━━ ( 🎲 ) chapter five...

jaemin's breath became rather uneven as he faced the rectangular-shaped object, his nose bridge almost colliding with it as no sound was brave enough to echo ftom inside him.

he messed up, really bad. underestimating his brother's own limit when it came to his foolish actions.

the door became the only object isolating the two from each other, yet jaemin felt like they were miles and miles apart.

he gathered his courage--his hands weakly reaching the door's surface, knocking it lightly, " c-chenle-ah, hyung made you kimchi. "

his hands grasped tightly around the plate while biting his lip impatiently, waiting for an answer.

in their years of living together, arguments easily errupted and took over their instincts, making them blind of their connection.

but it was only then when it hit jaemin's brain...

that for every single argument, it was always his brother who took the blame. no, chenle wasn't stubborn, and hardheaded...

but he was.

jaemin stood there waiting as time, no sound was even resonating in the room, except his restless heartbeat.

" i know you're in there, just listen to what i have to say alright? " he sighed, sitting on the floor, placing the plate filled with food next to him.

" i've always thought of life as a game, where i have to make a choice and pick the right door to succeed...for years i've followed what's right, focusing on me and myself, " he fidgeted with his fingers then continued, " until you came...it was the first time in years that i let myself trust someone, i finally listened to someone else's voice...or so i thought. "

jaemin was reminded of his selfishness and ego the other day, when he sat on his chair, as cocky as ever--dismissing the only person who was genuineky worried about him.

" i didn't listen to you, and i know it's my fault...i shouldn't have ignored you when you truly cared, i-i'm sorry chenle, hyung is sorry for everything, " jaemin ended his apology, head resting on the door.

he flinched when the door moved, and then a creak. a smooth hand belonging to one the latter knew too well, reached for the plate--tugging it to enter his room.

jaemin chuckled in satisfaction and muttered, " good night brother. "

his head was in daze as he strolled to the bathroom, not knowing if tomorrow would be a door leading him to success or a leap to disaster.

' whatever i'll do next will be my fault, not yours, chenle '

- 🎲 -

the fabric smoothened by the latching of long fingers. black locks flashed entangled with one another, but groomed to elegance--an ordinary black shirt that spoke of simplicity, concealed under the bright colors, splashed on a neon orange jacket with words running from all directions.

na jaemin was a new version of himself, he was appalled because this was different with his other attires.

but he felt like a blank pit in the inside, the spark lasted for a few seconds but that was it. this wasn't him.

if this wasn't for the plan then jaemin would have worn with his favorite mint green hoodie and black sweatpants.

grabbing his phone and sliding down the tight pocket of his black jeans, jaemin took a last look at the bedroom door. chenle hasn't left the room since the day of their conflict. surely, jaemin didn't want to push his brother, so instead he slept on the chair.

" dang, i need to change the bulb, " jaemin glanced upwards, finding the light flickering in a rather crazy manner. 

the light bulb was the least of his concern, his phone's loud ringtone escaped throughout the room. jaemin glanced at the contact, then he vanished to the light.

from the other side of the room, chenle pushed the door open, a dirty plate on his hands. he was welcomed with silence, a miserable pause. usually it would be jaemin in his own world, the pots chattering as he moved his appliances to create the tastiest dishes.

where did his brother go?

he heard a loud noise from a car, spotting his brother's figure seated on it. his instinct yearned for chenle to chase the moving vehicle, and so before he even realized, he rode his bike and trailed behind jaemin. not knowing what his brother was up to.

- 🎲 -

" wait, hold on....what did you just say? " renjun asked, facing jaemin with disbelief.

jaemin sighed and massagged his head, " i don't know how to drive! "

" we are 5 minutes away from a racing track, and you're telling me you can't drive!? " renjun raised his voice and jaemin could only sigh.

" i mean...i don't have to right? there must be another way that i could somehow capture their attention. "

the male beside jaemin forcedfully nodded, biting his lip, " better start thinking of a plan b then, " but renjun knew that it was all too late-- a building towering his car was already in the view.

as the car strolled by, jaemin and renjun's sight was blessed with the view of a large green landscape, grass inched the land--and grey concrete contrasted the color, accompanying its way to create spirals and turns.

renjun waved his pass to his security guard, and the two males soom gained access to join the flood of crowd, their hearts overwhelmed by a clamorous boom of engines.

people crowded the smoky cars, the amount of jewelery reflecting the light blinded jaemin's eyes. some even had a cup of whiskey in their hand, their assistants fanning them, whilst they enjoy a relaxing massage.

