“Play a game with me.”

 

Renjun looked up from where he was reading his Chinese-Korean dictionary, searching for a word to put into his workbook for future reference.

 

“What kind of game?” he asked, scanning the other tanned male’s skin and expression for any type of joking atmosphere. He found none.

“Ever played chess before?” Donghyuck asked and he shook his head - freshly turned adult who had never bothered to play chess. He knew the rules - how to overthrow the King without overworking the Queen - but he had never tried a strategy, never bothered when chess was just like the society they were stuck in.

 

The only difference was that in society, you couldn’t win.

 

“Oh, well, you can learn, I guess,” Donghyuck replied, going over to their board game cabinet and pulling out a chessboard and a set of chess pieces. “Do you know the rules, at least?”

“Somewhat,” he answered, putting aside his work and clearing the table for the board game, watching in amazement as Donghyuck arranged the pieces meticulously on the board - his hands looking very pretty while doing so. “Overthrow the King without overworking the Queen.”

“Smart but hard to do,” Donghyuck commented, immediately moving one of his white pawns two spaces forward - Renjun thought that Donghyuck having the first move was fitting since the other usually took the first step in whatever crazy adventure he had planned. “Let’s see how you do.” Renjun moved one of his own pawns forward, wanting to open up a space for his Knight.

“So why did you want to play chess all of a sudden?” he asked, watching as Donghyuck moved the pawn in front of his Queen forward, the latter’s hand shaking slightly as he put the piece down.

“Thought it would be fun.” He heard Donghyuck reply, moving one of his Knights in front of his King. “Didn’t think you’d agree, though.”

“Why not?” he asked, watching Donghyuck move yet another one of his pawns.

“I don’t know.” He looked up in time to see Donghyuck shrug and scrunch his nose before he moved the pawn in front of his Queen. “You don’t seem like the chess type of guy.”

 

~ ~ ~

 

“So you’re telling me that you guys just sat down and played chess? Again? How many weeks in a row is that now?” Renjun sighed when he heard Yukhei say that same line for the tenth time during their meeting, wishing that he had never told the older.

“Um…since we began living together like five months ago? And yes, ge, is it that hard to understand?” he asked, glad they conversed in Chinese in the busy cafe. “I lost too.”

“But aren’t you good at chess?” Yukhei asked him, taking another bite from his brownie and causing Renjun’s stomach to growl since he really should’ve gotten something to eat alongside his hibiscus tea.

“Just because I beat you in chess, ge, doesn’t mean I’m great at it,” he replied, sighing before stretching his back and standing up.

“You two have weird dates.” Renjun nearly snapped his back from over-stretching in shock at the other’s words. “What?”

“Playing chess with your annoying roommate is not a date,” he protested, furrowing his eyebrows and huffing out when he leaned forward to discuss this further with his best friend. “Heck, even if we were dating - which we aren’t - it wouldn’t even classify as a date!”

“Yeah, sure. Mark said that as long as you’re with someone who you’re remotely interested in, it’s a date,” Yukhei replied, nodding to himself and Renjun had been friends with the other for long enough to not question his antics. “Just tell me, are you a defensive or offensive player?”

“Neither, I like to keep a good medium,” he replied, narrowing his eyes at the older when he hummed.

“It seems like Donghyuck is an offensive player though.” Renjun simply narrowed his eyes even more. “At one stage, you’re going to have to decide whether to protect your King or abandon your King.”

“Did you just say something smart?” he asked, narrowing his eyes playfully as Yukhei kicked his shin lightly from underneath the table.

“I play with Mark sometimes. Come on, stop overthinking it,” Yukhei reassured him, a small smile on his lips as Renjun’s phone vibrated with a text. “It’s just chess.”

“Right,” he replied with a sinking feeling in his chest, unlocking his phone to see a text from Kun - the one senior in university who wasn’t completely appalled by his presence. If anything, Kun had adopted him and made it his goal to oversee Renjun during his university years.

“Kun-ge?” Yukhei asked, probably having seen the concern written on his face and Renjun nodded, frowning slightly when he saw the message. “What’s the matter?”

“He’s inviting me to a party that Mark-hyung is holding as his plus one,” he explained, pressing his lips together as he reread the line of text. “I don’t party.”

“Hey, I’m going to go there!” Yukhei exclaimed, a wide smile on his face as he took Renjun’s free hand in both of his. “Please come, Junnie! You need to loosen up! Plus, everyone goes to Mark Lee parties!”

“Oh come on,” he whined, retracting his hand and typing a quick reply to Kun. “Only if Kun-ge agrees to not leave me behind at the party.”

“I’m sure he won’t,” Yukhei assured him, wide smile still plastered on his face as Renjun sighed, latest message from Kun showing that he had sworn to protect Renjun at the party like a knight in shining armour. “And if he does, I’ll find you!”

 

~ ~

 

“I don’t seem like a chess type of guy?” he asked the other, scoffing when Donghyuck moved yet another pawn. “You’re the adventurous one here! Who knew that you would be content playing a boring game of chess?”

“Chess is quite risky,” Donghyuck replied as Renjun moved his other Knight to be in front of his Queen. “And I like risks.”

“Fair enough,” he commented as Donghyuck finally moved one of his pawns - the same one that he had moved two moves beforehand and realising that it was one diagonal step away from being captured by his own.

“Why did you agree to play though?” He heard Donghyuck ask him as he captured the other’s pawn, knocking it down and resting it on his side of the table after. “I mean it’s just chess.”

“Because I needed a change of pace,” he replied, watching as one of Donghyuck’s other pawns - one that he hadn’t noticed earlier - capture the one pawn he had just moved.

 

~ ~ ~

 

“And done!” Renjun opened his eyes slowly to see Jungwoo’s face light up alongside Kun’s own in Kun and Sicheng’s shared apartment. “You look so cute, Jun!” Jungwoo exclaimed, packing up the eyeliner he had used as Renjun stared at the sliding bedroom cupboard mirror to his left. His make up was light but not light enough to not enhance his features by a long shot.

“I look like an alien,” he stated as Kun laughed brightly and shook his head. “What? I do!”

“You look like someone who is going to steal the attention of everyone in the room,” Kun replied, soft smile gracing his face as he put on a leather jacket. “Let’s go.”

“Remember your promise,” he hissed out at the older as Kun locked the door to his apartment, Jungwoo already making his way towards the eldest’s car since Kun had picked them up from their own apartments.

“Yeah, yeah, like a knight, Jun,” Kun mumbled, chuckling at him and his nerves at attending a party since Huang Renjun did not attend parties. “You will be fine.”

“It’s a party!” he shrieked, getting in the backseat and putting his seatbelt on. “I don’t do parties, ge!”

“You don’t do a party in general,” Jungwoo commented from the passenger seat as Kun started the engine, his seatbelt already in place.

“You get my point!” he whined, leaning back and letting his back rest against the plush seat.

“Junnie, you will be fine,” Jungwoo’s soft voice stated, the older twisting back as Kun drove to look him in the eye. “I believe in you.”

“You make it sound like he’s changing schools, getting married and adopting a whole zoo,” Kun interrupted, turning a corner and cruising down a street. “It’s a party. Moreover, it’s a Mark Lee party - the most dangerous thing is probably the speakers.”

“Mark-hyung’s parties are always over-the-top, aren’t they?” he asked, worried since he had heard stories of Jaemin falling down Mark’s staircase and making a hole through the wall. “Like Jaemin said-“

“Jaemin is just an idiot,” Kun interrupted him, parking the car in front of a very expensive looking two storey house.

 

“That’s Mark-hyung’s house?” he asked once he stepped out of the car, his eyes nearly bulging out of their sockets as Kun and Jungwoo laughed at him - of course they did, they were closer to Mark Lee than he would ever be.

“Yep, he’s rich alright,” Kun commented as they walked up to the door and rang the doorbell, waiting until a smiling Mark Lee opened it up for them.

“Kun-hyung! Jungwoo-hyung!” the older exclaimed and hugged each in greeting before his eyes landed on Renjun. “And Huang Renjun at one of my parties?”

“Shut up, hyung,” he mumbled, looking away before Mark smiled at him and gave him an awkward hug.

“Come inside, guys,” Mark stated, still smiling and leading the way to a tamed party that had alcohol and loud music but no grinding or inappropriate events. “Drink?”

“Maybe later,” he answered just before Jungwoo nodded enthusiastically and Kun politely rejected since he was the designated driver.

