Chapter Text
“Here you go Renjun; I made you dinner! Don’t tell the other members though, they’ll beg me to make them some, and I don’t have the energy.”
Renjun takes the food from Donghyuck gratefully, grabbing a fork and beginning to rapid-fire shovel rice into his face before looking up, eyes wide and cheeks full. “This is really good, Hyuck! What’s in it?” His eyes are shining with curiosity, and Donghyuck almost feels bad. Keyword: almost.
“Oh, I don’t know. I just followed my usual recipe. Nothing new,” Donghyuck says casually, leaning up against the countertop and staring at his fingernails while Renjun eats. Renjun hums, smile bright as continues to shovel food into his mouth.
Donghyuck supposes they have 20-30ish minutes before the other members get home, meaning Renjun needs to hurry up and finish eating. A couple of minutes later, and Renjun smiles up at Donghyuck, though his lips look a little tight.
"Thanks for dinner. It was really-" He lets out a cough, and he grabs his water bottle, taking a sip from it. "I suddenly got a really bad dizzy spell, and my head hurts. I may go-go lay down," Renjun mutters, sliding out of his chair.
Donghyuck watches with a cocked brow as Renjun collapses to the floor, holding a hand over his chest as he seemingly gasps for breath. Donghyuck crouches to feel his pulse and feels sick satisfaction at the fast pace of it. The tan boy tilts his head, hair falling in front of his eyes as he watches Renjun struggle.
“H-Hyuck...I can’t- my throat’s closing- help-” his voice comes out strangled, and he struggles to sit up, feeling lightheaded and nauseated. Renjun realizes, with a scared look, that Donghyuck is smirking at him. He can't help it; he throws up.
When he's finished vomiting up the food he just ate, Donghyuck grabs Renjun’s chin tightly, face leaning close to the struggling boy’s. Renjun notices with a startling realization that Donghyuck’s eyes are glimmering with pure glee. His smile reaches both ends of his face, and suddenly he’s laughing with his head thrown back.
His hair falls as he moves, shoulders shaking, eyes shimmering with joyful tears and smile brighter than Renjun had ever seen before. “Oh, Junnie. Your suicide’s going to be such a travesty. Love you lots,” Donghyuck blows a sarcastic kiss, and Renjun can only watch as the boy pops the cap back onto a bottle of cyanide, sliding it across the counter to the plate, where it falls over.
The collapsed boy pales when he sees Donghyuck writing something on a sheet of paper before turning to the older boy with a wicked grin. "Does this look like your handwriting, Junnie? I think I did a lovely job copying the curly way you write your letters. Want to hear the note?" Renjun shakes his head, but Donghyuck tsks at him.
"You're already dying, Junnie. Why not listen to this before you go?" Donghyuck clears his throat before beginning to read out the note:
"Dear NCT,
I must first state that this was my own decision and that none of you influenced it.
All of you, though I haven't had many interactions with a few of you, have greatly affected my life.
But sometimes, the world sucks. And sometimes, I found it impossible to get out of bed and fake a smile,
so I didn't. I slept all day; I didn't eat, I refused to leave my room. I'm sorry for not being able to hold on, but it's so hard.
Please don't blame yourselves. You were great bandmates and wonderful friends, but I couldn't. I wasn't strong.
I know you can be.
Love, Renjun"
"Pretty believable, right? I thought so too. Hold on to this for me. Goodbye, Renjun."
Donghyuck stays crouched by Renjun until his eyes are closed and the rise and fall of his chest has stopped completely. The note goes slack in Renjun's pale hand, and Donghyuck watches with a grim expression as the colour leaves the boy's face. He's pale, and his hands feel cold.
With a content look on his face, Donghyuck struts off to his and Johnny's room, closing the door and flicking the lightswitch off. He drops into his bed, snuggling up under the sheets to take a short nap before his members find Renjun.
As expected, the members are home within 20 minutes, and Jaehyun runs to get Donghyuck when all of them see the situation. Tears cling to all the members' faces, and Donghyuck, the good liar/actor he is, manages to cry crocodile tears of his own, looking very upset for someone so happy.
“Donghyuck, did you make this for him?” Taeyong demands, and Donghyuck nods, hair bouncing obnoxiously against his head with the movement. He has a perfectly planned excuse on the tip of his tongue, but he takes a shaking breath, steadying himself against the counter.
“I- he asked me… he asked me to-to make h-him dinner… I- I agreed, and- and then went off to my room b-because I was tired… I’m- I’m sorry, Hyung, I didn’t-”
Taeyong brings the younger boy into a bone-crushing hug, and face pressed firmly into the leader’s chest as he embraces him tightly, tears dampening the fringe of Donghyuck’s bangs. “It’s not your fault, Hyuckie, you couldn’t have known. I- he was so... it’s unbelievable…”
Donghyuck nods, and Taeyong sniffles, pulling away from the hug. “We-we'll talk more tomorrow. Goodnight, everyone.”
-----
BREAKING NEWS: HUANG RENJUN FOUND DEAD IN DORM- SUPPOSED SUICIDE
Earlier this week, NCT member Huang Renjun was found dead in his dorm
by his group mates. While details are still being kept confidential as
per his family’s request, the boy’s autopsy showed signs of cyanide in
body and it was later reported that the food Mr Huang was eating had
traces of cyanide as well.
An official statement was put out by SM Entertainment earlier this
morning, stating the group’s short hiatus to recover from the loss.
Read the translated statement below:
“Hello, this is SM Entertainment in regards to the recent tragedy
with NCT and one of its members, Huang Renjun. As of now, NCT will
be taking a short, 3-week hiatus to recover from the loss of one of
their beloved members. We are sorry to have to bring forth such
devastating news, but we hope you continue to support NCT going
forward. Thank you.”
What do you think of this article? Let us know!
----
“It’s been what? A fucking week? And they’ve already made news article after fucking news article about this. What part of “confidential” do people not understand nowadays, huh?”
Chenle watches Jaemin pace angrily, eyes sympathetic. The older boy’s face is shadowed with regret, and his eyes are swimming with frustrated tears. “Jaem, don’t blame yourself. We couldn’t have known Renjun was going to… do this.”
Jaemin sighs, collapsing into Chenle’s awaiting arms, sweeping the smaller boy into a hug, chin dropping on his shoulder with a deep sigh. “I know... but what if we could’ve prevented it? What if Donghyuck had never cooked that stupid dinner-”
Chenle gives him a look, and he deflates with a strangled, defeated noise. “I-I’m sorry, I shouldn’t blame him. It’s just-”
Chenle strokes the older boy’s hair gently, his other arm tightening around the latter’s waist while he does so. “I know, Jaem, it’s okay. This is hard on all of us. I hope Donghyuck's okay... He must be feeling so guilty right now."
Jaemin nods, pushing back the overwhelming urge to say that good, he needs to feel guilty. He swallows his bitterness down, feeling calm in the prescence of the younger boy. Jaemin, despite himself, ends up falling asleep on said boy, tears drying on his face.
Donghyuck watches the entire exchange from the doorway to the kitchen, eyes narrowed and face set. His jaw is tense, and an angry shadow rests over his face as he glares at the younger boy curled up on Chenle's lap.