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From the moment they leave to film their latest Just Do It episode, Jaemin is giddy with anticipation. He can’t fully explain it, but he has a feeling that this is going to end up being one of his favorite episodes.
He still remembers training for the Idol Star Athletics Championships with Jeno and Chenle five years ago, remembers how easily archery had come to Jeno and how effortlessly handsome he had looked just holding the bow. And it’s not like they generally choose what sport they want to try next based on how good they’ll be at it, but Jaemin was definitely mostly thinking about seeing Jeno in action again when archery was brought up as a suggestion.
(The truth is, Jaemin would have been looking forward to today no matter what the activity was, because he loves every aspect of Just Do It – he loves learning new things, he loves having an excuse to wear cute little matching outfits with Jeno, and he especially loves getting to spend time with his favorite person in the world. But he can’t deny that doing archery in particular adds an extra layer of excitement to the mix.)
His enthusiasm only builds once they arrive and Jeno turns out to be in a talkative mood. It’s always something of a wild card, whether Jeno will be feeling chatty when they’re filming for any kind of content – but he’s always a little more inclined to do so when it’s the two of them together, and Jaemin will always be both grateful for and smug about that.
He pretends to not remember the details of their victory from all those years ago – there’s no way he could ever forget the sweet smile on Jeno’s face with his gold medal around his neck, after all – just for fun, just so he can hear Jeno proudly recount it. And unlike most times when Jaemin starts talking a lot, where Jeno is content to sit back and let him do most of the speaking, he steps in with commentary of his own. It’s almost embarrassing, how happy it makes Jaemin to see him so relaxed and confident.
It also helps that Lee Wooseok is a genuinely kind, invested, and helpful teacher – not that any of their previous instructors were bad, but there’s something about Wooseok that puts both of them at ease in a way that they didn’t experience in previous episodes. Jaemin likes Wooseok right away, and he lets him know that he looks like a nice person immediately – he can tell Jeno is quietly amused by that, which makes him glad to have said it.
Jeno seems very comfortable interacting with Wooseok, and Jaemin can only be pleased about that, too. He watches Jeno comment on Wooseok’s sunburn, ask about Wooseok’s selection for the national team, explain their previous experience at ISAC, and ask about how old Wooseok was when he started archery. He speaks very little himself, instead allowing himself to enjoy the natural flow of conversation between his companions. It’s the most talkative he can remember Jeno being with a relative stranger, but somehow, instead of being completely jealous like he usually is when he isn’t the center of Jeno’s attention, he also feels proud.
As he accepts Wooseok’s offer to try out the bow he used for the 2024 Olympics and allows Wooseok to make adjustments to his grip, he wills himself not to glance at Jeno. The odds are low, but not zero, that Jeno might be a little jealous in return over Wooseok’s actions. But when Jeno just laughs and teasingly says, “Don’t drop it,” Jaemin decides it was probably just wishful thinking on his part. Jeno, of course, needs no adjustments on his turn, and in fact, he does so well that Wooseok compliments his posture. Jaemin has to smile – that’s Jeno to a tee, always effortlessly good at everything he tries.
When it’s time for them to choose their bows and Jaemin spots the pink one, he’s already made up his mind, and his choice is only solidified when Wooseok says that the yellow bow is a bit stronger. (Surely he’s made it obvious, over the years, that he loves to see Jeno showing off his strength. Surely Jeno knows that by now.) And Jeno probably does know it, on some level, but he still says, “Let’s play rock-paper-scissors to decide.”
Jaemin just laughs, because he knows Jeno will let him get away with not complying. “I did it.”
As expected, Jeno indulges him and goes along with it. “You already did? Okay.” And he takes up the yellow bow without complaint, and all Jaemin can think about in that moment is how much he adores him.
Somehow, as Wooseok coaches them through the correct posture, he ends up providing more hands-on assistance to Jaemin, while Jeno just watches Wooseok guide Jaemin or use his bow to demonstrate – and of course, gets another compliment for his efforts. (To be fair, Jaemin gets complimented on his posture too, but he had Wooseok next to him the whole time, helping him adjust, so he thinks it’s reasonable to say that Jeno is still more impressive.)
