Chapter Text
Somewhere, faraway, two boys race into a field.
Underneath a sky of stars, hand in hand, they run through the tall grass. Not caring for the dirt on their knees or the sweat on their palms. In that moment, nothing matters to them.
Except — each other. And tomorrow is yet to come; but there’s no use in worrying about the future.
No, not tonight. Tonight, they are young and free. And it’s okay, because to them:
time has stood still.
—Excerpt of Poems I Wrote in my Dreams
"Renjun!" Kun yells.
Renjun groans. Fuck, he thinks, squinting. Bright sunlight filters in from his window. He's probably running late, if Kun stomping up the stairs is any indication. Soon enough, Kun throws his door open. "You're going to be late," he says seriously.
"I know, I know," Renjun mumbles, waving his arm. "I'm getting up." Kun arches an eyebrow. He opens his mouth to say something more when Yangyang speeds into the room. He launches himself onto Renjun's bed and consequently, Renjun himself.
Yangyang bounces up and down on top of him. "Junnie! Get up," he shrieks.
"Get the fuck off of me," Renjun grumbles, shoving Yangyang off.
"Language," Kun warns. "Cereal's on the table."
Luckily, the two of them leave Renjun alone, letting him roll out of bed and be disgruntled by himself.
-
Renjun makes it just in enough time to stop by his locker to pick up his books.
"Hey! Renjun!" Somebody calls. Renjun turns around. It's Mark.
"You still on for tonight?" Mark asks, grinning. His cheeks puff out slightly as he smiles.
"Of course," Renjun answers.
"Awesome," Mark says. He gives Renjun a finger guns before dashing off to class. Renjun chuckles to himself and slams his locker closed. He turns around to start heading to his class himself when he almost rams straight into—
"Renjun!" Jaemin exclaims.
"Jesus!" Renjun yells, almost dropping his notebook. "Why were you hiding behind my locker like that?"
"I wasn't hiding," Jaemin says. "You just didn't notice me. It's not my fault you're oblivious."
"I hate you," Renjun grumbles.
Jaemin pouts. "No, you don't," he says. "You love me." I do, Renjun thinks, but doesn't say it. Jaemin bats his eyelashes, blinking excessively. Renjun purposely frowns even harder.
"No, I don't," he says determinedly.
Jaemin fakes a sob. "H-how could you say that," he cries. He buries his face into his hands. Renjun pats his shoulder stiffly.
"I want to break up," Renjun deadpans.
"Really?" Jaemin pulls his face out of his hands, a wide grin on his face.
"No, dumbass," Renjun snorts. "You're stuck with me." Jaemin laughs, dropping his arms.
The bell rings. Students start to move slowly towards their classes from where they were congregated in the hallway. Jaemin heads off in the opposite direction of Renjun. He throws Renjun a cheesy wink. "See you tonight!" he yells from halfway across the hall. Several students turn to look for who he's talking to. Renjun just rolls his eyes and waves back.
-
"Hey Renjun," Ten greets as Renjun enters the classroom. Ten is Renjun's art teacher. He's Renjun's favorite teacher, and not because Renjun loves art. Ten is younger than most of the other teachers here. And he's approachable. He's been a great advisor to Renjun for both art and life in general. Renjun considers him a friend. He's pretty sure Ten does too. "Hey," Renjun says, sitting down in his usual seat. He wraps the apron around him and goes to grab his painting from where it's sitting.
"We'll just be working on our paintings today," Ten says. "What's new with you?"
Renjun shrugs. "Nothing much. Going over to Mark's house tonight for some games," he says.
"Mark?" Ten says, tilting his head. "He'll be a senior this year, right?" Mark's never taken art. Ten knows some of Renjun's friends by name, but he hasn't met all of them.
"Yeah," Renjun says. "It'll be weird without him here."
"Do you know where he's headed?" Ten asks.
Renjun shrugs in return. People don't usually go far from Winden though. It's hard to leave. "Hopefully not far," he says, and it's selfish, to want Mark to stay. But nonetheless, Renjun does.
