The Lodger; Noren NCT

✿*｡ Twenty-Five ｡*✿

Renjun jumps awake when he hears a crash from downstairs. Quickly he reaches over for his phone to check the time. 3am? Was the house being broken into? Renjun wasn't exactly the strongest person in the world so if there was a stranger in the house he was done for.

Another loud bang breaks him away from his thoughts and he quickly grabs a baseball bat from the back of the closet. It had been there when Renjun moved in and he assumed it use to be Jeno's

Quietly, he pushes his door open, peeking down the dark hallway. Jeno's bedroom door was wide open which was more or less a sign that he still wasn't home. Carefully he made his way down the stairs, his hands shook slightly and he tightens his grip on the bat.

Once he gets downstairs he sees a dim light coming fro the living room, and he could hear someone softly muttering to themself. Finally the situation hit Renjun and he leaves the bat by the door, taking a few more steps closer to the couch. "Jeno?" He asks quietly, standing beside the younger boys shaking body.

Jeno locks his phone and throws it down beside him before looking up at Renjun. It was obvious he had been crying. Even in the dark room Renjun could see the sparkle of tears in his eyes. Renjun wanted to feel bad for him, but he could also smell the strong sent of alcohol from where he stood.
Suddenly a thought crossed his mind and he races over to the window, looking out over the driveway. "Jeno did you dive home?" He asks only earning a halfarsed nod from the younger boy "are you fucking stupid? You could have killed someone or yourself!"

Jeno only shrugs and lays down on the couch "Isn't that what you want?" He mutters, his gaze focused on where Renjun was moving away from the window and back over to the couch "you want me dead right? You don't want me"

To say Renjun was confused was an understatement. He had no idea what Jeno was talking about. "What do you mean?"

A deep laugh comes from Jeno and it made Renjun a little uncomfortable. "You know exactly what I mean" his words were slurred and unclear but Renjun could understand them "I've tried to be nice to you and all I get in return is the silent treatment? You're pathetic Renjun. Go back to china so I can live I peace" his eyes close as he gets a little comfier on the sofa, whining when the pillows weren't to his liking.

"Why can't you just ignore me? Pretend I'm not even there, yeah that sounds like a good idea" the elder snaps back, making a move for the door but a hand on his wrist stops him. His eyes wander back over to Jeno who looked genuinely hurt by those words.

"Pretend you're not there?" He laughs bitterly " how can I do that when you're constantly there. My friends love you, my mum loves you, you lead people on. it's difficult to ignore you Renjun" his face is serious "especially since I always feel this odd drive to be with you, and be around you. Why cant we just be friends. You're friends with Jaemin. What's wrong with me?"

Renjun was silent for a moment. He didn't quite know what to say. "I tried to be friends with you, but obviously that wasn't enough for you. Every single time we're alone we can never just have a normal conversation. You always want to touch me or tease me-"

Jeno laughs once again a sits up on the couch "I think you're forgetting that you usually want it just as much as I do." He stands up and walks over to the kitchen, pulling a bottle of beer from the fridge but before he could even open it Renjun had taken it from his hands.

"Seriously? Don't you think you're drunk enough?" He puts it back into the fridge and the anger on Jeno's face scared him a little. But Renjun stood tall, well as tall as he possibly could, and looked him in the eye. "Listen. I'm gonna say this once only to get it off my chest. You'll probably forget all of this ever even happened in the morning but I'm going to say it anyway." He takes a deep breath "I think I like you"

Jeno's face drops slightly "what?"

"I-I think I like you which is also why I've been avoiding you. Because to you this is all fun and games. You like messing around with peoples feelings but you never actually stop and think about how much pain you're going to cause them" Renjun rants, not even caring about what he was saying anymore "I'm stopping this before my feelings towards you get any stronger"

Jeno stands silent, his gaze lingering o the boy in front of him "I don't like you like that"

Renjun scoffs and crosses his arms over his chest. "Yeah I guessed" he sighs and walks towards the exit of the kitchen "you should go to sleep. Your audition was tomorrow right?" He smiles bitterly before running upstairs and into the guest room.

Surprisingly he wasn't mad or upset. He actually felt rather relieved to have that off his chest. Hopefully Jeno wouldn't be able to remember any of it when he woke up.