Archive of Our Own

Having two best guy friends was a rather...entertaining experience. At least for you. Somehow the universe placed you in an interesting friend dynamic, one riddled with competition and sarcastic jokes. Sometimes you wondered why you weren’t friends with guys who were chill and were into basic guy things, like sports or something. Your two were quite a handful. But at the end of the day, you’d always remind yourself of why you loved them. 

You had met Renjun and Donghyuck in middle school. Both boys were dorky-looking, small, and often stuck together. You were a new student, and Donghyuck, being the social butterfly that he was, had approached you during your first class and asked you if you had wanted to be friends. Apprehensive at first, you had told him “no”, but when lunch came around and you had nowhere to sit, you had found yourself gravitating towards Donghyuck and Renjun’s section of the lunch table. After that it was history. 

It wasn’t until high school that things began to change. All three of you endured a lot of physical and emotional changes. The three of you stuck together, but Donghyuck’s social status skyrocketed. With all the friends he made, though, he always found himself going out with you and Renjun, hanging out at one another's houses, and doing homework together. Renjun had found himself at the top of the academic community and would get prompted many times for people to do their exams and essays for money. 

And you were going at your own pace. You finally began to branch out and made some female friends but you always came back to your boys. Your girlfriends would joke around that you had two boyfriends but you always shut it down. They were just your best friends. Nothing more. Nothing less. 

Except it wasn’t. Somewhere along the way, you had begun harboring a secret, but very large, crush on Donghyuck. You weren’t sure if you were glad that he was a little oblivious (and a little too busy with other girls) for him to notice, but you’d find yourself daydreaming that one day he’d express his feelings for you too. Maybe you’d been listening to unrequited love songs a little too much. You’d often lament to Renjun about these feelings, and while he felt like it complicated the friend group dynamic a tad, he still tried to console you after several heartbreaks. 

And this crush didn’t stop after high school. Especially since the three of you all ended up going to the same university. 

It was one of the first few days of school and the three of you were walking to class, cutting through the plaza to get to the building where your classes were. 

You and Renjun were chatting away when something caught Donghyuck’s eye. He diverged from your path to class to head over to a table with many rowdy young men and a big sign with 3 Greek letters in bright green and silver paint. 

“And then the professor said—wait, where's Hyuck?” Renjun interrupted himself. 

“Huh? Your professor asked about Hyuck?” You responded in confusion. 

“No, I’m asking you where did Hyuck go? He was just here with us,” Renjun clarified and began looking around for his best friend in the sea of students walking all around the plaza. 

“Oh, I see him! He’s over there! Come on,” you grabbed Renjun’s hand and dragged him over to where Hyuck was standing, chatting with someone. 

“Hyuck! There you are!” You exclaimed as you approached him. Donghyuck gestured that he needed a minute to the man he was talking to and turned to the two of you. 

“Guys look, it’s a fraternity. I think I might try to join...they seem really cool,” he held up a pamphlet to your face and you frowned. 

“You wanna join a fraternity? Aren’t frats usually...I dunno… sketchy?” You asked him. 

“Nah, these guys are cool. I was just talking to the current president, his name is Jaehyun, and they don’t do the weird shit. Renjun you should join too, we can make some new friends!” Donghyuck nudged Renjun. “Plus...we’ll get to talk to the older girls.”

“Ew please don’t talk about that in front of me,” you rolled your eyes. 

“I’ll think about it, now come on we’re gonna be late for class!” Renjun scolded Donghyuck and the three of you slipped away to class for the day. 

↠↠

Donghyuck didn’t stop thinking about the frat, however. But before he made his final decision, he wanted to get your opinion. Despite Donghyuck not exactly returning your feelings, he still cared deeply about you and valued your thoughts and opinions. 

A few days later, you and Donghyuck were situated in a study room at the campus library. You were scanning your textbook while he was still reviewing the fraternity pamphlet. 

“Hey,” he called for you. You glanced up from your textbook and blinked at him in confusion. 

“Yeah?”

“What do you think about me joining a fraternity?”

You paused to think about what you wanted to say to him. Donghyuck was staring at you and trying to read your expressions, but he couldn’t tell what you were thinking for the first time in your friendship. 

“Well, first can I ask why you wanna join a fraternity? I mean don’t they have like...really crazy initiation...uh, ceremonies?” You asked him. 

“I don’t know… I guess I just wanna be a part of something, and they seem really nice. Besides, I can handle an initiation ceremony,” he told you. 

“But… you’re a part of our friend group. You, Renjun, and I,” you said and Donghyuck laughed dryly. 

“I am, but I want to be a part of something...special I suppose. Something important, and bigger than myself,” he explained and you nodded. While Donghyuck was quite popular in high school, he never was really a part of a group or a club. It was always you and your two boys. 

“Okay, well I think it wouldn’t be a bad idea to join the frat. So long as you don’t forget about Renjun and I,” you gave him a warm smile. 

“You think so?” He asked with a hopeful tone. 

“Yeah I do,” you nodded. 

“Yes, thank you, love, you’re amazing. And besides, how could I forget about you? You’ve always been the one to bring me right down to earth when I get too far into space,” he held your hand and kissed your cheek, which threw you way off guard. The use of a pet name didn’t help calm you down either. 

“Well, uh, what about Renjun?” You quickly changed the subject. 

“He’s a little bit more forgettable,” Donghyuck winked and you rolled your eyes. 

“Hyuck! He’s our best friend!” You lightly smacked his arm. Donghyuck fell back in his seat, laughing. 

“I’m just playing around; relax. I’d never forget Renjun. Both of you are too special to me,” Donghyuck told you and your heart did flips in your chest. 

“You’re special to me too, Hyuck,” you returned the sentiment. When he raised an eyebrow at you in curiosity, you realized your mistake. 

“I meant us! You’re special to us, Renjun and I, as well, I’m sure. Like, I can't speak for Renjun but I’m sure you’re also special to him, cuz he’s your best friend too so it would make sense for you to be special to him as well. You know you’re not just special to me--” you began to ramble, which amused Donghyuck. He knew you only rambled when you were nervous, but what you were nervous about was beyond him.

“Hey,” he said, calling your name as well, “is there something you’re not telling me?”

“What? What do you mean?”

“You’re nervous and you’re looking at me like you wanna...eat me, which I wouldn’t have a problem with, but uh, I’d like a heads up,” Donghyuck smirked.

“Oh my god please stop,” you covered your face.

“Come on, it wouldn’t be that bad. What, you’re telling me you wouldn’t wanna tap this ass?” Donghyuck teased you.

“Shut up you dweeb, let’s just get back to work, or else I'll throw my textbook at you,” you threatened him jokingly.

“Deflecting...okay then. I’ll just take it as a yes,” Donghyuck muttered as he pulled his textbook out of his bag and set it on the table. You were so mortified that you couldn’t even pull yourself together to either tell the truth or deny that you wanted your best friend like that.

All you could do was hope he was joking and pretend like it never happened.

↠↠

It finally came time for Donghyuck to “rush” Nu Chi Tau (meaning join the fraternity). He was absent from your get-togethers with Renjun for an entire week to participate in the main ceremony, the initiation, and the hazing activities. 

Yet, somehow, Donghyuck managed to come through the whole process unscathed. His hair was not shaved off, none of his bones were broken and he had no tattoos inked onto his skin. Both of his eyebrows were intact and all of his teeth were still in his mouth.