"Well, I hope so too," Ten says. "It's always nice to have such close friends." Renjun hums in agreement. The conversation ends there, with more classmates entering the room.
-
"Alright gang," Mark says, grinning widely. "You ready?"
"More than ever," Jaemin says back, a matching grin on his own face. He glances towards Renjun, radiating so brightly it makes Renjun wonder what he did to deserve him.
"Just press ready, you dorks," Donghyuck says.
Jaemin blows a kiss towards Renjun. "May the best couple win," he says, mashing the button.
Chenle makes an overexaggerated gagging motion. "Love is gross," he says, pressing ready as well. "Right, Jisung?" Jisung bobs his head in agreement.
"Let's start," Renjun says, before Donghyuck can even open his mouth to respond. He quickly readies up as well, and then the game starts.
Renjun's lucky Chenle's in his squad. Well, squad is sort of the wrong term. They're a duo playing in squads, but Chenle is worth the two other people. He lets Chenle do the heavy shooting, Renjun preferring to snipe from afar.
To his left, he hears Donghyuck shriek loudly as he's shot at. A few moments later, Renjun hears the telltale death sound from his screen. Donghyuck groans and flops dramatically to the floor. Renjun smirks and keeps moving forwards on his screen.
"We're going to win," Chenle taunts happily.
Jaemin lets out a cry as Renjun mercilessly plows him over with the car he was driving. Jaemin's character is sent flying and dies upon impact on the ground.
"Renjuuuuun," Jaemin wails. Renjun ignores him and focuses on finding wherever the fuck Mark is. Renjun can hear his footsteps somewhere nearby. He just can't determine where. Renjun cautiously opens of the doors.
"Red house," Chenle whispers. "North 45." Renjun turns. Mark's probably upstairs.
"Where are you?" Renjun asks.
"Roof," is Chenle's answer. Renjun moves into the house at the same time that Chenle leaps over from the roof of the house next door.
"Oh shit," Mark says softly. Jaemin laughs, watching Mark's screen from over his shoulder.
-
Renjun and Chenle win, as expected. And then they win two more rounds, because that's just how good they are.
"I should probably get going," Chenle says afterwards, standing. Jisung quickly stands as well. Chenle glances at him oddly as he coughs.
"I'll walk you home," Jisung says, voice stiff. Jisung and Chenle depart, leaving just the four of them. They stop playing after they leave, forgoing the game in favor of opening a few sodas and chatting.
Donghyuck's an insatiable gossip, and with none other than Jaemin being his information provider. Renjun sometimes listens in on whatever, or more like whoever they're talking about, but mostly he doesn't care about those sorts of things. It's cute to see the two of them get all excited over whether Eunjin is going to ask out her crush or not though.
Jaemin glances at his phone. "Shit," he says. I've got to go." He turns towards Renjun. "Ren, you want to come with?" Jaemin offers. He's already putting on his jacket.
Renjun waves. "I'm okay," he says, lifting his soda can. "See you tomorrow."
Mark's staring at him. "What," Renjun says. He watches as Mark starts chuckling.
"I'm—No, I'm just happy for you two," Mark says, smiling cheekily.
"Shut up," Renjun mutters, taking another sip of his soda.
"You're cute," Donghyuck says.
"Am not," Renjun protests.
"You're right," Donghyuck amends. "Jaemin's cuter." Renjun barks a laugh.
"Whose boyfriend are you again?" Renjun says.
Donghyuck gasps as if he were offended. "Don't get me wrong, Junnie," he says. "Mark's cute too." This sends Mark into a sputtering fit, much to the amusement of the other two.
-
Donghyuck's only still here since he's staying the night with Mark. It's probably time for Renjun to go home himself.
"I think it's raining," Ms. Lee says, once he gets upstairs. "I heard thunder."
