powerless - nct, norenmin

⊗ 25 ⊗

renjun stood frozen in the middle of the convenience store, completely dumbfounded by the scene that had just happened to the point he was even starting to doubt it was real. surely that his mind played him tricks because of tiredness, this had made him imagine things, as for example jeno taking his defence and getting mad a someone.

the more he thought about it, the more it seemed like a dream.

bumping into a guy after losing his balance for the nth time today – he had barely slept that night, just like the past nights.

the guy accusing him of stealing his phone when renjun wasn't awake enough to even be able to type his own password properly.

his voice getting louder and his words getting harsher; words that renjun couldn't process well by the way as his brain had seemed to decide that it wouldn't function properly that day.

and then jeno appearing, pushing the man away multiple times, defending renjun and threatening the guy until he left.

yeah, there was no way all of that could happen. not to renjun who usually couldn't keep his mouth shut and defend himself whenever something or someone bothered him. certainly not to renjun who constantly had to reassure his ex-boyfriend, help him getting more self-confident and defend and protect him from assholes.

but if there was no way all of that could happen, then why would chenle be standing by his side as shocked as he was?

"a-are you o-okay?"

jeno's honey voice broke him out of the daze he had falling into, bringing him back to a reality which definitely didn't feel real.

"d-did he hurt you, r-renjun?"

it felt weird hearing his name coming from jeno's mouth after two weeks of being separated.

actually, it felt weird seeing his ex-boyfriend after two weeks.

it just allowed him to realise how much he loved the boy, and how stupid he had been for breaking up with him. right now, the only thing renjun wanted was to pull the boy in an endless embrace and kiss every inch of his body like he owned him.

"no." renjun cleared his throat, his heart feeling all fuzzy and weird as he glanced at the taller boy he had helplessly fallen in love with years ago. "no, he didn't hurt me."

jeno hummed, nodding his head slowly as he looked everywhere except at the chinese male that he would need to talk to.

being ultra-aware of both the thick tension in the air and the point to which renjun and jeno needed to have a talk together, the younger chinese male coughed lightly before flashing the two boys a smile.

"oh, look at that, your shift has just ended, jun!" he started, patting the boy's back. "you should definitely hang out with jeno for a while, huh? since he's already here and doesn't seem like he has anything to do." he finished looking at jeno with a look that said 'go talk with him right now'.

"y-yeah..." renjun stuttered, glancing at jeno who was as shy as he was.

"great!" chenle smiled brightly. "you guys can have a talk in the break room while i take the shift!" he continued, pushing the two boys lightly to lead them to the break room. "and don't come out until you have your stuff sorted out!" chenly finally said before slamming the door shut and leaving the two other boys in an awkward silence.

and god, did this awkward silent last for long.

after a few minutes of nothing, renjun and jeno were still standing face to face in the room, neither of them daring to open their mouth first and start speaking.