The soft ray of golden sunlight travelled through the windows, basking the room in a warm glow. The curtains were flapping gently,a gentle breeze pushing them from the opened window. It was moments like these that Renjun treasures the most. Moments where he could lose himself with the soft of his paintbrush, his mind fully occupied with nothing but shades of blues and greens. It was calm and quiet, something Renjun rarely experienced in his work life where chaos and violence were the norm. Therefore, days like these were very precious. 

 

Calm,quiet and peaceful, just perfect.

 

 

Then,a loud crash and a yelp was heard.

 

Renjun sighed.So much for peaceful. He put down his brush and pallette and got up from his chair begrudgingly. Even though he would love to ignore the noise and get back to working on his art piece, his heart was still concerned and he can't very much work if he was distracted. So,he was left with no choice but to check on what made the commotion. He went out of his room, leaving the door opened as he wouldn't be taking too long anyways.

 

He went to the kitchen where the noise was coming from. There,he found Chenle crouching on the floor, picking up what seems to be pieces of broken glass.

 

"Wait, stop!",Renjun yelled, worried that the younger would prick his fingers. He quickly took out the broom and dustpan from the closet and went to sweep the floor.

 

"First Jisung, now you? Is the poop hands getting to you?",Renjun asked with no malice but pure amusement that Chenle would break things when that was always a Jisung thing to do.

 

After hearing the words 'poop hands',Chenle stared at him in horror, "Don't even joke about that. I would rather drink all of Jaemin hyung's coffee than getting his poop hands"

 

Renjun rolled his eyes at the younger's dramatic statement. Also,he doesn't believe that Chenle would actually dare to drink all of Jaemin's coffee. That thing is literally a cup of hell.

 

In just five minutes, Renjun finished his task of sweeping the kitchen floor. He even made extra effort to completely clear up the smallest shards of glass, he doesn't want anyone to get hurt by accidentally stepping on them.

 

"Done",he said, putting the broom and dustpan back in the closet. "Try not to break anymore stuff",he ruffled Chenle's hair,a habit he picked up, and headed back to his room where his artwork was waiting to be finished.

 

"Thanks,gege!", Chenle shouted from the kitchen. Renjun smiled to himself as he went entered his room.

 

 Unfortunately, the smile didn't last long on his face because he was greeted with the most horrifying sight. The painting, which he had been working on for the last four hours, looked like a tragic mess. There was a big blob of wet green paint on the orange. The pretty shade of blue ruined due to the new bright green stain on it, the mix turning it into another shade of green. But the worst part was the bright red paint splashed on the canvas. A can of red paint that Renjun had safely put on the table was now on the floor,some of its contents were spilt, with some of it on his canvas and some on the floor. It looked almost like a hate crime.

 

'Breathe', he told himself, 'It's all good'.

 

​​​​​'Breathe in,breathe out, breathe in, breathe out. It's okay, just calm down'.

 

The sound of dripping paint filled his ears.

 

 

"MEETING!! NOW!!"

 

...........

 

The members of Unit Dream were on the sofa in the living room, watching their oldest pace back and forth silently. Some look nervous while some look confused as to why Renjun suddenly held this meeting.

 

Nobody dared to speak, nobody except Jaemin who wanted to know why their eldest looked like he was about to murder somebody.

 

"Can you stop pacing and just tell us what's wrong?"

 

Renjun stopped his pacing, slowly turning his to face them, "One of you",he stated, "sneaked into my room and ruined my painting while I was helping Chenle in the kitchen. I don't know which one of you did it but I'm gonna need an apology. So,whoever you are,I want you to admit it"

 

The boys looked at each other. Nobody spoke up.

 

"So, that's how it's going to be", a smirk appeared on Renjun's face, "Very well. If that's what you want then I declare Jaemin,Jeno, Donghyuck and Jisung as suspects"

 

Jisung perked up, "What about Chenle?"

 

"Chenle was with me when it happened so he's clear",Renjun answered him. Chenle fist bumps the air, "Yes,I'm innocent!"

 

The investigation started with getting their alibis. To do that,Renjun got them all in NCT's interrogation room one by one. This was because he figured the suspenseful atmosphere inside the room would force the culprit to confess in a state of nervousness. With the room's vibe and Renjun's ruthless interrogator persona, he's confident that he could break open the suspect. First, he started with Jisung,

 

"Park Jisung,age 18, agent ID number 0502",Renjun started, "where were you at around 4 p.m. ?"

