Chapter Text
Chapter 6: Never Goodbye
“One day, when you're enduring a particularly dark and long night,
When you can't hold your tears and lift your head,
Just follow the shining stars and you'll find a way back,
It's never goodbye”
- NCT DREAM, Never Goodbye
Another day, another slay. When Jaemin first heard this sentence come out of his friend's mouth, Jaemin was confused. What in the world is a slay? And why in the world would his friend call him slay?
It was right after Jaemin finished his rounds when he could hear a dolphin-like laugh from across the room and knew immediately who it was. Jaemin's coworker's boyfriend had once again stopped by to bother Jisung (and him because Chenle teases whoever is in his sight).
Chenle was the definition of loud, nosy, and confusing. That day Chenle had brought in dinner for Jisung because it was getting late. Taking one look at Jaemin, he knew that it had been a rough day. "Tired?" Chenle asked as he dug though the lunch-bag to give Jaemin a juice box.
"Yeah, lots of patients today which was unusual," replied Jaemin with a tired sigh. He reached out to grab the juice box from Chenle's hands and grunted as a thanks.
"That's good though! That means you helped a lot of people!" cheered on Chenle. "Good job Jaemin! Another day, another slay!"
Jaemin furrowed his eyebrows. Another day, another what?
"What's a slay?" Chenle froze. Slowly turning his head, he stared at Jaemin. "You don't know what slay means?" Jaemin shook his head. Chenle scrunched his nose, "Jeez, how old are you man?" Jaemin let out an offended noise.
"Stop bullying Jaemin Lele," rang out a voice from inside one of the rooms. "Jisungie!" Chenle shrieked out as Jisung appeared. Lifting up the lunchbox even higher, he presented the food to Jisung. "Behold! Your lovely boyfriend has brought you dinner!" Chenle giggled as he gave Jisung the lunch kit. "I made sure to make your favourite food and pack everything that you like!"
"Aw thanks Lele, I'll make sure to cherish everything!" replied Jisung as he looked through the bag.
"But where's my juice box?"
Afterwards, Jaemin learned that slay was like a compliment and that 'Another day, another slay' was a great way to boost his self-esteem. So back to his current situation.
Another day, another slay for Jaemin. (Not really cause Jaemin ran away from Jeno in the middle of their date and now he's hiding in a public washroom stall near a train station).
Should he come out of his hiding spot and go to Jeno? Yeah.
Is he going to come out of his hiding spot and go to Jeno?
Good Question.
How did he even get himself in this position? Jaemin thought as he continued to hide in the stall. Well, in all the honesty, Jaemin actually has no reason to run away from Jeno and technically it isn't even considered as running away as he didn't leave Jeno yet.
He told Jeno that he needed a bathroom break and he would be right back. He had said that to Jeno quite some time ago. Jaemin looked down at his watch. He said that to Jeno 15 minutes ago. If he doesn't leave this stall right now, Jeno will probably come to 2 possible conclusions.
1. Jaemin got a horrible stomach ache and is currently dying in the washroom.
Or
2. Jaemin ditched him and is long gone, because after all, the washroom is near a train station.
Both are not very pleasant thoughts for either Jeno or Jaemin.
So yeah, Jaemin should probably return now. But he can't. Everything was going well, until Jaemin felt discomfort inside of him. It wasn't a physical discomfort no, but rather more of a mental discomfort. Maybe his social battery ran out? Who knows. Maybe he was scared that if he continues to have fun with Jeno, leaving him would be even harder than before? Who knows.
Or maybe he knew that after this little date with Jeno, he would have to return back home and go back to his normal life. Maybe the fact that he might never be able to interact with Jeno again like this and the fact that he would feel the same heartbreak he felt years ago when he left everyone and moved to a different city would hurt even more. Who knows?
But if he seriously doesn't get back to Jeno right now, 2 things are going to happen. First is that his legs are going to give out from how long he has been crouching, and second of all, he might ruin his last chances of friendship with Jeno. Nobody wants a past Jaemin moment to occur again.
All he has to do is gain some confidence and stride out of this washroom. That's right, stride out of this washroom, hop onto a random train nearby, and leave all his troubles behind.
Just kidding. Past Jaemin would have definitely done that, but present Jaemin? Maybe not.
Taking a deep breath, Jaemin stood up and unlocked the washroom stall. Mustering all of his courage, he walked out the washroom and back to where he left Jeno. And there he was, standing in all of his glory, scrolling through his phone. Did Jeno actually wait 20 minutes for Jaemin to use the washroom?
