𝐼𝓃 𝒴𝑜𝓊𝓇 𝒟𝓇𝑒𝒶𝓂𝓈 ~| Huang Renjun

二十四

Sobs.

Jihyun heard sobs.

"Renjun?" she called, looking around her. The sobs halted, it was painfully quiet now, except for the sound of rustling trees and bushes. "Renjun, I heard you already, where are you?"

"Go away."

Behind a bush.

She quietly and calmly approached the bush Renjun was hiding behind. "Hey, bud."

The boy didn't look up, but Jihyun saw his body twitching as he held back his sobs. "I said go away. I'm fine, leave me alone."

"I'd more than love to do so, but alas, I need you to survive," Jihyun dramatically said as she sat down in front of him. Seeing that he wouldn't meet her eyes, she pushed a little further. "Renjun, there's no need to hide your worries. It'll only keep on hurting you. Please."

Renjun's cold, shaky hand was suddenly overwhelmed by the warmth and comfort hers brought. He tried moving it away from her once more but she stopped him.

The girl remembered something. The burning feeling on her palms as she looked for the crying boy. Uncertain and concerned, she decided to make sure it wasn't what she thought it was. To her dismay, she found exactly what she feared to find. "What's this?" Jihyun flipped his hand over to notice all the marks his nails had left on his palm from digging, scratching and cutting through the skin. "Renjun-" she looked up to his face again and stopped dry.

He was now looking at her. His eyes were red, tired from crying but still looking unable to stop it. His face was also blushed,  lips were trembling. Tears kept coming out of his eyes even if he didn't blink. His body was visibly shaking and his sobs only made his overall appearance look even worse. He looked so.. broken inside.

"I'm sorry," he said, a new overwhelming wave of shame and sadness crashing against him made it hard for him to properly speak. Jihyun watched as Renjun's hand tugged at his hair and his sobs got louder and more violent. "I'm sorry that you're stuck with me after all those years dreaming about your soulmate."

She didn't reply. She just watched his cries worsen. She feared that saying something—anything—would cause Renjun more pain. Instead of talking, she pulled him close into an embrace. Renjun didn't move away. His head rested on her shoulder, his cries becoming muffled. Jihyun felt his shaky hands grasp the back of her shirt.

They remained there for a while. Her hand caressed his hair in an attempt to relax his tense body. Her voice muttered reassuring words. Renjun's sobs slowly but surely quieted down and his grasp started loosening as his body lost energy and the tiredness hanging from his red eyes increased.

Before she knew it, Renjun had fallen asleep. Jihyun took out her phone from her pocket and texted Chenle.

Lele 🐬

Chenle

Bitch

I found him

where

im omw

During the remaining time they spent there at the pool, Renjun simply sat where he was before the whole ordeal, watching the others. Mostly, he focused on the way the others played. His eyes were particularly fixed on Jihyun and a smile threatened to attack his face whenever she'd laugh. Haechan was constantly trying to drown Jeno; Jisung and Soyoung sat with just their feet in the water, talking to each other; Mark and Jaemin had Hyejin and Seohee on their shoulders as they play fought; Chenle and Xinghua were taking pictures of each other and the rest; and the remaining girls were talking in a corner of the pool.