 

" I just got back from training. With Jaehyun hyung"

 

"And did you go into my room when you got back?",Renjun pressed only to get a headshake from the youngest, "Hyung,I wouldn't dare"

 

Hmm, sounds believable. Next.

 

"Lee Donghyuck alias name Haechan. Agent ID 0606"

 

"Yes, that's me", Donghyuck rolled his eyes.

 

"Is this some sort of sick joke? A prank? Or did you do it just to get back at me for something?",Renjun asked to which the other shook his head, "No, it's not. I have nothing to do with your painting"

 

"Then where were you at that time?"

 

"In my room", Donghyuck stated simply. Even though Renjun wasn't fully convinced,he decided to let it go and moved on to the next member.

 

"Lee Jeno, where were you around 4 p.m.?"

 

"I-In my room", unlike the rest of the members,Jen looked nervous. Suspicious, Renjun thought.

 

" And what were you doing?"

 

"Er... working out," ,he said.

 

"But you always do that in the gym. Why suddenly are you working out in your room? Plus, didn't you work out this morning?",Renjun pressed on. He noticed a bead of sweat rolled down the other's forehead.

 

"Err...umm...it was a new workout routine",Jeno clearly struggled to answer. 'Very suspicious', Renjun thought. But he decided to leave it there. 

 

Next suspect.

 

"Na Jaemin,where were you at around 4 p.m.?"

 

"I was in the bathroom.",Jaemin answered.

 

"And did you see anyone entering my room when you got out?"

 

"No,but...",he trailed off.He seemed to be thinking of something and Renjun couldn't helped but feel intrigued, "but?"

 

Jaemin smiled mischievously, "When I got out of the bathroom, I saw Jeno furiously wiping green paint off the floor in front of his room."

 

.......

 

A few days later, the house became quiet again. The maknae line hadn't been shouting, Jaemin wasn't being hyper and most importantly Renjun seemed to be more calmer than he was a few days ago. Everyone concluded that maybe Renjun had given up on finding the culprit since the boy hadn't said a word about it after the interrogation. They older must've moved on.

 

Oh,how wrong they were. Unbeknownst to all of them,Renjun was still very much amped up to find whoever messed with his painting. The only reason he seemed very discreet about it was because he thinks he knows who did it. 

 

Lee Jeno.

 

That boy has been acting strangely. And it's not just because of how he seemed to be on edge whenever Renjun approaches him. These days, the boy was always losing focus, sometimes the members caught him zooming out during sparring or during missions. And when they get back home,Jeno would ran straight to his room and the members would not see him for the rest of the day. Even Jisung,Jeno's favourite dongsaeng and game buddy, felt deprived of his hyung's attention. Another weird trait that Renjun noticed was how the boy kept bringing food in his room. Even after a meal,Jeno would save some of his leftovers and take it with him back to his room.

 

This change of behaviour in him had garnered everyone's attention. It wasn't just Renjun anymore, everyone was curious. But no one acted upon it,they all thought if Jeno won't talk to them about it,then they shouldn't push him. 

 

However,Renjun is not like everybody. As this unit's leader, he has a right to know what was going on with him, especially if it might affect the group's relationship negatively. 

 

Which leads him to this moment. Renjun was sitting on the couch. From his view, Jeno was searching for something in the fridge. He narrowed his eyes. The other must've felt Renjun's heavy staring because he turned his head to face him.

 

"What?",he looked confused as to why the older was looking at him like that. Renjun swears he saw a flash of fear in his eyes but decided not to voice it. Instead he smiled, "Nothing"

 

Jeno nodded, taking something out of the fridge,carton of milk Renjun noticed, then went straight back to his room. The door closed shut behind him.

 

Renjun is damn sure gonna get to the bottom of this.

 

The next day, Renjun called him out to the living room for another interrogation (he wanted to use the interrogation room but unfortunately some other agents were using it). And this time,he doesn't beat around the bush, just went straight to the important stuff.

 

"Did you mess up my painting,Jeno?",he asked using his menacing tone.

 

"No! I didn't!", He fought.

 

"Liar!"

 

"I swear it wasn't me!"

 

"If that's true",Renjun sat down as he was afraid he might explode once again, "then why are you acting weird these days?"

 

"I'm not acting weird",he denied.

