The House on Mass. Avenue | Rensung

Untitled Part 24

Jisung's hair blew into his eyes, the younger grimacing as he pushed it out of his face yet again.

Renjun was flouncing off up ahead, his shoes already dangling in his hands as he made his way across the unsteady sand. Mark and Jeno's voices lingered in the street, laughing as they talked to one of their more elderly neighbors. It was a bit strange to see them acting so normally, especially after living in the house for so long.

"Ji, hurry up!" words swirled over the whirling wind and Jisung turned his head, eyes locking onto Renjun who was jumping up and down and waving his arms. He seemed energetic today.

He stood next to an old wooden life-guard tower, looking big enough to fit two people in the seat on top. Upon further observation, and Renjun placing his foot on the first rung of the latter, Jisung realized that that's where Renjun wanted to talk to him.

Jisung shivered a little, sliding his hands over his arms as he broke into a little jog, reaching the bottom of the lifeguard tower as Renjun settled himself on top of it. Careful not to get splinters in his hands, Jisung climbed up the tower and wiggled himself between Renjun and one of the arms. 

His eyes scanned over the churning ocean. There was a sort of chill in the air that was something more than the wind or the temperature. It settled in Jisung's bones and he couldn't help but to feel a tingling on the back of his spine at the thought of the house sitting just behind it. Like it was watching him -- watching them.

"I can only trust you."

The sentence was so abrupt that Jisung balked for a moment and blinked, looking at Renjun and questioning if he had just imagined that the older had said something. Then Renjun looked over at Jisung and the younger distilled those doubts. There was some kind of fear in Jisung's eyes, as if  - in contrast to his words - he didn't really know if he could trust Jisung. 

Jisung remained silent, waiting for Renjun to finish saying what he needed to say. 

"I broke one of the rules when I first came to the house a couple of years ago," Renjun started, his fingers brushing against Jisung's thigh as he shifted, "I think that was one of the reasons why everyone is so diligent with newcomers now. It wasn't...it tore us up for a bit." 

The young author almost felt like he could have imagined the scene. The chaos that would have ensued; Jaemin's dramatic declarations to leave the house; Mark's curious and observing gaze; the concern from Jeno and Donghyuck over Renjun's injuries; Chenle's panic, the thought maybe filtering through his head that he was just a young college student and couldn't do a damned thing. 

"It was stupid too," Renjun continued, looking down at his hands as he picked at his fingernails, "I had accidentally sat down at the counter late at night. I was tired from working too many shifts in a row and when I had gotten home late that night I had collapsed onto a stool without a second thought to it. The next thing I knew, my back was hitting the kitchen wall and blood was seeping through my shirt."

Images of the scratches on Renjun's stomach fluttered through Jisung's mind. He couldn't even imagine how horrible it must have been at the time if those were the scars he had come away with. 

"I caught a glimpse of the thing before Jaemin burst into the room," Renjun continued after a moment of collecting himself, "It was...inhuman," Renjun scoffed at his own lame description, "I can only think of that as the perfect way to describe it."

Jisung let his eyes flicker over Renjun's face, taking into account the way that Renjun's voice trembled ever so slightly when he talked about seeing the monster...whatever it was. The younger's curiosity provoked him to ask a question that had been bugging him:

"What...what exactly is this thing? The thing that's plaguing the house?" 

Renjun turned toward Jisung and smiled softly. "Well that's the million dollar question isn't it?" 

Jisung failed to hide his disappointment at the answer and Renjun's hand reached out, grabbing his own in a reassuring manner. "Jisung, I'm just as confused as you are. But, I know that I can trust you. You're new, not established in the house before me. I want to be able to trust and work with you to solve whatever this thing is before it ends up killing the both of us."

The bartender's voice was laced with hope and desperation, a tone that made Jisung realize that Renjun was just as scared and frustrated as he was. "No offense, but I don't think a bartender or an unemployed author are going to be able to solve something this big." Jisung joked although there was a certain validity to his words. 

Renjun shook his head and gave Jisung's hand a squeeze before pulling away to cover his hands with his sweater arms. Jisung's skin chilled at the lack of warmth. 

"That's exactly why I wanted to talk to you out here. I wanted to establish this...group...of sorts with a strong foundation of trust." Renjun hesitated a moment before, looking away before meeting Jisung's eyes, his strong amber iris' reflecting the grey sky. "I think I know someone who we can also trust, but I need your help to confirm it." 

"Confirm it?" Jisung echoed and Renjun nodded, the crashing of the waves providing a soothing background to the tense conversation.

"I want you to try and see if you can get this person to reveal if they're on the same page we are," Renjun started, carefully explaining what his ideas were, "The thing is, I have a nasty feeling that this monster, whatever it is, thrives off of the people in the house. I'm not sure if it's emotion or conflict or whatever, but this house seems to be draining the life out of the tenants. Hell, look at Donghyuck." 

Jisung couldn't disagree. "Yeah, but what does that have to do with me asking this person if they want to join us?" 

Renjun clicked his tongue, "You're new, and I think that this person wouldn't assume that you would be looking into anything if they happen to be untrustworthy. You're simply a curious person, and if the tenant I'm thinking of had me confront them about it, I'm afraid that if they really are the enemy, the outlook would be bleak for me."

"You think this person would try and have you killed?" Jisung whispered tentatively and Renjun nodded, pursing his lips. 

"I have a feeling that if this imposter tenant catches wind any of us are investigating, they would have us dealt with swiftly and make it look like an accident," the morbid sentence uttered from Renjun's lips made Jisung pale slightly. 

This was going to be dangerous work. Work that could potentially get him killed - him or Renjun. 

Jisung nodded regardless, his need to solve the unsolved growing stronger by the second now that he knew he wasn't crazy and had an ally by his side. He gave Renjun a small smile and an encouraging nod, the older smiling slightly in return. 

"Who do I have to talk to?"

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