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

·twenty four·

Renjun couldn't tell how long he'd been standing there, waiting, but it was raining again by the time Chenle came out of the building.

His eyes we're cold as he looked up at the Sun in the sky, dulling slowly as it was submerged in a sea of grey.

The clouds swam in the growing winds and when the first few crystalline droplets fell upon his fluttering eyelids, Renjun smiled.

Head pressed back against cold metal, fingers gripping slender steel and orbs flitting up and down, the warmth that had been beating down against him morphing into clear molten lava; burning spots into his skin as they were soothed over by the brutal caress of nature's icy breath.

When his eyes closed and he finally leaned all of his weight against the shining gates, he wasn't there anymore.

He wasn't outside the school, waiting for his best friend so they could walk home together.

He was in a lake set aflame, blazing embers that licked at his neck, crawling up fraction by fraction until the searing pain became unbearable. Until slowly, the world fell away for him and he could only see a reflection of himself in the angry crimson.

The image of the Moon painted with a delicate hand, rippling as if to make way for the onslaught of sound that assaulted the young boy's ears.

Renjun watched as the best picture of himself was ripped apart at the seams to welcome the many screaming whispers, as they broke through the surface and embraced him in all their toxicity.

He never realised that they all belonged to one voice.

Maybe, he never will.

‣‣

His eyes shot open just when the screeching noises got louder, in time to see Chenle solemnly walking out of the school building and he recognised that he was in the safety of reality once again, smiling as he kicked away the numbness from his feet and ran to meet his friend halfway.

"Lele! You're finally here, I thought for a minute you'd ditched me," Renjun laughed as he gripped the younger in a playful chokehold.

With Renjun's arms still around his neck, Chenle sighed and murmured a quite 'sorry ge' before walking out of the gates, weakly tugging the elder along.

"Lele?" the ravenette loosened his grasp on the boy and turned him so that they were facing. "What's wrong? What happened?"

Chenle sighed again and looked off to the side, hands coming up to wrap around Renjun's wrists that rested lightly on his shoulders, "It's just this whole assignment thing."

His friend's heart sunk a little at that, but he could feel a little relief rush through him. He'd thought that Donghyuck and his crew had been bullying Chenle again and he couldn't bear the thought.

"Y'know the one I'm talking about, right? For music?"

Renjun hummed his recognition and moved back next to Chenle as they continued walking again, a silent signal for him to keep talking in the way he slung his arm around the younger's shoulders and pulled him closer to his body.

"She said that she couldn't let me work on it independently. Said I had to at least try to find a group or she couldn't do anything."

"How many people did one group have to have again?"

"At least five. She said there can be more, but if there's any less then it won't be attributed to our final grades."

"What the actual fuck?" Renjun let out an exasperated exhale as he massaged his temple with the hand that wasn't holding Chenle's. "Let's talk about it when we get home, yeah? I don't think walking so leisurely in the rain like this is gonna do wonders for our health."

"But you love the rain, gege," Chenle bit back, making no efforts to fasten his pace.

The rain started to pelt down heavily on top of their heads and Chenle could feel the sensation of its mild warmth slipping down his cold neck as he tried to make out the features of his best friend through the blurry streaks of water falling from the sky.

He could've just called his driver to take them back home, but they'd agreed that they would walk it today because they wanted to look at the pretty scenery together on the way back. No one had told them that the weather was going to be as shit as it was at the moment and the blonde didn't want to give up the little bit of alone time he had with the elder. When they'd get home, his mother probably wouldn't leave them alone.

"Chenle, please. You're gonna get yourself sick at this rate, you literally just recovered from a flu, this is gonna make things worse."

And maybe it was the way the rain glistened like tear drops against his skin, the caring desperation laced in his tone or how his hand tightened around Chenle's own, but he couldn't bring himself to refuse Renjun. So parting his suddenly dry lips he whispered a dying sentence, eyes locked on the other's through the thick downpour, "I'll call the driver."

‣‣

The moment they'd walked through the door, they were both smothered in Mrs. Zhong's worried embrace as she fretted over them.

"Why did you come home so late? Where were you? I was absolutely terrified that you might have gotten stuck in the storm th-"

Mr. Zhong laid a placating hand on his wife's shoulder and ushered her to take a seat in the nearby living room, letting the two boys compose themselves a little and take off their shoes before they got asked anymore questions.

"Good lord," he puffed. "I think we all know where you got your dramatic streak from now, Son," he let out a hearty laugh before continuing, "she really was worried though, I was as well, the news about the storm really wasn't helping either of us to settle our minds. But at least you're both back alive, that's all that matters."

Ignoring most of what was just said, Chenle squinted at his father with an accusatory glint in his eyes before asking, "Dad...what happened to all your grey hair?"

Renjun elbowed the blonde in the ribs while the older man choked on a cough, " I, uh- well, you see-"

"It's okay Uncle, you don't have to explain yourself, we understand," he gave the man a determined nod, "but, what's this storm you keep mentioning?"