Mark pulls back the curtains. White light flashes, momentarily turning the dark sky bright. "Oh," Mark says, staring out the window. "It's raining out." Renjun shrugs and moves towards the door. He starts pulling on his yellow rain jacket. He's glad he wore it.
"We can give you a ride home," Ms. Lee offers while Renjun stuffs on his boots.
"Be careful, okay?" Mark says, wringing his hands.
"It'll be fine," Renjun says, rolling his eyes. He pulls up his hood on his rain jacket. "It's just a little rain." Mark presses his lips together, but doesn't argue.
"Alright," Ms. Lee says. "Call us if you change your mind, okay?" Renjun nods, and yanks open the door. Cold air blasts into the living room. Renjun can already smell the rain practically. The air is electric and crisp, refreshing Renjun as if a thousand jolts of energy are running through his body. There's something about the air and atmosphere during a storm that makes Renjun love it so much.
"Bye!" Renjun waves, and then steps outside.
-
Renjun doesn't mind being wet. It's torrential outside. The rain is practically slapping Renjun as he walks, but all he can feel is a strange sense of glee. Even though he's wearing his yellow rain coat, he's soaked. His hair is plastered to his forehead. Water drips down the side of his face. His socks are soaked, which isn't pleasant. They squelch as he walks, but somehow, he still doesn't mind.
The air is cool, but somehow Renjun doesn't feel cold, despite being soaked. He could ride his bike home. It would be faster, but Renjun's not a fan of riding while dripping wet. He'd rather walk.
Renjun decides to take the shortcut through the forest. It's quieter in there, rather than choosing to walk along the side of the noisy highway. The forest would be faster. Renjun's house is just on the other side, across the street.
Renjun knows his forest well. He's gone through it for a variety of reasons. This forest encircles Winden, wrapping around it in various parts. The town is half built around it, half built into it. Renjun likes that about Winden. It makes him feel more connected with nature. From the forest, Renjun pretty much knows how to get anywhere in town.
The forest floor is cushioned with pine needles from the trees. It's silent. Renjun continues to push his bike along, leaving a deep gash behind where it moves. The rain isn't so heavy here. The tree leaves stop some of it, giving Renjun a little shelter. Fat drops occasionally drip down from the leaves to land on his coat, but he doesn't mind.
Renjun pauses for a moment to glance upwards, where the sky has long turned dark. Arcs of lighting streak across the sky, followed by faint rumblings. The flashes light up the sky for brief moments, before fading away.
It's beautiful. And dangerous. Renjun shrugs it off. He should be fine here; the trees are taller than him. He keeps moving. His bike creaks as its wheels turn. Renjun should oil it when he gets home.
Renjun's halfway through trying to remember if they still have grease oil left at home when a loud boom cracks above him. Renjun loses his grip on his bike, startled. It clatters to the forest floor. Renjun sighs and bends to pick it back up when he spies something white racing towards him on the reflection of his metal bike handles. Renjun frowns, and turns around.
Time seems to slow down, becoming impossibly slow. Renjun can see every arc of electricity that branches off the bolt coming towards him. He can see the fizz of the air as it crackles around the pure energy that's about to hit him. The rain around him halts, drops of water freezing midair. But Renjun can't move, he can't make his feet run away from the bolt of lightning that's about to hit him. Oh shit, Renjun thinks, before everything turns white.
-
Surprisingly, it doesn't hurt. He—he feels warm. Like he's been wrapped in some big fuzzy blanket straight out of the dryer. Renjun stares down at his forearms. They're glowing. Radiating brilliant light, like Renjun is some sort of star. How odd, he thinks. I must be hallucinating.
Everything around him is white too. The forest has melted away, leaving nothing behind, just a vast space of empty white. It's like Renjun's standing in a pure white room, with no visible floor or walls.
His vision blurs, the white fading in an out, interspersed with black. It's like watching a flashing screen. Renjun squints, disoriented. His legs shake and give out underneath him. Everything feels unsteady, like the ground is tilting underneath him. He flails wildly for purchase.
