Work Text:
Renjun had always considered himself “dark and twisty”, at least after watching that episode of Grey’s Anatomy. Meredith really did have her way with words sometimes, even if she said a lot of dumb shit more often than not.
But dark and twisty?
What a perfect way to put it.
“You know, you should get out more.” Jeno comments, and Renjun just snorts, picking at his cracking nail polish. He really needs to paint his nails again, the chipping is atrocious.
“And do what?” He retorts, which makes Jeno roll his eyes in annoyance. How Jeno puts up with him, Renjun will never know. At least not after all these years. Maybe it’s Stockholm or something. Whatever.
“I dunno, see the sun, meet people, wear something other than black.” Jeno shrugs, turning another page in his textbook. Renjun just huffs, shaking out his overgrown hair.
“We can’t all be the popular jock who people flock to like a celebrity.” Renjun says, chipping another piece of black polish off. Jeno sighs, looking at Renjun again.
“You know I don’t like that, Junnie.” He does know that. Knowing Jeno since they were kids really means that he understands Jeno. Jeno tries to understand him too, at least. As much as he can.
“Sorry.” Renjun mutters, twirling his pen in his fingers absentmindedly. Jeno just heaves another sigh, closing his thick anatomy textbook.
“Do you want to get some ice cream?” He asks, and Renjun looks up at his best friend. That does sound tempting, and much better than looking at his stupid art history textbook for another hour. “There’s a new place that opened just off campus, and I’ve been meaning to check it out. Wanna head over there? I feel my eyes glazing over, seriously.” Renjun barks out a short laugh and nods, reaching over to grab his leather jacket.
“Anything to get out of the library, Jen.”
It’s way too bright in here. Renjun feels utterly and totally perceived, which is very opposite from how he prefers to be. The lights are definitely washing him out. But he shakes it off, staring intently at the myriad of flavors in front of him, trying to decide which one he wants.
Rocky Road? Bubblegum? Can’t go wrong with a simple Neapolitan either. He purses his lips, eyebrows furrowing.
“Have you decided?” Renjun nearly jumps out of his skin at the unfamiliar voice, stepping back a bit. He glares up at the person, his dark eyes set.
The offending boy holds his hands up in surrender, brown eyes wide and earnest.
“Woah, sorry, didn’t mean to scare you. I was just asking if you had picked what you wanted.” Renjun frowns, looking back at the flavors.
“Triple chocolate.” He says after a minute, and the other boy hums, nodding in response. He pulls the case open, and Renjun watches him as he prepares the ice cream.
His hands are strong, and the golden ring on his middle finger stands out against his tan skin. His hair is a dark shade of brown, the ends curling just over his ears. His lips are plump, pink, and… Renjun realizes that he’s been staring too long when he makes eye contact with him. He blinks, moving his gaze lower to avoid eye contact.
Jisung! :)
Well great, now he knows his name.
Whatever.
“Here ya go!” The other boy chirps happily, and Renjun looks back up at his face. That smile is way too bright for someone in a deadbeat customer service job. There’s no way it’s real.
“Thanks.” Renjun mutters, taking the cup from the other, sticking his card into the card reader. He pretends to not see the quirk of the worker’s eyebrow at the color. Yeah, it’s a black card. What of it? It’s not his fault that’s the only card his dad would give him. Stop looking.
“Have a great day!” The worker, Jisung, chirps again, and Renjun just waves it off, turning to walk back to where Jeno is sitting. Jeno frowns at him, and Renjun plops down, looking at him quizzically.
“What.” Renjun says, and Jeno just shakes his head.
“Nothing. You could have been nicer to Jisung, you know.” Renjun’s gaze slides over to the other boy, who is busy making a cup for a little girl with pink ribbons in her hair, making a silly joke about her being a princess.
“I was perfectly nice to him, I don’t know what you mean.” Jeno sighs, taking a bite of his ice cream.
“He‘s a good kid, you were scowling and said like 2 words.”
“Did I need to say more to him? I said thanks.” Renjun retorts. Jeno points at him with his spoon.
“You are downright terrifying when you don’t smile, and he’s two years younger than us. A freshman. He’s in my anatomy class, though. He’s like… a medical genius.” Renjun shrugs, taking another bite of his ice cream.