“Coming right up!” Mark exclaimed and disappeared into the kitchen, probably pouring Jungwoo a drink as another university student - obviously intoxicated - bounded up to them, swaying all over the place. Worried, Renjun caught the other when he tripped and nearly smashed his head into one of the display counters that had cute framed photos of Mark and his friends.

“Hey, you’re cute!” the intoxicated male said, his curly hair bouncing as Renjun raised an eyebrow at his giggling form.

“And you’re drunk,” he replied flatly before Mark came back and handed Jungwoo his drink, the host of the party awkwardly shuffling away when he saw the intoxicated male.

“Wanna dance?” the man slurred and Jungwoo coughed, taking the drunk man from his arms and guiding him away with mumbles of ‘Taeil-hyung, you have a boyfriend’, ‘His name is Yuta’, ‘Please be loyal’.

“That was weird,” he said to Kun who laughed at him and watched Jungwoo help the drunk man - Taeil? - sit down on the couch. “Very weird.”

“That is what happens at parties,” Kun replied just as another male who seemed intoxicated but not drunk came over to Jungwoo and the other. It seemed like an eternity before the new male who looked like a prince sat down in the drunk man’s lap.

“Is that a normal occurrence too?” he asked, pointing to where the prince-like male was pressing slow and languid kisses on the drunk man’s neck before Jungwoo sighed and walked away.

“Yeah, pretty much,” Kun answered, chuckling at his misery.

 

~ ~

 

Renjun silently moved one of his Bishops to grab one of Donghyuck’s pawns that was isolated. They had been playing for a while now and so far Renjun had captured four of Donghyuck’s pawns, a Knight and a Rook. Donghyuck, on the other hand, had captured five of Renjun’s pawns, one of his Bishops and was dangerously close to utilising his Queen to capture one of his Rooks. He took a deep breath and waited for Donghyuck’s move, hoping he took the bait to move his pawn that was two spaces away from his Bishop up one.

 

Renjun nearly screamed in delight when Donghyuck did so and immediately moved his Knight to capture the poor pawn.

 

“How are you so good at chess?” he heard Donghyuck ask him as he moved his sole Rook two spaces to the left.

“I’m not,” He answered, capturing the poor Rook with his Bishop. “I just like to strategise.”

 

It was a surprise to Renjun that neither of them were touching their Queens.

 

~ ~ ~

 

“Renjun?” He heard a voice ask, turning around to find Jeno looking at him as if he had grown another head. Kun had met up with Sicheng who arrived early to set up and the two went off to catch up with the rest of their gang. Left alone, Renjun decided to explore Mark’s house for he had never gone to the older’s place before and wanted to create a mental map.

“Hi Jeno,” he greeted, nodding to the other who chuckled and leaned against the wall, red cup in his hand as he smiled at him lopsidedly. “You okay?”

“Yeah, just wondering if you’ve seen Jaemin around,” Jeno answered, shaking his head and sighing. “I haven’t seen him all night.”

“He’s probably drunk somewhere,” he replied, knowing that Jaemin liked drinking too much at these types of parties due to the massive wave of complaints the other would have the day after.

“True,” Jeno stated, nodding his head before coughing. “Do you think it’s obvious? Like, that I’m being obvious?”

“With what?” he asked, snorting shortly before looking at the other incredulously. “Your undying love for your best friend?”

“Hey! Not so loud!” Jeno shouted, causing Renjun to be grateful that they were in the hallway alone and that everyone was in the main living room chatting. “I’m meant to be like protecting him…”

“What a ty knight you are,” he commented, laughing at Jeno’s offended face at the end. “Don’t worry, Jeno, he’s probably fine. Drunk, yes. But fine, nonetheless.”

“Yeah but he gets super emotional when drunk and-“

“Oh my god, you are so cute when you’re worried about your boyfriend,” he teased, wicked smile appearing when Jeno’s face bloomed with a red hue.

“He’s not my boyfriend, Jun.” Renjun simply chuckled before he spotted Doyoung - Jeno’s practical older friend turned adoptive father - at the entrance of the hallway.

“Doyoung-hyung!” he shouted, waving at the older who flinched but waved back when he saw that it was just Jeno and Renjun.

 

“Hey you two,” Doyoung greeted, red cup in his hands but filled with orange juice. “How’re you finding the party?”

“You ask that like you’re the host,” he pointed out and saw Doyoung frown, laughing internally before deciding to sacrifice Jeno to the other.

“Well, I have to look after Donghyuck because Mark’s too busy so, yeah, I am,” Doyoung chuckled as Jeno’s eyes widened.

“Hyung asked you too? He told me no one else would!” Jeno shouted, groaning afterwards and slumping down even further against the wall. “First having to be Jaemin’s knight and now I have to serve Donghyuck when he’s already got another babysitter? I’m too young for this.”

“Donghyuck can somewhat take care of himself drunk at least,” Doyoung pointed out and Renjun simply hummed, ignoring the fact that he had never seen Donghyuck drunk and suddenly wondered what the other would say with a little liquid courage. “Jaemin kind of goes everywhere.”

“Which is why I need to find him,” Jeno stated, sighing and walking down the hall only to be bumped into by Xiaojun, Chenle and Jisung - the youngest vomiting all over his shirt. He heard Doyoung sigh next to him.

“I’ll get this sorted,” Doyoung stated before he went over to steer Jeno away from the vomiting boy and whisked him away to the bathroom. Unbothered, Renjun turned his back and kept exploring down the hallway, wandering where Donghyuck and Jaemin were for he hadn’t seen them since his arrival.

 

Opening a random door, Renjun sighed when he saw the two people he had just wondered about locking lips on the bed in front of him.

 

~ ~

 

“Don’t you think chess is a bit like real life?” He heard Donghyuck ask him as he moved his Bishop to capture Donghyuck’s other Knight. “Like, it’s a representation of society?”

“That’s a terrible thought but yes,” he replied, watching and mourning his fallen Bishop who had done so well without its other half when it was taken by one of Donghyuck’s own Bishops. “You’re saying that we’re all just part of a chess game?”

“We could be and we would never know,” Donghyuck replied as Renjun sighed internally, contemplating his next move and decided to move one of his Rooks all the way to capture Donghyuck’s lone Rook. “Just some food for thought.”

“What would that make you?” he asked, watching intensely as Donghyuck moved yet another pawn and successfully capturing his main Knight. “A pawn?”

“I like to see myself as a Queen, actually,” Donghyuck replied, calmly setting the captured piece with his collection and causing Renjun to tighten the line of his lips.

“Why a Queen?” he asked, moving his Rook to capture the pawn that had just defeated his Knight.

“I think I’m powerful to some people. To others, I might as well be a King though,” Donghyuck replied, his eyes burning holes through Renjun’s own before he broke eye contact and moved another pawn. “What about you?”

“A pawn, probably,” he answered, moving another one of his pawns as well and away from any immediate danger. “I follow people around.”

“You just said you liked to strategise,” Donghyuck pointed out, capturing the pawn with his Bishop and causing Renjun to smile.

“That doesn’t mean I’m going to win,” he countered, moving his Knight to capture the Bishop. “It never means you’re going to win.”

“Maybe you’ve already won but you don’t realise it yet,” Donghyuck mumbled, moving his other Bishop dangerously close to one of his pawns. Curious, Renjun peeked up at Donghyuck’s face to find it oddly blank.

“Look at you being all mysterious,” he cooed, moving his pawn away from Donghyuck’s Bishop but realising his mistake when Donghyuck calmly captured the pawn using the same Bishop he had tried to avoid. “Why don’t you use your Queen anyway?”

“Why don’t you use yours?” Donghyuck fired back as Renjun’s fingers hovered above his Queen, hesitant to use her on the battlefield.

 

~ ~ ~

 

“Uh…sorry?” he apologised, his voice swallowing itself at the end and coming out more like a question to his stomach which was burning just as the two separated. “Look, I’ll-“

“Oh hey, Jun,” Jaemin greeted, his lips red and swollen from kisses that Renjun looked away before he saw what Donghyuck’s lips looked like. “You need something?”

“Um…Jeno’s looking for you,” he said dumbly, vaguely pointing over his shoulder and down the hall. “Well, was and then Jisung threw up on him-“

“Hyung!” he heard Chenle shout, the younger running down the hallway before he stopped in the doorway. “Jaemin-hyung! Jisungie…needs you…crying…alcohol…” The younger was so out of breath that Renjun pitifully rubbed his back and mentally saluted to honour his efforts at making sure Jisung felt okay in his vulnerable intoxicated state.

“Jisungie is? Oh no…” Jaemin mumbled before he hurriedly slapped his cheeks and got off the bed, waving to Donghyuck who gave him a finger salute and watched the two leave to go to wherever Jisung was crying in a puddle of his own tears and vomit apparently.

