Beautiful time (Noren)

16

When Mark and Renjun get to his apartment, it feels weird, like he should be there with Jeno. He opens the door to an eerie silence and looks around. He notices right away that the litter box needs cleaning and he sees that the cats were lazily laying in the window in the sun. He smiles and calls for them and they immediately come to the kitchen for food.
"Oh my, how are you babies? Are you hungry? I'm sorry, Jeno isn't well at the moment but he will be home soon." He says as he's kneeling down petting them all. Mark smiles watching the whole thing. He quickly grabs their food out of the cupboard and fills each dish before setting them down he gives them clean fresh water and Mark has taken the liberty of scooping the cat box which Renjun is thankful for. He makes a note in his phone to stop at the store and get some more food for them that he will bring over later. After they get everything taken care of Renjun grabs the drawing that was framed on the wall and heads back to the hospital with Mark.
"That drawing is great, he'll be happy you brought it." Renjun shrugs.
"I'm sure he'll want to see them as soon as possible but this will be there when he wakes at least." Mark smiles softly.
"You are a good person Renjun, Jeno is lucky to have you." He smiles at the compliment and stares out the window.
"He's going to be ok right?" He asks with a quivering voice. Mark holds his hand.
"The surgery went well, he may have to spend a bit of time in the hospital and go through some rehab but he will get better." Renjun nods and sighs, looking out the window.
"Has he been awake yet?" He asks softly. Mark shakes his head.
"He is on a medication that keeps him asleep for a while. They want him to heal a bit first, but they said maybe a only a few days but we have to wait and see." He nods again.
"I miss him." Mark sighs.
"I know, we all do." Renjun looks over at him.
"You know him well?" He asks, making Mark shrug.
"He's been over for dinner a few times, he's friends with my fiancé so I've heard stories too. Donghyuck has taken this so hard though. He blames himself for not holding him back to wait for backup. Jeno is stubborn though and when he heard that kid he wasn't going to stop until she was safe." Renjun nods with a few tears.
"Is she? Is she safe I mean?" Mark smiles.
"Yes, both the mom and the kid are safe and that man is dead. He was shot by Donghyuck after he shot Jeno." Renjun smiles softly.
"I'm glad Jeno has a partner like him. He sounds amazing." Mark smiles.
When they get back to the hospital Renjun sets up the picture right away on the table by the end of the bed so he can see it when he wakes up. Mark is able to talk Donghyuck into going home for the night so he can rest and Renjun can have some time with him.
Renjun kisses Jeno's forehead then sits beside him.
"I'm happy to be here with you, it's not the same but at least I can see your face and talk to you. I don't know, sometimes it seems like we haven't known each other long enough to be this attached but I also feel like I've known you forever. I hope you still know who I am when you wake up. I guess I don't know if this sort of thing causes amnesia or not. I brought your picture of Nal, Soul and Bongsik. They are good by the way, they were pretty hungry and their box was smelly but at least they were ok. I fed them and when I leave here I'm going to the store to get more food. I've decided that I'm going to sleep on your couch until you get home so they don't get lonely. I hope you will be fine with it? I'm sure they miss you so much already, so I figure someone has to be there for them." He stops talking and leaves the room for a minute. He comes back with a cup of hot water and drops his tea bag in.
"I'm sorry, I would have made you one too but you won't drink it anyway. I just want to have tea with you like before." He giggles to himself.
"You know I changed your name in my phone again, it wasn't what I had originally planned but I like it better.
I want to hug you,
I want you to sit on my couch and massage my ankle again.
I want you to teach me basketball,
I want you to kiss me again." He wipes at his eyes and tries to control his sob.
"I just want you back." He says quietly.
Eventually he fell asleep with his head on Jeno's bed out of sheer emotional exhaustion.
When he wakes up it's to a woman tapping his shoulder.
"Excuse me, I'm here to visit my son. Can I sit?" Renjun shoots up.
"Yes of course. I'm uh, Renjun, it's nice to meet you. I'm a friend of his." He says politely. She nods eyeing him up and down suspiciously, she's giving him an uneasy feeling.
"Did you draw that picture?" She asks looking at the frame on the table. He nods yes.
"Yes, and you don't have to worry about them, I'll take care of them until he can again." She smiles softly.
"Tell me how you met him?" She asks quietly.
"I was at the gym, I was trying to practice basketball for an upcoming game, with some people from work and he was there. I was terrible. I missed every shot while I heard him on the other end of the court making one after another. I asked him to teach me how to play and the rest is history." She smiles.
"That sounds nice. I haven't talked to him in a while, we argued last time and I know I'm being over bearing and unreasonable but I just want what's best you know?" He nods but doesn't say anything.
"Right now I would take back everything I said just to see him open his eyes. I prayed you know? I prayed that if he is ok then I won't bother him anymore." Renjun just nods.
"I'll go now, so you can be alone with him." Renjun says quietly. He stands and with all of his pride he leans over and kisses Jeno's cheek and whispers good night. He knows his mother could have a problem with it but it's ok, he needs to say goodbye properly.
"I'll see you again Mrs. Lee." He smiles at her and walks away.
"Are you dating him?" She asks as he opens the door. His shoulders slump and he sighs.
"No, I'm not." He says and walks out.