“So? Are you two friends? Do I have to be nice to someone I’m never gonna see again?” Jeno just huffs, dropping the subject. Renjun doesn’t get Jeno sometimes. Jocks.
It doesn’t take long for Renjun to see Jisung again. He curses the fact that he remembers his name, though. His stupid eidetic memory. He quite literally runs into the younger boy on campus, nearly bowling them both over.
“Shit, I’m sor- Oh! It’s you!” Renjun blinks the spots out of his vision, and a sunny smile comes into his vision, making him recoil slightly from how close the other boy is to him.
“Um…” He says eloquently, and Jisung just laughs, helping him to his feet.
“You’re Renjun, Jeno’s friend right?!” Renjun tilts his head. He didn’t think the younger boy would know his name. He wasn’t even aware that Jisung was actually close with Jeno, let alone close enough to know about his friends.
“Friend and roommate. Something like that.” He mutters, and Jisung beams harder, if that was physically possible. His smile is way too bright and disarming. Renjun hates it.
“He’s mentioned you a few times at our study sessions! All good things, don’t worry.” Renjun frowns. He hadn’t been worried about Jeno saying bad things about him behind his back. Should he be?
“Well, that’s good… I guess.” Renjun dusts his hands off on his pants, wincing at the dirt on his black jeans. Damn, he just washed them.
“You should come study with us sometime! Me and Jeno and Jaemin… it’s really fun!” Renjun grips his fingers around his messenger bag, blinking a few times. How is Jisung this perky all of the time?
“I’m not… I don’t have any classes with Jeno.” He says, shrugging his shoulders. Jeno had invited him to study with his friends before, but Renjun wasn’t one to socialize, honestly. And being around Jeno’s boisterous energy and Jaemin’s flirty playfulness as much as he already did was enough for him.
“You’re an art history major, yeah?” Renjun looks at him sharply. Was Jeno just running his mouth about his entire life at this point? “You could study your own stuff while we study anatomy!” Renjun shakes his head.
“I’m not interested in a study group, sorry. I have to get going.” He turns, briskly walking away from the younger boy. He can feel a burn at his ears, and he sets his mouth in a line.
“Wait, Renjun-” He doesn’t listen, leaving Jisung in his wake.
Renjun is tearing apart the dorm room when Jeno gets back from class, his roommate’s face marred with a frown.
“Hey, what did you say to Jisung?” Renjun doesn’t respond, more content to dive to the ground to search under the mattress. “Renjun.” Jeno states again, but the shorter boy doesn’t respond yet again. “Dude, seriously.” Jeno walks over to tug Renjun up by his collar. Renjun just glares at him in response.
“What? I’m busy. I-”
“I asked you an important question, Jun. Can’t you just listen to me for once? Jisung came to the study group today all in a bad mood, and he said that you were rude to him. What the hell, Renjun? He’s a nice guy, can you not be a dick for once?”
“I wasn’t a dick to him! He’s just so fucking…. Enthusiastic. I was busy. He ran into me. What, was I supposed to be fucking sunshine and rainbows? You know that’s not me. Now let me go.” Renjun spits out and Jeno glares at him, his sharp eyes dangerous.
“Dude, you were a total dick to him. He explained the whole thing to me and Jaem. Gods, I know you think you’re some mysterious outcast loner, but would it kill you to be polite to people? Jisung’s a bright kid, he’s too nice to deal with your fucking dark cloud.” Jeno releases him, muttering to himself as he walks into his bedroom.
Renjun just fumes, dropping back down to the floor. He pats under the couch, his fingers finding nothing but hair ties from his long hair phase, and old bottle cap lids.
Where could it have gone?
“What happened to your helix?” Chenle asks, tugging on Renjun’s ear as he drops into the seat next to him, his pencil clattering against the table. Renjun bats his hand away, a scowl on his face. Why does everyone in his life feel so entitled to touching him all of the time? He’ll never understand that.
“I don’t know. I realized it was missing when I came back from Professor Lee’s class.” He wipes his hands over his face, feeling the stress building up in his body again. Chenle looks at him sympathetically.
“I’m sure it’s just somewhere stupid. I know you’ll find it. You’ve had it for a long time and never lost it, even back in high school, remember?” Renjun does. He had torn apart his room for two hours only for his step mom to tell him that it had been in the pocket of his jeans that she was washing.
