♡ behind the curtains (pt.2) ♡

pairing: renjun + yangyang

genre: angst + fluff

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renjun sighed, throwing his backpack to the floor as soon as he entered his dorm after another long and boring day. as expected, the chinese male let out a groan as he heard his upstairs neighbour had one of his regular flings over.

it was no secret that the small student apartment that renjun was renting in a residence next to his school had very thin walls, offering each of its inhabitants a clear idea of what the others were doing.

four years after moving away from china with his parents, renjun's interest in this prestigious art academy that he had been registered in slowly died down, causing the male to change schools after two years to pass a performing arts degree.

the reason for this sudden change was simple: through art, renjun expressed the powerful feelings he had buried inside of him, and his sudden departure from china always seemed to hit him square in the face when he let his feelings take over himself to draw. sure, leaving china – his home country – had been hard for him, but this was nothing compared to the loss of the boy he had grown so attached for...

four years ago, when moving out of his house in china, renjun had also left behind liu yangyang, his window neighbour and the boy he had fallen in love with in the span of a year, and didn't seem to be able to get out of his mind.

"oh my god, stop thinking about him..." renjun groaned exasperatedly, hitting his forehead against his pillow a few times to push the images of the younger boy away from his mind.

he couldn't get over how stupid had been after his parents announced him the good – more like horrifying – news. instead of living his life fully and enjoying his time with yangyang for his last month in china, the chinese male had decided to stay on his own, grieving alone in his bedroom behind his closed red curtains, without daring speaking yangyang a word. and now, four years later, he was aware that he could only blame himself for not voicing out his feelings to yangyang before, or for never asking him his number – he had always thought he would never need it, their rooms were so close and facing each other... so now, with renjun in korea and yangyang probably still in china, the two males had absolutely no way to contact each other.

hell, renjun's mind was still clouded with thoughts of him and yangyang that he couldn't get rid of. his departure from china had been the beginning of an endless grief during which he couldn't help but miss yangyang and fall more in love with him; and the worse part was that he had absolutely no idea what the other boy could feel like.

perhaps that yangyang had completely forgotten about renjun's existence.

perhaps that he didn't have feelings for him anymore.

perhaps that he had found himself a girlfriend or a boyfriend that he loved.

perhaps that none of this meant anything to him anymore.

perhaps that renjun was being stupid over nothing.

and he would never know, because there was no way he would ever meet him again... or was there?

"you are stupid, huang renjun." the male sighed again, burying his face in his pillow one last time as if to cancel himself from this world. he was utterly tired of his life, and he couldn't believe that after four years of nothing, he could still hope that one day, everything would go back to the way things were before when him and yangyang were careless teenagers in love.

before renjun could spend some more unproductive time thinking about his shitty life, the boy heard water running from the bathroom, causing him to snap his head up and pull his phone out to look at the time.

"god, he's early today." he declared, throwing his phone back on the bed and rushing to his bathroom where he discarded of his clothes and opened the tap to make the shower water heat.

the sound of running water that had caused him to stand up so fast wasn't coming from his bathroom actually. in fact, it was the sound of his neighbour's shower, but since the walls in their student residence were as thin as paper, it was as if the two males were basically living together without seeing each other.

"...every time you go away, you're always tryna fight 

how bad i want you... bad i want you...

i could try to fill the space with someone else tonight

but i don't want to... i don't want to..."

renjun smiled opening the water on his side of the wall as well and waiting for the chorus to come for him to sing in synch with the boy rapping in his shower.

"right now, you know i miss your body

so, i won't kiss nobody until you come back home...

and i swear, the next time that i hold you

i won't let you go nowhere

you'll never be alone... i'll never let you go..."

the chinese male smiled brighter, rubbing the soap against his body to clean himself while he listened to the rapper singing the next lines.

"you lead, i follow... no sleep

"that's what you said..."

the rapper paused, leaving a second for renjun to sing the backing vocals. "that's what you said..."

"that's what you said..." the rapper repeated stopping again for renjun's part. "that's what you said..."

"and you should know, you leave, i'm hollow...

i need you in my bed..."

"i need you in my..."

"you in my head..."

"i need you in my..." renjun breathed out, his eyes closed as he enjoyed both the warm water running on his body and the powerful feeling of singing lines that illustrated his thoughts perfectly.

him and the amazing rapper sang successfully, their voices sounding amazing together during the choruses, and so until the song came to an end and both stayed silent for a while, the only noise remaining being the water running from both showers.

however, after a few seconds of silence, renjun heard his neighbour's shower stopping.

