Sideline | RENJUN

Chapter 6

Renjun watched as Jieun brought a stool over, sitting on the other side of the counter. He pushed the plate of fries toward her as she placed her glass of soda down, the cup containing cider as well.

"Not a big cola fan?" Renjun asked as Jieun took a fry.

"Not really, personally I prefer cider." Jieun told him.

"Same." Renjun agreed, the two of them now sharing the fries.

"What's that?" Jieun asked, motioning to his sketch. Renjun felt his body heat up, suddenly feeling embarassed.

"Oh um, it's nothing." Renjun said, closing his sketchbook but Jieun slid her hand between, keeping it open.

"It's good. Really good. You're really talented, Renjun." Jieun told him.

As Renjun glanced at Jieun, right into her eyes. There was a softness to them that made him calm down, feeling like he could trust her. He reluctantly opened the sketchbook again, deciding to explain his artwork.

"It's an animal that I came up with." Renjun told her, biting his lip.

"Wait, it's not real?" Jieun exclaimed, turning the sketchbook around so she could see it better.

"No, I imagined it in my head and drew it out." Renjun said, taking a deep breath to calm down his nerves.

"Do you have a name for it?"

Renjun gulped. "Um, this is really cheesy but it's called Dreamer. That's because it feeds off people's dreams."

"Oh?" Jieun said, turning to Renjun. She gave him a small smile, seeming genuinely interested as she continued to much on the fries. "Tell me more."

"Well it feeds on people's dreams, right? So when that happens, the person will forget their dream forever, but this bird will know." Renjun explained.

Jieun pointed to the sketch. "And the blue colour, does that represent anything?"

"Hm." Renjun thought. "Not really."

"You know how people have nightmares." Jieun said, taking Renjun by surprise.

"Yeah?"

"The colour of the animal right now is really pleasant, like a dream. Nightmares aren't that pleasant though." Jieun told him.

"Are you suggesting something?" Renjun asked, intrigued.

Jieun shrugged her shoulders. "I don't know. What if the animal changed colours like to red or black if it feeds on a nightmare?"

Renjun nodded his head. "I like that. I like that a lot."

Jieun chuckled, looking away. "Guess I'm pretty cheesy too. Sorry."

"No, it's fine." Renjun said, unable to contain his smile. "I enjoyed talking about it. It's hard to find someone with as big of an imagination as me."

Jieun opened her mouth as if she was about to say something but closed it, looking behind him. Renjun turned and saw that Doyoung was there.

"I'm going to check on supplies." Jieun said, stepping away. Renjun wanted to tell her to stay but didn't want to seem clingy so he let her go, watching as Doyoung sat down beside him.

"So?" Doyoung asked, leaning on the counter. Renjun looked past the male and realized the couple had left, meaning that it was only him, Jieun, and Doyoung at the diner. "Feel better after talking to Jieun."

Renjun nodded his head, glancing in the direction the girl had disappeared to.

"Yes, I feel a lot better, hyung."