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If anyone told him three years ago that he’ll be completely straying away from his engineering degree to run a pastry business, Renjun would’ve laughed. It’s just a hobby, he used to say.
What started out as a weekend bonding activity with his mother soon became an extra source of income when he started working from home. Yet here he was, two years later, standing in front of a little store that had just completed refurbishing with a small wooden signboard that says ‘The Yellow Patisserie.’
There’s a rush of excitement barely contained in the balls of his feet. It felt like at any second he would just transcend to the sky and leap among the clouds. He's finally here.
Renjun takes a moment to breathe it all in.
His reverie breaks when Jeno walks out of the side door that leads to the one-bedroom right behind the storefront. “Renjun-ah, I placed the box your mom had packed inside the refrigerator. Do you still have other things to carry?”
Renjun gives Jeno a grateful smile. The latter had been helping him with all the moving concerns from the moment he paid for the deposit. “I think that’s all of it. Thank you so much for helping me haul my stuff, Jeno-yah. I owe you big time!”
Jeno just laughs and pats him on the back. “I’ll be claiming your payments in the form of free crinkles.”
His friend had left soon after lunch and Renjun goes on arranging the kitchen cupboards when he gets reminded by his mom through text to give his neighbors the sirutteok she had packed. As always, Mama Huang is a step ahead of him.
He places them carefully on small disposable plates and plans to take them one by one to his neighbors. First, he visits the two adjacent stores—one is a tailor shop and the other a small bookstore—and says his greetings. The second floor of the building had four apartments (all occupied according to the landlord) so Renjun took his time taking four sirutteoks up the stairs, walking to the farthest unit first. He’s greeted by amicable neighbors who quietly said thank you for the sirutteok and promised to visit the patisserie soon.
Renjun hums to himself, feeling happy that his neighbors had been so nice so far.
He’s holding the last plate of sirutteok in front of the door to 201, which is the unit closest to the stairs and right above his apartment. “Last one,” he whispers to himself before knocking.
He mentally counts to ten, because that’s usually how soon someone calls out from inside or answers the door, but there’s no response. Renjun’s sure the tenant is home though, as he saw the lights were on from below. Well, maybe they just didn’t hear it.
Putting on his best smile, he knocks again.
Still, no answer.
He’s standing outside the door for good five minutes when he notices a bunch of packages at the side of the door and decides he can just wrap up the sirutteok to leave for his neighbor instead. Quickly scrambling downstairs and looking for a pretty box, he transfers the sirutteok from the plate to the box and writes a note to introduce himself like the friendly neighbor that he is.
When he comes back up to drop off the wrapped sirutteok, he hears rock music coming from inside, a telling sign that the owner was indeed home, but decides not to knock. He’ll probably check his deliveries later anyway, Renjun hopes.
***
For a week, Renjun just focuses on organizing everything. While the storefront was just as he imagined it would be: the glass display counter, the shelves, and the handwritten board already put up, the same could not be said about the living space of his apartment.
He focused much of the refurbishing at the storefront that he had not noticed that the state of the apartment was worse-for-wear. The kitchen cupboards look like they would detach from the wall any minute despite the amount of fixing Renjun attempted to do, the ceiling paint was chipping off, and there was absolutely no form of soundproofing between the walls and floors. At night, he could hear the constant shuffling of his upstairs neighbor with each creak of the floorboards.
Renjun had been convincing himself he’d get used to it. If he somehow got used to Jeno’s teeth grinding when they were roommates at university, he’d definitely get used to the creaking sound of someone he doesn’t even see.
The creaking sounds wouldn't be the end of it, however. He soon learns that the upstairs neighbor had a really good sound system and loved to blast punk music all day, album after album, non-stop. Despite not being the biggest fan of the genre, Renjun respects subjective music taste. The problem wasn't the music. It was that the sound system was of such high-quality bass that the walls start pulsating with the beat of the drums in the track.
It takes a tray of freshly-baked chocolate chip cookies falling off the shelf for Renjun to lose it.