Renjun doesn't even feel his head hit the ground.
-
When Renjun wakes up, he's alive. Surprisingly, as everything aches like he got dropped from fifty feet high and hit the ground.
He blinks his eyes open slowly, the world blurring back into view. Above him are the leaves, and then beyond that, clear, blue sky. It's morning.
Renjun groans. His back hurts all over. He must've hit the ground harder than he thought. He sits up slowly, reaching around to rub at it. His rubber coat is still intact.
Did it even happen? Renjun glances around. The forest is still the same as last night. The trees aren't burnt down, and there's no scorch marks around Renjun. Doesn't lightning set things on fire?
Beside him is his bike, lying on its side. Renjun stumbles over towards it, picking it up. It's slightly damp still. Kun must be worried out of his mind. Renjun just hopes he hasn't already called the police.
-
Luckily, the police aren't outside his house when he arrives. His bike squeaks as he wheels it into the garage, and places it against the shelves. He unlocks the door and toes off his boots. Kun's figure turns the corner, eyes widening when he sees Renjun.
"Renjun," he says, rushing over towards him. "Where have you been?" He pats Renjun's body all over, examining for injuries that are nonexistent. Even though they shouldn't be. Technically, Renjun should be dead. Right?
"I'm fine," Renjun says. "Just—"
"What happened?" Kun asks. He touches the side of Renjun's head. Renjun hisses. It stings. "You're bleeding," Kun says. His fingertip comes away from his head stained red at the tip. Renjun frowns. His head feels fine.
"I... am?" Renjun reaches up to touch at it but Kun catches his hand.
"Don't touch it," he says. "What happened?"
"I—I don't know," Renjun answers, truthfully. How on Earth would he describe what happened to Kun? Would Kun even believe him?
-
Kun takes him to the hospital. They check him for injuries, but find nothing besides a mild head trauma. The nurse cleans the wound and bandages it and telling him to be more careful. Kun frets the whole time, flitting about and hovering nearby always.
"You have to be careful," he says, once they're done. "Storms are dangerous."
"Ok," Renjun says. "I will. Next time."
-
Renjun gets the day off from school. He texts the groupchat to let them know that he's still alive. Somehow.
renjun: news just in. I'm not dead
hyuck: where the fuck were u!?!?
renjun: mild accident walking home
renjun: im fine tho dw
jaems: ???? THAT's supposed to make me not worry???
renjun: yes
marky: Well, I'm glad you're okay
chenle: rt
jisung: rt
renjun: jisung don't u have class
hyuck: yeah jisung, get off ur phone :P
jisung: tf?! so do u
renjun: im injured
jaems: stop being so cryptic ren...
jaems: im coming over
True to his word, Jaemin shows up outside of Renjun's house an hour later, after his class finishes.
"Renjun," Jaemin says, staring horrified at his bandage wrapped head. Renjun thinks it looks slightly ridiculous, and probably makes Jaemin think it's worse than it is. "Your head."
"It's not so bad," Renjun says. "Kun made them do overkill."
"I see," Jaemin says. He doesn't sound totally convinced. "What happened?"
Renjun pauses. "I think I got hit by lightning," he says. He trusts Jaemin. Not that he doesn't trust Kun, but Jaemin's more likely to believe him than Kun. Kun's more likely to send him to a psych eval if he tells him he saw time freeze.
Jaemin frowns. "You think?" he says.
"I'm not sure," Renjun says. "It was like... Time froze for a moment. But... That can't be real, right?"
Jaemin gasps. "What if you got superpowers?" He claps his hands excitedly. "This could be your superhero origin story!"
"I doubt it," Renjun says.
"Anything out of the ordinary?" Jaemin asks, pretending to examine him with an imaginary magnifying glass.
Renjun shakes his head. "No," he says. "I feel mostly fine. A little sore," he admits. "But nothing a few Advil won't fix."
"Hm." Jaemin taps a finger against his chin. "Well, if you do become a badass superhero, let me know. I want to be your sidekick."
