Chapter Text
Jeno had been having a rough day.
It all started when the fire alarm in their apartment building went off, apparently because someone burned their waffles in the oven (who even makes waffles in an oven??).
He didn’t even have time to go back in to change out his glasses for contacts, so in his pajama pants, sweatshirt, and tennis shoes (thank god at least he put those on and not his house slippers), he’d at least had the foresight to grab his backpack and phone on the way out.
Okay, so maybe Jeno would have just ran out of there like the building was on fire (for all he knew at the time, it was ), but Jaemin, his best friend and roommate, had told him to grab his bag.
Thank god for Jaemin. He even handed Jeno a granola bar before his mad rush to campus.
So Jeno had been having a somewhat rough start to his day, but that’s alright. It wasn’t all bad, considering. He did however space out in his first three classes, until he ate lunch with some friends and felt somewhat revived again.
“Dude, what the hell are you wearing?” Chenle asked when Jeno scuffled over to the table his friends were at.
“I call it, ‘Fire alarm chic.’” Jeno grumbled before plopping down into a metal chair. He winced. His ass hurt on the drop down.
“Wait, don’t you and Nana hyung live together?” Chenle asked, pointing over at Jaemin who had just walked through the double doors. The sun was shining in behind him, but Jeno was familiar with the Na Jaemin smile. It was blinding with or without the sun acting as a wingman.
Jaemin looked very put together in his layered hoodie and jean jacket combo. His hair styled off his forehead, and a clean pair of converse highs.
Jeno looked like a certified wreck compared to him. Weren’t premed students supposed to be the ones who always looked tired??
“His first class wasn’t until later.” Jeno whined at Chenle when Jaemin slipped into the chair next to him. Jaemin turned to Jeno and pushed Jeno’s glasses up his nose. Jeno blinked, slightly dazed by the sudden action.
“Na Jaemin, you let him leave the house like that?” Chenle asked. Jisung was already elbowing him in the ribs to get him to quit it, but it only made Chenle bolder. He lived off of negative reactions.
“He almost left the house without his bag.” Jaemin said, “Why? You look cute with your glasses!” Jaemin said to Jeno, cooing at him like one might a pet. Jeno pouted, not sure if he should be flattered or offended.
Jeno’s next class he shared with Jaemin, so the two waved goodbye to their friends after a hasty meal and left.
This was Jeno’s favorite class. Not only because Jaemin was also in it to save him from boredom and spacing out for all of the lecture, but also because of Huang Renjun.
“There he is!” Jaemin stage whispered, repeatedly elbowing Jeno in the ribs. Jeno shied away from the attack, but his gaze was already on the boy walking through the lecture hall’s double doors.
Huang Renjun. As beautiful as ever. The boy was the epitome of dark academia. If you looked it up in the dictionary Jeno was sure there would be a picture of Renjun to illustrate it.
His skin was so pale it seemed to glow, though that also might have been in part due to how dark his hair was. Very black. Batman would have cried looking at such a dark shade of blackness.
He always wore long winter coats, except in the summer months when he’d switch them out to giant knit cardigans. Usually paired with sweaters, or turtlenecks, and a respectable pair of slacks. Never bright colors, always muted, dark.
It suited him perfectly. Though Jeno was pretty sure even if he was wearing a paper bag, he would still be stunning. (Maybe especially if he was wearing a paper bag… get a hold of yourself, Lee Jeno!).
Today he was wearing a black sweater vest over a long sleeved, collared shirt. his dark slacks were cinched tight at his waist, showing off how tiny his waist was. Jeno watched mesmerized as he walked by.
Jeno and Jaemin both sighed as their joint crush breezed past them. Jeno shivered, the wind in Renjun’s wake somehow seemed freezing cold. (It was probably the Renjun Effect, as Jaemin had dubbed it).
Renjun never paid them much attention, not that either Jeno nor Jaemin had really tried to grab his attention. Occasionally Jeno would catch Jaemin boring holes into the back of the boy’s head, probably hoping for Renjun to feel his gaze and turn around so he could flash Renjun with his debilitatingly bright smile.
