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The fact that Renjun didn't recognize Donghyuck was crushing him. And Jeno could see it.
Renjun had always been with Donghyuck. When Jeno became friends with Donghyuck, the tiny Chinese boy was hiding behind the chubby kid. Too shy to look into Jeno's face, while latter was smiling at the two of them.
"Do you want to climb a tree?" Eight-year-old Jeno had asked, but Donghyuck had shaken his head. "Renjun's afraid of heights." - "What about the swings?" Jeno had proceeded, but Donghyuck shook his head again. "Renjun will vomit if he's on the swing."
Tiny Jeno had pouted and proceeded to walk away when a tiny voice called out that they liked the slide. With a bright smile, Jeno had turned to Renjun who was peeking out behind Donghyuck's arm before dragging latter towards the slide.
Jeno sighed. Remembering their childhood was painful. They were happy and carefree back then. Renjun's brother hadn't passed away and caused Renjun to suffer from the Broken Heart Syndrome. Jeno was still too young to realize his parents favoriting his sister and Donghyuck's mother was still a Single-Mum back then. They hadn't met Jaemin at this point in their lives but when the youngest finally arrived in their little group, they felt complete.
And then puberty hit them.
Renjun's brother died and the three Korean boys hadn't seen their Chinese friend for half a year.
Donghyuck suffered from missing Renjun and started stealing his Stepdad's alcohol. At first, he hated the taste of the rum on his tongue, but soon the numbing sensation of the drink was making him addicted to it.
Jeno finally realized that his parents hated him and he gave up on being a good son. He soon started self-harming, telling no one about the way he hurt himself. He started keeping things to himself and started stealing and causing trouble.
And Jaemin started to protect his Mum from his abusive Father, making him being the victim of daily beatings.
And now they were here. In a hospital. Barely even friends. Jeno sighed once more and rubbed his temples before looking at his friends. "I think we should stop seeing each other for a while."
Donghyuck's head shot up and even Jaemin seemed shocked about what Jeno had just said. "To calm our moods. Renjun has to heal fully and so do I." Jeno looked at his wrists. The white bandages were making him nervous. "Donghyuck, you have to get used to living with your stepdad and Jaemin you have to learn to live with just your mum and leave the pain from the past behind."
"We can't just leave each other!" Jaemin said and Jeno chuckled. "You were the one who wanted to run away. I think we need a break to find ourselves again." And with these words Jeno turned around and walked into his room, leaving the two younger boys in the hallway by themselves.