a/n: still figuring out how tf social dummy works but 😗 here we’ve got our good ol Twitter accounts. the girls ❤️🥰🤪, the boys ⛓😎🕺 (that was satire I promise) and ofc the sexy private accounts
Being hooked up on one girl for a year now was never anything good but being hooked up on one girl for a year that has a boyfriend was just asking for a mess. @poutyjwoo
Wistful (sns AU) {18} ✔
When you’re born, you receive one half of a pendant on a necklace, the other half belonging to your soulmate. The further apart you are, the colder it gets and closer you are, the warmer the pendant is. Y/n is a new student moving from busan with her parents, hoping to find her soulmate along the way. when her necklaces warms up she’s determined to find him. But with determination comes pain and perseverance. @treerachas
Somebody to Love (sns AU) {29} ✔
As if starting out at a university wasn’t hard enough, of course he had to also go and fall for the girl who had a major crush on his best friend’s older brother. Why couldn’t he be like Jaemin and Jeno and worry more about hatching their eggs instead of the cute girl in his art class? At least unrequited love made for a good muse… @panickedmarklee
Thunderstorms {2}✖
Thunderstorms bring people closer. When y/n finds herself stuck with a cute worker during a storm, some sparks fly but what happens when she sees him at school the next day? @hyunjizns
Fireflies (sns AU) {64} ✔
Rich asshole Renjun who has a soft spot for cats meets scholarship student Yn, who just so happens to work at the local animal shelter. @markleebee
warnings: if you don’t like socialism, classic movies, or dumbasses you will not like this au
a/n: i eat enemies to lovers aus up, so i’m writing this for myself because it really is the superior trope (except for fake dating nothing can top that)
enemies to lovers
~ in which you and renjun are neighbors and you both hate each other, or at least you think you do ~
alternatively: film students watch movies together and talk about the french revolution
pairing : prince!renjun x daughter of the president!reader
genre : fake dating!au, fluff fluff and more fluff
word count : 9.4k
warnings : none i think?? slight slight mentions of alcohol, maybe a swearword somehwere, perhaps more mature content in the upcoming chapters but nothing yet
The first time you saw Renjun was on your first day in school.
He was in your chemistry class, sitting in the back of the classroom with a hood draped over his head, his eyes barely visible under his fringe. He was scrolling absentmindedly on his phone, his eyes not even leaving the screen to look up at you when you were shown off to the class by the teacher. You barely noticed him, and you most probably wouldn’t have unless he hadn’t leaned forwards over his desk and talked to his friend in the row in front of him while you were introducing yourself.
You were allowed to pick between two seats that morning; a seat in the front, or the seat in the back, next to Renjun. To say the least, he hadn’t made that good of a first impression, so you sat down in the front by the girl who then would become one of your best friends at school.
You couldn’t even understand at first how he could be allowed to wear a hoodie, since you’d read in the rulebook that wearing anything but the school uniform would give you a strike. But you soon came to realize that those rules didn’t apply to Renjun.
He was a prince. But he most certainly didn’t act like one.
He wore his dark, leather jacket whenever he went outside, and there was almost always a stick of a lollipop peeking out of his mouth whenever you saw him, no matter how often the teachers told him that candy wasn’t allowed in class. Not that the teachers actually could do anything to make him stop - you’d heard from some of your friends that his parents had been paying big amounts of money to the school to let him attend it and do as he pleased. You kind of wished your father had done the same, but at the same time, you wouldn’t have wanted the reputation he had in exchange for being allowed to get an energy boost while studying math.
Your father was the president of the country. You’d been moved around between many different boarding schools over the years of him being in the government and in November, you’d been placed in this school. The first few months were tough on you, as you had started attending the school later than everyone else. Luckily for you, you had a lot of smart friends who helped you study and catch up quickly.
Speaking of friends; Renjun didn’t have many. He was a lone wolf, seemingly enjoying being alone most of the time. He was an equation that was hard to solve for you - was this really how royalties acted? Or was it just him? You had no experience with the royal family of any country, so all you could compare to was the movies you’d seen when you were little. And even though you knew those were probably not even close to the reality, something still felt off about how he acted. He seemed so carefree, and not just in the way some people use the word, saying that they “crazy” and “wild” when they have dessert before the main course. No, he seemed carefree in the way that he honestly didn’t care about what anyone thought of him or what the consequences of his actions would be. Not even though he was a prince. And you saw a very concrete example of this a couple of months after your first meeting with him, in April.
One Friday during class, you received a phone call from your father. You told your teacher that you had to take the call because it was most probably important - even though you honestly didn’t think it wasn’t, but you took any possible chance to skip some geography. However, it had been a long time since you last spoke to your father as he’d been very busy recently with the upcoming election, so you were quite intrigued to see why he decided to call you in the middle of class.
When you accepted the call, you two started off with just some simple small-talk where he asked about how school was going and so on. But when you after a while asked for the real reason behind his call, the other side of the line went quiet before you could head a loud sigh. “Well,” your father muttered. “Your mother and I will be getting a divorce.”
His words left you speechless. Never in your entire life had you felt like your parents weren’t completely and utterly in love - and you never ever would’ve guessed they’d even be thinking about getting a divorce. “You-you’re what? You’re getting a divorce? Why?” Your father had won a lot of votes in the country because of his fatherly and family-loving image; he was often seen posing with you, your mother, your little 5-year-old brother, or even his own parents, and his main agenda was to support all generations of people. And now, you assumed that this exact image would be completely ruined if this got out to the press. “Are you going to make it public?”
“No, we will keep it a secret, at least until the election is over- hold on a second, dear.” He cut himself off in the middle of his sentence and you assumed someone else was talking to him. “We’ll talk more about this later, okay? I love you, darling, bye.” And as of that, he hung up, not even leaving you time to tell him farewell.
As you stood still, looking at your phone in confusion over the whole situation, you heard a voice behind you. “Who’s the unlucky couple? Your parents?”
When you turned around, you saw that the one standing behind you was none other than the one and only Huang Renjun.
You frowned. “Didn’t your parents teach you that it’s impolite to eavesdrop? Or did you only care about which forks to use for different meals when growing up?” you snapped at him at an instant.
“Ouch, that stung,” was all he could say, and even though you could tell how his posture instantly changed, his shoulders now hanging forward - and he kind of looked ashamed? - you couldn’t stop yourself from continuing to tell him off.
“I sure hope it did. This is none of your business.” He shrugged his slump shoulders and walked past you, over towards the classroom that you had just a few minutes before left. Just as he was about to reach for the handle, you spoke up again. “Don’t you dare tell anyone about what you heard.”
“We’ll see,” he answered, sending a teasing look your way before entering the room.