He had just taken out the cookies from the oven and placed them on the shelf against the wall to cool for a bit. The upstairs neighbor was playing a My Chemical Romance album, judging from how he heard the only song he recognizes— something to do with a parade, his brain supplies—which played a few minutes ago. At a particular part of the song, the upstairs neighbor increased the volume and as the intensity escalated, the vibrations of the walls and the floor grew more evident.
Renjun had just come back from the back with a spatula to aid in removing the cookies when he witnesses the very moment the tray tipped over the side and fell off the shelf.
“No, no, no!” Renjun rushes to catch his before it lands on the floor, but he’s seconds too late. The cookies had come off the parchment paper and were catapulted like confetti before landing all over the floor. All that lands on his hands are the warm tray which he lets go upon contact with the hot surface.
“That was an order for tomorrow.”
Sigh.
After he’s cleaned up the mess, he takes the trash out while busy thinking of ways to ask the neighbor to tone down the music, wondering whether any of the other neighbors had the same complaint. When he opens the garbage bin, he sees a familiar box with a familiar note taped in front, the stench of soiled food hitting his olfactory nerve with an intensity that almost makes him gag.
“What the fuck. Did he not even get this from his door?” Renjun looks up to glare at the second-floor window before swinging his own trash bag into the bin. He huffs annoyedly, definitely sure he already hates the faceless neighbor from 201.
He’s sure he’ll have to pull an all-nighter to finish the whole batch before the customer picks it up the next day. While he’s busy folding the dry ingredients into the wet mixture, the same song that played at that horrifying moment played again.
Renjun turns to look at the clock. It was already past 10 PM. The music was only quieter by a notch, but the vibrations on the walls were no different.
That’s it. Renjun goes out of his door, up the metal stairs at the side of the building, and stops in front of the neighbor’s door. He knocks.
And again.
And again. No answer.
Glad to know he’s consistent, he glares at the door. He decides to text the landlord as an official complaint the next day.
***
It seems like the upstairs neighbor had received the landlord’s notice because, for the next three days, there has been total silence. Renjun was able to finish all batches of made-to-order pastries and was even able to get eight hours of sleep for all three days.
The landlord, Mr. Moon, seemed pleased when Renjun informed him that the situation had been resolved when the elder dropped by. Mr. Moon assured him that the upstairs neighbor is a great tenant and that he has been living in the same apartment for five years now and is working from home. Renjun figures the neighbor's job must not need any speaking as he’s blasting music while he works. Prick.
He temporarily forgets the existence of a neighbor until the next Monday, when he was packing tea cookies for his regular, Mr. Qian. The man owned a teahouse a few blocks away and had been buying cookies from Renjun since he started the little thing online. He was soft-spoken and always had cute anecdotes about the tea he hears from the rich ladies that often meet up at his teahouse.
“I still think it’s wild what parents would do to get their children the best seats for a hagwon. These sophisticated ladies wear heels but would line up for hours just for those seats.”
“The power of heels, really.” Renjun ties a neat little bow on top of the box before he hands it to Kun.
“Couldn’t imagine all the muscle work that’s needed to walk in those,” Kun chirps. “Anyway, these are so pretty as always! Thank you so much, Renjun!”
As soon as Kun leaves, Renjun hears music. It doesn’t gradually fade in like it usually does. Instead, the electric guitar riff pierces through the walls at full amplitude, like the conundrum of a lightning storm that suddenly fires up the night sky.
Renjun winces at the sharp ring in his ears. Three days of silence and now he has to suffer from pain and potential deafness? He wipes his hands promptly and marches upstairs to face the root of his suffering. He raps the door as loudly as he can—manners be damned—ignoring the ‘Do Not Disturb’ sign that has been newly attached to the door.
As expected, there’s no response, just Hayley William’s voice seeping through the wood.
Renjun is tired at this point. While he has nothing against the genre, he really just wants to sleep peacefully at least once a week. Does this neighbor even sleep at all? How the hell are they even able to function? And how in the world has he never met this neighbor at least once when they just live right above him and the entrance is beside the store?