When you saw him again, he approached you with a coolness you hadn’t seen on him before. He was walking with more confidence, and swagger, if possible. His clothes were different as well, and his long-ish, previously-dyed chestnut hair was swept away from his face, framing his cheekbones perfectly. 

You perked up as you saw him cross the plaza to get to you and Renjun sitting on a bench together.

“Donghyuck!” you cheered as he got closer.

“What the hell is he wearing?” Renjun asked you quietly and you shrugged in confusion.

The two of you stood up when Donghyuck arrived, excited to see your mutual friend after a whole week. However, instead of a group hug as per usual, Donghyuck leaned into you and pressed a chaste kiss to your cheek, quickly hugging you in the process. It caught you so off guard, you didn’t even notice how he attempted to do some kind of bro-hug with Renjun, and how it failed miserably.

“What's up you guys? You miss me?” he asked with a grin.

“O-of course! How did um...rushing NCT go? You’re in, right?” you asked him.

“Baby you’re looking at a new member of NCT house!” he beamed at you.

“‘Baby’?” Renjun’s eyebrows furrowed at the use of a pet name for you.

“That’s amazing, Hyuck! I’m glad you made it out okay! You still have hair!” you laughed.

“Thank you, I'm glad as well. Surprisingly none of their hazing techniques required head shaving, so I’m also pretty happy about that too,” he chuckled.

“You look weird,” Renjun interrupted the happy moment with his blunt remark. You nudged Renjun and gave him a stern look while Donghyuck gave him a dismissive glance.

“Some new friends, our age, styled me. Jaemin and Yangyang. They also gave this other new guy, Shotaro, a small makeover too. They’re pretty cool, I think you should meet them, Junnie,” Donghyuck slipped his hands into his pockets.

“Wait, what about me? Can I meet your new friends?” you asked with hope.

“You sure about that?” Hyuck asked you back and you raised an eyebrow in confusion.

“Uh...yeah? You can mix your friend groups, Hyuck. What, are your friends weird or something?” you assured him.

“No, no, I just don’t know if it’s your kind of crowd, that’s all,” He put up his hands in surrender. You scowled at your best friend’s assumption and placed your hands on your hips.

“I’ll be the judge of that,” you told him with confidence. Donghyuck shrugged as he knew that he wasn’t going to be able to convince you otherwise. You’d just have to figure it out yourself.

Which you did, that evening, at the NCT house, where they were throwing a party to celebrate the new members of the fraternity. It was loud, humid, sticky and it reeked of weed and alcohol. You could feel the bass of the speakers resonating in your chest and the more time you spent inside the house, the more you wanted to puke. The 2000s hits reminiscent of your childhood weren’t doing anything to lift your spirits, even if you normally loved jamming out to them.

“Are you doing okay?” Renjun said loudly into your ear, bringing you back down to earth.

“Honestly, I just wanna go home,” you yelled back.

“We can go if you really want to. I just think we should at least say hey to Hyuck and show that we stopped by. After that we can dip,” Renjun suggested. He turned to you to catch you nodding in agreement. Out of nowhere, Renjun grabbed your hand in his and started pulling you through the crowd of young adults. 

Within minutes, you were in front of Donghyuck and his new group of friends. 5 other boys turned toward you and Renjun, expressions of confusion and intrigue written into their features.

“Hey, guys! Glad you made it!” Hyuck greeted the both of you cheerily, giving you a hug and Renjun a back pat (since the bro-handshake didn’t quite work out earlier).

“Yeah and now we’re--” Renjun began but Donghyuck had other plans.

“These are the friends I mentioned earlier. Guys, these are my best friends,” he introduced you and Renjun to the other young men.

“Hey, I’m Jeno,” the guy to your left gave you a simple wave and a small, tight-lipped smile. 

“Nice to meet you, I’m Jaemin,” the one with pitch-black hair raised his solo cup in your direction.

“Hi, I’m Shotaro, I’m an exchange student from Japan,” the boy after Jaemin introduced himself in a smaller voice.

“Hey! I’m Yangyang!” a loud and cheerful boy greeted you with a big smile.

“I’m Chenle, it’s nice to meet you,” the boy closest to Donghyuck waved to you and Renjun.

“Jeno and Jaemin went to school with each other across town, and Chenle skipped a grade so he’s in our class now. Shotaro already told you he’s an exchange student, and Yangyang...he just moved here from Germany,” Donghyuck explained.

“Nice to meet you guys,” Renjun quickly told the boys and turned to Donghyuck, “Listen, Hyuck--”

“Woah let me stop you right there. I go by Haechan now,” he placed a hand on Renjun’s shoulder in a friendly manner, but you could feel Renjun tense up. You rolled your eyes at Donghyuck’s new nickname and waited patiently for the two boys to finish their conversation so you could go home.

“Okay Haechan , we’re leaving now. We just wanted to stop by and congratulate you, let you know that we were here, y’know,” Renjun told Donghyuck, to which the latter furrowed his eyebrows in hurt.

“You’re leaving already? Why?” he asked.

“It’s just too loud and it’s not...really comfortable here,” you piped up.

“Aw, but--listen! Your favorite 2000’s hit just came on! You gotta stay, please, babe,” Hyuck took your hands in his, breaking the contact between you and Renjun. Once again, Donghyuck used another pet name on you, and once again, you found butterflies in your stomach. You didn’t let those butterflies stay too long, and you sadly took your hands out of Donghyuck’s hold. 

“Hyuck, I wish I could, but I’ve had a long day and I just have to go. I’m really happy for you, though. I’ll text you later, okay?” you told him, and Donghyuck nodded in understanding. The two of you turned to Renjun, both wanting different things.

“Junnie, can you at least stay? Please?” Donghyuck asked Renjun. Renjun looked at you, then back at Donghyuck.

“I already promised her I’d walk her home, but I can always come back if anything?” Renjun attempted to make a compromise. 

You and Donghyuck nodded and then you were off, walking back to your dorm with Renjun beside you.

“Junnie, are you...worried?” you asked him.

“About what?” he countered and you sighed.

“About Hyuck--”

“ Haechan .” Renjun mocked the way Donghyuck had corrected him earlier.

“Whatever. Are you worried that he’s like...changing?” you finished your thought. Renjun took a second to think about his answer, not wanting to worry you more, but also wanting to provide the truth.

“Everyone changes in college, positively and negatively. You and I will go through changes too, and when that happens, Donghyuck will have to endure it and understand it. Right now, Hyuck is just...trying to find himself. He couldn’t really do that in high school. Now that we’re in a new environment, he has the freedom to start over, as many of us do. He’s still our duckie,” Renjun answered.

“You could’ve just said no, but thank you mister philosophy major, for that philosophical answer,” you teased him.

“Oh shut up, I was just trying to make you less worried,” Renjun scoffed.

“Aw, thank you Junnie,” you beamed up at your best friend. Renjun looked down at you in admiration, a small smile tugging at his lips. His heart was going 100 miles a minute, but he was moving at a regular speed.

“Are you really going back to the party after you drop me off?” You slightly changed the subject. 

“Uh...yeah I think so. He really wants me to talk to those guys, and I know if I don’t I’ll never hear the end of it,” Renjun stuck his hands in his pockets and looked down at the sidewalk. 

“Anything to avoid Hyuck's never-ending whining,” you giggled and nodded in understanding.

“Yep...exactly,” Renjun awkwardly laughed. 

The two of you continued talking about anything and everything you could think of, and before you knew it, you arrived at your dorm building. Renjun and Donghyuck also lived in the same building (and in the same room), however, they were on a completely different floor. You all made a plan that the boys would pick you up on the way to class, and after your schedules were done, they’d drop you off. It was a foolproof plan.

