Work Text:
Renjun woke up to the annoying sound of the alarm clock. His headaches and so does his feet too but he has too get up for work. he regrets going around for a walk at 10pm when he has to leave for work at 2am. He sits on the edge of the bed and nurses his head on his arms. The headache has been there ever since and no matter how much sleep he gets or how many medicine tablets he takes, the headache stays and refuses to go away. Renjun stays in that position until his alarm clock rang at 12:16am. He stands up and open his balcony to get the clothing that he hanged up yesterday.
Today was cloudy as always. It's been extremely rainy and cold for the past month and Renjun doesn't know if he's happy that the cold makes him use the aircon less, lessening the payment for the electricity bills or he's upset because the cold weather always reminds him of one person. A person that he wants to leave behind but no matter how many times he tries to change apartments, the feeling of being watched by someone or something remains. The extremely blurry memories are still there, instead of simply being there, the memories haunt him in every step and every breath he takes.
He takes the clothes and dumps them on the basket. Renjun takes a quick shower and heads to the kitchen to prepare food. On impulse, he cooks for two. Two eggs, four bacon strips and two pieces of toast. He sighs and wonders why does he even make two sets when he's lived all alone all his life in Seoul. He puts the other set of food into a plastic container to give to the dog downstairs. He chews on his food slowly and drinks his coffee at a turtle-like pace. It takes him almost 30 minutes to consume the whole thing. He checks the time and it reads 1:09am. Renjun places the dishes on the dishwasher and takes his backpack and heads out the door.
Renjun takes the usual route he takes when he goes to work. Even if he changed apartments, he couldn't bring himself to change the location of his job. It was important to him, he doesn't remember why it was important to him but it feels like it holds a lot of precious things. He gets inside the bus and sits at the middle. Every time he sits in the middle, he remembers always sitting beside someone and chatting with them until they reach their destination but ever since the car accident, he can't remember anything related to the person.
The car accident that happened almost three months ago. Renjun sinks into the seat when he remembers waking up in the hospital room after a few weeks of sleeping. He remembers people introducing themselves as his friends and he remembers them visiting everyday, showing him random items that might help with his memory. It wasn't amnesia, he tells himself. He remembers the people, he remembered Jeno and Mark and the first time they met. He rememered Jisung's birthdate, birthplace and birthstone. He remembers Jaemin and Donghyuck's prank for his birthday two years ago.
He didn't exactly lose any memory of his friends but it feels like he forgot something really important to him. He doesn't even know if it was a thing or a person, all he knows is that there was always something that was beside him ever since. A psychologist told him, it could've been something imaginary or something messed up inside his head and made him think someone was always there beside him. When Renjun told it to his friends, they all shared a look and avoid bringing the topic back up.
Even since the car accident too, he had a habit of counting the time and timing his actions. By now, he knows it takes him 10minutes to showeer on a work day and 27minutes on a day-off. His friends tell him that he always had that habit to count time because he was waiting for something. When Renjun asked what was that something, Jeno asked if he remembers anyone going to the military and Renjun shakes his head and everyone's mood kind of deflated after that. Mark told him Renjun was always waiting for this certain someone to come back from the military and they haven't talked in years because of the strict rules and Renjun found it unbelievable but if it's Mark who said it, then it could be trusted.
Renjun clicks the button in the bus and stands up to get off on his stop. He greets the bus driver and hops off the bus and watches it drive away before checking the time. 1:34am, it would take him 5 minutes to walk to the building, 2 minutes on the elevator and a minute to scan his fingerprint for attendance, giving him around 18 minutes left to do whatever he wants to do. He nods at himself and stops by the bookstore to grab a new coloring book that ordered but the moment he arrived infront of the bookstore, it was closed for the day.
He tilts his to the side and shrugs. Renjun spins his heel and walls towards the building, the guards greet him like usual and he enters the elevator. The elevator was always empty whenever he takes it though there's a nagging feeling at the back of his head saying that it wasn't always like that. Looks empty but doesn't feel empty was what Renjun told his supervisor one day and his supervisor gave him a look that he couldn't decipher. Were they sad or were hopeful? But there was a glint of excitement as well.