By then, you hoped you’d be done with Renjun, at least for the rest of the day - but it would turn out that you were wrong.
That same night, you went over at a friend’s dorm to celebrate your good math test results with your closest friends over some takeaway Chinese food and board games. It had been a calm and regular night, but the time passed quickly and it was suddenly time to take your farewells. All your friends’ dorms were on the other side of the campus from yours, so you had to walk alone from one big building to another. But as you were walking in the cold night, you happened to look up towards the roof of the main building - and you spotted what looked like the silhouette of something unusual on it. You were intrigued, so you walked closer to the building. The closer you got, the more properly you could see that there was a person standing there. And the person was standing really near the edge of the roof. As in, way way too close to the edge.
This had your brain going crazy. Who is this person and what are they doing? you thought to yourself. They aren’t planning to... They aren’t going to jump, right?
You hurried over as quickly as possible to the entrance of the building. By now, your entire body had gone into panic mode. You needed to stop them, you needed to talk them out of this. You didn’t even get tired by running up the long staircases, as your brain was only focused on getting up as quickly as possible. When you finally reached the top floor, you looked around to find a way to get onto the ceiling. In the corner of the room, your eyes spotted a ladder leading up to an opening in the roof. Trying to swallow away the lump in your throat, you walked over to the ladder and hoped for the best.
Now, what you did not expect was that the person standing on the roof would be Renjun.
You froze in your tracks when your eyes read his initials from the backpack lying a couple of feet from him. And sure enough, the person standing in front of you was wearing Renjun’s iconic leather jacket, and the person’s hair looked just as fluffy and dark brown as Renjun’s.
You still had to act, though. You couldn’t even wait until you had climbed all the way onto the roof, you had to act now. No matter how bad he had treated you, you couldn’t just leave him like this. But you were unsure how to do so. You didn’t want to scare him; you didn’t want him to trip by accident.
Before you could stop yourself, your voice came out of your mouth, barely louder than a whisper. “Are you okay?”
Thankfully, he didn’t get scared and he didn’t trip. He stood still in his place, not moving a muscle. “Go away,” he muttered, his voice so low that you could barely even hear it.
“Please, walk away from there.” You climbed up properly on the roof, taking a few steps towards him. “Please.”
“Why should I listen to you?” Now he spoke louder and he turned his head a little towards you, but still not looking directly at you.
“Because I know you are and deserve better than this.”
You both grew quiet, the only sounds coming to your ears being the soft howls of the wind and a couple of yelling students in the far background. You sighed, unsure of what to do.
Then, you could tell how he dragged a hand through his hair and how his Adam's apple bobbed in his throat, before he turned around to you. His eyes were aiming towards the ground, his shoulders hanging forward giving him a really bad posture. Not very prince-like, you’d say.
“Can you just leave?”
You shook your head and kneeled down towards the roof, now sitting in front of him. “What’s wrong?”
“And why would I tell you that?” he snapped, and you were a bit taken aback. But he had a point. You two weren’t friends. You two weren’t even close to being friends. You shared a couple of classes, but you’d rarely spoken to each other. Until earlier today. And that gave you an idea.
“Because you already have dirt on me. If you tell me, we’ll be even.”
He looked like he was considering the offer for a few moments, before shrugging his shoulders. “I guess that makes sense,” he muttered as he walked closer to you. You almost didn’t believe it when he then sat down next to you, facing the campus just like you were. It shocked you how little it took for him to go from so hostile to agreeing to what you were saying.
“Well, being an heir is... putting a lot of pressure on me.”
“How so?”
He sighed. “It’s bad just as it is, knowing that you’ll have to be the monarch of an entire country in just a couple of years. But recently, my parents have been pressuring me about finding a partner. Because, you know, I need to find someone to marry and... make someone to take on the throne after me. That’s like my only job.” You chuckled. “I don’t expect you to understand.”
“No, I do, I do.” He looked over at you, into your eyes, for the first time. You nodded slowly at him. “I might not have the same experience, but I understand that it’s hard for you.”
He shifted his gaze back out over the campus. “I haven’t exactly been lucky in love. I never have. And now, my parents are taking more drastic measures.” You frowned to yourself. “They are going to arrange a marriage for me with a princess of another country. And I really really don’t want to marry someone I don’t love. Heck, someone I don’t even know!”
“Why don’t you just tell them that you have a girlfriend?”
Now it was Renjun's time to chuckle. “They’re going to want to meet her. And then they’ll want me to marry her.”
“Okay, how about this,” you began, turning your body more properly towards him. “You find someone who wants to fake date you in front of your parents, and then you two pretend to break up and you’ll get a couple of years where they’ll stay off your backs because you’re so heartbroken.” You ended it with a teasing pout prominent on your lips, and when Renjun shot a quick glance over at you, he shook his head while trying his best to stop the grin forming on his lips. And he was glad the night was so dark, because he really really didn’t want you to notice the redness spreading across his cheeks because he found that pout really cute.
“You’re not as dumb as I thought,” he snickered. “But good luck finding someone who’d pretend to date me.”
“I would.” The words flew out of your mouth before you could stop them. His head snapped towards you. “I-I mean,” You stiffened. “I could volunteer, if you’d like that.”
He frowned. “And why’s that?”
“Well,” You shrugged, looking out over the campus for a few seconds before looking back at him. “Good karma, I guess. And I’ve always wanted to meet a real king and queen.”
“It’s not as fancy as you think.”
You chuckled. “You know, there is something special you could do to make it up to me.” He cocked an eyebrow at you as if to question you. “There are so many things you aren’t allowed to do as the child of a president. Like... I’m not really allowed to live? If my father found out I was sitting on the roof right now, he’d probably go insane instantly.” He chuckled and smiled at you.
“Same for me.”
“If I agree to fake date you, and I follow you to your home country, you have to promise to take me to the movies. And go to a fast-food restaurant.”
The grin on his face expanded. “Seriously?” You nodded rapidly. “Have you never been to the movies? Nor a fast food restaurant?”
“No, but I’m dying to.” You clasped your hands together and held them in front of you as if you were begging him while showing him your best puppy eyes. “Please, please-“
“Okay, okay, I promise to take you to the best McDonalds in the entire country.”
So as of that night, you two had a deal. He would talk to his parents the following morning, telling them that he had in fact met someone who he thought would be suitable to take on the throne with him. You would help him fake this relationship in front of his parents, and he would treat you to some delicious chicken nuggets.
Though, you didn’t expect him to come knocking on your door early the morning after.