"You don't have any powers," Renjun points out.
"No," Jaemin says, not sounding the least bit deterred. "But I can learn like, martial arts or something." Renjun laughs, conjuring up an image of Jaemin learning martial arts. And then his mind promptly decides to come up with various scenarios of Jaemin beating up people. Like, the kind of hot badass warrior shit from the action movies. Oh god, what if he wore—
Renjun coughs, trying to dispel any thoughts of Jaemin in leather. "Right," he says. "I'd like to see you try."
Jaemin perks up. "Is that a challenge?" he asks.
"No," Renjun says. He absolutely does not need Jaemin going off and finding some rickety old man to try and teach him karate. He'd probably break his hip in the process. "Absolutely not. As your boyfriend, I forbid it."
Jaemin pouts. "Fine," he says. "But you have to tell me if you develop superpowers."
"I'll keep you in mind when I open up sidekick applications," Renjun teases, even though it's highly unlikely that Renjun is going to somehow develop some superpower. Jaemin's jaw drops in mock offense. Renjun can hear him sputter and start to complain, but his mind is elsewhere.
It's on yesterday night, and how Renjun is sure that time slowed down. Maybe it was a perception of his mind though. Because he can't really have some sort of magical power, because that's for comics and movies. Right?
-
Renjun's allowed by Kun to return to school, as long as he doesn't do anything too exerting. Renjun promises he won't. He has no intention to.
Everyone's glad to see him okay. They all flock him at lunch and gasp at the bandages wrapped around his head. Renjun had convinced Kun to take it down a notch with the bandaging, but it still made Renjun look slightly like a mummy.
"Welcome back," Donghyuck had said, slapping his back. "Glad to see you're not actually dead."
"I said he was fine," Jaemin had said.
"I know," Donghyuck drawled. "I just had to see for myself. Renjun may be your boyfriend, but he's my best friend." Chenle had cackled at that, and it only drew more protests from poor Jaemin.
Renjun felt tense the whole day, like he was waiting for something to happen. He doesn't know why, because the whole idea is ridiculous. But maybe, somewhere deep down inside of him, he'd like to have superpowers.
Not that it really matters anyways, as period by period passed by and nothing unusual at all happened. So Renjun felt safe in scrapping the "superhuman ability" theory.
-
After school ends, Donghyuck walks with Renjun home.
"Want to hear my plan?" Donghyuck asks Renjun while they're walking to his house.
"Plan?" Renjun echoes, blinking.
Donghyuck rolls his eyes. "To ask you-know-who to prom," he explains.
"Oh, you mean Mark?" Renjun says, purposely too loud.
As expected, Donghyuck hurriedly shushes him. "Shut the fuck up," he says, cheeks turning red. "So, my plan. I'm going to stand on a table at lunch, and shout 'Listen up fuckers, here's who I'm going to ask out to prom. And then I'll dump like, a million ping pong balls out of a box that all have Mark's name on them." Donghyuck pauses, in thought. "Or maybe volleyballs, so that you can see the writing on them," he says. "I mean then he'll have to say yes. Right?" Donghyuck jostles his shoulder good naturedly.
"I'm sure," Renjun laughs.
Donghyuck whirls around to face Renjun as he steps onto the road. "It's fool proof," he says. Donghyuck takes a few backwards steps, grinning widely all the meanwhile. Somewhere, a truck horn resounds.
The sound grows closer, as Donghyuck edges further into the empty road. Not many cars drive through Winden. The streets are usually empty, so it's a safe bet. But—
Renjun can hear the rumbling of an engine and the sound of tires over pavement. He barely has time to register the sight as the truck speeds into view.
"Donghyuck!" Renjun yells, and lunges to grab Donghyuck's jacket. His fingers barely brush the material when Donghyuck stumbles backwards, tripping over nothing. He falls flat onto his back. Donghyuck flails as he tries to get back up, but he never gets the chance to as—
The blare of the truck horn drowns out everything. Renjun can't even see Donghyuck anymore. The truck is still driving, a long mass and blur of moving white paint. Renjun has no idea how to communicate with them that there's a body there. Donghyuck. Donghyuck is under there. Somewhere.