“I think you’ll get to your room alright, but text me when you get in anyway,” Renjun said and you agreed to his request.

“Thanks, Renjun, I love you,” you said as you wrapped him in a tight hug. Renjun momentarily froze at your words of affection before slowly wrapping his arms around your figure.

“I, uh, I just walked you home. No big deal,” he nervously chuckled. You pulled away from him and bounced on the balls of your feet.

“Yeah well, I really appreciate it. It’s a big deal to me,” you explained.

“Noted. I should get back, but don’t forget to text me. I’ll text you later,” he informed you. The two of you bid one another adieu and went your separate ways.

As Renjun walked away from the dorm building, he heaved a sigh he had no idea he was holding. He took the time on his way back to the NCT house to calm himself down and get it together.

The house was still in the same state in which he left it, but as he walked in, he saw one thing that was extremely different from when he left.

On the couch in the middle of the living room, Donghyuck was sitting next to a girl, his arm slung around her shoulder. Only, they weren’t just sitting together. They were making out...heavily.

What was Renjun going to tell you?

↠↠

The next day, you decided to take a little break from your friends and spent your free day at the library, browsing on your laptop, and overall just killing time alone.

However, Renjun had other plans. Your eyes were glued to your computer screen, intently watching the Try Guys (Keith, Eugene, Zach, and Ned) make horrible photoshop edits of one another when you felt someone approach you. In your peripheral vision, you saw they had bleached platinum hair, and you just assumed it was another student who was going to ask if they could sit at your table. You didn’t pay attention to them and kept watching your video.

Then your phone buzzed, and you checked to see it was a text message from Renjun.

my shoulder gangster : look up

You made a face at your phone but looked up anyway, and much to your surprise, Renjun was the one standing in front of you. Your jaw dropped as you discovered that he was the owner of the bleached locks. His natural brown locks, now platinum, were swept away from his face and he looked so different . You were at a loss for words, having to pause your video to truly take a moment and process the sudden change. Not only was Renjun’s hair different, but he also wore an outfit that wasn’t even remotely close to his usual style. He had a thick chain around his neck and his fingers had a few rings on them.

You brought your hand up to your mouth in shock, “Renjun...what--”

“Don’t. Say. Anything,” he stopped you before you could finish your question. He sat down in the chair across from you, his irritated expression making your stomach twist in a way it hadn’t before when you looked at Renjun. He looked...dangerous.

“Okay. I won’t say anything.” you took your headphones off. You were unable to stop your lips from curling into a mischievous smirk, but you remained silent.

You noticed something on his cheek and squinted and leaned in to see exactly what it was. When you figured it out, your eyes widened in surprise.

“Is that a cheek piercing?!” you asked rather loudly, garnering several shushes from the students around you. You sheepishly apologized to them before turning back to Renjun.

“I said not to say anything,” he hissed, and you waved dismissively at his words.

“How the fuck do you expect me not to say anything when you show up with bleached hair, chains, a painted denim jacket, and a fucking cheek piercing? You look…” you whispered.

“Awful, I know.”

“No...you look...you look amazing.” You couldn’t stop your eyes from roaming Renjun’s figure, still trying to take in his different appearance.

It was Renjun’s turn for his eyes to widen in surprise, “Are you sure? People were giving me weird looks on the way here.”

“Because you’re hot!” you whisper yelled. Renjun’s heart stopped momentarily in his chest, not expecting you to call him hot.

“Was I not hot before?” he asked in confusion. You blinked at Renjun, not sure how to answer the question. You’d always had Donghyuck tunnel vision, so you never really got to appreciate Renjun’s visuals. But thinking back, you had to admit that Renjun was attractive, he always had been. It just took you a while to notice it.

“No, you were...you still are...it’s just a different kind of hot,” you explained.

“Oh, I see,” he scratched the back of his head.

“You definitely...don’t look like a philosophy major anymore. At least not like the typical philosophy major,” you grinned.

“Oh really?” Renjun smirked and raised an eyebrow, and the action once again made your stomach twist as it did before. You shook your head no and Renjun ducked his head briefly as he laughed softly.

“What kind of major do I look like now then?” he leaned in slightly, his forearms on the table to keep him up straight.

“Um…an art major...I guess,” you said and Renjun beamed at you.

“You know that I’m double majoring in art right?” he raised his eyebrow again and you were so close to reaching across the table to slap him across the face for that. 

“I forgot, honestly. Can you just...please tell me how this happened? I need to know,” you whined, causing Renjun to sigh in defeat.

“Okay, fine. When I got back to the NCT house, I couldn’t find Hyuck, so in my quest to find him, I bumped into those guys we met, y’know: Jeno, Jaemin, Shotaro, et cetera. They offered me a drink, and then one drink turned into...four? I don’t remember much, but I just know I was wasted--” Renjun began.

“Wow, Renjun I didn’t picture you as the kind to get wasted,” you poked fun at him. Renjun stuck his tongue out at you and continued his story.

“Anyways, my memory is fuzzy, I just remember those guys taking me to some piercing and tattoo parlor, and after that, I don’t remember anything. I’m assuming they dyed my hair in my sleep because I definitely wasn’t awake when it happened. Since I woke up in the NCT house, they let me shower there and borrow clothes since I was associated with ‘Haechan’ ,” He finished.

“Oh my god, Renjun. I’m assuming you won’t be drinking again,” you laughed quietly.

“Yeah not for quite a while,” he laughed with you.

“Are you gonna keep the piercing?” you asked him, and Renjun could tell from the tone of your voice that you didn’t want to hear “no”. But Renjun was never really one to please others, not even you.

“No. It hurts whenever I smile or laugh and I don’t think it’s going to exactly go over well if I have an interview in the near future,” he said matter-of-factly.

“Noooo, Renjun pleeeeease, don’t get rid of it. I love it,” you fussed and gave him your best puppy eyes.

“I hate to disappoint you but I’m not gonna keep it. You have until the end of today to admire it because I’m gonna go back to the piercing parlor and have them take it out,” he announced.

“Okay,” you pouted, “do you want me to come with? I have nothing better to do today and I don’t wanna leave you alone in a piercing parlor.”

“I would like that,” Renjun softly smiled at you. The two of you sat like that for a minute, simply looking at one another fondly until you broke the silence.

“You are keeping the hair color, though, right?”

“Really?”

“You don’t have to change your clothes, but I’m gonna ask that you keep the hair color.”

“Why?”

“Renjun, just listen to me; keep the hair color.”

“If you make a compelling case as to why I should then I will.”

“Huang Renjun, I will beat your ass.”

“Okay, I’m keeping it.”

↠↠

The next couple of months were a bit rocky, to say the least. Donghyuck was spending less and less time with you and Renjun, canceling plans with you at the last minute and ditching you in the middle of any time you all had together.

In this time, however, you got to spend more time with Renjun. You were surprised that you didn’t know as much about your best friend as you had thought you did. You found that conversing with Renjun or doing any activity with him was fun and it made you happy. While you were always mildly peeved that Donghyuck was breaking his promise to you (you know, the one about forgetting about you and Renjun), Renjun was right there to distract you and take your mind off of your distant friend.

That was until Donghyuck started to pester you for favors while you were alone with Renjun. While you were certain it was Donghyuck being clueless, Donghyuck was actually much more aware of his actions. This didn’t start happening until one night when you and Renjun had a night-in at his dorm.

