“OUR RENJUNNIE GREW UP SO MUCH!”

 

Things had been going well; up until Jeno had opened the front door and in came Mark, Kun, Sicheng and Ten, who had Renjun in a bone crushing hug. No one could blame him as it had been years since the last time they all saw each other. When Ten, Sicheng and Kun went off to university the trio had left for different countries to study and had very little time to come back and visit. Each of them had already graduated and thought it would be best to come back home before work took over their lives.

 

“Ay, hyung let the kid go. You’re crushing his body.”

 

“It’s okay Mark, I really don’t mind.”

 

Ten let go of Renjun, holding out at arm’s length to get a good look at how his ‘son’ grew up after being away for so long. Nothing much had changed about the Chinese male, other than the slightly longer hair and matured facial features Renjun still retained the youthful look.

 

“You’re grown so well! I’m sorry I wasn’t there for your graduation in high school.”

 

“Don’t worry about it, I’m just glad we’re all together again.”

 

“Can I get an amen to that.”

 

Jeno groaned at his older brother’s comment while the rest took it lightly; Sicheng ruffled the boys hair then walked into the living room. He studied the room intently, taking in all the little changes that had been made since Renjun had left and his parents gave him the house. From what everyone understood, his parents had moved back to China for work purposes but had no interest in selling. Three months before his graduation they had sat down with him to talk about living alone, which was perfectly fine.

 

“You didn’t change much here did you Renjun?”
 

“Not really, most of the change is in my room.”

 

“Please tell me you took down the Moomin drawings.”

“Chenel, when will you let me live?”

 

“DUDE, YOU ARE IN COLLEGE WHAT THE YOU DO?”

 

“LANGUAGE.”

 

“Oh, not you guys too!”

 

They never genuinely mean to tell him to not swear, he’s in college and most likely swears more often than not. Since he’s the youngest in the group they enjoy babying him as much as possible when the chance arises.

 

“Sorry Lele, in this house we do not swear.”

 

“Are you ing kidding me?”

 

“Count the number of times Chenle swears tonight: twice so far.”

 

“Thanks, Renjun, very helpful.”

 

“You know Lele, only Jisung acts like this. Have you been spending too much time with him?”

 

Jaemin chuckled as he slung an arm over Renjun’s shoulders, getting some entertainment out of Chenle being put on the spot. Even though he and Jisung are still dating they haven’t been able to spend much time together. Both boys went off to different countries after high school and managed to make the long-distance relationship work. While they had spent some time together before Chenle met up with the others, it wasn’t enough to pick up his habits.

 

“As if, Jaemin. Now that you bring it up though, I do miss him a lot.”

 

Something in Chenle sparked a small twinge of guilt and sadness, flowing into his eyes as he stared down at the rug in front of him. Usually bringing up Jisung didn’t have this kind of effect on the boy, but it was one of those days where he really needed him for support. The conversation with Jeno rang in his ears; in was in that moment that he had never wished so hard to have his boyfriend there.

 

“Awe, Chenle, I’m sure Jisung misses you just as much.”

 

“Mark is right. He might surprise you, you never know.”

 

“Speaking of surprises, thanks for reminding me Jaemin. I have surprises for all of you, but I can’t give them out just yet.”

 

“Very intriguing Kun. For now, why don’t we play some games? It’s been a while and now that we’re all men, minus the old man over here, we can have some actual fun.”

 

Kun glared at Sicheng, who seemed to be completely oblivious about the look he was receiving and continued on. Truth or Dare and Spin the Bottle were the games they settled on. Of course, what kind of sleepover would this be if it didn’t take about five rounds of rock paper scissors to find the order in which to play? The order ended up being Spin the Bottle then Truth or Dare. The two most coveted games for the group and somehow still held their charm throughout the years.

 

“Okay, Renjun do you have a bottle?”

 

“Do you want a wine bottle or water bottle?”

 

“Let’s stick with the one that won’t break in case someone decides to use it to beat someone else.”

 

“Um Jeno, what the happened to you during college?”

 

“A lot of things Winwin, but I’m not gonna get into that tonight.”

