♡ behind the curtains ♡

pairing: renjun + yangyang

genre: fluff + angst

-♡-♡-♡-♡-♡-♡-♡-♡-♡-♡-

just like any other morning, renjun got out of his bed, wearing the clothes that he had neatly placed on his bedside table the night before. the chinese male heaved a sigh as he walked to his window, opening the curtains – that his mother had surely closed the night before – to allow a small ray of sun to warm the room a bit.

as soon as his curtains were open, renjun took a few seconds to stare at the closed window that was just in front of his own.

around a year ago, someone had started building a house in the quiet neighbourhood renjun lived in. one problem though, they had built it almost against renjun's family house, and even worse than that, they had placed a window just in front of renjun's window, in his bedroom.

thankfully, the house was desert, and no one lived here for the moment. but renjun knew that this wouldn't last, and that if someone came to live here, this person would be able to see everything renjun was doing. he had his bed stuck to the wall opposite the window, because when he had chosen his room, he was able to see the sun first thing in the morning. but now, he only caught glimpses of the sun because of the house that blocked his view, and he had a very clear view of the white uninhabited room.

"hello mom." renjun declared stepping inside the kitchen and seeing his mother having her breakfast.

"hello junnie." the woman smiled brightly. "how did you sleep?"

"good." renjun nodded, pulling a box of cereal from one of the cupboards before sitting down next to his mother to have his breakfast.

"you forgot to close your curtains yesterday night." the woman said after a while.

"i usually sleep with my curtains open. the rays of the sun warm my room in the morning." renjun explained.

"yes, but you have to get used to closing them. when we'll have neighbours, the person living right in front of you will see everything you do. and you sure don't want that." she told on a sympathetic tone.

"but no one lives there yet..." renjun whined.

"i know sweetie. but you better get used to it." his mother smiled at him. "knowing how shy you are, when someone will live in that house, you'll probably live with your curtains closed completely."

renjun shrugged. "as long as no one lives there, i'm good."

♡

renjun's eyes opened on their own when his body judged he had had enough sleep.

it was a sunny sunday morning, but sadly, the rays of the sun were blocked by renjun's red curtains that his mother had – once again – closed the night before.

the chinese male sighed, looking at the time on his alarm clock before standing up.

it was 10:30am. he hadn't slept too late, meaning that he could still get a bit of warmth from the sun who wouldn't have gone too far not to reach his window anymore.

yawning cutely, renjun grabbed the sides of his curtains, pushing them open as he smiled brightly at the rays of sun hitting his pale skin. but his smile was immediately replaced by a frown when he noticed something unusual.

someone was standing in the room facing his window, and it was a boy looking like he was around his age. and even worse: he was unpacking cardboard boxes.

renjun gasped loudly, catching the attention of the stranger, but he immediately panicked and closed his curtains again.

someone had moved in the house next to his... he was having new neighbours... and more important: he would have someone living in front of his window. permanently.

catching his breath, renjun's tiny hands gripped the curtains again, opening them slightly to glimpse at the boy on the other side. he had gotten back to unpacking his things, pulling out books and clothes of the boxes to place them on a side of the room.

"renjun- "

"AAH!" the chinese male jumped in surprise as someone had opened his bedroom door.

"oh..." his mother smiled at her son.

"you scared me, mom!" renjun whined, placing a hand over his fast-beating heart.

"i'm sorry." she apologised. "i wanted to tell you that we had new neighbours... but i guess you already know that."

renjun blushed slightly knowing his mother had caught him staring at his new neighbour.

"they rang at our door this morning. they're called the lius. and they even have a son who's your age, he was really cute, and his name is yangyang. i'm sure you are going to be good friends." renjun's mother explained.

"yeah, okay." renjun nodded.

"anyway, now that we have neighbours, i know i won't need to come and close your curtains every night." she laughed.

♡

it was late at night when renjun came back home from his art class.

the night had already set, and a part of the neighbourhood was already asleep. but renjun wasn't, and he wouldn't be for quite some time.

the chinese male was so excited after learning one of his paintings would be representing the school in the national abstract art competition that he couldn't and mostly didn't want to –

sleep.

renjun switched the lights of his bedroom on, his eyes glancing quickly at the window in front of his through the open curtains of his room.

his neighbour's curtains – well, yangyang's curtains – were closed despite his window being open, surely because he wanted to enjoy the night breeze to cool this hot summer night.

the lius had moved in three weeks ago, and since then, renjun had never had a conversation nor a prolonged eye-contact with yangyang.

renjung was really shy, and each time he would open his curtains and meet eyes with the other teenager, he would panic and close them again, only reopening them when yangyang's were closed.

