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give-seconds · 3 years

Text

I Love You

Paring: Jisung x genderneutral reader

Warnings: Death of a parent

Summary: In which you’ve been obsessed with the idea of meeting your soulmate since you were born, but your soulmate doesn’t think the same.

Word count: 7.2k

The italics are English or thoughts!

This is for the Nct Dream “A Vibe” collab created by @geminismind. We were given a playlist (this is mine) and a set scene to include in our fic. This was supposed to be one thing, but then it went longer than I thought it would so I split it up. I hope you enjoy!

Soulmates. They’re something everyone has, yet, they’re something that have never failed to amaze you. Not only is there someone out there made specifically for you, but the fact that not everyone finds that person the same way is just magical.

When you were in elementary school, your favorite way to start a conversation was to ask about their mark. The type of marks you loved the most were by far the ones that held their soulmate’s first words. You found it amazing that a person could look at their wrist and see into one of the most special moments of their life. Even if the words written on their body were as simple as “hi” or “welcome, how can I help you?” you never got tired of reading those letters.

Of course, as you asked others about their mark, they would ask you about yours. However, unlike most people in your situation, you never hesitated to tell someone you didn’t know what your mark was.

As you got older, you got better at brushing off the pitiful looks and words people gave you. Smiling, you would tell them it didn’t bother you. That you guys were just going to be a couple with a long story.

On the other hand, Jisung had always resented the fact he had a soulmate. Growing up, he watched his mother throw her life away for his father, a man who couldn’t care less about them.

He would stay out late, sometimes staying out for days on end, doing God knows what.

Jisung had asked his mom why she stayed with him, why they didn’t just pack their things and leave. It wasn’t like they depended on him financially—his mom had a job with a steady income that was enough to provide for the both of them.

She had just smiled and brushed his hair out of his eyes. “You don’t have to worry about me, Jisung-ah, I’m okay. This is what was planned for me, and I’ve accepted that.”

“But why? You shouldn’t have to sit here and wait for someone who doesn’t even think twice about you. You haven’t gotten anything from this relationship. Why stay?”

“I did get something,” she responded, eyes turned serious. “I got you. You are the best thing to ever happen to me, Jisung. Without your father, I never would’ve gotten you. After having you, there has never been a time I questioned the universe about why he is my soulmate.” She sighed, eyes turning sad as she scanned his face. “You’ve grown up too fast. You’re only thirteen, and you’re worried about me. Will you do me a favor, my little star?”

He remembered looking up at her, his eyes going wide. She had never asked him for a favor. No matter what it was, no matter how hard, he was going to do everything in his power to make it happen.

“Of course, mom. What can I do?”

“Don’t worry about me so much, and go have some fun of your own. It isn’t your job to worry about me, Sung. As your mother, it’s me who should be worried about you. What I want you to do is go out there and have fun. Do whatever makes you happy.”

He nodded his head solemnly, and she laughed at the determined look on his face.

“I love you, my little star.”

“Love you too, mom.”

—-

It was in your junior year while you were packing up after the last class of the day when you found your soulmate mark.

You watched with mixed emotions as the letters NGW etched themselves across your wrist, followed by a vertical line drawn above and below them. Having done your research, you immediately knew what it meant.

Your soulmate mark was the tally mark one, where whenever your soulmate went on a date with someone who wasn’t you, a black tally mark separated in the middle with the person’s initials would appear on your wrist. If your soulmate ended up loving someone that wasn't you, the mark would turn into a scar.

When you read about this mark several years back, you remember feeling sad for all the people who had it. They would forever be reminded of the fact their soulmate had liked someone else at a point in time. Maybe even loved.

It wasn’t uncommon for people to date before finding their soulmate; you even had some friends who are dating or have dated someone who wasn’t their soulmate. For some, it’s the only way to find out if a person is your soulmate.

As you finished packing up your things, you decided that you were wrong to feel sorry for people with marks like yours. After all, you only found out your mark because your soulmate went on a date. Your soulmate probably just wanted to figure out your shared mark.

---

It was Jisung's junior year when he asked out the cute girl in his English class. He knew they weren’t soulmates—he didn’t have the matching half to her tattoo.

However, Jisung liked her. Had liked her for half a year now. She was kind, funny, helped him with his homework, and best of all, was not his soulmate. He didn’t know what his mark was, and frankly, he didn’t care. He didn’t need some nameless power telling him who he was supposed to love. He could do that on his own.

And so, with his friend's encouragement, he had finally worked up the courage to ask her out on a date.

As he approached her after class, he had two things running through his head. First, he was rehearsing what he was going to say. Second, he was rehearsing what he was going to say in case she rejected him for not being her soulmate.

He played with his rolled-up sleeves, making sure they were tight enough so as not to fall and cover his wrists. As much as he wanted her to say yes, he didn’t want it to be because she thought they were soulmates.

“Hey, Gawon, can I ask you a question?”

She looked up at him, smiling as she shoved the last book into her bag. “Sure, what’s up?”

He laced his fingers together to stop himself from playing with them, but made sure to keep his wrists turned outwards so she could still see them. “I was wondering if you maybe wanted to go on a date with me?”

Her eyes immediately flicked down to his wrists. Once her eyes met his again, he allowed himself to unclasp his hands and play with his fingers behind his back.

She smiled, zipping up her bag. “That sounds nice, Jisung. When were you thinking?”

“Oh,” he said quietly, shocked she had said yes. “Right, uh, I was thinking today after school? But, if you’re busy then we can go whenever you’re not busy.”

“Let me just let my mom know. I’ll meet you outside by the front gate, okay?”

He nodded his head, a large smile spread across his face. “Okay.”

---

“I want to cash in my favor.”

“Oh my gosh, finally.”

You laughed as Chenle dramatically dropped his pen and leaned back in his chair. “I’ve been waiting for this day to come. What can I do you for?”

“Take me on a date.”

He immediately squinted his eyes at you, trying to figure out the meaning behind your request. You squinted back.

“I’m sorry, what?”

“Well, my soulmate mark is one that only becomes known when your soulmate dates someone, so my soulmate has no idea what our mark is. That is unless you take me on a date.”

He pouted, slouching his shoulders slightly. “Why me? Mark could do it, or Eric. Go ask one of them. I don’t want to spend my money on something like this.”

“They’re older than me, and I don’t know them as well as I know you,” you replied, copying his posture.

“I’m older than you too!” he exclaimed, straightening his back and pointing at you.

“By a year!” You smacked his arm, and he let it dramatically fall onto the desk. “Plus, we’re in the same grade, so sucks to be you I guess.”

“This isn’t fair,” he grumbled. “I shouldn’t have to spend my money on you and your soulmate.”

You smiled widely at him before turning back around in your chair. Despite his complaining, you knew he would do this for you. He knew how much your soulmate meant to you.

---

Your freshman year of university had not been the easiest. On top of it being your first year at a non-English speaking school, it was the first year you had been alone as Chenle had decided to go back to China for university.