Renjun runs out into the street after its passed. There's no car behind it. The road is empty again. It's just Renjun. And Donghyuck. Renjun almost trips over his legs.
Donghyuck's face is unrecognizable amongst the mess of shards of skull and brain matter. His head is totally crushed. There's no way he's still alive. Not when his head is splattered all over the road in a bloody arc.
Somebody shrieks. High pitched. It jars Renjun out if his trance. His hands shake as he reaches out towards him to—to what? Donghyuck is dead. Very dead.
A car horn blares, tires screeching as they come to a stop before the scene.
“Holy—" somebody swears, slamming a car door.
Donghyuck, Renjun thinks. Donghyuck is dead. Everything is so loud, the traffic on the road one lane over, people yelling, the sound of tires scraping against the pavement. Renjun needs it to stop. He whimpers as he presses his hands to his head. He squeezes his eyes shut.
"No. No, no, no," he chants. Renjun can feel the grit of the road pressing into his knees as he keels over onto the ground. Something wet starts to seep into his pants, dampening them. It's probably blood. Donghyuck's blood. But Renjun doesn't bother opening his eyes again to check. Because Donghyuck is dead. Donghyuck is dead.
And then he isn't.
Renjun opens his eyes, and he’s back on the sidewalk, a slight tugging sensation at the back of his head. Donghyuck's talking about the stupid game. “Right?" And then he jostles Renjun's shoulder, the same way he did five minutes ago. Before he stepped onto the road and died.
“Renjun?” Donghyuck says, stopping. “You okay?” Donghyuck stares at him. Renjun tentatively removes his hands from his head. The road is ... normal. No sign of Donghyuck's body or an accident or—or anything.
“Renjun?” Donghyuck repeats. “You look like you’ve seen a ghost,” he laughs, but voice edged with concern.
I have, Renjun thinks. I just saw you die. “Y-you,” Renjun stammers glancing between the road and Donghyuck. Donghyuck, alive. Donghyuck, who’s staring at him with worry in his eyes. Donghyuck, who was laid out head splattered against the pavement no less than five minutes ago. Renjun was there. He saw it. He’s sure of it.
“Renjun?” Donghyuck says again. “You’re worrying me,” he says.
“Yeah,” Renjun breathes, still staring at the road. “Sorry,” he says. “I just—I thought I saw something.”
“What?” Donghyuck asks.
Renjun shrugs. “Doesn’t matter,” he says. He slings an arm around Donghyuck's shoulder. "Let’s cross,” he says. Renjun glances both ways before safely guiding them across the street.
“Okay?” Donghyuck says, confusedly.
Only when they are a few blocks away from the street does Renjun finally relax.
-
Renjun's shaken when he gets home. He just saw Donghyuck die. And then he was fine.
Time had... rewound. Renjun's sure. Renjun lived the timeline where Donghyuck got ran over, and then time went back. It gave Renjun a second chance. It wasn't some foresight dream. It had been real. Renjun had felt it in the way the road scraped against his pants and the stench of blood from Donghyuck.
"Did something happen at school?" Kun asks, worry evident in his tone.
"No," Renjun says, even though his voice shakes as he speaks and his hands are trembling as he unpacks his bag. "It was fine," he says tightly.
"Are you—"
"I'm fine," Renjun emphasizes. Kun steps back slightly, taken aback at his tone.
"Renju—"
"I'm going to my room to do homework," Renjun says. He can hear Kun calling him back, but he ignores him and slams his bedroom door shut behind him.
He just needs to be alone for a moment to process. Renjun flings his school things onto his bed and pulls at his hair.
Rewind. What happened.
