Chapter Text
Renjun tiredly stared at the back of the cereal box as he ate his bowl of cereal, mentally completing the crossword puzzle, obviously meant for children, for the 3rd time this morning. He heard a door from the hallway of his apartment open, followed by footsteps which he assumed was his roommate, Donghyuck.
“Ugh…” The groan came from Donghyuck.
Renjun took his attention off the cereal box and looked up to see his roommate in his messy morning state.
“You’re up early.” Renjun snickered.
Donghyuck sent a friendly death glare and trod over to the kitchen area. He proceeded to open the cabinet and grabbed a bowl. “I have to set up for the music club for the university meetup today. One of my punishments for becoming an upcoming club officer, I guess.” He said. He pulled the utensils drawer open and took a spoon.
“Come on, it’s only… nine a.m. How are you this tired?” Renjun asked.
Donghyuck picked up the cereal box in front of Renjun. “I’m a mess compared to you, Renjunnie,” He went back over to his bowl at the kitchen island, opening up the bag and pouring himself a good amount of cereal. “I shouldn’t have stayed up last night,” He sighed.
“The semester hasn’t even started yet and your sleep schedule is already messed up?” Renjun said.
Donghyuck shrugged as he opened the fridge, grabbing the carton of milk from one of the shelves. “My sleep schedule has always been messed up. Ranking up in League of Legends isn’t going to rank itself,” He explained. Renjun quietly smiled and turned back to his own bowl.
Renjun and Donghyuck were both in their second year of university. Renjun, a fine arts major, and Donghyuck, a communications major. Renjun met Donghyuck as he moved into the apartment last year, both of them being freshmen. At first, Renjun thought Donghyuck was a total nutcase. He remembered dragging his luggage into the apartment and Donghyuck treated him like his close friend with a wild handshake and his loud voice to go along with it. This interaction was jarring to Renjun, especially for being a quiet and reserved person.
His first night sleeping in his bedroom, Renjun could hear Donghyuck next door screaming about his rank in League of Legends. This went on for a week until Renjun confronted him about his loud voice cursing at three in the morning when he was trying to sleep. Donghyuck completely understood and instead of 3 am, he screamed at 2 am.
Despite their ups and downs of bathroom usage in the mornings and blaming games of missing snacks from the cabinets during the first few weeks of meeting and living together, Renjun found Donghyuck an enjoyable friend to be around. He saw Donghyuck as a person who has taken him out of his shell for the past year. Renjun wasn’t as quiet as he was back in high school and Renjun was thankful for that. He did consider himself a little crazy for saying Donghyuck was his closest friend and only knowing him for a year.
Donghyuck made his way to the empty seat across from Renjun. He set his bowl down and pulled out the chair to sit. “You excited for this semester?” He asked.
“Define ‘excited?’” Renjun asked, playfully. Donghyuck gave him a stare and Renjun gave him a sigh. “I guess you could say yeah? I mean the classes sound interesting this semester. More art classes, hooray?”
Renjun watched as his roommate took a spoonful of cereal into his mouth.
“That’s better than the pessimistic Renjun from freshman year!” He teased.
Renjun could only roll his eyes. He picked up his bowl and got up from his chair to head over to the kitchen sink. He began cleaning the bowl in the sink and in the back of his mind, he listened to Donghyuck talk.
“Sucks I don’t get to come and walk around with you. I was actually excited to see what clubs are around this year.” Donghyuck said with his mouth filled with cereal.
Renjun shot him a distasteful look. “Finish the food in your mouth before talking,” He said flatly.
“Sorry, mom…” Donghyuck said with sarcasm and a tinge of annoyance in his tone. “But I’m serious about what I said though.” This time with sincerity.
Renjun placed his bowl and spoon in the drying rack in the other sink then giving his hands a quick wash under the water. “Don’t worry about it,” He shut off the water and flicked the water off his hands before grabbing a towel. “Yangyang is fortunately not committed to a club. He’ll walk around with me, so I won’t be alone.”
Donghyuck nodded. “That’s good to hear,” He said with his mouth full of cereal once again. Renjun just stared.
“After the meetup, do you want to head out to eat?” Donghyuck suggested. “I have to do some cleaning up for the booth, but it shouldn’t take too long.”
“Sure, that sounds good,” Renjun said. He walked away from the sink, making his way back to his room.
“You can invite Yangyang too!” Donghyuck added.
“Was already planning to!” Renjun quickly replied. He was about to walk into the small hallway leading to his room, but a voice made him stop.
“Before going back to your room, can you turn on the TV for me?” Donghyuck blurted out.
