DRUNK. #𝗋𝖾𝗇𝗁𝗒𝗎𝖼𝗄

05

the day passed, and before i knew it, chenle was in front of my door; him and the others in the same car waiting to pick me up. him with a smile and hands in his jacket pockets, he said, "let's hope you enjoy today, too."

even though i was quite unsure about that, i nodded anyways and locked my house door behind me as i walked towards the car with him. the night was still young, and the remainings of the disappearing sunset were seen through the car window. the ride to our senior's house was filled with the bickering of chenle and jisung, but the joking complaints and insults they both threw at each other were not even close as loud as the chatter in the house.

once we arrived, the boys went their own separate direction, including me. of course, the only place i could think of was the balcony.

i opened the glass door and pushed away the long curtains to feel the outside breeze once more calm my nerves down. my ears managed to block the source of noises. taking deep breaths, i looked around the empty balcony-- oh wait.

"r-renjun? you're here, too?"

to be honest, seeing someone sitting in the corner of the balcony floor with their long hair covering parts of their facial features and a black jacket with jeans on in the middle of the night...didn't seem like the friendliest impression.

"ah, donghyuck?" the boy who was looking at the view from the balcony turned his focus to the person who called his name. his lips curled into a smile.

motioning to sit next to him on the floor, i asked, "did you get pulled here again?"

"in a way, yes but also no." his voice trailed off as he leaned his head on the wall, looking upwards at the star-filled sky. "it wouldn't be so polite if the main star of the party's little brother wasn't present, right?"

main star? renjun was the little brother of mark-hyung's friend...

"it seems you don't know him, huh?" renjun let out a little chuckle when he saw my confused face. "my, uhm, step-brother is ten - chittaphon leechaiyapornkul. born in thailand but was raised in china with me. he graduated from our university and took the same major as me."

"ah, i see... so mark-hyung must be really close to him to set up a party for him?" my question got answered with a nod. it seemed renjun was talking more comfortably than the other night.

an awkward silence visited us for a few moments. that is, until a loud sound came from inside what seemed like cheers for a game. it ringed through my ears like hell coming through.

but when i focused on renjun, he looked rather scared and covered his ears with fear. trully, it was loud, but i didn't know he was this sensitive to sound that he would be physically shaking and had his breathing messed up.

"hey...are you okay...?" i asked softly, leaning in closer so that he would somewhat hear my voice through his covered ears. renjun didn't answer. "renjun..."

he felt like a scared cat who was traumatised or something.

so i did the only thing i had in mind. i reached out to give him a hug to help him be less tensed. he jolted a bit when i touched him, but once he was okay with me hugging him, he let go of his hands that covered his ears. he was so close to me that i could feel his heartrate thumping fast and felt his breathing on my arm calm down. he was like a lost precious little kid, even if older by a month.

i pulled away a bit once he stopped panicking to see how he was. "hey, are you okay now?" i finally asked.

"s-sorry about that. loud noises scare me..." he finally got to mutter out. he shouldn't have been in the party if he had such a fear because he was going to be more likely exposed to loud noises there.

"it's fine, i also don't like loud stuff so i understand."

.

.

.

renjun had a better time as he talked with me - - he was able to distract himself from the chaos going on inside the house. it was rather nice to talk about useless and unnecessary subjects like that. it felt refreshing instead of having to think about work or something like that. it genuinely felt like someone was okay to listen to how my day went. he felt really warm and kind, i listened to every word he said.

"renjunnie, do you not want a drink?" the voice of someone unfamiliar called. a man with black hair same length as renjun's, and a slim figure came.

the other man was smiling, but renjun's warm expression melted into a look of annoyance. what was with the sudden change? it shifted so fast the moment that man along with two of his friends behind him came.

"no, ge. i don't want it." renjun's voice felt like chills running up my spine. aside from that, he called the other 'older brother' in chinese, so i had assumed that the man holding a bottle of alcohol in his hand was ten lee, as introduced before by renjun.

with a stern no for an answer, his older brother and the other two left.

...what was that, really?