In case you missed it, there was an update before this <3

─────── • ❥ • ───────

Raindrops cascaded down Renjun's cheeks like tears, but they weren't. Not even close. His chest was pounding and his pulse was loud in his ears, but he was so alive right now. His suitcase was worse for wear, he himself probably looked like a homeless boy and his sneakers were starting to leave puddles when he walked. Nevertheless, he pressed the doorbell twice with conviction and held his breath in anticipation.

What if he had the wrong house? What if they wouldn't even spare him a conversation? What if he was being presumptuous, expecting them to listen? Did they still love and think about him the way he did about them? Every single day?

His nerves were silenced when heavy footsteps trudged from within towards the door. The glass panel along the right showed a dark figure with a tracksuit on looming just a couple of feet away, and Renjun would've known those footsteps from anywhere. That posture, that head scratch as the door opened.

It stopped without a noise, even though this house could've been ten years old. The smell of musty books pervaded the air around them — the smell of an old building without inhabitants. And there, standing like a lost soul on a canvas not meant for him, was Lee Jeno. He was a stunning model surrounded by a dingy hallway in need of some paint, even with his navy t-shirt and Adidas sweats. The faint outline of his abs through the thin material nearly made Renjun choke, and he hadn't realised how much he physically missed them as well, until now.

"Well if it isn't our old neighbour," the tall man smirked with a sense of excitement Renjun was sure he didn't mean to show. It was clear he wasn't upset to see him, at least. "Darling, I think you have the wrong room."

"I don't. Definitely not," the blonde-ravenette swallowed thickly and laced his fingers over his stomach to prevent fiddling. He'd nearly broken his suitcase handle from gripping it so hard earlier. "If you lot are in there, then I have the right place."

Jeno glanced wearily at the suitcase behind him and nodded briefly to himself like he was piecing a few things together. "How'd you find us?"

"Ah...this, um, gentle breeze?"

"Did this gentle breeze happen to mention how distressed we've been the past couple of months?"

"I-It did, in fact. And I'm not going to pretend it's not my fault. It is, almost one hundred percent. Maybe, like, seventy percent."

"Make it eighty-five."

"No way," Renjun chuckled softly and subconsciously nudged Jeno's shoulder with his fist. "Seventy. You weren't listening to me...but I wasn't talking to you either. We messed up, but I did more damage."

The younger sighed softly and slid his gaze over the boy once, twice and again once more like he needed a fix of the sight. His lips couldn't stop from pursing upwards and his ears went a little pink where a blush was being beaten back. "I haven't been able to stop thinking about you, and I suppose I speak on behalf of all of them. I've been so angry," he mumbled and leaned his shoulder against the door frame, looking imposing, "but I've been lonely as well. You'd think having five boyfriends could cure a guy of loneliness, wouldn't you? But it's not the same. Every time we add someone, our hearts are split another way. We're never quite whole when we fall in love."

"The recipient always takes a piece with them..." Renjun nodded with a tiny smile. "I haven't fallen in love before like I have with you guys. And I realised how vast my mistake was really early...I just didn't know how to fix it."

"Oh you did," Jeno scoffed. "In fact, it was a simple mistake with an easy solution. You just didn't have the guts to go through with fixing it."

"That's..." very true, the elder admitted solemnly to himself. He really was cowardly. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry for all of it. If I had a Time Machine, I'd go back and say no to YangYang. I wouldn't hurt him the way I did. I would accept your proposal and never have let any of this happen. I have something I want to say to all of you."

"Does it involve dancing on our graves?" He arched his brow, standing tall again and stepping impossibly closer to Renjun so that their faces were mere inches apart. "Because they aren't ready to hear more apologies without results."

"It involves apologies," he admitted, stepping closer still and raising his chin to show he meant every word, "but also some leg-hugging, light grovelling, begging for you all back. Good stuff, I hope."

"That does sound promising," Jeno hummed with a cunning smile, suddenly grabbing the boy's waist and pulling him in the final distance for a kiss. His grip was hard — too hard, maybe — but all Renjun could do was hold onto those desperate hands as they dug into his hips and breathe in the other's breaths, play-fight his tongue, trace an apologetic pattern into his wrist as they let the rain fall behind them.

