Alone | NCT

Chapter 34

"What do you want?" Jaemin asked as he stared at the boy who had knocked on his door. Renjun sighed, running his fingers through his hair.

Ever since Jaemin had exposed that his mother didn't want him dating Rena, it had been quite awkward for the whole group, and since Renjun was probably the closest to both of the collectively, he felt that he should figure out how to clear the air between them.

Judging by how red and puffy Jaemin's eyes were, it was safe for Renjun to assume that he had been crying.

"Let's talk." Renjun said.

"I don't want to." Jaemin said, closing the door. Renjun stuck his foot in between.

"I know you still like her." Jaemin sighed before opening the door, motioning to Renjun to get inside quickly. Jaemin closed the door behind him.

"My mom thinks Rena's the one making me slack off and it's hard to convince her otherwise since my grades dropped, I'm not on the board anymore, and I still haven't received a solo mission yet." Jaemin told him as he plopped down onto his bed. Renjun watched as he rubbed his face, letting out a loud groan.

"I hate to say this, but I can see why your mom thinks that." Renjun said, taking a seat on Jaemin's desk chair just as another groan came out of Jaemin's mouth.

"What am I supposed to do?" Jaemin asked. Renjun looked at the notes on Jaemin's desk.

"I think you should just study hard and earn your spot back." Renjun told him.

"Easier said than done." Jaemin mumbled into his pillow.

"No, I'm serious Jaemin. Haechan, Jiwoo, and Yangyang honestly doesn't care and you know Jeno and I aren't balanced enough to get the spot so I think if you study hard, you can easily get it back." Renjun told him. Jaemin sat up, considering Renjun's words.

"Ugh, I hate studying alone." Jaemin cried out, tossing his head back. Renjun rolled his eyes.

"Then don't study alone, you idiot." Renjun said just as the door knocked. He got up to get it for Jaemin, who was rolling in his bed as he tugged his hair in frustration.

"Rena?" Renjun exclaimed as he opened the door. Renjun felt Jaemin's body stop moving.

"Renjun?" Rena said, surprised to see him.

"Jaemin, I'm leaving." Renjun said, waving to Jaemin and giving Rena a small smile of support as he walked passed her.

He watched as the door closed, hoping for the best for his two friends.

...

"Look Rena, I'm sorry, I didn't mean-" Jaemin stopped talking as Rena held her hand up.

"I don't really want to talk about that right now." Rena told him. Jaemin simply nodded, scooting over on his bed to make space for the girl. She took a seat, crossing her legs as she stared at the boy in front of him.

Her sophomore year had been a whirlwind of emotions for the couple, and Rena didn't know how to feel about that. She quickly shook the thought away to focus on the real reason why she has came.

"I got my solo mission today." Rena told him. She watched as Jaemin looked away.

"What is it?" He asked her.

"I'm supposed to interrogate the siren Yangyang brings in from his mission." Rena told him. Jaemin slowly nodded, taking in her words.

"That's a pretty good mission, isn't it?" Jaemin said. Rena shrugged her shoulders.

"I guess."

The two of them sat in silence, neither of them knowing what to say to one another. Eventually Jaemin's curiosity got to him, making him the one who broke it.

"So why are you here?" Jaemin asked, looking at the girl. Rena was looking at his wall, observing the pictures they had together.

"Jaemin, I'm scared." Rena said softly. That's when Jaemin realized why Rena was here. Comfort. Rena wanted comfort.

He got onto his knees, crawling towards where Rena sat. As Rena turned to face him, Jaemin wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her into a warm embrace. Rena was tense at first, but she slowly relaxed into his arms.

"Don't be, I'll be here for you every step of the way." Jaemin whispered into her ear.

...

"What is this?" Jimin asked as Taeil plopped folders in front of her and Jisung. She watched as Jisung opened it up before rubbing his temples, it was obvious that he had seen this before.

"Academy and H.I.D.D.E.N. applications." Taeil said, taking a seat across from them.

"Why do I have to reapply, aren't I already accepted?" Jimin asked.

"I mean yes and no. Unless you burn down the agency, we'll probably accept you again but since you're not officially enrolled yet, you're going to have to apply again." Taeil explained. She heard a groan from Jisung and saw that Jisung had threw his head back.

"What's up with him?" Jimin mumbled but Taeil had heard her.

"He's like that because it's going to be his third time doing this." Thump. Jisung had hit his head on the table.

Jimin leaned back, recalling the long and gruesome entrance exam she completed last year and immediately understood why Jisung was reacting that way.

"Well, guess we better get working." Jimin said as Taeil chuckled.

...

Kun watched as Xiaojun and Hendery worked with Yangyang, the sprite furiously twisting and turning as he dodged their attacks.

"What's up with that look?" Winwin asked, approaching Kun.

"What look?" Kun asked, turning towards Winwin. Winwin nudged his head towards the three on the mat.

"You looked stressed." Winwin told him. Kun shrugged.

"I don't know. Yangyang has a tough mission ahead of him." Kun admitted. Winwin observed the sprite's movements for a few minutes before responding.

"Don't worry too much, Kung-ge. You're going to get grey hair like that." Winwin said, giving Kun a smile before heading towards the locker rooms.

Kun gave him a dirty look in response. He made his way over to the three who were now sitting on the mat, taking sips of water.

"Xiaojun, Hendery, I think you can go harder on him, he's barely sweating." Kun said with a big smirk on his face.

...

Jaehyun rubbed his temples as he worked on his research project for the academy. He had wanted to further research on how demons were created in the world.

Jaehyun had decided on the topic when he applied to the Upper Academy. Ever since he got his new fire power, he had became more and more curious as to how the demon world was.

Even as a demon himself, he barely knew how he came to be. The visit to Hell hadn't helped him either, as the Devil had only wanted to fool around, not giving him any answers to the millions of questions he had for her.

He sighed, looking at his hand before letting a spark dance across it. He watched as a small flame dropped, quickly extinguishing it before it hate the paper of his books. That's when he saw the page.

Jaehyun quickly sat up, reading the page describing the creation of demons. He picked up his phone, scrolling through his contacts before calling one of them.

"Hello?" Haechan said, answering the phone.

"Hey, I think you and Renjun should look at some books about demons. That might help with your research." Jaehyun told him. He heard muffled voices on the other side of the line before Haechan returned.

"Okay hyung, will do."

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Hello friends~