"i thought you wouldn't join me today since i took a shower early..." the voice on the other side of the wall declared, making the chinese male smile.

"i wasn't doing anything, so i decided to join you, even if it's early." renjun replied.

"i'm glad you did."

renjun had no idea who this boy was.

everything he knew was that he was also studying performing arts in the same school, and that compared to renjun who was more of a singer, his neighbour was a rapper.

for the past months now, renjun and him had been having their showers at the same time, using this relaxing time to sing duets, each on their side of the thin wall that separated their bathrooms and shower cubicles.

it had all started on a rainy day, after one of renjun's worst days ever. the chinese male had gotten into his shower, and for the first time since he had moved in this dorm, allowed himself to sing out loud, his beautiful voice filling the silence of the small bathroom. and when renjun had reached the rap part of the song, he had stopped himself, knowing that he wouldn't be able to rap it as beautifully as he was able to sing it.

however, after a few seconds of silence, with renjun humming the rapping part and waiting for him to reach the chorous again, an almost angelic voice was heard, rapping oh-so-perfectly the lines renjun feared to sing out loud.

and so, the two boys went on, singing successfully rapping and singing parts, singing together on choruses, and harmonizing perfectly.

this had led to a first short conversation, renjun voicing out how coincidental it was that the boy on the other side of the wall had taken a shower at the exact same time as him, and that he knew by heart the rap of the song renjun had chosen. a few more words were exchanged between the two boys, and then, both left their bathrooms, going back to their boring lives without knowing each other's names.

and now, a few months after this first fortunate encounter, the two males had their showers at the same time, singing duets oh-so-perfectly in the shower or talking together through the thin bathroom wall. but none of them knew the other's identity, whether it was their name or their appearance.

"i'm sorry, i need to go." the mysterious rapper informed.

"sure, don't worry." renjun replied with a smile.

"it's always a pleasure to have a shower with you."

"it is." the chinese male nodded, his heart fluttering at the words that had left his neighbour's lips.

"until tomorrow, then."

"until tomorrow..."

renjun rinsed the soap off his body and stopped the water as well, walking out of his shower cubicle to wrap himself in his towel and head back to his bedroom where he plopped on his bed, a smile decorating his lips.

he was glad to know he could have something to look forward to every night. renjun didn't have much friends here, and the sole thought of creating a friendship bond that he could end up breaking again after moving out prevented him to enjoy social interaction. but he wouldn't grow attached to someone he didn't know properly – he had absolutely no idea who was his neighbour or what he looked like – so this made things more enjoyable.

and most important, this helped renjun forgetting about yangyang, the boy that had been on his mind ever since, seemingly forever written in his heart.

♡

"mom, please i beg you, help me!" renjun whined, standing in front of his clogged sink with his phone in hand.

"look, junnie, i can't do much when i'm not here with you!" the woman replied. "have you tried using a plunger?"

"i don't have any..."

"and an unclogging liquid?" she asked again.

"mom, i don't even know what that is!"

"oh my god, renjun..." his mother tsked on the other side of the line. "how long has this been going on?"

"the water had been evacuating slowly in the bathroom for the past week. but i just brushed my teeth and the sink is completely clogged. and i'm pretty sure it's the same with the toilet and the shower."the boy explained. "and i have classes in 20 minutes."

"look, there is nothing you can do to solve all of this in 20 minutes. just call the residence's maintenance and they will solve that problem for you while you are in class. their number is next to your front door."

"mom..." renjun groaned. "i don't like it when people come when i'm not here..."

"call a friend to stay there while you are in class then."

renjun tsked. "mom, i don't have friends here."

a loud sigh was heard on the other side of the line. renjun couldn't help but roll his eyes, he was way too used to this exact same conversation.

"junnie, baby, you need to make some friends." the worried mother said in a calm voice.

"for it to end up like it did with yangyang? no, thank you. one heartbreak is enough for me."

"are you still not over this...? it happened four years ago..."

"love doesn't fade in a snap of fingers, mom."

"sure, but it's not because you were heartbroken once that you are never going to be able to love again."

renjun rolled his eyes again. "it's not that i'm not able, it's that i don't want to. it's- "

"yangyang and no one else. i know." the mother hummed. "are you really ready to sacrifice everything for this boy...?"

"he was like no one else..." renjun replied, his voice almost trembling. "and i'm sure he still is."

"you are so devoted..." she sighed. "maybe time will offer you the opportunity to see him again."

