𝐼𝓃 𝒴𝑜𝓊𝓇 𝒟𝓇𝑒𝒶𝓂𝓈 ~| Huang Renjun

二十五

"How's Renjun feeling?" Soyoung asked Xinghua with a loud whisper, leaving Jaemin open-mouthed as he was just about to ask the same question. Finding it amusing, the boy just silently laughed and shook his head at the young girl.

The Chinese girl shrugged and nodded towards a resting Jihyun. "She's the one who found him, ask her."

All eyes were suddenly on Jihyun as she looked up from her phone. "Oh, I— um.. He's well. Just tired. It'd be best if we kept quiet for the night and let his body rest well."

"He's in his room right now, sleeping," Chenle added on before taking a sip of his drink. Some of the people nodded along, understandingly.

"So," Seohee started with a proud grin on her face, "is now and appropriate time for me to mention that we annhiliated Mark and Hyejin at the pool?"

This comment of hers gained laughter from both Jaemin and Haechan, both who looked at the oldest boy with a mocking expression. Mark simply closed his eyes and sighed, accepting his destiny. Hyejin giggled at his expression and deposited a quick but loving kiss on his cheek, making his lips curl up slightly, thing he tried to hide by licking his lips. It was no secret that Mark was a really soft and loving boy, but he wanted to act cool. Plus, he already had a fair share of Haechan's mockery for one night.

And so time passed on. They talked about how their day had been for the most part. Jihyun was listening attentively, she liked seeing her friends happy even if she was tired. Her eyes momentarily trailed up and focused on Jaemin and Seohee. They were the cutest couple among them all. Jaemin adored Seohee with his whole heart, it was evident. His sweet and caring personality mixed well with her energetic and talkative one. Seohee found him comforting, a safe space she can always go to when she needs it.

Jihyun didn't say it, but she felt jealous. Not in the 'oh, I wanna date one of them instead' way, but she envied what they had. A proper, healthy and happy relationship even if they weren't official yet (blame it on Jaemin and his love for taking things slow). She knew she couldn't do anything to help it. She couldn't force Renjun to anything. She had to respect his stance. Of course, Renjun being her soulmate didn't mean she had to date him, but she feared that looking for someone else would hurt him as much.

She looked down at her palm, remembering the pain from earlier, and sighed. Much like Renjun to her, she was starting to feel like a burden to him, causing him pain even if she didn't mean to. She noticed the laughter had stopped and she confusedly looked up trying to figure out why. Then she saw him.

He was standing at the doorway to the hallway, gently rubbing the sleepiness off of his face. Everyone was looking at him without saying anything. They didn't mention it, but they all wondered if they'd been too loud and woke him up.

"Jihyun-ah," he started, sounding tired. Jihyun took in a deep breath, preparing herself for Haechan's commentary. "Could we.. talk? A little bit?"

All eyes were pinned on Jihyun again as she nodded somewhat bewildered, standing up and taking her stuff with her. "Good night, everyone," she uttered as she reckoned she wouldn't come back out of the room for the night.

Upon getting to the room, Renjun closed the door behind him and let out a sigh. "Look, I wanted to talk to you about what happened today. I'm sorry for having caused you worry. Not only that, but I also caused you physical pain, I'm.. sorry."

Jihyun noticed how his voice was getting shaky and brushed his hair off his face to get his attention. "Hey, buddy, it's ok. Don't cause harm to your body again. Not for me, but for you. Okay? If you feel bad again, just tell me and we can talk it over."

"You're not mad at me?"

Jihyun shook her head with a frown, a little offended that Renjun thought she'd be mad. "Why would I? Everyone has their fears and regrets. You were overwhelmed, it was an understandable reaction."