You lazily tried to rub the sleep out of your eyes as you stepped out of your bed. You didn’t even bother to look yourself in the mirror after you’d been awaken by a couple of loud knocks on your dormroom door as you expected it would just be your best friend, because who else would wake you up at this hour? Though, that thinking was something you would regret just a few moments later, when you spotted a properly dressed Renjun in front of you when you opened the door.
“Nice pajamas,” he snickered, a teasing grin growing on his lips. You groaned and hid your face in your hands.
“I assumed it would be someone else,” you muttered, about to shut the door closed again to go change when he stopped you with a hand on the doorknob.
“I was just kidding, I’m sorry. You look fine.”
You removed your hands from your face, trying your best to stop yourself from sulking right then and there. “What do you want?”
“Well, I spoke to my parents,” he started, and you nodded for him to continue. “And they told me about how excellent of an opportunity it would be to bring you to my cousin’s wedding in two weeks.”
Your jaw dropped. “Two weeks?!” Renjun nodded.
“So we’ve got to hurry up with our plan. And that’s why I brought...” He looked over to his side and motioned for someone to join him by his side. And all of a sudden, a woman was standing next to him. “Nayoung.”
She looked like she was just a couple of years older than you both, but you had never seen her before around campus. She held out her hand, and you took it in yours to greet her. “Im Nayoung, nice to meet you. Y/N, was it?”
You nodded at her before taking your hand back. “It’s nice to meet you too.”
“Nayoung is my... I guess you could say, assistant?” Renjun said. “She lives on campus but doesn’t go to school. She’s just here to help me with all my royal affairs.” You nodded slowly, trying to take it in. “I’ve told her already about our deal, and she’s going to help you get ready to meet my parents.”
You were kind of confused. Renjun’s family had hired someone to help him, yet this person would help you both betray them? Could you really trust her?
“I understand if you’re doubtful. I only want what’s best for Renjun, and we’ve already talked about how the king and the queen are pressuring him to get married without listening to what he wants. So I’m completely on your side here, I won’t snitch on you.”
And as of that began two weeks for you of intense training. Learning how to speak as formally as possible, learning how to keep a good posture at all times, learning the names of the entire royal family, learning how to behave in royal gatherings, and everything else you could possibly need for this upcoming wedding. Nayoung was a big help for you, and you didn’t only become good friends with her, but with Renjun too. After just a few days, you found yourself hanging out with him not only when you were training, but also in school, during breaks and in your free time. This made you see a whole new different Renjun. He wasn’t that boy anymore who seemed scary, who seemed to think that he was better than everyone else. He now was a sweet and funny person, and you realized that you had been a bit too quick to judge him before. Sure, he had been mad and acted a bit questionably a couple of times since you started attending the school, but is there someone who is never mad? Is there someone who always acts perfectly? You doubted that, so you completely understood his previous acts. Especially now that you’d found out how hard everything was for him.
Nayoung had explained to you a little further how much Renjun was actually suffering from being in a royal family. It had been really tough for him. He was very insecure about himself, not sure if he would be able to be the king of an entire country. He would much rather let his younger brother or sister be the heir, but his parents say that if he were to decline the throne, he would create a huge scandal and that would be very hurtful for both his own and the whole family’s reputation.
This made you view Renjun in a completely different light. The tough facade he’d put up was just protection, as he didn’t want to show how many problems he was holding inside of him. You knew you hadn’t fully broken through it yet, as it was Nayoung who told you and not Renjun himself, although you knew you were coming closer to it every day.
But you noticed how Renjun became tenser and tenser for each day that passed. It wasn’t weird, you kind of expected it. You knew it was incredibly hard for him. But what you didn’t expect was for him to disappear the morning you two were going to leave for the wedding.
Well, maybe disappear was a bit of a strong word - but he didn’t appear. You had decided to meet at nine by the entrance to the dorms, but when the clock turned a quarter past and neither you nor Nayoung had seen him, you took it as a bad sign. Renjun was always so punctual, so even 15 minutes was a lot for him. So you told Nayoung to wait in her place while you went over to his dorm room to talk to him.
The first time you knocked on his door, you received no reaction at all. Nor did you the second time. Nor the third.
So then you started banging a bit harder, raising your voice to tell him how late he was and how it wouldn’t make a good first impression on his parents if you were late for meeting them for the first time and-
He stopped you mid-gabble by opening the door. And your mouth stayed open when you laid your eyes on him. He had huge dark circles under his eyes, which was a first to you as he always slept properly. He was still in his pajamas, and his hair was pointing in all directions. His eyes were red, signaling that he had most likely been crying. In other words, it seemed like he wasn’t prepared at all to go back to his home country.
“Did I wake you? Did you forget to set your alarm?” you questioned, voice filled with both concern, anger, and confusion. He only shook his head, looking down at the ground. “Hey! Talk to me!”
A small sigh escaped his lips. “I-I-” he studdered, trying his best to find words to describe what he was feeling. “I don’t want to go.”
You frowned. “And why’s that?”
He walked back over to his bed and sat down. You closed the door behind you and stood in front of him whose head was now buried in his hands. “There are too many reasons...” he muttered.
“Please tell me. I’m just trying to help you.”
A couple of moments of silence followed, until he nodded and removed his hands from his face, looking up at you. “I’ve never really liked my parents. They are too focused on all this royal stuff, so being around them makes me super anxious. So I’m not exactly longing to meet them...”
You nodded, trying your best to understand the situation. “How do they make you feel like this? Like, what is it that they tell you to make you pressured and anxious?”
He shrugged. “I don’t know. I guess it’s mostly about how they are trying their best to stop me from declining the throne. And how they need me to find a partner. My brother and my sister both have partners already, even though they’re younger than I am, so I’m the only one left. And I guess they don’t like that.”
You nodded again. “Okay, so... Now that you have a partner,” you started, making quotation marks with your fingers on the last word. “Maybe they won’t be on you about that? Maybe they’ll think that you’re more committed to being an heir now. And who knows, in a couple of years, maybe you’ll want the throne? Then you would regret declining it so early.”
He nodded slowly, a smile finally growing on his lips. “I think you’re right. It’s worth a try at least. Otherwise, all you’ve done would go to waste.”
“Hey, don’t think about me. The pressure is a lot higher on you.” You smiled, taking a hand to his head and ruffling his hair.
“I’ll get dressed, then,” he mumbled.
“And I’ll leave you to it. See you by the entrance then?” He nodded and you took off back to Nayoung.
She was standing next to a chauffeur, who was just about to pick up your bags. When she spotted you in the corner of her eyes, she motioned for you to hurry over to her. “Did you find him?” she asked when you were close enough to hear.
“Yes, he will be here soon, he’s just getting dressed.” She nodded and only a couple of seconds later, you heard quick footsteps and the sound of luggage dragging along the floor behind you. “Speak of the devil,” you scoffed and Nayoung grinned.
