New Students // NCT Renjun

I don't need a 'Happily ever after' as long as we're together for now

Only after we had gotten separated, I had realized just how deeply I had fallen for him.
I now regretted not having told him more often how I felt: I might still be young and inexperienced, maybe I didn't even know what love was; but whatever it was that I felt for him, it was both beautiful and dangerous and I couldn't quite understand it.
I would've given anything just to talk to him in person one more time.
I care about you, Renjun, I wanted to tell him. You give me comfort and happiness and all I want to do is to return that to you. Whenever I look at you I can't help thinking how beautiful you are and whenever you smile your eyes shine brighter than the stars above us. I miss talking to you, hearing your witty thoughts just as much as I miss your touch. Is this love? I'm not sure as I have never been in love. I've never had feelings like this for anyone else before, though. I hope that the story we told has a happy ending.
I opened the heart pendant of my necklace and looked at the picture of us. It had been ten days since I had left Korea and I already was getting more frustrated each day. Although I happily spent time with Rachel and my other friends during the day, I couldn't sleep well at night. Communication was still a major problem due to the different time zones, so Renjun and I didn't text much and even calling each other seemed almost impossible. How long could we continue like this? I wasn't planning on giving up on him anytime soon, but I knew it was exhausting for both of us.
I took out the note Renjun had left me, even if I already knew it by heart: "I didn't know what being truly in love felt like until I met you. Let's cherish this feeling in our hearts as long as we can."
Smiling I read his words over and over again until suddenly the door of my room opened and Dad entered. Quickly I put the note back in the pendant.
"What do you want? You never come into my room."
Dad scoffed and handed me a letter. "This is for you. It's a Christmas present from a friend of yours. He actually talked to me about it, like, a month ago, but I thought it would be better if he told you himself."
Confused I opened the letter, not knowing what to expect. Inside lay three sheets of paper, one handwritten letter and two pictures. I started off with the letter.

Dear Sofia,
this is supposed to be your Christmas present, but by the time this letter lands in your hands the new year has probably already started. As much as I love Korea, I realised that my favourite thing about it is now gone. Sometimes I think I'm acting foolishly, but that's okay, it's love. Let's both enjoy this feeling as long as we can, shall we? It took me a while to get everyone's approval, but I managed to get you this present at last. Texst me when you get this letter and tell me how you like it (it will be real awkward if you don't like it.)
Every night I look up at the sky and remember that we're all looking at the same stars. Look at the stars and think of me tonight,
Renjun

My hands were shaking when I put down Renjun's letter. After a second of hesitation I looked at the two pictures he had included. I dropped them immediately when I realized what they were. One was a photo of a plane ticket to Seattle scheduled for January 5th. The other one was a photo of a confirmation email for the admission of a foreign exchange student in my school.
I looked at Dad in disbelief. "Is he-"
Dad smiled. "I wasn't sure if it was a good idea at first, but I know how badly you both miss each other. He's staying here for another year and after that you two can figure out something new. You probably didn't notice because you were crying in your bedroom all day, but I made a few changes in the guest room. That's gonna be Renjun's room for the next twelve months. Although," he smiled even wider, "I think he'll prefer sleeping in your room anyways."
I almost tackled him with my hug. Dad gently patted my head. "We'll pick him up from the airport on Friday night."

Nervously I bit my lip as I looked at my phone.
"His plane landed ten minutes ago," I noted. "How long will it take him to get here? What if he can't find us?"
For the fourth time tonight Dad put his hand on my shoulder and told me not to worry. All of my patience was gone and every second that I had to wait felt like an eternity. I tried to force myself to stay calm, but after three minutes I looked at my phone again.
"Do you think I should call him or-"
"Isn't that him?" Dad pointed towards a teenage boy with black hair, a big suitcase and a smile I would recognize anywhere. I dropped all my things and ran towards Renjun.
Renjun stumbled when I jumped into his arms, but he kept his balance while I hugged him as tightly as I could.
"Are you trying to choke me as soon as I arrive?" he asked me, smiling brightly.
I was starting to tear up, but I didn't care. "I missed you so much."
"I missed you too," he mumbled before kissing me softly.
Dad cleared his throat. "Let's get home first, okay?"
On the drive home Renjun told us about how he got his mother to let him go to America all by himself while I tried to stop grinning like an idiot.
As soon as we got home I offered him something to eat first (he wasn't hungry, though), showed him around the house very quickly, carried his suitcase into the guestroom while he changed into his pajamas and then pulled him into my room after I had changed into sleeping clothes too.
We both lay down on my bed and I ran my fingers through his hair while he examined my room.
"I think I like your room here even more than your room in Korea," he said after a while. "It's very comfortable."
"Really? It doesn't have a tree you can climb on right in front of the window, though."
"I think I can live with that," he smiled.
I took his face between my hands and kissed him gently.
"I missed that a lot," he said sleepily when I pulled away.
"Are you tired?"
He wrapped his arms around my waist. "No, I'm fine. Tell me about your last few days here."
I started talking, but he fell asleep soon. "It's okay," I whispered as I covered him with my blanket. It really was okay.
Because I knew that now we had a lot of time together.
I closed my eyes and buried my face in Renjun's chest. I took in his smell, that I had missed so much, his arms, that were always keeping me close to him at night, his body, that was lightly brushing against mine and for the first time in almost two weeks I slept peacefully.
I didn't care that we would have to come up with something new in a year.
Everything was okay as long as we were together for the moment.