𝓦𝓱𝓸 𝓐𝓻𝓮 𝓨𝓸𝓾? - 𝓡𝓮𝓷𝓱𝔂𝓾𝓬𝓴

十九 (Nineteen)

The next morning, there was a knock at the door. "Come in." called Renjun, who'd been awake and staring at Haechan for the majority of the night.

Ms. Huang stepped into the room nervously, Mrs. Lee watching her from the hallway. She sat on the end of the bed and inhaled. "I'm sorry."

"Eomma, is this about last night?" asked Renjun.

"Of course." said Ms. Huang. "I was drunk, sweetheart. I didn't mean anything I said. And especially Haechan... you take such good care of my son. I wish I could make it up to you."

Haechan smirked playfully. "Actually, you can... can me and Renjun go to school?"

"Aish, you brat." sighed Ms. Huang, a grin on her face. "Okay, fine. I trust you two."

"You're both already enrolled in the district." said Mrs. Lee from the doorway.

Ms. Huang turned to look at her friend. "Haemi!"

"What? I knew you'd say yes." shrugged Mrs. Lee casually. "Oh, and Haechan, your father's coming home tonight."

Haechan shot up in his bed, shocked. "Really? You're not joking, right?"

Mrs. Lee shook her head, grinning. "And Renjun, you're welcome to meet him if you'd like."

"I'd love to, Mom." said Renjun. "If it's okay with you, Eomma?" he added, turning to his own mother.

"I don't have a problem with it." shrugged Ms. Huang. "I'm not sure I'm able to drive yet, so I'll probably stay here for the day anyway. Haemi offered to drive me home, but it's lonely there."

"Well, you two should get ready, then." said Mrs. Lee. "Come on, Meihua. Let the boys change."

As the two woman left the room, Haechan turned to face Renjun, a wide smile on his face. "I can't believe he's coming home... I haven't seen him since the first of March."

Renjun giggled at Haechan's excitement. "You're so cute right now."

"Just right now? Not always?" pouted Haechan, pretending to be upset.

"Ye- no, you're always cute." Renjun changed his answer mid-sentence, unable to resist Haechan's puppy eyes.

"That's more like it." grinned Haechan. "What do you want to wear?"

"Shit." cursed Renjun suddenly, realizing he had no choice but to wear Haechan's clothes.

Haechan chuckled. "Well, it's not my fault you didn't bring any clothes." he teased.

Renjun rolled his eyes. "I don't really care. Just get me something."

Haechan reached into his closet and pulled out two plain white hoodies. "How's this?"

"Wh- Lee Haechan, are you trying to make people think we're dating?"

Haechan suppressed his laugh. "You did say you didn't care."

"I see why my mom called you a brat now." said Renjun. "Alright, fine. But you really don't care about rumors?"

"Do you?" replied Haechan, looking directly into Renjun's eyes.

Renjun stopped. "Stop staring into my soul, would you? In answer to your question, I just don't want you to be uncomfortable. If you're scared of rumors, I won't wear it."

"Why would I be scared of rumors, when I have you?" asked Haechan, his arm twitching slightly at the urge to wrap it around Renjun. "Do you want any help?"

Renjun shook his head. "I can do it myself."

He turned his back to Haechan as he took off his shirt, well aware of the younger's eyes on him. Every bit of movement cost his body a surge of energy, but he was determined to do this alone. He didn't want someone waiting on him for the next few years. He had to push himself to stop depending on others.

He managed to grab the hoodie and slip it over his head, a wide smile forming on his face. He turned back to Haechan excitedly. "I did it, Haechannie!"

"I saw." grinned Haechan, pushing Renjun's hair out of his eyes. "I'm proud of you, Renjunnie."

"I'm proud of myself too, now don't you dare look at me while I finish."

Haechan chuckled at Renjun's sudden sassiness. Somehow, things almost felt... normal. Emphasis on the almost.

***

Renjun was slightly embarrassed at his happiness. A sixteen-year-old should not be this happy about being able to dress themselves.

But at this point, he'd take any happiness he could get. So he wore a huge, genuine smile as he walked downstairs, Haechan close behind, just in case.

"I can't wait to surprise Jeno and Jaemin." said Haechan, handing a granola bar to Renjun and taking one for himself. "It's just been them at the bus stop for seven years... it'll be great."

"How do you know they're still at that stop?" asked Renjun curiously.

"They've been texting me, and gosh, some of the things they send... I remember when they first started dating, they'd send the sappiest things." said Haechan, rolling his eyes. "They're very lovey-dovey, in case you couldn't tell."

"I could tell." giggled Renjun. "Let's go then, before we're late."

***

Jeno and Jaemin were leaning against a tree, bored. The other students at the bus stop were fighting; as always. High school was a harsh environment, and the only reason they hadn't lost their minds was each other.

"Did you do the homework for Professor Kim's class?" asked Jeno, having spent the past three minutes wildly searching for a conversation starter. Usually, conversation wasn't this difficult, but for some reason, Jeno had a feeling something was going to happen today.

"Nope." said Jaemin. "I did the first question and gave up. Wait... isn't that..."

He pointed ahead, at the end of the street. Jeno squinted and gasped.

"No way... it can't be."

"Trust me, no one our age in this city is that small. That's definitely Renjun." said Jaemin.

Jeno stood up and ran forward, Jaemin at his heels. They froze when they could clearly see the faces of their best friends.

"Haechan, Renjun!" said Jeno, amazed. "You're coming back?"

Renjun nodded proudly. "It was my idea."

"You're admirable." said Jaemin, impressed. "You're not scared of... them?" he added in a whisper, jerking his thumb towards the loudly bickering teenagers behind them.

"Why should he be scared when I'm here?" replied Haechan. "Whoever dares to mess with him is gonna be the first person to experience my wrath."

"...Don't get expelled, you just got here." said Renjun tiredly. "Gosh, you're a handful sometimes."

"You should have seen the four of us when we were kids." chuckled Jeno. "Haechan was always the one doing stupid things, and we kinda went along with it. It's a miracle he hasn't gotten us all killed yet."

"Shut up." said Haechan, embarrassed. "The point is, I'm here to protect Renjunnie."

"So you're here as a bodyguard rather than a student." summed up Jaemin.

"Basically." shrugged Haechan.

"Haechannie-"

"Don't worry about it, Renjunnie. Oh look, here comes the bus."

And as the other students all ran to the bus, pushing and shoving to get to the front of the pack, Renjun realized just how long this day would be.