Exasperated, Renjun returns to his apartment and asks the landlord for the tenant’s number, under the guise of sending food to all his neighbors. That night, he shoots the neighbor a text.
to: annoying prick in 201
Hello, neighbor! This is Renjun from the patisserie in 101. I am amazed by your enthusiasm for punk music and I can see the passion behind it despite not being a fan myself. However, would you mind toning it down from 10 PM onwards? People with day jobs would very much appreciate a peaceful night’s sleep. Thank you so much and I hope you sleep well!
Renjun waits for a reply until his body decides he’s tired enough to sleep through the noise.
The next day, Jeno walks into the shop with a fresh cup of coffee and an offer to help with folding the boxes for packaging. Renjun had told him about the wedding that was happening in two weeks and Renjun has to make at least 200 little boxes of pastries which the couple had requested. However, as soon as his friend sees his face, he says, “You look dead.”
Renjun can only roll his eyes. “I know. Blame 201.”
“201?”
Renjun gestures to the surroundings. “Hear that?”
“Hear what?”
“It’s Fall Out Boy playing since like 6 AM after the whole Paramore discography played the whole night,” Renjun says flatly. He’s sure he should be desensitized to the sounds by now after hearing them for days now, but no, it’s still hurting his sleep schedule and he’s annoyed.
“Oh,” is all Jeno could say, understanding crossing his face. “Would you want to borrow my noise-canceling headphones and take a nap while I prepare the boxes?”
“Nah. It’s store hours now, I should be here.”
“Alright, but if you feel sleepy any time later, I’ll watch the store for you.” Jeno always knew when not to push and Renjun appreciates it.
They’re quietly folding the boxes when Renjun’s phone pings with a new notification.
from: annoying prick in 201
Hi, neighbor! I appreciate you reaching out to me. To answer your request, unfortunately, I do mind. I need the music for my job, you see. So, sorry but no :)
Renjun’s blood starts to boil at the emoticon. How can this text message start so professionally but end in the most annoying way possible? Even worse than when your boss nitpicks your work 5 minutes before end-of-day. Also, needs it for his job? What job needs to blast music 24/7?
“Job my ass,” Renjun says through gritted teeth.
“You okay?” Jeno asks.
“My neighbor’s just the biggest asshole I’ve ever met and I haven’t even seen his face yet.”
Words have real manifestation powers. He spoke too soon.
Four hours later as he walks Jeno out to his car, the metal stairs clang, signaling someone descending. When Renjun looks behind him, he sees a man he has never seen before. It doesn’t take seconds before he puts two and two together and realizes it’s his neighbor in 201. He frowns.
Beside him, he hears Jeno suddenly call, “Hyuck!”
Renjun looks at Jeno incredulously. “You know him?”
By then man was just five steps away from them. “Oh, Jeno-yah!” He launches himself toward Jeno to give a hug. “I haven’t seen you in ages!”
When they let go of the hug, Jeno chuckles. “It’s been like 10 years since high school?”
“Never thought I’d see my favorite seatmate out here!” The man talks in a shrill high tone, overly sweet, still clutching onto Jeno’s arm.
Renjun looks at them skeptically, not sure how to interject the conversation. Jeno probably feels Renjun’s eyes on them so he clears his throat and steps back a little to introduce Renjun. “I’m just visiting Renjun-ie here. Renjun-ah, meet my high school seatmate, Donghyuck. Though I’m sure you two probably met before since you’re neighbors.”
Renjun laughs dryly and widens his eyes at Jeno who doesn’t seem to understand the signals. “Oh, we haven’t met yet.”
“Ah, so you’re Renjun! I’ve heard a lot about you from the landlord,” Donghyuck looks at him with a mischievous glint in his eyes, offering his hand to shake.
Heard a lot. Wow. What a way to say it. Renjun takes the hand gingerly and gives the fakest smile he could muster, making sure Donghyuck could feel the fakeness of it. “I’ve heard a lot about you, too.”
Jeno, oblivious as always, claps in delight. “Well, isn’t this great? I have two friends to visit now!”
“I hope we get along well, Renjun-ah! Maybe I can show you my punk albums sometime!” Donghyuck exclaims overdramatically, a smirk playing at the corner of his lips as he does.