“I’m sorry, I overslept,” he apologized
Hours and hours later, the plane finally landed in Renjun’s hometown. The local time was about three in the afternoon, and thanks to you having taken a long nap in one of the plane’s beds, you were rested and ready for everything to come. At five, you were supposed to be at the royal palace for some kind of pre-wedding dinner, and this would be your first meeting with the royal family.
To say you were nervous would be an understatement.
You two were rushed off in a limousine to the palace so that you could get dressed and fixed for the night ahead of you. On the way, Renjun gave you a private sightseeing-tour, pointing out the biggest tourist attractions as well as places he had personal connections to. Looking over at him, watching the city on the other side of the car windows, you realized how the change of country had changed him. He seemed... younger, in some way. It seemed like taking him back to where he spent his childhood was like taking him back to the childhood itself. He had been sent off to boarding school when he was 15, and even though he’d come back regularly for birthdays and holidays, he felt more like he was living overseas. So as soon as he was reconnected with where he used to live, it made him a child again. At least for now, when he had someone to show the city to.
You eventually arrived at the palace and walking out of the car, you were met with a beautiful view of the garden in front of it. You stood still for a couple of moments, just trying to take in the beautiful colors and sweet scents, but you were brought back to reality when Renjun nudged your shoulder. Luckily for you both, the dinner wasn’t an official event, which meant that the press didn’t know about it and wasn’t storming around the palace like you assumed it would be tomorrow. Two guards were already taking out your luggage from the trunk of the car, while another one was greeting you and Renjun and leading you two inside the main building. You were led to your room, and you didn’t until now realize that... as Renjun told everyone you two were coming as a couple, that would mean... there would be only one room booked for you two... And sure enough, that was the case.
When you entered the room, you both quickly spotted that there was only one bed. “I’ll sleep there,” he said instantly when he spotted the light brown couch in the corner of the room, nudging with his head over at it. You frowned as you pulled in your luggage and closed the door.
“No, no way.” He shot a glance over at you. “There’s no way I’m letting a prince sleep on the couch. Or any boy, for that matter.”
“Are you sure?” he asked and your expression softened as you smiled and nodded.
“It’s a big bed, we can curl up on the edges.” You sat down on the bed. “It’s a king-size, I think. Which is weird considering who’s going to sleep in it,” you joked, earning a monotonous and fake laugh from him.
You pulled your bags up to the side of the bed before sitting down on it and looking around the room. Though, you weren’t sure if you could really say that is was just a room - it was an entire suite. A few meters across from the bed was the bathroom, which seemed to have both a shower and a jacuzzi. Tall wardrobes towered on both sides of the bed, and on the other side of the room stood a grand piano that looked unused by the ceiling-high windows that showed a pretty view of the city.
Right as you were about to talk, you were interrupted. “His Royal Highness?” You heard a voice from behind your closed door and you both turned your heads towards it.
“Yes?” Renjun answered.
“I am here to escort You to where you will get dressed for the evening, while Ms. Y/L/N will be helped here in your room.”
Renjun nodded slowly, looking over at you again. “Will you be okay?”
“Yes, go.” You waved at him before he opened the door and exited through it.
As soon as he had left, a woman with a big bag came inside and closed the door behind her. She greeted you with a curtsy and you did the same to her. “I have been sent here to help you get ready for the dinner. I believe you have brought a dress with you?” she asked you.
“Yes, I have.” You walked over to your suitcase, pulling out a white garment bag. Inside of it hung a long, gray dress with long sleeves that Nayoung had helped you pick out a couple of days ago. She had insisted that you’d pick it out yourself, but as you didn’t exactly know what kind of dress was acceptable to wear at a royal event - it would be quite an important matter, you assumed, and not like the dresses you’d worn to your father’s events - you really needed the help.
“Good choice,” the lady hummed when you took the dress out of the bag.
She helped you get into the dress and make some final touches on it, as well as apply some light makeup to your face and put your hair up in two loose dutch braids and an elegant bun where the two braids met. The time went by in a flash, and you wondered if every moment spent here would be over that quickly. Just as the lady was packing up her bags, there was a knock on the door.
“Yes?” you asked.
“May I come inside?” you heard Renjuns voice through the door and you smiled instantly.
“Yes, go ahead.”
He didn’t take many steps inside before he stopped in his tracks, his mouth hanging slightly agape. “W-wow. You look great,” he managed to get out of his mouth while his eyes scanned you from top to toe.
You weren’t sure if this was all acting, as there was someone else in the room, or if he actually complimented you. Your cheeks reddened just thinking about the latter. “You look good too,” you answered him and he smiled. He was wearing a black tuxedo with a tie that was, rather oddly, gray. You snickered when you spotted it. “We’re matching, huh?”
Renjun chuckled. “I guess so.” Following was a moment of silence as you both waited for the lady to finish packing her bags and once she made her way out of the room, you thanked her for the help and she smiled at you. “Are you ready to go?”
You nodded and grabbed your purse, taking one last look in the mirror before walking to the door where he stood, waiting for you. You smiled at him and he held out his arm for you. You placed your hand on it and made sure to keep a good posture, just like you’d practiced so many times before, because this was it. You only get one first impression, and you were just about to make yours. Taking a deep breath, you reached for the door and opened it, trying to prepare yourself for what you’d be meeting soon.
The dinner was going to be held in the great hall and you were lucky to have Renjun by your side because otherwise, you were sure you’d have gotten lost at an instant. The palace was so big and there were so many long corridors and different rooms that were so breathtakingly elegant that you grew quiet, and the ceilings were so high that you felt small. Everything was pretty much empty, except for a few guards every here and there who Renjun made sure to greet. Much like in the limousine on the way there, he now told stories from his childhood about every single room. He told you about where he used to fight his brother, which rooms he used to believe were haunted and which rooms had the softest carpets. It took a lot longer time than it would have if you two just walked straight to the dinner - but you honestly didn’t mind. His soothing voice really calmed your nerves, which was definitely something you needed help with, so that when you finally arrived at the corridor leading to the great hall, you weren’t as nervous as you had been leaving your bedroom. But as you saw all the people starting to gather in the room at the end of the hallway, you felt your pulse speed up.
“Chenle!” the boy next to you half-yelled, startling you a bit. In front of you, a blonde boy who was on his way into the great hall turned his head back towards you, a smile on his lips when he realized who the voice belonged to. There was a brown-haired girl on his side who you, just like the boy, recognized from your training sessions with Nayoung. They were Chenle, Renjun's younger brother, and his girlfriend Yerim.