“I didn’t know you went to parties, Renjun.” He heard Donghyuck state and turned back giving the other a small smile.

“I didn’t know I went to parties either, Donghyuck,” he replied, swallowing once he saw that Donghyuck’s lips were far worse than Jaemin’s. “I went because Kun-ge took me as his plus one and Yukhei-ge begged me to go.”

“Mind to accompany me for a walk?” The question that had come from Donghyuck was random but after being roommates for a few months in their apartment, Renjun had learnt not to question it for Donghyuck always had good intentions.

 

“Sure, it’s been a while since the two of us have hung out alone outside of the apartment,” he stated, not knowing why he needed to make mere facts that they both knew clear. “Those chess games don’t count.”

“Surely the conversations that take place do,” Donghyuck whined, hopping off the bed and casually slipping his hand into Renjun’s as if it were an everyday occurrence when it, in fact, had never happened in his entire life. “I have to thank Jaemin for telling me that you’re more open at night.”

“It’s not my fault that I’m a night owl,” he defended himself, squeezing Donghyuck’s hand a little too hard so it hurt but only received a light hum from the other.

“Night owls are cool,” Donghyuck commented as they made their way back to the living room just in time to see Taeyong pushing Chenle, Jisung, Jeno and Jaemin all the way to the front door as Jaehyun trailed behind with his phone to his ear. “Do you think they’re being sent home?”

“Yeah,” he replied, wincing when he saw Taeyong shove Chenle out the door and yelling about how they should rest and take pain killers to deal with their headaches tomorrow. “That looked painful.”

“It’s Taeyong-hyung, of course it’s painful,” Donghyuck retaliated, dragging his arm towards the kitchen and loudly complaining about how kissing Jaemin made him hungry.

“I don’t think he’d like to hear that,” he said through stifled laughter, bringing a hand up and feeling shy when Donghyuck stared at him for longer than necessary. “You’re going to have to let go of my hand to eat,” he stated, opening his palm to find that Donghyuck’s fingers were not letting him go.

“No way,” Donghyuck protested, squeezing his hand lightly just as his heart squeezed itself in his chest at Donghyuck’s determined expression. “This feels better than anything else I’ve done this week.”

“You literally just kissed Jaemin but sure,” he let out, sighing shortly after and hearing someone whistle as they entered the kitchen.

 

“Is this something that kids do nowadays instead of flirting?” He heard someone who sounded very oddly like Ten ask and sure enough, Ten had made his way around them and hoisted himself up to sit on the countertop. “Holding hands and staring at each other hoping you’ll get the message?”

“It’s not, Ten-hyung.” He heard Donghyuck mumble and swallowed thickly, shocked to find himself hoping that the answer would have been different. “If it was, wouldn’t you be flirting with Hendery?”

“We flirt regardless,” Ten stated, shrugging his shoulders before his eyes landed on Renjun properly and he fully took in Renjun’s appearance - the sweater, the jeans and, most importantly, the make up. “Damn, who got you all dolled up, Huang?” the older asked after whistling again and Renjun looked away in embarrassment, suddenly at a loss for words.

“Let him be, hyung,” Donghyuck interjected for him, sensing the embarrassment that was probably emanating from Renjun. “It’s his first party.”

“First in a while,” he corrected, clearing his throat before looking at Ten in the eyes and smiling as genuinely as he could. “Kun-ge helped me out. Jungwoo-hyung too.”

“Ah, of course it was the quiet ones,” Ten said wistfully, nodding his head as another person entered the kitchen, promptly whistling when they saw their clasped hands. 

“Donghyuck’s got game!” Hendery shouted, taking a glass from one of the sink cabinets and filling it up with water. “Since when did you score Huang Renjun, Hyuck?” Renjun took in a sharp breath at being referred to as an object in an attempt to control his anger.

“I didn’t,” Donghyuck answered shortly, spotting some cookies next to Ten on the counter and grabbing one, passing it to Renjun who smiled gratefully at him before he took it. He watched as Donghyuck grabbed another one for himself.

“But you two are holding hands,” Ten pointed out and Hendery snorted, guzzling down the water in the glass and placing the piece of crockery in the sink.

“Let them be, hyung,” Hendery dismissed, forcibly pulling Ten off the counter and pushing him out of the kitchen door. “They’re in the ‘it’s complicated’ stage,” Hendery said as he pushed Ten out, winking at Donghyuck and aiming a flying kiss at Renjun before he too, disappeared.

“Sorry about that, they’re a bit much,” Donghyuck whispered and Renjun shook his head, taking a few more bites from the cookie in his hands. “I hang out with…very overbearing people.”

 

“It’s okay, I know people like that too,” he replied, this time taking the initiative to tug Donghyuck out of the kitchen and back into the living room where everyone was conversing quietly. “Jaemin being one of them.”

“You mean Jaemin being all of them,” Donghyuck shot back and Renjun let himself chuckle at the comment.

“Chenle can be pretty overbearing too.” Donghyuck hummed in response, leading him to the staircase before he sat down a few steps up.

“I don’t know Chenle that well,” Donghyuck admitted, pulling Renjun to sit down with their joined hands and, deciding to humour him, Renjun did. “Guess I’ll have to get to know him a little better now.”

“Why?” he asked, curiosity getting the better of him and Donghyuck looked at him with an odd expression that seemed to scream ‘why are you asking why?’.

“Because I’ve been roommates with you for months now but I have barely met your friends. I only know our mutual ones and that stops at Jaemin, Jisung, Jeno and Mark-hyung.”

“I know some of the older guys like Kun-ge and Sicheng-ge,” he mumbled, furrowing his eyebrows and pouting slightly. “Yukhei-ge’s my best friend and you know him.”

“I meant that we have many mutual friends but I feel like I haven’t met your exclusive ones and I want to,” Donghyuck justified, looking at his shoes that were fidgeting against the polished floor. “Heck, I feel like sometimes I don’t know you.”

“But you don’t need to know me,” he said before he could think, immediately regretting it when Donghyuck slipped his hand out of his grasp and losing the warmth that was originally there. “We’re just roommates.”

“Well, maybe people want to be more - like the pawn,” Donghyuck replied and Renjun tilted his head in a silent question. “You know, it can change into whatever it wants if it reaches the other end of the board, save for being the King. Maybe, I really am just a pawn.”

“What are you…Donghyuck?” he asked as he watched Donghyuck stand up and wipe his hands against his jeans, the other glancing at him before he sighed and turned away, walking back towards where most of the party guests were. “Where are you going?”

“See you at home, Renjun,” Donghyuck replied and Renjun was left confused once more, sighing pitifully and not being bothered to move from his position on the stairs. 

 

He didn’t know how long he had been there until Kun found him, the older sitting down next to him and combing a hand through his hair.

 

“You doing okay?” Kun asked and Renjun silently nodded, leaning against the older’s shoulder and basking in warmth that he could barely feel. “What’s wrong?”

“Donghyuck ditched me,” he stated, pouting slightly and sighing. “I don’t even know what I said wrong.”

“Ah, the joy of being dense,” Kun commented, humming and laughing when Renjun playfully hit him. “Maybe it’s an accumulation of what you’ve said all night or maybe the whole time you’ve known him. Who knows? Not me.”

“You meanie, you know,” he stated, deeming it unfair that Kun barely told him anything that would benefit his struggles. “You always know.”

“I’m just observant,” the older replied before Johnny entered his line of sight and visibly lit up when he saw Kun.

“Apparently Jungwoo got wasted,” Johnny stated instead of greeting, wry smile on his face as Kun nodded. “I need you to take him home.”

“Already saw this coming, hyung,” Kun replied and Johnny sighed gratefully, ruffling Renjun’s hair a bit before disappearing into the party only to bring a wobbly Jungwoo with him five minutes later. “Do you want to go home with us now or should I come back?”

“I can keep him company since I know you want to spend some more time here after making sure Jungwoo’s okay. I’d take him back myself but Taeyong dropped me off here and…”

“Sure, I’ll be back,” Kun replied, standing up and supporting Jungwoo who was now giggling and babbling drunken nonsense. “Wait for me, Renjun.”

“It’s not like I can go anywhere else,” he shot back as Johnny laughed and sat down next to him, the both of them watching Kun and Jungwoo struggle to exit the house - their silhouettes mere pictures in the dark as they climbed into Kun’s car.

“Let me guess, Donghyuck was his usual overdramatic self and left you here?” Johnny asked him and he hummed, resting his chin on his fists as he let his elbows lay on his folded knees. “Sorry about him, he’s…pretty sensitive.”