You had made a few friends, but about two months into school, you realized why you still felt lonely.

None of your new friends would text you at random times to tell you to meet them at the park in five minutes for a last-minute gossip session about the latest idiotic thing Mark Lee did at basketball practice. None of them knew to tell the waiter to withhold certain food items because you were too scared to ask yourself. None of them had your mom on speed dial.

None of them felt like home.

None of them were Chenle.

Once you realized what you were missing, you found yourself struggling to fight off the loneliness.

Chenle had been with you since the fourth grade. He was there when your first friends outside of him unexpectedly cut you out and called you mean names. He was there, choosing to be late to basketball practice, standing with you watching the rain fall when your dad forgot to pick you up from school. He was the first person you told when you got accepted into university. You had never felt homesick before, but you can only imagine this is what it felt like.

So, towards the end of the year, when you experienced your first heartbreak, he was the only person you thought to call.

“Y/n?” As soon as his voice hit your ears, the tears you held back escaped.

“Hi Lele, I hope I didn’t wake you.”

“No, no, you didn’t. What’s wrong?”

“I just, things have been so hard, Chenle. I thought they were going to get easier. I mean, it’s almost the end of the year. But I just—”

You squeezed your eyes shut, wishing he were here in person. Nothing was right, but had he been there with you, things might have seemed more bearable.

“Shh, no y/n it’s okay.”

Despite his naturally loud personality, Chenle had the most calming voice you had ever heard. It was during these times, times when you were sad or stressed, that you remembered how soothing it was.

“It’s my soulmate. They don’t want me.”

The line had gone quiet for a few seconds, and you let out a sob as the words echoed in your head.

My soulmate doesn’t want me.

“I’m sure that’s not true y/n. How can you know?”

“It’s my wrist.”

“Did you get another mark? I thought you said those don’t bother you.” You could hear the smile in his voice. “Do you need me to go through the speech you gave me when we were on our date?”

You smiled slightly at the memory, tears still streaming down your face. You had spent a good chunk of time telling Chenle how that date meant nothing (which he had responded with: “of course, you idiot, I’m your best friend”) and that you didn’t care how many dates your soulmate went on, they didn’t mean anything.

“No, you don’t, but I appreciate the offer. It’s not just a mark this time. It—” you took a deep breath, trying to keep your voice from breaking. “It’s a scar, Chenle, a scar. They didn’t even go on a date with this person, they just—”

Your sentence was interrupted by another sob, and you had never been more thankful that your roommate frequently spent the night at their soulmate’s apartment off-campus.

You could care less about the dates your soulmate went on, honest to god, but they hadn’t even gone on a date with this person; the scar had just burned itself next to your NGW tally mark. The knowledge they loved someone without even dating them hurt more than the burn that accompanied your scar as it slowly spread down your wrist.

“Okay, take a deep breath while I recount to you the information we know.”

You tilted your head to the side, shutting your eyes once again. “What?”

“Exactly what I said,” he repeated softly. “You just take deep breaths and listen to me. So what we know is that your soulmate went on dates with that GWN person—”

“NGW.”

“Yes, that’s what I said. Anyway, they dated them and now love this other person. That’s all right?”

“Yeah, it is, but it isn’t that they love someone. It’s that my soulmate doesn’t want me.”

“You don’t know that.”

“What do you mean I don’t know that? What—”

“I mean, you don’t know that. How is this different than when they went on that date?”

You weren’t able to respond right away—you were shocked. How could he not understand? The person made from the same star as you was able to fall in love with another person. They were able to forget you.

“Chenle, I don’t— I’m not understanding. We haven’t even met, and they’re already deciding I’m not worth it.”

“My point exactly! You haven’t met. They don’t know you, and you don’t know them. It’s impossible to decide someone's worth without knowing them.”

“But I’ve made a decision,” you cried before taking a deep breath to steady your voice. “I haven’t gone on any dates other than the one to let them know our mark. And, I haven’t met anyone that could fill the place in my heart I have for my soulmate.”

“They haven’t filled your place, y/n they’re just falling victim to their feelings. They haven’t met you yet, so—and I mean this in the nicest way possible—you don’t have a place in their heart. Before you yell at me, let me explain. As y/n l/n, you don’t necessarily mean anything to them, and that is purely because you haven’t met yet. But at the same time, you do have a place in their heart as their soulmate. No one will ever be able to fill that place, no one but you. So just because they don’t love y/n l/n yet, doesn’t mean they don’t love their soulmate.”

You closed your eyes, feeling more tears stream down your face. It still hurt to think about, and you knew you would be spending a lot of time looking at the scar on your wrist, but this helped.

“I wish we were soulmates.”

He chuckled, and you imagined he was shaking his head. “That’s disgusting.”

“I know.”

---

Jisung’s freshman year of university was undoubtedly the worst year for him.

It was the year he met Na Jaemin.

Jaemin was a member of the dance team Jisung joined. He was also the person who quickly took a liking to Jisung and made sure that by the end of the week, everyone knew Jisung was Jaemin’s “child.”

At first, Jisung didn’t know what to make of Jaemin.

He was loud, clingy, and overly hyper at times. Jisung could count on one hand the number of times Jaemin didn’t scare him with his energy.

Once Jisung decided to actually get to know Jaemin, however, he couldn’t stop the growing admiration for him.

He wasn’t afraid to let the people he was close to know what he wanted; he stood up for what he thought was right, yet was the first to admit he was in the wrong; he let others know how special they were to him.

He was everything Jisung wanted to be.

As time went on, Jisung found himself looking forward to dance practice more and more, just so he could be in jaemin's company.

It was Saturday, sometime around lunch, that Jaemin said he had to leave early because the daycare he volunteered at needed him to cover for someone.

“Of course,” Jisung had said immediately after Jaemin explained the situation. “We can do lunch another time. It’s not like it was a special occasion or anything.”

Jaemin had pouted, grabbing Jisung’s cheeks with his hand. “Don’t say that. Any lunch with you is important.”

Jisung was speechless. No one had ever made him feel like that before.

Jaemin gave him one more smile before he turned and walked towards the bus stop. Jisung watched as he disappeared around the corner, only coming to his senses when a man accidentally bumped into him.

He had spent the walk back to his dorm thinking about that moment, thinking about how Jaemin made him feel. He hadn’t felt this happy with someone in a long time.

It was sometime after ten, as Jisung was finishing some math homework, that Jaemin popped back into his mind.

He had asked Jaemin for help on this type of problem last week. As they both had no clue where to even start, they had to call Jaemin’s friend, Jeno, for help.

“Don’t worry Jisung,” Jaemin said, arm slung over his shoulder as he walked Jisung back to his dorm, “we’re not all as math savvy as Lee Jeno. You have him beat in cuteness any day.”

“I’m not cute,” he denied.

Jaemin nodded his head vigorously, a motion Jisung knew meant he didn’t mean whatever would leave his mouth next. “Right, of course not.”