Donghyuck was barely home anymore, so you always found yourself keeping Renjun company at his place. The two of you were sitting on the couch, facing each other, eating snacks and drinking hot cocoa while laughing at one of Renjun’s stories about his most entertaining class: introduction to art.

“I swear, some people should not be allowed into an art studio,” he chuckled as he popped a fruit snack into his mouth.

“I agree, especially if they’re accident-prone. Something is bound to break,” you laughed.

When the laughter settled, the two of you found yourselves smiling fondly at each other for a bit. These kinds of moments began happening more often after that day in the library. You noticed Renjun was beginning to lean in, but at the sound of the door swinging open, the two of you jumped and the moment was ruined. The two of you craned your heads to see who it was (even though there could only be one other person with a key to the dorm), and there, stumbling through the threshold was Donghyuck, with a girl on his arm. Somehow Hyuck was able to see you and Renjun jump as he opened the door and it made him feel...uneasy.

“Oh sorry...are we interrupting something?” he teased you as he closed the door behind him. You and Renjun both gave him the same unamused expression and Donghyuck put his hands up in surrender.

“Damn...tough crowd. If you need me I’ll be in my room,” he chuckled wryly as the girl on his arm began kissing his cheek and tugging him in the direction of the bedrooms. 

You and Renjun watched them leave and disappear behind Donghyuck’s door, knowing full well what was about to happen on the other side. You looked down at your hands, trying not to show Renjun how upset you were, but he didn’t have to see your face to know that.

“I’m sorry,” he said to you. You shook your head and looked up at him, a somber expression settled across your face.

“You don’t have to apologize Renjun. I think this is a sign that I should just…” you sigh, “I should just move on. He’s not going to see me as anything other than his friend, dare I say best friend.”

Renjun didn’t want to admit it, but at the sound of those words, his heart leaped in his chest. Finally, he could have a chance to prove that he was the one for you. On the outside, though, he was cool, nodding in understanding at your statement.

“You know I love Hyuck, he’s been my best friend for ages, but you deserve better than him,” Renjun told you, causing your eyebrows to raise in curiosity and surprise.

“You think I deserve better? Like who, if not Hyuck?” you inquired, trying to see what Renjun was going to say. Renjun was not dumb and considered that you might have been testing him. He wanted so badly to just say it, to finally profess his feelings for you right then and there. But he couldn’t. The words got caught in his throat as he blinked and shrugged at you.

“I-I don’t know. I just know that there’s...someone out there that you, um, may find more captivating than Donghyuck,” Renjun answered. You narrowed your eyes at your best friend but decided to let it go.

“Maybe you’re right,” you shrugged casually. 

“About what?” Renjun asked. 

“That I deserve better. I mean...I’ve been chasing Hyuck for what—5 years? Getting your heart broken for 5 consecutive years is not….fun,” You sigh and run a hand through your hair. Renjun sucked his lips in and nodded, but while you thought he did it as a response, he really did it because he understands all too well what you mean. 

“What about there being someone else out there for you? Don't you agree with that?” He asked out of curiosity, pushing his glasses up on the bridge of his nose. 

“Oh,” you blinked at your lap, “well...you might be right. I dunno. I suppose I’ll believe it when I find someone else that is ‘more captivating’ than Hyuck.”

Renjun wanted nothing more than to yell and tell you the truth right then and there. He wanted to say something, so, so bad. 

He remained silent. He nodded again and attempted to keep his composure as best as he could. Silence filled the air, neither one of you knowing what to say next at that moment. 

“Well, what about you Renjun? Is there anyone you’ve been interested in?” You asked your best friend. It had occurred to you that you’d never heard about any of Renjun's romantic endeavors, not to mention if he even had any. 

Renjun spluttered before sitting up straight to answer your question, “Do you mean, recently…? Or in general, over my life?” 

“Recently,” you told him and Renjun panicked. He couldn’t just say no, you’d be onto him. Maybe this was his moment. An opportunity was presenting itself to him, so he should take it. 

He didn’t take the opportunity. 

“I mean, I suppose there is someone,” he spoke before he could think out his answer. 

“Really?” Your response came out a little bit more surprised than you had intended it. It was just that Renjun rarely ever talked about his romantic interests, so it was a bit shocking that he had any at all. Plus, for some odd reason, your heart’s pace picked up when he mentioned he was interested in someone.

“What’s so surprising about that?” He raised an eyebrow at you in confusion.

“No, no, it’s nothing. You just never talk about stuff like this with me so I’m a little surprised there’s even anyone. Who is it? Tell me!” You explain.

Renjun blinked at you, unsure of how to tell you that it was you…without directly telling you it was you. He couldn’t backtrack now, you would have called him out.

“Uh well…it’s not really that big of a deal. I think she’s into someone else, anyway,” Renjun scratched the back of his head.

“What? Aw no…I’m sorry Junnie. She’s not dating the person she’s into though, right?” You asked.

“No…”

“So maybe you can swoop in and kinda…I dunno…steal her? Before it’s too late?” You suggested, and Renjun had to hold in a snort of amusement.

“We’ll see,” was all Renjun responded with.

“Aw come on, Renjun, you deserve to have a sweet relationship. Don’t be a pussy, ask this girl out! Maybe once she sees you as an option, she’ll stop chasing this person she’s into,” You told him blindly, not aware you were referring to yourself. With each piece of positive advice you gave him, a pang of jealousy struck your heart. You didn’t know why, though. You didn’t like Renjun like that…did you? No, he was just your best friend.  However, you’d be lying if you didn’t admit that things with Renjun were changing lately. Perhaps it was because you were spending copious amounts of time with him, but Renjun was somehow scrambling your feelings and emotions.

Renjun gave you an indecipherable expression, and it was slightly off-putting. It was as though he wanted to tell you something, but he was holding back. You decided not to ask him about it in case you were wrong.

“So do I even know this girl?” You ended up breaking the silence.

“Uh…I’m not sure.”

“Well, what’s her name?”

“I can’t tell you.”

“What? Why can’t you tell me her name?” You asked, oddly suspicious of Renjun.

“Can we just move on now please?” Renjun said in a sharp tone. You fell silent at Renjun’s request.

“Yeah. Sorry,” you quickly apologized.

“It’s okay. I didn’t mean for that to sound dick-ish, I’m sorry,” Renjun apologized as well.

“It’s okay.” You shot him a small smile.

The two of you fell into a rather awkward silence, not sure what to say.

“Should we watch a movie?” Renjun asked.

“Yeah, we can,” you agreed.

As Renjun and you settled in and picked a movie, Donghyuck slipped back into his room. He had been eavesdropping after using the bathroom and found the conversation you were having with Renjun rather interesting. He hadn’t caught what you were talking about before Renjun’s romantic life, but it’s not like he cared. He found it amusing that Renjun still hadn’t grown a pair to tell you that he liked you, his friend still skirting around the issue. It was the fact that you hadn’t managed to recognize it was you that amused Hyuck as well. What he really found interesting was that apparently, you were into someone yourself…if he interpreted that part correctly.

Donghyuck had never had a problem with Renjun liking you before this moment. In fact, he was rooting for Renjun. Yet for some reason, he wasn’t as easy going about it now as he was before. Something about you and Renjun getting closer while he was absent…it bothered him. He had seen the way you looked at Renjun; it was the same way you looked at him before he joined the frat.

“ I have to do something about this ,” Donghyuck thought to himself as the girl he brought back kissed his neck. 

If there was one thing that didn’t change about Donghyuck since he rushed NCT, it was his innate ability to cause chaos to get his way.