“Really?” he asked, sarcasm dripping from his words and he sighed, looking sideways at Johnny. “Am I…am I being overdramatic?” he asked, suddenly worried that he was in the wrong. He was met with Johnny’s laughter.

“Don’t worry, I don’t know you well but you don’t seem like the type to be overdramatic with things like this,” Johnny replied, smiling slightly at him before a shoe came flying from behind them and hit Johnny in the back of the head.

 

“Sorry, Johnny-hyung!” A voice that Renjun had only heard once in passing shouted, Yangyang appearing and nearly tripping down the stairs as he retrieved his shoe.

“Yangyang, why the  did your shoe hit me in the head?” Johnny asked, eyes narrowing and Renjun saw Yangyang’s face pale.

“Uh…gotta blast!” The other screamed, promptly running out the front door as Johnny screamed something about this being the fifth time it’s happened in the past hour and ran after him, leaving Renjun there alone on the staircase. Renjun was shocked enough to register Jaehyun holding Ningning’s arm as they walked down the stairs - it seemed that Sicheng’s younger sister had been the one to throw the shoe at the back of Johnny’s head for the fifth time that night.

“Sorry, Renjun, have to take care of this,” Jaehyun said and Renjun nodded watching as Sicheng appeared from the entrance to the hallway. The older took one look at Ningning’s arms in Jaehyun’s grip and sighed, causing Renjun to step aside to let them pass into the living room.

“Time to take care of this, see you later, Jun,” Sicheng said to him and Renjun nodded again in shock, noting that Sicheng’s glare was indeed very scary.

“No! I didn’t have anything to do with it!” He heard a girl - Hina, he remembered her name to be after that one joint project they did - scream, she ran up a few steps before Taeyong ran up after her and grabbed her giggling form.

“Hina, you had everything to do with this,” Taeyong mumbled as he dragged the girl back to where she had come from, nodding to Renjun who stared back in shock and could only bring himself to blink at their retreating figures.

 

~ ~

 

Renjun was so close to grabbing Donghyuck’s Bishop piece and throwing it out the window of their joint apartment.

 

In the span of only a few moves, Donghyuck’s Bishop had managed to capture both of his Rooks and the rest of his pawns, leaving only one of his Knights, his Queen and his King on the board.

 

Donghyuck, on the other hand had lost all of his pawns and all of his power was held within his Bishop piece that dominated the black squares of the board.

 

“It seems like you’ll have to use your Queen.” Donghyuck’s words had a playful tilt to them and Renjun swallowed thickly, having no other choice since his Queen would give him greater offence.

 

So with his hands shaking slightly, Donghyuck moved his Queen up the board to capture the Bishop that he despised so much.

 

“Wrong move,” Donghyuck said, immediately taking his Queen and moving her down the board to his King. “Because you’re an interesting player, I won’t do that,” Donghyuck stated, moving his Queen two spaces back and in line with Renjun’s own Queen. “If you move your Queen, you can checkmate me. If you move your Knight, it will be next to my King and my Queen would take out yours before working on taking out your Knight, resulting in a checkmate. If you move your King, you will lose in the next round.” Renjun nodded, already having seen all the possibilities that Donghyuck had stated. “Will you defeat me or will you let me defeat you?”

 

~ ~ ~

 

Renjun didn’t know how long he had been sitting on the couch, bored out of his mind. All he knew is that Taeyong had sent home the troublesome girls with Yangyang and Hendery when he heard that they had begun glueing gummy bears to the table with superglue.

 

“You seem like you’re not having fun…” He heard Yukhei state and tilted his head the slightest bit to see the other smiling at him oddly. “Don’t worry, there’s barely anyone here now. Even Taeyong-hyung went home when I told him that Johnny-hyung had fallen pretty hard on the lawn while chasing Yangyang.”

“It’s been a long night,” he let out, already feeling a headache and watching as Yukhei furrowed his eyebrows and sighed, not knowing what to do.

 

~ ~

 

Renjun didn’t like losing.

 

It was a predetermined trait in his personality.

 

But he always ended up losing.

 

With that thought in mind, he moved his Knight next to Donghyuck’s King and watched as the other’s Queen took his own.

 

~ ~ ~

 

“That doesn’t look too good,” he commented when Mark walked past them with Donghyuck wobbling all over the place and saying random drunken blabber.

“I don’t think he is good,” Mark replied, sighing before his face lit up when Sicheng entered the room. “Do you think you can take them home, hyung?”

“I don’t have a car…” Sicheng replied, furrowing his eyebrows and pointing at Yukhei who unconsciously stood up straighter. “Yukhei’s got his car. Yukhei, drop me home too.”

“Please, Yukhei? For me?” Mark asked, giving the other his best pleading eyes and Yukhei sighed in defeat, patting Renjun’s shoulder as a signal to get him to stand up.

“Alright, I’ll take him home.” Renjun swallowed thickly when he realised that Donghyuck couldn’t even walk straight without the help of Sicheng. He vaguely wondered what the other had been drinking or doing to make him this disorientated.

 

~ ~

 

“Checkmate.”

 

Donghyuck’s smile was condescending but bright all the same.

 

~ ~ ~

 

He had managed to stumble into their shared apartment, struggling to keep Donghyuck upright as he locked the door.

 

“Junnie…” He heard the other groan, humming to show he was listening before securing an arm around the other male’s waist and dragging him to his bedroom. “Why don’t you like me?”

“Of course I like you, Hyuck,” he replied, knowing full well that it was the alcohol in the other’s system that caused him to talk. “Why wouldn’t I?”

“You always let me win,” Donghyuck complained as he ungracefully fell onto his bed and Renjun stifled a laugh as he watched on. “In chess.”

“Because I always lose,” he answered, helping Donghyuck roll over on the end and adjusting the pillow under his head.

“But you strategise,” Donghyuck whined, sitting up and putting his face dangerously close to Renjun’s own, pouting all the while and causing Renjun to flinch back. “Like the King.”

“Well, maybe I’m not a King then, Hyuck,” he whispered, putting his hand on Donghyuck’s shoulder and pressing him back down. “Either way, you need rest.”

 

When he came back to Donghyuck’s room a few hours later to leave a glass of water and some pain killers on the bedside table, he heard Donghyuck mumble something that he wished he knew the answer to.

 

“Why did you walk out that one time?”

 

~ ~

 

“I’m done with this,” he stated, putting his hands on the table and hoisting himself up - frustration rising in his body as he packed up his textbooks that lay abandoned.

“Wait, hang on,” Donghyuck started, standing up as well but not knowing what to do or where to put his hands. “You can’t go yet.”

“Hell yeah, I can,” he replied easily, picking up his books and stationery and proceeding to retreat to his bedroom when Donghyuck stepped in front of him. “Hyuck, move.”

“No, this is the first time I’ve felt like we’ve actually talked to each other and I’m not letting this chance slip away,” Donghyuck retaliated, squaring his shoulders and looking deeply into Renjun’s eyes - Renjun gave the other blank stares for an answer. “Do you hate me?”

“I wouldn’t have played with you if I did,” he answered, sighing and making a move to walk past Donghyuck only to find the other already in his way. “Donghyuck.”

“Renjun,” Donghyuck replied, a challenging fire lurking in his eyes. “I don’t hate you. It’s…a bit of the opposite…”

“Well congratulations,” he said flatly, pressing his lips into a thin line and swiftly walking around Donghyuck and into his room, questions filling his head as he lay down in bed.

 

“Why am I so mad when I let him win?”

 

Renjun groaned after mumbling the sentence, rolling over and bringing the blanket tighter around himself.

 

~ ~ ~

 

“I didn’t walk out,” he answered, glancing down at Donghyuck who had now fallen asleep with his arm hanging off the bed. “At least, not for the reason you think, Donghyuck. Chess is…a very dangerous game and I don’t like taking risks.”

 

~ ~

 

When Renjun woke up the next day, he found a small note lying innocently on his bedside table.

 

I woke up early to cook breakfast :) Hurry up so we can eat it together, loser

 

Pulling himself out of his bed and dragging his feet to the kitchen, Renjun was met with the sight of his roommate humming and cooking some fried rice peacefully.

 

“You didn’t have to,” he said in greeting, walking over to Donghyuck and leaning against the counter, smelling the spices he used to smell all the time in China. “But thank you.”

“You looked pretty upset last night,” Donghyuck replied, stirring the fried rice a bit. “Do you want to talk about it?”

