Annyeong~! Its been a HOT MINUTE since I’ve last updated and I’m sorry to everyone who’s checked in to see how I’ve been doing and such >< Life got REALLY hectic over the last three months....you see...I may have gotten MARRIED!! Oppa and I have been together for a long time and this past summer we finally tied the knot!
Leading up to that, I was also working 6 days a week with 10hr days and working on my YT channel so I was stretching myself wayyyyy too thin to really think about posting ><. But that does not mean I forgot about Distance!! I was actually working on it during my downtime to try to complete it so I could start posting again but it was only this past week that I finally got the editing done so over the course of the next few days, please enjoy the next few parts of Distance. If you’re new and checking things out, you can find the Masterlist and all the other parts here.
Once again~ I’m so sorry for being gone for so long and I’ll try to be more active in the future ><
There wasn’t a day Jeno didn’t regret not making things official with you sooner. What he also didn’t expect was his soon to be ex best friend to act on his feelings towards you either. Now a whole continent away with a ten hour time difference, will the two of you survive the distance and all the obstacles that come with?
The next morning, the two of you were woken up by both your cellphones ringing simultaneously.
“If it’s Jaemin I swear to gjgksd.” Jeno said muffling his face into his pillow and hit the reject button only for his phone to ring once more.
“Its seven in the morning, what could you possibly want?” you grumbled into the receiver after you opted to answer it instead of let it go to voicemail.
“We’re on our way down and we’ll be there in two hours.” Renjun said, sounding more awake than usual, “Everyones skipping classes today since it’s Friday. Jaemin and Soonyoung are driving.”
“But its so early.” you whined as you heard Jeno grunt in agreement next to you, “See even Jeno agrees.” you heard Jeno mumble again, “He says to tell Jaemin to stop calling him.”
“Jaemin is not going to stop calling him till he answers” Renjun stated as you heard laughter in the background, “And we’re in different cars. I’m with Soonyoung, Yukhei, Yeeun and YangYang. Everyone else is in Jaemins car.”
“Fine, we’ll meet at our place first and decide what to do after.” you said stretching as you felt Jeno let out a high pitch squeak from his pillow and you felt his hand reach for your leg, “See you soon.” and without waiting for a goodbye, you hung up and rolled over to your companion as you felt him envelope you in his arms and nuzzle your cheek. “What’s wrong with you now?” you asked as you heard him giggle slightly. Now that was something you never heard.
“You told Renjun that you’d meet at our place.” he whispered in your ear and you rolled your eyes, turning in his arms as he readjusted so his hand rested on your waist.
“Why are you such a big puppy?” you asked curiously as he shrugged, leaning down to rub his nose against yours.
“A puppy only for you.” he confessed with a sigh, “You know how I am around everyone else.”
“An introverted pain in the ass?” you asked with a smirk and Jeno raised his eyebrows and raised one of his hands in a warning, wiggling his fingers for emphasis.
“Final answer?” he asked in warning as you gave him an innocent look.
Quickly rolling away and getting out of bed, Jeno barely caught your answer.
“Final answer!” you said quickly, running out the door towards your bathroom, leaving Jeno there to contemplate what you said.
Jeno sat up quickly and threw a playful glare towards the open door, “Y/N!!!!!!” he yelled but only got a muffled answer that he couldn’t even make out. He was actually hoping to sleep some more but with you awake now, there was no point. Running a hand through his hair, he yawned, reached for his glasses and looked around the room with a smile. He was glad that you approved of the decor and how there were mixtures of the two of you throughout the space.
At first he wanted to do a his and hers theme but he also liked having your stuff mixed with his. It made the room look homier, there were more pictures of your adventures, some of your clothes that Jeno had taken from your home hung next to his in separate closets. He had done this all himself and with some decoration help from the girls but he wanted to make this place special for the both of you.
Some would question why he decided to settle down so early, he was young, good looking and was in a good place. He knew he could have any girl he wanted (well maybe except Hana), but he had tried picturing a life without you and he didn’t like it. He tried picturing you with someone else and even the thought of Jisung still slightly aggravated him. He was selfish and wanted you for himself because no one understood him more. Did he love you? Somewhere deep down maybe and in time the words would come out but right now, he was just content being in your presence. You were his best friend, his travel buddy, his everything.