thankfully, renjun had noticed yangyang slept with his blue curtains closed, which meant renjun could keep his open at night, once the other male had gone to sleep, but he still closed them to sleep because he didn't want yangyang to see him sleeping with his mouth hanging open in the morning.

after having a shower and brushing his teeth, renjun was back in his room, more excited than ever.

the boy pulled out from his drawers a sketching book and a pencil as he sat crossed-legs on his bed to draw random things. without realising it, renjun started humming to a song, his voice getting louder with each pencil stroke he did on the yellowish paper of his sketchbook.

by 1am, renjun was fully singing, his drawing almost forgotten as he poured all his happiness and excitement into his voice, making the song sound even more beautiful than it actually was.

renjun's voice was as clear as crystal, disturbing the silent night in the purest and the most magnificent way. but the chinese male was too caught-up in his little concert to realise how loud he was at that point.

hitting the last high-note perfectly and allowing his voice to fade in the night at the end of the song, renjun's eyes shot open when he heard someone clapping.

his head turned in the direction of the clapping noise, almost making him scream when he caught a glimpse of yangyang standing at his window, eye-bags visible on his face through his open curtains.

renjun panicked, once again.

he hadn't realised he was singing so loud.

he surely had woken yangyang up. both of them had their windows open, and they were really close, so he had disturbed yanyang in his sleep...

"you sing really well." yangyang spoke, smiling at renjun.

the older male shyly walked to his window, approaching yangyang with flushed cheeks.

"i'm sorry... did i wake you up...?" he asked in a low voice.

"no, don't worry, you didn't." yangyang shook his head. "i couldn't sleep, but your beautiful voice almost lulled me to sleep. but, yeah, i felt like i needed to tell you how amazing you sounded."

renjun flushed brighter, mumbling a small 'thank you' followed by a 'sorry' as he fidgeted with his fingers.

"i'm liu yangyang." the boy said, holding his hand out of the window. "i moved here three weeks ago."

"h-huh... huang renjun." renjun told, stepping closer to his window and holding his own hand out to shake yangyang's.

as close as the two windows were, renjun and yangyang couldn't hold each other's hands fully to shake them, so this resulted them in shaking each other's fingers. it was original and weird, but not awkward. renjun was really shy, but yangyang's soft smile somehow reassured him.

"i-i'm sorry, you look really tired..." renjun mumbled once he pulled his hand back.

"it's okay. i sometimes have insomnia. i couldn't sleep tonight." yangyang repeated. "well, your voice almost made me fall asleep, but i really wanted to complment you."

"you could have done that tomorrow..." renjun blushed again.

yangyang shrugged. "i tried talking to you, but you always close your curtains when i'm about to speak."

renjun flushed brighter.

he had been busted. well, he wasn't very discreet, but he hoped yangyang hadn't realised it happened every time they had an eye-contact.

"s-sorry... i'm shy..." renjun told, lowering his head to hide his coloured cheeks.

"it's okay." yangyang assured. "seeing you getting all flustered and panicked when we meet eyes is cute."

renjun's cheeks – who were slowly regaining their pale colour – flushed again.

"h-huh..." renjun spoke after a while. "if my singing helps, i guess i can... sing you to sleep...?"

yangyang's eyes brightened at this proposition and a small smile appeared on his face.

"i would love that." he informed.

"do you have... a preference?" renjun asked. "a song preference, i mean."

"sing whatever you'd like. i'm sure everything that comes out of your mouth will be ethereal."

renjun nodded. "okay, go to your bed then. and good night."

"thank you renjun. good night." yangyang declared before slipping inside his bed, under his covers.

and soon, renjun started to sing, his beautiful voice lulling yangyang into a deep slumber by the first chorus.

♡

"-jun!"

renjun groaned as his eyes opened slowly, closing again immediately as a ray of sun blinded him.

"renjun!"

the chinese boy opened his eyes fully, covering them with one of his hands this time to prevent the sun from burning his fragile irises.

"renjun!"

his brows furrowing in confusion, renjun looked in the direction of the voice, flushing when he saw yangyang standing at his window. renjun had forgotten to close his curtains the night before – or had he left them open on purpose? – and now, yangyang had a clear view of him sleeping.

renjun almost wanted to hit himself when he realised that he had fallen asleep on top of his covers, with his feet on his pillow and his head on his open sketchbook.

"yangyang...?" renjun mumbled, standing up and rubbing his eyes tiredly.

"hello renjun." yangyang waved at him. "thank you so much for singing me to sleep yesterday night. it was amazing. i had the best night of sleep."