“There’s nothing for me to talk about,” he answered, taking out two bowls from the cupboard where they were as Donghyuck turned off the heat and grabbed a serving spoon. “I was just mad I lost the game.”

“There has to be more,” Donghyuck stated, the other’s eyes lingering on his form so much that Renjun looked away and pretended that he wasn’t there. “I meant it, you know. I don’t hate you, I…”

“You…?” he prompted, taking the serving spoon out of Donghyuck’s hand and filling up the bowls. “Come on, let’s eat before this goes cold.”

“Yeah…yeah, okay.” He heard Donghyuck agree dejectedly and carried the bowls over to the dining table once they were full, shouting back at Donghyuck to bring some cutlery and glasses if he could.

 

~ ~ ~

 

“Still asleep?” he asked the obviously sleeping male when he crept into Donghyuck’s room the day after to put a nice little note on Donghyuck’s bedside table - a way to let him know that he cooked breakfast so the other wouldn’t order some unhealthy fast food again.

 

He walked out when he heard Donghyuck groan, the note sitting on Donghyuck’s forehead instead of on the bedside table.

 

~ ~

 

“Why don’t you ever go out?” Renjun hummed to show he was listening, expanding on his Korean vocabulary list as he let his roommate question his lifestyle. “Like, the only times you leave are for your lectures or classes and that one day where Mark-hyung came over to drag you to some meeting-“

“I just don’t like going out,” he interrupted, looking up from his notes and remembering the way that Donghyuck had looked at him earlier that morning when he had been preparing breakfast for them. “It’s not my thing.”

“One of these days, Huang Renjun,” Donghyuck started, sitting down in front of him and rudely pointing at Renjun’s nose. “I will make sure you go out with me.”

“We can do it now,” he stated flatly, not wanting to deal with this whole predicament later and saw the slight reddening of Donghyuck’s cheeks - the red contrasting very prettily against his tanned skin.

“Now? As in…now?” Donghyuck asked and Renjun nodded, standing up to stretch before retiring to his bedroom and throwing on some jeans and a hoodie he found lying on the floor of his bedroom.

 

~ ~ ~

 

“You know, cute bedside notes are meant to go on the bedside table and not on people’s foreheads.”

 

Renjun chuckled as he heard the other’s complaint, smiling slightly as he continued to make the Chinese fried rice that he loved so much.

 

“How’s your headache?” he asked instead of his simple ‘good morning’, turning off the heat and moving to the cupboard to get some pain killers out for Donghyuck. “You were pretty drunk last night.”

“Not drunk enough,” Donghyuck replied, taking the tablets from Renjun and pouring himself a glass of water. “I remember everything.”

“Isn’t that a good thing?” he asked, grabbing two bowls out and starting to fill them to the brim for a decent breakfast. “Like, at least you didn’t do anything crazy, right?”

“You call making out with Jaemin not crazy?” Donghyuck shot back after he had swallowed the tablet and Renjun couldn’t help but stare at the one drop of water that slid out from the corner of Donghyuck’s lips and down his chin. He had to force himself to look away and continue filling the bowls for their breakfast.

“Well…it could have been worse,” he answered, swallowing and trying his best to ignore Donghyuck’s deadpan expression. “Like, you two could have had or something, I don’t know!”

“Excuse you, I have standards,” Donghyuck retaliated, huffing at the end of his sentence and placing his cup in the sink. “But apparently, they’re really low.”

“What do you mean?” he asked, suddenly curious since Donghyuck just said Na Jaemin - the same boy who had girls and boys kissing the ground he walked on - was below his standards.

“The guy I like…he’s…probably choosing to ignore all my advances,” Donghyuck said, after glancing at him and then fixing his gaze on their broken wall clock in the kitchen. “We even went on a date but when we got home, he was all ‘now stop complaining about me not going out!’.”

 

Renjun furrowed his eyebrows, wondering who on earth would choose to ignore Donghyuck when he could literally become the most annoying person if he wanted.

 

~ ~

 

“Really? A walk in the park?” Renjun scoffed at the other’s whines, simply grabbing the sleeve of Donghyuck’s cardigan and dragging him down the footpath.

“It’s a nice day and this was pretty spontaneous,” he pointed out, kicking a rock that was in his path and dropping his hand to loosely hold Donghyuck’s wrist - the other had tried to run away seven times in the past ten minutes.

“You could’ve at least given me time to plan something.” He heard Donghyuck mumble and raised an eyebrow at the other, watching Donghyuck pout against the scene of autumn trees. “What an .”

“I’m the here?” he asked, gasping dramatically and puffing out his cheeks. “You’re the one judging my life!”

“Because you don’t go out!” Donghyuck shouted, his hand turning and gripping Renjun’s own wrist tight. “Like, who the never goes out?!”

“Me!” he screamed childishly, trying his best to wrench his wrist out of Donghyuck’s hand but to no avail. “Let me go!”

“Let’s just go home,” Donghyuck said exasperatedly, proceeding to drag Renjun back to their shared apartment. “How is it that we’ve been roommates for months, our friends overlap and we literally cook for each other but I still don’t know anything about you?!”

“What is there to know?!” he shouted back, the two of them arguing as they entered the building of their apartment complex. “Hi, I’m Huang Renjun! I’m from China! I take care of my roommate when he’s drunk or hungover or sick or whatever! That’s all you need to know!”

“Well maybe that’s not what I want to know!” Donghyuck shouted back, angrily shoving his key into their door and opening it after a few tries. “Maybe Lee Donghyuck wants to know how to make his roommate smile, how to know if his roommate is sad or even if his roommate is lonely!” Renjun simply blinked as he entered their apartment, watching Donghyuck toe off his shoes aggressively and walk down the hall to his bedroom.

“I went out like you wanted!” he shouted after him, feeling his previous anger subside due to something that he couldn’t name. “Now stop complaining about me not going out!”

 

~ ~ ~

 

“I’m sure you’ll find someone better,” he whispered, handing over a bowl to Donghyuck and staring at the other when he refused to take it. “Come on, it’s tradition, right? One of us gets drunk and the other makes Chinese fried rice the morning after?”

“Do you know why I like chess so much?” Donghyuck asked him and Renjun nodded slightly, remembering the words that Donghyuck said a few weeks ago during one of their chess games.

“Because it’s risky,” he answered, making his way to their dining table and setting the bowls down. Donghyuck soon came with two pairs of chopsticks and sat down opposite him. “And you win.”

“No, it’s because you actually play with me,” Donghyuck corrected, adjusting his grip on the chopsticks and keeping his gaze on the food in the bowl as Renjun openly stared at his face. “I couldn’t care less about winning.”

 

~ ~

 

“Checkmate.”

“Looks like I lose again. Congratulations on your win, Donghyuck. Now, wipe that smile off your face.”

“One more game. Let’s see if you can win.”

 

~ ~ ~

 

“Why do you let me win?”

 

Renjun peeled his gaze away from Donghyuck and began to silently eat, not really knowing why he always let Donghyuck win. However, the longer he chewed and the longer he thought, the more his thoughts pointed towards Donghyuck’s smile every time he won.

 

“Renjun, why?”

 

He chewed a bit more, postponing having to answer the other and pushing the food around in his bowl. He noticed that Donghyuck’s bowl was still full and that the other’s chopsticks hadn’t even touched a single grain of rice yet.

 

“Renjun. I won’t let you leave until you answer.”

 

He swallowed, finally dragging his eyes up to Donghyuck’s and suddenly regretting letting Donghyuck win all of those games.

 

~ ~

 

“I’ll never win, Donghyuck.”

“Or maybe…maybe, you already have…”

“That’s impossible, you captured my Queen again. My King is checkmated. There’s no way that I have already won this.”

“Renjun, that’s not…never mind.”

 

~ ~ ~

 

“Renjun.”

 

He sighed, setting down his chopsticks and his bowl before looking up at Donghyuck.

 

“You’re happy when you win,” he answered simply, biting his bottom lip and suddenly feeling so small under Donghyuck’s gaze. “And I…like seeing you happy.”

“You’re a ing idiot,” Donghyuck stated, shaking his head and putting his chopsticks and bowl down as well. “I always hate the end of the game because then you go back to pretending like we’re strangers again.”

“Well, we don’t know each other so-“

“Renjun, friendships aren’t born in a day,” Donghyuck interrupted, furrowing his eyebrows as he stared at his roommate, Renjun feeling even more small. “What do you think I was trying to build during those chess games? The conversations? The discussions?”

“I thought we were bashing society,” he mumbled, sinking down further into his seat and looking everywhere but at Donghyuck’s eyes.

