#rkjeno
━ ♘ ┊ @rkjeno 、
while jaemin had never been one to frequent pc rooms – it was odd that he was friends with the owner of one; a friend of a friend who he’d known in high school – it was a place where he and their small group of friends were able to get away from and hang out while the bustle of students and out of work folk came and congregated at the computers at the front of the shop. the back of the shop, however, was saved for them. decorated as infrequent and as maintenance as possible with just a cough and a few select games like an out of order arcade machine and a pool table ; the television that lay low on a buzz near the door was the only source of noise as jaemin came bounding through the door.
and to his surprise, he finds the person in the room somewhat of a ghostly presence. do his eyes deceive him or was this really his best friend in the flesh? “jeno?” the surprise in his tone is second to the smile that immediately rises to his face as he literally jumps beside the other on the couch. “where’ve you been, dude? feel like i haven’t see you in a while.” an arm slouches around the other’s shoulders as he holds him in a slight headlock, “don’t tell me you got a girlfriend and that’s why you’ve been avoiding this place.”
heybrother, there’s an endless road to rediscover…
what are you meant to do upon finding out, after years of being an only child, that you aren’t in fact, an only child at all? there’s happiness, of course, from years of yearning for siblings, yet it’s marred by the guilt of feeling as though a perfect family has been tarnished by his very existence. before eric came into the picture, jeno’s family was perfect.a mother, father, and two children - a son and a daughter. yet now, with eric stumbling into the picture, knocking through the glass protecting their picture-perfect lives, everything’s stained. eric’s shone an uncomfortably bright light on the cracks shooting through their family, and he can’t help but think that had he never met jeno, their family could have stayed blissfully unaware of his existence.
but the cat’s already out of the bag as soon as eric asks why jeno’s got a picture with his father in it, in fact, multiple pictures with his father in. it’s stupid - he should have realised before he opened his mouth what it meant. but he hadn’t thought for a second that jeno’s family could have any skeletons in their closets. he shouldn’t have been so naive. but he was, and he’d opened his mouth and ruined everything for jeno and his family.
if eric didn’t exist at all they’d be so much better off.
he blames himself, even if it’s his dad’s fault for cheating on his wife. somehow, if eric had done something differently, he could’ve prevented jeno, someone he’s grown to care so deeply about, from being upset, disappointed, or pained at this situation. he thinks about jeno’s poor sister, too, who he barely knows. she must really hate him, coming into their lives and wreaking havoc by his mere presence in the world.
he expects jeno to be mad at him, after they figure out what the pictures all around jeno’s house, that show someone so familiar to eric, mean. expects him to tell him to get out and never come back. he expects jeno to keep quiet about it for his mother and sisters sake. but he doesn’t. he’s not angry at eric, or dismissive, or cruel, as eric fears he may be. he knows jeno well enough to know he’s not the type to be cruel, but this isn’t a scenario that you can predict what someone will do in.
but jeno accepts eric as his brother. much to eric’s surprise. in jeno’s eyes it isn’t eric’s fault, it’s their dad’s. so, eric accepts jeno as his brother, as he aches to do - he adores jeno, and has from the moment he met him, so finding out he doesn’t just feel like a brother to eric, he is his brother, is surreal. he’s got so much to learn about having a brother, and being a brother, but eric trusts that jeno will help him through it, even if things are a little strange at first. it’s not everyday you find out twenty years into your life that you’ve got a brother you never knew about.
even if they’ve got a lifetime of catching up to do, years of learning about each other in ways brothers should know about each other, eric simply can’t wait to confidently call jeno his brother.
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the power of three.
rkjeno·:
to say siyeon’s nervous would be an understatement. just from the weight of her picnic basket alone it’s plain to see she’d stress baked enough to feed the entire park, but if that doesn’t give it away, the way her fingers dance across her knees should. they’re pulled up against her chest, her back turned to jeno to look across the crowd. the gentle hum of life around her is muffled by her thoughts— would he like her? did she dress nicely enough? would he like what she’d prepared for them to eat? she hums to herself, tucking a loose strand of her behind her ear.