Well, fuck. Renjun wants to dig a hole and shove Donghyuck and his annoying smirk into the ground.
***
Renjun forces himself to get used to the loud music.
He ran across Minjeong from 203 the other day and asked how she felt about the daily commotion from 201 but she just shrugged and said she wears earplugs to sleep anyways. He also got to talk to Mr. Cho, the owner of the tailor shop, and he just says he doesn’t hear it all that much since he’s two stores away from directly feeling it.
Somehow, everyone just got used to it, Renjun concludes. And if they can, then so will he.
He installs some rubber stoppers on the edges of the shelves that are placed next to the walls and also checks the padding at the bottom of the furniture to prevent bumping. Jeno’s boyfriend, Chenle, had gifted the equipment to him after hearing about the vibrating walls. Renjun makes a mental note to send some mooncakes to him soon.
Having installed adaptive strategies does not stop him from sending passive-aggressive texts to Donghyuck, however. And Donghyuck, on the other hand, seems to enjoy getting on other people’s nerves and turns up the music louder every time Renjun tells him off.
It becomes a vicious cycle and even though it's doing nothing but rile him up, Renjun isn’t one to back down. He believes persistence will cause a shift, a change, no matter how small.
One evening, while Renjun is placing the two trays of cake batter into the oven, he hears the shop door chimes ring. Odd, it’s almost closing. No one ever comes this late. Renjun closes the oven and immediately walks to the store.
The first thing he sees is Donghyuck standing awkwardly by the door, rocking by the balls of his feet, holding an open laptop, with his hair tussled as if he’d been messing with it the whole time.
“So…” the latter begins.
Renjun crosses his arms and waits for him to continue, raising an eyebrow at the unusual sight. “So?”
“So, I know we’re not close enough but I accidentally forgot to pay my bills on time and I really have an important project to finish by tonight. Can I maybe connect to your wifi?”
Renjun has no idea how those string of words came out of Donghyuck’s mouth after all the angry banter they sent through text. But somehow, they ended up here and it does look like he has the upper hand... right?
“Alright,” he calculates his next words carefully. He could definitely ask Donghyuck to beg for it on his knees or something. He could also say no just to see how desperate Donghyuck is about this thing. Or he could make Donghyuck work for it in some way. The possibilities for a bargain were endless yet all that comes out of his mouth is “Let me type the password in.” At the back of his mind, Renjun could hear Chenle telling him he's too kind for his own good.
Donghyuck hands him the laptop and he quickly connects the device to his own wifi. Nothing much else is said except for a quick thank you from Donghyuck before bashfully leaving the store.
Renjun stands there for a while, thinking if he should’ve asked for something in return. Was he too kind? But maybe Donghyuck will feel grateful and for once, give him a quiet night.
A few moments after he hears the last step of the metal staircase clang against Donghyuck’s feet, Renjun’s good thoughts get manifested into fruition. The music is turned down, albeit not off, but now just a distant hum that Renjun can barely make out what the song was.
For the first time, Renjun doesn’t think of ways to poison his neighbor while making frosting for his cake. At least he knows how to be grateful.
He’s just putting down the fresh bowl frosting and taking out the cake from the freezer when his phone vibrates to a new message.
from: annoying prick in 201
Hi, Renjun-ah! I can’t believe I’m asking for another favor within an hour of the previous one but… can I stay in your store for a while? I’ll be really quiet, I promise!
“Huh? What does he mean?” Renjun looks at the message incredulously. Before he could ask, it vibrates again with a follow-up.
from: annoying prick in 201
The signal’s a little weak from my unit and it’s not strong enough to access my workspace :( my boss is gonna kill me if I don’t get to answer his call.
Even through text, Renjun can tell he’s desperate. Kind of reminds him of all the panic he used to have when he worked in an FMCG. He feels bad so he quickly types in a reply.
to: annoying prick in 201
Feel free to use any of the two tables in the store. I’ll just be in the kitchen. The door’s open.