The fact that Jeno did made Jaemin's heart beat a bit faster than normal. As Jaemin was approaching Jeno, his footsteps made Jeno look up. When he saw Jaemin, his eyes turned into crescents as he smiled.
"Ready to go?" The way that Jeno didn't complain or mention how long Jaemin took in the washroom made Jaemin feel a certain way. How was Jeno even real?? Not only is he handsome as hell, he's considerate, and nice, and kind, and beautiful, and funny, and adorable, and-
"Jaemin? Jaemin, are you listening?" Jaemin blinked and shook his head when he realized that Jeno was talking to him. He could feel his face turning red. "Oh yeah, sorry, I guess I kinda just zoned out."
Jeno just chucked and smiled. "It's ok, I understand," said Jeno. "You must be pretty tired because after all, we technically did spend the entire day already."
Jaemin was shocked. He didn't even realize that he had spent so much time with Jeno already. He had met up with Jeno for lunch, and now it was dark out. That had got to be a solid 6 or 7 hours they spent together. "Yeah, I guess I am feeling a bit sleepy," replied back Jaemin with an embarrassed laugh.
"Yeah, at least we were able to spend some good quality time together!" Jeno said cheerfully. Jaemin nodded in agreement.
"Another day, another slay," Jaemin said without really thinking. There was a bit of silence before Jeno burst out laughing. "Did you just say another day another slay?"
Jaemin didn't even know if it was possible to turn even redder than how red he already was. "I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to say that!" Jaemin quickly apologized. "No no! Don't apologize! I was just surprised, " reassured Jeno. "I didn't take you as the kind of person to say that."
A silence then eloped over them. It was obvious this is the part where they say goodbye to each and leave. But clearly, both don't want to do that yet. Jaemin bit his lip.
If he leaves now, will he get to see Jeno again? I mean, he still does have a couple days left of his vacation in Seoul, but he doesn't know when Jeno has to head back. What happens if Jeno has to leave tomorrow? He's going to be all alone in Seoul.
"Are you leaving tomo-"
"Hey Jaemin, I have something to tell you"
Jaemin and Jeno spoke up at the same time. "Oh no, not again" Thought Jaemin as he recalled this memory. Jeno seemed to remember the last time this happened as he just grinned. "Oh sorry, you go first" stumbled out Jaemin. Jeno just shook his head. "No, it's ok. You go first."
"Oh, um alright then," Jaemin chuckled nervously. "So are you leaving tomorrow?" Jeno tilted his head. "As in leaving back to Busan tomorrow?"
Jaemin nodded his head to confirm his question.
"Yeah, I am going back tomorrow. Tomorrow morning actually, around 4 AM because my boss wants me there tomorrow morning for something."
"Oh."
"Yeah." Another moment of silence eloped over them. "How about you?" asked Jeno, as he broke the silence. "When are you heading back?"
"In a couple days. I decided to take some vacation days to spend after the meet-up." replied Jaemin. Jeno nodded. "Oh that's nice. Good decision."
Once again, another moment of silence.
Jeno then sighed and looked Jaemin directly in the eyes. "Jaemin, I don't know if you feel the same, but I genuinely don't want to leave right now. I want to spend some more time together." Jaemin just stood still, not knowing what to say.
Jeno took this as a sign to continue talking.
"I don't know the reason why you left me-er, us all those years ago, but I trust that you did it with a good reason," Jaemin mentally scoffed. Good reason my ass. It was just Jaemin's dumb buffoonery.
"And I know that when I leave tomorrow morning, we probably won't be able to meet up or hang out anymore."
With that single sentence, Jaemin could feel his heart crack just a bit. Exactly what he feared.
But Jeno didn't stop talking.
"I just hope you know Jaemin, that I will always have time for you and I will always make time for you." Jeno said sincerely as he reached for Jaemin's hands. "I want us to reach that same level of closeness we had all those years ago, and I am willing to do anything for it."
Jaemin could feel his eyes tearing up, but he refused to cry in front of Jeno. "Thank you Jeno," he whispered out. "I hope you know that I will always make time for you as well."
Jeno smiled. "Just remember Jaemin, it's never goodbye because after all, here we are meeting up again."
Jaemin should feel a weight on his shoulders being lifted and the dreadful feeling of losing Jeno leave his body.
Jaemin smiled back and with a lighter heart, he replied back to Jeno.
"You're right Jeno, it is never goodbye."