“I can’t lose it, it’s the only thing I have left, Lele.” Renjun says quietly, and Chenle frowns, putting his hand on Renjun’s shoulder.
“You’ll find it again, Renjun. I promise.”
Renjun feels naked without the earring. It had been a part of him for so long, since he was a kid. It can’t just be GONE. But he’s searched everywhere, and the little earring with the opal moon is nowhere to be seen.
He sighs, burrowing deeper into his jacket, glaring at his textbook that is mocking him from the table. This class is going to be the death of him. He takes a sip of his drink, closing his eyes in defeat. He’s gonna fail this midterm. This is quite literally the worst week ever.
“I didn’t take you for a pink drink type.” The deep voice makes him startle, slamming his knee against the table with a loud thunk.
“FUCK!” Renjun groans, his hands flying to his knee. Jisung flits to his side, crouching to move Renjun’s hands away. Renjun relents, in too much pain to bother fighting the touch. He hisses out a string of curses in Mandarin that would make a sailor blush, but Jisung just focuses on his knee, gently prodding at it.
“You’ll be fine. I thought you could have hurt it more, but it didn’t crack or anything.” Jisung says in his too bright chipper tone that makes Renjun’s skin crawl. There’s no way that can be authentic.
“Well, if you hadn’t fucking startled me, I wouldn’t have hit it!” Renjun spits out, and Jisung just rolls his eyes, standing up to his full height. Too damn tall.
“I didn’t think you would jump 5 feet in the air. I just… sorry.” Jisung sighs, and Renjun looks at him incredulously. “What?”
Renjun blinks at him, choosing his words carefully. “I dunno… I just thought you would fight me more.” Jisung shrugs, adjusting the strap on his backpack.
“I don’t like fighting people.” Jisung says simply. “You’re Jeno’s friend, and I admire Jeno. So I don’t wanna piss you off more than I guess I already do.” Renjun looks down, one of his hands curling into a fist. He feels a little pang of anger at himself. Jisung really doesn’t deserve his anger, he’s never done anything to him.
“You don’t piss me off more than anyone else does.” Renjun admits after a little bit. Jisung laughs softly at that, and Renjun scowls. “Stop laughing at me.”
“Jeno was right about your gooey insides under that hardened emoboy outer shell.” Jisung says, still laughing. Renjun huffs, crossing his arms. He doesn’t find this very funny at all. “Don’t worry, I won’t tell anyone about your inner softie. Cross my heart and hope to die.” Renjun’s head snaps up to glare at him.
“Don’t say that.”
Jisung looks at him in surprise, his lips parted slightly. He blinks, and Renjun holds his gaze.
“Say what?”
“That.”
“The cross my heart and-”
“DON’T!” Renjun spits, just a little bit too loud, making a few students around them glance over in confusion.
“Okay, okay, sorry…” Jisung says slowly, and Renjun hates the look in his eyes.
“Just… don’t say stuff like that. Whatever. I should get going. Jeno’s probably making pasta.” Renjun mumbles, shoving his stuff in his messenger bag. Jisung just blinks at him in confusion, his expression a little dazed. “See you around…. Or something. Bye, Jisung.”
His ears burn as he realizes it’s the first time that he has used the younger boy’s name. He doesn’t turn back.
True to his word, Jeno is indeed making pasta when Renjun all but throws the door open, his loud movements making his roommate poke his head out of the kitchen.
“Hey Junnie, pasta should be done in- woah you look like shit.” Jeno says, his hand on his hip. Renjun glares at him, putting his bag down.
“Thanks.” He snarks, coming into the kitchen to peer at the pot on the burner. Jeno’s a good cook at least.
“No seriously, Jun, you look like you’ve seen a ghost.” Renjun shoots daggers at him with his gaze, and Jeno relents, holding his hands up. “Fine, fine, don’t talk about it, whatever!”
Renjun is happy to do just that.
“Is Jaemin coming over?” Jeno shakes his head.
“Nah, he’s got an early class so he and Jisung are making dinner on their own tonight.” Renjun gapes at Jeno, who just stares at him blankly. “What.”
“Are Jaemin and Jisung roommates?” Renjun asks incredulously, and Jeno nods slowly, looking at Renjun with a measured gaze.