"you're welcome..." renjun replied, smiling sincerely.

"say, maybe..." yangyang fidgeted with his fingers. "maybe we could talk again tonight?"

"t-tonight?!" renjun stuttered, blinking in confusion.

"yes, i had a really good time talking with you yesterday. you're really cute and adorable, and i'd like to get to know you better, you know?"

renjun's cheeks became redder than tomatoes.

yangyang found him cute and adorable?

it was the first time a boy told him such sweet things, and honestly, this was doing thigns to his heart.

and let's be honest, he did find yangyang cute and adorable too. he had even been drawing him the night before – he didn't recall that, but the first thing he had seen on his sketchbook when he had woken up was a drawing of yangyang's beautiful face.

"i'd love to get to know you better." renjun admitted, looking at renjun shyly.

♡

"so, how did you do on your presentation?" renjun asked, placing his elbow on the ledge of the window and resting his chin on his palm.

"i think i did great. the teacher did say i had done a good job analysing the causes of climate change."yangyang nodded, pulling his stool to sit in front of the window of his room. "and your history test? how was it?"

"not the best." renjun shrugged.

three months had passed since that morning renjun and yangyang had agreed they wanted to get to know each other. and they had succeeded, the two boys had talked almost every day and every night, sharing their lives across their windows.

it had become a habit for them to sit for hours in front of that hole in the wall to talk to each other, and it actually was the only time they spoke to each other.

as weird as it sounded, renjun and yangyang had never spoken in another configuration.

they had never crossed paths on their way back home, and they weren't even in the same school. they had never stood close to each other. to this day, the only physical contact both boys had had was the awkward 'finger-shake' of their first night.

but neither of them judged this to be insufficient. both loved the way their relationship had blossomed, and wouldn't change anything in the world.

it was no secret for both of them that feelings had grown in the pit of their stomachs, making them care for each other way more than intended. but they didn't mind either.

their talking time at the end of the day was their happy moment, an instant that both boys looked forward to every morning when they woke up and wished each other a good day.

their curtains hadn't closed once since the night renjun had sung to yangyang.

it was as if they lived together. they were so close... but yet so far...

♡

"yang?" renjun called, making the boy who was reading on his bed lift his head.

"yes, junnie?"

"i'm going to have dinner. i'll see you after." renjun waved at yangyang.

"okay, enjoy your meal." yangyang smiled brightly. "and if i'm not here when you come back i'll surely be eating, but i want you to go to bed, okay? you look tired today."

"but we said we would talk about your passions tonight..." renjun gave yangyang puppy eyes.

"not tonight, cutie. you really need to sleep." yangyang chuckled. "we shouldn't have stayed up all night yesterday."

"but- "

"no more buts, junnie." yangyang raised a brow. "promise me you'll sleep early. i'll check if you are sleeping as soon as i come back from dinner."

"okay..." renjun nodded, rubbing his tired eyes. "good night then. see you tomorrow."

renjun then walked out of his room to the dining aera where his parents were waiting for him at the dining table.

"sorry, i took a lot of time." renjun apologised, taking a sit in front of his mother.

"it's okay, sweetie." she assured. "you look very tired."

"yeah, i'll go to sleep right after dinner." the boy sighed, helping himself some rice.

"well, i have good news, so, maybe this could cheer you up a bit!" his father informed.

"good news?"

"yes!" renjun's mother clapped loudly.

renjun frowned, putting his utensils down and looking at his father who seemed ecstatic.

"i got a promotion, and i'm now becoming the head of the sales department in our seoul affiliate company!"

the chinese boy blinked a few times, the 'good news' slowly processing inside his mind.

"s-seoul... but... it's in korea..."

"yes!" his mother smiled happily. "we're moving there in one month. we already bought the house, and i even sent a letter in that prestigious art academy you wanted to go to when you were young. and they accepted you!"

there was too much information at the same time. and sadly for renjun, as good as those news were for his parents, and as good as they would have been for renjun if only they had occurred four months ago, they were now not seen as good news by the teenager.

to the contrary, this was very bad news.

in a month, they would move away from china, from his hometown, and most importantly... from his yangyang...

♡

yangyang sighed loudly, his eyes falling onto renjun's red curtains and renjun's closed window.

one month ago, when yangyang had come back from dinner late at night, he hadn't been able to check if renjun was asleep or not.

for the first time in four months, renjun's curtains were closed, preventing yangyang to catch a glimpse of the other chinese male.

yangyang had tried calling for renjun's names dozens of times, but to no avail.

renjun and him hadn't spoken for a whole month, and yangyang didn't know what had happened to cause this sudden change of behaviour.

he missed renjun so bad.

even though their relationship had developed inside the comfort of their homes, and across two open curtains and windows, yangyang had gown undeniable feelings for the cute and adorable chinese boy that lived in the room facing his.

and now that they hadn't had any interaction for the past month, yangyang missed him. a whole lot.

