LONG SLOW DISTANCE

06 | intruder alert

It was late, and it was dark, and to make matters even worse it had started to rain. Navigating his way through Busan Arts College was a challenge when Jeno could barely see a thing.

He retraced his steps from the last time he was there - waving goodbye to Renjun through his dorm window, just before they'd left him there two weeks ago. Jeno figured that it couldn't be too hard to pick out the right window again. At least, it couldn't be harder than getting the train down there in the first place. They had joked about how none of them could read a train timetable before, but Jeno had quickly realised upon arriving at the station that it was more than a joke. Getting the train had been a complete nightmare.

Jeno glanced up at the building in front of him, squinting through the onslaught of heavy raindrops that had started to fall. He was pretty sure that Renjun was on the second floor. But when he scanned the windows on the third level, only a few still glowed with light.

"Shit," Jeno sighed, checking the time on his phone. It was nearly eleven, and he was going to be sleeping outside in the rain if he couldn't find the right room.

Suddenly, there was movement at one of the windows that made Jeno freeze. The blinds shifted and a person looked out into the dark night, gazing up at the stars. Jeno instantly began to panic. It was Renjun.

Not knowing what else to do, and with nothing to hide behind, Jeno instinctively made the decision to fall - and lie flat on his front on the sodden grass. The rain began to pour. Turning his head to one side, Jeno craned his neck to see if the coast was clear. He managed to see Renjun close the window (which wasn't exactly in Jeno's favour) and disappear. The square panel of light still shone through the window pane.

Jeno exhaled in relief. He might be soaked through - from the front and back with rain - but at least he wasn't caught.

And then his phone began to ring.

"Oh, come on," Jeno cursed, scrambling to search through his pockets for the source of the noise. The ringtone echoed in the empty space between the buildings.

His ringtone was still Womanizer by Britney Spears. Which was... ironic, considering the fact that Jeno was a certified bisexual dumbass trying (and failing) to surprise his boyfriend while being attacked by the pouring rain.

"Hey," he said breathlessly, finally finding his phone in the back pocket of his jeans.

"Hey."

Jeno couldn't resist the urge to smile at the sound of Renjun's voice.

"What are you up to?" Renjun asked with a soft laugh. "You took ages to answer. Lost your phone again?"

"Nope," Jeno replied. He hoped the sound of rain on concrete wouldn't pick up too much on the call. "I, uh... I was just taking a shower."

Technically speaking, that wasn't exactly a lie. Jeno was certain he was now soaked through to the skin.

"Ah," Renjun said, "I guess you'll be going to bed soon. I wanted to call and say goodnight at least."

Jeno hesitated. If he said goodnight and ended the call now he'd feel bad, but he really needed to get up to Renjun's dorm as soon as physically possible. Otherwise, he would probably dissolve into raindrops himself and be absorbed by the wet soil he was still lying on.

"Yeah, I'm... really tired," he lied, pretty unconvincingly at that, "so I should get some sleep. Goodnight, baby. I miss you."

"I miss you too. Okay, well... we'll talk soon, then. Night."

Wow, Jeno felt awful. But he reluctantly hung up the call and got to his feet, approaching the dorm building with a new sense of desperation.