That’s why he has no qualms at all about volunteering Jeno to go first. “Feels like Jeno should,” he says when Wooseok asks. Jeno laughs shyly, because of course he knows it’s Jaemin’s way of praising him, which only encourages Jaemin to lay it on thicker. “Let’s start with Jeno, who has the best posture. Show us!”
Jeno has a strong start, his arrows landing away from the center, but still within the target. It isn’t necessarily wonderful, but it is decent, and he again earns Wooseok’s admiration for his skill. For whatever reason, Jaemin still can’t really find it in him to be very jealous that Jeno and Wooseok have taken to each other so quickly. There’s something sweet and almost brotherly about the way they interact, similar to how Jeno is with Jaehyun or Doyoung. (Though to be clear, he is jealous – Jeno isn’t his to stake a claim on, technically, but as he’s made clear before, he just can’t help it when Jeno meets people who aren’t him.)
His own performance is underwhelming, but of course Jeno manages to find a way to spin it positively. Hearing him say “You’re doing it the opposite as me,” along with his endearing little laugh makes Jaemin feel much better about his arrows flying out of control.
Collecting the arrows once again finds Jaemin with Wooseok walking him through it, while Jeno does his own thing. This time, Jaemin is disappointed he missed it, because he would have loved to see Jeno pulling all his arrows out using just his muscles. (His whiny little “There was a tool for it?” is adorable, of course, but Jaemin is, first and foremost, a Jeno-flexing-his-strength enthusiast. Although in hindsight, maybe it’s good that he didn’t see it, because it would have been awkward to start drooling with Wooseok standing right there.)
They decide to get some additional practice before their first contest. It seems like Wooseok wants to make more adjustments to Jaemin’s posture after his second attempt, but to Jaemin’s surprise, Jeno suddenly speaks up. “Can I help him? I think it’ll help me get a better feel too.”
Wooseok has no problem with it, which is how Jaemin finds himself standing with Jeno’s front pressed against his back as he carefully moves Jaemin’s hands into place with his own. Jaemin has to remind himself to keep breathing, his heart racing wildly as he lets Jeno do what he wants until Jeno seems to be happy with his posture.
“How do I look?” he murmurs, unable to raise his voice above a whisper.
Jeno huffs out a quiet laugh, his breath hitting Jaemin’s ear and making him shiver involuntarily. “Perfect, Nana. Just like always.” (And why does he always have to be so charmingly sincere? It’s things like this, really, that make Jaemin fall impossibly deeper in love with him.)
Clearly, he was right, because Jaemin’s next attempt earns him a ten. When Jeno lets his third arrow fly, he hits a ten too, and Jaemin can’t help but think it must be fate when Wooseok points out that they both got ten on their third try. (Or maybe it was the posture-correcting moment they just shared that helped them – who’s to say?)
Once their fruit mini-game begins, Jaemin starts to really enjoy himself. He manages to hit the watermelon, to his delight, and he also earns himself a reprimand from Jeno to stop bothering Wooseok on his turn. (There’s something about Jeno scolding him, trying to make him behave, that never fails to thrill Jaemin to his core.)
He miserably fails at hitting the pear, and it feels as natural as breathing to call out, “Jeno, please get it on for me,” as Jeno prepares for his turn.
Jeno, sweetheart that he is without even realizing how endearing it makes him, agrees without a second of hesitation. “I’ll try,” he says, and then he really does it. Jaemin feels a bit like a princess whose prince has carried out a task just for him.
The apple level goes well for all of them, even with Jaemin making Wooseok’s life a bit harder just for the hell of it, but when he does poorly for the kiwi, Jaemin again asks Jeno to do it for his worth too. He isn’t sure how motivational Jeno actually finds it, but he does seem to be more disappointed than he might have otherwise been at not hitting the kiwi either.
Jaemin decides to be a brat again, mostly because it’s fun – he doesn’t need Jeno to scold him once more, but it would be nice bonus – but this time, both Wooseok and Jeno have noticed something he hasn’t, and he’s just heard Jeno’s “Jaemin-ah!” when the kiwi tumbles to the ground. He fixes it himself, though, and is delighted to hear Jeno say, “That’s too much. Too harsh, really.”