there shouldn’t be anything to worry about. jeno will have put in a good word, if not because he’s her best friend, then because jeno is too nice not to. but she knows the impression she gives off, knows what she thinks of herself. if eric is anything like jeno, maybe he won’t mind that her usual clothes are blindingly bright or that her words are often rather firm and brash, but she doesn’t know that yet. she just knows that until he arrives, she’s going to continue wiggling her feet and tapping her fingertips against her knees. hopefully, it won’t take long.
normally, jeno would be fixated on siyeon enough to notice how nervous she seemed. he was usually pretty good at reading her, but his mind was too preoccupied for him to entirely notice. truthfully, he’d been out of it ever since he found out about eric. carrying around such a huge and horrible secret weighed him down, making him a hundred times heavier than usual. he wasn’t constantly smiling or making jokes, he was far away, lost inside of his own mind. he agreed to do this because he wanted to start making an effort at strengthening his relationship with eric now that he knows he’s his brother, plus it was important to siyeon…
but he couldn’t help but feel there were more important things for him to be doing. with every day that passed by without him telling his mother the truth, or at least confronting his dad, he felt worse. he almost felt like an accessory to the crime, given he is withholding the information. it felt wrong… dirty… but he doesn’t want to focus on that. he wants to have a good day, he just wishes that it wasn’t so hard. finally, he turns to look at siyeon, trying his best to seem in good spirits. “he’ll be here. maybe he got lost in the crowd.”
eric’s been trying not to think about it. that day at jeno’s when they figured it out had been one of the scariest days in eric’s life, and he’d been pretty on edge since. he’d been trying not to show it though, putting on a happy, bright, unbothered exterior so that know one knew he was constantly terrified of this situation going south. he’s scared that jeno blames him for ruining his perception of his family, and probably eventually the reality of his family, since eric assumes it’ll eventually come out and he’ll have been the catalyst to his family falling apart.
but, he’s got to pretend everything is okay for his own mental stability right now - he can’t let his worries take over, especially not this weekend when he’s got so many people to spend time with. two of those people being jeno and a long-time friend of his, siyeon. eric has heard a lot about her, and knows she means a great deal to jeno. so, he has to make a good impression.
only problem is he’d just fallen in the river with chaewon and had literally only minutes ago waded out and parted ways with her, sending her off with his soaked plaid shirt to cover her white dress. he’d left her with other friends, knowing he needed to get to this picnic with jeno and siyeon, even if he was soaked and shivering. luckily it’s sunny, so he’s rapidly drying off as he walks across the grass, heading for the couple he can see on a picnic blanket not far away. “jeno!” he calls out as he gets close enough, finally stopped beside the blanket and giving a slightly embarrassed smile. “uh… sorry about… this,” he gestures at his soaked self. “i fell in the river.”
life as we know it.
rkjeno·:
♫ starter for @rkxric·!
it was nice having a friend other than the girl that he was hopelessly in love with. the more time he spend with eric, the closer they seemed to become. once upon a time, having someone over at his house instead of relaxing by himself was the most unappealing idea ever. of course, that changed when siyeon came back along, but he thought she was the sole exception. now, however, he always finds himself looking forward to eric’s visits. it’s not the first time that he’s been over at jeno’s, and he definitely didn’t want it to be the last, either.
they’d been casually hanging out in his room, talking about anything that popped into their brains and jeno showing eric a few things on various video games. but, eventually jeno was hungry, and even though he wasn’t known for his cooking skills, he still suggested that they go find something to put in their stomachs.
as they’re making their way from the room to the kitchen, jeno accidentally knocks into a table in the hallway that had various pictures placed on top. one of the picture frames plummets to the floor before he can even begin to react. “oh, shit. sorry. be careful… my mom is gonna kill me.” he tries to be cautious as he kneels down to assess the mess he’s made, eyeing all of the shattered glass shards. “i should probably get a broom, huh?”
spending time with jeno feels so natural now that it doesn’t even feel like eric has to try and dress nicely and watch what he says around him. often, when he’s not at college or work and there’s no parties to go to, he’ll seek out jeno, wanting to hang out and play video games with him in his bedroom. he almost feels as though he could just turn up in his pyjamas and jeno wouldn’t bat an eye, though he’s not actually going to do that.
