Biochemical; NCT Dream

✯•Fourteen•✯

Jeno leads him towards the large fire and almost as soon as Renjun spots his brother, chatting away to Jisung, he practically pounces on him, hugging him as tightly as he possibly could.

Chenle laughs a little but hugs his older brother back, a huge smile on his face.
"How did you sleep?" Renjun asks a little worried. He knew Chenle had been a little unsure about this place last night and all he wanted was to know if his brother was comfortable.

"I slept great!" The blonde beamed, his usual bright smile was back and that loveable twinkle in his eyes could be seen again. "It's like having one big sleepover. Me and Jisung stayed up as late as we wanted to and I still had some candy in my bag so we ate that whilst telling stories. I love it here hyung!"

The thought of Chenle and Jisung staying up all night, completely hyper off candy sounded like a complete disaster, but Chenle was happy and for now that's all that mattered to Renjun.

The two younger boys were also wearing a fresh set of clothes and Renjun assumes they had also been shown to the shower room. Jeno must have shown them.
"Well I'm glad you're both happy, I'm gonna get some food now okay?" He says and the two boys nod with a smile.

Renjun stands back up and his eyes scan around for Jeno and he spots him stood a few meters away, watching them with a small smile on his lips. As soon as he sees Renjun looking at him the smile falters a little and he nods as a way of telling the brunette to follow.

They enter another hut, this one smelling of delicious food and making Renjun's empty stomach rumble. "Pancakes?" Jeno asks with a smile earning an eager nod from the elder. He already knew how much he liked pancakes and after everything they had been through Renjun was genuinely surprised that Jeno remembered.

Jeno grabs a plate for Renjun before grabbing one for himself. They pile them high with pancakes and they take a seat, eating in a comfortable silence. There were a few other people dotted around, eating. There was a boy with light brown hair sat in the far corner by the window, a pair of glasses perched on the end of his nose and his whole focus on a book. It was weird seeing people reading. Usually they would be scrolling through a phone screen or watching some shitty over-hyped drama on their portable net screens.

"This place is seriously amazing" Renjun finally says and Jeno smiles at his words.

"I know, I felt the same when I first came here" he admits "it's just so refreshing to be without all the technology. It allows you to actually talk to people face to face rather than through a screen, you actually get to see their immediate reactions and read their emotions" his blue eyes settle on Renjun's own brown ones for a moment "you also get a little more satisfaction from seeing someone in the flesh rather than some shitty profile picture"

At this Renjun laughs a little, finishing off his last pancake and taking a long sip of his hot tea. "So you've spent two years meeting people, like really meeting people" the brunette leans forward, eager to know more. "Who is usually the most interesting?"

Jeno thinks for a moment "probably the elderly" the smile he gives Renjun was so genuine and beautiful "obviously there's a little bit of a digital divide between the younger and older generations, they don't usually use as much technology as the rest do, their people skills are much better and they have such fascinating stories about the world before technology took over for good".

At first glance Jeno didn't seem like the type of guy who would enjoy sitting down to a conversation with the elderly, but now Renjun had truly gotten to know him, it seemed like such a Jeno thing to do. This boy was full of beautiful surprises.
Renjun smiles at the boy sat opposite, another question coming to mind. "Do you really think all technology is bad?"

Instantly Jeno shakes his head "definitely not" a look of sadness crosses his features "some technology is good, like Jaemin".

At this Renjun sits up a little, his full attention on Jeno. "Jaemin?"
He knew Jaemin wasn't fully human, it was obvious he was half technology.

Jeno sighs and nods "I'm not really supposed to tell you this but he's your new roommate and I feel like you should know, just don't tell him I told you okay?" He asks and Renjun nods. "I'd been here for just little over a year and had gained enough trust to be allowed out to gather supplies for the camp. I was in the city and I stumble upon a large crowd of people, all of them protesting against the virus".
Renjun remembers the uproar that had occurred after the virus had been announced to the public. "I ignore it and carry on about my business. I get the things I need but on my way back I stumble across a body, sprawled out over the blood stained pavement."

Jeno visibly cringes at the memory. "I thought he was dead but when I checked he still had a pulse. It was obvious the protesters had been attacked, some were more lucky than other and Jaemin was one of the unlucky ones." He looks down and takes a breath "I carried him on my back to the camp and passed him over to Doyoung after explaining what had happened".

"Jaemin was nearly dead, he had lost use of his right arm and his left foot, he was pretty much blind in both eyes. He was better off dead but Doyoung wouldn't let him die, Taeyong gave him permission to use technology to help save his life. Jaemin is a cyborg, but I never think of him as one. To me he's just like everyone else"

From the way Jeno was talking it was very obvious that Jaemin meant a lot to him. They had gone through a lot together.
So Jaemin wasn't android after all. In some ways him and Renjun had a lot in common. They both ended up hurt only because they chose to voice their opinions.

"Jaemin seems like a really kind guy" Renjun says recalling the way Jaemin had been so worried after the brunette had the nightmare and the way he had showed him to the washrooms. He felt bad for thinking the worst of him when they had first met at the gates.

"Jaemin is amazing, at first he can seem a little intimidating because of-well you know" Jeno says, referring to Jaemin's very obvious glowing eyes "but he's a great friend and I know you'll be great friends with him"

Renjun smiles "yeah, I'm sure I will".