∆∆

YangYang looks at his roommate, wide-eyed. "Your dad did WHAT?" His voice rises on the final word, making Jeno flinch at the volume. "Sorry sorry...He- He kicked you out? For real?" YangYang crosses his arms and leans forward from his seat on his bed.

Jeno nods solemnly. "Yeah, me and my older brothers." He too, sits on his respective bed, criss-cross.

"Because you're gay?"

"Bingo." Jeno waves his finger around and sighs loudly.

"That's a load of bull. Who would fucking do that!?"

"Jeonghan Lee of J.M. Corp." He frowns. "A.k.a, my dad."

YangYang leans back against the wall, scoffing in disbelief. "Damn dude...That's shitty."

"You're telling me–" The dorm room door slams open, revealing a panting boy. Jeno's eyes widen in surprise. "Renjun?"

"Babe?"

Jeno looks at his roommate. "B-babe–?"

"Not the point guys!" Renjun stops the two of them and enters the room. "Jeno," He looks his friend dead in the eyes. "Why is your brother at my house?"

Jeno gulps and stands. "Because me, him, and Jaehyun all got kicked out." He bites his lip as Renjun begins to sputter out nonsense and YangYang tries to calm his boyfriend.

"He- He what? He kicked all three of you out? Wh- Why!?"

Jeno sits back on his bed with a sigh. " 'Cause I dated Jaemin...and he found out about my brothers. Guess he had enough 'cause now I'm never allowed back in the house."

Renjun looks at YangYang with worry. "Seriously?" The boy only nods in response. "Where are you gonna stay during vacations?"

Jeno lays back, flopping onto his duvet. "Don' know. Noona offered to let me crash at her place but I'm not sure if dad would let her..."

"I've always hated your dad."

"Yeah...Me too."

YangYang holds his chin in his hand, thinking. "You know...I might have an idea." Both boys look at him expectantly. "I'm only in Korea for college, so technically...I don't have anywhere to stay. And I can't go back to China till I'm fully graduated. So the school is letting me stay on campus, as long as I go out to eat and don't enter the lecture halls."

"Wait, seriously? You can do that?" Jeno sits back up, his hopes rising.

Renjun snaps his fingers. "It's rare but not unheard of. On-boarding, right?"

YangYang nods. "Yeah, exactly. I can really only stare here for sleep or studying, and I'm not allowed anywhere else on campus since no employees will be here. Other than, I'm basically good to go."

"What about meals?"

YangYang sighs. "Ah that's where my family comes in." He scratches the back of his head. "They send me a monthly allowance. But your dad..."

Jeno frowns. "He won't send me money."

"Your mom will though, won't she?"

Jeno nods slowly. "Yeah, probably. That is, if I even am allowed to do this On-Boarding thing. I mean I get YangYang, 'cause he's a foreigner but I live just across town..."

"Damn." Rnjun grits his teeth.

"Don't worry guys," YangYang says. "I'm sure we'll figure something out. If worse comes to worse, I have a friend who'd be willing to take you in. He's crazy rich so he could rent you an apartment for the time being."

Renjun widens his eyes. "How many rich people do you know?"

"Not a lot." YangYang shrugs. "But this guy's great. His name is Zhong Chenle."

Jeno groans in disbelief, falling onto the bed and sliding off the edge. Renjun holds his head in his hands, muttering random things in Chinese.

"A-are you guys okay?" YangYang reaches out his hands in worry.

"Yeah just..." Renjun looks at Jeno, but the boy was as good as dead; his body limp on the floor and a 'why me?' look on his face. "Chenle is Jeno's ex's best friend."

"Oh shit."

∆

Jaemin holds Seol in his arm and scolds Nal for trying to steal his brother's food.

"Honestly you two, I wish you'd just get along already." Jaemin frowns and continues to walk around the apartment with his cat in his arms. He enters the kitchen and finally places Seol back on the ground, who immediately scampers off down the hall to Jaemin's bedroom. "Seriously? He's taking over my room." Jaemin narrows his eyes and lets out an exasperated sigh when he hears the door knock. "Oh god what now? COMING!"