"i highly doubt it." renjun huffed loudly. "i feel like time isn't on my side since- oh my fucking god i'm so late!" the chinese male exclaimed when he noticed that his classes started in a few minutes only.

"junnie, junnie! don't forget to call maintenance for your bathroom."

"yes, i'm going to call them. love you, ma."

"love you too, junnie. take care."

the chinese male rushed out of his dorm, closing the door and pulling his phone out to call maintenance, but was unfortunately stopped on his tracks on his way as he found himself standing in front of two girls kissing each other passionately in the middle of the corridor. unconsciously, the corners of his lips curved downwards as he couldn't take his eyes off them.

it wasn't that he was disgusted by them, same-sex love or anything – of course not, he was homosexual himself for fuck's sake – no, it was just that he couldn't bear that sight, not when he knew that he couldn't stop thinking about a boy he had left behind four years ago.

renjun couldn't help but have repeated visions of the last time him and yangyang saw each other, both voicing a bitter goodbye and exchanging one first and last kiss before separating for ever.

these heart-breaking visions hit him frequently, whenever he closed his eyes, or thought about his life too deeply for a few seconds, and even when he would witness scenes of love and pure happiness in his everyday life.

it seemed like this separation had broken him down to the core, and that it would affect him until his death considering how he couldn't get those images out of his mind – but did he really want to?

the circumstances in which yangyang and renjun met were so unique and so weird that their story couldn't be just a simple story. there had to be a deeper meaning to all of this...

renjun was certain that yangyang was the one for him, the one and only, his soulmate. and as his mother had told him minutes ago, maybe time would bring them back together again... this was what was supposed to happen to people meant to be together.

so, renjun couldn't force himself to forget about him – about them – he needed to wait. but how long would it take...?

"huh... everything alright?"

renjun blinked a few times, lifting his head only to realise that the two girls he had been staring at for long seconds were looking at him with concerned eyes.

"s-sorry..." renjun blurted out, lifting one of his hands to his cheek and realising that a tear had rolled down there.

"can we help with something? are you okay?" one of the girls asked, pulling a tissue from her pocket and handing it to the sad male.

"t-thank you... i was just... thinking about... something." renjun hesitated, taking the tissue and wiping his tears.

"okay, well... seemed troublesome..." the other girl said, patting the boy's shoulder sympathetically.

"yeah...huh..." renjun blew his nose. "i should go..." he declared, looking into the two girls' eyes. "please, take care of each other, and... enjoy your time together..."

and with that said, renjun walked away pressing the call button on his phone to call maintenance, leaving the two girls alone and confused in the middle of the corridor.

♡

for once, renjun's day hadn't been as shitty as it usually was.

the chinese male was rather surprised by how it had turned out considering it had started by him having to call his mother to know what to do with his bathroom, and then meeting two girls kissing passionately in the corridor, reminiscing memories of him and yangyang. but in the end, his classes had been good, and he had had a rather good time during lunch, so everything seemed better than usual.

another thing that had contributed to make this day better than another one was the message he had received from the student residence he lived in, claiming that they had sent maintenance to his room for his bathroom problems, which meant that everything should be solved by now – or at least almost finished.

and so, it's with a smile on his face that the chinese student opened his dorm door and entered in his student apartment. he wasn't very surprised to see a cart full of equipment in the middle of the way, which surely meant that maintenance was still there, fixing his plumbery problems.

renjun walked to his bedroom, putting his bag on the floor and kicking off his shoes before heading to the bathroom to greet the maintenance officer and see how things were going.

"hello..." renjun spoke timidly, knocking on the bathroom door before pushing it open.

well, renjun was having a good day so far, and let's say that the sight in front of his eyes considerably changed that.

"oh, hello boy! i suppose you're the one to live here!" the maintenance officer flashed renjun a quick smile before focusing back on the open pipes leaking water everywhere.

"w-what is happening in here...?" renjun breathed out, too stunned to ask for more.

"oh, you and your neighbour are both complaining about clogged pipes." the officer explained. "turns out there was a general clog between your two apartments. we're trying to empty the pipes to make the clog disappear, but it seems tougher than expected."

"and... for the wall...?" renjun raised a brow.