 

"Don't lie,Jeno. We all noticed how you keep shutting yourself in your room all day. What are you hiding,huh?"

 

Jeno visibly panicked, "Nothing! I'm not hiding anything!"

 

"If you don't spill it out now then maybe I should tell Hyuckie",Renjun threatened him.

 

"Tell me what?"

 

Renjun and Jeno turned towards the voice. It turns out, the other members were listening in on them the whole time. Renjun couldn't blame them,they must've been curious of Jeno's behaviour too.

 

Renjun smiled deviously at the tanned boy, "that Jeno likes-"

 

His mouth was covered by Jeno's hand before he could finish the sentence. "Your cooking! Can you make that bulgogi again?"

 

"Sure but next time, don't be so weird about it", Donghyuck said. Fortunately for Jeno, the boy hadn't caught on.

 

Meanwhile,Renjun was fighting to free his mouth from Jeno's hand. He managed to push the hand away at one point. Not missing his chance he yelled at the second youngest, "Chenle,go!"

 

Jeno realised it too late. By the time he did, Chenle ran towards Jeno's room and flung open the door. "Oh my god it's so cute!!"

 

Curious, the other members, excluding Jeno who sat defeated on the floor, ran towards the boy. To their surprise,a tiny white kitten was huddled up in Jeno's blankets. The little thing was looking at them fearfully. It must've been scared by the way the door was suddenly flung open by the loudest boy in the house.

 

"Awww",they all cooed.

 

Jeno then came and scooped up the feline into his arms. The kitten immediately snuggled close. Jeno looked at them apologetically, "Sorry for keeping her from you guys"

 

"Jeno, as much as I would like to scold you right now for bringing pets into the house, that baby is looking at me right now and oh my god can I hold her!?", the serious look on Jaemin's face changed into a happy one. It's the one he has when squeezing the life out of Jisung.

 

Jeno nodded and passed the kitten into Jaemin's arm. That's when Renjun noticed one of its paws were a bright green colour.

 

"Wait",he said and took the kitten away from Jaemin to inspect its paw. "Hey!",Jaemin yelled but Renjun ignored him to inspect its paw. "Is this paint?",he asked.

 

Jeno scratched his head in embarrassment, " She went into your room when I wasn't looking and made a mess. Sorry about that"

 

Donghyuck laughed, "Your culprit is a tiny kitten!"

 

Renjun couldn't be even more embarrassed. His face stayed red the entire day.

 

...........

 

It was night time when Jeno heard a knock on his door.

 

"Come in",he said. The door opened and Renjun walked in timidly, "Hey"

 

"Hi"

 

Renjun closed the door behind him. "Where's the cat?"

 

Jeno pointed towards the bed, the kitten was sound asleep under the covers. Renjun nodded, "i wanted to say sorry. You know,with how I acted?"

 

Jeno shook his head and smiled softly, "It's okay. I knew your painting means a lot to you. I get it"

 

Renjun frowned, "Not just that. I'm sorry for almost telling Hyuck that you like him. I know that's not my right"

 

The smile on Jeno disappeared. Suddenly, the floor looked more interesting to look at, "Oh... don't worry. He didn't catch it. To be honest, there's a part of me that wanted you to tell him"

 

Renjun sighed, "You need to tell him this yourself. If you take too long,you might lose him"

 

Jeno let out a heavy sigh, "I know"

 

Noticing the somber mood around Jeno, Renjun cleared his throat and quickly tried to change the atmosphere, "by the way",he started, "I wanted to give you this. Think of it as a birthday present"

 

It was then Jeno noticed that the older was holding a canvas. He received it and gaped. On the canvas, a beautiful portrait of a white kitten stared back at him. The kitten looked exactly like the one sleeping on Jeno's bed. He smiled his signature eye smile, "It's pretty. Thank you"

 

Renjun grinned, "I'm glad you like it but there's another thing I have to show you. It's in the living room, come on"

 

Jeno followed him out. The living room was dark and quiet. Renjun switched on the lights.

 

"Happy birthday!"

 

Now, that the room was bright he could finally see that everyone was there. And when he says everyone,he means everyone from NCT. 

 

It was then he realised, between getting icing on his face and receiving hugs from the hyungs, that birthdays are best celebrated with his big and rowdy family.

 

Author's note: Happy 20th birthday to Jenojam!!! ^^