Red Strings // JaeNoRen

8

"Sorry, I have an appointment," Renjun smiled. "But save me something, I'll be back soon!"

---

"Oohhh! You must be Renjun! Come in! Come in! My boyfriend just made breakfast!"

Renjun had somehow followed the address Yixing sent to a very rich part of town.

The beautiful modern mansion greeted him as the friend Yixing was talking about pulled him inside with cutely high spirits.

"Jongie, Yixing's cousin is here~!" The cheerful older in a pastel onesie guided him to the enormous kitchen.

The silver pots and pans gleamed prestinely as Renjun observed the man standing with his back towards them, probably fixing some breakfast.

He turned around.

"Heyy!!!! I'm Jongdae! It's nice to meet you, Renjun!" The guy walked over with an apron still on, black hair perfectly in place and flawless smile beaming.

"I'm Xiumin," the older who opened the door for him said. "That's my boyfriend. Make yourself comfy, we were excited to hear from Yixing that you were coming."

Renjun awkwardly sat at the counter as Jongdae and Xiumin giggled at eachother and snuck in a few pecks here and there while finishing up cooking breakfast.

Renjun smiled.

What a cute couple.

"So what brings you here, Renjun?" Xiumin asked as he set out plates.

"Umm... It's about... strings..." Renjun felt extremely awlward.

"Oh..?" Xiumin's tone changed to a questioning one. "Well I understand Yixing said that you can see them. What's the issue?"

Jongdae quietly listened and filled up cups with some water as the other two males talked. He couldn't see anything, but he did know that Xiumin and Yixing could see things not many people could. He was used to the oddity.

"So Yixing-ge said you could cut them..." Renjun said quietly. "I'd like to know more..."

"Oh~?" Xiumin chuckled, as if sighing in relief. "Just that? Don't be too shy, Renjunnie! I'll tell you everything! Let's eat first, though."

After the breakfast session, Renjun had loosened up to Xiumin and Jongdae, surprised after learning they could speak Chinese as well. The trio chatted smoothly as they sat in the organized living room.

The house was very organized.
Perhaps one of the two was into cleaning?

"So, you want to know about us. The ones who can cut red strings, yes?" Xiumin asked.

"Yeah..."

"Well there's not that much to it," Xiumin explained. "We can see just like you. We just get to do more. We can cut ties if we want, but most of the time, it happens when a window of serverability opens."

"What's that?" Renjun raised a brow at the long word.

"Basically, when couples are weakening, the string will have a glowing section in the center. That's the window. Windows appear when a couple's relationship is in the question or decline. When that happens, it's our job to cut their strings and let them go separate ways without being bound. Some couples can have windows and then close them if their relationship heals. But, if they're not fast enough, we can cut them apart before they know it."

"Ohhhh," Renjun was fascinated.  "So are you going to cut off my string?"

Renjun held up his left hand, his red band still there.