life is still going on ; norenmin

1. a good life

there, renjun saw her in the middle of the crowd running away from her, her sharp-ended canines dripping with blood. her black eyes were looking around wildly. renjun was staring at her in frozen shock.

"she attacked me," he breathes, the healing cuts on his arm hidden by the bandage starting to itch uncomfortably.

"so that's her," jeno's tone was low and angry. "i have a few things to say to her."

"jeno, no," jaemin hissed firmly, looking ready to restrain him if needed. "we need to leave."

then, her head whipped around in that same creepy way she had done it back in the forest, the corners of her bloodstained mouth curling into a smile. "i found you again, prey!"

sure enough, his flight or fight response was triggered and in the end, renjun choose flight, tugging his arm free from jeno's grip and running for it, just like when he was in the forest.

he ran as fast as his legs could carry him, pushing past people, who all turned to glare at him for being so rude, but he could care less. the crowd seemed to dwindle the further he went up the sidewalk. then he remembered — jaemin.

he was supposed to be coming after him, right? at least he thought he heard jeno telling him to do so. but when he looked back to see the familiar pale face in the crowd, he wasn't there, like he had disappeared in thin air.

renjun continued to keep going, not paying attention and bumping into someone. he turned around then, backing up to see hayoon grinning sickeningly at him.

"found you," she said triumphantly, opening her mouth to show off her bloodstained fangs. his head was whirling and before he could react, she sank his fangs into his neck.

he was used to getting bitten by jaemin and jeno everyday, but this was different. he minded this one and it hurt a lot more than their bites did. he quickly went from being just in immense pain to feeling lightheaded, to feeling like he was dying. actually dying, like all the blood was being sucked out of him.

his heartbeat slowed down from his panicked state and now his entire body felt awfully weak. then, darkness started to edge his sight, closing in on his vision until there was nothing.

completely nothing.

that's before he woke up with start, breathing hard and wide-eyed. the room was dark and jaemin and jeno were still very much asleep on either side of him, not at all woken up like him. he hates having that same nightmare over and over again, like he was reliving the same event that happened months ago. it felt too vivid and clear for his liking.

sometimes they were the time he was running through the forest away from her or he was in the city or the forest and it changes to the opposite all of a sudden. but in any of them, he gets turned into a vampire the exact same way.

he doesn't think he can return to sleep after this.

renjun manages to silently creep off the bed without disturbing his boyfriends and exits the room, closing the door behind him as quietly as he could. he doesn't want to worry them at the moment nor mrs. na, so the last thing he wants is to wake up any of them.

he goes to that eating area he's grown used to, simply taking a seat and closing his eyes as he tried to think about anything else but that nightmare. maybe he could think about donghyuck's and mark's wedding coming up in a few weeks, or the fact that his boyfriends made him happy. yeah, he should think about the good things, not the bad.

for at least a few minutes, he sits there at a table in silence, his eyes closed. until he heard footsteps, though the person was light on their feet. his hearing seemed have improved ever since he was turned into a vampire.

his black eyes opened, seeing jaemin approaching him, his tired eyes full of concern. "jun, is it the nightmares again tonight?"

renjun knew he had a bad habit of lying, but he can't lie this time. jaemin had grown immune to somehow, easily seeing through them. he was honest for once. "yes."

he didn't want to think about them at the moment at all. jaemin's eyes are round with sympathy. "it's okay, jun. she's gone and dead. she's not coming back to hurt you."

"i know, it's just that she doesn't feel dead," renjun admitted, now hugging his arms. he still has those scars she left on his arm, another permanent reminder of what she did to him, other than the fact that he was a vampire.

jaemin glanced at those scars before meeting his boyfriend's eyes again. he didn't need to say anymore to comfort him, simply walking over and hugging renjun, who hugged him back. renjun had been fine for an entire month, but the nightmares came recently and out of nowhere. but at least he could be happy when he wasn't sleeping.

by the time it's morning again, renjun woke up once more without either jaemin or jeno beside him. he's a bit confused, but right on time, they reappear, entering the room side by side. they drank their animal blood together before jeno gave renjun his favourite waffles, the perfectly soft and fluffy ones.

"stop being so cute," jeno says affectionately as renjun eats one of them, ruffling his hair with a hand.

"slow down," jaemin said worriedly. "you might choke — "

"i'm fine," renjun answered, his cheeks puffed up with food. he was unbelievably happy when he found out he could still eat normal human food all the same, even though it never satisfied his hunger anymore. at least it still tasted the same.

"don't worry so much, jae," jeno says, shooting jaemin a look. "he's not fragile."

"yeah, but it's a possibility," jaemin argued.

"you worry too much," jeno basically repeated what he said before with different wording. "so calm down for once."

jaemin frowned but fell silent. renjun rolled his eyes before continuing to eat his waffles. they still drove each other up the walls sometimes, but jeno and jaemin still loved each other all the same. though, renjun suspects jeno just happens to like seeing jaemin upset so he purposely bothers him just for the sake of it.

their days aren't spent doing too much — renjun likes watching things on his laptop, catching up on shows he missed. sometimes jaemin and jeno joined him. jaemin was usually actually interested in the show while jeno was more interested in sneaking kisses on renjun's neck and not being sly about it in the slightest.

other times, renjun hangs around his best friends, mark and donghyuck. donghyuck had work most of the time, so renjun only really hung around mark. in those few months that passed, the engaged couple hadn't changed much.

donghyuck and renjun made up but donghyuck was still wary and distrusting of his boyfriends, as though still convinced they turned him into a vampire. mark, on the other hand, being him, was much more nicer and friendlier to them.

most of time, they're out for coffee to catch up or renjun helps mark find suits for his wedding, mark gushing over almost every other one and imagining donghyuck wearing some of them.

another way renjun's days are spent is just relishing his time with his boyfriends, all tangled together on their shared bed, or chatting with mrs. na, jaemin's nice abuela. today, they were discussing whatever came to their minds, renjun confidently sitting with jeno right behind him and jaemin laying in renjun's lap, the other vampire running his hands through his hair.

it's times like these that can make renjun's day better after waking up from a nightmare.

"we should go out for lunch," renjun suggests. "well, i guess we don't exactly need it, but it would be nice to get out this place for a bit."

"true," jeno rested his chin on renjun's shoulder.

"that's fine," jaemin said, his eyes closing.

renjun smiled — he can forget about those dreams. he had nothing to worry about.