“Yeeeeees... I swear that I told you this before.” Renjun shakes his head, and Jeno just shrugs, turning back to the pasta. He talks while he stirs.
“Jisung and Jaemin are childhood friends, they grew up together. I’m not sure exactly how they met, I think they were neighbors? Anyway, Jisung tagged along with Jaemin everywhere, and when Jaemin got accepted here, Jisung was bound to follow.” Renjun hums, showing that he is listening. “That’s why I wanted you two to get along, because he’s Jaemin’s friend. And my friend too, of course. But he’s gonna be around, and he’s a nice guy. Don’t you think so?”
“Too nice.” Renjun says, and Jeno glances over at him.
“What do you mean?” He asks, and Renjun just sighs, leaning back against the counter.
“I mean, there’s no way that he’s that fucking bright all the time. It’s unnerving.” Jeno laughs, reaching over to turn off the stove.
“Well, you’d be wrong there. Jisung is always like that. His mom is the same way. Even given all the shit they’ve been through.” Renjun looks at Jeno in alarm, but the other boy just shrugs. “I’m not gonna air all Sung’s shit out, you can ask him yourself if you’re so invested.”
“I’m not invested.” Renjun says, and Jeno just hums like he knows something that Renjun doesn’t. Renjun hates when Jeno does that. Sure, Jeno knows him more than probably just about anyone, but that doesn’t mean he doesn’t piss him off sometimes.
“Anyway, I’d really like it if you could at least get along with Jisung. I like him, and he means a lot to Jaemin as well. And you’re my closest friend. I want you guys to at least be cordial.” Jeno says softly, making Renjun sigh deeply. Jeno’s doing that puppy dog eyes thing that he knows Renjun is weak to.
“Fine. But don’t expect anything else out of me. I’ll be cordial, whatever.” Jeno’s smile is so bright, it could light up a room, or whatever cheesy shit people say about him.
“Thanks, Junnie. Seriously. It means a lot to me.”
Renjun didn’t realize being cordial with Jisung meant hanging out with him, but apparently Jeno didn’t feel the same way.
“Do I have to be here?” He asks, dragging his feet as Jeno all but pulls him toward Jaemin and Jisung’s apartment.
“Yes. Yes you do.” Jeno laughs. “I told you that you could bring Chenle.”
“He’s coming.” Renjun says with a sigh. “He’s just late. I don’t want to be here by myself.”
“You say that like I’m not RIGHT here. And you like Jaemin too! You’ve always liked Jaemin!” Jeno exclaims and Renjun rubs under his eye, hoping the eyeliner isn’t smearing. He checks his fingers. Nice. There’s no black kohl on his fingers.
“I like not third, fourth wheeling when you’re making out with your boyfriend. And now I’ll be fourth wheeling with JISUNG of all people.” Jeno turns to face Renjun, his hands on his hips. Renjun winces. Great, another lecture coming.
“Renjun, can you please just be nice for once? Jisung is really trying to be your friend, and you’re making this weird and awkward, and it’s not fun for any of us. Just… unclench for once? Please?” Jeno says exasperatedly, and Renjun ruffles his overlong black hair.
“Fine. I’ll do my best to be nice.” He grits out, and Jeno pats his shoulder before pushing the front door to Jaemin and Jisung’s place open.
It’s awkward. Jisung has walked out of the living room at least three times in the last twenty minutes, and Renjun doesn’t think he’s said more than fifteen words to him. He sighs, leaning his head back against the wall behind the couch. Why is he so bad at this?
He knows why. Of course he knows why. It’s not like it’s a secret or anything. Renjun wouldn’t even be surprised if Jisung already knows the reason that he’s so shut off. Jaemin surely knows. He runs his fingers through his hair.
“Oh, Renjun. I actually… I have something for you. Can you, uh, can you come back to my room?” Jisung says, standing in front of Renjun. Renjun tilts his head up to look at Jisung, dark eyes roaming over him. The awkward stance, the fidgeting with his hands. Jisung will barely look him in the eye.
“Yeah, sure.” Renjun says, standing up. Chenle gives him a look, not stopping his conversation with Mark and Haechan. Renjun shakes his head, and Chenle nods, satisfied. Jisung motions for Renjun to follow him, and walks down the hallway of the apartment.