↠↠

This is where the “pestering with favors” began. You would be alone with Renjun and suddenly Donghyuck would call you, asking you to get something for him and since you couldn’t bring yourself to say no to Hyuck, you would leave Renjun to do what Hyuck had asked.

At first, you didn’t entirely have a problem with it. For example, one time, while you and Renjun were at his dorm studying, Donghyuck called and asked you to bring him his notebook that he “accidentally” left in his room.

You, of course, obliged and brought Donghyuck his notebook before his class started, but when you had arrived, he was talking to some girl and obviously flirting with her.

“Hey thanks, bud. I’ll be sure to repay you ASAP,” he had told you. The usage of the word “bud” put you off as he went from using affectionate pet names for you to “bud”. You had quickly told him it was no problem and sped back to his and Renjun’s dorm.

After that, the favors became more and more ridiculous. Bringing him his favorite beer to a party he was at. Doing his laundry. Getting him a Halloween costume. It got to the point where you nearly blocked Donghyck’s number because you were so sick and tired of him.

Even Renjun was exasperated. He could only assume that Donghyuck was doing these things on purpose, to get you away from him. Renjun knew Donghyuck well enough to recognize when his best friend was causing chaos for his benefit.

One evening, Renjun confronted Donghyuck about it. 

“Bye Renjun. I’ll text you later,” you hugged him in his doorway. 

“Hey! Where’s my favorite girl going?” You and Renjun heard Donghyuck’s voice from down the hall. The two of you looked at him as he sauntered down the corridor over to the two of you. 

“Staaaay, I just got here!” He whined. 

“Bye guys,” you said quietly before turning toward the elevator and leaving. 

Renjun and Donghyuck watched you go before the latter entered his dorm. 

“Well damn that was kind of rude,” Donghyuck scoffed as Renjun closed the door behind him. 

Renjun couldn’t hold his tongue, “Well considering you only talk to her when you want something, I feel like her reaction is completely justified.”

“What? What are you talking about?” Donghyuck asked in disbelief. He sat down on their couch and looked up at his best friend. 

“Don’t be an idiot. You really think I can’t tell that you’re doing this shit on purpose?” Renjun crossed his arms. 

“I have no idea what you’re talking about, Junnie,” Donghyuck held his hands up in surrender. 

“Unbelievable. You know what, fine I’ll spell it out for you: for whatever reason, you’re asking our friend for favors ‘coincidentally’ while she and I are alone and it’s not only inconsiderate to her but me as well,” Renjun spat. 

“And you think I’m doing that on purpose? I don’t keep track of where she is, it just so happens—”

“Donghyuck, can you just own up to your shit and knock it off? What is your problem?” Renjun asked. 

Donghyuck’s expression turned sour at Renjun’s question. The fact that he had been half-caught in his scheme was not something he enjoyed recognizing. Renjun was not dumb, and even though it seems as though he hadn’t figured Hyuck’s entire plan, he still got the gist of it, and that frustrated Hyuck. 

“I just wanna spend time with our best friend too. That’s all,” Donghyuck scoffed, “you’re hogging her.”

“I—I don’t even know where to begin to rebuke that statement. Just don’t be an ass and coordinate with her when you can hang out if you want to that badly. But you should talk to her soon. If you keep doing what you’re doing, you’re going to lose her, Hyuck. She’s not happy with you,” Renjun sighed. 

“If she’s so upset with me, then why does she keep doing favors for me?” Donghyuck asked, mischief evident in his tone. 

“I don’t know. I honestly don’t,” Renjun replied, but internally he was yelling at you, “just talk to her.”

“Whatever, you’re just jealous,” Donghyuck rolled his eyes. It took everything in Renjun not to fight back, opting to just give his so-called best friend the finger as he turned to go to his room. Donghyuck crossed his arms before propping his feet up on the coffee table and turning on the TV. 

Part of him realized that maybe he should talk things over with you, seeing as though you were becoming distant from him despite doing him favors. Yet, he knew distance often happened between friends, and that you would come back to him soon. He was satisfied, however, that his plan seemed to be working in that you and Renjun would be separated from each other because of his “favors”. He just needed a little more time to fully drive the wedge between you and Renjun. 

Little did he know, you had just sent Renjun a text that might mess up Donghyuck’s plan. 

You: I’m done doing anything for him. He’s on his last strike. 

↠↠

After that evening, Donghyuck found you responded to him less. At first, he hadn’t thought anything of it. He had been a tad too caught up with his romantic life to really notice that you’d slowly been icing him out. 

It wasn’t until he had called you and you declined his call, that he figured out something was up. You never sent him straight to voicemail, it was so out of the ordinary. He had his suspicions that Renjun might have said something to you, but he couldn’t be too sure. Maybe he should have talked to you like Renjun suggested. 

Meanwhile, you and Renjun were now spending uninterrupted time with each other, and things were on the cusp of changing between you. You had been more touchy with him, you had him spend the night in your dorm multiple times, seen movies together, and to top it all off, there had been way too many instances in which you almost kissed. Renjun, though, always seemed apprehensive about being super affectionate with you. 

It was safe to say you had feelings for Renjun. Yet, there was that person he mentioned that he liked a while ago, and you weren’t sure if you should tell him that you liked him or just allow him to pursue who he wanted. You’d curse yourself for falling for your other best friend when he was interested in someone else, thus landing back in nearly the same situation you had been in with Donghyuck. It boggled your mind though because you had almost kissed several times, but then again, he was—as mentioned—weird about affection with you. You had no idea where Renjun’s head was at, and he had no idea where yours was either.

However, it all came to a boiling point when one day, Renjun had been so confused by your strange behavior that he called you out.

He was in your dorm this time since your roommate was out of town for the weekend, and Donghyuck was occupying his and Renjun’s dorm. The two of you were studying for your classes together, and the room was quiet until Renjun huffed.

“What’s wrong?” You looked up from your notebook.

“This is just boring. I don’t understand it no matter how many times I read this stupid passage and it’s not exciting anymore. I need a break,” Renjun sits back and takes off his glasses. He rubs his eyes and runs his hands through his blonde locks, which he kept for you of course.

“Maybe you can take a break. You just might be tired,” You suggested.

“Yeah, maybe,” he sighed. Renjun picked up his phone and began to play around with it while you continued to do your homework. When he began typing, you eyed him carefully and as subtly as possible. Was he texting the girl he liked from one of his classes? Did he even like her anymore? What was he up to? 

“Hey! What are you doing?” Renjun snapped you out of your thoughts. You hadn’t realized you were leaning over and trying to peek at his phone (not subtle at all) until that moment. You were embarrassed, but you tried your best to recover.

“Nothing, nothing, it was stupid I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to snoop,” you waved it off and looked down at your notebook again.

“No, you’ve been acting weird lately, and I need to know why. What’s going on?” Renjun put his phone down and gave you a piercing glare.

“Renjun it’s nothing! I swear, I’m okay!” You insisted, but Renjun shook his head.

“I don’t believe you and I’m not letting you go back to work until you tell me what the fuck is going on with you. There’s something you’re not telling me,” Renjun snatched your school items and phone and put them behind him.

“Hey! I said I’m okay!” You shouted and tried to reach for your items.

“You’ve been keeping something from me! Have you been secretly seeing Donghyuck?” He asked.

“What?! No! Gimme my shit back!”

“Tell me what’s going on!”

“Nothing’s going on, Renjun!” You were starting to get irritated with him.

“Then why are you acting so weird?!”