Muttering as he walks through the small apartment, Jaemin grabs his house keys and quickly unlocks the door. "Can I help..." His face falls flat. "Why are you always the one to appear at my door?" He steps aside and gestures for the boy to enter his apartment. "Seriously Jeno? Don't you have any other friends?" Jeno frowns and mutters an apology, to which Jaemin sighs again. "It's fine. What do you need?"

"I actually need to ask you if you know Liu YangYang?" Jeno follows the boy to the kitchen, picking up Nal on the way.

Jaemin turns on some water to boil and thinks for a  moment. "I recognise the name but I don't think I've ever met him. Chenle talks about the guy quite often though, why?"

"Well, he's my roommate. And you see," Jeno frowns and begins to pet Nal's head. "He offered to get Chenle to rent me an apartment..."

Jaemin's eyes widen and he stops in his tracks (he was taking two mugs out of the cupboard). "Why...would he need to do that?" He looks at Jeno in concern. The boy was avoiding eye-contact and tightly holding onto the cat (of course, Nal did not mind). "Jeno..."

"Y-yeah?"

Jaemin narrows his eyes. "What happened?" His voice dropped an octave and it made Jeno gulp.

"Well you see," he scratches the back of his head, internally thanking the pot of water for whistling when it did. He waits as Jaemin pours them both a cup of tea and leads him to the living room.

"Sit." Jeno does as told and looks at his tea nervously. "Now talk." Jaemin's voice was unwavering, completely cold. Not in anger, but concern. Worry. In fear that something has happened to his Jeno.

"Remember when I told you my dad found out about Jaehyun and Doyoung having boyfriends?"

"Yes."

"Well..." Jeno rubs his thumb along his knuckles, his other hand still petting the cat. "He kicked us all out."

"Wait- what?" Jaemin sits up.

"My dad...kicked me and my brothers out of the house. For...having relationships?"

Jaemin narrows his eyes. "I see...so you're dating someone?"

"Wh-what?" The older boy looks at Jaemin in surprise. "No! No no no no! I meant like- he's still mad at me for dating you. I'm not seeing anyone, I swear! Don't worry." He waves his hands in panic, scaring Nal who jumps out of his lap.

Jaemin puts his cup of tea down on the table. "I wasn't worried." His face was in a pout and Jeno chuckles slightly. "Anyways continue."

"Right. Well, yeah, he kicked us out. My brothers have more freedom than I do since their both adults, but I'm not 19 yet so dad still has full control over me."

"That's bullshit."

Jeno just shrugs. "It is what it is. The details aren't important, but the biggest issue is where I'm going to stay during vacation months."

"And I'm guessing that's where YangYang and Chenle come in?" Jaemin quirks an eyebrow.

Jeno nods and leans against the couch, his arm laying across the back of it. "Yeah, said if worse comes to worse, then he'd get Chenle to find me a place. Or something."

Jaemin nods slowly and takes a long sip of his tea, one of which makes Jeno grow ancy from the silence. He had quickly zoned out, and the sound of Jaemin's mug against the table finally brought him back to reality.

"Well," Jaemin folds his arms over his chest and crosses one leg over the other. "I have an idea."

"Really?" The blonde haired boy spares him a glance before looking at Seol as the animal crawls into his lap.

"Yeah. Just stay with me."

. . .

"JESUS JENO DON'T CHOKE"

"I'm sorry! I just- wasn't expecting that!"

"Well I'm not saying you have to." Jaemin sighs and gives Jeno his tea, telling him to drink it to wash his cough down. "Seriously, relax. It was just a suggestion."

Jeno finally calms himself and gives Jaemin a hopeful look. "You mean that?"

"Yeah." Jaemin smiles softly with a nod. "It's the least I could do, plus." His face darkens. "It'll mean I can make sure you study properly. Don't think Renjun doesn't tell me about how bad your grades are."

Jeno gulps and just nods quickly. "Yes sir!"

Jaemin smiles and leans back, his demon-face completely gone. It left Jeno speechless. Just how much duality does he have? I don't remember him being this scary.

"Good. It's settled then. You'll be staying with me." Jaemin smiles at Nal who jumps into between his legs. "It'll be nice to have some company other than these two cats." He pets the animal's head, chuckling when it begins to purr.

"Y-yeah..."

∆∆

∆seeeeeee? I told you it wouldn't be that baddddd∆