Sometime after eleven, as Jisung was brushing his teeth, he realized what was wrong.

He was in love with his best friend.

The realization hit him hard, and he found himself pushing open the door to one of the stalls and kneeling in front of the toilet, toothbrush forgotten in the sink.

He had liked people before—Gawon had meant a lot to him. When they eventually broke up, he had been crushed.

So he knew how it felt to like someone. He knew this was different.

I can’t do this, he thought, eyes screwed shut.

He didn’t know how long he stayed on the bathroom floor, but every time he calmed down enough to get up, the reality of the situation made him sick all over again.

Not only was the idea that he was in love with another man new and terrifying, but he lived in a country where if he did love him, they couldn’t get married.

Despite not wanting a soulmate, Jisung liked to think of himself as a relatively romantic person.

He wanted to get married, and he wanted to have kids.

If Jaemin, or someone like Jaemin, was his happiness, then he couldn’t have that. Not in the eyes of the law anyway.

The thought alone made him dizzy, and he leaned his head against the stall as tears pricked against his eyes.

“No,” he told himself, taking deep breaths. “This is just some type of stress-induced overreaction to having a close friend.”

He repeated it over in his head, willing the sick feeling to die down enough to where he didn’t feel like throwing up.

Once it had, he shakily made his way back to his dorm room, almost forgetting to grab his toothbrush and toothpaste.

His roommate was, thankfully, asleep when he got back, and Jisung was grateful he didn’t have to come up with an excuse as to why it had taken him so long to brush his teeth.

He shakily put his stuff on the counter, dedicating tomorrow to properly put it away.

Normally, Jisung hated taking melatonin. For him, it was always a guessing game on how tired it would make him in the morning; he only had it as a safety blanket for when he really couldn’t sleep.

After an hour of tormenting thoughts, Jisung decided he needed the help of two tablets to silence his mind.

In the morning, Jisung decided it was simply a stress-induced breakdown. He didn’t love Jaemin as anything more than a best friend, and it was silly to think anything else. Maybe he would even tell Jaemin about it someday in the future and they could laugh about it together.

But as Jisung walked to his first lecture, he caught Jaemin’s eye. As usual, Jaemin sent him that blinding smile. Unlike usual, however, Jisung felt his breath get caught in his throat and his heartbeat increase.

He smiled, pushed back the sickening feeling as it made its way back into his stomach, and waited until Jaemin was out of his sight before he spun on his heel and walked back to the dorms.

As he walked back into his room, he headed straight to his bed, placing his backpack on his chair. He sat on the edge, setting his phone next to him.

At first, he didn’t do anything. He just sat there, chewing on his thumbnail. He never had a problem with people being gay or bisexual. Who was he to care about other people’s sexualities?

Now, though, the possibility he was part of a minority, and the added fact that he was in a conservative country, was staring him in the face. He was terrified.

He took a deep breath, picked up his phone, and opened a private tab in his search engine.

---

The first day of your summer job was emotional hell.

You had been excited to start your job—you were looking forward to learning how to make new drinks to share with Chenle when he came to visit. He always said he wanted to work in a café to learn how to make all the drinks for himself. Now, in China, he worked at the campus library store.

Then that’s where it happened; that’s where he found his soulmate.

“Y/n y/n y/n,” he cheered excitedly over the phone.

You laughed, shaking your head as you walked towards the café. “Yes, Chenle?”

“You’ll never guess what happened today.”

“Hmmm,” you hummed, the biggest smile you’ve had in a while spread across your face. “You dropped a frying pan on your foot?”

“Not yet. But are you ready for this?”

“Yes, Chenle, I’m ready. Don’t keep me in suspense!”

“Okay.” He had paused, and you could feel the smile on his face. You felt his excitement through the phone and were excited to celebrate as loud as you could on a public street.

“I met my soulmate at the library.”

“Oh my god, really? Chenle, that’s amazing!”

You’d thought about this moment many times before. Each time, there was only one way to describe it.

Bittersweet.

The soulmate enthusiast inside you was happy for him. Finding happiness was everything you’ve ever wished for your loved ones. What better way to find happiness than to find the person who was made for you—your other half?

The best friend in you, however, was hurt. You always hoped his soulmate lived in Korea. Then, he would have an excuse to move back.

But now, his life was in China.

He laughed, and you felt your body grow warm with his happiness. It was enough to distract you from the thoughts of losing your best friend.

“I know! She was returning this book for her friend, and when she was handing me the book I saw her bracelet! We were both shocked and didn’t say anything at first, but eventually, we exchanged numbers.”

“My baby,” you sniffed dramatically. “You’re all grown up now. Have you talked to her yet?”

“I’m choosing to ignore the ‘baby’ comment, but no, I haven’t texted her yet. I wanted to tell you first.”

Again, you feel your heart warm at his happiness. You haven’t heard him this excited since he found out he got out into university.

“What are you doing? Go get your woman! I’m walking into my first day of work, but when I get out, I’ll text you, and you better have talked to her. I’ll need a pick me up.”

He laughed, and you imagined he was excitedly nodding his head. “Will do!”

“Okay, I have to go. But congratulations Lele, I’m happy for you.”

“Thanks, y/n, good luck on your first day! Bye.”

You put on a fake smile, pushed down the sick feeling in your stomach, and uttered a final “bye.”

It’ll be okay, you reminded yourself as you pulled open the café door.

You didn’t remember much of your training. Your mind had been focused on not breaking down. When the day was finally over, you couldn’t wait to get home and just let it all out.

But as you opened the back door, mindlessly walking your route back to the dorms, you ran right into someone. You gasped, the feeling of liquid soaking through your shirt enough to jerk you from your thoughts. As the now empty take-out coffee cup hit the ground, you found yourself on the verge of tears.

Taking a deep breath, you ran a hand through your hair. Today was really not your day.

“Shit, I’m so sorry,” the boy rushed. “I wasn’t looking where I was going, and I ran right into you, spilling my friend’s coffee on you.”

“It’s um, it’s okay,” you responded weakly, feeling your mind go blank as the stinging in your eyes got heavier.

Once he looked at you, his eyes widened. “I am so sorry, here.” He quickly shrugged off his backpack, dropped it onto the ground, pulled off his sweatshirt, and extended it out to you. “Here, you can wear this. And I’ll make Hyung pay for your laundry. Just, please don’t cry. I’m really sorry I wasn’t looking where I was going.”

You looked down at the sweatshirt in his hands, blinked at it a few times before taking it from his hands. You set your bag on the ground and pulled the sweater over your head. The warmth from the sweatshirt was enough to make a few tears fall; no one had been this nice to you since Chenle left.

“I’m not crying because of you, I swear,” you said, laughing softly as you wiped the tears.

“Oh, that’s good to hear.” He smiled, but then it dropped, and his eyes widened again. “I mean, I’m not glad you’re crying. I’m just glad it isn’t because I spilled coffee on you.”

