𝗨𝗣 𝗙𝗥𝗢𝗠 𝗛𝗘𝗥𝗘, ᴅᴏɴɢ sɪᴄʜᴇɴɢ

nineteen

Renjun sat silently at their table as he usually did and as usual there was a constant buzz of conversations going on. Yena had joined them as well this morning, since her friends didn't have class until later or something like that. She was a nice girl, anyway, so it really didn't matter all that much to him.

The ravenette was talking with Sicheng, Aeri and Jaehyun. Renjun failed to follow their conversation but it wasn't like he was really part of it as he preferred to keep to himself these days. Sometimes he still wondered why he even still sits with them. Don't get him wrong, they were all his friends but at some point they are all more his boyfriend;  ex-boyfriend's friends than they ever were his.

Sometimes he wished things were different. If only he wasn't so foolish before.

"No, Sicheng, hear me out. You'd absolutely rock as Cinderella. Like blonde hair would look so good on you." Yena's voice rang.

Aeri and Jaehyun failed to suppress their giggles as they heard Yena's ridiculous idea for Sicheng. "You're still on that?" Sicheng rolled his eyes.

"Yes! Back me up here, guys." Yena whined. Aeri and Jaehyun glanced at each other for a split second before firmly nodding their heads in agreement. Though it was quite doubtful how serious they actually were. "See? They agree. It would be so much fun!"

"Yena, no." Sicheng denied again which made Yena pout.

"Fine. Be boring. But just know Aeri would've slayed as Snow White." She shrugged. Renjun quietly chuckled at the conversation. They were extremely odd people.

"Wait, you're right." Aeri realized. "Sicheng, you have to reconsider!"

Sicheng glared at the girl as she gave him puppy dog eyes. "No. You guys can live out your princess fantasies some other time. Not at my fucking birthday party."

Both Yena and Aeri let out exasperated groans but it seemed they finally gave up. "Anyway, since princesses are off the table. What do you want for the party?" Jaehyun asked and both Yena and Aeri focused on the Chinese again.

Before he could answer, a very cheerful Hyewon arrived. "What party?" She asked in the lieu of a hello.

Yena, however, didn't hesitate to answer. "Sicheng's, of course."

Hyewon's eyebrows furrowed. It was clear she wasn't aware of what they're talking about. "Sicheng's...?" She asked, the question in her voice crystal clear.

"Yeah, for his birthday..." Jaehyun mentioned, clearing his throat. Renjun could see the uncomfortable glances that the three shared with each other.

This was so awkward... Renjun frowned. "Wait... This weekend? Like Saturday?" Hyewon asked, baffled as she opened her phone calendar. "Shit." She muttered under her breath.

"You forgot?" Sicheng finally spoke. And if they didn't know Sicheng as well as they did, the dejected tone in his voice would've gone unnoticed.

"Of course, I didn't. I just didn't realize it was this weekend already." She explained and it barely changed the tense atmosphere at the table.

"Uhm-" Aeri spoke up, awkwardly clearing her throat before plastering on a small smile. "Yeah, we were just discussing the plans and Sicheng was about to suggest ideas for what he wants to do."

Hyewon smiled small, eyes briefly flickering between all of them. First to Sicheng, who was avoiding her gaze then lingering on Yena then finally meeting Renjun's. The latter looked away, pretending to mind his own business for the time being. "Oh, okay." She took a seat beside Sicheng. "Actually about Saturday-"

"Oh my God." Jaehyun suddenly exclaimed, cutting Hyewon off midsentence. Everyone immediately looked at him. "Sicheng, we should go bowling."

Sicheng's eyes lit up. "You are a fucking genius, Jeong Jaehyun!" The two high-fived.

"What can I say? Your other half knows you well." Jaehyun nonchalantly shrugged like it was nothing, earning some giggles from Aeri and Yena.

Hyewon looked conflicted but quickly masked it with fake enthusiasm as she chose to keep quiet. At least for now.

"I'm going to wipe the floor with you, Jaehyun!" Yena challenged from her seat at the end of the bench.

Jaehyun scoffed. "Oh, really?"

"Yes, really. I'll have you know I'm bowling champion in my family."

"Well, then you're in for some real ego bruising since no one ever beats me." The boy's competitiveness jumped out rather quickly and it made Yena smirk.

"Sicheng's good at bowling too, but Jaehyun's like crazy when it comes to stuff like this." Aeri noted and couldn't help but snort at how serious Jaehyun takes any form of competition.

Sicheng perked up at the mention of his name and smiled when he realized the topic. "Jaehyun's a maniac."

Jaehyun was clearly offended, judging by the gasp that escaped his mouth. "I can't believe you, Sicheng." Jaehyun began and immediately started defending his name and honor. Soon, the four of them had started playfully bantering between each other.

Renjun noticed the way Hyewon was silently sitting to the side and decided to shuffle closer to her. "Hey, are you okay?" He inquired.

Hyewon looked up and Renjun met her conflicted eyes. Sighing, she leaned forward to whisper to the Chinese. "The thing is-" Hyewon couldn't even finish her sentence when the table went quiet and both of them looked over to see what had caused the sudden silence.

They immediately understood as they saw Mark and Haechan. The joyful atmosphere immediately dying down as the two made their arrival during their conversation.

"Morning..." Aeri was first to say, desperately trying to meet Mark's eyes as the latter only mumbled an awkward greeting back. He briefly did meet her eyes for a moment but quickly sat down and pulled his phone out.

Everyone seemed to have noticed and it wasn't helping the weird vibe at the table at all. All eyes were on Aeri now. None of them failed to noticed the way her eyes started shining with tears. "Uhm, I'll just head to class early now. Have a good day, everyone." She tried her best to avoid eye contact with anyone and as she walked away Mark's eyes followed her, staring at her longingly.

"Hey," Renjun was so focused on the poor girl that he didn't even notice that Haechan never sat down with Mark.

Renjun was surprised to find the boy in front of him, speaking to him after so many weeks. "Hi." The Chinese timidly said.

"Can we talk?" Haechan asked and Renjun nodded.

"Sure, when-"

"You don't have class until 11, so right now... If you don't mind." Renjun stared at him in bewilderment. He didn't know whether it was because Haechan was finally speaking to him or because the boy still remembered his class schedule.

He smiled, however. More than happy to get up and sling his bag over his shoulder. "Let's talk then."

trust me to completely forget the plot for this book 💀 please unflop me 🙏