strawberry blossoms | renhyuck au

chapter 2

"mm, you're right they are good" he says after taking a bite.

"hey-"

"thank you renjunnie~"

"please dont call me that when we're not close"

"you have to admit though, u like it dont you?"

renjun just stared at him in disgust not knowing what to reply. haechan took the hint and asked him if he wants to head back to the classroom since class was about to start soon, renjun replied with a yes and they headed back, eating the strawberries on the way there.

"hey what school did you go to before u moved here?" haechan abruptly asked.

"oh actually this is my first korean school, i only moved to korea like a week ago, im actually chinese" renjun replied.

"wow, you're korean is really good. are you fluent?"

"almost. i lived in an area where korean was spoken a lot so it came naturally"

"you're actually talking to me?"

"shut up."

as much as renjun may have hated him, haechan couldnt help but find him cute. renjun didnt seem like a bad person, he just needed to open up and haechan was more than happy to wait for him to do just that.

the boys didn't really talk to each other for the rest of the day. haechan ended up sleeping through almost all of the lessons which resulted in renjun having a lot more time to study and break time wasn't necessarily anything extraordinary either, just them eating strawberries and having some random small talk here and there like usual. generally speaking, renjun was happy with what his school day looked like. its true that haechan teased him a bit but it wasnt too bad. the final ring could be heard coming from the school bells as all classes finally came to an end. renjun left the classroom but stopped walking after he took a few steps. suddenly he could hear a faint crying sound coming from the room he just left. renjun wasn't sure if he should just keep walking forward or go back and see if the person silently sobbing is okay. he decided it's not his business so he should just focus on going back home. he took a few steps until he stopped again. the crying was slowly getting louder. renjun really didnt like getting involved in things but he really couldnt stand to hear someone crying. he walked back to the classroom and peeped through the door and then quickly turned away so he couldn't be seen. he didn't expect the crying person to be haechan. he took a deep breath and went inside.

"h-hey are you okay..?"

haechan was sat down at his desk, crying with his head down laid on his crossed arms. after hearing the voice, he quickly looked up and wiped his tears.

"hm? yes im okay i just fell asleep"

that was a complete lie. and renjun could tell. not only because of the sounds coming out of him seconds ago but also because of his runny nose and teary eyes.

"why were you crying?"

there was a long silence.

"i-"

"answer me" renjun interrupted.

"do.. do you ever just get stressed and think nothing will ever go your way? do you ever feel like you're stuck in a neverending loop of tiredness? how do you even enjoy studying.. it just ruins me to the core."

renjun didn't know what to answer. he looked at him with sadness in his eyes, wondering what to reply.

"i don't enjoy friendships.. but sometimes i wish there was someone i could suffer with together and not alone. i never talk to anyone, i never had. but sometimes as much as i like the loneliness it also makes me vulnerable."

hearing all of those words come out of haechans mouth really made renjun realize why haechan acted like that around him. he never intended to ruin renjuns days per se, he just wanted to tease someone to get some attention, no matter if it was positive or not. and it seemed like renjun was an easy target since he was new, awkward and quiet.

"why do you tease me?" renjun suddenly asked.

haechan was left a bit confused. this had no correlation to the topic whatsoever. a part of him wanted to ask renjun why he even bothered asking him what's wrong if he was gonna change the topic right after but he ended up answering renjuns question.

"i like you." haechan said without thinking.

"wait no what i meant is that there's something about you that i like. i don't know what it is, but i really wanted to become your friend. i knew it was impossible especially since my way of showing affection and friendliness is by teasing the other person. i could tell from the first time i saw you that you weren't the type of person to enjoy teasing so i knew we wouldn't get along, but i also had nothing to lose so i just went with it" he corrected himself.

"what's the real reason you have no friends? i know you said you don't really enjoy making friends but surely there have been some people that came up to you and asked to be friends, right? don't most people tease each other nowadays? i thought i was just an odd one out." renjun was way too curious.

"oh sometimes they have. i occasionally had girls in the hallways come up to me and ask for my number but i always rejected. i have also made some friendships along the way but people usually stopped talking to me the moment i told them im gay, which is quite unfortunate that society potrays it as if its something bad"

so that's it. renjun definitely didnt expect such an important confession to come out of haechans mouth so suddenly, but he really appreciated the honesty. renjun slowly started walking towards haechan and lightly patted his head. in that exact moment, he realized he didn't hate haechan. haechan never had any ill intentions when bothering renjun, he just hoped he could become renjun's friend over time. and sure enough, it worked. after the heartfelt talk, renjun could no longer say he hated him. that being said he wasn't completely ready to become his friend either, but he wanted haechan to know he wasnt alone.

haechan slightly blushed after feeling renjuns hand patting his head. he was expecting renjun to immediately leave after haechan told him everything but there he was, still there, and on top of that patting him. their eyes were locked for quite some time until renjun realized he hasnt said a single thing for over 2 minutes.

"im not sure if i can be your friend just yet, but i wouldn't mind talking to you at school. i understand you a bit more now and i want you to know you're not alone, but its not easy for me to make friends and give them my trust. is it okay for you to wait? also maybe try not to tease me much.. im a bit sensitive to it and dont really like it" renjun broke the silence.

"i understand. id like that. thank you renjun." haechan replied.

the next days at school were completely different. haechan stopped teasing renjun completely and they started to get to know each other more. they found out about their interests, hobbies, music tastes and helped each other with notes and studying. but one thing that never changed is renjuns love for those weird ass strawberries from the vending machine. haechan was actually surprised they still haven't gotten sick of them.

it stayed that way for a good few months.