“Can’t you do it yourself?”
“Please? You’re already up on your feet while I have to use my energy to walk to grab the remote!” Donghyuck begged.
As much as Renjun wanted to reply “no” and walk into his room to taunt his roommate, something in his mind was telling him that he would somehow regret it later. Maybe in the next few hours or in the next few years. It was how their little friendship worked.
He willingly made his way to the couch and grabbed the remote. He tapped the red “on” button and watched the TV lit up. “What channel?” Renjun asked.
“Just the morning news. Thanks, Renjunnie!” Donghyuck said.
Renjun playfully rolled his eyes and walked over to the dining table with the remote, placing it down by Donghyuck’s bowl. “Here, so you don’t call me from my room to change the damn channel for you. I’m gonna go shower.”
Donghyuck chuckled at him and turned back to his bowl. Renjun walked to the small hallway and stopped before it again as he heard the male news reporter say something that caught his attention.
“This morning, three people had been reported to be missing. All close family members and acquaintances have said these people have been out late at night.”
The screen then showed three different photos of young-looking adults. The images to show their faces looked like they were removed from social media posts, where they were originally having fun with their own friends. Two of them were male and the other one female. Seeing each of their faces smiling in the photos under a missing person’s news report gave Renjun an uneasy feeling in his stomach.
“Family of one of the missing people listed has said after communicating they were staying out, they haven’t heard back from them the rest of the night. They started being concerned after their son never returned home at any point this early morning.”
Renjun could only see the back of Donghyuck’s head, but he could sense his concern as the reporter continued talking. Renjun couldn’t blame him. Those people seemed nice and were living their best lives with those bright smiles. He couldn’t imagine what the families were going through. He turned away from listening further and walked towards his room.
Something in his mind really hoped that those people were going to be okay.
---
After getting ready for the rest of the day, Renjun remained in his room until it was about ten minutes before noon. Donghyuck had left an hour earlier to help set up his club’s booth.
Renjun stepped out of the bus and saw the university quad filled with students. Many tents and booths for different clubs were set up. The university meetup had barely started and some booths were filled with long lines and busy club representatives talking their hearts out in hopes of the person joining. Renjun assumed these long lines were from some of these clubs handing out freebies like t-shirts, which he couldn’t blame others wanting a free t-shirt. It was free pajamas for the college students.
Renjun heard footsteps fast approaching behind him which he first ignored. His attention was caught when a hand touched his shoulder, giving him a startle. He relaxed as he recognized his friend.
“What happened to ‘waiting’ for me?” Yangyang said with a smile.
“You seem to have caught up pretty well so I see no problem,” Renjun said.
Yangyang playfully hooked his arm around Renjun’s neck, putting him in a mock chokehold. They both laughed it off and walked side by side into the crowded university meetup.
Similar to Donghyuck, Renjun met Yangyang last year in a general education class. Being both foreigners, they bonded easily and became close friends within a few weeks. It was nice for Renjun to speak his mother language once in a while.
“Are you excited for this semester to start?” Yangyang asked.
“It’s funny how everyone asks this question every time,” Renjun scoffed. He glanced over at Yangyang who was giving him a stare, waiting for a sufficient answer to his question. Renjun sighed, “I guess you could say yes?”
“Wow, a completely different answer compared to last semester!” Yangyang teased playfully.
“You and Donghyuck are basically the same person. I really need to meet new people.”
“Heyyy!” Yangyang dragged out his voice and landed his arm around his shoulder. “I know you love us both!” He exclaimed.
Renjun made a hissing noise through his teeth, doubting the trueness behind Yangyang’s statement. Even though in his heart, Yangyang was right, stubborn Renjun continued to look at him with skepticism.
Yangyang looked back at him with a large smile like he could read through Renjun’s facials. It seemed that he knew Renjun was lying to himself. He removed his arm off of Renjun’s shoulder. “Speaking of Donghyuck, where is he?”
“At the music club booth. He had to wake up early to help set up.” Renjun said. “Let’s go see what he’s doing and bother him a bit.” He quickly suggested. Yangyang quickly nodded in agreement with the idea.
The two of them made their way through the crowd of other college students, careful to not get in each other's ways. As they talked, Renjun examined the booths they were passing by, keeping on a lookout for Donghyuck’s booth.
There were company booths (looking for students who are in need of internships) and basic clubs set up. Theater acting, botany and environmental science, the red cross association, ceramics, and Korean history were some to name a few. He spotted the classical art club booth with a good amount of freshmen-looking students lined up. Although being an art major himself, Renjun didn’t feel the need to talk about art with others. Required classes were enough for him. Honestly speaking, none of the clubs and extracurriculars that the university offered truly had no interest in Renjun.