You nodded your head, trying your hardest not to break down in front of a total stranger.

He let out a small “ah,” snapping his fingers as he bent down to grab his bag again. He held the backpack with one hand, reached in with the other, and pulled out a pen. Putting the pen between his lips, he reached back into the bag and ripped a piece of paper out of what you assumed was a notebook.

Balancing the piece of paper on the back of the backpack, he grabbed the pen from his mouth and started writing.

“This is my number. Please text so we can set a time for me to come and get your shirt.”

With a click of the pen, he grabbed the piece of paper before slinging the backpack over his shoulder. He smiled softly as he extended the paper out to you.

“Oh, you don’t have to do that,” you said, hesitantly reaching for the paper. “I can just wash it at my place.”

“Oh trust me, if you want that stain out of your shirt, Jaemin-Hyung is the man for the job. He’s spilled enough coffee on the both of us to last a lifetime; he’s an expert at making clothes look as good as new.”

“Um, okay, thank you so much.”

You felt bad agreeing, but right now you weren’t in the right mindset to negotiate. Plus, you’ll need to give him back the sweatshirt soon.

He smiled brightly one more time, waved awkwardly before he turned, and walked back in the direction he came. You smiled as you saw him turn on his heel and walk back towards you.

“I forgot which way I was going, sorry,” he muttered, pointing behind you.

You nodded once, taking a deep breath as you started your walk back to your dorm.

When you got home, the first thing you did was run to the shower.

While in every TV show—and to most of your friends—crying in the shower was something that went hand in hand after a bad day, that wasn’t the case for you.

Taking a shower helped water down the bad feelings. Sure, it never cleared your mind completely, but coming out, you felt you had a new outlook on the issue.

After you got dressed, you grabbed your stained shirt and walked to the sink. You turned the faucet on cold and stuck the shirt under the stream, letting it soak the entire shirt.

You texted your roommate, telling them that your shirt was in the sink soaking, adding a “good luck on your paper,” before you slipped on your shoes and walked to the kitchen to make a cup of green tea. You made sure not to forget to grab the piece of paper with the boy’s number.

As the water boiled, you leaned against the counter and pulled out the piece of paper.

Y/n: Hey this is y/n the person you spilled coffee on (I’m fine by the way no longer crying). But I was wondering what time worked best for you?

Y/n: To give you the clothes I mean

After you sent the text, you set your phone on the counter and chose from the variety of teas you and the other students had acquired over the months.

You had left a note the first week of school telling everyone they were free to drink your tea, and that it might be fun to start up a tea collection. Most of it was from you, but it wasn't like it was your money; it was Chenle’s. After Chenle lost a bet, he had to buy you all the tea you wanted. To this day, you would send him a photo of the receipt, and he would Apple pay you the amount back.

It wasn’t until you were sat at your desk, chemistry notes out in front of you, that your phone beeped with a response.

Jisung: Hi y/n my name is Jisung!

Jisung: I have a lecture at 11:30 and one at 2 and practice at 5. Jaemin Hyung will be at that practice if you want to come then so you can just give him your shirt.

Jisung: But if that doesn’t work for you any time other than my lectures and practice works!

---

The next time you saw Jisung was the day after you gave him and Jaemin the clothes.

Jaemin had walked into the café first, a smile spread across his face as he approached the counter. “You’re the kid Jisung spilled coffee on. Y/n right?”

You laughed. “That’s me, although I wouldn’t say I’m a kid. What can I do ya for?”

“Can I have two sencha teas, please?”

“Oh, no coffee?” you joked.

He smiled, and you found yourself mirroring his expression.

The first thing you noticed about Jaemin was his dazzling smile. Even when you were handing him the coffee-stained shirt, he had smiled at you with what you assumed would be the same smile he’d give a close friend.

“No, not today. Jisung said he’d never forgive me for embarrassing him like that, even if I’m not the one who ran into you.”

You nod your head, tapping the order into the machine. “That��ll be nine thousand three hundred sixty and fifty-four won.”

“Here you are.” He smiled as he handed you his card, watching you as you stuck it into the card reader.

“Okay, Jaemin,” you said, handing him back the card. “I’ll call your name when the teas are ready.”

He nodded his head before walking off to find an empty table. After he left, you moved away from the cash register and started to make the drinks.

“Jaemin,” you called, placing the drinks on the pick-up counter.

When you looked up at the man who stood across from you, you saw it wasn’t Jaemin who came to pick up the drinks. It was Jisung.

“Oh, Jisung! I didn’t see you come in.”

He looked down awkwardly. “That was the point,” he whispered, and you had to suppress a giggle as you watched his head snap up, eyes widened slightly. “Not that I’m avoiding you. I just feel bad about spilling coffee on you, and I assume you don’t want to talk to the guy who made your bad day worse. But Hyung said I need to make new friends, and he seems to have volunteered you to be that friend.”

You smiled at him, shaking your head slightly. “Jisung, for the last time, I don’t care that you spilled coffee on me.” Now it was your turn to look down shyly. “I need to make friends too, so I don’t mind being friends if you don’t.”

You hadn’t dared to look up at him. Had Chenle been there, you’re sure he would have laughed at you out loud. Good thing it’s a slow day.

“Are you sure?” he asked, and if you had to guess from his voice, it sounded like he was holding back a smile. “Because if you don’t want to, of course, you don’t have to.”

“No, I want to. You seem like a nice kid,” you answered, smiling softly as you looked up at him. “Plus, it’s nice meeting someone who seems just as awkward as I am.”

He chuckled, bringing his hand to rub the back of his neck. “Well, that’s good to hear, so I’ll talk to you later?”

“Definitely.”

---

Jisung’s savior to the rescue!!

Jisung felt his stomach drop when the name flashed on his screen. He knew Jaemin was up to no good when he suddenly stopped responding.

Y/n: What’s this?

Jaemin: This is a group chat for the three of us!

Jaemin: It’s Jaemin by the way Jisung gave me your number. I hope you don’t mind!

Y/n: Of course I don’t mind!

Y/n: What’s with the title?

Jaemin: Oh that! I’ll let Jisung explain that one :)

Jisung hated that smiley face. Jaemin only used it when he knew he was causing a hard time for Jisung.

Jisung: Hyung do you hate me?

Jaemin: Jisungie don’t be so dramatic. I’m helping you

“I knew telling him I was scared was a bad idea,” he muttered to himself, as he brought his left thumb to his mouth to nervously bite.

Y/n: Helping with what?

Jaemin: Jisung?

Jisung: It’s nothing he’s just being dramatic. You get used to it after awhile

Jaemin: You’ve forced my hand Jisungie

Jaemin: Jisung here was too scared to talk to you himself. So now I’m here!

He groaned, watching as Jaemin continued on his embarrass-Jisung-as-much-as-possible path.

Jaemin: Now I’m just as introverted as the next guy, but I guess when my child needs me I can be more

Y/n: Child?