Jisung stops in front of a door with a myriad of stars on it, and Renjun blinks in surprise. “You like space?” He says, inspecting the door. The stars are arranged in actual constellations, even the smaller, lesser known stars. Something that only someone who had studied the constellations would have paid any attention to. Jisung snorts.
“What, did you think I only have interest in medicine and ice cream? You never asked.” Renjun feels his ears heat up, but before he can retort, Jisung pushes the door open and presses on Renjun’s lower back to move him forward into the room.
It’s simple enough, the room. Jisung clearly not only likes space, but also dark blue, since everything from his bedspread to his carpet is dark dark blue. Gold accents wink at him as well, and Renjun can’t help but look around the room while Jisung roots around in his desk, muttering under his breath to himself.
Hand drawn stars litter the walls, painted on with gold paint that has just the slightest hint of shimmer and glitter in it. It’s beautiful. Renjun’s never seen anything like it.
“Here. I found this after that day where we literally ran into each other, but the only other time that I saw you since then, I forgot to bring it with me since I didn’t know I would see you and, well… I thought it was too important to just leave around or take with me places.”
Renjun turns to see what Jisung is holding out to him, and his knees nearly buckle.
His earring.
Well… her earring.
“Woah, Renjun, do you need to sit down? You look like you’re about to pass out. Here, sit down before you fall down.” He feels Jisung gently maneuver him to what he assumes is Jisung’s bed, but his head is swimming, and he can only focus on the black and opal earring in his hand.
“Where did you find this?” He says, and he curses inwardly at how shaky his voice is. How close he feels to breaking down into tears.
“It must have fallen off when you ran into me… I tried to give it to you, but you ran away so quickly, and then like I said, I didn’t want to just take it with me everywhere since it looked expensive. So… I kept it here until today when Jaemin told me that you were coming over.” Jisung says, squatting down on his feet so that he can look Renjun in the eye.
Renjun’s head feels like it’s underwater, and his hands shake as he reaches out for the earring, but Jisung shakes his head.
“You’re trembling, Renjun. I can put it back in your ear if you want me to.” Jisung says, his voice low and Renjun feels an involuntary shiver run up his back. What the fuck is he thinking? Since when has he been shivering at the sound of Jisung’s voice? When did he let Jisung get under his skin like this? He can’t help but nod, and Jisung stands, his figure looming over Renjun.
Gentle hands catch on the shell of his ear, and he flinches involuntarily.
“Sorry, did I hurt you?” Jisung asks, taking his hand away from Renjun’s ear. Renjun shakes his head, not trusting his own voice right now. “Okay, let me know if it hurts.”
“It won’t.” Renjun croaks. “It’s been pierced for a decade.”
“You got this piercing that young?” Jisung asks. Renjun nods slightly, not moving too much as he feels Jisung gently pressing his piercing back into place. The familiar gentle tinkle of the chain on the earring that he had been missing so much causes Renjun’s throat to go dry, and suddenly he feels tears slipping down his cheeks. Damnit. “I told you to tell me if I was hurting you.” Jisung says, stepping back from where he had been standing practically between Renjun’s legs.
“I’m not– you didn’t—” Renjun flounders, frustrated. He feels flustered from how close Jisung had been to him. Why does he feel that way? Sure, Jisung is attractive as hell but—
“Do you need me to step out of the room? I can leave you be so you can collect yourself and—”
“It’s my sister’s. Was… my sister’s. Earring.” Renjun blurts out, and Jisung looks at him in surprise.
“Ah, she gave it to you as a gift? That’s sweet. It’s really pretty, I like it a lot.” Jisung says, a small smile appearing on his cheeks. Renjun knows his expression gives it away because the smile slides off Jisung’s face as quickly as it appeared. “Oh, I didn’t mean to—”
“She was 14. I was 12.” Renjun whispers. “It was… an accident. She was protecting me. I stepped into the road too soon. Never saw the car coming.”
“Renjun, you don’t need to ex—”
“She was my best friend, and she practically raised me, since our mom died when I was really little. Our father didn’t give a shit about us for the longest time, and we bounced from school to school, until he got this new wife and decided to stop making me do boarding school after my sister died.” Renjun feels the words tumble out before he can stop them, and he wants to shrivel up into a corner and hide himself away.
