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If the world could've been shrouded in a monochrome filter, that would've been how Renjun saw it all. No colour, no light, no life. His head was spinning 'round and 'round, thinking of only one thing yet so many little things as well.

The complex's main door closed behind him and he stepped into the lobby area where Taeyong was, for once, not around. The pastel paints that usually brought innocence and love into this place were dull now to him, and his chest weighed so heavily.

"Ah, he's home! Guys!" Jaemin called from elsewhere and no sooner had he done so, all six lovers were crowding into the entrance space and piling almost one on top of the other. Their expressions were all determined for some reason, and the air today wasn't what it usually was. "So, how was your dinner-not-date thing?"

"It was...fine."

"Yeah? No news to share?"

"Nope..."

Mark nodded to this slowly and reeled Jaemin back in to keep him from rushing this too much. "That's good. But as you know, we all had a talk. We want to relay it to you out of courtesy and because we're friends, right? In the long run, this is down to you..."

"And what..." Renjun swallowed thickly as he pushed his hands into his pockets, "might that be?"

"The complex will be open to everyone else in a matter of weeks. We've known of this for the past month or so and Jeno and I have been preparing in advance. We're moving away, Renjun. Soon."

"What? S-So suddenly?!" The young male coughed dryly and suddenly the events at dinner didn't feel so monumental right then. "That can't be. It takes months to find accommodation, a-and Taeyong even said—"

"Taeyong has made allowance after allowance for us," Jeno piped up. "We've been spoiled here, and perhaps we'll always think back on this place with only the fondest memories. But it's time to go, and we can't keep taking advantage of him anymore. He needs to earn a living off this building, after all."

"I'll be starting a new film soon enough as well, and I want this move out of the way beforehand. Or at least," Mark murmured with folded arms, "most of it. You look pale, is this...all that shocking?"

"Is it?!" Renjun hissed. "Yes! Yes it is! I...you...why didn't I know? I could've...I don't know! You're leaving? I don't know!"

"You're stressing," Donghyuck smiled softly, far too relaxed right now about something that felt like the end of the world for his neighbour. "I'm glad...it means you care. So on that note, we all agreed to ask you something tonight. Something we've hinted at and pressed since forever."

No...the older boy inwardly gasped, taking a step back as if they were cornering him. This could've only been one thing, couldn't it? His fingers started to shake in his pockets so violently that he had to unsheathe his hands and ball them into fists by his sides. Those nails of his dug into his palms, and without realising, he drew blood.

"Renjunnie," Jisung hummed, "it's probably not much since you've always known about it...but we really do like you. A lot. And even though we're moving away, we want you to come with us."

"It'd be fun, wouldn't it?" Chenle added with an excited smile. "Living together for real in the same home with the same rooms would be amazing..."

"The adventure doesn't have to end here just because we're leaving..." Hyuck mumbled cutely with his hands bunched in his sleeves by his tummy.

Renjun tried not to hyperventilate, but it was extremely difficult given these circumstances. The boys all stood with a blurry haze keeping them at a distance, the sound of their voices seemingly under water. It was all so surreal, and this sick feeling in the pit of the man's stomach was brewing and threatening to explode.

"Basically," Mark then finished it off, adding the last lump of coal to the already blazing fire, "We want you to come with us as our boyfriend. It would be too strange if you weren't, right? So..."

So...the blonde-ravenette panicked inside, taking his hands up from their painful place by his sides and gripping at his pale yellow jumper which was now ruined with small specks of blood. So what? This is too much. Too much in one night. I can't fucking breathe!

"Renjun?" Jaemin tilted his head with a great deal of concern now. "What's wrong? You're quiet and stuff...is this...is this a bad time?"

"I...I..." the elder nearly panted as he gazed at them; or more-so, through them. "I can't do this. I can't..."

"It's a lot to take in now," Jeno tried to calm him from afar. "Maybe sleep on it, and then we can talk about it tom—"

"I can't go with you," he interrupted him. And then the filter lifted, just as it had with YangYang in the restaurant. "I'm...I'm so sorry. I'm s-so sorry..."

"You've barely taken a minute," Chenle gushed nervously. "We can wait, Jun. It's fine..."

"No...no..." he whispered hoarsely and slid to the floor on splayed knees with his palms up...raw, red crescents facing above. "I said y-yes..."

"You said...what?" Jisung frowned.

"Yes," Renjun panicked once more, looking up at them with these terrified and lost eyes that once showed a boundless eternity but now just seemed...shattered. "I told him yes! I-I have a boyfriend. I-I'm not single anymore. Oh my God!"

"Is he taking about YangYang?" Donghyuck squinted his eyes, leaning in to whisper to Jaemin.

"I swear to God..." the younger gritted his teeth.

"What do you mean?" Mark breathed out in a manner of hopelessness, "You can't be serious? Are you serious?"

"I-I'm serious," the shorter mumbled in despair and blinked tears down his cheeks. They left warm streaks behind and ordinarily he looked beautiful...but not like this. Not this way. "He asked me out, and I said yes. It's what's best for me. I'm looking out for myself."

"Oh, and we're the big bad wolves out to ruin your life?" Jaemin clapped his hands together and pressed the prayer position to his forehead. "What the fuck?"

"Renjun, just break up with him!" Chenle insisted angrily. "You know you don't love him! You're just hurting him and yourself!"