Jisung: That would be me

Jaemin: I’m glad you’ve stopped fighting it

Jisung: Have you met you? Fighting is useless

Jaemin: Besides the point

Jaemin: Y/n we would like to invite you to have lunch with us sometime

Jisung couldn’t help but be amazed at Jaemin’s forwardness. He was normally just as reluctant to talk to strangers as Jisung was. They sometimes even had to rock, paper, scissors it to decide who did the talking.

He really was doing this all for him.

Y/n: I’d love to! What day were you thinking?

Jaemin: Jisung?

Jisung: Does tomorrow work?

Y/n: Yeah! Where were you thinking?

Jisung: There’s this new restaurant that was opened by the dad of one of my classmates. I was thinking we could try there?

Y/n: Sure sounds great!

Jisung: We were thinking around 12 is that good for you?

Y/n: Yeah my shift starts at 2 so that should be enough time

Jaemin: Awesome! I have a class that ends right at 12 but Jisung can walk you there if you want

Again, Jisung felt his stomach drop.

Jisung: Hyung!

Jisung: Not that I’d be opposed to walking you there I just don’t know if you want me knowing where you sleep and all that

Jisung: That sounded weird I’m sorry

After he sent his last text, Jisung groaned at how stupid he sounded. He can’t say he was surprised, Jaemin had made it very clear to Jisung that he was dead set on getting him a friend.

He swiped out of the chat to privately send Jaemin a few texts on how much he sucked, and if things were awkward tomorrow, that it was all his fault.

All he got in response was that stupid smiley face.

Y/n: It’s okay Jisung you can just send me the address and I’ll meet you there

Jisung: Are you sure? I don’t mind walking with you if you want

Y/n: I’m sure! You don’t need to worry

Y/n: I have to go now unfinished work to be done. See you guys tomorrow!

Jaemin: See you tomorrow!

Jisung: Me and my good luck penguin wish you luck!

(^v^)

<( () )>

w w

Jisung smiled as he sent the text animal, excited to share it with someone other than Jaemin and his mom. It was safe to say he found the emoji way too adorable and took any chance he could to send it.

Y/n: Aw thanks Jisung! I love him

Y/n: See you guys tomorrow!

Jaemin

Jaemin: Was that so hard Jisungie?

Jisung: I hate you

Jaemin: :(

Jisung: Fine

Jisung: After you buy lunch tomorrow I maybe won’t hate you anymore

Jaemin: ❤️❤️❤️

---

“Don’t worry about the price, Nana is paying,” Jisung said, not looking up from the menu.

“Nana?” You looked up from your menu to look at the two men across from you.

“Oh, that’s me,” Jaemin said, glancing up at you from over his menu. “Na from Na Jaemin.”

You let out a silent ‘ah,’ nodding your head as you lowered your vision back to the menu. “That’s a cute nickname. It suits you.”

“He’s cute because you don’t know him,” Jisung muttered, earning a glare from Jaemin.

“Excuse you, I am the embodiment of cuteness.”

You laughed softly, repeating the word ‘embodiment’ to yourself. You smiled as you watched them bicker, not missing the way Jisung acted around him. You may not have known Jisung for very long, but he reminded you a lot of yourself.

“Are you ready to order?” the waitress asked, causing you to look away from Jisung and Jaemin.

“Yeah, can I have number 42?” You hand her the menu, smiling.

“Of course.” She smiled before she turned to Jaemin.

“Oh, can I have number 32?”

She nodded her head, looking towards Jisung after she had written the order. After Jisung ordered, he quickly moved to collect his and Jaemin’s menus. When he tried to raise his right arm, his jacket sleeve got caught on the table, causing his hand to hit against the table.

He let out a quiet ‘ow’, and shook his hand a few times while he used his other hand to give the menus to the waitress, a shy smile adorning his face.

As the waitress thanked him, everything went mute. You clenched your fists together to try and distract your mind from what just happened.

“I have to go to the bathroom,” you whispered as soon as the waitress left, quickly standing up.

“Okay,” Jisung answered before turning to start a conversation with Jaemin.

You walked to the bathroom as quickly as you could, opened one of the stall doors, and practically slammed it behind you, shaky breaths being the only noise that surrounded you.

It was quick, but you know what you saw. It was a black tally mark.

You didn’t need to see the initials to know they were Chenle’s, you felt it in your gut.

You leaned against the stall and ran a hand through your hair. As you let your hand drop, you saw the black of your tally mark. For a moment, all you could do was stand and stare at the mark.

NJM. Na Jaemin.

“Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god,” you chanted as you ran your hand through your hair. You were third-wheeling with your soulmate and the boy he loves.

Shakily, you reached into your back pocket to take out your phone, wanting to talk to the one person who could calm you down.

After you pressed Chenle’s contact, you squeezed your eyes shut and held the phone to your ear. The longer it rang, the more you felt yourself spiral. You can’t go back out there and pretend everything's okay, not without Chenle.

“这是钟辰乐—” As the foreign words hit your ears, you quickly hung up.

Okay, y/n, now it’s just you. Time to man up and think of an excuse as to why you need to leave.

Taking a deep breath, you pulled open the bathroom door before shoving your shaking hands, along with your phone, into your back pockets. You slowly made your way back to the table. Everything felt like it was going too fast.

“Um, hey guys,” you started, too nervous to sit back down. “I’m not feeling very well, I think I’ll just go back to my dorm. We’ll have to reschedule sometime, and I’ll pay.”

“Oh, I’m sorry to hear that. Do you want me to walk you back?” Jisung asked, head tilted slightly to the side.

“No,” you answered immediately, wincing inwardly at how it came out louder than you intended. “I don’t want to take you away from spending time with Jaemin.”

“Oh, it’s okay.” He waved his hand dismissively as he stood up from his chair. “I see too much of him as it is. Plus, it isn’t too far. I’ll make it back before he even notices I’m gone.”

“Yeah, don’t worry about me. I can handle being on my own. Plus, we’re the ones who sprung this on you. If you’re not feeling very well, it’s our fault you’re out here,” Jaemin smiled up at you.

You smiled weakly back, unable to tear your gaze away from him. One of the first things you noticed about Jaemin was his stunning smile. Now though, you two have a different relationship. Depending on how he felt about Jisung, you’re the person who’s taking his place. To you, he’s the guy who has your place.

“Y/n?” Jisung asked softly, placing a hand on your shoulder.

You jumped from the sudden contact, whipping your head in his direction. “Right, yeah, sorry about that. Let’s go.”

You turned on your heel, wanting to get out of the restaurant as soon as possible. You hugged your arms around yourself, trying to ignore the anxiety that was slowly consuming you.

You had dreams about meeting your soulmate, each of them surrounded by a warm feeling. The warm feeling of finding someone who loved you for you. Someone who wanted to spend the rest of their life with you.

But this? This was a cold nightmare.

---

Thank you so much to @pastelsicheng for catching all my mistakes and helping me write the summary!

