Chapter Text
“Renjun”
The man turns at the mention of his name. He comes face-to-face with a person he’s not seen for some years. 3 and some months and days to be somewhat exact.
“Hey.”
Jeno could not believe his eyes. After all this time, he’s found his friend. His best friend. Once.
“How are you?”
Renjun clenches his fists in his jacket pockets. He’s a bit flustered with the situation. Shocked, to be sure.
“I’m…fine. You?”
“I’m happy. I’m really glad.”
Renjun remembers everything all of a sudden. All at once. The image forms in his head. The people, their laughter. The tinkling of cutlery, the mild breeze.
The couple. Their smiles.
Everything in white.
“How’s Kat? I heard you had a kid now.”
Jeno frowns.
“So you’ve heard about me? And yet I heard nothing from you?”
Renjun finds his words. Finally he does. Because he remembers all too well, too. The hurt, the sadness.
The sound of his heart shattering to pieces.
“I meant for you not to,” he pauses. “I did run away from you.”
Jeno isn’t surprised. He’s accepted it after 3 years of unanswered calls and texts after a sudden disappearance, but with friends assuring him Renjun was fine, he knew he had to be the reason.
“Why?”
“I had to.”
“But why did you have to?”
Renjun puts back his groceries. He needs them but he needs to leave even more. He feels his chest tightening already, and it’s getting harder to breathe.
More than three years past, he collapsed as he left the wedding reception, a block away from the hotel. After that, he developed some form of anxiety and since then, he’s had it hard handling fluster and frustration, anger and sadness even worse.
He needs to go and get back to his home. He needs to feel safe.
Renjun hurries out of the building, choosing not to heed Jeno’s calls of his name. He runs, trying hard to breathe at the same time, clutching at his chest as the pain creeps in. He heads toward his car, and the familiar back turned toward him. He crashes onto the person, in tears and desperate.
“Hyung.”
“Junnie, hey, hey…calm down, I’m here.”
“Let’s go home, hyung, take me home.”
The man sighs, worry etching itself onto his forehead. Pain also sets as he sees Renjun looking so small, delicate.
“Let’s go.”
“Jaem.”
“Jeno? Where are you?” There is worry and a bit of anger clear in the voice on his phone.
“I found him.”
“What?”
“Renjun.”
“Oh no, Jeno. Why?”
“What do you mean why? You’ve kept him from me all this time, even though I begged all of you that I just wanted to see for myself that he was fine!”
“We had a reason, Jeno. And I know you know it, too.”
“Why is he with Jaehyun-hyung?”
There’s silence on the other line, some whispering, too.
“They’re together now, Jen.”
Jeno’s hold on his phone tightens just as he clenches his other hand. He ends the call just as the cool breeze brushes past him, the leaves on the ground stirred at the blow.
He heaves a sigh just as the car turns and disappears from his sight.
Tired and still confused, Jeno heads for his own car. He closes his eyes upon sitting inside. He laughs softly in exasperation and frustration. It’s been years. A tear slowly makes its way down his cheek.
It’s been years and now he’s too late.