without you ; norenmin [ON HOLD]

1. Murals and Rain Puddles

TIME & DATE - 3:04 AM, 2nd March
PLACE - Midnight Café and Bookshop
CHARACTER(S) - Huang Renjun

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With the rain pouring outside as his companion, Renjun added a few touches to the mural he had painted on the cafe's wall. It was a pretty odd thing to do at three am but Renjun found it calming. Just the rain, his paint, and himself (alongside the smell of pastries and new books of course).

The Midnight Café was usually occupied by two or more people at that time. Often students with annoying roommates or family problems or people who had gotten too hooked on a book that they had picked up. It was odd not to have the occasional turn of a page or small talk but it was understandable since it had been pouring all day and there were barely people on the streets.

Renjun scooted away from his mural to take a look at it from afar, going back to his original seated position only when he thought that a few more strokes in the grassy parts wouldn't hurt. He was planning on taking a short nap when his best friend Chenle had called him. The younger male announced his arrival the next day, saying that he would come to visit him and the others at the café the moment he sets foot in Korea.

This made Renjun ecstatic. It had been exactly four years, two months, ten days, and fourteen hours since the boy had left so the mere fact of him breathing the same air as him again brought Renjun joy. How could anyone possibly expect him to sleep now? So, he did everything he could to make time fly faster-- touch up his mural, clean the café, read a book.

But he dropped everything when he realized that only an hour had passed and there was nothing else to do. He would have sketched but artist's block had come and he had no motivation whatsoever. Though he was pleasantly surprised by a customer stumbling into the café, drenched to their bone by rainwater. What a wonderful way to be occupied.

Renjun rushed to them, careful to keep his distance. "Are you okay?" he asked, hiding his distaste at the small puddle and was now forming on the floor.

The customer nodded and pushed their hood off. "Sorry about the mess," they said quietly, Renjun almost missed it since he had zoned out a little. "What-- Oh, no worries. I'll just mop it up later. I was needing to clean up a little anyway." He walked to the register, "Is there anything you'd like? Something warm perhaps?" he suggested. "One milk tea to go please," was the answer and Renjun had started making the drink. 

Renjun placed the steaming cup and a brown bag in front of the customer. They gave it a questioning look, then turned to Renjun (for an explanation, he assumed). "There are some cookies and a croissant in there. They came a few hours ago so they're still fresh," he said, gesturing the mystery bag. "It's on the house, so you don't have to pay extra." The customer gave him a smile and Renjun swore that his heart skipped a beat. "Thank you," they said after paying, and with one last smile, they left.

For the rest of the night, Renjun couldn't get that breath-taking smile out of his head.

-ˋˏ ༻☕༺ ˎˊ-

and that was the first chapter of 'without you'! I'm quite excited for this one as well as 'electric hearts'.

just a note, this take place in the same universe as '7 days' my chensung fic so maybe check that out as well?

thank you for stopping by <3