Haunting; Noren NCT

♱•Eleven•♱

Friday soon rolled around and Renjun was hella nervous. Today was the day his 'friend' could come round for dinner. He just felt like something would definitely go wrong.

That morning Renjun had told Jeno to wait in the foyer downstairs for him coming home from school. His parents would never know he was there, the only thing they'd notice is the frosty temperature dip. He was just praying that Jeno had remembered.

Renjun walks through the rusty gates and towards the front door. Slowly he opens it, his eyes scanning the entrance of the house. "Jeno?" He whispers as he clicks the door shut behind him. "Jeno?" He says again and this time he showed up and Renjun sighs in relief.

"Sorry, I was just making sure it was you" Jeno apologises, adjusting the turtle neck a little, pulling the fabric over his skin a little more.

"It's okay" Renjun assures "you remember what we went over last night right?" He asks, hopeful that Jeno would say yes.

Instead the ghost rolls his eyes "just because I'm old doesn't mean I don't know how modern day teenage boys act. Last year there was a family here with a seventeen year old son, although he didn't do much interesting, you're way more entertaining to watch" he says to which Renjun didn't know how to respond. Was that a weird sort of compliment?

"Thanks?" The brunette says, still unsure whether he should take it as flattery. "Anyway come on" he nods for Jeno to follow as he makes his way towards the kitchen where his mother sat, typing away on her laptop.
"Hey mum!" Renjun says which causes her to look up with a smile. The smile only grows when she sees Jeno.

"Oh you must be Renjun's friend" she says, getting up from her seat and holding her hand out for Jeno to shake.

Shit.

Why hadn't Renjun thought of this sooner?!

"Yeah, I'm Jeno. It's really nice to meet you" the ghost says and offers a friendly and very charming smile.

Before their hands could touch, Renjun braces himself and grabs it first, trying not to visibly shiver. "We're gonna go watch some tv whilst we wait for dinner" he rushes before pulling Jeno into the other room.

His mother looked a little confused but Renjun pretended not to notice as he leads Jeno to his couch, forcing him to sit down.
"Your hands warm" Jeno says, his eyes on their joined hands.

Renjun desperately tired to let go but Jeno's hold was tight. "Your hand is cold! Let go of me!" He whisper yells which seems to snap Jeno out of his trance and release his grip.

The brunette lets out a sigh of relief as he collapses beside Jeno, cradling his hand close to his chest. He can feel Jeno's eyes on him and he looks over. "Sorry" he breathes but Renjun only waves him off.

"Don't worry about it" he says, moving from his slouched position and sitting up "you can eat right?"

The question seemed to confuse Jeno a little and he tilts his head "What?"

"Well you're...dead. Can ghosts even eat? I should have checked before. God I'm so stupid" Renjun rambles, burying his head in his hands. This whole thing was going to be a disaster. He should have just invited Jaemin round instead.

"I can eat" Jeno says simply which causes Renjun's head to pop up.

"Y-you can?"

The ghost nods "obviously I don't need to but I can. It's the same concept as Greek gods. They never had to eat to survive since they were immortal, but they did because they enjoyed doing it" he explains, surprising Renjun with his obscure knowledge.

"Okay good" he seems to release another breath and moves to grab the tv remote. "Wanna watch some tv?"
Jeno looks from Renjun, to the remote and then back to the tv. It was pretty amusing and the brunette found himself laughing. "You've never watched tv before have you?"

Jeno only shrugs "I mean I've seen other people watch it but I've never been asked to watch it" he says and this only causes Renjun to laugh a little more.

He switched it on and hands the remote over "here watch what you want" the confusion on Jeno's face only intensifies and Renjun shuffled closer, explaining how to use it and what buttons do what. He describes what a few shows were about. They eventually settle on watching the movie Titanic. They'd missed a lot of it and only caught the ending but Jeno seemed satisfied enough.

"I remember when the Titanic sank" Jeno says suddenly, which causes Renjun's eyes to widen. He almost forgot that Jeno was actually dead and way older than he looked.

Renjun studies Jeno's face for a moment, contemplating whether to ask the question in his head. "H-how old are you?"

The question only earns a shrug "I was born in eighteen ninety-Seven or maybe it was ninety-eight. I don't know I can't really remember, I was never any good at numbers" he laughs a little "bit I died at the age of nineteen and I'm stuck in the body of a nineteen year old, and I remain with the mindset of a nineteen year old".

It seemed to shock Renjun a little but he didn't let it show. The next question on the tip of his tongue was a rather personal one which he definitely didn't know whether to ask. Even if he did ask it he wasn't sure Jeno would answer.

How did he die?

Thankfully, before he could ask, his mother was calling them both for dinner and they were quick to get up and make their way to the dining area.

The family that lived in the house before them had told Renjun's parents that the dining room was the only room in the house with its original interior as it was far to grand to modernise. Renjun notices the way Jeno looks around the room, a faint smile on his lips as he examines the ornate candelabras and the bronze fireplace.

His mother also seems to notice Jeno's admiring eyes "isn't this room beautiful, it hasn't been decorated in centuries apparently" she says as she places the food onto the table "I don't know why anyone would decorate it, it's far too exquisite and so well maintained".

Jeno smiles and nods in agreement "it's stunning" he replies, taking a seat beside Renjun at the table.

"The house still holds a lot of it's original furniture but not the overall decor" she takes a seat opposite the boys and it wasn't long before Renjun's father had joined them, sitting beside his wife and greeting Jeno.

Another hand shake Renjun had to stop.

"So Renjun told me you're quite the artist, I heard you bonded over your shared talents" his father says and Renjun sees the way Jeno glances over at him.

He had to make up some sort of story of how they became friends. He was just praying that Jeno played along.

"Yes, I've always had a love for art" he nods, sounding completely believable. There was no stumbling over his words or evidence that he had been struck with a topic of conversation he wasn't expecting. He sounded completely genuine. "Although I'm not too keen on modern art, I can't quite grasp the concept of it".

Renjun's father laughs at this "you sound exactly like Renjun, that's definitely something he would say" he points between the two boys "I can see why you two are friends". His mother agrees with a smile and nod.

Renjun feels a weight lifted from his shoulders. Jeno had this completely under control. He knew exactly what he was doing and saying. Either he was a quick thinker or he had a genuine love for art that Renjun had no knowledge of.

Either way it didn't matter. Renjun was just glad his parents approved of his new 'friend'.