Donghyuck stepped onto the road. The truck flattened him. Renjun... It must've been him, right? Renjun saw time slow down when he got hit by lightning. Renjun was there when time rewound. And Donghyuck didn't remember anything.
So, Renjun rewound time. And then Renjun saved Donghyuck from his potential death. Right, because that made total sense.
Renjun began to think that Jaemin's superpower theory might not be totally wrong.
-
renjun: we need to talk
jaemin: ok
renjun: diner @ 12?
jaemin: sure
Jaemin was punctual. He had this tense expression on his face. Maybe he was worried that Renjun was going to break up. Renjun admits that "we need to talk" maybe wasn't the best choice, but it conveyed his urgency.
"You're not in trouble," Renjun says as soon as he sits. Jaemin doesn't answer, just patiently waits for him to continue. "I—remember your superpower theory?"
"That's what you wanted to talk about?" Jaemin says.
Renjun bites his lip. "Kind of," he says. "It's going to sound crazy, but..." Renjun lowers his voice and leans forward. "I think I have superpowers."
"What?" Jaemin snorts. "You do know I was just kidding, right?"
Renjun rolls his eyes and slaps his arm lightly. "I know," he whispers. "But something—something happened yesterday while I was walking home with Donghyuck. It was like time rewound." Renjun leaves out the gory detail. No need for Jaemin to be traumatized as well.
Jaemin hums in thought. "Well, if you really can rewind time," he says. "We can prove it."
"How?" Renjun says.
"Do it now," Jaemin says.
"I don't know if I could. Even so, it wouldn't prove anything because you wouldn't remember it," Renjun says flatly.
"I'm going to show you something," Jaemin says. He pulls a receipt from the local grocery store from his jeans pocket. "Remember this," he says. "And then when you rewind time have me ask you what was on this receipt. There's no way you could've known unless you had time rewinding powers or whatever."
"Huh," Renjun says. Jaemin's right. It's a pretty smart idea. If Renjun can do it in the moment. "Smart," he says, because he can't help the compliment. Jaemin smiles prettily.
"Do you want me to 'go to the bathroom'?" Jaemin asks.
"Maybe," Renjun says. Jaemin stands and presses a kiss to the top of his forehead.
"I'll see you fifteen minutes before," Jaemin says. Renjun shakes his head at his retreating back. Dork.
Now alone, Renjun really has to do it. Or else it's going to be embarrassing if he's still sitting here when Jaemin returns. He needs to think. What was he doing when it happened?
He was crossing the street. Donghyuck got run over. He died. Renjun ran over to him. He was panicking. So a probable emotional trigger, Renjun notes. What else does he remember feeling?
Something was tugging at him. Or maybe he was tugging at something? Renjun closes his eyes. He needs to pull. There's—there's something there. In the back of his mind, lurking at the very corners, just out of sight. Renjun grabs it and pulls.
There's a knock at the door.
Renjun almost falls off the couch. He peers towards the bathroom. Is Jaemin still there? Or is that Jaemin at the door?
Jaemin's face is tense. Renjun steps aside to allow him in, slightly awestruck still by the fact that it worked.
"You're not in trouble," Renjun repeats. Jaemin doesn't answer. Again. Renjun sighs. "Remember your superpower theory?"
"That's what you wanted to talk about?" Jaemin says.
"Yeah," Renjun says. "I have time rewinding powers." Best to just cut to the chase. "You asked me to prove it, by showing me a receipt in your pocket and asking me to rewind time."
Jaemin's face flashes in surprise. "What did I buy?" he asks.
"Chips. 4.99. And a chocolate bar. 2.99" Renjun recites. Good thing he remembered. Jaemin takes a moment to fish the receipt out of his pocket. He stares at it for a second, before whistling.
"Wow," he says.
"You... believe me?" Renjun asks.
Jaemin looks up at him. "Of course," he says, smiling. "It's fucking awesome."
-
Jaemin practically begs him to do more "tricks" with his newfound powers. Renjun supposes it couldn't hurt to practice a little, lest anything like earlier happen. Renjun still can't quite process that Donghyuck died. Donghyuck was dead. And then he wasn't.
