Mr. No || NCT || Completed

56 - Where Renjun admires the sun

Renjun stared at the younger version of himself. The Renjun he saw was in his early teens - an angry-looking boy with sharp fists and tense posture. In his hand he held a paint brush with tough bristles, and when Renjun looked past his younger self, he saw an easel with a canvas, surrounded by paint, a cup for water and other necessities.

The young Renjun was still staring at him in silence. He stood there with his feet far apart as if he was trying to block as much of the canvas from the older Renjun as he could.

Ever since he lost the connection to his doubler, Renjun had spent quite a few nights in dream loops with the younger versions of himself. Sometimes he met himself as a young kid who was excited to talk with him, sometimes the versions were older, hostile and quiet. Usually, the wolf was also somewhere in the dream - hiding in the blind spots and never interacting with him - but now Renjun couldn't feel its presence.

There was no one other than himself and the young boy in front of him. Even the space surrounding them was empty and the only thing Renjun could see was the easel behind the younger boy.

Renjun sighed – there was no way out of the dream. His eyes were drawn to the canvas behind the young Renjun, and he took a step towards it, only to be blocked by the lanky boy in front of him.

"What are you painting?" the adult version asked, nodding towards the easel and canvas. He saw that there were some sketches on the surface of it but couldn't tell what it was going to be.

The young boy remained quiet.

Renjun rolled his eyes. "I'm trying to be friendly, kid. Is your art project really so secret?"
The boy studied his facial expression for a moment before ending the silent treatment. "You've been drawing more lately."

It was the first time the dream acknowledged what Renjun was currently dealing with in the real world. Normally the younger versions of himself were vaguely hopeful or angry but never discussed anything concrete.

Despite being taken aback by the young boy's words, Renjun nodded.
"Yeah. It has been..." he paused. He thought about the sketch of Jisung and Chenle that was still on the fridge door (Jisung was so fond of it and Renjun didn't want to let him down by hiding it again) and the design plan he had sent to the start-up company as suggested by Minghao. "It hasn't been completely horrible."

The corners of the young Renjun's lips twitched slightly. Renjun recognized the tiny movement (after all, he was talking to himself) and couldn't help feeling a bit smug. Maybe Chaewon's charm had been rubbing onto him and he was learning how to win people over.

Suddenly, the young Renjun lifted his hand, offering the paint brush to the older version and when the older one frowned in confusion, the young Renjun glanced at the canvas. "Do you want to put in some colour for me?"

The older Renjun accepted the paint brush without a word but it was surprisingly heavy in his hand and he almost toppled over before regaining his balance and holding the paint brush with both hands. When he took a step toward the easel, his feet were tired and a wave of sleepiness swept over him.

The walk to the easel and canvas was short but it took him forever to get there. The younger Renjun followed after him quietly and, just like him, the world around them was completely silent. When the older Renjun tried to look around, he couldn't see anything around them.

Finally, they reached the easel.

"What do you see?" the younger Renjun asked.