Jisung is still standing in front of him, and Renjun hates the look that he sees in Jisung’s eyes. Pity. He’s had nothing but pity for over a decade at this point. It’s the look that his dad gives every time that he looks at him, and Renjun knows it's because he looks so much like his sister. He sees it every time that he looks in the mirror. Sees it in the flick of his eyeliner that she taught him how to do when he used to watch her doing her makeup in the mirror.
“This earring is the only thing that I have from her. So when I lost it… that’s why I was such an asshole to you in the cafe that day. I had been looking for it all day and then I had to study for a midterm and—”
“Renjun, you don’t need to pour your heart out to me. It’s okay. I don’t blame you for being a little closed off.” Jisung says quietly. Renjun blinks in surprise, one of his hands clenching into a fist.
“Jeno asked me to be nice and—”
“I don’t want you to be nice to me just because Jeno told you to.” Jisung says, his nose scrunched up in distaste. Renjun frowns, looking at his lap.
“I don’t even know why you keep talking to me even after I’ve been such a dick to you.” Renjun mutters, and Jisung sighs.
“It’s stupid, really.” Jisung says, and when Renjun looks up, he can see that Jisung’s ears are a little bit pink, as are his cheeks.
“What do you mean?” Renjun asks, and Jisung rubs the back of his neck, coughing awkwardly. He does that a lot, Renjun has begun to notice, even after meeting him only a few times.
“I’ve… had a crush on you for ages.” He admits, and Renjun feels his eyes widen and his lips part in surprise. What?
“Wait, what?” Renjun hates how his voice comes out in a squeak. Jisung’s cheeks turn even redder, the blush spreading up his ears even more.
“I always thought you were one of Jeno’s super cool friends, and I thought you were just really… pretty.” Jisung says, his voice warm and low, the bass of it hitting Renjun right in the chest. “So I… badgered him into having you come into the shop. And pretended to not know who you were exactly so that you would talk to me. It seems so stupid now, but… yeah. I just thought I should be honest with you about it. Especially now that you said—”
“My entire life story because you were nice and put my earring back in.” Renjun says lamely, letting his fingers uncurl.
“Yeah.” Jisung says, chuckling softly. “I felt like I owed you that much, at least. I can tell you about my deadbeat dad too, if that makes you feel better.” Renjun can’t help but snort out a laugh.
“Nah, you don’t have to do that. I just, she meant a lot to me. She means… a lot to me. My sister. And I had been missing this earring for ages. Thank you for… taking such good care of it and not losing it like my stupid ass did.” Jisung blinks.
“You can’t help your earring falling out, it’s not your fault! I ran into you, I should be the one apologizing. Plus, I didn’t find you and give it back to you right away. I should have. I just haven’t been to Jeno’s place before, so I don’t really know where it is, and I didn’t want to impose, and you really don’t seem to like me so—”
“It’s not that I don’t like you.” Renjun interrupts, and Jisung raises an eyebrow like he doesn’t believe Renjun. Renjun runs a hand through his hair. “I just… Your whole sunshine thing. That was how I was as a kid, so seeing people like that, it triggers some sorta reaction out of me. I can’t help it. It feels so forced because I feel so forced.” Renjun admits quietly.
“Wow, giving you back the earring really did break the seal on all of your emotions, huh?” Jisung asks, but there’s a teasing lilt to his voice. Renjun glares at him, and Jisung holds his hands up in surrender. “Sorry, sorry, I’m trying to make the situation light. If it helps you, it’s not exactly forced, but remember, I gotta deadbeat dad. Had to come up with some way to make my mom happy, and it sorta stuck. I like seeing people happy and making them happy. Gives me purpose. That’s why I want to be a doctor too. I want to help people, and it’s the one thing that I’m good at.”
Renjun frowns. “I’m sure you’re good at other things. The stars on your wall… they’re hand-drawn aren’t they?” Jisung turns a bit pink again, nodding sheepishly. “I’m an art history major, I know artistic talent when I see it, and what you’ve done is really beautiful, Jisung.”
Jisung stares at him. “That’s the first time you’ve ever used my name before.” He grins, and Renjun rolls his eyes, shaking his head. It’s not, he remembers, but he’s not about to let Jisung know that he remembers that if Jisung doesn’t.