Jeno preferred to admire in silence. Just seeing Renjun three days a week for 45 minutes was enough.
Well, nearly enough.
“You guys will be working in groups for this assignment, as teamwork is one of the most important skills to be marketable in a career!” Their professor cheerily lectured. They heard a handful of groans and whispers.
Jaemin was already back to his elbowing, “Jeno, Jeno, Jeno, ”
“ What?” Jeno asked with tired exasperation.
“This is our chance,” Jaemin said, eyes already elsewhere.
“What do you mean—Jaemin!” Jeno watched in awe and horror as Jaemin leaned over the row in front of them. Arm somehow stretching impossibly to poke at Renjun who was two rows in front.
“Hey.” Jaemin greeted, his smile already in place. Jeno could only watch in open mouthed shock at his brazenness.
“Hi?” Renjun said, more like a question. He eyed his friend, Yangyang, Jeno thought was his name. Equally as mysterious, though not quite as dark academia as Renjun’s vibes. Renjun raised an eyebrow at Jaemin.
“Want to be partners with me and Jeno here?” Jaemin’s grin grew, and Jeno was pretty sure he saw Renjun squint at the brightness.
Renjun’s eyes drifted to Jeno, who at least had half a brain cell to close his gaping mouth. He swallowed, staring back at Renjun because that was the only thing he could do in that moment.
Renjun hummed, “Sorry, I’m already working with Yangyang.”
“Oh,” Jaemin said, pulling back like a retractable tape measure. “That’s alright. Maybe next time.”
“Sure.” Renjun gave him a weird look, before turning back around in his seat.
Jeno was still in a state of shock when Jaemin plopped his ass back down next to him.
“Dude.” Jeno finally managed to say.
“Damn, well, can’t say we didn’t try!”
Why was Jaemin such an optimist?
“ Dude,” Jeno said, more empathically.
“ What?”
“I can’t believe you poked Huang Renjun. In the back. And asked him to be partners. With us.”
“You gotta seize the opportunity.” Jaemin said. “Live life carpe diem, man.”
The professor dismissed their class, and that was that. Jeno watched as Renjun and Yangyang made their way out of the lecture.
Damn. It was probably his fit. Dark academia god Renjun didn’t want anything to do with a sloppy dresser like Jeno. Jeno yanked the glasses off his face with a huff of annoyance. (Whether at the glasses, himself, or the fire alarm for making this happen, he wasn’t sure.)
He was making his way out of the row when someone harshly bumped into him, shoving him forward. He would have toppled down into the aisle if the chairs weren’t there for him to grab and catch his fall.
Except—with him grabbing the chairs, it meant his glasses fell to the ground, and immediately got trampled by the giant rush of students trying to exit the class.
Jeno whimpered sadly as he heard the crunch of his glasses breaking under heavy footfalls.
“Oh, shit.” Jaemin remarked from behind him.
Jeno quickly snatched up his broken glasses when there was an opening and the two of them bustled their way out of the lecture hall.
“They’re completely broken!” Jeno cried, holding the glasses in his hand, the glass had shattered and cracked in multiple places. It wasn’t wearable unless Jeno wanted to have a glass shard to the cornea.
“It’s okay, we’ll buy you new ones!” Jaemin said, sympathetically patting Jeno on the shoulder.
Jeno squinted over at him, “Jaemin, I can’t see.” He blinked up at the hall. Everyone looked like blurry apparitions.
“’s alright, you have contacts at home, right? You can just wear those in the meantime.”
Jeno pouted, Jaemin was right, but still. He didn’t have any with him now, and he still had one more class to go! He wouldn’t even be able to see the board unless he sat in the very front row, but everyone knew Professor Kim only ever asked the front row questions, and Jeno hadn’t read the assignment last night.
“You know what, I’m just going to go home.” Jeno said, dejected from the events of the day. Jaemin looked at him worriedly. Or at least he assumed it was worried, he’d already taken a few steps away and Jaemin’s face was getting blurry.
“Are you sure? I still have one class, Jen—”
“It’s ok, I can make my own way home. I’ve been doing it every day for like a year now. I’m sure I can manage, even half blind.”
