silence - nct, norenmin

⍣ 16 ⍣

"you won't believe what i saw yesterday."

"what is it?"

"see the new kid that never speaks?"

"yeah?"

"he's got a huge scar on his chest."

"a scar?"

"yeah. a bit cut from the bottom of the neck to the top of the tummy."

"do you think he doesn't talk because of that?"

"i have no idea. but i had told you he was strange."

⍣

"guess what?"

"i don't have time for your bullshit."

"it's about the new kid."

"is it interesting?"

"i just heard some dude saying that he had seen him naked."

"and what can i do with this information now?"

"apparently he has a scar on the chest. an ugly one."

"why would he have a scar?"

"how could i know? he surely has a dark past."

"like lots of fighting? gambling? illegal things?"

"i don't know. but it could fit with the character. he's mysterious, i don't like that."

⍣

"did you know that the new kid was a gambler?"

"the silent one?"

"yeah. apparently, he was doing illegal things. that's why he has a scar on the body."

"he doesn't seem like someone able to do illegal things..."

"think about it! it's a cover. no one would suspect such a silent and petite boy."

"yeah but..."

"he could be some serial killer. he has the perfect image..."

"if you say so..."

⍣

news travel very fast.

so, do rumours.

and what is funny is that with time those rumours travel, they lose sense and gain absurdity.

but who is there to tell the others that they're being completely delusional?

renjun and jeno were peacefully walking to class on a wednesday morning when they heard the rumours that were running about jaemin.

needless to say, they couldn't believe any of them.

"huh... sorry to interrupt." renjun said, cutting a conversation between a few girls. "what were you saying?"

"haven't you heard the rumours about the new student?" one of them gasped.

renjun signalled jeno to approach and listen to the girls.

"no. tell us." he said with a brow raised.

"he already killed someone." another girl whispred.

"wHaT?!" both renjun and jeno exclaimed out loud.

"shhh!" the girls hushed them immediately. "don't be so loud! he could be around! he's so quiet and so mysterious that you never know what he is up to! he could kill you behind the school's building!"

jeno and renjun exchanged glances, knowing perfectly that these rumours couldn't be true.

they had hung out with jaemin quite a lot, and even if he didn't talk and if he indeed was mysterious, he was nowhere near being a serial killer.

he was a shy boy, with past traumas and a difficulty to act in public.

if he was a serial killer, taewon – the guy that had molested him for bumping into him – would already have been dead. in fact, it's jeno who had sent taewon to the hospital. so, no. jaemin couldn't be a serial killer.

"huh... may i ask where the extravagant idea of jaemin being a killer comes from?" jeno asked with his arms crossed on his chest.

"jaemin? his name is jaemin?!" the girls squeaked.

"that's not what's important." renjun cut them. "where did you hear that?"

"well... everybody is talking about it..." one girl said.

"yeah. since some dude saw that the new kid has a giant scar on his chest, he understood that he could be a dangerous person."

jeno and renjun both stared at the group of girls in disbelief before walking away.

"did we just hear that?" jeno asked.

"it's crazy how people can be stupid and brainless." renjun sighed.

"yeah. completely..."

the two boyfriends continued walking towards their class in silence, trying not to think too much about the absurdities they had just heard.

"wait!" renjun stopped in his tracks.

"yeah?"

"they said jaemin had a scar, didn't they?"

jeno nodded, remembering what the girl had told them.

"do you think it's true?" renjun asked.

"i don't know. he could have made it up. you know?"

"yeah, you're right... but what if he really has one?"

"well... if he does, i'm not sure he'll open to us this easily." jeno told.

"it's perhaps because of something linked with his traumas..."

"surely..."

renjun and jeno looked at each other in the eye, a glint of sadness visible there.

"jeno... i want to help him..."

"yeah..." jeno smiled at his boyfriend. "i want it too..."

"so, let's help him. together."