“Don’t get used to it.” He says, but even he can tell that there’s no bite to the words. He’s gone soft. Fuck it all.
“I’d like to. Get used to it. Hearing you say my name more.” Jisung blurts out, and Renjun laughs softly, tilting his head up to look up at Jisung. Well…
“Yeah?” Jisung nods, biting down on his lower lip.
Renjun takes a look at Jisung for a long time. He’s always noticed how handsome the other boy is, sure, but he had been too focused on himself. Jisung looks at him with wide brown eyes, still nibbling on his lip. To hell with it all, Renjun decides. His sister would have loved Jisung.
“You better make a mean first date.” Renjun says, and Jisung blinks in surprise.
“Wait, seriously?” He says, and Renjun laughs, reaching up to tug on Jisung’s ear.
“Don’t make me tell you twice, or I’ll change my mind.” He teases, and Jisung flushes a deep scarlet again at the touch to his ear.
“Can I have your number then?” He blurts out, and Renjun barks out a laugh.
“I suppose you can, give me your phone.” Jisung rifles in the pockets of his light blue hoodie before fishing out his phone. Renjun catches a glimpse of the lockscreen, a close up picture of a cat, one that he’d seen wandering around the apartment earlier. Must be one of Jaemin’s cats that Jeno had mentioned before. Jisung unlocks the phone and hands it to Renjun, a new contact open.
Renjun quickly punches in his phone number before lifting the phone, snapping a quick selfie for his contact photo. He hears Jisung make a short sound, and he can’t help the laugh that leaves his lips.
“Wouldn’t want to leave the photo empty. Now you can see me every time I call.” Renjun grins, teasing Jisung just the slightest, and Jisung flushes a bit red as he takes his phone back, looking down at the photo. Renjun pulls his phone out of the pocket of his leather jacket and makes a contact for Jisung, holding his phone out to the younger boy. Jisung blinks at him a few times in surprise before he seems to come back down from whatever daydream he was in. He clears his throat, taking the phone from Renjun and typing furiously.
While Jisung does whatever with Renjun’s phone, Renjun looks around the room once more, this time standing up to really take in the crazy map of stars. He leans in closer and blinks in surprise. Each star is meticulously labeled, categorized. Renjun’s really never seen anything like it before.
“Here.” Jisung says, making Renjun flinch in surprise at how close he is. He turns his head, seeing the younger boy standing behind him sheepishly, his brown hair hanging in his eyes.
Renjun takes his phone back and goes to the contact, but before he can, Jisung presses the button to lock his phone, his cheeks a blazing red.
“Look at it later… please.” Renjun can’t help the smirk that turns up his lips.
“Damn, didn’t realize we were already at the stage of setting sexy pics as the contact.” He teases, and Jisung scrunches his nose, shaking his head.
“It’s not that… I just get embarrassed easily.” Renjun reaches up to tug on Jisung’s ear, before he stands on his tiptoes, just close enough for his lips to brush against the outer shell as he whispers in Jisung’s ear.
“I noticed.” Jisung shoves him away unceremoniously, and Renjun can’t help the full bodied laugh that leaves his lips. “We should get back to the others, they’re probably wondering what’s taking us so long. Chenle’s probably thinking we’re fucking.” Jisung makes a wounded sound at the back of his throat and Renjun just laughs as he pulls the door to Jisung’s room open.
“Woah, is that Huang Renjun LAUGHING I hear?” Chenle calls, and Renjun flips him off as he walks back into the room, falling onto the couch by Chenle’s side. “What, you get your dick sucked or something? I’ve never heard you like this before.” Chenle says, tugging on one of the lapels of Renjun’s jacket.
“Oh shut the fuck up, Le. I had a nice time.” Renjun says, and Chenle just laughs. Suddenly, he blinks, leaning in closer.
“Your helix is back!” Renjun nods.
“Apparently it fell off when I ran into Jisung the other day and he kept it safe for me.” Renjun says, and Chenle smirks.
“Wow, okay Cinderella. Jisung your Prince Charming or something, then?” Renjun shoves Chenle off the couch, the younger boy’s loud laughter reverbing through the room.
Renjun really can’t stand him sometimes.