“BECAUSE I HAVE FUCKING FEELINGS FOR YOU, YOU IDIOT!” You finally screamed. Renjun’s jaw dropped. Silence filled your room after the words left your mouth. You covered your face with your hands and tried to stop yourself from crying in embarrassment. You couldn’t bring yourself to look at Renjun right now, it would just be too overwhelming. Once Renjun began to hear sniffles, he started panicking.

“Hey woah…what’s wrong? Why are you crying?” He nervously chuckled.

Silence ensued for about 2 minutes before Renjun softly nudged you.

“What’s wrong? Why are you upset?” Renjun prodded again.

“Because!” You wailed, finally looking up at him. You were slightly taken aback to see his eyes sparkling, skin glowing and a big smile plastered on his lips.

“Because what?” He asked, slightly pouting.

“Why are you smiling?” You turned the question on him.

“Oh shit, I’m smiling…” He covered his mouth, “I mean you just told me you have feelings for me so of course, I’m going to be smiling!”

“But…don’t you like someone else?!” You exclaimed. 

“What? Who would I like? I never said I liked someone else! And you still haven’t answered my question!”

“You…you said a while ago that you had a crush on some girl in one of your classes!” 

“I did what?”

“Like a few months ago! After we talked about me ‘deserving better than Donghyuck’! I asked if you liked someone and you mentioned some girl in one of your classes that was into someone else! That’s why I was crying! Because it’s like the same situation I had with Donghyuck, and I don’t know why I keep doing this to myself because honestly it hurts and I’m tired of falling for men that aren’t interested in me and that I’m friends with, it’s just—”

“Woah woah woah. Stop. You’re getting worked up again,” Renjun cut you off. He reaches up and swipes your tears away with his thumb while you sniffle. You had cried in front of Renjun before, but right now, the last thing you wanted was for him to see you like this: a crying, blubbering mess. 

Renjun now recalled what conversation you were referring to, and he shook his head.

“I do like a girl in one of my classes, but I’m not so sure she’s chasing that person anymore. Turns out, he’s kind of a dick. Besides, she just told me she has feelings for me,” Renjun told you.

“So I’m too late.” You frowned. Renjun brought a hand to his temple.

“Just take a second to think about what I just said and what you, Donghyuck, and I have been through the past few months,” Renjun raised a brow at you.

“…what does Donghyuck have to do with—OH!” The lightbulb suddenly went off. Renjun looked at you expectantly, waiting for you to verbalize your realization.

“You…it’s me? You like me?” You said softly. Once you remembered that you shared a sociology class with Renjun and the fact that you were previously into Donghyuck, it all clicked into place.

“Well…considering it’s been 5-6 years, I think a more accurate description would be ‘in love with’, but ‘like’ works too,” he explained. Your eyes widened in surprise at his confession.

“Woah. ‘In love’ is way different than ‘like’,” you said.

“Well yeah, but do you know how intense that sounds? Didn’t really wanna scare you off,” Renjun scratched the back of his head.

“I’m not scared off. I think it’s really sweet,” you beamed at him. “But…5 to 6 years…that means like…8th or 9th grade.”

“Yes, since then. I’ve had to watch you chase down Donghyuck for years and cry about him, which was pretty painful to watch, I won’t lie. But I’ve wanted to tell you the whole time,” Renjun explained.

“Why didn’t you?”

“I just…figured you didn’t see me like that. You had your sights set on Hyuck, so I just let you try to figure out that he wasn’t all that on your own.”

“Oh…But when I had decided to stop chasing Hyuck—when I asked you then if you liked someone—why didn’t you just say it at that point?”

“Because I was scared as fuck! We’re best friends, you should know how terrifying it is to have feelings for your best friend and confess those feelings to them,” Renjun gave you a look.

“Right. My bad,” you said. Renjun’s look returned to a small smile while you processed that Renjun had liked you all this time, and you didn’t even know. You recalled certain moments where he made it somewhat obvious, including the “same class” description from months ago, that you completely missed and you felt bad. Yet, at the same time, you were elated that he had feelings for you too.

“Renjun, I’m so sorry. I was so dense, I didn’t even pick up on your hints or anything and I probably crushed your heart multiple times. Are you mad?” You apologized. Renjun looked up at you with quite possibly the most bewildered expression you’d ever seen him give you.

“Mad? Why would I be mad? And why are you apologizing? I’m the one who didn’t have the balls to tell you I liked you for all these years,” He expressed.

“I don’t know. I guess because it took me so long to realize that you’ve been here …?” You trailed off.

“Well when you put it like that,” he said, with a drop of sarcasm laced in his tone but quickly backtracked, “No, I’m not mad at all. I’m just overwhelmed with emotions and it’s hard for me to wrap my head around this.”

“Don’t think too hard about it,” you teased him.

“You know that’s not easy for me,” he replied.

“Then…let me help you,” you bit your lip nervously before doing something that definitely changed the relationship between you and Renjun forever.

You closed the space between you and Renjun and pressed a powerful kiss to his lips. Renjun was taken off guard for a split second but quickly reciprocated, moving his lips in tandem with yours. He seemed cool on the outside, but on the inside, he was screaming and happy crying, and overall celebrating himself. 

The two of you kiss for quite a bit, the one kiss turning into what could be considered a make-out session. You had found your way into his lap, and his hands had found their way onto your body. Once you needed air, you broke apart.

“Holy shit,” you huffed, “I didn’t know you were a good ki—”

“Would you like to go out to dinner with me?” Renjun cut you off.

“Um…w-well yeah! Yes, I-I would. I’d love to go out to dinner with you. Like, now?” You spluttered.

“No, no, like maybe, this Friday? How does that sound?” Renjun asked.

“I can do this Friday,” You nodded. Renjun smiled at you, happy as can be.

“Perfect, I’ll pick you up then,” he said, and it was your turn to smile.

“Hey, Renjun?”

“Yeah?”

“Does this mean…we’re…dating now?” 

“If us making out already doesn’t mean we’re dating then I don’t know what does.”

You laughed and swatted his shoulder.

“I can formally ask you if that’s what you want.”

“No no—I mean you don’t have to , but…it would be kind of nice.”

“Okay,” he said your name, “…will you do the honor of finally being my girlfriend?”

“I would absolutely love to. How could I say no to someone who kept their dyed hair for me?”

“Oh, so that’s the reason you’re going out with me now?” He asked and you collapsed on his shoulder in laughter. The two of you laugh for a bit before falling back into a comfortable silence.

“Hey, Renjun?”

“Yes?”

“Can we keep making out?”

“Fuck yes.”

↠↠

Between then and Friday, you and Renjun did a lot of making out, not that that’s important. The two of you definitely enjoyed it, and you enjoyed missing all of Donghyuck’s calls and texts so you could make out with your best friend-turned-boyfriend.

Donghyuck had no idea what had happened between you and Renjun at all. He was more so focused on the fact that you hadn’t been responding to him at all. His only option was to blitz attack your phone and call you repeatedly until you picked up. 

The only problem was that this happened on your very first date with your new boyfriend.

The two of you were sitting in a relatively nice restaurant, placed awkwardly across from each other in a two-person booth. The lighting was certainly romantic; the lamp above your table was dimmed and there was a candle close to the wall of the booth at one end of your table. Neither of you knew what to say anymore; it was like you started dating and you forgot how to interact with each other.

“Why does this feel so awkward now?” You piped up.

“I dunno. We had no problem talking freely before now,” he said. Suddenly, your phone started vibrating on the table, and Donghyuck’s name flashed across your screen. You deadpanned at your phone before declining the call.

