Biochemical; NCT Dream

✯•Twenty-Three•✯

Jeno would be lying if he said he hadn't noticed Renjun's frequent bad dreams and restless nights. The night they had arrived at the camp, Jeno could still recall the way Renjun had woken with such a start, completely out of breath and his hands shaky.

It happened almost every single night. Renjun would let out a small cry as he woke, quickly throwing his bed sheets off his body and rushing into the small bathroom. Jeno took note of his tear stained face and sickly pale skin. Something was very wrong.

Jeno had never suffered from bad dreams, probably because he had trouble falling asleep. You can't have nightmares if you don't sleep.

Unlike the previous nights, Jeno decided that something needed to be done. He quietly slips out of his bunk, making sure not to disturb Jaemin. He creeps over to the bathroom and gently knocks on the door. "Renjun?" He says quietly "are you okay?"

For a moment there was no reply and Jeno began to think that maybe Renjun didn't want to speak to anyone right now, but a jiggle of the door handle gets his hopes up.

Renjun opens the door just a crack, popping his head around and looking up at Jeno. His face was pale and his eyes were tired and puffy, an obvious sign he had been crying. "I-is Jaemin asleep?" He asks and Jeno nods.

The brunette has a moment of hesitation before he opens the door a little more to let Jeno in, instantly closing it again. "What's wrong?" Jeno asks, motioning to the tears rolling down Renjun's cheeks.

The elder groans slightly, moving to look into the small mirror above the sink, dabbing at his face with a tissue. "If I knew I'd tell you" he laughs half heartedly, sniffling a little as he throws the tissue into the trash.

"Bad dream again?" Jeno wanted Renjun to know that it was okay to talk to him. He should want to trust Jeno and come to him when he needed help. He knew he seemed cold and careless, but if he didn't have some sort of control over his emotions then he'd scare people away.

He wasn't too sure, but Renjun seemed very familiar to him. From the very moment he had laid eyes on him when he and Chenle had fallen asleep in his car, he was almost sure he had met Renjun before. Jeno had never met anyone that had ever been truly happy, and for that he knew he should pity Renjun.

"H-how did you know?" He asks, turning to look at Jeno who sat on the closed seat of the toilet "was I loud? Did I say anything?" The panic was evident in his voice and Jeno was quick to try and calm him down.

"Don't worry you weren't loud, I just couldn't sleep so I saw you wake up" he assures and Renjun releases a small sigh of relief "Why do you keep having such bad dreams?"

He knew he may be crossing a line by asking. Renjun might not want anyone knowing about his dreams or pitying him for being in a vulnerable state. Jeno had met many people like that before, an example would be Jaemin.

Renjun only shakes his head, his hands gripping the sides of the sink, his knuckles turning white, small streaks of red beginning to run down Renjun's wrist. "They're not dreams" he mutters, keeping his gaze on his reflection in the mirror "They're memories"

This shocked Jeno a little. He couldn't begin to imagine what awful things Renjun must have gone through to end up having such bad dreams.

"M-memories?" Jeno repeats, astonished that Renjun had gone through such traumatic things. "Memories of what?"

Finally, Renjun shifts his gaze, turning his head just a little so he could see Jeno in the reflection of the mirror "it's a long story, I'll tell you at some point but not now" he says, taking a step away from the sink and resting a hand on the door knob "you should get some sleep, you'll be tired tomorrow"

With that he leaves the bathroom, closing the door behind him.

Jeno wasn't quite sure whether Renjun was actually concerned about the amount of sleep Jeno got, or whether he was using it as an excuse to avoid talking about his past. Either way Jeno wasn't going to question it. Renjun was already in a sad state and Jeno didn't intend on making it worse by pressuring him into talking.

With a defeated sigh, Jeno stands and goes to leave the room, only stopping when he notices small drops and smears of crimson in the white porcelain sink. He reaches over and switches on the faucet, washing the blood away before turning around and grabbing something.

He leaves the bathroom and even in the darkness he could see Renjun was sat up in bed, staring down at his hands. Jeno takes a few steps closer and holds his own hand out, placing the roll of bandage on the bedding beside Renjun.
"Goodnight" he whispers before walking back over to the other side of the room and climbing back up into his bunk.

He lay on his back for a few minutes, staring up at the ceiling and listening to Renjun tearing off pieces of bandage. He had noticed before that Renjun had a habit of digging his nails deep into his palms when he was nervous. Jeno had never questioned it before as he just assumed it was a trait he had always had. People usually have small habits when they feel nervous, wether it's an itchy nose, scratching a certain area of skin or mindlessly playing with their hair, Everyone had one so Jeno thought nothing of it. Although now it seemed to be a little more than just a nervous tic.

There seems to be much more to Renjun than he originally thought.