Reaching over to his nightstand, he took out a jewelry box and looked towards the door. Should he? It’d been on his mind for quite sometime and judging by how you reacted the night before to him making his place yours as well, he was sure he’d receive the same reaction.
“Staring at your bed won’t make it make itself you know.” you said from the door and Jeno looked up to see you freshened up in leggings and one of his button downs that looked like a dress on you. Walking over and sitting next to him, you ran your hand through his bed head. “Hello...Earth to Jeno Lee…I swear Renjun was right about the aliens switching you from an alternate universe. You haven’t been yourself lately.” you said, poking the side of his head and he turned to look at you with a playful glare which you returned with an innocent smile.
“You look good in my clothes.” he commented and you looked down at the light blue shirt, “But you do know you have clothes here too right?”
“Yours smell like you though.” you said grinning and laid down next to him on the bed, using his open arm as a head rest. You let out a content sigh as you felt your muscles relax, “I don’t know why, but with all the stress from the show...Jisung...this is the first time I feel...content.” you said feeling Jeno’s fingers tap lightly on your stomach as he hummed, rolling over so he was hovering over you before sitting up straight.
“I want to give you something.” he said as you craned your neck to look up at him with a raised eye brow
“What is it?” you asked and he placed the small box on your stomach.
“Open it.” he said and you reached forward but he slid the box further down your body, giving you a playful smile.
“Jeno Lee” you growled as he continued to move the box, before finally settling on your abdomen.
Finally getting a hold of the box, Jeno let go of your legs and helped you sit up but made sure your legs were still thrown over his. You looked at him curiously as he urged you to open the box and ever so slowly, your fingers lifted the wooden cover and just by the feel of it, you knew whatever it was, was expensive.
“Jeno you did not…” you said and gasped as you finally saw what it was. Inside the box was a chain and two intertwined rings on it. You recognized one of the rings as his Representative Rings he got back when you were at the same dance academy. He had given it to you as a birthday present and told you to hold on to it since he wasn’t big on wearing rings back then. He said it messed with his dancing and you couldn’t figure out what he meant but accepted the gift anyways. The other ring on the chain you couldn’t recognize.
“That’s my NCT Junior Club ring.” Jeno explained as you fingered the silverband, “Everyone who enters the club gets one with their name engraved into it and the year they joined. You get a nicer band when you become a senior. The rumor is that if a member gifts their significant other with their junior ring, then they’re bound to be life partners.”
You turned the ring so you could see the inside and right there was Jeno’s full name and the year he entered but there was also something else engraved next to it and you gasped.
~Forever my Soulmate~ Y/N 2020
“Jeno Lee..” you gasped softly and felt him wrap an arm around you, burying his face into your hair.
“Be with me.” he muttered and you almost didn’t hear him, “I don’t want you to go back to Europe knowing that Jisung is there and that he might make another move...At least...if you say yes, I’ll have a reason to beat him up if he does..”
Pulling away from him you slapped his chest, “How many times do I have to tell you that violence solves nothing?”
“And how many times am I going to remind you how hurt Jaemin was when you punched him?” he asked laughing as you shoved him slightly but obviously he was not moved, instead pulling you closer, “But what do you say..? Can we finally put a label on whatever we have now? Can I actually call you my girlfriend and not best friend?” he asked, his voice full of hope, “Not that we need a label or anything, it’s just that Jaemin and everyone else always bugs us and I know we agreed to go at our own pace but I really really want to call you my girlfriend.” he rambled and your hand on his cheek stopped him and the two of you shared a peaceful moment of silence.
“Put it on for me?” you ask, handing him the box and Jeno grinned, leaning over to kiss your forehead knowing that it was your way of answering his question. Taking the necklace out of the box, you held up your hair as he fastened the clasp around your neck before bringing you into his arms and snuggling his face into your cheek as the two of you laid down once more
“Best day ever.” he murmured, peppering your face with small kisses, making you giggle as you wrapped your arms around him, “You don’t think it’s too fast do you?” he asked, “I mean, we’re just getting to know each other again…”
“You did ask me to move in with you last night.” You deadpanned, “I would think that we’re going backwards.”