 

Renjun returned with a water bottle in hand, placing it the center of the circle and taking his place next to Ten. He latched on to the Chinese male as soon as he sat down, to which a certain someone took great notice of. It wasn’t as though he could own anything between him and the black-haired male, even if he wanted to claim them there was no chance for him. Those words that had been spoken rang in his ears in a deafening cry. Needless to say, the change in facial expressions did not go unnoticed by the youngest; he was still keeping an eye on the older. Seeing two of his favorite people, other than Jisung, circle around each other in such a way made him horribly anxious.

 

“Alright, looks like Mark is going first. Here are your choices: kiss the person who annoys you the most or punch the person who you genuinely enjoy spending time with.”

 

“Jokes on you Chenle, Haechan isn’t here so that’s out of the question.”

 

At that moment a knock sounded from the front door, much to the dismay of Mark. He had only invited three people to go with him to the house; who could be there so late at night? Chenle stood up with a smile only the Devil himself could wear as he opened the door to reveal the person Mark loved and felt annoyed by. Said male dropped his things next to the couch, giving the Chinese boy a hug then making his way to sit down.

 

“So, you were saying Hyung?”

 

“Chenle you little . Haechan, how the Hell did you get here?”

 

“Simple: Chenle. He told me about the sleepover tonight then proceeded to ask everyone around you in this room if it was okay to bring me along. You can imagine what the answer was.”

 

Much like in cartoons, the boys could practically see the fumes coming out of Mark’s ears as he sat there staring at his boyfriend. He wore the smuggest expression as he held eye contact, only moving closer as the silence continued. Before long he had situated himself right in front of the older boy and pinched his cheek.

 

“This is spin the bottle Mark, you gotta do one of the two.”

 

“Shut up Chenle.”

 

“Then stop stalling and maybe you can get me back for this but just pick one or the other.”

 

“I am not stalling, Hyuck.”

“Oh no, you’re one hundred percent stalling. Kiss me or punch me, either works since you do it on a daily basis anyway.”

 

“There are children here.”

 

“Chenle isn’t a baby anymore, Mark, and if anything, Jisung is the youngest but he’s not here. You just don’t want to do this.”

 

At that moment Mark’s hand came down hard on Haechan’s arm; the sound echoing in everyone’s ears as they waited for someone to do or say something next. It was clear Mark was slightly irritated with the whole situation at hand, but his next course of action caused everyone to do a double take. He held Haechan’s arm up to examine the growing red mark and kissed it, laying it back by his side.

 

“You owe me later.”

 

“Shut up Mark, nobody cares. Next victim!”

 

“Renjun… you are ruthless.”

 

“Trust me Jeno, this isn’t even the half of it. At school he’s way worse.”

“Na Jaemin you wanna take your chances?”

 

“Sure, try me little boy.”

 

“I’m older than you.”

 

The group watched the intense gazes of the two as Mark slowly spun the bottle; they had wanted to take chances, so he was only following their wish. Jeno, Haechan, and ten kept their eyes glued to the boys holding the staring contest as if their life depended on it. It wasn’t the kind of tension that began in an argument, rather it was emotionally charged tension that seemed to come out of nowhere. The only person who knew exactly what was going on in that moment was Jaemin: he did want to take his chances and he did want to be in this position with the older boy.

 

“Well, well, well. You two are in luck: Jaemin, the bottle is on you. Here are the choices: act cute just for Renjun or sit on his lap for five minutes while the game progresses. Also, I’m just getting started.”

 

“Ten, if I had one thing to say to you in this moment it would be this: you and Taeyong spend too much time together.”

 

“Tell me that once you see your boyfriend Jeno, for now Jaemin has to make his choice.”

 

“Both are quite intriguing, don’t you think Injunnie?”

 

The way Jaemin spoke his nickname with such a deep tone that had the smoothness of silk hit hard. He wasn’t completely sure if the younger was joking around or if he was being dead serious about that question. Whatever the case, something inside Renjun’s cold heart clicked at the way his name was spoken. He had promised himself to never love anyone again and yet, in this very moment, his best friend, had started something.

 

“Pick your poison Nana, because this and Truth or Dare are my games: you can’t beat me.”

 

“Challenge accepted, Huang. Ren. Jun.”