Everything is confusing to Renjun. The car accident must have really messed up his way of think if he follows what the psychologist says but it's not like he can always trust them with his own thoughts. But then again, they were right when they said everything would be hazy at first and the memories wouldn't come back as a whole but as fragments only. Renjun shakes his head and tells himself to focus on his job at the moment. He steps off at floor 6 and logs in at 1:53am. He smiles at himself, proud that actually arrived before 2am for the first time in a month.
"Renjun! Renjun!" Jeno greets him at the lobby with an excited smile. Renjun asks if there was a special holiday today and Jeno laughs at him, "No, no! It's a special event today! We have someone visiting! They're back after 2 years!"
"2 years..? No one important ever visited 2 years ago.. and if no one business important visited then who visited today? A veteran worker or.." Renjun's words get lower and faint as he tries to continue the sentence but he gets cut off with Jisung sliding through the floors and entering the doors to their floor. He tilts his head and looks at Jeno's face. Jeno shakes his head and pushes Renjun through the doors.
He could hear excited and happy chattering and he was confused(but then again when wasn't he confused?). It's almost 2am and the weather is quite gloomy yet the people are active and energetic. A weird bunch, he internally nods at his thought and allows Jeno to drag him, its not like he could fight against the other's physical strength.
"Renjun is here!" Jeno exclaims and the whole turns silent for a while before erupting into cheers. Renjun tilts his head and examines the visitor. He was of average height, had the usual military haircut, dresses up quite casually and had a friendly and approachable aura. The "stranger" looks at him and waves and to be polite, Renjun waved back which the stranger beamed at the action.
Weird. Truly weird
The visitor goes near him and Jeno slips away to give them a bit of privacy and the visitor reaches his hand out for a handshake and Renjun shakes his hand in the way he was thought on how to shake hands, firm and business-like. The visitor slightly frowns at the action and Renjun doesn't know which part of the handshake went wrong.
"Why are you so business-like to me?" The visitor whines and Renjun blinks in surprise. Have they met before? In a meeting? In the bookstore? During Renjun's late night walks? "Have you actually forgotten me 2 years time of me being in the military?"
Military. Is he the one I was waiting for?
The whole room turns quiet when Renjun opens his mouth and the visitor's hand falls onto his side, "Um, I'm sorry but who are you? I don't remember anyone looking like you at all." Renjun eyes the man infront of him with curiousity and nods at himself. It was the right question, he has never seen this man in his entire life. Not even in pictures or the business chart in the CEO's room. Never.
"Are you joking?"
"I'd like to say I am but honestly I do not know who you are." Renjun tilts his head to the right and he could see Mark's face filled with worry and Jaemin stopping Donghyuck from saying something that would cause something worse. The visitor simply stares at him as if he just heard he got a life sentence in prison or he got fired or maybe both. Jeno ushers them to one empty meeting room and closes the door. The visitor gives out an airy laugh and Renjun wonders what's funny with their meeting.
"Was I a bit too rude?" Renjun asks to break the silence.
The visitor shakes his head and scratches the back of his neck, "I wasn't ready for the question. I heard from them that your memory was alright, I didn't expect me to be somehow erased from it."
"Ah, are you one of my relatives? Mark told me that I was waiting for someone come back from the military. Is it you?"
"Close enough but I guess I'll introduce myself to you again. Looks like we have to catch up with each other again from the start. My name is Zhong Chenle. Does that ring a bell?"
Renjun thinks for a moment but nothing comes up in mind so says no. From the start.. So we met each other even before 2 years ago..? "Chenle" sighs and mutters something under his breath and reaches out for his wallet and opens it to show a picture. Renjun's eyes widen at his the photo and looks at the ring on his finger and looks at the ring on Chenle's finger.
"Wait, you mean.. Wait."
"Okay, let's try that again. Hello, I'm Zhong Chenle. Your fiancé."
2:25am, the time of the reappearance of the said fragment in my memory but sadly, his presence doesn't help me remember anything about him in any way possible