“He’s still calling you?” Renjun asked.

“He stopped for a couple of days, but now he’s starting up again. Conveniently during our date,” you rolled your eyes.

“Hm. Well enough about him. Maybe we’re putting too much weight on this ‘dating’ thing. All we did was change the label we have on each other,” Renjun pointed out.

“Right. You’re still Renjun and I’m still me, we’re just…each other’s now,” you added.

“Exactly. So let’s just treat each other like we usually do…until we figure out how to…”

“Yeah…”

“Yeah.”

“In that case, how’s your art project going?” You asked.

“It’s fine, so far it’s turning out pretty well!” Renjun told you.

“Really? That’s great!” You clapped.

“I actually had someone in mind when—”

Your phone lit up again; Donghyuck. You both glared at your phone before you declined the call once more. Renjun went on to tell you his project was made with you in mind, and from there you fell naturally into a conversation.

Donghyuck’s calls didn’t stop. They became more frequent, but you declined all of them. That was until one particular call right in the middle of your meal.

“Do you wanna just take that because I don’t think he’s going to stop,” Renjun frowned.

“If you don’t mind,” you sigh. Renjun allowed you to get up and take the call, watching you leave with a scorned expression. ‘Pissed’ didn’t even begin to describe how he felt towards Donghyuck.

Once you were outside the restaurant, you answered.

“Hello? What do you want?” You hissed.

“Finally! I’ve been trying to get a hold of you all night! Is your phone okay? I keep getting sent to voicemail,” You hear Donghyuck’s voice. You tried so hard not to snap at him, just wanting to find out what he so desperately needed you for so you could get rid of him as quickly as possible.

“Yeah, I’ll get it checked out. So what do you need?” You asked.

“I need you to come to the NCT house, it’s an emergency,” Donghyuck says cryptically.

“What? What’s wrong? Why do you need me?” You asked.

“Uh…I might have accidentally pissed off someone who wants to beat my ass. I just need you to diffuse the situation,” he lied.

“Well I’m not exactly close to campus right now, I’m out on a date, so it would take me a while to get there,” you crossed your arms.

“You’re on a date? With who?” Donghyuck asked incredulously. 

“None of your business. So you need me to get you out of another sticky situation?” 

“Please. I would greatly appreciate it.”

You hesitated to answer him. You didn’t want to give in, you’d done such a good job ignoring him and not doing him any more favors, but this time you found yourself wanting to break the promise you made to yourself. You don’t know how Donghyuck always managed to sneak his way right back into your heart, but he did.

“I’ll be over, let me just go tell my date that I have to go. Hang tight,” you sighed.

“Thank you so much, you’re the best.”

“Yeah, whatever.”

You hung up the phone and stormed back inside.

“Welcome back,” Renjun greeted you.

“I’m sorry Junnie, but I have to go rescue Hyuck. This is the last time, I promise,” you sighed as you grabbed your coat.

“Well, we might as well just box this and eat it later. I don’t want you to walk alone to campus. I’ll just drive you,” Renjun said. You gave Renjun a grateful smile, which he returned.

You and Renjun boxed up your food, he paid, and then you were on your way to the NCT house. When you arrived, you told him to stay in his car, and that you’d be back. It took you a minute for you to find Donghyuck standing behind a tall bush, as nonchalant as ever.

“Hyuck!” You whispered, stepping over to him.

“Oh wow, you look hot. This will be perfect,” he said as he looked over at you, which caught you off guard.

“What?”

“Don’t worry about it, just come here,” he took your hand and pulled you close to him. Before, you would’ve probably gotten weak in the knees, but now you’re just irritated.

“Where is this guy that wants to beat your ass?” You put both hands on his chest to push him away, but it wasn’t as easy as you thought it would be.

“We’ll get to that in a second, just…follow my lead for a second,” He lowered his voice and you would have noticed that he was looking above and past your head if you weren’t so focused on getting out of his arms. You also would’ve heard a girl’s voice get closer to you if you hadn’t started speaking.

“What the hell are you talking about?” You grunted. However, instead of an answer, you felt Donghyuck’s hand come up to your cheek and his lips planted firmly on your own. You heard a shrill “what the fuck” before you successfully pushed Donghyuck off of you. Before you can even process what just happened, your hand is sent across Donghyuck’s face with such force that even you’re surprised. Donghyuck stumbled back a bit, holding a hand to his stinging cheek. You stood there, panting and holding your hand while Donghyuck shook off the slap and looked up at you. The air was tense, and you both felt it.

“Not the first time I’ve gotten slapped for a kiss,” he finally said.

“What the fuck , Donghyuck?” Your voice cracked.

“What?” 

“You cannot be serious. You really don’t know what’s wrong with what you just did?”

Donghyuck didn’t answer, instead, staring at you with a grim expression.

“You lied to me about being in some kind of emergency, used me to get back at what I assume was one of your flings, and kissed me without my permission! You pulled me out of a date for some fucking bullshit! It’s like you don’t even care about me and what I want to do with my time! I gave you the benefit of the doubt!” You yelled at him.

From his car, Renjun could hear yelling, but it was muffled, so he couldn’t tell if it was you. He remained inside, as you instructed.

“I’m-I’m sorry! I didn’t think you’d have a problem with it, we’re friends!” He lifted his hands in surrender. You scoffed before turning away from him for a split second.

“If we were friends, you wouldn’t have forgotten about me the minute you joined this dumb frat,” your voice was low and laced with venom. Donghyuck was taken aback.

“I thought you supported me joining the frat,” he furrowed his eyebrows.

“I did but that was when you promised you wouldn’t forget about your best friends. I wasn’t expecting you to give Renjun and I all of your time, but I thought you would at least spend time with us, and oh…I don’t know…not act like you were too good or cool for us,” you crossed your arms.

“So is that why you’ve been pissed at me and ignoring my calls?” He asked, getting defensive.

“Part of it yeah!” You revealed.

“Okay, I’m sorry, I’ll spend more time with you guys then, geez,” he sighed.

“Oh please, don’t act like you’re doing us a favor by hanging out with us. Besides, I think we’re okay without you now,” you turned to leave, but Donghyuck grabbed your hand and turned you back to him.

“Hold on…were you on a date with Renjun when I called you? Seriously?” He asked with a smirk that you didn’t like.

“Yes, we were on a date!”

“So I’m guessing he told you that he liked you then.”

“Why do you care?”

“I don’t care. Congratulations.”

“Donghyuck, do you think I’m stupid?”

“What? No.”

“Wow, you’re…a better liar than I thought.”

“I don’t—”

“This whole favor bullshit? I know that was a ploy to drive a wedge between Renjun and I. I kind of figured it out when I realized you called and texted every time he and I were together. You’re not as sly as you think. Unfortunately for you, your plan didn’t work!” You explained. Donghyuck felt like all the air was sucked from his lungs. He knew now that he had fucked up big time.

“If you knew then why did you keep doing the favors?” He asked.

“Because I was in love with you, you dumbass!” You yelled. When Renjun heard that, he decided to step out of the car and find you. Once he discovered you and Donghyuck talking next to the NCT house, he decided to just wait behind the corner in case he needed to step in.

‘What?” Donghyuck was speechless, “You…you’re in love with me?”

“I was . Past tense,” you snapped before turning, putting your head in your hands and trying not to cry.

“I feel so stupid,” you muttered.

“Wait wait,” Donghyuck came over to you, holding your arms and trying to put his face in your line of sight, “I swear I didn’t know.”

