Mr. No || NCT || Completed

48 - Where Renjun listens to a story

The car ride to Cha Kunwoo's place was filled with loud music. Chaewon had allowed Renjun to drive and turned up the volume of the radio as soon as the doors were closed. It felt almost like a protest of some kind but Renjun didn't really understand what she was protesting against.

He had fulfilled his promise and given her a chance to get closer to Jaemin. It was what they had agreed upon weeks ago.

Renjun glanced at her while they waited for the traffic lights to turn green.

Her face was pale and she had dark circles underneath her eyes. She was staring ahead, her mouth tightened into a thin line. Had she stayed up all night dreaming about Jaemin?
But if that was the case, then why was her facial expression so stern?

Maybe she had stayed up because of her grandmother's diaries.

"Lights", Chaewon said, nodding forward.

"Did you sleep well?" Renjun had to raise his voice in order to be heard over the loud music. He was still studying her face. "You look tired."

Finally, for the first time that day, Chaewon's eyes met his. "The lights are green."

A car behind them honked.

Wave of embarrassment washed over Renjun and he accelerated quickly before the car behind them would honk again.
It would've been easier to not even try to create conversation since Chaewon wasn't on the mood but Renjun couldn't stop thinking about how exhausted she looked.

"Did you stay up late?" he tried again. This time he kept his eyes on the road – partially because staring at her was distracting but also because he didn't want to be caught staring at her.

"Kinda." Chaewon stifled a yawn. Renjun was scared that she would leave it at that but, luckily for him, she continued. "I was messing around with the chord progression of a song I'm working on. I lost the track of time and worked on it almost until morning, only to end up using the original version."

That wasn't too bad.

"Is it the same one you worked on before?" Renjun asked, remembering seeing her compositions before.

"No, no. It's a different one."

Despite Renjun's efforts, Chaewon didn't get her chatter going. It was unsettling. She wasn't usually so quiet.

He took a turn and allowed some pedestrians to cross the street. There was a very slow grandma who was pulling a cart full of fruits. "How was your dinner with Jaemin?" He tried to hide the bitterness from his voice but considering how well Chaewon read social situations, he had a bad feeling that she noticed his conflicted feelings regarding the question.

"It was fun. Jaemin is so kind, just like he looks." She shrugged, scratching her temple. "He has a very gentle soul."

A gentle soul?
Renjun had shared his soul with a wolf but her words made him feel more like a hedgehog – a prickly creature that grunted and rolled into a ball when agitated.

"How much of someone's soul can you see during one dinner?" he heard himself wonder aloud. If someone had used that kind of petty tone with him, he would've thrown something at them.

"Oh, we've been texting too, quite a lot actually", Chaewon answered right away and took out her phone. "He uses a lot of emoticons. I can show you, just give me a minute."

Renjun frowned at the slow car in front of them. "Did I ask?" The pricks were even more piercing than before.

The sharpness of his words froze her hands that had been searching for the correct conversation from her phone and she turned to look at him, confused sadness in her eyes. "You could've just said no."