"Are you free this weekend?" Jaemin asks out of the blue.

The blond haired boy beside him perks up from that, tearing his gaze away from the book in his hands and ponders in thought.

"I don't think so, I might have to ask Yeeun noona for a double check. Sometimes we have something to do that I wasn't informed about." He answers at a great length.

Jaemin nods in understanding, quietly hoping for Jeno's schedule to be clear this weekend. "Well, just let me know then when you can."

"Of course," grinning, Jeno then raises a brow, staring at the elder boy as if he was suspicious. "Why though, hyung?"

"Can't I take you out on another date?"

Hearing Jaemin's immediate bold response, Jeno gapes and stares at him with wide eyes. "Of course you can, but–"

"Your sister is protective of you, I know and that's fine." Jaemin cuts him off and says knowingly. "I understand, I mean..."

Trailing off, Jaemin reaches a hand over to cup Jeno's cheek, the blond haired boy was flustered yet still leaned in to the touch anyway.

"How could she not? You're a precious gem." He continues while staring at Jeno's eyes intently so that it sends shivers down Jeno's spine.

Blushing madly, the younger boy gnaws on his lower lip, "I'll go ask her when we get home."

"Ask your parents too." Jaemin mentions just in case.

He can't have Yeeun suddenly ratting him out to her parents.

"Mommy is at my grandma's house to pay her a visit, and I think Daddy has a meeting? I'm not sure." Jeno mumbles.

"Well, ask them anyway."

Smiling, Jeno nods at him cutely. However, it is when he moves that Jaemin realized he still has a hand resting on Jeno's cheek.

He doesn't pull away though, weirdly enough. Jeno then mumbles something about being hungry after searching for the book his subject teacher told them to find.

Jaemin watches him the whole time, occasionally meeting each other's eyes as he didn't have the reaction time to smile back when Jeno giggles at him for no reason.

❅

"But noona!"

"I already said 'no', Jeno. Stop whining." The elder sister replies calmly yet strictly at the same time as she walks down the stairs.

"You said we have something important to attend but when I asked Daddy, he said it wasn't mandatory!" Jeno whines once again.

Sighing at his stubbornness, Yeeun continues to walk over to the kitchen and quickly orders their personal chef about the dish they're having for dinner.

"Still, that doesn't mean you can ditch." She says, heading over to the fridge to get herself some fresh cold water.

Jeno makes a face, it has their personal chef giggling while washing the vegetables.

"It's not ditching when I'm allowed to not attend in the first place."

Getting himself a cookie from the cookie jar to his left, he then continues to pester his elder sister.

"But noona, it's just another date with him. You allowed me to go last time!" He says pointing it out once he recalls the scenario perfectly.

"Well, I knew where he was going to take you at that time. But now, I don't."

"That's the point of surprises." Jeno deadpans to which his elder sister just rolls her eyes in return.

"But Daddy probably didn't allow you though, right?" Yeeun asks, glancing over her shoulder to meet her younger brother's frowning face.

"Yes he did, I told him about it and he granted me permission." Huffing, the younger sibling of the two crosses his arms.

"Come on, why won't you let me go with Jaemin hyung? He's nice and sweet, very caring, handsome, oh and most importantly, isn't he my fiancé?"

"Aren't you too pessimistic and overprotective about this arrangement?"

Yeeun pauses on grabbing herself a snack from the pantry and bites her inner cheek.

Hearing Jeno mentioning that, it makes her twitch in a way; triggered, if you will.

Anything can happen in an arranged marriage, both in good and bad.

Of course she doesn't want anything bad to happen to Jeno, her sweet little brother.

What Jeno said was true, Jaemin is his fiancé at the end of the day.

Initially, she wanted it to not work out. Because for obvious reasons, Jeno doesn't deserve to go through that heartbreak.

Hence why she pushes them away from each other, trying to scare Jaemin off and convince Jeno to change his mind.

Understandable, right? She cares a lot for him.

She observes Jaemin as much as she could, especially when he's interacting with Jeno if there were some behavior changes.

Being plastic doesn't get you far.

Testing Jaemin when they're alone, like in class or having dinner with both parties' family.

Interrogating him is fun and worth it.

However, now hearing what Jeno said. She thinks she might have gone overboard.

She has tried to stop them from seeing each other so much, telling Jeno he can't let Jaemin know where they live or any other personal detail that seemed normal.

Now thinking about it, she is like sabotaging Jeno's risky choice.

A choice Jeno was willing to take, and has been trying his best to make it work in a positive way.

Despite what she's doing or Jaemin's obvious reluctancy in the early stages, Jeno has not given up and had come up with ways to make it happen.

Not for him, but for them all.

Sometimes, Yeeun gets annoyed or jealous of her brother's optimistic ways of life. Concerned at some points too.

However, this is one of those rare moments where she respects and admires him because of that.

Jeno is truly their precious gem.

Licking her dry lips, she turns around and asks him dead in the eye, "do you like him? As in, grew romantic feelings for him?"

Without hesitation, Jeno smiles so widely with his eyes shining. "I'm happy to say that I have, noona!" He enthusiastically says.

"Give me your phone." Yeeun suddenly demands.

"What?"

"Give me your phone." She repeats at her now confused brother.

Taking his phone out of his pocket, he holds it loosely and was hesitant to hand it over to his sister. "Why...?"

"I'm going to call him."

"What?!" He shrieks. Contact Jaemin in front of other people? Come on! He's shy about that.

"I'm going to call him and make sure he has you by his side until you get home. Now while I'm at it, go to your room and prepare your things for tomorrow."

Jeno didn't have to be told twice, nor will he ask again because he's sure Yeeun could change her mind if he did.

So without further ado, having a wide grin on his pretty face, he rushes off and heads back upstairs while Yeeun dials Jaemin's number.

❅

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