“It just felt like the right time.” Jeno reasoned and you snorted thinking of the reality of the situation.
“We’re eighteen, both with at least two pieces of property under our names, have pretty much settled down and are lucky enough to have a future secured for us. We’re not your typical teenagers.” you stated and Jeno chuckled.
“Yea, but we were never considered normal in anyone's eyes anyways so why start now?” he asked and you couldn’t help but agree with him as you shared a comfortable silence before he got up, bringing you with him. “I should get ready. Jaemin normally scrapes off ten to twenty minutes of time if he’s had his hell drink.”
“He’s going to die of a caffeine overdose someday.” You commented, making your new boyfriend chuckle. Straightening out the shirt, you reached for one of your belts you saw in the closet and wrapped it around your waist. “When did I give you permission to raid my closet?”
“Talk to me after you return all twenty hoodies that I thought went MISSING.” he called over his shoulder as he walked out of the room.
The first group to arrive was Soonyoung, Renjun, Yukhei, Yeeun and YangYang. Jaemin had offered to pick up breakfast for everybody and was a few minutes behind. The two of you met them at the elevator and Yeeun was the first to embrace you before anyone else.
“Y/N!!!” she squealed, making you laugh before you were pulled away into Yukhei’s arms.
“Jeno took off with you so quickly yesterday that we didn’t even get to greet each other.” he said kissing your cheek and you pulled away to face the other three and waved while Jeno greeted Yeeun and Yukhei with the same enthusiasm, maybe even more.
“Hey guys.” you said to Soonyoung and Renjun who both gave you hugs and you turned to the last person, “Sorry we didn’t get to meet formally last night. I’m Y/N.” you said holding out your hand.
YangYang grinned and shook your hand, “It’s nice to meet you. Everyone has only said good things, especially Jeno over there.” he nodded towards the trio who were walking further into the space, joined by Soonyoung and Renjun.
“Yea…” you said, turning back to look at the blonde boy you could call yours, “Don’t believe everything he says, he tends to stretch the truth.” you said scratching the back of your neck awkwardly and motioned for him to follow you, “Do you want a tour?”
“Sure.” he said as you started to lead him through the apartment while everyone else lounged around. Jeno said he had to step out quickly but would be back before Jaemin got there.
After leading him upstairs, YangYang really got to look at the apartment as a whole. It was larger than most and he’d never seen an apartment like this in Korea before. There were floor to ceiling windows throughout the apartment, including the upstairs portion. It was a unique design and was definitely custom made, looking at you as you waved at Yeeun below, “The design of the place is so unique, I’ve never seen anything like it. Does your family own it?”
“Oh no. I don’t own property in this city.” you said shaking your head, “This is Jeno’s place.”
“You mean Jeno’s parents?” YangYang clarified, confused and you shook your head again.
“Jeno’s parents were the developers of this building which is why this specific apartment has a unique design. It’s two apartments designed as one.” you explained, “His parents gifted it to him when he turned eighteen.”
“Shit really? So this place is all Jeno’s?” he asked looking around and you giggled, used to newcomers reactions, “how does he afford to maintain the place?”
“He pays the bills and his family takes care of the people who maintain it when he isn’t here. Cleaners come once a week and they even stock the fridge if we give them enough warning but we rarely do. We tend to eat out or buy or own groceries on our way here anyways.” you explained and YangYang seemed surprised.
“So Jeno owns this whole place.” he said and you nodded, “And his parents gave it to him when he was eighteen?” you nodded again.
“We spent a lot of weekends here growing up and the occasional spring break.” you said, “he spent a lot of time here after he learned how to drive and his parents just thought it made sense.”
‘Just how much money does he have?’ YangYang asked himself and you continued the tour and YangYang continued to look around in awe. He paid extra attention to the photos scattered around the apartment. Mostly of you and Jeno growing up and in a tropical country or in a dance studio and birthday parties. There were many pictures of Jaemin as well and a few of Hana and this person he’d never seen before.
“And that’s pretty much it.” you said as you ended in the kitchen, “Feel free to help yourself to whatever you want, the fridge is stocked with a few drinks and snacks and so is the pantry.”
Around the same time, Jeno casually walked into the apartment with a bouquet, bypassing you and YangYang and straight into the bedroom before coming back out empty handed.