“Renjun!” He stopped in his tracks and waited for you two to catch up to him. When he was close enough, Chenle threw himself onto his brother and embraced him in a tight hug. “It’s been a while since last, brother.”
Renjun nodded and pulled a sad face. “I’m sorry about that.” Chenle shrugged an kept his smile, and you assumed he was just really happy to finally meet his brother after such a long time, not wanting to spend time thinking about the past and just focus on the present when they were together. “Hi, Yerim!” Renjun embraced her as well, and when they pulled away, he dragged an arm around your waist and pointed at you with his other hand. “This is Y/N.”
“So you’re the girl who made Renjun finally come back home, huh?” Chenle said with a wink and you giggled, nodding. “I’m Chenle, it’s nice to meet you.” You held out your hand for him, just like Renjun had taught you - handshakes for his brother and sister and lowly ranked family, curtsies for highly ranked family. But he declined it, pulling you in for a hug instead. “Hey, you’re family now! And in this family, we hug, not shake hands.” You relaxed into the hug, feeling yourself grow less tense by the second. You didn’t know his family would be this sweet. If you had known, there wouldn’t be any reason for you to get so nervous.
“It’s an honor to meet you,” you hummed, pulling away from the hug.
“The same for me.”
You then went on to hug Yerim, who was wearing a long, light blue sleeveless dress, matching with the diadem in her hair of the same color. You went on to compliment her outfit the moment you two pulled away from each other, and she told you how beautiful she thought you looked, to which you earned a low “whose girlfriends are you, again?” from Chenle, making all four of you laugh.
“I think the dinner is about to start, and I have some more people I’d like for you to meet before, so I think we should get going,” Renjun said and you nodded at him, before waving goodbye to Chenle and Yerim and walking inside the main hall.
The room was huge and the ceilings were high, giving the room a very elegant look even without the decoration and furniture. There were big vases with tall, green plants standing along the walls. Most of the room was filled with long tables, though there was a little area that was empty which you assumed was for everyone to mingle before the dinner actually started. The tables were covered in white cloths, and they were all set with many types of cutlery and glasses, not one laying as much as a centimeter differently than any other. And on the tables were bouquets with white and red roses that filled the entire room with a sweet scent. There were waiters dressed in black suits walking around, always making sure that everyone’s glasses were filled and that every new person to arrive would get what they wished for as well. But you and Renjun sidestepped them as he dragged you around and introduced you to what felt like everyone in the entire room. Though, his introductions only stayed in your mind for a few moments, before you forgot everyone’s names and faces again. But after a few minutes, you saw someone you recognized - Renjun’s cousin, the groom, Kun. With him stood his fiancée, Meiqi, and she was talking to someone else you recognized; Renjun’s mother, the queen.
It seemed like Renjun noticed the group just as you did because he instantly dragged you over towards them. “Hey, Kun!” he said as you two were close enough for him to hear. The older looked towards you and smiled brightly.
“Renjun! I’m glad you could make it,” Kun said and greeted Renjun with a hug.
“Anything for my favorite cousin!” Renjun exclaimed.
“Only cousin, you mean,” Meiqi teased him and pushed his shoulder lightly, making them all laugh.
“It’s nice to see you too, Meiqi.” They too hugged before Renjun went on to look towards the queen. “Mother.” A smile spread across his lips and she too was greeted with a hug. He then placed his hand on the small of your back and looked over at you. “Everyone, this is Y/N, my girlfriend.”
You were about to do a curtsy to Kun and Meiqi when the male stopped you, holding out a hand towards you. “I’m Kun, Renjun’s cousin.”
You shook his hand and smiled. “It’s a pleasure to meet you,” you told him and he shook his head.
“The pleasure is all mine.”
You also shook Meiqi’s hand and greeted her, and although this was the fourth person who Renjun had been wrong about how they’d want to greet you, it was getting hard to pretend that you didn’t already know every little detail (except for their opinions on handshakes, apparently) about this whole family and that everything here was completely new to you. But this didn’t stop your pulse from rapidly increasing the moment you were done greeting the bride and looked over at the queen.
Sure, this wasn’t your first time meeting a celebrity or a well-known person, but it was your first time meeting a queen. And it made you more nervous than you’d ever been to meet a senior politician or any other person back in your home country. So when your fingers grasped the sides of your dress and you prepared for the curtsy, you hoped it wouldn’t be noticeable how much your hands were shaking. You bowed down, and when you stood back up and your eyes turned to the queen, you felt a wave of calm rush over you as she was smiling.
“It’s nice to meet the person who finally made Renjun commit,” she spoke in a sweet tone and you felt your cheeks starting to blush up, even though her words weren’t really true.
“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Your Majesty.”
Your first meeting with her was abruptly interrupted when you heard a voice telling you all to take your seats because the food was about to be served. Renjun took your hand in his as you both said your farewells to the people in front of you before you all went to look for your nametags. But before you started searching, he pulled you back, a few meters away from the crowd. You shot him a confused look but his eyes were almost filled with... worry?
“Are you alright?” he asked.
You frowned, not quite understanding the situation. “Yes, why?”
He shrugged. “You look a bit... stressed. I completely get it, these things can be a bit overwhelming. You’ve been thrown around to meet a bunch of people, your brain must be burning trying to remember everyone’s names and the stuff we’ve talked about before all of this and-”
You cut him off. “It’s fine, really.” You smiled at him and he let out a breath, now smiling too.
But then he leaned closer, whispering into your ear. “My mother is watching, can I kiss your cheek?”
This was something you’d talked about. Cheek kisses, forehead kisses, hugs, hand-holding - things that real couples do without even thinking, that would look weird if you two didn’t do. You had told him back in school that it would all be fine, as you’d promised to do your best to help him make it seem like you two were a real couple. So you were prepared for it, though you still found it sweet that he made sure you were okay with it.
You nodded to him and he leaned forward, placing a short peck on your cheek before squeezing your hand that was still in his, and pulling you with him towards one of the long dinner tables.
After some looking, you eventually found your seats. You were squeezed in between Renjun and Chenle, but there was no one in front of you. So far, at least. Renjun checked the nametag by the plate, and he rolled his eyes as he sat down. He leaned his head forward so that he could talk to Chenle in front of you. “Have you seen Jiyoon?” The younger shook his head. “She hasn’t stopped coming late, huh?”
“She’s been on time less than a handful of times since you left,” Chenle scoffed but smiled. “Just like back in the good old days.”
“Speaking of the devil,” Yerim, who was sitting opposite of Chenle, said and pointed with her head behind you. When you turned your head back, you spotted a girl with shoulder-length hair in a long, black dress who was seemingly in no way hurrying at all to the dinner she was already obviously late to.