It’s almost not a surprise when Wooseok still hits the kiwi – what is surprising is how Jeno, who’s been incredibly impressed by everything Wooseok has done all day, instead fixates on the way Wooseok’s arrows landed all in a line. To placate him, and because he’ll always make an effort to at least appear to be interested in whatever Jeno likes, Jaemin says, “It’s in a line, so cool.” He earns a smile from Jeno in return, which makes it more than worth it.
The blueberry round is more for entertainment than anything else – realistically, there was no way he or Jeno would be able to hit it. (Jaemin does say, “Jeno-yah, you have to get this right,” anyway, just in case it might encourage him, but he isn’t shocked when Jeno immediately denies being able to get it.) He spends the rest of the time watching Wooseok’s attempts through the observing lens, and when Jeno tries to come into the frame, he lets himself believe, just for a moment, that Jeno only wants Jaemin’s eyes on him.
In the end, Wooseok wins, of course, but Jeno takes second place, and Jaemin secretly tells himself it was all thanks to his request for Jeno to hit the pear for him. The memory sparks a sudden idea in his mind for the contest between the two of them, and he makes a mental note to pull Jeno aside when there’s a break in filming so they can talk. First, though, he asks Wooseok if he can try shooting with his bow.
Neither he nor Jeno is particularly good at it, but Wooseok is so kind and understanding throughout that Jaemin isn’t even slightly taken aback when Jeno says, “He’s so sweet,” the moment he steps away.
It’s his personality that really makes him so nice to be around, Jaemin thinks, and he voices how much he likes their coach’s personality aloud, just to make it clear. And so when the man in question finally returns with more arrows for them, Jaemin has to ask, “What’s your MBTI, by the way?”
“Mine’s ISTP,” Wooseok tells him, and of course Jeno immediately lets him know he’s the same.
Jaemin, on the other hand, feels oddly vindicated. “That’s why I liked our coach,” he says to everyone at large. “I get it now.” He isn’t exaggerating, either. It really does all make sense, all of a sudden – how quickly Jeno clicked with Wooseok, how much Jaemin liked him too – of course someone who matches Jeno’s personality type would accomplish both those things. And when Jeno laments over ISTP’s lack of popularity, he has to announce, “I love ISTP people.” Because he does – and one in particular, above all others.
When everything is almost completely set up, Jaemin drags Jeno over to a quiet corner where he can bring up his earlier idea. “Jeno-yah,” he says, smiling more charmingly than he really needs to – Jeno would probably give him what he wants even if he didn’t try to be persuasive at all. Still, Jaemin likes to play it up anyway sometimes, just to see Jeno blush and smile that helplessly fond smile at him. “Do you want to make the contest more interesting?”
As Jaemin predicted, Jeno’s cheeks flush a faint pink under the force of Jaemin’s smile. “Interesting how?”
“Well,” Jaemin says, launching into an explanation of his idea without hesitation, “you know how sometimes in fantasy stories, there are contests where princes battle against each other so they can win the princess's hand in marriage?”
“Yes...” Jeno says slowly, looking uncertain. He’s probably wondering where Jaemin is going with this, and is also possibly a little scared to find out.
Undeterred, Jaemin presses on. “I think you should do that!”
Jeno seems baffled now. “I should...battle you for a princess's hand in marriage?”
Jaemin kind of wants to coo at him for looking like such an adorable lost puppy when he’s confused, but instead, he lets out a huff. “You should battle for my hand in marriage.”
“Because you’re a princess,” Jeno says, because of course he was able to piece that together. He doesn’t acknowledge the “marrying Jaemin” aspect of it, but that’s okay, because Jaemin is busy doing his best to not react in an extremely inappropriate way to Jeno’s intelligence and easy acknowledgement of Jaemin’s favorite title. “But...the contest is against you.”
“I know,” Jaemin sighs. It’s the only flaw in his idea, as far as he’s concerned, but it’s admittedly a significant one. “But you should still do it anyway. It can be like the princess secretly entered the tournament himself, so he can choose his own husband.” He’s hit with another flash of inspiration and adds, “You and Wooseok are the choices.”