“Where did you go?” you asked as he came to stand with the two of you and greeted YangYang.
“Jaemin asked me for a favor at the last minute and I had to pick something up.” he answered, “I actually saw them pulling into the parking garage so they should be here any minute.”
“I cannot believe this place is yours.” YangYang said as he and Jeno made their way into the kitchen as you went to sit with Renjun.
“It’s ours.” Jeno said nodding towards the couch where Renjun was inspecting your new pieces of jewelry, holding in his chuckle when Renjun let out a very audible gasp which gained the attention of Yukhei and Yeeun who were now hovering over you with looks of interest. “I asked her to move in with me yesterday.”
“Woah, already?” YangYang gasped as Jeno shrugged, handing him a drink, “Don’t you feel like it’s a bit early? We heard that the two of you started connecting only in the last few months.”
“Felt like the right time.” he answered and chuckled when he saw Yeeun engulf you in a big hug while Yukhei ruffled your hair, giving you a large smile, “It’s a long story but we have too much history for us not to try and honestly, she’s the only one I can see myself settling down with.”
YangYang wondered why he felt a sense of deja vu as he listened to Jenos story when he heard the chime of the elevator signalling that the rest of the group arrived.
“Took you guys long enough.” Yukhei called as Jaemin and the others walked in with various bags of food and you got up to help Hana with the few bags in her hands.
“The order got held up.” Hana explained as the two of you hugged each other and she smirked seeing your necklace, “Nice piece of jewelry you got there girl, is it new?” she whispered as you giggled. Jeno had confessed that both Hana and Jaemin were in on his little surprise since it was Jaemin who had hooked him up with the person who combined the rings and Hana had found the box on the kitchen counter when she and Jaemin went to hang out at his house. She had found it cute and promised that she wouldn’t tell you about it. You were surprised that she had managed to keep a secret for that long.
“You should ask your boyfriend. I’m sure he can hook you up.” you said shooting her a wink before going to greet Chenle and the others who were with Jeno and YangYang. Once you were within arms reach, Jeno had brought you to his side and Chenle looked between the two of you suspiciously.
“So did Jeno finally grow some balls and ask you out?” he asked out of the blue and suddenly you were holding your boyfriend back from wringing the Chinese boys neck while you, YangYang and Xiaojun laughed.
“Wait so you mean you weren’t together already?” Xiaojun asked surprised, from what he’d heard about your relationship, he assumed that the two of you had already been together for a while now.
“I’ve been away for a long time and we’re still kind of reconnecting.” you explained, meeting the other boys eyes, “we’re official as of this morning.”
“That’s cute.” YangYang commented as Tzuyu rolled her eyes.
She still couldn’t understand why someone as perfect as Jeno would date someone as plain Jane like you. He deserved someone better, someone who would compliment him in terms of looks and skill. Granted, she had only seen you dance once and thought that it was nothing special. She still refused to acknowledge the look of love from Jeno’s eyes that he only directed towards you.
“Yep, proud neighbours for fourteen years.” you said and motioning to the food, “I’m sure you guys are hungry after that long drive. Make yourselves at home and if you need anything, let us know.”
“Thanks. Do you mind if we look around after? I’ve never seen a design like this before.” Xiaojun said with a smile as his eyes met yours, you felt the arm around your waist tighten as you smiled back.
“Sure, Jeno can give you the tour.” you said grinning up at said person who looked down at you with a raised eyebrow, “We’ll figure out our plans for the day after.”
Pulling away, you made your way over to Jaemin and Hana, squeezing yourself between the couple
The three of you along with Renjun updated each other on the happenings between the two Continents. Hana once again apologized for not talking to Jisung sooner and you brushed her off. You considered Jisung one of your closest friends and no one could have predicted that he’d make a move on you, especially after knowing that you belonged to Jeno.
“Have you and Jeno talked about it?” Hana asked and you shrugged.
“Kind of? He asked if I’d talked to him since the incident but Mia and Chan took away Jisungs phone since he has to focus on training camp. Obviously we get the occasional updates but from what we’ve heard, he’s one of the top 3 in his group.” you explained and Renjun nodded in agreement.
