somewhere only we know | huang renjun

003 | a clean square of paper.

!a clean square of paper.

               "BYE THEN, I GUESS," renjun whispered under his breath, seemingly disappointed.

i opened the front door, holding the container tight behind my back to hide it. i slipped it behind the tall vase next to the stairway and walked back into the kitchen empty handed. my father had his face buried down in the book sat in his lap, his glasses perched neatly on the tip of his nose. it didn't look like he had moved since i left, which meant he hadn't noticed renjun at all.

phew.

i went back to do the washing up and took myself back up to my bedroom once i was finished. i sat on my bed, picking up my book again to finish off its remaining pages when i heard a knocking sound coming from behind me. i looked up and walked towards my desk to see renjun facing me from his bedroom, knocking to get my attention.

'hi' he mouthed to me, waving. i put my book down on my desk and waved back, walking closer to my window to get a better view of him. he held a finger up at me as if to tell me to wait, and turned down to his left to scribble on his desk. next, he pressed something up to the glass of his window. a clean square of paper.

'walk to school tomorrow?' the sheet read.

i was reluctant to agree, knowing that if my dad knew i had started walking to school with the boy i may not make it out alive. i nodded anyway, figuring that he wouldn't have to see us together anyway.

renjun smiled, while mouthing back a satisfied 'okay'. he held up eight fingers to me, raising his eyebrows. it took me a second to realise he was referring to the time we'd leave: 8 o'clock. i nodded again and received another warm smile in return. i was about to wave goodbye to him, but i instead jumped at the sound of my door bursting open behind me. i snatched my book back into my hands, pulling my neck down to pretend i had been reading it.

please renjun look away, please renjun look away, i pleaded, scared my dad would notice him standing at the window.

i looked up to the figure standing in my doorway as it made its way closer to me. with just my luck, he wasn't fooled at all by my instinctive reading reflex, and stormed across to the window to look across at where renjun's bedroom was. i worriedly followed his stare, turning my head in the same direction.

thank god, i thought to myself once i saw renjun's back turned from the window. i guess he got the memo once he saw my dad.

"what was all that knocking?" dad asked angrily staring down at me. think of something, think of something, think of something...

"...i don't know," i stuttered back nervously.

"i know that it came from your room, tell me what it was!"

"it wasn't me, i don't know," i repeated. he heard the knocking, but i was surprised he didn't hear the pounding in my chest.

"were you talking to that boy again?!" he asked, raising his voice louder. he pointed up at renjun, who glanced in our direction but quickly looked back when he saw us both looking at him.

"no, i'm reading my book," i lied. i held the novel up to show him.

he grabbed it out of my hands and threw it on my bed, losing my page.

"i do not tolerate lying in this household, y/n! don't let me catch you again!" with that, he pulled himself back out of my bedroom and slammed the door behind him.

i stood still, facing my back to the window as i heard the loud footsteps go back downstairs.

i turned around slowly and darted my gaze towards renjun, who had turned to face me again, staring with a subtle frown on his face. i looked around for a second, before simply closing my curtains on him once more. at least maybe now he could understand why i had been so cold.