♡

as soon as he woke up, yangyang sat up on his bed, looking through his open curtains at renjun's window. this had become a habit of yangyang, who was desperately waiting for the day the curtains would be open again.

"renjun!" yangyang gasped when he realised the red curtains were not visible, meaning they had to be open.

he ran to his window, almost stumbling on his way there.

and what he saw made his eyes widen and his heart break.

the once red walls on which were taped pictures of renjun and his friends were now white, and the bedroom was completely empty of any furniture, making it seem smaller than it was when renjun lived in there.

what did that mean?

the sound of the doorbell woke yangyang up from his trance, and the boy ran to the front door of his house. he couldn't care less about the person at the door. he was just too shocked by the state renjun's room was in.

for the first time since he had moved in there, he had decided he would knock on renjun's door, and actually see him for real. he needed an explanation of all of this. right now.

as he was about to run across the living room to get outside of his house, yangyang's mother opened the door, making her son catch a glimpse of who had rung the doorbell.

renjun stood on his porch, his eyes puffy from crying, and a huge piece of red fabric in his hands.

"r-renjun..." yangyang let out, air suddenly lacking in his lungs as the sight of the older male he had grown fond of.

yangyang walked outside of his house, standing on the porch with renjun and closing the front door behind his back.

"renjun..." he breathed out, tears welling up in his eyes at the sight of the smaller male.

both boys leant forwards at the same time, hugging each other tight and letting their tears fall out of their eyes simultaneously. they were completely overwhelmed by the waves of strong and powerful feelings that were hitting them, not only because of the fact it was their first time having a real physical contact, but also because they had missed each other so much this past month.

they pulled away after long minutes, when both had calmed down their erratic heartbeats and their teary eyes.

"renjun... w-why...? the curtains... and... your room...?" yangyang stuttered out, wiping his eyes with the back of his hand.

"i'm... moving out..." renjun said, barely above a murmur.

"w-what?!" yangyang gasped.

"i-i... i'm going to korea..." renjun explained as new tears fell from his eyes.

yangyang's whole world stopped as renjun's words made their way to his brain.

renjun was moving out. to another country.

his renjun won't be there anymore...

"i-i'm sorry... f-for the past month..." renjun sniffled. "i-i... i didn't want to hurt you... i... didn't want y-you to see m-me crying e-everyday..."

renjun used the red fabric in his hands to wipe his tears.

"i-i'm l-leaving... n-now..." he told.

yangyang's soul broke at those words.

so, he was leaving... for real...

"i-i brough you... my curtains..." renjun said, looking down at the red fabric in his hands. "m-maybe having t-them with you w-will help you... i-it will be as i-if i was b-behind them..."

yangyang took the curtains delicately, holding them as if they were the most precious thing he had ever had in his possession – because they somehow were.

"g-godbye, yangyang..." renjun smiled sadly, taking a few steps back. "i love you."

those three powerful words that renjun pronounced acted as an eye-opener for yangyang, making him realise that he couldn't let renjun go away from him like that, not without a proper goodbye...

"renjun!" he exclaimed, placing the curtains on the fence before running towards the boy who was walking away from his life.

renjun turned around, his teary eyes meeting yangyang's, and the next thing he knew, his cheeks were cupped by yangyang's hands and the younger boy had his lips placed on top of his.

the oldest wrapped his arms around yangyang's neck as yangyang's hands slid behind renjun's back, pulling their bodies close as their lips danced together desperately.

their tears were mixing with their saliva, then wetting their clothes, but they couldn't care less. they were kissing, and letting out all the emotions that had been bloated in their hearts for so long...

they pulled away after a long minute, keeping their faces close and looking into each other's eyes, being unable to find something else than love.

"i love you too." yangyang whispered. "and i promise, renjun, that i will never forget about you."

"i-i will n-never f-forget you e-either..." renjun nodded gulping down the lump in his throat.

yangyang leant forwards a second time, pecking renjun's lips.

"and i promise that i'll keep your curtains closed forever, and i won't open them ever again until you're back here, behind the curtains..."

-♡-♡-♡-♡-♡-♡-♡-♡-♡-♡-

my first renyang!

thanks @unaestheticallou for suggesting this pairing <3

j'espère qu'il t'as plu (:

and hope you all enjoyed it as well

love youuu<3