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"It's really nice to see you, Renjun!"

Haechan's mother welcomed him to her family's home with a warm hug. "You too, Mrs. Lee," Renjun smiled. "Hello, Mr. Lee," the boy added, slightly bowing his head at Haechan's father, who returned the greeting with a smile. "He's going to spend the night, is that fine with you?" Haechan asked his parents. "Of course," his mum answered, easing the boys' worries.

"I'll go get changed," Haechan announced before making his way upstairs. He wanted nothing else but to get off of his uniform and put on some comfortable clothes instead. When the boy entered his room, his fingers were already undoing the first buttons of his shirt.

But it was only thanks to him being too impatient to stop and turn the lights on that he could notice it. A weak flicker of light, gone just as Haechan had become aware of its presence. He furrowed his eyebrows in confusion, not knowing what that was or where it had come from.

Before Haechan could give it more thought, Renjun arrived in his bedroom. "Hyuck? What are you doing here in the dark?" He turned on the lights, making the younger's eyes squint as they adjusted to the new brightness of the room, when previously there was only the dim shining of the moonlight.

"Mmh? Oh, nothing," Haechan answered mindlessly, his head still occupied with trying to understand what that faint but definitely real light had been. "Are you feeling okay?" Renjun spoke now more tentatively, noticing how distracted the younger seemed, "yeah, I was only daydreaming."

Haechan finished unbuttoning his uniform shirt, taking it off and putting on a hoodie that lay on his bed. Meanwhile, an embarrassed Renjun started looking around the younger's bedroom, as if the color of the wall had become suddenly so fascinating, in order to avoid glancing at his best friend while he undressed.

Haechan was completely unaware of the effect it had had on Renjun as he ran a hand through his hair, fixing it after it becoming a mess when he changed clothes. The boy stared at himself in the wall mirror, noticing, through the reflection, the older now looking his way, and it clicked.

It was then when Haechan realized he had quite literally stripped in front of his best friend so casually. Of course they had seen each other lightly dressed before, they even spent summers together with the rest of their friends, but something about that moment felt more intimate than simply going to the beach as a group on a random summer day.

Haechan turned around, finally facing Renjun directly rather than next to his reflection in the mirror. He felt that it was his turn to say something, since it was him who made the situation turn into that level of awkwardness in the first place. 

But saved by the bell, they heard the voice belonging to Haechan's mother calling out for them from downstairs, "boys! Come set the table and we can have dinner." Then the two boys' voices overlapped with each other, "sure," "on it," contributing to the already strange atmosphere between them. 

The two went downstairs and got everything ready to have dinner with Haechan's parents. With everything set and done, they began eating, thankful for the tough day being almost over. Of course, a topic that popped up during dinner was when exactly did they plan for Renjun to meet Haechan. Despite hating lying to his family, the latter had to improvise a quick white lie. 

Luckily for them, Haechan's parents didn't notice anything wrong, and the four finished dinner peacefully, helping clean and bidding their goodnights afterwards. Before Haechan knew it, him and Renjun were already back to his room and ready to simply sleep all their troubles away.

"So that's where he lives, huh?" Renjun mentioned suddenly, approaching the bedroom's window. It faced the side of Mark's house, including one of the teacher's own windows. "Yep," Haechan moved besides Renjun, now both watching Mark's house, where the source of their problems resided.

After noticing Haechan's low mood in that moment, Renjun got bitter and closed the curtains. "Sorry, let's not think about him now," he offered an apologetic smile, which the younger returned straight away. As if remembering something, Haechan suddenly opened his closet and started rummaging through drawers.

"Here," he gave Renjun some comfortable clothes that he could use as pajamas and went to grab some for himself. While his best friend changed behind him, Haechan awkwardly stood facing the other way, not wanting to make him feel uncomfortable.

They've had countless sleepovers at each other's house since both of them could remember, but this one felt different somehow. Was it because of the conversation they've had on their way home? Neither Haechan nor Renjun knew for sure, but both of them could sense it. 

Renjun decided to ultimately ease this new tension between them, "so, what should we do?" Haechan grinned at the older's question. "I've got an idea," and Renjun liked how that sounded.

Just like those sleepovers they used to have as little kids, the two played video games together, gossiped, ate candy, watched funny videos... But, on that occasion, they ended up in Haechan's bed. While staring at the ceiling in complete silence, the only thing they could see was the darkness and the only thing they could hear was their heartbeats.

Haechan had his head placed on Renjun's arm, and neither of the two knew how they had ended in this position, but they didn't complain. "Thanks for staying," the younger spoke out of the blue, without taking his eyes off the ceiling. "No problem, your bed is really cozy," and Renjun chuckled after Haechan hit him jokingly.

Now back to the silence, Renjun sighed softly, ready to fall asleep, while Haechan was also starting to drift off. The younger let his head loll to the side as his eyelids closed and his heartbeat relaxed slowly. And he heard, right before completely losing consciousness, a whispery voice addressing him.

"I'll keep you safe."

A/N:

So what do you think ;)

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