"the wall?" the officer looked in the direction was pointing out. "oh, that! well, we needed to reveal the pipes, so... yeah..."

to reveal the pipes indeed...

renjun kept his eyes on the wall – or rather absence of wall – between the two bathrooms. in fact, the thin material – that used to be called a wall – had been completely demolished, linking the two bathrooms – and more particularly, the two showers of the two neighbour apartments. from where he was, renjun could perfectly see the red curtain that prevented water to get out of the shower whenever his neighbour was showering and the variety of shampoos and soaps the boy used.

the hole wasn't gigantic, but it was large enough for someone to fit and for renjun and his neighbour to be deprived of any kind of privacy if they ever needed to use the bathroom.

at least, renjun was glad that his neighbour's shower curtain was placed right in front of the hole, because it would allow the two boys to have a bit more privacy than they could have had if this curtain didn't exist. and speaking of which, this red curtain seemed a bit too thick and pricey to be a simple shower curtain... renjun didn't have a shower curtain, but he was pretty sure that he would have chosen one in plastic rather transparent if he needed to, not something that could have fit as a bedroom curtain to prevent the sun from entering the room.

but well, renjun had no idea what his neighbour was like aside from the fact he knew he liked singing and rapping depressing songs in the shower. maybe he was a psycho that enjoyed having a bedroom curtain as a shower curtain.

these sudden thoughts about renjun's neighbour made the boy's heartbeat accelerate as he realised that he was surely going to meet the only person he could consider as a friend after four years of being in korea. but he had no idea what to do about it or how to engage things with him. he wasn't even sure that he wanted to meet him, because what if the boy was a weird-ass person? or an assassin? or worse, what if he was someone so good that he would stand in the way of renjun and yangyang's relationship? what if renjun started liking him to the point he forgot about yangyang?

no, this definitely couldn't happen, renjun wouldn't let it happen.

"d-does the neighbour know about... this?" renjun asked again, motioning to the hole in the wall.

"oh, yeah. he was helping me with stuff." the officer replied. "he had to take a call, but i believe he'll be back shortly."

"oh..." renjun hummed, not knowing what to do or how to act with this information. so, his neighbour was here too, helping with whatever problem there was?

"can you please hold that for me?" the maintenance officer asked, waking renjun up from his daze.

"oh, yeah, sure." the chinese male nodded, taking the huge screwdriver carefully and standing a meter behind the officer that was hammering something against something else – honestly, renjun had no idea what was going on.

"screwdriver." the maintenance officer held his hand out after a while, for renjun to place the screwdriver there and hold the hammer for a while.

the chinese male did so, moving around carefully not to break anything and then focusing on the worker that seemed to know what he was doing.

"sorry sir, i left for a while, i hope you didn't have too much trouble with..."

at the sound of an unknown voice, renjun turned around to face the hole in the wall, his whole body tensing as he noticed the thick red curtain opening – actually the thick curtains, because it seemed like there was two curtains that opened in the middle, which was weird for a bathroom curtain that was usually composed of one curtain that pulled to the side to go in and out. but no, this wasn't the case, because a boy had pushed the curtains open in the middle, as if he opened his bedroom's curtains in the morning to watch the sun rise through his window.

as soon as the boy came into view, a thousand thought ran through renjun's mind, causing him to look at his fidgety hands and ask himself whether he should start speaking or walk away to avoid anything bad to happen.

but before he could think further about it, the voice he had heard rapping depressing songs in the shower so many times spoke, making him freeze again.

"r-renjun...?"

the chinese male lifted his head fully, not expecting his neighbour to know his name.

barely anyone at school knew his name. he didn't have friends and barely even interacted with people, even during projects. so, how was it possible for him to know who he was...?

"oh, yangyang, you're back." the maintenance officer spoke before continuing his sentence, but renjun couldn't grasp any of the words he said further on. why? there was one single word repeating in his mind.

yangyang.

yangyang.

yangyang.

yangyang.

he had called the boy yangyang.

renjun dared to look up fully, his eyes falling into a pair of trembling brown orbs that stared at him like he was their saviour. renjun couldn't help to notice the familiarity of this look in this impromptu and unexpected meeting, and the longest he stood frozen, looking through those eyes, the more familiar they become, until renjun had no other choice that confirming his suspicions.

"y-yangyang...?" he muttered barely above a whisper, dreading the answer too much to repeat the question.

"renjun... i-is that you...?" the familiar boy spoke, water welling to his eyes as he pronounced words he never thought he would say ever again.

"y-yes..." renjun hummed.

"r-renjun?" the boy's neighbour repeated, taking slow steps in his direction, walking directly through the hole in the wall. "huang renjun...?"

"l-liu yangyang..." the chinese male spoke more confidently as the other boy approached him more.

"it's me..." the boy – yangyang – answered, a bright smile taking over his features as tears rolled down his cheeks.