Part two

Masterlist

#nct-writers #park jisung x reader #nct x reader #nct dream x gender neutral reader #nct dream x reader #park jisung x gender neutral reader #kpop imagines #nct scenarios #kpop #kpop scenarios #nct imagines #nct #na jaemin #zhong chenle #nct jaemin #nct chenle

57 notes · View notes

iovjun · 3 years

Text

[10:17 am]

You leaned in, your lips landing tentatively on Jisung’s soft ones. It was on a whim, but to your utter delight you find his lips moving in response. He reached up and cradled your head with his hands, his fingers getting tangled in your hair. The kisses were slow, new, and unsure, but you definitely knew this was what you wanted.

When you pulled yourself away to catch your breath, he looked at you with stars in his eyes, a slight blush adorning his cheeks. You smiled softly, heart leaping for joy and lips yearning to touch his again. His hands caressed your face lovingly, as if making sure you were real.

“You take my breath away,” he mumbled absentmindedly.

As he meets your eyes once again, you scrunched up your face at the cheesy line. He seemed to register what he said aloud and shrunk into himself, his eyes widening and a nervous smile appearing. “Y-you know, like the song?” he stuttered, eyes looking at anything but you.

You giggled and shook your head. “Just kiss me again you fool.”

And with that your lips found his a second time, the kiss more passionate and secure.

132 notes · View notes

sunrise-lou · 4 years

Text

The Romantic

Ft. Lee Donghyuck x Reader / Zhong Chenle x Reader

Word count. 3k

Warnings. Fluff, tiny amount of angst, mostly gender neutral but there are a handful of ‘he’ and ‘his’, Haechan playboy Au basically

AU: College / Unrequited love / Love Triangle / Song Lyric

Songs: ‘The One The Got Away’ Katy Perry + ‘I Feel The Love’ Tritonal / R5

Edit: I just got home from a closing shift and the paragraphs were all mixed around??? I have no idea how it happened, so I’m reuploading it- hopefully it’s fine this time

❥ - Wednesday 15th

"Sometimes I wonder what my life would be like if we dated, rather than me just going out with any guy or girl that asks me out, then leaves when they get bored"

Face flushing as he jolted up from his previous hunched position, Y/n turns to his childhood friend, "Excuse me Hyuck, but, what the fuck?"

"You know," Donghyuck inhales before continuing "if you and I got together or at least tried out what I do so often."

"I thought you had a girlfriend this week?" You mumble back to him, sounding more like a statement than a question.

"I do, but I doubt it'll last long, and you should know I was just joking when I said we should date." Donghyuck laughed in between his ramblings, "We're too close to date anyway."

"Yeah, you're right" You say back, under your breath.

"Zhong!"

You jump at the shouting.

"Lee! L/n!"

You flickered your eyes up, smiling when you see rich kid extraordinaire and the other third of this friendships heart, Zhong Chenle, jogging in your and Donghyuck's direction.

"Hello Lele," you greet quietly, leaning back on your palms.

"How are you?" Donghyuck basically shouts before you get a chance too say the same.

"I'm in trouble, my parents are getting on my back about improving my skills with instruments" He yelled before dropping to his knees and pretending to faint into your collective laps.

"Welp, I've already filled my daily quota for dramatic and annoying Chenle events with our class earlier," The older of the three says, "I'm gonna hop over and grab a drink from the cafeteria and visit my darling for this week." Hyuck promptly slides Chenle's legs from his lap and stands, before dusting off the grass from his jeans.

"I shall be back." He finishes, not bothering to turn to look at either of you, and instead just walking towards the pavement.

After watching Donghyuck walk away, Chenle rolls off of you quickly, almost like his idea was to pester him till he had left.

"So, how did the planned confession go-"

"Horrible" You let out before falling back and laying in the grass.

"He mentioned his 'darling for this week' and he was single on Friday" Chenle complained, rolling his eyes during his air quotations.

"You've been trying to confess for, what, 3, 4, maybe 5 weeks now and he's almost never single long enough for it NOT to be awkward! Can I ask who this week?"

"A girl from his Hospitality class, she's friends with the guy he dated last semester" You explain, resting your arm over your eyes to block out the sun. "He joked about us dating before you got here, I'm thankful you showed up when you did, I think I would've cried if that conversation continued" You finished, voice cracking midway through the later part of the sentence.

Chenle gives you an almost pitying look and shuffles closer, grabbing hold of your free hand so he can swing it around in attempt to distract you from Donghyuck.

"Actually!" Shouting as you sit up, wanting to change the topic.

"I want to join the senior talent show, but I want to do it acoustic…"

The 'rich kid' hums, raising his eyebrows, knowing exactly what you're about to ask.

“Please, please, please can you play the guitar for me?” You plead, immediately turning on the puppy eyes.

Chenle quickly turns away knowing your tactics by now.

“What do I get out of helping you?” he asks plainly, eyes scrunched shut as to avoid your infamous puppy eyes

“I’ll bring snacks to the practice sessions and if we’re both free after the sessions, maybe we could go for ice cream, not to mention practice for your instrumental talents- just like your parents want~.”

“That ice cream part sounded an awful lot like a date,” He coos back as you teasingly.

Rolling your eyes at him, you took your other hand and encased his, “Please, President Zhong Chenle, I’m begging you!”

Scoffing at the ridiculous nickname, Chenle smiled “Fine! But I want those ice cream dates!”

“Dates? Are you two dating behind my back?” A third voice emerges.

Both of you spin to see a familiar boy, walking towards you.

“So, are you? I’m upset you never told me...” Donghyuck exclaims in an almost sarcastic voice, clutching at where his heart should be.

Laughing the elder makes his way from the pavement and plops down onto the grass, in front of you two.

You blink at him, confused, before looking down at your hands and essentially throwing Chenle’s hands at himself.

“Ow, the fuck Y/n, why did you yeet my own hands at me?”

❥ - Monday 20th

“I can’t believe you picked up an entire quarter of the song over the weekend! And then played it almost flawlessly every time!” You shout to your friend, your back to him as you lock the door to the music room you had booked to practice in during your free time.

“I know, I’m pretty impressive, aren’t I?” He boasts, earning a snort from your smiling figure.

“What about that ice cream you promise, or are you busy?” Chenle nudged you, crossing his fingers that you were free so he had an excuse to continue being in your company, as well as eat ice cream.

Beginning your walk back to the Student Services Desk, you mention your plans with Donghyuck later.

“Aww, okay Y/n, maybe after the next session-“

DING! VRRT, VRRT.

“Hold up, Lele,” you mumble, retrieving your phone from your pocket and unlocking it.

Sighing as you discard your phone back into your back pocket, “Never mind, I guess, it’s a cancel plans relationship this week. So, I’m about to get really lonely…”

Chenle rolls his eyes once you look back at him, expressing his own disappointment in your mutual friend, “How about I pay for ice cream today instead?” he says, awkward smile on his face in attempt to make you feel better.