“I know you didn’t know, because I never told you, and I swore Renjun to secrecy! But damn, Donghyuck, you have no idea how much I wanted to tell you,” you threw his hands off of you.

“Then why didn’t you?” He asked.

“Because you were always…fucking around with other girls! Nothing has changed! I was ‘your favorite girl’ but I wasn't really…And maybe if you had just paid attention to me for long enough, you would’ve noticed. But I’m not doing this shit anymore! I’m done,” You threw your arms up.

“Oh so you go on one date with Renjun—which you didn’t even finish—and you’re done with me? You don’t like me anymore?” He laughed dryly.

“Do you even hear yourself? Can’t take not having my attention anymore, huh? You’re unbelievable. I just—I’ve had feelings for Renjun for quite a while, Donghyuck. And I stopped feeling the way I did for you like 3 months ago, which again you would’ve probably noticed if you weren’t dicking around with all these girls who don’t care about you.” You spat. Donghyuck would be lying if he said that last sentence didn’t hurt. 

“Like…god…I just got tired, Donghyuck. I know you didn’t know that I had feelings for you, but getting your heart dragged through the mud for 5 years and watching someone you’re in love with woo and sweep other girls off their feet is a really shitty feeling. And since you were already putting distance between you and I by being an asshole, I just…decided to let you go and move on. I deserved better,” you couldn't stop the tears from streaming down your cheeks. 

“So you moved on with Renjun,” he narrowed his eyes.

“Yes, I did! So what? You’re acting like you care, but you never had feelings for me, why does it matter?!” You cried.

“What if I’m realizing my feelings now?!” Donghyuck yelled back. You stepped back, speechless. Your lips were curved in a half-smile, but it was a sad one. You shook your head at Donghyuck and swiped at your tears, then let out a wry laugh before looking up at him again. He looked at you with a desperate, yet hopeful, expression. But you were long gone. He had lost you before he even had you.

“Too little too late, Donghyuck,” you shrugged.

“Wait, please let me fix this,” he begged.

“You’re really something, Donghyuck. I’ll give you credit for trying to break up the friend group. Truly, a phenomenal plan. A shame that it didn’t pan out for you. If we’re done here, I have a boxed dinner to go finish with my boyfriend,” you pointed to the direction of the driveway. 

Donghyuck called your name, “Please can we just talk about this?”

“I have nothing left to say, and frankly, I don’t want to talk to you anymore. Good luck trying to sort this shit out with Renjun, though. I’ll see you around, maybe,” you gave him a curt wave before turning and walking away from him. Renjun came out from behind the wall to greet you and walk you to his car. He quickly hugged you before looking over his shoulder and shooting Donghyuck a sharp glare. The two of you walked away, leaving Donghyuck alone.

The boy brought his hands up to his head, feeling heavy. Tears pricked at his eyes, but he tried to swallow it back. He didn’t realize how much this hurt until now. Hyuck felt a mixture of emotions: pain, sadness, anger, guilt, and frustration.

But most of all, he felt regret.

↠↠

You spent the next several months not on speaking terms with Donghyuck. Renjun still had to speak to him since they were roommates, but outside of that, their conversations were limited.

The next time you spoke to him was at the beginning of summer break, in early May.

Admittedly, you missed Donghyuck, even though you were pissed at him. You wished you could just cut him out of your life, but Donghyuck just had a special place in your heart because of your history. You’d find yourself wondering if he was doing okay; if he was still in the frat; if he was still being a slut. At a certain point, you felt like talking to him again.

You discussed it with Renjun, not because you needed his permission, but to see what his feelings about it were. The two of you came to a consensus about Donghyuck, but you would ultimately be the one to reach out since there had been more animosity between you and Donghyuck.

On a rather sunny day, you waited by the NCT house for Donghyuck. You fiddled with the hem of your dress as you waited, momentarily considering just leaving. However, when Donghyuck comes into your field of vision from about 20 feet away, you know it’s too late for that.

He was on his phone, walking with the same swagger as usual. He seemed to be preoccupied with something, as his eyebrows were knitted as he looked at his phone. He looked good, unsurprisingly, but your heart didn’t race with excitement when you saw him. Instead, your heart raced as all of the memories and emotions from that night came flooding back. You took a deep breath as Donghyuck got closer, mentally pushing that all away and preparing yourself for what was to come.

Donghyuck saying your name snapped you out of your thoughts. You blinked a few times before looking up and finding him standing about 6 feet away from you.

“Donghyuck, hey,” you greeted him.

“Hey…it’s good to see you. What…what are you doing here?” He asked.

“I was hoping to talk to you,” you hugged yourself.

“Oh. What about?” He inquired.

“Um…” you inhaled, “not trying to open old wounds, but… I was hoping to talk to you about what happened between us.”

“You’re not gonna yell at me again, are you?” Donghyuck raised an eyebrow.

“Not unless you say something stupid again,” you half-smirked. Donghyuck chuckled while pocketing his phone.

“Let’s take a walk.”

↠↠

“All that to say, Renjun and I miss you,” you finished your spiel.

“Do you really?” Donghyuck asked.

“Yeah…it’s not the same without you. Look…I can’t speak for Renjun, really. But I’ll admit that I missed you a lot, even though I was mad at you. After a while, I would wonder if you were okay, but I never knew if I should reach out or not. I did today because I felt like I was ready. Donghyuck, you’re a part of my life—you’re one of my closest friends. I was just upset that you didn’t seem to care about me anymore. Plus with the feelings I had for you—”

“It was like getting stabbed in the back twice. Yeah…I can imagine,” Donghyuck rubbed the back of his neck, “I’m still so sorry for all of that. I realize now that I was a huge dick and you were right. I guess I just got so caught up in all of the flashiness of the frat that I lost myself and forgot my roots. And yeah, maybe I was jealous of you and Renjun. Since you brought up that you had feelings, I think it’s safe to say that I liked you a lot more than I thought I did, I just didn’t want to admit it to myself. But I never should’ve done any of that and treated you the way I did.”

You gave Hyuck a reassuring smile, “I forgive you, Hyuck. Though, you should still talk to Renjun. I think he’s willing to forgive you, but you know how he is.”

“I’m glad.” He returned the smile. “…So would I be coming back to you and Renjun as a couple now?”

“Yeah…but we won’t make you feel like a third wheel, I promise,” you told him.

“And there’s no way I would be able to get you to fall for me again?” Donghyuck said shyly.

“Lee Donghyuck, are you implying that now you have feelings for me?” You crossed your arms. 

“I guess I am, which sucks because I know you’re probably very happy with Renjun,” he covered his face.

“I am. So you’re going to have to just accept that Renjun and I are a thing now and move on,” you said.

“Yeah, I figured as much.”

“Is that going to be a problem?”

“No, no. It’ll be a little weird at first, but I’ll adjust. I guess now I know what it’ll feel like being on the receiving end of the unrequited feelings but…I can move on,” he explained.

“Donghyuck, there are so many reasons I was in love with you. You’re the whole package, and I know you’re going to find someone and make them very happy. But that someone is no longer me. I still love you and I’m willing to welcome you back with open arms as my best friend, though. You’ll be fine,” You opened your arms for Donghyuck to hug you. He gladly obliged and wrapped his arms around you.

“I’m sure you’re right. I missed you lots,” he said with a small smile.

“I know I’m right. And I missed you too,” you mirrored his facial expression. 

Once the two of you broke away from the hug, you turned back towards the NCT house, enjoying each other's company once again.