' why are they so extra? it's just a freaking racing event! ' jaemin rolled his eyes internally.

renjun found a spot in the corner to park his car, before he nudged jaemin in the arm, " you ready? "

" i mean we can't back off right now, can't we? " exiting the car to meet the many faces. jaemin didn't know where to start, his target was yet to be in sight.

" hey, i'm going to that booth be right back, " renjun pointed to a lemonade stand and jaemin nodded.

a push from behind startled him, he turned to make an eye contact with a timid male, who looked just as startled as he was.

the rather adorable male bowed in respect, as he kept chanting out a sorry, " oh my! i'm sorry, i'm so sorry! i really didn't-"

" no, it's fine i'm pretty sure it's just an accident, " if it was another person then jaemin would have flashed a glare, but his politeness melted his heart.

" i'm so lost right now, i was looking for my umm friend...but i have no idea where he is, " he scratched his nape, trapped in the same boat as jaemin.

jaemin's lip curved up, " don't worry, it's my first time too...what's your name? "

the young male brushed his hand against the surface of his sweater, he then shyly offered his hand, " nice to meet you, my name is osaki shotaro, my friend calls me taro milk tea, but you can call me whatever you like! "

his endearing eye-smile and rambling, was almost impossible to resist. jaemin couldn't resist the temptation to squish his cheeks and stuff shotaro in his pocket. he was too distracted to even notice that his name sounded foreign.

" i'm choi kyungmin, nice to meet you too, shotaro. "

( a/n : if yk then yk ☺ and no jaemin doesn't have a twin in this one!! )

" wanna go around with me? i mean if you don't mind cause i feel a little lonely and i don't know anyone else except for sungchan and his brothers-"

jaemin felt horrible for cutting shotaro's unfinished sentence, but he couldn't seem to prevent the sentence from escaping his mouth, " sungchan? jung sungchan? he's your friend? "

" yeah! he asked me to cheer for him today, which is why i came, " shotaro started walking and jaemin followed just behind him.

" you're close with them? "

shotaro let out a cute giggle, and squinted his eyes to read the signs while replying to jaemin," unexpected right? i met sungchan when he had to do community service in the animal shelter...somehow we got closer. "

" so, he hasn't been causing a lot of trouble because he has been busy in the animal shelter this whole time? " jaemin smirked, knowing that something was fishy.

" sungchan isn't a trouble-maker though! he's kind and very soft for the animals, he even  volunteers to stay and help me during my shifts! " shotaro defended his supposedly "friend" whilst trying to make his way across the crowd.

jaemin shoved his hand to his pockets, moving his body sideways to avoid human contact, " he's racing today with the twins right? "

" i heard only jeno's competing, donghyuck's sitting out on this one...sungchan told me he wasn't feeling well, " shotaro raised his voice, fearing that jaemin wouldn't be able to hear his voice.

the korean could only nod in reply, a wave of lavish but stinging perfume entered his nose--making his nose scrunch uncomfortably.

jaemin never liked being around people, he hated the crowd. his life was reserved for those who was worthy of entering it. he still doubted trust, not letting those forced smile fool him to an unescapable trap.

his head was spinning, coincidentally  latching onto shotaro's sweater. thankfully, the coast was soon cleared. shotaro halted looking around, eyebrows furrowed as if he was struggling to spot something. although he soon figured it out, pulling jaemin's hand as they head right.

" w-where are we going? " the elder questioned as he was being lifelessly pulled.

shotaro loosened his grasp and faced jaemin tugging his sleeve, " uhm, i forgot to tell you but we're going to go see sungchan! he told me his van number, it's just hard to find since there's so many people. "

they neared a dark blue van with yellow stripes painted across, parallel to each other. on the door the initial 'JSC' was printed, along with 2 guards who stood sternly eyeing jaemin and shotaro.

" i'll just go and wait outside then..."

" why? it's fine if you want go in, i can just tell him that you came with me, " shotaro reasoned with jaemin, but the elder just had a small smile across his face.

" i don't want to bother you, i'll just wait here, go ahead and take your time, " jaemin explained, pointing to the van, signalling for shotaro to enter it.

the japanese male nodded, showing his identification card to the security guard before the door was pushed for him to go in.

of course na jaemin lied, his curiosity drove him to wander, eyes glancing and analyzing every van he passed by. searching for one he knew was to his desire.

spotting a rather crowded van, jaemin had his sly smirk painted across his face. from afar,  he could make out banners and flags--the racer's name more evident than ever.

instead of approaching the crowd, jaemin made a right, his eyes gleaming with glory once he found his secret weapon.

this was his plan b, and jaemin was sure that he would execute it to its upmost best.