Two minutes later, he hears the door chime again and some shuffling around, probably Donghyuck just setting up his equipment (whatever that is). Renjun doesn’t bother to check and continues putting frosting on his cake, not even noticing that the music had gone completely silent a while ago.
It’s already past midnight and Renjun’s finished cake goes straight into the freezer. He could still hear the keyboard tapping from the back, so he knows Donghyuck is still probably in there. Should I tell him it’s midnight already? Renjun deliberates for a while and decides he’s not sleepy yet so he decides to handwrite the tags for the cookies to be displayed tomorrow.
Maybe because it was perfectly quiet except for the white noise from Donghyuck in the store and the air conditioning unit, Renjun was able to focus so much better that all feelings of sleep had evaded him. He’s deep into cutting the small tags manually when he notices Donghyuck standing by the entrance to his living space.
“Oh, are you done?” Renjun asks, barely looking away from his paper and scissors.
“Uh- yes. I think I stayed too late, sorry about that.”
“Did you get to finish the project?”
“Yup, thankfully my boss was being lenient today. Thank you so much for letting me stay here, uh- Renjun. You saved my job today, really.”
Not missing the chance, Renjun quips, “Now you owe me two silent nights of sleep.”
“You didn’t even have to say it for it to be done,” Donghyuck rubs the back of his head like he’s shy. The mischievous glint in his eyes that he normally has is gone for now.
“I thought I had to say it explicitly or threateningly for you to do something.”
“You wound me,” Donghyuck pretends to clutch his heart. “I’m not that ungrateful.”
Renjun chuckles at the absurdity of this whole night. “Good night, Donghyuck.”
“Good night, Renjun.” Before Donghyuck turns to walk to the door, he mouths another ‘thank you’ and Renjun just nods in acknowledgment.
***
Wednesdays were slow days so instead of staying in the store, Renjun decides to do an inventory check instead so he can schedule his next supermarket trip. It has been quite gloomy all day and it seems like there won’t be any more customers the later it gets.
He’s busy updating his excel sheet with relevant information when he hears the door chimes. Quickly putting on his best customer service smile, he walks to the store and immediately says ‘Welcome~’.
However, instead of a customer, he finds Donghyuck holding his wooden signboard (where Renjun writes the available pastries for the day by the sidewalk), soaking from head to toe and dripping water onto the floor.
“Oh god I’m so sorry the floor’s getting wet because of me but it was pouring outside so I just wanted to bring your signboard in. Wouldn’t want the wood to get ruined in the rain,” Donghyuck talks at a speed that would be hard to comprehend if you're not paying him your full attention. His dripping long fringe was plastered on his forehead as he struggles to blink away the stray droplets that somehow enter his eyes.
Renjun immediately grabs one of the clean aprons from the counter and offers it to Donghyuck. “The signboard will be fine. You really should get changed before you get sick.”
Donghyuck takes the apron and makes a feeble attempt of wiping his face with it. Though since the apron is made of the same material as a flour sack, it doesn’t absorb much at all. Donghyuck fights back a sneeze so obviously that Renjun even notices it coming.
“Really, you go home and change or like take a hot shower, Donghyuck.” He tries to gently push the man out of the store to wish Donghyuck just obliges.
Once he’s done updating his inventory and adding a trip to the supermarket to his calendar, Renjun puts away his laptop to start making dinner. Since it was chilly outside, he decides to make some soup and braised chicken.
While he’s busy stirring egg into the soup, his thoughts drift towards Donghyuck, who seemed like he’d been walking in the rain for quite some time before he even got near the signboard. His inner shirt was sticking so his skin and his thick mop of hair were dripping all over. It somehow reminds Renjun of the time he forgot his umbrella and had to run back to the dorm in the rain. He got sick for a few days after that to the point that Jeno had to take him to the hospital on the third day.
I hope he did take a warm bath, he thinks to himself. Renjun hates being sick, and he is sure no one would even want to fall sick, especially those who are working.
When Renjun turns in for the night, he lies in bed, weirdly not feeling sleepy at all. He tries to think of what’s keeping him awake when he realizes it’s eerily silent tonight. That’s pretty unusual considering Donghyuck always had music playing (but at a lower volume after the wifi incident out of gratefulness as Renjun liked to assume) at night.