“Thank you Lele,” you mumble back to him with a shy smile “Donghyuck has always flip flopped his relationship status and I’ve followed him around with heart eyes for ages, but you, Chenle, seem to have been a constant throughout my life… So, really, thank you.”

Chenle glances in your direction, flustered smile on his face, bright enough to match his red cheeks, you pretend not to notice, but you do and it makes you feel some kind of way.

What you didn’t notice was the pure looks of adoration he seemed to shoot your way anytime you yelled happily or exaggerated a story that included your interests.

❥ - Friday 24th

A chime echoes through the ice cream parlour as you walk in, ‘Hellos’ and ‘Welcome backs’ are heard from the familiar faces that work there and you wave back to the happily, after all this was your and Chenle’s fifth weekday in a row visiting for ice cream.

You and your best friend waltz over to an empty booth near the counter, somewhere near the back too, it’s usually the seat you sit in whenever you frequent the parlour.

“Sooo,”

“Wait! Before you say anything- I actually bought this a little while ago, mostly as a huge ‘thank you’ for helping me with this, but also because you’re also my best friend…” Quickly you turn to rummage through, grabbing a little plastic bag out and from that bag a small cheaply made bracelet with a locket on attached to it.

“I know it’s super cheap and flimsy, but here…” You finish, before slowly sliding the locket across the table.

“Y/n, you- you didn’t have to. I would’ve said ‘yes’ to playing the song regardless of all your little bribes.” He tries to fret the unimportance of him helping you with your performance, all while carefully tying the bracelet around his left wrist.

You lift up your arm and rest your chin on the palm of your hand, showing off your matching bracelet by jingling it beforehand.

Before you know it, you’re looking at the same flustered face from earlier in the week, only this time you go just as red if not redder, in the face.

Both of you scoffing and laughing to hide the slight awkwardness of the embarrassing situation, “Hey, wait- isn’t that Hyuck?” your friend asks.

You turn to him, then in the direction he is now pointing to.

“Yep, that’s him alright,” you sigh, “why this of all places.” You growl as you pull at your face to exaggerate you distaste.

“If we ignore them maybe they won’t try to talk to us- wait, no, Donghyuck has spotted us and is walking in this direction, maybe if you look away, he won’t recognise your back.” Chenle chuckles, now clearly finding the situation funny.

You click you tongue and roll your eyes at him, a hand slapping down onto your shoulder, causing you to jump. “Jesus, why!” You yell and turn to glare at your childhood friend.

“So, you two are dating~” Donghyuck smirks, before also jumping as his newest fling hooks their arms together, he drops his hand from your shoulder and you frown.

“I got us both mint choc and boba ice cream!” His date mentions, side eyeing you the whole time, you and Chenle glance at each other, knowing Donghyuck isn’t particularly fond of mint ice cream but opting to not tell her.

❥ - Saturday 25th

❥ - Tuesday 4th

❥ - Monday 3rd

You shuffled your feet as you stood in front of your locker, the showcase was getting closer, you were getting more and more nervous, surprisingly it had been nearly 3 weeks since Donghyuck and the girl had started going out.

You hadn’t learnt her name, you didn’t think you had to, but now it’s still going you guessed you should at least ask… right?

“Hey Y/n!” You turn to the voice and here comes prince charming himself, “Sorry, I haven’t hung out with you or Chenle lately, Ha-Won has been basically taking up all my time.”

You nod back to him with a tight-lipped smile, “It’s fine Donghyuck, Chenle and I have been pretty busy with our own stuff.”

The two of you stood there awkwardly, it was usually comfortable silence with him, but it was different today, not a different you liked either. You just wished Chenle would run up and ease the tension that seemed to only grow the longer you were in your crushes’ presents.

RIIING! RIIING!

Reaching up to close your locker, Donghyuck noticed the locket around your wrist and furrowed his brows. “When did you get a new locket, what happened to our locket necklace you had?”

“I bought them a while back, Chenle has the other one. That’s besides the point… What do you mean ‘what happened to ours’?” You made sure to air quote that last part.

“Matching lockets was our fucking thing.” He pouts in reply, kicking the ground.

“Excuse me, a lot of people do lockets, it’s not an exclusive thing. Not to mention, you haven’t worn yours for nearly a month! I don’t want to argue about this.” You turn away, trying not to notice the other students giving you two weird looks and begin to walk away.

Donghyuck has other ideas though, trailing after you. “C’Mon Y/n, just because I never wear it doesn’t mean I don’t still have it! You said Chenle has one, but I never see him wearing it when we walk past each other!” He yells, grabbing onto your arm so you will look him in the eyes.

Naturally you look away, only to see a smiling Chenle running in your directions, he’s waving his arm in the air and you see he’s wearing the bracelet today. Assuming he took you asking why he hasn’t worn it to heart.

You rip your arm from your childhood friends’ grip and step back to stand almost behind Chenle, Chenle cocks an eyebrow, sensing the butter thick tension.

“What’s- what’s going on between you two?” He asks with a light chuckle.

“This doesn’t concern you Zhong.” Hyuck spits, making Chenle furrow his brows too.

You laugh back at him, “Ha! This doesn’t concern him? You’re the one getting upset over a locket! It was a ‘thank you’ for him helping me with something I’m working on, but you would know that if you were ever around anymore.”

“I said I was sorry! Okay?!”

Both you and Chenle go wide eye at the shouting, Chenle lifts his am up to almost put a barrier in front of you.

“Donghyuck, I think this friendship needs to take a break…” Chenle mumbles.

“Don’t talk to us, we’ll talk to you when we’re ready…” You add eyes tearing up and linking your arm with Lele’s, prompting him to continue the walk back to your class.

Leaving Donghyuck standing there to think about his actions and words.

❥ - Friday 7th

“I still can’t believe you chose to sing something so cheesy.” Chenle chuckles while helping you set up the microphones for your little performance.

You notice more and more people begin to walk into the assembly hall of the college campus, you knew this place was really only used for Performing Arts and the annual ‘Senior only Talent Show’. It was always nice seeing it being used.

“What do you mean, matey? Katy Perry’s older music can’t be beat.” You laugh in retort.

You dust off the chair Chenle would be sitting in, then yourself before looking up at the almost full seating area, locking eyes with Donghyuck. He smiles and waves, you turn away to test out the microphone.

You clear your throat and speak into the microphone, “Hello- Oh, it is working. Hey everyone, I’m L/n, a senior obviously, I’ll be announcing the people performing today, as well as next Friday and then the Finale on the 21st.”

“So, first up actually, is me and Zhong Chenle… I hope you enjoy it.”

You trotted over to fix the mic height for Chenle’s guitar and then walked back over to your own.

‘Summer after high school when we first met- ‘

Occasionally throughout the song you would glance over at Donghyuck, each time he seemed more and more surprised, you really hoped he realised you were basically singing at him.

