The Lodger; Noren NCT

✿*｡ Twenty-Eight ｡*✿

How difficult could it be to ignore feelings? It's not like Renjun was in love with Jeno. He just kind of liked the idea of Jeno, and obviously he was attractive. That's all. There were no real feelings and there would never be any.

Renjun walks out of the school building, making his way towards the bike racks. Thankfully his lessons were over for the day, meaning he could work a few extra hours at the coffee shop.
The parking lot was pretty much empty with only a few students stood near the entrance.

He bends down and unlocks his newly fixed bike which he really did need to thank Jeno for at some point. It was sunny out but there was a slight breeze which made Renjun zip up his jacket.

Just as he was about to get onto the bike, he jumps a little in surprise when seeing someone stood behind him. He presses a hand to his chest "Jesus I nearly had a heat attack"

"Sorry! I didn't mean to scare you. Are you okay?" Jisung asks quickly making sure the elder was okay.

"I'm fine" Renjun mutters as he climbs onto his bike but keeps one foot on the floor for balance "Can I help you with anything?" He asks, finding it a little odd that Jisung was talking to him. Usually it was Jaemin that spoke to him most out of Jeno's friends and Jisung had never made a move to talk to him like this before.

"Oh, I came to ask if Jeno is okay" he says "Mark told me bout what state he was in last night and I haven't seen him today and well I guessed you obviously would have" he smiles awkwardly and Renjun returns it.

"Yeah, I've seen him. He's still as ignorant as usual so I think he's okay" the sarcasm was evident in his tone and it only made Jisung look even more awkward.

He scratches the back of his neck "sorry, Jaemin did mention that you two were arguing, I shouldn't have asked you" he apologises but Renjun only waves him off.

"It's fine, he is also fine" he forces a smile which Jisung returns, shuffling to the side to let Renjun ride past him. "See ya later"

And with that he was off, cycling to the small cafe that he worked at. The family that owned it were very sweet and they were Chinese too which made Renjun feel a little more comfortable working there. At first he was worried he would mess up his Korean in the interview because of nerves but obviously the universe was on his side that day.

It wasn't long before he was outside of the cafe and he quickly locks up his bike. The bell above the door rings as he enters and Sicheng, the owners son, looks up, a smile appearing on his lips when spotting the blonde.

"Renjun? Shouldn't you be in school?" Sicheng asks as he finishes stacking up the paper cups.

"All my classes are over for the day so I wondered if I'd be able to work a few extra hours here?" He asks hopefully as he makes his way closer to the counter.
The elder thinks for a moment before grabbing an apron and throwing it over to Renjun which he luckily caught.

"Yuta hasn't shown up yet, you can work his shift and I'll tell my parents to give you the pay instead" he explains, grabbing a bag of coffee beans and pouring them into the machine.

Yuta was the only other worker at the cafe and he seemed to have a thing for Sicheng. It would make you think he would actually show up on time but nope, even when Renjun was working early on weekends, Yuta always comes in late. "What if he shows up? What time did his shift start?"

"An hour ago" Sicheng says and throws the empty bag in the trash, turning to look at Renjun "I think we both know he ain't showing up" he laughs a little "my parents really need to fire him"

Renjun looks over at Sicheng who was glancing down at his phone. The cafe was quite and they had no customers to tend to. "But do you really want him to get fired?" He smiles a little when the elder looks up with a confused expression but Renjun only wiggles his brows teasingly.

"Pfft shut up"