“The coolest people arrive late, am I right?” she rejoiced as she arrived by the table and you smiled at how carefree she seemed. Just like her brother. This was not something Renjun had told you about before, so it came as a surprise to you.
“Not an hour late,” Chenle scoffed at his sister but she cupped his cheek in her hand as an answer and a greeting, making him smile unwillingly at her.
“Haven’t you heard about the academic hour?” Chenle stuck his tongue out at her and she did the same to him, before moving on to ruffle Renjun’s hair with her hand, ruining the perfection he (see: the staff) had spent so much time on. “So you must be Y/N?” You nodded, and before you could say anything, she was talking again. “Renjun-ah, she’s really pretty! Good choice!”
You grinned as she went to walk around the table to her seat. Chenle tapped your shoulder and leaned closer to you. “Please excuse her, she’s a bit... weird, at times,” he whispered.
“It’s totally fine,” you hummed and nodded at him. It was more than fine, actually - you liked seeing someone who wasn’t as uptight as everyone else in the room, someone who was a bit looser, calmer, and not as tense as everyone else. It made you feel calmer, too. And that was definitely something you needed.
You were all first served a starter, consisting of some weird, small eggs that tasted like plastic. Then came the main course, roasted duck served with many different kinds of vegetables. To the meals, you were all spoiled with any drinks you’d like and the servers were very quick and precise with your orders. You and Renjun weren’t too hasty on the alcoholic drinks, but you both managed to down a glass of champagne or two during the dinner. As you had finished your main courses and you were all waiting for the desserts, Renjun told you that he needed to have a few words with Kun, so he left you alone by the table. And that’s when Chenle saw his opportunity to talk to you.
“So, Y/N,” he started and you looked over at him. “When and how did you two meet?”
You began telling him the story you two had made up for exactly moments like this one - you’d met in class on your first day of school as you were lab partners in chemistry. You had worked together and liked hanging out so you eventually started seeing each other after class too, and then when he gathered up enough courage, he asked you out on a date. And even though you’d only been dating for about 6 months, you both were sure that the other was “the one”.
You personally though that this story seemed too cliché and you didn’t think anyone would believe in it - but Chenle seemed to do so.
“Wow, 6 months? I think that’s his longest relationship ever,” Chenle said before taking a sip of his drink. “There’s one thing that’s upsetting about this, though.”
You frowned slightly, not really understanding what he meant. “What’s that?”
“It’s the fact that Renjun hasn’t told me anything about you. I’m sure it’s not some problem with you, you seem really wonderful.” He ended the sentence in a smile, wanting to make sure you didn’t interpret him wrongly.
“Thank you,” you hummed and smiled back at him.
“It’s just that...” He looked in front of him, out over the great hall, his eyes wandering freely. “We’ve always been very close. We were almost inseparable when we were younger. We used to tell each other everything.” He let out a sigh. “But now, ever since he started going to boarding school, it’s like I don’t exist. He barely talks to me anymore. And the fact that he had a girlfriend for six months and I didn’t even know that he was interested in a girl really proves the point. I got to know about you from Kun when he asked me who Renjun’s plus one was. I didn’t know until then.”
You could easily tell how frustrated and sad he was about this situation. You understood him - it must have been hard on him to lose his best friend and brother at the same time. You knew the real reason as to why Renjun hadn’t told him about you - there was no time, you hadn’t been dating for 6 months as you said - but you couldn’t tell him that. So you had to make something up quickly to make sure he didn’t overthink the situation. “Well, I’m not sure if that’s the main reason, but he’s been having a tough time recently. His parents- I mean, the king and the queen have been pressuring him about the throne, and at the same time, he’s had a lot going on at school. It’s been hard for him to handle.” He nodded, his eyes moving back to you. “But I’m sure it has nothing to do with you. He’s told me several times how much he likes you and how thankful he is to have you as his brother.”
He now smiled at you, seemingly content with your answer. “Thank you for sharing that. It means a lot,” he mumbled and you smiled back.
“No problem.” On the inside, you let out a sigh of relief, happy that he fell for it. Now, you’d only have to tell Renjun about this and get him to agree to what you said.
The dinner went by quite quickly and you were glad you were placed right in this seat, because all of Renjun’s siblings treated you really well and took care of you. You now felt bad about thinking earlier that Renjun didn’t act like a prince. During the dinner, you had realized that he sure was a prince, in all ways. He acted like one, he spoke like one, and he looked like one. You just hadn’t seen that before, so you didn’t know. This wasn’t the same boy like the one you’d seen at school months earlier, the boy who wore his leather jacket to every class and gave out glares to anyone who disturbed his silence. This was, what you assumed was, his true self, and you enjoyed seeing it.
Eventually, the dinner ended and it was time for you all to head back to your rooms to get some beauty sleep before the wedding tomorrow. You and Renjun left the great hall hand in hand after wishing the bride and the groom good luck for tomorrow and saying goodnight to what felt like every guest in the entire room. You walked back to your room the same way you had taken from it and even when you had walked out of sight from everyone, his hand was still grasping yours. And you honestly didn’t mind. After today, you’d seen him in a whole different light. He had been caring for you, and he had been sweet and playful towards his siblings. He showed so many new sides of himself that you’d never seen in him before, and you really really liked them all.
"I think I’ll take a shower to get ready for tomorrow,” you told him once you’d entered your room and closed the door behind you. Renjun only nodded at you. You chuckled. “You know, there’s no one around to see whether or not we’re holding hands...”
His eyes wandered from your face, down to your intertwined fingers, and back up again. He shrugged. “It feels nice.”
You weren’t sure what to do. You too liked the feeling of it but you couldn’t just stand there holding hands all night. And also, you weren’t sure what Renjun was thinking about it - nor were you sure what you were thinking about it. You were starting to like him more and more, but... In what way?
You eventually, after a few moments of silence, let go of his hand and walked over towards the door to the bathroom. When you turned your head to your side, you could see Renjun still standing in his place with a small pout on his lips. And then you couldn’t just keep quiet. “Maybe later?” you proposed with a grin, to which he nodded (maybe a bit too excitedly).
You washed up quickly and stepped into your pajamas; an oversized black hoodie and a pair of black sweatpant shorts. When you walked out of the bathroom, you assumed you’d find Renjun by the bed, but you were wrong. You turned your head towards the other side of the room, and sure enough, he was sitting on a silk sofa in front of the windows, looking out over the city.
You tiptoed over towards him, hoping not to disturb him in case he was thinking about something - but as soon as you got close, you heard his voice. “Were you trying to scare me?”
You chuckled. “No, I was just... I don’t know.” You walked in front of him and he looked up at you. “Can I sit?”