There seemed to have new clubs arise, at least not to Renjun’s attention from last year’s meetup. A new dance club advertising their audition dates and encouraging those to sign up even if their skills were not up to par. A new political club that Renjun isn’t educated enough to know or care about. Two booths that stood next to each other both had a large crowd around. From what Renjun could see it was a new anime club and video game club. He kept his judgmental comments about what he was witnessing in his head.
“Hey you! Join the supernaturals club!” A voice yells out, catching Renjun and Yangyang’s attention. Intrigued, Yangyang walks over to the booth. Renjun mindlessly follows.
The booth was decorated with dark colors of black and purple. The two sitting behind the table were both girls, dressed in their own club t-shirts. Past them were hung up framed black and white portraits of old men and women, their outfits looking from the Victorian era. Renjun wasn’t entirely sure. There was also a large book with a crimson red cover displayed on a rack on the table titled The Truth About Vampires and Other Supernaturals . No author was credited.
“Are you two interested in joining the supernaturals club?” One of the girls asked.
“I was just interested since the booth looked a lot more… different than others set up,” Yangyang stated.
“Understandable!” The other girl spoke up. “We’re a new club starting this semester so we’re in desperate need of new members! I promise you learning about the supernatural will be a great new experience for you two!”
Renjun wasn’t impressed with their enthusiasm. He looked around at their booth once again then placed his eyes back on them. “The supernatural?” Renjun said.
One of them nodded. “Yep! This club talks about the supernaturals of the world. Vampires, werewolves, witches, fairies, ghosts you name it! We cover it all!”
It sounded intriguing, but Renjun shows his skepticism on his face as he listens to the two girls speak. He turned his head to look over at Yangyang who seemed genuinely interested.
“You really look like you’re considering on joining,” Renjun said.
It startled Yangyang out of his trance. He shrugged. “I’m not planning to, but thinking about the supernatural is interesting.”
The girl who was sitting directly in front of Renjun tilted her head, her eyes quickly scanning his body from bottom to top. She shifted in her seat, leaning forward a bit. “Do you not believe in the supernatural?” She asked, directing her question towards Renjun.
He looked surprised by her sudden question. “I mean, I do think aliens exist. Does that count?” Renjun shrugged.
She shook her head and followed it with a little chuckle. “Nope, aliens are technically a part of science. Sounds like you’d be a better fit in the science fiction club!” She teased. Renjun awkwardly laughed.
“You guys have heard of stories about ghosts, right? Or have you seen the Twilight movies? You believe in that?” The other girl spoke up.
Yangyang quietly nodded in response. Renjun crossed his arms and sighed. “Listen, if you’re trying to convince me to join, I’m really not interested. I hope you two get new members into your club soon.” He said, then took a step back away from the table. Renjun saw both of the girls’ faces fall with disappointment after he had said that. He waited for Yangyang to make a decision on writing his name on the sign-up sheet but eventually turned it down as well. They continue back on their walk to find Donghyuck’s booth.
“Believing in aliens but not believing in supernatural things?” Yangyang questioned as they walked.
Renjun had his eyes scouting around at more booths. “Don’t get me wrong, it is interesting, but I really don’t get into it. My grandmother would tell me stories about supernatural beings that happened to her. I was super into it but my parents told me to not believe what she would say.” He explained.
“Really? Why?”
“Honestly, I’m not sure,” Renjun said slowly. He quickly recalled the memories of when he was young. “Every time I told them about the stories grandma would tell me, they always tell me to forget about it. Kind of odd to think about now that we’re talking about it. It’s not like they were real, she just said it to entertain me.”
---
A few weeks of the semester had passed. Renjun felt these weeks went by too fast. Time was going by faster and faster and he didn’t like that. He had already completed his first exam for a required science class that is required for his degree. Though he passed, he was unsatisfied with the passable grade with a ‘B.’ As much as he hated the above average grade on his first exam, it was better than failing.
Other than little assignments from his other classes, he had a new project assigned to him in his architecture class. A new project was assigned at the beginning of the semester and is later turned in as a part of their final. From a quick glance at the paper given, Renjun could tell he was going to have a hard time.
The project was complicated, having multiple parts to it. Having to measure each aspect of the exterior and interior of a building, a list of materials required to build, and an estimation of the price, the price from the combination of materials and construction time. A lot of math to calculate for this project, which wasn’t quite Renjun’s forte. The funny thing was that this was only an introduction to architecture class. An average college student would think they would go over the fundamentals of architecture first before diving into all the mathematics.
