repeat. huang renjun

- f o u r t e e n -

hour fifty-nine ⏳

Jeno's words lingered in Jirae's mind even while sitting on the floor of Renjun's bedroom.

She stared blankly at the empty canvas in front of her. Jirae had gone to Renjun's room, thinking of nowhere else to go. He gladly invited her and suggested doing some art with her.

They were both skilled in the arts but Jirae couldn't think of anything to draw or paint. She was so deep in her thoughts, Jeno's words circling her mind and repeating like a broken record.

What we want to do in that one hour, we should do now. It's our chance isn't it?

We always have that chance. That chance is given to us in different ways. That 'last one hour' is given to us in different ways. But we always have it

"Well, you seem distracted." Jirae looked up to see Renjun's teasing smile.

She shook her head, chuckling a little as her cheeks turned pink with embarrassment. "It's nothing. I'm just deep in thought."

Renjun raised his eyebrows at her, smiling like the devil. "Isn't too early in the morning to be such deep thought? You've been staring at the empty canvas for nearly 10 minutes," he said, gesturing to the still clean white canvas in front of her.

Jirae looked back down at her canvas before glancing at Renjun's one. Her cheeks turned redder, feeling embarrassed by the fact that his canvas was already full of colour and beautiful drawings and yet hers was still empty due to intruding thoughts.

But she couldn't help it. Ever since Jeno talked to her about last chances, she couldn't help but get the feeling it had something to do with her situation.

"What do you think about last chances?" she suddenly blurted out, taking Renjun aback.

He thought for a second before smiling a little. "Well, I think everyone always has another chance at things. We always have a second chance to changes things and to make things right," he said, putting down the yellow colour pencil in his hands.

"Last chances..." he pouted a little as he thought about it for a bit. Jirae smiled at him, finding him absolutely adorable. It was one of the habits she found cute.

"Well, last chances aren't often given, aren't they? So we must use it to the fullest. We never know when our last chance at anything will be so we just have to live like it's our last. Like we have nothing to lose," he said while nodding his head, a small smile on his face.

Jirae nodded at him. How? It didn't make sense in her situation. Last chances? She wasn't even sure when her last hour was. Maybe she had to go on for 100 hours before it came to a stop, or a specific number she didn't know of.

But she did think, what if it was her last hour? Her final moment before finally leaving the world. Would she then go with Jeno and Renjun's words and just live it out? She couldn't. Stupid world, stupid time, stupid life. She wished things were different.

"Why did you suddenly ask that? What kind of situation are you in to be thinking about last chances," Renjun joked, a small snicker leaving his lips.

Jirae chuckled silently, yet again reminded by how bizarre her situation was. She smiled, He'll laugh at it now, but he'll be so fascinated when he hears it all. She imagined getting out of the time loop and sharing her adventures with Renjun as they lay on his soft carpet, laughing at the stupid things that happened. If she could get out of that time loop.

"Some weird ass situation where I don't know what to do. Or how to get out of it," she smiled at him. "It feels like I'm trapped in some sort of impossible situation and I'm nowhere near figuring out how to get out of it."

Renjun did promise her in the first few hours of her bizarre journey that he would help her, but she knew that no one could help but herself. She was the key to stop time from repeating. She just didn't know how to fit in the lock.

Renjun smiled a little before moving closer to her. Jirae raised her eyebrows at him, wondering what he was doing.

She definitely did not expect him to hug her. Butterflies erupted at the gesture as her cheeks turned pink once again.

"Why the sudden hug?" she chuckled nervously, trying to calm down.

"You seem tired." Oh yes, she was. "You seem like you're going through a hard time. Hugs always help."

And just when she thought he couldn't get any sweeter. She could fall in love with ten times and she wouldn't complain. Renjun did make everything better. (Except for the fact that he wouldn't remember this ever, but let's move away from all this negativity.)

Jirae chuckled a little before resting her head on his shoulder. His 'wide' shoulders, the boys joked about.

"You'll get out of whatever situation you're in. I believe in you," he said quietly. She never realised how much she needed this. To hear this, and to share this moment with him. Jirae was exhausted and having him care for her like that felt like a nice warm blanket in the midst of a snowstorm.

"If I were you, I would just go for it. You really never know what's going to happen unless you try and see. Don't be afraid and just do it. Take that small step that could change your life." His words were, weirdly, out of place in their conversation but it somehow managed to fit in perfectly with her situation.

Jirae sighed, before smiling. It was just a little weird to associate his words with confessing especially when she was thinking about confessing to him. But she's gone through weirder stuff that absolutely didn't bother her anymore. Even Jaemin and Haechan couldn't shake her.

"I will," she whispered, with a smile. I will confess. After I figure this time thing out. Just wait.

Oh confidence, have you come out of nowhere except a comforting man and his comforting words.

what do you think is the key to getting out of the time loop? it's been mentioned throughout the story even chenle said it 🥴