confusedly, frowning at his statement.

"i said what i said", donghyuck declared and shrugged his shoulders, watching his best friend roll his eyes in annoyance.

"anyways, back to our mission! thanks to mark, we've gathered the list of the fanclub members and we've split up the people we're gonna interrogate", the youngest continued.

"so, my fellow detectives, give me your status report. do you have any new clues?", donghyuck inquired with hope in his eyes.

in contrast to his best friend, jeno's eyes were full of disappointment. "negative. the people i've questioned gave me the same answers. they all seem to have a fish brain and don't remember who spread the rumors", the blonde haired boy responded tiredly, "and of course, they excluded themselves from being the perp."

"same here", mark agreed, frustration was visible on his face. "they can't remember it either if that was a fellow fanclub member or someone else who has began sharing those rumors."

"that's the same case as me", donghyuck sighed as the sparkles in his eyes faded, having unfortunately experienced it as well.

however, an idea crossed his mind, making him beam at the thought. "wait markie, have you asked your friends in the newspapers club?", the latter asked as the glint of hope returned in his eyes.

"maybe they know the root of the rumors since they are good journalists and know every single tea in school!", the purple haired boy added optimistically.

nonetheless, the sparkle of hope vanished in his eyes when his friend responded.

"i did ask them, however, they have no single idea too. they just heard the rumors from every corner but have not met the creator of them, yet", mark replied and pursed his lips into a thin line.

"that's such a shitty riddle", hyuck cursed under his breath, running his hand through his purple dyed hair, "we have no hints and leads anymore! it's almost impossible to solve the case."

"wait", jeno chimed in, "has anyone asked for potential enemies of jaemin? has he had a bad history with someone?"

"yeah, i did some research and jaemin's clean. bro has no enemies, or at least, shouldn't have any enemies at all", his best friend replied, upset that they had found nothing yet.

"i still have the feeling that it's someone from the fanclub", jeno mentioned thoughtfully, "like, everyone outside the club has stated that the origins of the rumors are coming from the fanclub."

"and yet, it could be anyone. maybe someone from the outside planted those rumors into the fanclub–", mark argued, "–knowing that his fans can be turned into his haters and have the most powerful impact on authenticity."

"also, all fanclub members deny it as well that the rumors are originally coming from the fanclub... or at least, the interviewee say that they aren't involved in that whole thing", donghyuck commented frowning.

"that's a bit suspicious... they could all be lying tho", the latter added skeptically.

"do you think it's more than one person to blame for?", jeno asked, rubbing his chin as he was deep in thought.

"maybe, we don't know yet", mark sighed, "and we're back at the dead end..."

"man, what would detective conan do?!", the youngest called out in despair, dropping dramatically to his knees.

"yep, you're indeed a theatre kid", his best friend confirmed, his face being totally unfazed unlike hyuck.

"excuse me?! of course i am and so are you!", donghyuck scoffed and stood up again.

"we all are, literally", mark approved laughing and the next second, the three of them were pointing at each other as in imitating the three spider-men meme.

they did not discuss doing that beforehand which was why they bursted into loud ass laughter with jeno and mark almost falling off from the bed. they all indeed shared one braincell in that moment.

"okay, guys. back to work", the canadian called out after they had calmed down, "i've told my friends from the newspaper club to keep an eye on the whole thing. not only we would benefit from that, they would too since they would have a spicy story when exposing the perp."

"hell yeah. that's what the culprit deserves", donghyuck mentioned as pure rage filled his eyes, "can't wait to expose the asshole and kick them in their butt."

"we all are", jeno agreed before standing up. "well, you guys wanna take a break for now?", he suggested and pointed at the wii in his room, "we can play a quick round of wii party."

"WE'RE SO IN FOR THAT", donghyuck and mark shouted in sync in the same excited tone, resulting in the host having a mental breakdown.

"WHAT THE FUCK, WHY ARE YOU ALL ALWAYS SAYING THE SAME THING AT THE SAME TIME AND NOW IN THE SAME TONE?? THIS CAN'T BE A COINCIDENCE ANYMORE", jeno complained whining and sank dramatically to his knees.

"yep, you're indeed a theatre kid", his best friend confirmed, his faze being totally unfazed unlike jeno.

mark was wheezing the whole time while witnessing the scene unfolding in front of them. he was laughing so hard that he actually fell from the bed.

those theatre kids, smh.

━━━ ☆★☆ ━━━

[ author's note ]
hi everyone <3

first at all, i'm sorry for the belated update 😭 i got so caught up in school work and life that i couldn't update any sooner </3

second of all, i wanted to announce that my story will be paused and will be on a hiatus, i'm so so sorry my dear readers :(

my private life has been quite busy the last few weeks, especially since school had started again. it's my last year of school (help) and school has been stressful... and will be even more stressful when it's exams phase.

therefore, i haven't had the chance to continue working on my story and if i did, then unwelcomed writer's block showed up and said hello 😭😭 (this mf-)
that's why i couldn't write lots of pre-written chapters and deliver new chapters for you guys </3

i want to deliver regular and consistent updates for you all so none of you have to wait because i know how painful it is to wait for a story to update 😞

to achieve that, i need to have lots of pre-written chapters which aren't badly written and aren't rushed. after all, i want my book to be a good story that i can share with you all!

that's why i will pause the updates for now to work on my story and to have many drafts and pre-written chapters so that updating (good chapters) isn't stressful for me.

writing and updating is fun for me and i don't want the stress to ruin that for me. so, thank you for your understanding <3

BUT I WILL RETURN FOR SURE!!
i will return with consistent and regular updating of great chapters!! please wait for me, i will be back soon 🤞

as a little compensation, i'll reveal how many chapters will be left until we reach the end of drama club.
i've planned for my book to have 127 chapters 🩷 (woah, that's crazy to talk about the end of the book... it's so weird to announce that)

i thank everyone of you for all your support, understanding and patience <3

we will see each other in the next chapter, can't wait to see you again my beloved readers! ♡

until then, take care of yourselves and stay strong!! i love you all <3