Renjun tosses and turns to find a comfortable position to bring himself to dreamland but no matter how much he switched sides of the bed or turned his pillow to the cooler side, he was restless.
First, it’s restlessness until the thought flits into his head. Is Donghyuck okay?
He remembers the sight of Donghyuck earlier today to see if there were any signs that he was already sick. However, nothing much is adding up to what he already knew earlier. This is just stressing Renjun out.
Groaning, he gets out of bed, heats up the leftover soup from dinner, and grabs his coat.
When he reaches the second floor, he gently knocks on the door. “Donghyuck-ah, are you alright? I brought some soup!”
There’s no answer for a while, which would have been very much in character for Donghyuck had he been blasting music, but it’s quiet today and there’s a chill running down Renjun’s spine telling him that something is terribly wrong. The lights were on so he was definitely inside. He fishes his phone from his coat pocket and immediately dials Donghyuck’s number.
It takes a few rings before he gets an answer.
“Hmmm” is all Donghyuck says. Renjun figures he’s probably passed out and groggy while answering. He definitely is sick.
“Donghyuck-ah, I’m outside your door. Can you open it? I brought you soup,” Renjun says in the slowest way possible, hoping Donghyuck can register enough words.
“Okay,” Donghyuck said softly and then there is rustling on the other line. Renjun is glad he didn’t end the call so he can hear whatever is going on inside, just in case he trips or something.
It takes good 3 minutes before the door slightly opens, with Donghyuck leaning his head against the wall beside the doorframe.
“Oh, Donghyuck.” Renjun lets himself inside and places the bowl he was holding on the closest table. He immediately gets to Donghyuck’s side and wraps his arms around him to support the weight. “You’re burning up. Let’s get you seated first.”
He slowly maneuvers both of them towards the couch a few feet in front of them. It’s his first time inside Donghyuck’s apartment and it’s definitely a lot bigger than his, with a lot more furniture cluttered here and there. There's a wall lined with shelves filled with a ton of jewel-case CDs, definitely the abundance of FOB, MCR, and Paramore albums he's been blasting. At the center of the shelves was an old-looking stereo that was connected to larger speakers. Facing the window is a huge computer set-up with a fancy curved monitor. Renjun knows nothing about the specifics of it but Donghyuck's job is definitely tech-related.
He slowly lowers Donghyuck onto the couch and arranges the throw pillows around him.
“Were you able to drink medicine earlier?”
Donghyuck’s eyes are shut tight, eyebrows somehow knitted together. In pain, he can only groan and shake his head.
Renjun touches his forehead again and feels the heat seep into his hand. “I’ll feed you some soup, okay? Just so you can get something in your system before drinking medicine.”
He walks to the doorway to retrieve the soup he had left there and immediately went to the kitchen to look for a spoon. He settles back down beside Donghyuck on the couch and moves him a bit so he can sit a bit while eating.
“Would it be okay to spoonfeed you?”
Donghyuck opens his eyes a little and nods, too weak to even open his mouth.
Renjun gets to feeding Donghyuck slowly, bit by bit. Donghyuck is pliant under his touch and gratefully accepts every spoonful though he struggles to swallow at times. After the soup, Renjun gets him to drink Paracetamol for his fever and hopes for the best.
He belatedly notices that Donghyuck was still wearing the shirt he had underneath his jacket from earlier. In a mild panic, Renjun quickly looks for a shirt in Donghyuck’s closet, not even thinking twice. He grabs the first large t-shirt he can find and some pajamas and immediately walks back to where Donghyuck was still spread on the couch.
“Hey, let’s get you out of your soaked clothes, okay? Just the shirt and the pants at least.”
Donghyuck doesn’t move and Renjun assumes he has drifted to dreamland. Not knowing if this is a better situation or not, Renjun just goes on autopilot and carefully strips Donghyuck off the previously soaked clothes with much effort. This is for health reasons. This is for health reasons.
