𝐼𝓃 𝒴𝑜𝓊𝓇 𝒟𝓇𝑒𝒶𝓂𝓈 ~| Huang Renjun

四

Sitting on the dinner table was a little awkward given that everyone was quiet. Even Chenle, who is usually talkative and noisy.

"So you were hungry, huh?" Jihee joked as she smiled at them, eight pairs of eyes fixing on her. "I get you. Christmas does something to people."

Mark hummed to bring everyone's attention to him as he swallowed the food in his mouth. "Jisung always eats a lot, this is normal."

"Liar!" the mentioned called back from the other side of the table, looking offended.

"How do you think he got so tall?" Donghyuck added, just teasing Jisung. "Genes?" He swung his index finger back and forth as he hummed a mm-mm.

"You just say that cause you're jealous of his height," Xinghua commented. She was pretty tall for a Chinese girl, and loved to tease Donghyuck, who was the shortest boy in the gang.

"Why would I be? It's easier to find clothes in my size than in his."

Jeno chuckled from across the room as he spoke softly, as if he was shy to do so. "Of course. You can always ask your 7 year old cousin for clothes."

Everyone─except Donghyuck, obviously─thought the comment was funny and laughed along. "I would throw my food at you but Jihee did her best cooking and I'm not gonna waste it like that."

"Please don't, I don't want to clean after your mess," Jihyun whined, tilting her head backwards and making a pained expression. Like that, she seemed like a child throwing a tantrum, which gained a high pitched oi and a smile from Jaemin.

"I'll take the plate away from you before you're able to do such thing in my house," Jihee added, standing and taking her plate and Donghyuck's, gaining confused noises from him as the others laughed.

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It was almost midnight. Chenle and Jisung had left already. The other four boys were about to leave, but their goodbyes were taking more time than the rest of the party. Xinghua was going to stay over that night. It was too late for her to take a flight to Jeju, where her parents were staying, and where she would spend Christmas.

Finally, after twenty minutes of Mark thanking Jihee for pretty much every detail, Donghyuck pulled him out of the house in annoyance. Xinghua, who was in the couch, laughed at the noises that came from them once the coldness from the city took them. "They're finally gone," Jihyun said, closing the door and sighing.

"You didn't want them here?"

Jihyun ehhd as she locked the front door and walked deeper into the house. "I love them, but it's almost midnight and I don't want their parents calling us for keeping their sons away for too long."

"Ah, yeah," the other one smiled ever so slightly. But before she could speak more, she got a call. Quickly, she checked her phone and made an annoyed face. "Oh, he's calling."

"Who?"

Xinghua raised a hand as she answered the call. Jihyun could only catch some words given her lack of knowledge in the language and Xinghua's tendency to speak hellishly fast. The room was so quiet she could also hear the voice on the other line, but just barely. From what she understood, the person on the other line was asking Xinghua something about school. Given that the girl speaks in Korean to all her classmates, Jihyun concluded that she was talking to her cousin.

She waited patiently and silently for them to finish. Suddenly the conversation got cut off by Xinghua saying something she did recognize, thanks to Chenle. "你已经让我生气了。我会挂断电话," and hung up before turning to her friend with a smile.

"What did he say or do to make you upset?"

Xinghua rolled her eyes and sighed. "He keeps asking the same thing every day, it's dumb. I've already answered him like ten times."

"What does he ask?" Jihyun smirked, laughing at this stranger.

"Whether or not there is someone at the art club who speaks Chinese."

"Is there?"

"How would I know? Do I look like I've been in the art club?"

"Why don't you just ask?"

At this, Xinghua seemed to take a moment to see if Jihyun was for real or not. "Yeah. Cause I'll show up to the art club and just speak random Chinese until someone replies."

"I mean, you could have." Xinghua grabbed her bag and hit Jihyun with it. "Don't you think he's nervous about coming to Korea?"

"I'm sure he'll start arguments with the first person he sees when he comes," she shrugged, giving a silenced ow after Jihyun smacked her arm.

"I'm serious," was the reply, even though she loved the idea of seeing this boy shut Donghyuck's mouth once and for all and her little smile on her lips showed it. "Weren't you nervous when you came to Korea?"

"I mean, sure," she uttered. "But I was a kid back then, he's a full grown teenager."

"Exactly. He's a teenager," Jihyun insisted. "Us teenagers aren't known to be calm and collected, now are we?"

"Fiiiine," Xinghua replied. "What do you want from me? What's your point?"

"He's coming in─whatdayisit─a week from now, right?" Xinghua nodded along. "That's plenty of time to make him a welcome party."

"No," Xinghua was quick to shake her head, standing up.

"Oh come on, Xing! Think about it. You, me, the boys... It can be exciting!" Jihyun stood after her, trying to convince her.

"Renjun is not a people person."

"Then why did you ask us to help him? Come on."

Xinghua stared at her friend, who blocked her way. "Well, let me rephrase that. Renjun is not a party person."

"Well, let's not make a party then. We can just... Take him to the fair?"

"No."

"Oh, come on. I doubt he's this boring."

"He's not boring," she laughed. "It's just... I think we should go easy on him. Let him take in the fact that he's in another city before taking him to fairs and whatnot."

"Ugh, fine," Jihyun stood out of the way, rolling her eyes. "How about a surprise dinner? Can you ask your aunt about it? We'll go to their house before he gets there─I can tell Chenle to distract him for a while, and then we'll just be there to eat and talk."

Xinghua pondered this idea for some seconds before meeting eyes with the girl. "You promise it's not going to be a party?" Jihyun nodded, followed by a sigh coming from the boy's cousin. "Fine I guess. I'll call my aunt in the morning, yes?"

"Until then," nodded Jihyun, "you have to tell me more about him so the talking with him isn't so awkward."

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