Jaemin looked like he was going to argue, so Jeno started walking away.
“Jeno! Wait!”
“Sorry, I can’t see you!” Jeno called over his shoulder.
“That’s not even—I’m talking!” Jaemin cried, but Jeno was already out the door.
He accidentally ran right into someone the second he left the building.
“Whoa, I’m sorry, man!” Jeno said. He squinted, trying to get a look at the person’s face, but he really couldn’t tell. He looked big, whoever it was.
“No problem.” They said, though they didn’t sound very genuine.
Jeno just bowed again in apology before dashing away. He just wanted to get home.
🌓
Unfortunately, Jeno’s rough day continued.
He realized at the bus stop that he couldn’t see the bus numbers, and he wasn’t about to ask the other bus-takers and act like a fool, so he decided to walk home instead.
It wasn’t too far, after all. Maybe a 25-minute walk.
Jeno started on his trek back home, the world around him a blurry mixture of lights. The sun was well on its way to setting, and the neon lights were actually rather mesmerizing in their blurriness.
Jeno stopped for a couple minutes to admire the hot pinks and greens swirling together from nearby establishments, not being able to make out a single word they said.
He started humming in the silence. Another thing the fire alarm had taken from him: his headphones. He’d completely forgotten them in his room. He was sightless, fashion-less, and now he was also tuneless.
It had been a rough day. Jeno just wanted to get home.
He decided to cut through one of the parks to make the walk shorter, picking up the pace as the sun set through the trees.
Jeno cursed, he hadn’t thought this through. And this park was a lot bigger than he remembered it to be. It was practically a full-fledged forest.
At least there wasn’t much to try to see in the woods, just a bunch of trees. And—a puppy?
A fluffy looking brown blob sat in the darkness under one of the park’s trees. Jeno loved dogs. Anything fluffy, really. Cat’s? Amazing. Blankets?? Yes.
Jeno cooed, walking towards the puppy. It was never too late (or him too blind) to pet a cute dog.
“Good puppy,” Jeno smiled at the dog, holding out his hand for the dog to sniff—but the dog stayed still. The dog was also a lot bigger than he thought it was (so—not a puppy then), but then again it could just be that in the dark, and practically blind, his depth perception was off.
He shuffled a little closer to the dog, hand still outreached, just itching to get a single pet to its amazingly fluffy looking fur. The dog continued to sit perfectly still, so Jeno reached forward the last few inches—only for the dog to lurch forward and chomp down on his forearm.
Jeno cried out in surprise and pain, “Bad puppy, bad puppy!” Jeno chastised. He clutched onto his forearm, feeling something warm and sticky ( blood, his frazzled brain helpfully supplied) but he couldn’t see the wound properly in the dark.
The dog was already racing off, far faster than Jeno’s brain could really process. His mind was fuzzy, filled with pain from the bite on his arm. A thought crossed through his mind that the dog might have had rabies, and maybe he should go to a doctor for a tetanus shot or something because jesus, why did it bite so hard?
Jeno gritted his teeth as he dropped to his knees to rifle through his bag for his phone. His phone’s brightness was blinding in the dark, Jeno squinted as his shaking fingers navigated over to the only person he could think to call.
He waited anxiously as the dial tone continued to beep before he finally answered.
“ Jaemin,” Jeno rasped out, he couldn’t feel his arm anymore. That was probably a bad sign.
“Jeno? Why do you sound so off, are you back home?”
“Jaemin—” Jeno said again, trying to get the words out, help, a wild dog bit my arm and it fucking hurts. Maybe he’s losing too much blood. That’s the only thing he can think of to rationalize why he suddenly felt rather faint. His blurry vision became even blurrier, blinking in and out like a light.
“Jeno, hello? Jeno?” Jeno could hear Jaemin’s voice grow more concerned as his silence dragged on. His mouth formed Jaemin’s name once more—but only a ragged breath came out. He heard Jaemin yell something through the phone, but he couldn’t make it out with his ears ringing.
The pain in his arm seemed to be spreading throughout his whole body. He distantly vowed to never pet a random dog ever again.
Then everything went black.