Bad Blood [NoRenMin] ✔

16

Most of the next morning is a blur to Jaemin. From waking up late and almost missing his class to the entirety of the conversation Haechan tried to have with him after they ran into each other between a class. He barely recalls the day as a matter of fact. He does recall now, however, as he exits his class only to catch sight of Renjun standing outside his class. Jaemin finds it a little unusual to see the other so relaxed as he leans against the wall; usually he looks tense as if expecting an attack at any moment (Jaemin didn't even know whether he believed in the vampires and hunters and everything) and really it's not so surprising to see the book in his hand. (Jaemin thinks it'd be exceptionally weird to see him without a book.)

"Hey," he greets as he walks up to the other male. His gaze lifts for a split second and then he's closing the book (it's wuthering heights) and pushing himself off the wall. The book slides into the bag slung over his shoulder and his hands tuck into his pockets as he meets Jaemin's gaze once again.

"Hi," he says. It somehow sounds off. He seems off.

"Are you waiting for someone?" Jaemin queries softly and Renjun nods but then the next second he's shaking his head and then, seeming annoyed with himself, he sighs.

"I was waiting for you," Renjun explains. He sounds exasperated. "Haechan said you're coming with us tonight and my class ended early. It's just down the hall and I figured we could just meet up with Mark and Haechan together. In the dorm room, I mean..." He trails off with a groan and a shake of his head. "I'm sorry," he murmurs a moment later, but Jaemin is still just staring. He's trying to recall what is tonight. With such a blur of a day, who could really blame him. Renjun's brows furrow. "Jaemin?"

And then he feels like an idiot. It hits him and he feels so completely dumb that it's not even funny. "Right, right. Tonight," he starts and he doesn't think he'll let up with beating himself up for forgetting it but really it was only mentioned once; how was he supposed to remember? "Of course I'm coming," he assures and for a moment, he thinks he sees the hint of relief in Renjun's face. "I just spaced about it, I'm sorry."

"That's alright," Renjun replies. "We should get going. They'll expect us to change before we leave."

"We need to change?" he asks, mostly out of disbelief. He didn't even know where they were going and he already feels tired. They start walking and his eye catches the movement as Renjun's hand fiddles with the strap of his bag. "Do you know where we're going?"

"Some bar or club they go to occasionally," he replies.

"You don't seem too pleased about all of this," Jaemin notes. In fact, Renjun seemed like he would rather be doing anything else than this. So he wondered why he was.

"I'm not much for celebrating my birthday," he admits with a shrug. "I'm only doing it because Mark realized the last time we celebrated mine was back in preschool and that was years ago," he supplies. His brows are pulled in the middle of his forehead but he isn't exactly frowning. Jaemin doesn't know what to call it. He doesn't even know how to respond; he's still debating asking his question. He sure as hell isn't going to tell Renjun how sweet that sounds. That and how much he wished he had a friend like that.

The silence continues to stretch and they're only halfway back to the dorm so he asks, "Why don't you like celebrating?"

"I mean, I used to when I was little. I loved the whole cake and gifts and getting to spend the day with my friends outside of school, but then I got older and things weren't that easy and stuff happened down the timeline and now I'd much rather just lie in bed and pretend it wasn't my birthday."

It's hectic. Jaemin never really celebrated his birthday after Jeno was gone. He didn't have all that many friends and so it was always them and his dad but after that it was just him and his dad. He never thought much about it; the whole 'I don't want to celebrate' thing. He and his dad were close and it had always been them and once upon a time it had been them and his mom so he liked celebrating it. He never imagined there were actually people like Renjun who didn't even want to celebrate.