angel horns ; norenmin [ ✓ ]

stepping stones²⁵

renjun blinked sleep away, slowly lifting his blond-haired head as he looked out the window. he wasn't used to not waking up on a saturday morning without the sunlight flooding his bedroom. instead, he got a gloomy grey sky and heavy rain that hit against the huge window.

he should've figured since he didn't quite literally wake up blinded by the sun. with one last yawn and one last stretch, the angel slid out of his bed and headed for his closet to change his clothing.

which was his usual white undershirt and black undershorts before putting on his robes and tying his waist tie just tightly enough. just as he finished, the door of his bedroom open, revealing his father.

king huang song was a stern looking man, lacking all the softness of renjun and much of his features in general. though, he was just as vividly blond-haired as his son.

"good morning renjun," he said, but there was no trace of a smile on his face nor warmth in his hazel eyes.

"good morning father," renjun smiled in his direction after turning around.

"you have classes in the morning today," song went on before turning on his heel and heading out the room. "i expect you to do well."

"will do, father!" renjun called after his retreating back before the door closed, cutting off his sentence. his smile curled downwards in a frown — it's the same thing almost every morning. sometimes he doesn't even at least check on him.

but renjun puts up with it and manages to not act like it bothers him a little because being in his father's position is busy and time-consuming. that's all there is to it....

with a shake of his head, he left to head for the dining room for breakfast, his stomach rumbling with hunger. it wasn't the most fun to walk along the long, empty corridors as he made his way to the staircase to get downstairs.

at a fast pace, it didn't take long to reach his intended destination. he could already smell the delicious breakfast food waiting for him as he headed for the table and sat down at his usual seat, looking down at his plate as his smile returned. basic fruit tarts.

there were three other plates for jeno and his family, but not a fifth one for song. he never eats at the dining table. with a sinking feeling in his stomach, he waited to eat as the others hadn't arrived yet.

soon, "my little ren-ren!" came from someone, their voice a high-pitched tone that didn't exactly fit their face. to some extent, renjun's happy mood returned upon seeing jeno, who returned it charmingly and went around to stand behind his chair and lean on, placing a kiss on the angel prince's forehead.

"good morning, nono," he said fondly.

"good morning, my little ren-ren," jeno retorted, feeling the need to repeat the dumb nickname in response to his own. "fruit tarts for breakfast?"

"mhm."

"good, dal said it was going to be cooked heart fruit roots and i was about to steal from the kitchens again," jeno stuck out his tongue.

"stealing isn't good, nono," renjun reminded him.

"yeah, but would you eat heart fruit roots, no matter how cooked and spiced?" jeno said.

"well, no — " renjun started.

"exactly my point, my guardian angel," jeno smiled at him again before sitting down beside him. "my dads should be coming, but they were taking forever to leave their room."

he started to pick up one of the tarts on his plate before renjun stopped him with "we can't eat until your dads come."

"oh, yeah," jeno pouted before looking at the other plates. "wait, there isn't one for your dad this time."