The rest of the afternoon was tough, and not everyone was overjoyed to see him. They were angry, suspicious, nervous, and yet so damn hopeful it was enough to bring the blonde-ravenette to tears. He did as he promised, and begged, grovelled, pleaded that they give him the last chance he'd ever ask for. They played all their cards and made all their moves, but Renjun was ready. He was ready to take on the responsibilities that loving them came with.

He was prepared to go to Hell and back if it meant never losing their love and faith again.

"I guess we can forgive you," Chenle tried not to smile through wet cheeks and glossy eyes, failing altogether anyway and collapsing into his arms. The others followed suit, crushing him in a group hug and crying for an infinite amount of reasons. He joined them, sobbing like a child and receiving so many kisses to his cheeks with the greed and hunger of a teenager. His body had longed to be with them, but the shattering emptiness his soul experienced when they weren't there was far greater.

This moment proved all of that.

YangYang wandered through town with his hands in his coat pockets and his head down. The rain had relented around five that evening and a hour or so later, he'd decided he needed a walk. His muscles were cramping from lying in bed and his chest was a dark chasm of loneliness.

The chatter of passers-by couldn't cure the silence in his head and the smell of coffee from the café he stopped outside of couldn't mask the dullness of his senses. He knew he shouldn't have been so hung up on a guy he'd always somewhat known could never be his...but it still burned as strong.

He wiped his face with a cold hand and stared at the café menu plastered to the front windows. Even reading the names of the drinks made him think of Renjun and how his ex had been fussy about coffees. His lower lip trembled and he took a step back. No amount of self-scolding could stop his stray sob, and he bundled down into a seated position below the windows. Pedestrians paid him little mind as he wiped his eyes and tried not to let the freezing cold of the cement under him make things worse.

Dusk was starting to fall, and yet the beautiful pastels weren't so stunning tonight. The honk of car horns and playing children along the paths didn't lift his spirits or capture his attention. He we empty.

As YangYang stared off ahead and contemplated skipping college the next day, a stranger stopped in front of him. At first, he could only see the patent leather shoes that would've costed more than a month of his rent, and then as he travelled up he saw long legs covered by sleek, black trousers that seemed to swallow sunlight, and finally at the top was a torso dressed in a white blouse with a brand's insignia over the chest and the first couple of buttons left open and slender shoulders slightly tense with worry. But the guy's face. Sly, all-knowing eyes filled with mischief and hair as black as night falling over his brows and down his neck. He was smiling at him...but it wasn't really pity.

"You look awful," the man chuckled. "Exam season?"

"I...um..." YangYang gaped like a fish, staring at him and wondering if there was a hidden camera somewhere, waiting to snap a shot of his sorry self with this fairytale character. He smelled of importance and cologne. "I'm fine."

"Liar," the ravenette tutted and reached down for his hand. "Here, let me help you up. It's fucking freezing, right?"

Somehow, swearing didn't sound like it should've suited him, like he was a young master out for a stroll and that he must have minded his manners. But the way he said it, fuck, it sounded like a challenge, like a secret. As if he was inviting the young brunette into his mind for a moment. YangYang wasn't even thinking when he took that said hand and hoisted himself with surprising strength on the stranger's behalf.

"Coffee?" The other suggested. "I was just about to grab one. I have a party, technically..." he smiled cheekily, "but a cutey sitting on the side of the street, looking like he needs some company, takes priority. Wouldn't you say?"

"I...who are you?"

"I have a few nicknames, but Ten works."

The younger scoffed against his better judgement, a little skeptical. "Why Ten? Was one through nine taken?"

"Who knows?" He still wore that brilliant smile and rested his hands on his tiny, slender hips. "And you?"

"YangYang."

"Why repeat it? Why not just Yang, hm?" He teased.

"Who knows?"

"Indeed. Well, YangYang," he clicked his tongue and started walking towards the café where a guy was holding out a jacket for him at the entrance, "let's grab a hot drink. I simply won't sleep if I don't find out why you're on the side of the street, crying."

The younger didn't particularly want to talk about his problems yet, and least of all to a complete rando. But something about Ten made him feel like he couldn't refuse, and so he went on inside, followed him to a table for two, and ordered a coffee.

Little did he know that this was perhaps the distraction and new beginning that he'd needed and wanted all along.

─────── • ❥ • ───────

Alright, only the epilogue left! I cannot wrap my head around this fact. I can't 💀