Renjun has heard of horror stories from architecture students from the internet where they had to run on cans of energy drinks in order to get their assignments and projects in before the deadline because their professors were unrealistically strict about late work. Unfortunately, Renjun’s architecture professor lived up to those expectations and would mention every lecture that he would not accept any late work. “Companies don’t run on your time, architects run on theirs,” he said and Renjun mentally cursed every time he heard the start of that sentence.
Luckily, this large project was a group effort and Renjun was assigned with two other students who also expressed their ill thoughts towards their new strict professor and the new project.
“So, I’m guessing we’re all in agreement that this project is ridiculous for an introductory class,” Jun expressed frustration on his face.
Both Renjun and their other groupmate, Haneul, nodded in agreement to his statement.
“Glad to hear I’m not being an asshole,” Jun sighed from relief. He crossed his arms and leaned back into his seat. “I heard the other professor teaching intro to architecture doesn’t assign this semester-long project.”
“Professor Kim right?” Haneul raised an eyebrow. Jun hummed in response. “It’s impossible to sign up for her classes unless you’re sitting at your computer the minute class registration opens. Trust me,” She looked at both Renjun and Jun. “I tried and the class was full within a minute.”
“Doesn’t she assign more mini assignments? I also heard she makes her quizzes harder to make up for the project.” Renjun said.
Jun had his head hanging off the chair, his face staring up at the ceiling. “I’d rather do that than calculate a building we’d probably never build in our lives.”
Renjun sort of agreed with his thought, but thinking about the give and takes between professors and his academic competence, he wasn’t sure if they would win in either class. Learning about architecture was difficult in general, so would not taking Professor Ki’s class really matter? Renjun didn’t know that answer.
Renjun was only taking this class to complete his fine arts degree, so he’d only have to focus on passing the class and never look back after this semester of classes.
“Let’s exchange each other’s contact information so we can meet up and talk about this project later,” Haneul said as she whipped her phone out of her pocket. Renjun did as well.
---
More and more weeks passed by too fast once again. Countless assignments take up Renjun’s time making reality feel unreal in some instances. He’s uncertain how Donghyuck finds time to complete his assignments and rank up in games. He recently got into Apex Legends and would hear Donghyuck from his room screaming at his teammates whether it be a victory or a defeat, Renjun couldn’t really tell. Sometimes, Renjun thinks Donghyuck is lying when he tells him that “he’s a responsible student who never procrastinates,” but waking him up in the morning so he doesn’t miss his early lecture tells Renjun otherwise.
Though Renjun has been getting his work done on time, the stress was definitely getting to him and it showed in his new sleep schedule where he goes to sleep at 4 am from staying up late to complete some parts of the semester-long architecture project. He debated on his monthly grocery run if he should buy a pack of energy drinks for the apartment. It would fuel him and he wouldn’t need to use his already burnt-out energy to make a cup of joe. He ultimately rejected the idea and he should stick to the daily homemade coffee instead. He didn’t need to make his caffeine addiction worse.
Mid-October, Renjun was studying for another upcoming exam when his roommate suddenly walked into his room.
“Renjun! I have a great idea that both of us can partake in!” Donghyuck smirked.
“I’m busy studying,” Renjun replied flatly. His eyes remained on his textbook but he could sense Donghyuck was standing closer to his desk.
“You didn’t even hear what my amazing idea was,”
“Your ideas are never good to hear,” Renjun said, with a fake sweet tone. Renjun was lucky Donghyuck could sense the sarcasm.
“Anyways, there’s a party this Friday night. Everyone in the school is invited and we should be definitely attending,” Donghyuck explained with enthusiasm.
“No,” Renjun replied sternly and quickly.
“No?” Donghyuck retorted. He stood behind Renjun’s seat and placed both his hands on his shoulders. “Why not? It’s on a Friday! The start of the weekend! What do you have to do that day?”
Renjun continued his focus on his notebook, his pencil writing down a main point of the paragraph from the textbook. “What else do you think? Homework.” Donghyuck sighed from what sounded like defeat. “Also because I don’t do parties,” Renjun added.
“One party isn’t going to kill you Renjun,” Donghyuck muttered.
“It won’t but I’d rather just stay inside,”
“Then you agree with me that you should go to this party for the benefit of your best friend!”
Renjun chuckled. “‘Best friend?’ That’s a bit much,” He said with a playful grin. “As I said, I’d rather not go out.”
“Renjun, come on!”
