𝐼𝓃 𝒴𝑜𝓊𝓇 𝒟𝓇𝑒𝒶𝓂𝓈 ~| Huang Renjun

七

We're here.

That was what Chenle's message said. The ringing note of Jihyun's phone notifications got the people sitting at the table go quiet and eager asa their eyes fixed on her, waiting for her to see it. She gave them a nod as Chenle's car's door closing noises came from outside and footsteps grew near.

At this moment, Jihyun started panicking as she remembered how he was from China, likely didn't speak a lot of Korean, and she hadn't thought of studying Chinese this past week.

The door opened, revealing Chenle, who immediately turned his gaze upon Jihyun, then to the boys at the other end of the table, smirking. Behind him, voices were heard, speaking in Mandarin. Jihyun heard Xinghua's voice say something seemingly funny, perhaps a joke, gaining a laugh from a voice she didn't recognize. Renjun's.

Jihyun visibly tensed up, and upon noticing this, Jisung put his hand on her shoulder and whispered, "relax. You might scare him away if you look like a walking corpse."

This comment somehow made Jihyun smile. She breathed in to calm herself down and waited patiently.

As they kept talking, Xinghua walked into the house, smiling widely at Jihyun before staying quiet. Right behind her, Renjun walked in. He was wearing a blue coat over a white plain shirt, an orange scarf around his neck, and black jeans. He was looking down at the floor, making sure he wasn't leaving any stains, given that it was starting to rain outside and his shoes were wet. Once he looked up and was met with the people in front of him, his expression changed from a smiley one to a mildly surprised one.

Chenle and Haechan immediately laughed at his expression, confusing him even more. He turned to his cousin, but before he could ask anything, she explained. Jihyun couldn't catch much, but she understood a couple things, including the mention of her name. At this, she tensed up again, and Renjun's gaze on her made it worse for her.

He walked up to his seat with a smile, making her feel more at ease now that she knew she had made a good first impression at least. He was sat two seats away from Jihyun, with Xinghua in the middle. She gave her friends an excited look, which they simply met with a smile. They were, of course, happy to see her in such a mood.

As the dinner went on, they shared many stories. The boys were careful to consider Renjun's lack of knowledge in the Korean language and spoke calmly and slower than usual. Haechan was bothered by this, given that he's used to speaking hellishly fast, but still went through with it. Xinghua and Chenle helped translate any words or phrases Renjun didn't quite understand.

Mark told stories from school, especially stories from when Haechan would get in trouble. Haechan didn't enjoy being exposed like that though, but would laugh at remembering such times.

"So you all know each other since long ago?" Renjun asked with broken Korean, changing glances between each of the people.

Haechan nodded. "I met Jihyun when we were in preschool, and she hasn't stopped being a bother ever since." He gained a glare from the girl, who gasped quietly but yet still dramatically, causing him to laugh and say he was joking. "I do enjoy your company," he ended up saying.

"He's just saying that cause he will get eradicated if he doesn't," Chenle said, nudging Jihyun's left arm with his elbow. "This girl right here tends to have some anger issues thanks to Hyuck's pranks."

"Don't lie!"

"Is he lying, though?" Xinghua asked. "It was through one of these times I got to meet you," she pointed out. Then she turned to her cousin and pointed towards Haechan. "He and Jihyun had to do a project together in 5th grade. You know, those where you take care of a little egg for a month like it's a baby and make sure it doesn't break. So at the ending ceremony, he-"