“He just needed to focus on one thing. You could tell that whenever he had a bad day he’d always run to you but without you there, he’s pouring his soul into his dance because he thinks it’s all he has.” Renjun added, “I’m very impressed. We won’t be seeing him till we get back to Europe for rehearsals but thats only when we drop in.”
“Where would Jeno be when he starts?” Jaemin asked and you grimaced.
“Jisungs class. He’s one of the nominees for captain of the new competition team if he makes it through and the students in that group are top tier. He’ll be spending a lot of time observing the group to make decisions.” Renjun answered chuckling and looked at you, “You guys need to get your bull shit together cause once rehearsals start, it’s half a year of responsibilities and thats for all of us. Jeno and Jisung are going to be around each other a lot in a few weeks and I’d rather not have the first fight of the season be over you.”
Jaemin examined your new piece of neck jewelry with a smirk.
“Well by the looks of it, Y/N and Jeno got their shit together.” he commented, toying with your necklace, “What did you think about the bracelets?”
Silence fell among the group as you looked at one another and Jaemin looked like a deer caught in headlights.
“Bracelets?” you asked, looking at Jaemin with a raised eyebrow and he shook his head quickly, realizing that he had spoiled a surprise and Hana gasped.
Turning to the kitchen where Jeno was conversing with Yang Yang and Kun who had shown up with Sicheng and Yuta he could feel your demeanour change as you made eye contact and his eyes shot to Jaemin who looked guilty.
He then realized that his best friend had ruined his surprise that he’d kept from both you and Hana who had only known about the necklace.
“Wait so there are bracelets?” Hana asked, looking at you and Jeno sighed shaking his head.
“Later, after I teach Jaemin how to keep his mouth shut” he said, wrapping his arms around you from behind the couch, throwing a glare at his best friend as everyone gathered around with plates of food, “First, what’s the plan today? Everyone kind of showed up a lot earlier then we were expecting.”
“What were YOU two going to be doing till dinner?” Jaemin asked in a teasing tone and Jeno smacked him on the back of the head.
“Not spoiling other peoples surprises, thats for sure.” Jeno said with a glare as Jaemin looked at him innocently, “I have to spend a few hours reviewing audition tapes and work with Soonyoung on who to call back for the first two schools we’re going to.”
“Y/N and I were planning on going to the studio for a bit to work on a routine and condition. Anyones welcome to join us if they’d like.” Renjun said and you nodded in agreement.
“I kind of just want to chill out till dinner.” Yukhei said, “Is it cool if we hang out here?”
“Whatever you guys want.” Jeno said, “The rooms upstairs are all vacant, assuming you plan to stay the weekend. Jaemin and Hana can have Y/N’s old room and theres three more for you guys to choose from.”
“Do you not mind?” Xiaojun asked and Jeno shrugged looking at you and you shrugged right back.
“Of course not. We kind of expected this.” you answered with a giggle, “Anyways, if you guys want to head to the studio with us, we’re gonna leave in ten.”
In the end, Xiaojun, YangYang, Yuta, Sicheng, Jaemin and Hana decided to go with you while the rest stayed back. At first you were wary about leaving Tzuyu alone at your apartment with your boyfriend. It’s not that you didn’t trust him or anything, but Yeeun had shared with you an interesting fact that made you skeptical about her innocent image.
As you walked by the bathroom to your old bedroom, you heard voices coming from inside and you realized that it was Tzuyu and Xiaojun and it sounded like they were arguing? From what you could pick up, Tzuyu was upset that both he and YangYang were going to the dance studio with you and Renjun and Xiaojun kept telling her that she could come too. Apparently Tzuyu didn’t want to be around you and you could clearly hear Xiaojun scoff, telling her that its her problem. You felt someone wrap an arm around you and you held in your gasp, looking up to see Jeno looking at you with curious eyes.
Holding a finger to your lips, you motioned towards the closed bathroom door where the voices were still coming. This time, Tzuyu sounded upset while Xiaojun sounded frustrated.
“You were the one who dumped me Tzuyu, not the other way around. We could’ve had what the two of them do but you decided to screw it all up when you dumped me for someone who has zero interest in you. They’re cool people and you can’t tell me who to and not to be friends with anymore.” Xiaojuns voice boomed through the door.
