always ↬ leading me on || l.dh • h.rj • z.cl

·eleven·

Okay, so maybe it wasn't all too bad. Renjun still hadn't done any work during the lesson (Nana and Hyuck were to blame for that), but he'd promised himself that he'd catch up on the things he'd missed later on.

Currently, he was walking down the corridors, sandwiched between the two boys from before. They were on their way to their next class which, he'd been told, they all shared alongside Jeno.

They'd arrived earlier than most people, since they left art before the bell rang. Renjun followed the others to the back seats and threw his bag on the desk as he plopped down on the seat closest to the window.

As of then, a strong, masculine looking boy with pretty blonde hair walked into the classroom and started to make his way over to them.

Jaemin jumped out of his seat to meet him halfway and gripped his shoulders, "Jeno, you're here! This is Injun, he's the new transfer."

"Injeolmi? Where? I want some, man. I'm so hungry right now," and as if on que, Jeno's stomach rumbled.

"Oh my shit, are you acting stupid or are you actually deaf? Injun not Injeolmi. How do you even mix those two up?" when the brunette had finished shaking Jeno violently, the blonde took out his earphones and raised a brow.

"Why would I be dead?"

Donghyuck facepalmed at the duo's actions and turned to Renjun with an over-dramatic sigh, "see what I have to deal with everyday?"

"Forget that, I just got called a rice cake. A. Fucking. Rice. Cake. Someone please take me back to China before it gets worse." Donghyuck laughed while Renjun groaned, cheek squashed up against his desk.

‣‣

"Anyway Injunnie, that's Jeno," Jaemin piped up as he flopped onto a seat, pointing towards said male who was currently sat near them with his front up against the back of his chair.

"Hey," he muttered, face still planted on the table, "I'm Renjun. Or Injun. Whatever's easier."

The teacher had walked in about a minute ago and was staring at them from his seat at the front of the classroom. Peering at them curiously as he waited for the last students to arrive.

"Jun's gonna hang with us from now on, since Jaemin's taken a liking to him," Hyuck said while propping his feet up on the desk.

"Pfft, like you haven't fallen for my irresistible charms either." Renjun snickered, "look at this beautiful face," he said before he struck an unflattering pose, causing the other three to laugh.

"Y'know what? For once, Jaemin actually made a good choice." Jeno teased.

"HeY-"

Jaemin was interrupted by a hand being pressed against his shoulder and firmly pushing him into the back of his chair. Jeno and Hyuck had stopped giggling and watched as Renjun's deep brown orbs locked with Jaemin's, gazing at their friend with a serious expression.

"Hell yes, you made a good choice. It's me after all," the ravenette chided, tension in the air dissipating as he let go of the brunette and cackled.

Jaemin blinked repeatedly as the other three broke into humor once again, letting everything sink in before he joined them, "yAh! You scared me for a moment."

The boys let the light air drift about them freely, enjoying each other's company thoroughly as they forgot that the lesson had already begun.

After that, they had break — during which, Renjun had mysteriously disappeared, saying that he had to find someone important. He met up with the trio again before third period, slightly saddened as he told them that he couldn't find the person he was looking for. The three had offered to help him; it'd be an easy task for them since they knew basically everyone, but he said it was something he wanted to do by himself so they let him be.

‣‣

Jeno and Renjun had their third lesson together and then they all shared social sciences after, but Donghyuck didn't want to go so Jeno skipped with him while Nana stayed with the black haired boy.

It was lunch time now and the Chinese boy was made to sit at a table with the three. He could feel the stares of all the other students in the cafeteria, their whispers seeping through the air around him and it caused him to recoil slightly - not really appreciating all the attention on him. He got that these seats along with the students sitting on them were exclusive and all, but did he really have to hear everyone's whiny complaints? 'I want to sit next to Jaemin oppa,' and 'it's so unfair that he gets to sit with our princes,' Renjun swore he hadn't cringed more in his life.

Jeno must have noticed his discomfort, because he scooted closer to Renjun and wrapped an arm around his shoulder, but that only caused all the gossip to intensify.

"All of you, shut up. Now."

That's all it took for the whole cafeteria to become pin-drop silent, Donghyuck's voice echoing off the walls.

Jaemin then proceeded to continue his conversation with the blonde sat opposite him and slowly everything resumed once again, this time however, students chatted about other things and stopped talking about Renjun, which made him relax a little bit. He still felt a few people staring at Jeno's hand around him, so he tried to wriggle away subtly.

(He wasn't subtle enough though, because Jeno ended up pulling him closer to the point where Renjun was half-sat on him and half-sat on the bench.)

Everything went on as normal for a while, before he heard the thud of something hitting the floor and a breathy exhale cutting through the air.

And when Renjun's gaze strayed to search for the source of the sound, his eyes widened.

He practically leapt away from the table and ran over to the boy who stood with shaking hands, books fallen and scattered all around him.

His arms wound tightly around the boy's waist as he hugged the blonde tightly to his chest. His head sunk to rest on the younger's shoulder. Tear tracks steadily flowing down his cheeks and voice cracking slightly as he uttered the boy's name in a barely-there whisper.

"Chenle."