without you ; norenmin [ON HOLD]

22. Weird Languages and Yukhei's Boy

TIME & DATE - 3:00 AM, 21st April
PLACE - Midnight Cafè and Bookshop
CHARACTER(S) - Wong Yukhei, Xiao Dejun, Huang Renjun

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It was another rainy night and Renjun was once again reading a book. This time, it was a book about a murder case.

It was quite bland if you ask him. He would have preferred it if it was written from the view of the murderer. It would have been much more interesting to read about. He was tired of always reading books where the main character is the good guy. It wouldn't hurt anyone if the hero was rotten for once.

His thoughts had somehow drifted to Jeno. Oh, how he missed the younger. He hadn't heard from him for days and neither had Jaemin. Renjun thought that Jaemin was lying because he was jealous.

Putting his suspicions aside, yes Jeno stood him up on their first date, and yes he did break his heart but Renjun couldn't help but worry. I mean, wouldn't you worry about someone special to you no matter how much they hurt you? Plus, this was only the first time so Renjun was willing to give Jeno another chance if he ever came back.

With each passing second, Renjun felt himself slip more and more into his thoughts. They started off normal but progressed to images of a pale-looking Jeno in a dirty warehouse. That reminded him of his dream a few nights ago.

Renjun shuddered at the thought of the corpse and the mysterious man. Fortunately, he hasn't had any similar dreams recently. It was as if his brain blocked out any sort of dream from occurring. Renjun blamed it on the lack of sleep but he couldn't help but think that his last dream had a meaning behind it.

But of course, that was beside the point when he heard the bell ring.

A customer at this time? In this weather?

In stepped a disheveled looking man, leaving a trail of water behind him much like Jeno did on his first visit.

"Aren't you one of Guanheng's friends?" Renjun questioned once he got a better view of the man's face. He looked shocked at first, then he gave him a small smile. "Yes, I am. I don't think we have properly met before, I'm Xiao Dejun," he stuck out his hand for Renjun to shake.

The man was clearly foreign, given that he had a heavy accent. "Hello Dejun, I'm Huang Renjun, Guanheng's cousin," he greeted the man. "Now why don't you take a seat while I make you something?"

"One matcha tea will do thank you." Renjun nodded and went to make Dejun's drink, returning with it shortly after.

"You know every book in this rack, am I right?" he asked once his drink was placed in front of him. Renjun took a moment to scan the books and nodded. "Ah, I see. Well if you don't mind me asking, would you happen to have a book with odd patterns on its cover? It looked quite worn out the last time I came here. I was wondering if I could check it out?"

Renjun made his way to the large book rack and looked through it. He knew which book Dejun was talking about, he just didn't know where he left it.

He decided to talk to the stranger a little while he looked for the book. "You're not from around here, are you?" he asked. "Goodness no! I could only imagine being born in such a gloomy place. I'm from England if you were wondering so I'd like to apologize in advance if my Mandarin seems off," the foreigner rambled.

"Found it!" Renjun exclaimed not long after and handed it to Dejun. The foreigner opened his mouth to say something but immediately shut it. Renjun watched curiously as his face hardened.

"Renjun, could I see your hands for a moment?"

The boy hesitantly stuck his hands out. What was the worst that could happen?

Renjun watched as Dejun stared at the back of his hands. He froze and muttered something inaudible under his breath.

"What's your blood type?"

The whole situation was getting weirder by the second.

Just as Renjun was about to answer, the door to the break room flew open. The two males turned to the source of the sound, only to be met with a cloud of smoke and Yukhei.

"Yukhei? Were you smoking in the break room again?" Renjun asked, his voice slightly raised. "I-I can explain," the tall man stammered. He didn't get the chance though, since another figure peeked out from behind him.

"Um hi?"

Renjun didn't recognize this man. He was almost as tall as Yukhei and had softer features that made him look feminine.

Yukhei pulled him to his front. "Babe I think you should get going. It's late," he said, guiding the stranger to the entrance.

There was an awkward silence when Yukhei returned. "Um, I think I'll leave now. Thank you for the book Renjun," Dejun said and payed for his drink and the book.

"Who was that?" Renjun asked once Dejun had left. "I-- Uh... He-- Boyfriend?" Yukhei stammered again, making Renjun gasp and squeal. "You never told me that you have a boyfriend! Tell me everything about him," the younger said as he dragged Yukhei to the break room.

And that's how the Chinese cousins spent the rest of the night teasing and laughing with each other, blissfully unaware of what was to happen next.

-ˋˏ ༻☕༺ ˎˊ-

spent the whole week re-watching dream plan, wayvison and corpse bride. i think I've officially lost it.