Haunting; Noren NCT

♱•Twelve•♱

Once dinner was over and it had began to get late, Jeno insisted that he needed to go and Renjun's parents had offered to show Jeno out but Renjun had stopped them. The last thing they needed to see was Jeno vanishing into thin air.

Once Jeno had 'left' the house, he makes his way back up to his room, closing the door and smiling brightly at the ghost that sat on his bed "thank you so much! You have no idea how much you've helped me out tonight" Renjun beams. If he didn't fear frost bite he would have given Jeno a hug.

"No problem, it was nice spending time with a family, especially in that room" he says and Renjun felt a dull ache in his chest from the way Jeno had said it.

"Are your parents not ghosts? Why aren't they in the house too?" Renjun had asked the question before he had even thought about it. He quickly apologised but Jeno waves him off, patting the spot on the bed beside him for Renjun to sit down.

"My parents didn't die in the house, they drowned" he says and the brunette lays a comforting hand on Jeno's arm, despite the cold temperature. "Sorry I shouldn't be saying this" the ghost laughs awkwardly but Renjun shakes his head.

"We're friends right? Even ghosts need friends. I'm here if you need to talk, I know you haven't always had the opportunity to do that but I'm here now" he offers a smile which Jeno returns.

It was strange how his opinion of Jeno had changed so quickly. He'd gone from a perverted and annoying ghost to a lost soul that just needs company. And Renjun was there to remind he that he now had that.

"My parents were in a carriage on their way home but something spooked the horses which caused the carriage to tip and fall into the lake. Both my parents drowned" he says, looking down at his hands. Renjun still let his own hand linger on Jeno's arm, now getting use to the cold. Or maybe his hand was just numb? He couldn't tell for sure.

"Is that how you died? Were you in the carriage with them?" Renjun asks, praying Jeno didn't get angry for asking such a question.

But to Renjun's relief Jeno shakes his head. "No I was left on my own. We were a close family and my parents were very kind and loving people, I didn't really have friends. The more wealthy families were usually taught by nannies and didn't attend schools so the opportunity of friendship was never there for me" he explains and Renjun just nods and listens, because he felt that's what Jeno needed right now. Someone to listen.
"When my parents passed away I had no one, they'd left me all on my own and I was angry, but then the anger stopped and I just felt lonely." He sighs, looking back up at Renjun.

He could see tears brimming Jeno's eyes although he didn't know for sure whether or not they would fall.

"Two weeks later I took my own life so I could be with them again. I had no one left to care for anyway so I had nothing to loose. I hung myself in this room, with my own bedsheets". Now a tear fell and Renjun was quick to wipe it away, surprised at how warm the tear was in contrast with his skin.

Only now did the need for a turtle neck make sense, and that old back choker he wore before. There must be some sort of mark left over on his neck.

"So why aren't you with your parents?" Renjun asks, his voice soft, almost as if he was letting Jeno know that he shouldn't feel like he had to answer.

Jeno shrugs "suicide is a sin. My parents went to heaven, I didn't. I didn't even get a proper send off since there was no one left that cared enough to give me one". There was no doubt that Jeno's past was truly tragic. It almost broke Renjun's heart just knowing that Jeno had to go through all of that.

A moment of silence passes over the two before Renjun takes a deep breath and wraps his arms around Jeno, embracing him a hug, squeezing him tightly. Eventually Jeno's arms come up too and hold Renjun in place just as tightly. He was surprised that it wasn't as cold as he'd been expecting. It felt more like when you leave the house on a breezy day without a jacket. Just enough to give you goosebumps.

"I'm so sorry you had to go through that" Renjun whispers, feeling Jeno's grip tighten ever so slightly.

"Don't be. It was a long time ago, I've had time to moan and complain about what I did" he laughs a little but it seemed forced, the sadness and grief still very evident. "You're the first person I've ever told this too, dead and living"

This brings a smile to Renjun's lips as he pulls away from the hug. "One more question"
Jeno only nods for him to carry on. "Do you genuinely have an interest in Art or did you make it all up?"

The ghost smirks a little. That usual cocky smirk. "Why? Did I impress you?" He laughs "I enjoy looking at art, although I lack the skills to be considered good at it" he explains and Renjun only nods in understanding. "You gotta show me some of your paintings now"

"What?!" Renjun's eyes widen but he laughs nonetheless "maybe another day, I don't have any paintings here but I have some at school I'll be bringing home soon, for now you can look through this" Renjun says, standing and grabbing a book of his desk and handing it to Jeno. "It's like a sketchbook, it doubles as a diary but I don't have a very interesting life".

Jeno smiles and flips the page, glancing down and the neat writing on the first age 'property of Huang Renjun'. "Thank you".

"No problem"

Jeno had already shared so much with Renjun, the least he could do was give Jeno a small insight into his own life.