When he’s done putting on the pajamas, he notices Donghyuck shiver a bit due to his exposed torso. Renjun realizes it’s another battle to put on the shirt so he taps Donghyuck awake enough to move.
“Please raise your hands a bit,” he asks. Donghyuck sleepily raises his arms awkwardly and if he wasn’t so hot to touch Renjun would’ve found it adorable. But Renjun makes do, quickly slipping on the shirt to get it over with.
He then helps Donghyuck get into his bed and tucks him in.
He must’ve been overworking and got sick even before he went out today. His body gave up before he could even change his clothes, Renjun gently places a cool towel on Donghyuck’s forehead. He knows how hard it is already to fend for yourself all alone. It’s exponentially worse when you’re sick and barely able to take care of yourself.
When Donghyuck frowns in his sleep, Renjun gently smooths away his knitted eyebrows and hums a soothing melody.
Soon enough, Renjun, too, falls into slumber.
Renjun is bolted awake by a sharp pain in his neck. He had fallen asleep while sitting on the floor next to Donghyuck’s bed. He gets himself to stand up, stretching the sore muscles of his back and neck, and nearly trips over the bed as he couldn’t feel his leg. He catches himself before he lands on his sick neighbor, thankfully.
He’s sure Donghyuck would wake up hungry so he decides to head back down to his apartment to get some ingredients for breakfast. He wouldn’t want to touch Donghyuck’s grocery supply especially after rummaging through the latter’s closet last night without consent.
Renjun decides to make some porridge along with some of the boiled pork he made last night. He takes the ingredients to Donghyuck’s apartment and gets to work.
When he’s finally setting down the reheated boiled pork on the table, he contemplates whether he should wake Donghyuck up or he just leaves the food there with a note and open his store. He decides it would be better to make sure Donghyuck gets to drink medicine before he leaves so he walks back into the room only to see that his patient was now blinking himself awake.
“Hey, how are you feeling?”
“Renjun?” Donghyuck asks while he rubs his eyes.
“Sorry I stayed over. I fell asleep while waiting for your fever to subside. I also kind of went through your closet to get you a change of clothes and also meddled with your kitchen,” Renjun immediately discloses everything he did while the other party was unconscious.
Donghyuck reddens a little as soon as he hears that. “Oh, you didn’t have to really… Thank you, Renjun-ah.”
“Well, you already looked like you were about to pass out when you were at my shop earlier that evening. I had to check if you were still alive,” Renjun tries to make the mood lighter. “Anyway, I made some breakfast. Better eat it while it’s still warm.”
Renjun helps Donghyuck up and insists he walks him toward the kitchen. Donghyuck is red all over, though no longer from his fever.
Once he gets Donghyuck seated, he hands him a spoon for the porridge and chopsticks for the boiled pork. “I’m not sure if this will be to your liking, but it’s all I came up with earlier.”
“You’ve already done so much, Renjun-ah. I’m indebted to you.”
“Don’t be silly. Neighbors can do this much, you know. We all live alone so we know the struggle,” Renjun just shrugs and gets to washing the pan he had used earlier.
Once Donghyuck is done eating, Renjun prepares the medicine for him and prepares to leave. “I’ll check on you later, okay? I better go open my store first.”
Donghyuck can only wave goodbye and mouth another thank you.
***
Two whole weeks since Donghyuck got sick, Renjun finally gets to enjoy relatively quiet nights. Donghyuck had been choosing quieter albums to play at night at a minimal volume which Renjun really appreciates. It’s helping him fix his sleep schedule.
Otherwise, Donghyuck had been occasionally dropping by his store to buy bread or cookies and whatever his eyes laid upon just before closing time. They exchange small talk, but nothing much longer than a 3-minute talk while Renjun packs up the pastries for Donghyuck. None of them make mention of that night and Renjun’s okay with it. After all, it was a weird blur of a night and was definitely a glitch in the fabric of their dynamics.
Renjun’s busy unloading his groceries from the trunk of the taxi when Donghyuck comes in and helps him take some of the bags out.
“Hey,” Renjun calls in greeting.
“Taxi driver looks impatient, gotta help you with it,” Donghyuck just snickers and takes the last two bags out.