Renjun just needs to make sure something like that never happens again.
So he trains. Jaemin tells him all sorts of funny phrases or unique words for him to memorize, and then asks him to rewind. Renjun does. And every time it gets a little bit easier. It gets a little bit easier to reach out to those strands in the back of his mind and pull them. To finesse them to the exact moment he wants. He still can't go back too far yet. Somewhere around an hour is currently his limit. Jaemin's very cautious about pushing him. He claims he doesn't want him to get headaches or those freakish nosebleeds all the superheroes do when they overdo it in TVs and movies.
Life seems on an upwards track. Renjun has superpowers. It's kind of amazing.
And then it starts.
-
The next day occurs like any other. Jaemin and Renjun practice a bit in the morning. He still hasn't worked up the courage to tell the others yet. Renjun will do it at some point. He just... needs time. He doesn't think he can face Donghyuck and tell him what happened. Maybe he never will tell him. It might be better that way.
"Renjun," Jisung says. "Can you help me with math?" Right. The upcoming test on Monday.
"Sure," he says. "Library?"
"After school?" Jisung flashes a thumbs up. "Mark?" Jisung asks. "Chenle?"
Chenle waves him off. "I'm good," he claims.
Mark sighs. "I promise Donghyuck I'd help him with his English tonight." Donghyuck sticks out his tongue at Jisung. "Sorry."
"'English'?" Renjun air quotes. Donghyuck kicks him.
"I could stay too, if you want," Jaemin says.
"You don't have to," Renjun says. "Math is boring as hell."
"You sure?" Jaemin asks. Renjun nods. He doesn't think it'll take too long. "Just stay safe then," he says. "Don't stay out too late."
Renjun frowns. "Why?"
"You haven't heard?" Jaemin says. He shakes his head. The rest of them do similar. "Remember the girl who went missing a few weeks ago?" Renjun does, vaguely. He didn't know her well but it was big news for Winden. Things like that, kidnapping, murder, just don't happen here that often. "They found her body today."
"Shit," Donghyuck whispers.
A group of girls pass by in a tight cluster, all of them wearing all black. Mourning. A few of them keep their head low. Renjun thinks he can see tear tracks running down their face.
"It must be so hard for them," Mark says, staring at them. "I can't imagine what it would be like."
Beside him, Chenle swallows hard. "Me neither," he says softly, picking at his lunch. Jisung reaches out a comforting hand to Chenle, who readily takes it.
"Yeah," Donghyuck echoes, shifting in his seat.
The rest of lunch passes in an uncomfortable silence. No doubt everybody is thinking about what if it was one of them. Renjun thinks that everyone else is probably thinking the same thing, if the dead silence in the usually chatter full cafeteria is anything to go by.
-
Renjun starts packing his things after he decides he's done enough research for the night. The library is long abandoned, Jisung and Renjun being the only people left in the building. Renjun is friendly with the librarian. She trusts them enough to let them stay alone past closing. Renjun's used it often as a study place, or just somewhere to getaway for some quiet. "You ready to go?" Renjun asks.
"Nah," Jisung says. "I'm gonna stay here,"
Renjun frowns. "You sure?" he asks. He glances at his watch. It's almost 11:30 PM. "It's pretty late."
Jisung bobs his head. "I know, I know," he says, waving off Renjun. "I'll head home soon."
“Tsk,” Renjun says. “Look at you, so studious.” He stands. “You sure you don't want me to stay with you?” he says. Jisung just glares at him.
"I'll be fine," he insists.
“Alright. I'm gonna head home. Text me when you leave, okay?”
Jisung waves. “See you,” he says, barely looking up from the textbook. Renjun chuckles on his way out. Jisung’s grown up so much. Look at him now, staying late in the library to study rather than head home and play games. Renjun should be more like that, but he couldn't bring his brain to keep going.
He heads home and collapses into bed.