#22 - Huang Renjun

8

Today we were in the studio practicing when four manager came in.

"Hey guys, can I borrow Jinji?" He asked us all.

"Sure." They answered. I followed him out of the room.

"So I was told to tell you first about this." He started. I nodded still confused.

"Ceo-nim said that if you would be down to, you can have a duet with a member. I'm not sure which member but just a nct member." He finished.

"Yeah sure that'd be great." I replied.

"Awesome. I'll let him know then." He said.

"Thank you so much." I thanked. He smiled and left, so I went back into the room.

"What's up?" Jaemin asked.

"Ceo-nim asked if I wanted to do a duet with a member." I explained.

"Which member?" Jeno asked.

"I don't know. I don't think they have that figured out yet." I told them. They all looked at me with unreadable expressions.

"Can we get back to dancing?" I broke the silence. They all agreed and we continued.

Two days later

I was laying in my bed at 12 am during a thunderstorm. My room was very cold for some reason and even though I had blankets on me I was still freezing. I stood up and took my shorts off, changing into some pants. I left my room with one of my blankets and to the couch. I laid down and tried falling asleep but a door opened. I opened my eyes and saw someone walking down the hallway and towards the kitchen.

I sighed as I stood up and followed them. I still couldn't tell who it was because it was too dark. They flicked the light above the stove on and turned around only to jump back.

"Renjun, what are you doing?" I asked.

"What are you doing? Following me and not making any noise." He replied.

"Sorry. I have socks on so the noise isn't loud." I told him.

"I'm getting the usual midnight snack. What about you?" He asked.

"My room is literally freezing so I went to the couch but I guess it isn't just my room that's cold because I'm still cold out here." I explained.

"First of all, this entire house is hot and even Jisung said so before going to bed. Second, I never once seen you be affected to the cold." He said.

"I usually like being colder rather than hot." I told him.

"Doesn't everyone?" He asked.

"Not my little brother. He used to cry when it'd be cold." I answered.

"I didn't know you had a little brother." He replied. I nodded and sat on the counter.

"How come you never spoke about your family?" He asked. I didn't answer. Instead I thought about everything. I thought about my parents and how I grew up.

Growing up I never had a dad. He became addicted to drugs right after my moms pregnancy, and she didn't want him around. When I was 6 she met a doctor who was spanish. He was amazing. Supportive. And he was a father to me. 4 years later they got married, and in that same year they created a baby boy. He came out and had down syndrome.
None of that mattered to me or my parents. We loved him unconditionally no matter what. She still spoke at a normal age and grew up just like the other kids. The only different thing was his looks. To other people he was different. But to us, he was the sweetest little ball of love that we loved entirely too much.

"S-sorry.." Renjun said making me snap out of my trance.

"Oh no it's okay. Don't be sorry. I was just in thought." I replied. He sighed in relief-knowing he didn't mention a hard topic.

"The reason why I don't talk about my family a lot is because I don't speak to them as much anymore. I mean don't get me wrong I miss them like hell but I guess since I became a kpop idol I have only spoke to them once or twice." I explained.

"That's not good. I'm sure they miss you. Maybe you can meet with them soon. Oh, how about our next free day? If they're close of course." He told me.

"I hate traveling alone and they live an hour away." I answered.

"They can come here then." He said.

"Here? As in the SM building?" I asked him with a certain tone in my voice.

"Why not?" He questioned.

"Because we live in a dorm. This is a kpop building." I said.

"My family has been here, and so has most of the members." He replied.

"Would Ceo even allow it?" I asked.

"Most likely. You should ask. I know we'd all like to meet the people that raised a god like you." He chuckled. I laughed at him catching on to my sayings.

"I'll ask them and ceo then." I told him.