秽血 ( tainted - blood )

ATENTAMENTE : A 10K SPECIAL

Now that Jeno was gone, Renjun had no cats to play with, so he changed the game a little. Instead of playing with cats, he played with the two Chinese Clans who'd once toyed with him, and instead of lasers, he played with information. The one thing that did not change now and then was the amount of joy he got from playing the game. He loved being the puppet-master, he loved being in control, he loved the chaos he was creating. All these had induced a rush comparable to that he had felt back when he still raced and he absolutely loved it.

"Peach yogurt smoothie for err, In... ju- no wait, je? Je-on?"

The waiter struggled to pronounce the Korean name, squinting hard at the scribbled characters, to which Renjun let out a short laugh under his breath. There was no Chinese characters which could properly spell out his Korean name, but he couldn't risk it using his proper Chinese name, so he ended up doing an in-between and making everyone confused.

"Your name is," the waiter licked his dry lips anxiously, smiling apologetically. "Unique. Are you... local?"

Renjun really wondered if he looked any bit short of a Chinese. "Make a guess," he raised a brow at the boy, a strong Dongbei accent clouding his voice.

The unadulterated surprise that rippled through the other man was almost comical. "I guess so," the waiter stammered. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to offend. I-"

Renjun gave him a look of amusement, then picked his drink up and left, a sense of what the French would call deja vu coursing through him.

"Strawberry yogurt smoothie for... Huang... Ren... Jun?" the mousy-looking Korean boy stumbled over every syllable, looking frankly like he was currently regretting trying for this job.

He was a new face, Renjun had never seen him before. First day on the job probably. Eitherways, it didn't matter, if this boy couldn't reach the standard and expectations Renjun set, the Chinese boy was going to demand a remake.

Renjun stepped forward to collect his drink and the newbie's big curious eyes followed him over.

"Excuse me," the boy called out timidly when he got close, "Are you local?"

Renjun's eyes met his blankly. "Make a guess," he responded in fluent Korean, then glanced at the shiny nametag pinned on his uniform. Park Jisung. What a nosy kid, he scoffed internally.

The other boy's mouth rounded and hastily he packed the Huang boy's drink into a carrier and slid a wrapped straw across the counter. "Enjoy your drink," he said in the same tiny voice, bobbing his head at Renjun. "Come again!"

The Chinese boy cocked his head and slipped the straw from it's paper wrapping, poking it into the plastic cover intimidatingly, taking a sip.

The taste hit him first. It was a perfect blend, just the way he liked it, and the toppings! They were just enough- not too much, not too little, not too sweet, not too tasteless. It was the right temperature too, just sufficient ice to make it cold. The Huang boy's brows skyrocketed.

For a newbie, this guy was impressive.

Park Jisung, I will remember you.

Renjun gave the antsy boy a short nod, then picked his drink up and walked out of the door, not knowing that was going the start of one of his most- if not the most- genuine yet tragic friendships.

"Jisung-ah," the Chinese boy breathed, once he was far away and on his own, eyes going up to glittering stars filling up the nightsky. "Bogo shipda (I miss you)."