Renjun leans up against the wall outside of Jisung and Jaemin’s apartment, playing a stupid game on his phone while he waits for Jisung. The younger boy had texted him about their date, saying to meet up at his place and they would head out from there.
Renjun sighs, putting his phone away in his jacket pocket, dusting his hands off on his pants. He’s not really sure what Jisung has cooked up for them, but he had seemed really excited when he had called Renjun this morning about it. It’s nearly pitch black outside now, the sun having set an hour or so ago.
Suddenly, the door to Jisung’s apartment flies open, and Jisung pokes his head out, his dark brown hair styled in a gentle wave. Renjun blinks, and before he can lift a hand to wave, Jisung spots him and his face lights up in a smile. Renjun’s caught off guard by it every time.
“Oh good, you’re here! I just finished up, lemme put on my shoes, hold on real quick!” Jisung chirps, and the door closes for about a minute or two before Jisung comes out again, a warm hoodie pulled over his torso and a bag in his hands. Renjun eyes it, but Jisung just grins at him.
“Come on, we have a little bit of a drive to get where I’m taking you.” Renjun trails behind Jisung as he walks ahead, but after a minute, Jisung stops. Renjun nearly runs into his back, but Jisung turns, holding out his free hand. “Don’t walk behind me like that when you can walk right beside me.” Renjun blinks at him for a second before he nods, reaching out to tangle his fingers with Jisung’s.
Jisung’s hands are warm, but Renjun’s not surprised. Jisung practically radiates sunshine, and he remembers the feeling of Jisung’s slim fingers on his ear when putting in his earring. He feels his cheeks start to heat up again, and he hopes that the darkness conceals the blush he knows is creeping onto his skin.
“Where are we going?” He asks as Jisung pulls him towards his car, and Jisung just grins.
“That’s a surprise, it wouldn’t be any fun if you knew!” He says, throwing the bag in the back of the truck. For some reason, Jisung had never struck Renjun as a pick up truck kind of guy, but now that he thinks about it, Renjun can’t help but feel like it fits him, strangely.
“Fine.” Renjun huffs, letting go of Jisung’s hand to pull the side door open, hopping up into the passenger’s side seat. “But this better be good.”
Renjun takes everything back. He never should have been worried about Jisung’s date planning abilities.
“Are we stargazing?” He asks as Jisung parks the truck in the middle of a clearing, and Jisung grins over at him, his eyes turning up a bit at the corners.
“Well, you were admiring my wall a lot when you were in my room, so I figured that you must like space as much as I do.” Renjun makes a soft sound of embarrassment, his cheeks heating up yet again. He’s trying so hard to school his expression, but the smirk on Jisung’s lips tells him he’s doing a shit job. “So I thought this would be something easy but really cool. Plus, I have a truck, so we can just hang out in the bed of it. Nothing fancy needed. You game?” Renjun nods, and Jisung hums. “Let’s go then.”
It takes Jisung only a few minutes to set up the bed of the truck into something suitable, laying out blankets. He hands Renjun another blanket, and Renjun takes it, a confused look in his eyes. Jisung eyes him, an eyebrow raised.
“Aren’t you gonna get cold with all those rips in your jeans?” He asks, and Renjun scowls at him.
“Okay, Mister I think jean shorts are the best thing to ever happen to fashion.” Jisung rolls his eyes, motioning for Renjun to hop up into the bed.
“Get in, shortie.” He teases, and Renjun kicks his shin playfully.
“Stop calling me short or I’ll kick your ass.” He bites, but Jisung just laughs, leaning down so his lips brush against the helix piercing in his ear.
“Like you could reach.” Renjun punches Jisung in the arm lightly, his ears burning as he hears the bass of Jisung’s laugh ringing. He climbs into the back of the truck, settling himself against the cab so he can pull the blanket over his legs. It doesn’t take long for Jisung to join him, and they’re pressed thigh to thigh, all the way down. Renjun pulls the blanket over Jisung’s legs too, and Jisung’s laughter shakes his shoulders.
“Your shorts are ugly.” Renjun bites back, and Jisung just shakes his head.
“Look at the stars with me, sunshine.” Renjun wrinkles his nose, but he doesn’t fight the nickname.
Deep down, he knows he kind of likes it anyway.