"hey renjun, you wanna hang out with us today?" jeno gestured towards renjun's group of friends; chenle, jisung, mark, and donghyuck. the chinese rubbed his nape sheepishly, "i can't make it today, sorry." jeno eyes him skeptically, "you haven't hung out with us after school for two weeks."

   renjun opened his mouth to reply but before he could, jisung came over and smiled. "you can make it today, right?" "he said he can't," jeno spoke, the younger's smile faltering. "but it's our once a month tradition," he pushed.

   the shortest played with his fingers nervously. "i know, but something came up and i can't make it," he lied. the truth was that he had been meeting jaemin everyday after school at the same time. jaemin would meet him at the bench that they first met at and they would hang out for about an hour before jaemin would go back home.

   jaemin said that his parents were strict and that he couldn't be out for that long. renjun asked if they could hang out at his house instead but the younger said that it definitely wasn't possible. though disappointed, renjun respected his answer and they continued meeting at the park daily.

   "renjun hyung, you've been so busy recently, we can't even hang out on the weekends," jisung whined. "i'm sorry," he apologized meekly. "i- uh, i have to go, see you on monday," renjun closed his locker and waved before either of them had a chance to speak.

   once he was away from the school facilities, he breathed a sigh of relief and slowed his pace. he needed to stop lying to his friends and ditching them for a boy he had met hardly two weeks ago. "i'll hang out with them this weekend," he promised himself.

   the weather was windy with clouds scattered across the pale blue sky. the leaves were turning a redish-brown color as a sign that autumn was coming. renjun stopped walking when he was next to the convenient store that he had once bought strawberry gummies from. he thought about jaemin and how skinny he always seemed. 

   figuring that jaemin needed to eat more, he entered the store and bought two packs of instant noodles, adding hot water to them. while balancing two cups of noodles in one hand and opening the door at the same time, he managed to avoid spilling the noodles. feeling rather proud of himself, he took a seat and waited for jaemin to come. 

   "boo!" a voice shouted from behind him, not too much later. renjun let out a yelp, clutching his chest, "don't do that!" jaemin chuckled as a smile spread across his face and he took a seat next to the brunette. "you're early today," renjun noted.

   "yeah, well the season's changing," jaemin replied staring at the cups of noodles in renjun's lap. renjun didn't underestand what he meant but knowing jaemin, he grew used to the wierd things that he would say every now and then. "are you that hungry?" jaemin pointed at the noodles.

   the shorter male picked up a cup and passed it to jaemin, "this is for you, actually. you should eat more." jaemin hesitantly took it and looked slightly nervous. "oh, right. you don't have to eat it if you don't want to," renjun watched jaemin as he suddenly felt guilty. 

   what if the younger had an eating disorder or wasn't comfortable eating infront of others? what if he didn't even like noodles?

   "no, no. it's fine, i just feel bad for making you spend your money on me," he used his chopsticks and shoved a mouthful in. renjun looked at him carefully. if he was lying, he couldn't tell. "oh, it's fine. i don't mind," renjun began to eat as well, feeling content.

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word count: 630

enjoy the calm part of this book whilst it lasts :)

✎ ---- dreaminghyuck⤾