Renjun rolls his eyes and walks towards the driver to thank him. When the taxi drives off, he then turns to Donghyuck standing amidst the grocery bags on the pavement. “The taxi driver was very kind, for your information.”
“Well, just wanted to see you get annoyed,” Donghyuck shrugs and picks up the four bags closest to him, and enters Renjun’s store as if he owns the place. Renjun just sighs and picks up the remaining bags to follow Donghyuck inside.
Donghyuck stops by the door to Renjun’s living space, as if waiting for permission to enter (good for him). Renjun rushes past him and just says “Place them on the kitchen table, follow me!”
When they’ve successfully placed all the items on the table and Renjun is starting to calculate how long it will take him to arrange everything into their designated cupboards and containers, Donghyuck clears his throat.
“Oh, you’re still here.” Renjun pretends he was shocked and gives Donghyuck a stink eye.
“Wow, after subjecting me to manual labor?”
“Sorry we pay the wage per hour, it isn’t even 10 minutes yet.”
“Well, pay me back with a meal then?” Donghyuck takes a step forward.
“Knowing you, you’d probably order something worth more than 3 hours of minimum wage and that’s ripping me off.” Renjun unconsciously straightens up and raises his chin.
Donghyuck quirks his eyebrows and the mischievous glint is back in his eyes. “So, what do you offer then?”
“Well, anything that does not involve me spending money on you, probably.”
“Anything?”
“Sure, but not with money!”
“Are you sure?”
“I already said it, yes!”
“How about a kiss?”
“Sure–” Renjun abruptly stops midway when he realizes how close they were standing and what Donghyuck just asked. He gulps and looks straight into Donghyuck’s eyes. The latter wasn’t even staring straight, but somewhere lower… then his eyes dart back to meet Renjun’s.
“Hmmm?” Donghyuck hums, too close that Renjun can feel his vocal cords vibrating at the sound and his minty breath fanning across his face.
Renjun doesn’t know why he’s holding his breath, unable to move an inch. His heart is pounding against his chest and he could feel the rapid pounding in his neck. He swallows once more. Uh oh, he thinks. Not even breaking eye contact.
Donghyuck is still staring at him so closely as if waiting for him to decide what to do next. Seeing that he wasn’t backing away, Renjun closes his eyes and muttered “damn it” before tipping forward and pressing their lips together.
As if Donghyuck was ready for it, it doesn’t take him 5 seconds for his hands to find their way to cradle Renjun’s face. He slowly nudges Renjun’s face at an angle as Donghyuck licks into his mouth.
For the first time ever, Renjun is pliant. He lets go of all his inhibitions and lets himself fall into the kiss, welcoming each nudge from Donghyuck.
The slow and passionate kiss slowly turns heated. There’s a little more bite and Renjun grabs onto Donghyuck’s thick locks. Donghyuck’s hands let go of his face and make their way down his back, dragging the pad of his fingers over the cotton of his shirt, before lightly cupping his ass, and then attempting to carry him up.
It’s a failed attempt, however, as Renjun doesn’t get the sign and fails to jump into his arms (figuratively). Suddenly they burst into laughter and let go of each other.
This time, Renjun observes Donghyuck’s face. The way he’s trying to purse his lips in embarrassment but unable to hold back his giggle. The way his eyes turn into little crescents as he laughs without inhibitions. The way his hand was still holding onto Renjun’s arm.
Renjun looks at the point where his arm meets Donghyuck’s hands and traces it up with a look towards Donghyuck’s face.
“You’re cute when you’re this flushed,” Donghyuck utters the moment their eyes meet.
“Says the person whose neck is glowing scarlet.”
“Oh, you like my neck?” Donghyuck bares his neck towards Renjun.
Renjun hits him lightly. “You’re gross.”
“Really?” Donghyuck leans in, staring at Renjun’s lips once more, his hands on Renjun's waist.
“Oh my god you’re still annoying,” Renjun says before he pulls him in for another kiss.
Little did they know the door had chimed a few seconds ago and Jeno and his box of fried chicken get scarred forever.