“Then the party yesterday! We ing held hands!” Donghyuck shouted and Renjun flinched at the increased volume. “I don’t hold hands with just anyone, Renjun!”

“You hold hands with Jaemin…” he mumbled, still stubbornly looking away from Donghyuck and at the floor that they really needed to clean.

“Yeah because he’s my friend,” Donghyuck emphasised, running a hand over his face. “I am literally trying so hard to be your friend because I want to date you but you’re just not cooperating!”

“Well, I’m sorry I don’t know how to socialise!” he shouted back, standing up and leaving his half eaten bowl of fried rice on the table. “Go and befriend someone else then!”

“But I don’t want to!” At this point, Donghyuck had also stood up and blocked Renjun’s path with his own body. “Is me trying to get to know you a game, Huang Renjun?”

 

Renjun froze, not knowing what else to do or what to process first.

 

“Because to me, it’s not a ing game!” Donghyuck screamed, the other reaching out and grabbing Renjun’s forearm as he continued. “Those chess sessions were an excuse to talk to you! That day we walked in the park, I hated it because you never saw it as a date when I did! At the party, I held your hand because I wanted to!” Renjun watched as Donghyuck took a deep breath, the pink on his cheeks more prominent and doing nothing to make Renjun’s eyes stray away from it. “This has never been a game to me.”

“Hyuck, I…” he started, not knowing where to look or what to do with his hands. “I’m sorry,” he apologised, escaping Donghyuck’s hold and running to his room. In the midst of panic, Renjun grabbed a duffel bag that he always kept in his closet and began stuffing it with his clothes, not even caring about toiletries. He waited a good half an hour and only crept out of his room when he heard Donghyuck’s bedroom door close, stuffing his feet into the first pair of sneakers he saw - he was sure they were his - and running out of the apartment, leaving his keys inside and hoping that Donghyuck had some sense to lock the door later.

 

~ ~ ~

 

“Why the are you here?”

 

Renjun swallowed as he looked away, guilt coursing over his body as Yukhei ran a hand over his face and sighed.

 

“Just come inside.”

 

Wordlessly, he stepped inside the small apartment for one that Yukhei had, placing his duffel bag lightly on the floor and swallowing thickly as he sat down on the couch.

 

“Jun, what the hell happened?” Yukhei asked him, tone concerned and light - not condescending in the slightest. “Did you fight with Donghyuck?”

“Kind of?” he questioned, coughing and looking up at Yukhei. “I panicked and ran here.”

“Tell me exactly what happened,” Yukhei stated after a pause, moving to sit closer next to him and opening his arms for Renjun to snuggle into.

“He said it was all just like some plan to talk to me…” he reported, feeling oddly stupid as he sat there and willed himself to not cry. “He thought I saw it as a game.”

“Well, did you?” Yukhei asked and Renjun let out a small sniffle, uncertainty lingering in his next words.

 

“I don’t know.”

 

~ ~ ~

 

“Yeah, you’re not okay,” Sicheng said in greeting when he met the older at a cafe for a simple catch up. “You look like you’re homeless.”

“I pretty much am,” he replied, remembering his keys that were in his (probably locked by his roommate) apartment. “I feel like crap.”

“Renjun, there’s something going on and you need to tell us,” the older stated, concern swimming in his eyes as he waved to the other person who was meeting up with him that day. “You can trust us.”

“Does your terrible condition have something to do with Donghyuck looking equally as terrible?” He heard the newcomer ask, the calm voice letting him know that it was Kun asking. “Because you two look as bad as each other.”

“Donghyuck looks just as bad as me?” he asked, guilt slicing his stomach open as he looked down at the tea in front of him, biting his lip to refrain from saying anything.

“He looks a lot worse than you, actually,” Kun replied, sitting down next to him and picking up Sicheng’s mug of coffee to take several sips. “You guys need to talk this out.”

“But Donghyuck is just- ugh!” he let out in frustration, running his hands through his hair and staring at the two who were very similar to his knights in shining armour at social events. “He’s scary! I don’t like scary people! I have to eliminate him but I can’t because then Jaemin will be sad and then Jeno will come after me and-“

“Hey, Renjun, breathe,” Sicheng interrupted, concern swimming in his eyes as Kun sighed and got up to walk over to the counter of the cafe. “Everything will be okay.”

“Ge, I…” he mumbled, sighing quickly afterwards and looking up at the older with desperation written all over his face. “I don’t know what to do.”

“Well, let’s think,” Sicheng started, moving to take a sip from his mug only to realise that Kun had drunk the rest of it. “Why is Donghyuck scary?”

“He’s just so open and social and everything that I’m not, you know?” he asked, sighing once more just as Kun came back to place a mug of hibiscus tea in front of him. “Thanks, Kun-ge. How much was it?”

“You’re paying in the form of conversation so we actually sort this out,” Kun stated, his words leaving no room for an argument. “Donghyuck is more like you than you think.”

“No he isn’t,” he insisted, shaking his head and locking eyes with Kun.

“Then why is he just as affected?” Kun asked, raising an eyebrow and Renjun shrugged his shoulders, taking a sip of his tea and leaning back in his chair.

“Renjun, maybe you should talk to someone who is close with Donghyuck about this,” Sicheng suggested, his eyebrows furrowed together. “Mark’s around your age. He won’t be as intimidating as Taeyong-hyung or Jaehyun.”

“But Mark-hyung is his best friend…” he mumbled, taking another sip of his tea as he considered what was at stake if he were to talk with Donghyuck’s best friend.

“Just give it a try, Renjun,” Kun whispered, the older’s fingers brushing away hair that had fallen in front of his eyes. “You’ll regret it if you don’t.”

 

~ ~ ~

 

“You want to meet Mark? What brought this on?” Renjun nodded in response to Yukhei’s question. He was currently at a library with his earphones in, being as quiet as possible in order to not disturb the other students. It had been a few days since he talked with his precious older friends and Renjun figured that since Yukhei was a social butterfly, his best friend would be able to get him in touch with Mark Lee.

“I just…I don’t think I’m confident enough to face Donghyuck yet,” he admitted, shyly looking at his screen as Yukhei hummed to show he was listening - the other was on a bus and on his way to a lecture. “And Sicheng-ge and Kun-ge suggested to talk to Mark-hyung since he’s close with Donghyuck…”

“I’ll talk to Mark about it and send you his number if he’s alright with it - I’m on my way to our shared lecture anyway,” Yukhei replied, smiling wide at Renjun through the screen. “Don’t worry, Jun! We’ll fix this together!”

“Thanks, Yukhei,” he whispered and received a loud ‘no problem!’ in return from the older. After hanging up, Renjun took out his Korean notebook to expand on his vocabulary once more - noticing someone sit down opposite him but pretending he hadn’t and blamed it on the soft piano music that he was playing through his earphones. It wasn’t until the person opposite him carefully stood up and sat in the seat to his right, gingerly reaching around his face to take out his left earphone when Renjun had the courage to look up.

 

He really wished that he didn’t look up for in front of him was a dishevelled and obviously tired Donghyuck with bags under his eyes accompanied with dark circles.

 

“Renjun…” Donghyuck whispered, his voice sounding so broken that Renjun didn’t know what to say. “Please come home.” Donghyuck lifted his other hand to take out Renjun’s right earphone as well, tears visibly building up at the corners of his eyes. “I miss you. More than you think.”

“Donghyuck,” he started, already packing up his belongings and stuffing them in his backpack with shaking hands. “I...I’m sorry.”

“Renjun, please,” Donghyuck pleaded, his hand coming out to cover Renjun’s own and spreading his warmth. “You’re killing me here.”

“I really am sorry, Donghyuck,” he whispered, forcefully pulling his hand out from underneath the other’s and lifting his backpack onto his shoulder. “You deserve better.”

“Better?” Donghyuck questioned, his eyebrows furrowing and Renjun couldn’t bring himself to see the other so confused over his statement any longer. “Wait, Renjun-”

“Goodbye, Donghyuck,” he whispered, walking out of the library and feeling his heart sink even more to his toes with every step he took.

 

~ ~ ~

 

From: Choose One Name Goddamnit

Hey, Jun! Mark said he didn’t mind talking so here’s is number:

 

From: Choose One Name Goddamnit

XXXX - XXXX

 

From: Choose One Name Goddamnit

He’s sorta awks but dw he’s cool

 

Renjun sighed and put his phone down, completely ignoring the messages he had received as he laid there on the bed.

 

“Renjun, you know I love you but this is making me hate you.”

 

He turned his head to the side, pouting at Jaemin who was leaning against the door frame with his arms crossed. The other was clad in sweatpants and a shirt that he was sure belonged to Jeno.