Jeno, being more than familiar with Jaemin’s imagination and often outlandish requests, doesn’t press for more information. He just nods and accepts it, suddenly looking oddly determined. “Okay.”
They add in a penalty for the loser once the cameras are rolling again, and play rock-paper-scissors for real this time – and for some reason, Jeno throws scissors even though he definitely knows Jaemin always plays rock. (Jaemin likes to think Jeno doesn’t mind letting him win, when it’s something like this. When it comes to the really important things, that’s when he gives it his all. He even says, “Ah, as it’s a match, my heart...it feels different,” and Jaemin can only hope it’s because he really wants to win their little fantasy version of the contest.)
Jaemin doesn’t want to make it easy for him, though, and he actually ends up doing better than he anticipated. But he doesn’t mind – in his made-up world (and in the real one), getting to choose Jeno for himself isn’t a bad prospect either. Still, he gives Jeno a lot of encouragement – perhaps too much, but he doesn’t care – in the hopes that maybe he’ll pull ahead.
He doesn’t manage it, but it’s a resounding victory for Jaemin, because he gets to watch Jeno pull out all twenty arrows manually and show off how well he knows Jeno by informing Wooseok that he likes it better that way. They’re both tired by the end, and will probably be sore tomorrow, but it’s also been extremely fun.
As they film their goodbyes, Jaemin can’t resist bringing up Jeno and Wooseok’s shared MBTI – it’s important to him that everyone knows exactly why Jeno got along so well with Wooseok, and why Jaemin liked him so much too. He’s so happy that he doesn’t even mind Wooseok’s comments on his unstable arm, and instead focuses on the praise he lavishes upon Jeno. “Wow, what a good world,” he has to say, because how can he not? He loves praising Jeno. “Samoyed on archery too.”
They say their off-camera goodbyes to Wooseok shortly after, and then they’re back in the van, headed to Jaemin’s apartment. Jeno is quiet, and Jaemin is pretty sure he knows why.
“I’m not upset, you know,” he says, nudging Jeno with his shoulder.
“Of course,” Jeno says, his smile not quite reaching his eyes. “You won, why would you be upset?”
“Well,” Jaemin says, drawing the word out as he holds Jeno’s gaze. “Maybe because my favored prince didn’t end up winning the contest for my hand in marriage?”
It’s easy to tell the second his words sink in. “Your favored prince?” Jeno repeats, his expression so earnest and hopeful that it would almost be heartbreaking if it weren’t so gratifying. Jaemin has always had his fleeting moments of suspicion that his feelings are reciprocated, but he’s never felt confident enough to make the final leap until now.
“I do like ISTP people in general,” Jaemin says, leaning a little closer. “Wooseok-nim was great. But there’s definitely another ISTP person who beats the rest by a lot.”
“So the princess has made his choice?” Jeno asks, his eyes so full of tender affection that Jaemin could cry. He’s so perfect, still going along with Jaemin’s silly little scenario just because he knows Jaemin likes it that way.
“The princess made his choice a long time ago,” Jaemin agrees, suddenly breathless as Jeno’s hand finds his cheek. He lets his eyes flutter shut as Jeno presses their lips together sweetly.
Jeno smiles against his mouth, not deepening the kiss but lingering there a bit longer before drawing away slightly. “I love you too, by the way,” he says, his cheeks dusted with pink. “Although I think it’ll have to be a long engagement, because I don’t know if we have time for a wedding with everything going on this year.”
It’s Jaemin’s turn to blush. “I didn’t – I didn’t mean to jump right to proposing. It just kind of happened that way.”
With a soft laugh, Jeno shakes his head and kisses Jaemin again. “I don’t mind. A lot of princes in fantasy stories get married to the princess right away, right? And any prince would be happy to let that happen if you were the princess.”
Jaemin needs them to be at the apartment now, because once they’ve reached, neither of them are going to be leaving the bed until Jaemin is physically incapable of walking for at least two days. “I love you,” he says instead of verbally expressing any of that. “So much.”
And as he gets tugged in for another kiss, he decides that he was right after all – today’s Just Do It was definitely his favorite episode yet.