He nodded and you sat down next to him. After that, you two were both quiet for a couple of seconds. “I’ve really missed this.” You looked at him with an eyebrow cocked. “The city, these kinds of events, my brother and sister...”
“You have?” He nodded again. “I’m just surprised, because... You know when I first met Chenle? How he told me that I’m the girl who, quote, made you come back home again, endquote.” He snickered. “What was that supposed to mean?”
“Well, I guess I... I haven’t been home in a while. The last time I went here was last summer break?” You gasped, as it was close to summer again already. “Well, I went home for Christmas for a few days, but nothing other than that. I haven’t even been home for birthdays.”
“I think that’s taken a toll on your brother,” you mumbled, and now it was Renjun’s turn to look at you with a confused look. “When I talked to him during dinner, he told me about how sad he was that you haven’t talked to him lately. He feels almost... ignored. Forgotten.” You saw how he gulped. “He was upset that you hadn’t told him about me. I had to make something up, I couldn’t just let him sit there and be worried. So I told him that you’ve been going through a hard time, that school’s been tough, and that you have a lot of pressure from your family.”
Renjun looked in front of him again, out through the windows. “Thank you for that.”
You shook your head even though he couldn’t see you. “It’s fine. But I think that if you want to maintain a relationship with him, you should talk to him and tell him the real reason behind why you haven’t been talking to him lately. Not the reason behind why you haven’t told him about me, but like... You get me.”
He looked back at you and smiled slightly. “I will talk to him tomorrow. Thank you for letting me know.” You smiled back at him. “I hope I wasn’t the only thing you two talked about all dinner?”
You laughed and shook your head, easily noticing the teasing grin he was doing his best to force back. “No, not at all. We talked about a lot of things. He was really nice. And so was Jiyoon, and Yerim.”
“So it seems like you enjoyed the day?”
“Very much,” you assured him. “Everyone I met treated me like I was already a part of the family. They’re all so sweet.”
“But I’m not?” he questioned, and you pushed his shoulder lightly.
“You are. You are really sweet. I don’t regret doing this at all. The girl who you will marry in the future is one lucky girl.”
His smile turned into a more serious expression. It confused you but you couldn’t react. His eyes suddenly dropped to your lips, and they looked so kissable that it almost took him into shock.
Perhaps it was because of the alcohol he’d had earlier the day, or perhaps it was because you looked so pretty in the moonshine that he suddenly grew confident and the words practically flew out of his mouth. “Can I kiss you?”
“Just do it already,” you answered in the blink of an eye, and he quickly sealed his lips against yours. It was a sweet and short kiss, but when he pulled away to see you smiling at him, he kissed you again, and again, and again.
And you never wanted the time to pass. You wished you could just stay here with him forever. However, there was a morrow waiting, practically calling out for you two as the clock struck midnight and you heard the loud bells from the church next to the palace ring, reminding you that it was late and you needed to get to bed already. But none of you really cared, staying in your places for just a little while more.
a/n: hey guys! This is the last part of my reload series! I hope you all liked it as I really enjoyed writing it :) sorry this part is so long (over 2k how did I do that?)
Ridin' | Quiet Down | 7 Days | Love Again | Puzzle Piece
❁❁❁❁❁❁
You rub your eyes repeatedly, trying to get rid of the tiredness that seemed like it would last a million years. Yeah, you stayed out pretty late talking to Renjun in the park, but even after he dropped you off, you couldn’t stop thinking about him. You only got a couple hours of sleep and the massive bags under your eyes showed it. A loud honk interrupted your morning routine, prompting you to peek out your window. You shook your head to yourself. What was Renjun’s car doing here?
You quickly finished getting dressed, grabbing a snack to take along for breakfast. “Hey Renjun!” you call, waving at him as you run out to his car.
“Hey babe,” he smiles back at you. “I thought I’d drive you to school.”
“I’d love to, but aren’t we trying to keep this on the DL?” you smirk at him, sliding into the passenger seat anyway.
“C’mon, don’t be so anxious. We can walk in the building separately and no one will know,” he winks at you, placing your hand on the gear shift and covering it with his own. The small action making heat rise to your face and butterflies swarm in your stomach.
Against your better judgement you let out a sheepish, “okay.”
He starts the car, his music automatically starting as well. He mumbles some swear words, fumbling with his phone to change it from girly pop music to something more macho and cool. You can’t help but fall into a fit of laughter. “Don’t change it,” you whine, tugging on his arm. He looks back up at you, laughing now as well as the two of you drive off to school.
Renjun parks, letting you get out first while he waits a few minutes to avoid any confrontation about your relationship. Even though it wasn’t a big deal, the undergroundness of your actions made you feel weak in the knees. It was like you had a double life. Well, maybe that’s a stretch, but the idea of keeping your boyfriend a secret was enthralling.
You walk into the building and not too long after, you meet Yangyang at your locker. He slips an arm around your shoulder as he starts talking some nonsense about a show he watched that you only half listened to.
As you close your locker and begin to leave with your friend, you see your boyfriend walk by. Making eye contact with him, you bite back a smile, knowing that if anyone saw it, it would give you away. He not so subtly winks at you, and Yangyang definitely notices by the way he scowls and grips your shoulder tighter in a possessive manner. You patted his hand reassuringly and offered a sincere smile to let him know it was okay. He threw you a skeptical glance in response, but didn’t speak of it at all.
The rest of your morning is as typical as any other school day. When lunch rolls around, you drift off into a staring contest with the back of Renjun’s head from across the cafeteria. The same way you did before all of the commotion.
“What are you looking at?” Yangyang snaps his fingers in front of your face, gaining your attention.
“Nothing,” you unconvincingly shake your head, picking at the food on your tray to distract yourself.
He moves his head and follows where your gaze had previously led, rolling his eyes when he spots the popular boy. “Oh, him again?” he states rather juginly. You internally frown at his disapproving comment. “Thought you were over that.”
You can’t think of a solid rebuttal that doesn’t invoke the fact that you are now in a relationship with the boy your best friend probably hates most in the school right now. So instead, you stuffed more food than one should ever stuff into one’s mouth, refusing to look at your friend who obviously could tell that you were avoiding this topic.
“Do you seriously still like him?” He gives you a know-it-all glare that made you feel ashamed of yourself for no reason.
“Come on he’s not that bad,” you try to reason after finally managing to swallow your three bite sized bite of food.
“The way he treated you in that corridor claims otherwise.”
“I knew you were eavesdropping,” you laugh.
“Don’t change the subject, y/n. He’s not a good guy,” he warns you.
“I don’t know, Yangyang. Maybe you just caught him at a bad moment,” you fight back the grin that wants to take over your face at the thought of the night before, in the park, your head resting on Renjun’s shoulder as he talked to you for hours about anything and everything that came to mind.