"oh my god..." renjun breathed out, the hammer falling from his hands as he threw himself forward, wrapping his arms around yangyang's neck while the other male wrapped his own around renjun's waist to pull him in a bone-crushing hug.

at the sudden noise that the hammed made, falling to the floor right between renjun's feet, the maintenance officer turned around, looking at the two boys crying in each other's arms.

"you guys are this happy to see each other after a day of classes?" he frowned.

neither renjun nor yangyang heard his question though. the two boys were too engrossed in realising that they had finally met each other after four long years of separation.

it was crazy, and almost unbelievable... they had no way to communicate with each other after renjun move away, and even though the two of them had grown powerful feelings for the other, they were aware that it would be very difficult – if not impossible – to meet again somewhere, someday... but they had done it. after four years, they had met again; and more impressively, they had been living for a few months next to each other and going to the same school without never meeting each other. every night, they took showers at the same time, singing duets on depressing songs they related to after losing their loved one. and all this time, they were hoping to meet each other again when they were only separated by a thin bathroom wall... wall that had been completely destroyed today, allowing them to be reunited.

"i never thought i would meet you again..." yangyang declared, pulling away from the hug and cupping renjun's cheeks in his hands, studying each and every detail of the older chinese male's face. "you've gotten so beautiful..."

"so have you..." renjun chuckled, sniffling slightly as tears continued escaping his cheeks.

yangyang wiped the pearly drops with his thumbs, smiling brightly as his eyes fell on renjun's plump lips for a second before looking back up into his teary yet overjoyed orbs.

"do you want to know a secret?" he asked, his fingers caressing renjun's jaw oh-so-tenderly.

"please, tell me..." renjun nodded, his heart beating one hundred miles an hour at their close proximity after all this time.

"during these four years... i have never stopped thinking about you... wanting to meet you again... and... and loving you..." yangyang admitted, trying to read renjun's expression to know how to act next. he was so relieved to see renjun's cheeks flushing red, his eyes watering even more, and his lips curving up in an even brighter smile. "i still love you so much, renjun..."

"i love you too... i'll never stop loving you..." renjun replied between giggles, his fists holding yangyang's shirt and pulling the boy closer as his eyes stay fixed on the younger male's lips.

"thank god..." yangyang let out before fulfilling renjun's wish and leaning forward, placing his mouth over renjun's and moving his lips with so much tenderness and passion against renjun's.

the feeling of their lips touching was so foreign to them considering they had only ever kissed each other once before, and that none of them had dared laying their lips on someone else in those four years of solitude. it was so foreign for them to kiss each other, but at the same time, both of them couldn't help but be hit by a feeling of familiarity at this electrifying contact that brought them back in time, four years ago, when nothing else mattered than the long conversations both of them used to have, each lying on their own bed, in their own rooms, separated by two windows and a fifty-centimetre gap.

they were forced to separate when air started lacking in their chests, but this didn't prevent them to keep their eyes focused on each other, saying more in a simple stare than words could ever do in any memoir.

"renjun?" yangyang spoke, his voice low and hoarse because of the kiss.

"yes?" the other answered, keeping his tone soft as he didn't want to break the unforgettable moment they were having now.

"do you want to know another secret?"

renjun smiled at yangyang's question, nodding his head slowly and allowing his hands to fall into yangyang's palms so that he could intertwine them.

the younger male pulled away, turning around slightly for renjun to see through the hole that had been made in the wall.

"when you left, i promised that i would keep your curtains with me, closed forever until you were back there behind them." he stated, his thumbs caressing delicately the back of renjun's hands. "my window here already had curtains, so i hung your curtains here, around my shower. it seemed like the best idea, because the shower was the place i could sing freely songs that reminded me of our story and of how i felt without knowing where you were. and honestly, my showers were the best time of my day because i was surrounded by your curtains, as if you were there, embracing me. and it seems like this all makes so much more sense now that i know that you were the one singing duets with me in the shower..."

"how so...?" renjun asked, his eyes falling on the red curtains he had spent long seconds questioning himself about minutes earlier.

now that he paid more attention to them, he could recognise them.

they were his old curtains, the ones he had in his bedroom when he lived in china. the ones that he always forgot to close when he was younger and that his mother kept closing for him. the ones that had allowed him and renjun to meet and start talking. the ones he had gifted to renjun when he had left china. and now, the ones that had reunited them.

"if i felt so good here, in my shower..." yangyang stated, approaching his face from renjun's and placing a peck on the boy's forehead before looking back at the red fabric that had nothing to do in a bathroom, but in some way made sense here. "it was just because you were back there... behind the curtains."

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as it was requested quite a lot... <3