dnyl club [ nct dream ]

[ thirty two ]

Renjun held onto his book bag straps, walking his way into the court yard as he started his day. It was a fairly unimpressionable weekend after their meeting, but he liked to think of it as healing time.

Chenle had gotten a late start, so he left, in order not to be late to his homeroom class.

They had agreed to meet up at lunch with the other boys, so they would see each other soon.

Renjun hadn't thought too much about the weekend, trying to place that behind him. He didn't focus on it, because he knew if he did, it would take up too much of his time and would leave him unable to focus and be unproductive.

Which, with midterms fastly approaching, was the last thing he was to do.

He walked on the steps to the school, the hard concrete almost shocking his nerves as he was still drowsy from the morning. He needed to make some more progress on his new project that would be included in his portfolio for his Studio Art class.

He was barely scraping by, as most of his art was considered too personal to himself for him to share. Those were his own words though.

In fact, the teacher almost always tried to convince him to enter at least one for his final project, but he felt like they weren't going to be appreciated much.

And the last thing he wanted for his projects was to be scrutinized by immature peers who didn't know how to read into paint strokes and details like he could.

He didn't feel above others, he just felt that they didn't have the right skills in order to fully embrace and be brought into the artwork like Renjun could. That, and the only other person he had allowed to watch him create, destroyed his art and his heart along with them.

He was more guarded now, very careful as to who would be allowed to see his artwork again.

He carefully made his way up to the art studio, finding his portfolio and retrieved the canvas of his newest piece.

He had solely added a light blue hue as the background, the piece was to be monochromatic of a self-portrait.

And although he chose blue, he did it for other reasons. He sat himself onto a stool after placing the canvas onto an easel.

He had a small square mirror laying in his hand, but he didn't place it as to where he could his face. In fact, he didn't look at the mirror at all. He merely stared at the empty canvas.

This project had him stuck.

He didn't know how to feel or approach the topic of how he sees himself.

He had questions, as where to start, or how he was seen by others, but had no one to ask.

Most people have certain biases, but nothing was ever accurate. Even Renjun's own views were biased. And he wanted his piece to be honest.

He continued staring at the canvas, trying to figure out how he was to do this project, up until the bell rang.

The sound snapped himself out of his trance, making him quickly pack away his things and rush to his homeroom.

He slipped on some water, on his way of rushing out, but caught himself and continued down the stairs until he was tucked into his seat in his homeroom.

From then, the day passed quickly, to where he was already sitting at the table for lunch, the noise of Jisung and Chenle joking around bringing himself out of his disassociation.

"Hey," he felt a nudge from his left. His head turned sluggishly to the familiar face of Jeno.

"You O.K.?" his attention turned to his right, where Jaemin's big round eyes bore into his own.

He took a deep breath, finally finding the chill of the air and finding his conscious, and nodded, smiling lightly.

"Yeah, just," he paused, "just kind of worried about my portfolio for midterms."

"Oh, really?" this caught Jaemin's attention. Renjun nodded, stretching out his arms.

"Can we see?" Jeno wore the same expression of excitement.

Renjun winced, "Well, it's not quite done-"

"That's O.K.! Can we see it when it is done?" Jaemin asked.

"Well, that depends. Are you going to trash it?" Renjun joked, grabbing a bag of chips from his bag, and opened it.

Jaemin and Jeno looked at him weirdly, as if that would never happen.

Renjun made a crunch with the chip he ate, almost laughing at their expressions.

"Why would anyone ever?" Jeno asked, stealing a chip from Renjun's bag.

"Well, people find reasons, and when they find reasons, they find a way," Renjun answered, taking the bag away from Jeno, and instead offering some to Jaemin, who gladly ate some.

"But know this, we," Jaemin pointed at himself and then gestured to Jeno, "would never."

Renjun jokingly squinted at the two of them, "Alright, let's assume that I believe you, I might have a way for you both be added into the process."

"And how would that be?" Jeno asked, stealthily sneaking another chip, making Renjun give him a sound of betrayal.

"Well, there's the possibility of me painting you guys."

Jaemin rubbed his chin in thought.

"Wait, please tell me you're not trying to paint us like those nude portraits, are you?"

Renjun almost choked on the chip he had been chewing. Jaemin laughed as Jeno checked on the older.

"Excuse me, what? No! I would never!" Renjun defended himself.

"Ah man, that would've been gold though," Jaemin countered, sneaking in a wink at both Jeno and Renjun.

"No thanks, I don't need that for my portfolio," Renjun said, his throat a little sore from the chip attack that Jaemin induced.

Jaemin gave Renjun his water bottle, before continuing a conversation they had started earlier. The youngest two not in sight, but were having fun on their own.

Just when Renjun had gotten over the situation that Jaemin popped that question, he felt Jeno's breath on his cheek.

"I would've done it," Jeno whispered into Renjun's ear, the older looking at Jeno quickly, his face slowly heating up.

"What?"

And just like that, another chip stolen.

. . . 

A/N:

BOO!

Did I scare you?

I know I haven't updated in a minute, but work be like that sometimes.

Thank you all for being patient!

Thank you for reading!

I hope you enjoyed and don't be hesitant for feedback, I love reading comments!

Until next time!

started : 2021.1.3
finished : 2021.1.6