“I already said no Donghyuck.” He said sharply, a bit too sharp Renjun thought, already starting to regret the way he responded. “Why don’t you bother Yangyang about this?”
Donghyuck cocked his head, his face showing disappointment. He could sense Renjun’s irritability. “I was already going to ask Yangyang, you know. But I’m asking you to go to this party with me.” He dropped his hands from Renjun’s shoulders and took a few steps away from his chair, then sat down on his bed. Renjun turned his chair around to get a better view.
“It’ll be our first party that we attend and I don’t want to be the only one to experience that feeling. I consider you as my closest friend I have now even after knowing each other for not that long now. If I didn’t want you there, I wouldn’t be here asking in the first place. I really want you to be out there with me. Get you outside for once instead of staying inside all semester.”
Renjun stared as Donghyuck spoke, reading his face. He could see Donghyuck was being genuine about his words. Instead of the loud, tricky everyday Donghyuck he had to deal with, he was seeing a sincere, thoughtful friend. Renjun’s annoyed feeling started fading. ‘Definitely weird,’ Renjun thought but seeing that Donghyuck again did touch his heart a bit. He was somehow going to regret agreeing to go now.
Renjun exhaled and adjusted his posture in his seat. “If I say yes, will you stop gaslighting me in the future?” He teased, having a small grin.
Donghyuck looked at him with confusion. “What the hell, that’s not gaslighting,” He said, sounding defensive. He must’ve recognized his tone that could ruin Renjun’s answer and inhaled and exhaled slowly. “But yes. I guess I will.” He sounded a tad helpless.
Renjun smiled. “There’s your answer.”
“You promise?” Donghyuck asked.
“I promise…”
Donghyuck beamed and hopped up onto his feet, immediately hugging his roommate. Renjun willingly hugged him back, feeling the happiness rush through his cheeks. Renjun repeatedly hit Donghyuck’s back as he realized they were hugging too long and Donghyuck’s hug was crushing his chest. “Okay, that’s enough!” He struggled to push him away.
His roommate finally let go. “Sorry, Renjunnie! I’m excited about this party now!” Donghyuck said in a disgustingly cute tone which Renjun cringed at. Still, he couldn’t help but laugh at him.
“Alright, shoo! I need to finish up these notes,” Renjun said.
“Gotcha!” Donghyuck walked towards his door. “I’ll order dinner for tonight. What do you want?”
“In the mood for chicken,” Renjun replied.
“On it!” Donghyuck yelled, closing the door behind himself. Renjun shook his head with a smile as the door shut.
Ten minutes later, Renjun receives a text on his phone. He thought it was Donghyuck telling him that dinner was here, but the message came from the intro to architecture project group chat. It was from Haneul. It was a little odd since they met together yesterday but Renjun thought Haneul had a question on her assigned section. He unlocked his phone and tapped on the notification.
Haneul 6:11 pm:
No way… it has to be a different Jun
<link>
Jun please tell me this isn’t you
Renjun was confused by her messages. What did she mean by a ‘different Jun?’ He clicked on the link Haneul sent. It loaded into a browser tab, bringing up a news article. It takes a couple of seconds to load in but once it does, a wave of horror runs over Renjun’s body as he reads the article title.
“20-year old college student Jun Lee has been reported as missing.”
Renjun reread the title over and over. He scrolled down a bit to see Jun’s photo plastered below. He mentally went through a checklist. Name? Jun Lee. That was also the name of the boy that was in Renjun’s group. Age? 20. Jun mentioned that he was also a second-year like Renjun. College student. They were both college students. Renjun looked at the date of the article and it was published today about an hour ago. He scrolled down to read the details.
“20-year old college student Jun Lee has been reported missing this morning after roommates have tried contacting him out of concern for his safety. His roommates reported that he left their dorm late last night at 11 pm to pick up food from the closest convenience store. Not many details have been acquired after the initial interview with Lee’s roommates. If you have any more information that can further help investigators, please contact the local police.”
Renjun felt frightened with what he’d just read. He sees Haneul continuously spam the group chat, begging Jun to reply and the importance of the group project. Though he wasn’t close to Jun, it was disorienting that he was missing. Renjun had just seen him in person yesterday, now he was supposedly gone.
He suddenly thought about the three missing people that were reported missing months earlier. He wasn’t caught up with their situation but he can’t help but notice the similarities of the reports. Both the three missing persons and Jun were out late at night. It sent a chill down Renjun’s spine when he thought about it.
Renjun shook his head from the sudden uneasiness he was feeling. His mind went to the text sent from Donghyuck, telling Renjun that dinner was here.