 

“Is he awake?”

 

After a few seconds, Jeno’s head popped up into view from behind Jaemin - his hair messy but his eyes wide with concern.

 

“You know we don’t mind you crashing here from time to time but you have to talk to Donghyuck,” Jaemin stated gently, sighing and crossing the room to sit down beside his lying form on the bed. “This is killing you.”

“Well, it isn’t because I’m still breathing,” he mumbled and heard Jeno sigh from the doorway, watched him make his way over and sit by him as well.

“Renjun, please, this isn’t healthy and you know it,” Jeno whispered, his fingers coming to adjust the strands of hair that had fallen into Renjun’s eyes. “Also, Donghyuck is feeling really hurt right now. If you don’t do anything soon, your friendship will be lost forever.”

“We’re not friends,” he stated, the words rushed and having tumbled out of his mouth despite his attempt to keep them in. “Not like we are,” he said with more confidence and saw a pained expression take over Jaemin’s features.

“I put you guys in an apartment together because I thought you would become good friends over whatever the hell you nerds did,” Jaemin started, his eyebrows furrowing and something similar to anger glinting in his eyes. “And now you’re telling me that you didn’t even become friends?”

“We played chess,” he mumbled, looking away and remembering all the times he had let Donghyuck win. “We cooked for each other when the other was hungover or sick…”

“And you still don’t think you’re friends?” Jeno asked, giggling afterwards even when Renjun glared at him. “I’m sorry but don’t you do the same with us? Just not chess...but uh...with other games like Super Smash!” Renjun heard a groan from above him and assumed that Jaemin had pushed the other.

 

~ ~ ~

 

“Hey, Renjun,” Mark greeted when he had showed up at Jaemin and Jeno’s front door, coffee in one hand a small cake box in the other. “Let’s talk?”

“Yeah, come in, hyung,” he mumbled, stepping aside and letting the other inside, suddenly glad that Jeno and Jaemin were out. “We have a few things to talk about.”

“That’s why I brought cake,” Mark said awkwardly, smiling stiffly as Renjun tried his best to take out two plates and two forks without making a mess. After all, this wasn’t his apartment.

“How’s Donghyuck?” he asked, biting his lip and he opened the cake that Mark had brought on the kitchen counter, the older next to him and watching his movements.

“He keeps playing chess by himself,” Mark informed him, sighing and running a hand through his hair. “I always offer to play but he complains saying that I never really try and that he’ll never find a better chess player than you. He’s...he’s not taking this well, Renjun. Neither of you are. Yukhei told me about your bad eating habits and we’re all worried, to be honest.”

“I know,” he admitted quietly, knowing how hard it was for him to shower, to eat - to even go to his lectures.

“Say, how about we play a game of chess?” Renjun looked up at Mark with a confused expression, witnessing the way that Mark chuckled and shifted from foot to foot. “If I win, you talk with Donghyuck in your apartment. If I lose, you gather your things from your apartment and move here or with Yukhei or anywhere. Deal?” Renjun blinked for a few seconds, trying to process what he had just heard.

“Deal.”

 

It hadn’t taken long to find Jeno and Jaemin’s dusty chess board nor did it take long to actually set up the pieces since both of them were familiar with the game.

 

“What’s your goal in chess?” Mark asked him as he moved a white pawn two spaces forward - a strategy that Renjun had seen often. “Mine’s to take out the Queen as soon as I can.”

“I try to overthrow the King without overworking the Queen,” he said, moving one of his far pawns forward one piece. “The Queen needs a break.”

“Sometimes the Queen has to be sacrificed,” Mark stated, moving another pawn. “For better tactics, like now.”

“Now? You haven’t touched her at all…” Renjun said in awe, staring at Mark’s white Queen who was still in her starting position. He heard Mark chuckle at his words.

“Donghyuck told me you guys always bashed society while playing chess,” Mark started, Renjun too intrigued by his words to even consider moving one of his pieces. “But what if the world you lived in and the people you knew were just like the chess pieces you control?”

“What?” Renjun whispered, shaking his head at Mark’s proposal. “Hyung, that’s not true. Donghyuck said he would be a pawn and he is not a pawn.”

“When you play chess, you are essentially the King,” Mark said, picking up his King piece and tilting it towards Renjun. “The King can’t go into harm’s way and only has one move but it’s the most important piece on the board. Do you know why?”

“Because patriarchal society,” he stated bitterly, causing Mark to giggle at him.

“Yes and no.” He couldn’t help but follow the piece as it was settled back in its original position. “I see the King as the player’s heart. You can protect it as much as you want but if the other player is good enough, you will be defeated but...what do you lose in the real world? Chess is just a game but life isn’t.”

 

Renjun was a loss for words, only hearing the ticking of the clock before Mark swallowed and continued.

 

“Renjun, you need to accept a loss and let down your defenses because, trust me, you broke down Donghyuck’s defenses ages ago. Stop running away and play the game that you’ve already won.”

 

~ ~ ~

 

“Are you sure about this?” He nodded, answering his best friend’s question as he knocked three times on the door.

“Yukhei-ge, what if he’s not home?” he asked, looking up in worry at his taller friend who shrugged and patted his head.

“Mark said he’d be here but I don’t know, Jun,” Yukhei replied, his lips tight as the door began to unlock. “I...I think I need to leave you now. Remember what Mark said, yeah? You’ve got this. Anyway, I have to go and meet up with Mark. He said he has a surprise.”

“I hope I do, ge,” he whispered, waving when Yukhei walked down the hall to the elevator and turning to the open door later.

 

Donghyuck’s dark circles were larger than before, his face slimmer and his eyes unfocused.

 

Renjun took a deep breath, took in Donghyuck’s appearance and shakily hugged the other, burying his nose into Donghyuck’s shoulder, relishing in the scent of his laundry soap that Donghyuck must have used when he has his own apparently superior brand.

 

“Welcome home.”

 

Renjun simply held Donghyuck tighter when he heard those words, nodding and putting more of his weight on the other until they both unceremoniously fell to the floor.

 

“I’m glad to be back.”

 

~ ~ ~

 

“I’m sorry,” he whispered into the night, cuddling more into Donghyuck’s side underneath the covers and stealing his warmth. “For leaving and being a coward and-”

“Shut up, Renjun,” Donghyuck interrupted him, his voice harsh but not holding any real spite. “I’m just glad you came back. I thought you wouldn’t come back because of my outburst.”

“It wasn’t a game,” he said softly, blinking up at the other and barely making out his face in the darkness. “I just...I never realised about your feelings for me.”

“Wow, you really are dense.” Renjun slapped Donghyuck’s chest in retaliation. “Ow! But I still like you, even if you are.”

“Good,” he mumbled, settling his head on Donghyuck’s chest and hearing the pattern that the other’s heart made. “Because I think I like you. I don’t know yet.”

“Is this me finally being promoted from Pawn to Queen?” He heard Donghyuck ask playfully and shook his head, reaching over and tangling his fingers with Donghyuck’s when he found his hand.

“I think you might have been promoted a long time ago,” he admitted, breathing out and giggling when he heard Donghyuck giggle slightly.

“Does this mean we can try? To be friends?” Donghyuck asked softly, squeezing his hand and Renjun squeezed back, his heart speeding up to match the pace of Donghyuck’s own.

“We already were friends,” he stated, cuddling closer to steal more of Donghyuck’s warmth. “I think we can try to be more.”

“We were?” Donghyuck asked and received another hit to his chest from Renjun who had begun to pout. “Okay, okay, we were and still are.”

 

~ ~ ~

 

From: Old Man Kun

We’re having a meet up, are you coming?

 

From: Old Man Kun

Hello?

 

From: Chickenwings-ge

You ARE coming to the meet up right?

 

From: Old Man Kun

Renjun pick up

 

From: Old Man Kun

This isn’t funny

 

From: Old Man Kun

Did you die? Oh no

 

From: Choose One Name Goddamnit

We’re all here now, jun!

 

From: Chickenwings-ge

Please come, Kun’s freaking out

 

From: Chickenwings-ge

So you get a boyfriend your age and decide to ignore all of us

 

From: Old Man Kun

Renjun where are you

 

From: Choose One Name Goddamnit

Where is you

 

From: Old Man Kun

If you’re in jail, istg-

 

From: Choose One Name Goddamnit

Oh, are you with Donghyuck?

 

From: Old Man Kun

RENJUN

 

From: Old Man Kun

HUANG RENJUN

 

From: Old Man Kun

Are you ignoring me?

