Hard Times | Renhyuck

Track #1: Hard Times - Paramore

A pastel pink petal cascades through the air, tumbling over itself in it's hurry to arrive at it's destination, ever so encouraged by the soft and gentle wind that pushed it onwards in it's journey.

The streets of Japan stretched out endlessly before the petal, gorgeous colors of pink illuminating the otherwise grey buildings that formed the shifting maze -- alive and bustling with people going about. Chatter could reach the petal as it drifted, laughs and squeals of children and teenagers as they escaped the unforgiving clutches of their classes.

In some other parts of the city, parts not too far off from where the petal wheedled it's way through the current, the honking of cars could be heard. Sometimes an occasional note of music as adults rolled down their car windows, closing their eyes in the bumper to bumper traffic and breathing in the refreshing air.

The petal - a cherry blossom petal to be exact, for it was that season in Japan - now drifted, ever so close to it's destination. It flew gracefully down a side street, students' skirts or button ups wrinkling along with the soft and gentle wind. Incessant teasing between friends made the petal gleam with happiness, fluttering closer and closer and closer until...

...it landed among blades of grass, swishing with length and dancing with the warm vibrations of the spring. An echoing 'crack' interrupted the petals final thoughts, a soft 'ow' accompanying the crack.

Here, Huang Renjun was unceremoniously sitting on the pavement of a neighborhood skate park, his board slowly rolling away from him as he glanced at his hands. Scraped; bruised; bleeding. But it was nothing out of the ordinary and all Renjun could do was hope that he still had Band-Aids left at home.

"Ow," Renjun echoed again, wincing as he pushing his palms against his jeans, standing up in a slow and painful motion that definitely conveyed how sore and achy his body was.

The brown-haired boy ruffled his fluffy hair, closing his eyes and breathing deeply. He enjoyed the warm weather, and it was bound to only increase in temperature from here on out.

Early April.

Just the beginning of the middle of spring.

Renjun jogged a little, his toe dangerously close to poking out of the top of his sneakers. His hand scooped through the air, fingers grasping around the edge of his board and pulling it upwards. It hung by his side; a friend who never left him and who always enjoyed his company.

A pair of students walking by caught his eye, the high-school student wiping the sweat from this forehead before he tugged his phone from his pocket. It was just after the end of school, and Renjun grumbled. With dissatisfaction that he hadn't any more time to skate, he took a couple running steps, his foot connecting with the top of the board as he threw it down.

Wind ruffled through his chronically wind-blown hair, his balance even and familiar as he exited the skate park and began his journey down the sidewalk. He was only ten minutes from his house; and it wouldn't be any bother to him. He traveled, no, practically lived on his skateboard.

Cherry Blossom petals littered the streets in a sea of blushing warmth, his wheels turning up a smoky haze of pink behind him. The electricity lines hung over his head as he bared left at a small intersection, the series of wires guiding him back home as he sped by.

His glasses slipped down his nose, his bandaged fingers reaching up to readjust them. His eyes just managed to catch Miss Nakamura flapping a green sheet in the wind from her second floor balcony, her clothes line already holding an assortment of other articles of clothing. And then she was gone in the split second that his eyes had glimpsed her, his sneaker pushing against the concrete to urge him faster.

Faster.

Faster.

Faster.

Renjun felt his eyes tear up from the wind whipping against his face but he didn't mind so much. Even if the tears managed to obscure his vision, he knew his way home from the local skate park with his eyes closed. His jacket flapped in the wind, almost like a set of bird wings flaring up against the wind currents.

His arms extended out, the soft slope of a hill allowing for his feet to remain exclusively on the comfortable wooden board. It was like flying.

But he knew he would have to stop soon, his apartment settled at the bottom of the hill and coming up on him fast. He caught sight of his neighbor, glancing up through her glasses and the pair of needles stilling in her fast working hands. An almost-finished knit blanket was thrown over her lap and he saw her sit up a bit in alarm as he drew closer and closer to the two houses.

"Ms. Sato!" Renjun's voice cheered, his hand coming up to rest next to his mouth as a speaker and his other hand waving at the elderly neighbor sitting in her rocking chair. At the speed he was going, he knew that if he hadn't been used to it, he would have fallen.

But as he tilted his body weight back, the back of his board scraped against the pavement, his heel snapping in a downwards motion and his board flying up into his hand as he jumped off. He caught it, continuing his momentum as he jogging to a stop, arriving right as the steps leading up to his front door.

"Renjun dear, you're going to give me a heart attack one of these days," Ms. Sato breathed out, looking at him over her half-spectacles, her fingers moving back to work the thread through and around her needles.

"I sincerely hope I don't," Renjun breathed out, his chest heavying and his hair blown back in a wild manner. "Is your son coming to visit soon?"

The older lady scoffed and looked back down at her knitting, "Like he would ever come to visit me, the only reason would be to ask for a loan to pay off his debtors." At this her finger pointed at Renjun and she wagged it in a warning manner. "Make sure to never gamble young man, those debt sharks are ruthless and you never want to be in that position."

"Yes ma'am," Renjun nodded enthusiastically, giving his neighbor a short conclusory wave before walking up the steps and pulling out a house key from his pocket. Fitting it into the loose door knob, it opened with a click and he pushed the door open with his hip, the slab always having stuck in the frame and needing that extra encouragement.

He closed the door behind him, not bothering to turn on the light with the sun providing ample visibility. He tossed his key onto a small key holder, tugging his sneakers off with his toes.

"I'm home," he called out, the creaking and quiet house unresponsive as it always was. Renjun let out a sigh, pausing a moment to wait. Wait for any sort of response. But, when none came, he couldn't help but feel a sliver of disappointment, even if it was going away day by day.

He leaned his board against the wall by the front door, his socked feet pattering across the wooden floor as he wandered into the kitchen. His eyes ignored the boxes cluttering the majority of the space that he walked by, labeled and tapped closed.

Instead, he walked towards the cupboard and opened it, pulling out a glass and then filling it with water. Taking a sip his eyes glanced over and read a small note pinned up on the fridge:

First Day of New School -- tomorrow!!

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