“Oh my bad. I don’t see his whole life because I’m not constantly drooling over him from across the school,” he mocks you.
You take offence to his remark, getting up to leave your table. “Yknow, Yang, I was just throwing the possibility out there.”
Renjun watches you as you stomp off to throw the rest of your lunch away. He can’t help but worry about you, excusing himself from his table to run after you.
“Hey, y/n,” he whisper calls for you when you are both alone in the hallway. “You okay?” He rests a hand on your shoulder, making you feel secure.
“Yeah, it’s nothing,” you try to tell him, but he knows better.
“Wanna talk about it later?” He winks at you, raising his eyebrows up and down.
“Sure! I’ll meet you by your car after school,” you giggle a little bit, partially at his funny expression and partially in anticipation.
You impatiently finish the rest of the school day, unable to focus on anything that isn’t Renjun. Basically, not much has changed.
“Yo y/n! You coming over later?” Yanyang asks as he meets you at your locker like usual.
“Ah not tonight, sorry,” you decide not to make up any excuses since you know he’ll see right through them.
You walk out the school doors, a skip in your step as you quickly make your way out to Renjun’s car, not paying any attention to your friend watching as you disappear into the parking lot, and not your usual walk home.
Renjun sneaks up behind you, wrapping his arms around your waist. You squeal in surprise, turning around to smile big at him. You both hop in the car, and turn up the bubble gum pop songs.
“Where’re we going?” you question cutely.
“Wherever you want. My house or yours, or a cafe, or the park. You choose,” he looks at you taking your hand and placing it on the shift like before. You only wish you could respond, but the effect of his flirtatiousness has hindered your brain from thinking about anything other than him.
“Let’s go to the park,” you finally manage to suggest, since you had such a lovely time last night.
He drives you there relatively quickly, not speaking a bunch, just singing along to the music. You would’ve joined in too, but Renjun’s voice was mesmerizing and you just wanted to listen to him sing forever, even if he was only messing around with radio songs.
As you move to climb out of the car, Renjun scurries around to your side and helps you out like a true gentleman. However, after you're free of the leather seats, he doesn’t release his hold on your hand. Rather, he adjusts it a bit and intertwines your fingers. He shoots you an innocent smile as if you weren’t dying from his actions. You took the opportunity to latch onto his arm with your other hand, leaning your head a bit on his shoulder. For a while, you two walked around just like that until you got hungry.
Renjun led you to a small shop near the park, and paid for the snacks you bought. The two of you took rest on a little bench in the park, munching on your goodies. Somehow you had managed to open and eat all of your food without ever removing your hand from his. While you had thought anything about that minute detail, it was making Renjun feel even crazier than normal. How could you be so cute? While you were focused on filling the void in your stomach, his eyes were glued to your profile, taking in every ounce of your features so that he can imagine your face perfectly later.
Without thinking, he moves in and pecks your cheek, enjoying the soft feel of your skin. You turn your head to him with wide eyes, mouth still full of food. Although he looks away almost immediately, you catch the flushed color on his cheeks, spreading to the tips of his ears. In response, you quickly swallow what you were chewing, and press a soft kiss to his cheek as well.
“Hey Renjun?” you whisper after a while.
“Yeah, y/n?” Neither of you look at each other, but continue the conversation nonetheless.
“I think I need to tell Yangyang.” He nods, grunting a presumable ‘yes’. “As much as I find the whole ‘keeping us a secret’ thing incredibly sexy,” you throw air quotes around the middle and giggle a bit at how silly you sound, “he deserves to know.”
“I agree,” he looks at you. “Plus, if he finds out from someone other than us, he’ll probably kill me,” he laughs, but you can tell that it really does bother him.
“Oh come on! It’s not that bad,” you try to lighten his discomfort by nudging him with your shoulder.
“No, it definitely is. Yangerz hates me,” his eyes look so disheartened by that statement, and you can tell that he feels bad about it all. “And rightfully so,” he adds on, “I did treat you pretty poorly that day.”
“You did,” you grin up at him, “but you’ve apologized. And you’ve been nothing but kind since then.” You place another peck on his cheeks, earning a bashful smile. “And,” you pull back to look at his whole face, “I’ve forgiven you.” You shrug as though he had nothing to fear with your friend. And you were confident that you were right.
The next day, Renjun picks you up for school just the same. However, the change is how he drops you off once you’re at the school. He parks in the same spot in the student lot, allowing the two of you to get out, before he runs around to drape his arm over your shoulder. He looks at you with a questioning glance, silently asking for confirmation. You smile and nod, signaling that you’re ready to publicize your relationship.
You don’t even make it through the doors before you run into your friend. “Hey Yanyang!” you call out to him.
“y/n?” He snaps his head in your direction, smile falling off his face when he sees the boy next to you.
You sheepishly smile, trying to explain the situation to him without him getting visibly upset. You were afraid that Yangyang would still be angry with your boyfriend, and that your boyfriend would get hurt by those negative feelings. After all, Renjun valued your friend’s opinion as much as you did.
“Okay,” he eyes Renjun up and down. You feel his muscles tense as he drops his arm off of you. Rather than let him get away so easily, you grab his hand, rubbing soft circles in it to ease his nerves. “So you two are dating?”
“Yes,” you giggle at his lack of clarity on the situation.
“So the whole thing wasn’t a rumor?” His eyes looked shocked as he turns to you. You can practically feel the judgement being cast from his gaze.
“No!” You specify, not wanting him to think of you badly. “But I guess this did all start from the rumor,” you hypothesize. Renjun must agree as he purses his lips and nods.
“Whatever, y/n we gotta get to class,” he states nonchalantly, pulling you away from your boyfriend.
“Crap we can’t be late again,” you cover your mouth in a gasp as you realize the warning bell has already gone off. “See later Jun,” you call over your shoulder, picking up speed in hope of making it on time.
At first, the confirmation of your relationship came as no surprise to the rest of the student body as they had almost all fallen for the rumors. Thankfully, they were proven false and your image was saved. Well, not completely, as you were still caught making out with the school’s registered bad boy before lunch. But hey, you win some you lose some. Renjun’s fan girls were all seemingly heartbroken at first, but learned to live with the fact that he wasn’t up for grabs anymore.
Somewhere along the way, Yangyang became more comfortable around him too. You were glad that the two boys could become friends. They had a lot more in common than one would think. Renjun even introduced him to the rest of his friends. And although he’d never admit to it, you could tell he’d taken a liking to one of the girls. All in all, it seemed like things were falling into place and would all work out for you and your boyfriend. At least, for now anyway.