 

“Your phone keeps going off,” Donghyuck whispered, pulling away from the fried rice and glancing at the phone on the dining table. The smell of Chinese fried rice filled the air and Renjun couldn’t be happier when he was wearing one of Donghyuck’s jumpers. It had been a few months since Renjun had come back to the apartment and his grades had improved alongside with both himself and Donghyuck gaining back their healthy bodies and sleep schedules. Despite what his older friends thought, they had remained friends but both knew that there was something more that lingered in every touch, every gaze and every word.

“It’s just the geges,” he informed the other, turning his phone on do not disturb and heading back over to where Donghyuck was stirring the fried rice, engulfing him in a back hug. “Besides, I made plans with you first.”

“We’re literally just staying here to watch ty dramas,” Donghyuck pointed out, leaning into Renjun’s touch regardless. “How is that a plan?”

“It’s better than playing chess with Mark-hyung, right?” he asked and chuckled when Donghyuck begrudgingly agreed.

“Speaking of chess,” Donghyuck started, turning the heat off the stove and awkwardly shuffling until he was staring at Renjun’s face but still in his roommate’s arms. “It’s been a while since we’ve played.”

“You mean it’s been a while since you’ve won,” he teased, enjoying Donghyuck’s pout and laughing brightly. “Donghyuck, you always whine when you lose.”

“Because you don’t let me win anymore!” The other whined, pouting even more and Renjun simply hugged him tighter, wanting to kiss the other’s pout and sadness away - even if they were fake.

“Come on,” he stated, pulling away and grabbing two bowls. “Let’s eat breakfast.”

“I think this is the first time none of us have been hung over,” Donghyuck said in awe as he took out two pairs of chopsticks, heading over to the table and waiting as Renjun filled the bowls. “A miracle.”

 

“You are practically a miracle,” he mumbled, picked up both bowls and joining Donghyuck at the dining table. “Say, how about we go to the movies later?”

“I thought we were staying in?” Donghyuck asked, immediately wolfing down his food after the words left his lips.

“Yeah, well,” he started awkwardly, poking at his fried rice in his bowl. “There’s just something about overpriced popcorn, comfy chairs and a huge TV screen that makes a better date than a walk in the park or staying at home watching ty dramas.”

“Hold up, date?” Donghyuck asked, his mouth full of rice and causing Renjun to cringe and give the other a look of disgust. “Sorry,” Donghyuck mumbled, swallowing after and coughing slightly with a light blush on his tanned cheeks. “But a date?”

“Yes, a date,” he confirmed, still poking at his fried rice. “Please let me take you on a date.”

“Okay,” Donghyuck agreed, smiling slightly at the other before diving back to his fried rice.

“Oh thank god because I already booked the tickets like last week,” he sighed out in relief and began to eat, chuckling at Donghyuck’s shocked expression.

“Renjun, what if I had said ‘no’?” Donghyuck asked, his eyebrows furrowed and Renjun shrugged.

 

“Didn’t happen so I don’t care.”

“Renjun…”

“Okay, I would have dragged you there.”

 

~ ~ ~

 

“Um...is that Renjun with Donghyuck?” Yukhei hummed and looked up, seeing his best friend with no one other than Lee Donghyuck. It had been a few hours since the meet up with his older friends ended and now Yukhei was dedicating his time to accompanying Mark to the cinema.

“I think so,” he mumbled, squinting and seeing Renjun laughing loudly at something Donghyuck said. “Should we say ‘hi’?” Three seconds after he asked Mark, Renjun had pulled Donghyuck’s colour and landed a passionate kiss on his lips, the tanned male’s eyes widening and blinking even when Renjun pulled away.

“On second thoughts, let’s not,” Mark stated, turning away from the sight and heading over to the popcorn machines, his small hand dragging Yukhei along. “What size?”

“Large? To share? Like usual?” he questioned since they usually got the cheapest option. “Why would it change?”

“I don’t know, Yukhei,” Mark sighed out exasperated, already filling out a large bucket for them. “You never really take me out and it’s always me pestering you for a date-”

“Wait, date?” he questioned, staring at Mark who stared back at him with a confused look. “This is a date?”

“Um yeah? We’ve been dating for around year and a half?” Mark questioned, genuine concern in his eyes. “Are you okay, Yukhei?”

“A year? I’ve been painfully single for three years!” he exclaimed and saw hurt flash across Mark’s face before realisation took his place.

“Is that why you didn’t say anything when it was our anniversary five months ago?” Mark asked, a hurtful laugh escaping his lips and Yukhei panicked internally - he remembered scurrying off home after making sure Donghyuck opened the door for Renjun, going to Mark’s place and having a very nice dinner that he knew Mark didn’t cook alone.

“Mark, I’m so sorry, I-”

“Don’t worry about it, Yukhei,” Mark said exasperatedly, shaking his head and handing the popcorn over to him. “I don’t...I guess it never happened.”

 

“What happened?” he asked, wanting to try and convince Mark since he was only realising how adorable Mark’s height was and how good looking the other was.

“Us,” Mark answered, looking up at him for a short while before looking away. “I...remember when you locked yourself out of your apartment? I asked you then.”

“You asked me to go out with you,” Yukhei stated, realisation dawned on him as he processed the true meaning of the words. “Oh...you didn’t mean going to a restaurant for fun...did you?”

“No,” Mark let out, laughing sadly at himself and putting his hands in the pockets of his hoodie. “I didn’t. But, it’s over now-”

“Mark Lee, do you want to go out for me?” he asked with confidence, staring at Mark with so much determination before Mark burst out laughing.

“Did you just ask me to go out for you?” Mark teased and Yukhei spluttered some corrections that he was sure were wrong anyway, a blush quickly spreading across his cheekbones.

“I-I mean, with me! Go out with me!” he screamed in order to be heard over Mark’s laughs and sighed in relief when Mark had gently placed himself against him, the shorter male’s arms wrapped around him as Yukhei tried his best not to spill the popcorn in his hands.

“I’ll go out with you, Yukhei.” He heard Mark say softly, voice muffled against his chest. “For real this time.”

“I promise, I won’t forget we’re dating!” he shouted and heard Mark laugh again, the other shaking his head.

“I hope you don’t,” Mark whispered, looking up at him and hugging him tighter. “I mean, you did ask me out this time so…”

 

~ ~ ~

 

“Well, you’re a ing idiot,” Renjun stated when he heard the end of his best friend’s story, suddenly regretting that he hadn’t noticed that they were dating - he then remembered that Yukhei hadn’t noticed either and he was half of the relationship.

“How’s your boyfriend?” Yukhei asked after laughing, causing a dumb smile to appear on Renjun’s face.

“Brighter than the sun, as usual,” he said dreamily, sighing after and taking a sip of the nearly finished coffee he had ordered, the atmosphere of their favourite cafe calming him. “He’s coming soon, actually.”

“Really?” Yukhei asked, leaning forward and Renjun nodded, glancing at the entrance of the cafe when the doorbell chimed. “Is he treating you well?”

 

“Who’s treating who well?”

 

Renjun smiled when he saw his boyfriend in his tanned glory, hair a bit messy and clothes a bit askew as Yukhei cheerily greeted him.

 

“Renjun’s boyfriend!” Yukhei exclaimed, excitement in his eyes and Renjun tried his best not to stifle his laughter at his friend’s obliviousness. “I hope he’s treating him well!”

“Oh, I know he is, don’t worry,” his boyfriend replied cheekily, smiling wide at Yukhei and winking at Renjun who chuckled and quickly finished off his coffee. “We should get going though, Yukhei-hyung.”

“Okay, see you Donghyuck! Let me know if you ever meet Renjun’s boyfriend!” Renjun couldn’t help but hold back his loud laughter at his best friend’s statement, Donghyuck joining in soon after.

“Yukhei-ge,” he said through giggles, coughing in an attempt to compose himself. “Meet Lee Donghyuck-”

“I’ve already met him,” Yukhei stated, blinking up at Renjun who snorted when Donghyuck scoffed.

“Yeah, Lee Donghyuck,” he continued, gesturing to Donghyuck who was hiding laughter behind his palm. “My boyfriend.”

 

The look of pure shock on Yukhei’s face was enough to make Renjun’s whole day but the look of amusement on Donghyuck’s face as he laughed brightly was enough to make Renjun’s whole year.

 

~ ~ ~

 

“How is he that dense?”

“He dated Mark-hyung for a year and a half without realising it. Trust me, that was one of his good observations.”

“Wait, Mark-hyung dated Yukhei-hyung?!”

“You know they’re dating now, right?”

“Since when?!”