but, all good gaming sessions must be paused to make time for food, eric’s found. his stomach grumbles right on cue as the suggestion of finding something to eat comes up. he’s talking about something to do with the game they’d just been playing when he notices jeno bump into the table, and watches, unable to reach out fast enough to stop it, as a framed picture tumbles off the edge and onto the floor, the glass shattering.
eric hurries over and nudges jeno away from the glass, his instinct telling him to make sure his friend doesn’t get hurt. “you go get a broom, i’ll pick up the big bits.” he says, already crouching down to lift the frame carefully from where it lays on it’s face. the glass crunches a little as he picks up the picture, stopping to look at it, since he’d not looked at any of the family pictures the lee’s had up around the house before. that’s when he notices something, or someone,familiar in the picture.
that’s eric’s dad…
right there, standing with jeno, his sister and his mum, is eric’s father, smiling with a hand on jeno’s shoulder. he frowns, confused as to how jeno knows his dad, and thinking it must be the funniest coincidence ever that they should meet after jeno’s already met his dad. “hey, why do you have a picture of my dad?” he calls out, standing up with the picture still in his hands.
.alike
rkjeno·:
friends. it was kind of a strange concept to jeno. especially real friends. sure, he had those guys that he used to hang out with that all ended up being total dickheads so he yelled at them and has never seen them again since… so yeah, not the best track record when it comes to forming solid relationships. jeno is still surprised that he felt so comfortable and at ease around siyeon to the point they could become as close as they have, but he still wonders if that has something to do with the fact that he knew her when he was young, before all of the trauma and anxieties that joined him during his school years.
having a new friend over at his home was such a foreign concept. his mom and jeni were probably going to tease him for it later, but it was nothing he wasn’t used to by now. they take every chance they get to give him a hard time it seems, so he’s gotten to the point where he just rolls his eyes and says ‘yeah, yeah, yeah’ before retreating into his room for the remainder of the night.
this new friend was one that he met online, and they’d gotten to know each other over time but they’d never met in person before. they had a lot of things in common, including their appearance, strangely enough, so he just felt like this could be someone else he could attempt being close to. god knows he needed to be more social and to feel like he had more than one person to confide in these days.
jeno was both excited and anxious; he wasterrifiedof eric finding out how awkward and strange he was and how he was much less easygoing in person and that he’d scare him away, so he had to try hard to be… chill. though it was obvious that might not work out too well the second he hears the doorbell and nearly jumps out of his skin. he barely even has time to process it before he’s hopping up and running to get the door himself, opening it slightly disheveled and recovering from the shoe he just nearly tripped over. “hi.”
eric’s excited, albeit nervous. jeno’s family clearly has more money than eric has ever had in his whole life, and though he tries not to form any assumptions or expectations from that fact, he can’t help but feel a tad jealous deep down. growing up dirt poor wasn’t something eric usually resented too much - it sucked, but what could he do about it, really? but that doesn’t stop him from wishing he’d had an easier life where opportunities were more abundant than they are currently. he’d had to work his ass off to get into university, and if he hadn’t had his dad offer to pay for his tuition he’s not even sure he’d have been able to accept the place anyway.
but, money isn’t everything, he tries to remind himself. even if jeno has money, it doesn’t make any difference to how eric sees him. to him, jeno’s just jeno. so, when the door opens and a slightly flustered jeno comes into view eric beams, his eyes lighting up with joy. he’d not realised how exciting seeing him in person for the first time would be. their similarities are even present in real life, he notes, eyes flitting over jeno to take him all in.
“it’s so weird seeing you in 3D.” he says, then laughs, noting just how strange it is that that’s the first thing he’ll have ever said in person to jeno. “it’s… so awesome to finally meet you properly.” the only thing eric notes about jeno is how he seems… almost nervous, which doesn’t make much sense to eric, unless jeno had been worried he was a catfish, though he’d likely not invite him to his house if that were the case.
stepping inside slowly he slips off his shoes and peers around , eyes wide as he takes in his surroundings. the house is as impressive inside as it is outside. it makes eric feel as though he’d stepped into some rich boy drama and was the poor little main character girl walking into the main love interest boys super swanky, expensive house that his rich, important dad owns. “woah… your house is nice.” he simply comments, unable to find the words to express how in awe he is. compared to his shoebox apartment with the dodgy plumbing and noisy neighbours this place is like a penthouse apartment to eric.