"I can't! I a-always said I couldn't date all of you! You n-never listened! You never...listened..." he burst into tears and covered his face like a cowered. His mind was stabbing him with 'you fucked up, you fucked up!' and his body was so damn heavy with anxiety he could've fainted. "Why'd you do this to me?!"

"Do what?!" Donghyuck pressed. "We were good to you! We protected you! Taught you! Love you!"

"I can't believe this..." Jeno breathed heavily and fanned his face. He did look quite pale as well now, and Mark had to hold his shoulder to keep him steady. "He was leading us on...all this time..."

"It's okay," the oldest tried to promise through his hand covering his mouth. Like he was any more stable than the rest of them. "I told you all to keep your hopes within reach. This always happens."

"But," Jisung whimpered with puffy cheeks and eyes slightly pink around the edges with tears, "But this was going to work. He helped us and everything. Renjun," he begged and pulled away from the group to crouch in front of him, "When you were helping with my kleptomania, was it really nothing? D-Did I mean so little?"

"Ji, that's not it," the older begged. He reached out for his hands and could've died when the youngest pulled them away quickly. "I was in it one-hundred percent! We were a team, I swear!"

"Don't go making it worse," Chenle glowered and pulled his boyfriend away, "Don't act like revisiting these memories will make this all better. We've shown you our most weakest and vulnerable sides, the aspects of us we'd never show anyone else but each other! W-We went for dates...told you stories...had sex. What the fuck, Renjun?"

"I-If you break up with him now, we can still figure something out," Jaemin pleaded. "Come on, don't let him down slowly and just tell him the truth! You can't just act like all those months we shared were fuck all! Or were we really stupid enough to give you everything you wanted without reading between the lines?!"

"The fact still stands that I'm fucking terrified of people! Of disappointing everyone!" Renjun snapped from the ground, and as he did so Chenle scoffed and took off towards the stairs, leaving them to listen to his excuses. "I moved here without any intention of meeting 'the guy'," he explained airily and wiped his face with the back of his sleeve. "I wanted to study, get my degree and go back home. YangYang was an unexpected plot twist, I will admit. But not as much of a twist as you six. A part of me wishes you'd all stayed as horrible and weird as you were at the beginning...whispering behind my back, laughing at me when I didn't understand things. It would've been easier than making me feel this way."

"Say it. Say you love us!" Donghyuck stomped his foot and Mark quickly grabbed him by the back of the shirt to detain him and listen further.

"This isn't even about Mum anymore..." he sobbed and pushed his fringe off his face. "As amazing as these months have been, you guys all live in the shadows, dodging the media and receiving weird looks. You pretend to break off into separate relationships so society won't ask too many questions. You live in a new house every half a year or so in order to keep low profiles. I can't keep up with that. I can't even keep up with college, for God's sake."

"But we can make it work. We all have, and it's fun when you get used to it," Jisung nodded hurriedly. "I didn't think living with men was gonna be all that great, but it's been...an experience. A fantastic one, at that."

"Ji..."

"I've heard enough," Jeno shook his head and turned his back to his neighbour on the floor. "If I have to listen to one more excuse for why he doesn't have the balls to say yes, I'll explode. You're pathetic Renjun, and I expected more from you."

That alone was like a sharpened knife to the heart, slicing quick and deep. And with that metaphorical blade embedded, the whole thing fell to shit. The five remaining men all started yelling over each other about who's fault it was, why this was happening, what they were going to do.

Donghyuck ultimately regressed from the excitement and tension levels, crying like a child as he pulled at Mark's shirt while the older didn't notice him and instead kept arguing with an agitated Jaemin. Jeno was getting an earful from Jisung about being a prick and making things worse and all the while Chenle came down with eyes as dark as night and a familiar glass bottle in hand.

"Guys!" Renjun called, "Please stop fighting! It isn't worth it! Guys!" But his voice may as well have not existed to them anymore. They were too enraged, too heartbroken to give him that chance any longer. Watching their whole relationship crumble over this matter was causing him to hyperventilate for real, and soon he was pushing back on the floor up against the doors as his lungs caved and his sight went blurry with tears. "Please..." he gasped weakly, chest expanding and retracting at an unhealthy speed as he vaguely caught the sight of a tall figure looming over him.

The shouting and abuse was erratic and Donghyuck's screaming and crying was unbearable as he changed from boyfriend to boyfriend, desperately clinging to anyone who'd make him feel safe again. It was like a broken household all of a sudden.

"Look what you've done!" Chenle snarled, smashing that glass container straight beside Renjun's head and quickly gripping his hair out of anger. "How could you do this to us? We love you. Wh-Why...?"

"Because of this..." Renjun mumbled through his anxious breaths. "Because there's so many of you, and how hard it is to keep everyone happy."

The scent of a beautiful, undiluted fragrance overwhelmed them both and tears ran down their cheeks as they merely stared at each other.

"Your perfume..." the older cried. "Chenle, please..."

"Just say it. Say you love me. Say you love them even once. Or were we delusional?" He was too soft for this moment now, and things went quiet as the younger waited for a response.

But Renjun didn't have one. Jaemin had said this himself; don't let them down slowly. "I'm sorry..."

"Yeah..." the purplette whispered through tears and heartbreak. "So am I."

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