‘Never planned that one day, I’d be losing you. In another life, I would be your boy~’

You sung and finally locked your gazed with Donghyuck, smiling sadly, his eyes wide and mouth agape.

Donghyuck’s look of realisation didn’t seem to settle the butterflies in your stomach, you turned to Chenle, seeing him focused on making this performance perfect for you.

It clicked.

“It’s time to face the music you’re no longer my muse.” You turn back to sing towards the audience, you hear a wrong cord play from Chenle, he hadn’t known you intended on changing the lyrics, then again neither did you.

‘Can’t replace you with a million rings’ Clutching the locket around your wrist.

“I’m glad I never told you, what you meant to me.” You were honestly beginning to tear up a little, but you only wiped them away quickly with your sleeve.

‘Cause now I pay the price’ You turn back to look at Chenle, you’re both smiling at each other like two silly children in love.

He looked at you like you were his world- his universe, you have his heart in the palm of your hands.

‘We keep all our promises, be us against the world’

“So now I get to say, I was the one that got away.” You slowly finish the song, smiling back at the crowd and waving at Donghyuck, who had by now, risen out of his seat.

The crowd erupts out in an applause, they had not only witnessed a near perfect performance (minus Chenle’s little cord mix-up thanks to your surprise), but they saw two of the schools most notable students fall in love.

You waited for the crowd to calm down, before speaking into the microphone again, “So, I guess it was good-“ Some whistles and ‘yays’ sound throughout the hall, “thank you, I appreciate it, I actually prepared another song, that doesn’t involve Chenle. However, I would like the ask him to stay seated up here on stage.” You tilt your head towards him, and he cocks an eyebrow, still smiling though.

‘I've gone too many nights, chasing the shadow of your silhouette’ You’re tapping your foot on the wooden stage floor, it echoes louder than you had anticipated but it’s appreciated.

‘Stumbling through the crowd, feet lifting off the ground looking for you’ Midway through the line, you lift the microphone from it’s stand and walk over to your friend.

You smile at his face being beet red, and hold out your hand for him to take. He stands up and laces your fingers together. Chenle recognises this song, he had shown it to you not even a week ago, during an instrumental pause he whispers if he could sing along and you happily nod.

‘Standing here face to face, nothing to lose, I won't look back now’

‘I feel the love, I wanna get to know you’ He sings, tightening his grip on your hand and you respond the same way.

‘It's not over tonight, stay in this moment, we can hide away’

‘Cause they're gonna turn on the lights’

‘But we're burning bright, no, we'll never fade’ You sing together.

Once the second song had come to a close, another round of applause sounded.

Both you and Chenle walked back over to the microphone stand, hand in hand, placing the mic back in its rightful place.

Throughout the remainder of the night, as well as the following Talent Shows you and Chenle MC’d together, always holding hands, smiling widely and joyful. Though the two of you never made it to the finals, because, let’s face it- with a performing arts department, you kind of have to be a bit more prepared than a guitar and a love story.

Neither of you seemed to mind though, but it will be a fun story to tell if anyone asks how the two of you got together.

79 notes · View notes

armysantiny · 2 years

Text

-[ nct dream: late-night headcanons

P: ot7 dream x gender neutral reader | G: fluff, headcanons | Inc: laughter, playing the guitar, cuddles, taking pictures, art, playing games with them, making ramen, coffee shop runs, Daegal, late-night ice cream bc I said so, I'm in love with boys can you tell??, star-gazing, learning Chinese with Renjun | Wc: 681 | W: food/drink | R: G

Minnie's Notes: Here you go my lovely @renjuns-grillfreind <3

Mark Lee | 이민형

Late nights with Mark are full of laughter and deep conversations about everything and nothing all at once. Eyes shut as you listen to him cover your favourite songs and embarrassed smiles while he teaches you how to play the guitar. Listening to the curated playlist he made for you while you lay together and watch the ceiling. Sneaking pictures of him without makeup, refusing to delete it because he looks pretty like that and pointing out every little feature you like about it. Hint; it’s everything.

Huang Renjun | 런줜

Twilight hours spent getting lost in various art projects together, watching over Jun’s shoulder as he finishes another one of his pieces. Deep conversations about the future and your goals; he promises to support you as much as humanly possible. Staying up over the phone for little Chinese language lessons while you both fight the urge to sleep. Tracing constellations in the night sky in the park with nothing else but coffee, blankets and all the time in the world. Late-night photoshoots against alleyways, laughing at how bad the picture came out while taking the best ones as shared wallpapers.

Lee Jeno | 이제노

Late nights spent looking at new desk setups and decorations for your shared gaming spaces. Laughing at Hyuck’s incessant yelling down the mics when you ‘accidentally’ let yourself get killed in-game to spend more time with Jeno away from the screen. Content smiles when he wraps his arms around you from behind while you’re making hot chocolates, his head buried in the crook of your neck. Constant discussions over adopting a puppy and all the aesthetic things the pair of you could do as pup-parents.

Lee Donghyuck | 이동혁

Staying up watching as he plays round after round with the others, chuckling as he shouts obscenities over his headphones. Filming Hyuck to use as ‘blackmail’ material in the group chat later on. Popping open a can for the pair of you when he finally finishes playing, the clock hits two am easily. Throwing a pillow in his face when he suggests something absolutely insane and laughing at his over-the-top offended face. Pretending to film that reality show he keeps talking about whenever he starts going off on one of his tangents. Sharing snacks while you bicker over what to watch and watching the same show for the nth time.

Na Jaemin | 나재민

Late night coffee runs where you gawk at the sheer amount of extra espresso shots he adds to his drink order. Running after him as he pulls you to the next 24/7 café he finds. Listening to him ramble about his day while you watch with an endeared smile because how does he still have all this energy? Waking up at unholy times because Jaemin’s calling you over to bake muffins with him. Enjoying your freshly made midnight snacks with a drama marathon wrapped under blankets.

Zhong Chenle | 천러

Falling asleep against his shoulder three dramas into your tv marathon, his hands gently laced through your hair. Playing with Daegal and struggling not to wake up the entire neighbourhood with your shared laughter, the small dog just too cute. Wandering the convenience store looking for the best midnight snack before settling on buying an entire bag full because no one could come up with a clear answer. Nibbling on the bag of snacks on the way home while ranting about each other’s day and making fun of his hyungs – with good intentions.

Park Jisung | 박지성

Waking up to Jisung pleading you to join him on one of his late-night craving-induced trips to the store to get ice creams. Laughing about your brain freezes while trying to down the frozen treats. Watching (read; supervising) him make ramen and applauding when he manages to not burn the kitchen down; his hyungs aren’t exactly keen on waking up to the smell of a burnt kitchen and a panicking Park Jisung. Eating said ramen by the balcony and watching the rain hit the ground outside. Counting as many graveyard shift workers making their way across the street and wondering what their day looks like. Laying in each other’s lap and relaxing while you play with each other’s hair.

Networks: @kwritersworld, @kdiarynet, @ultkpopnetwork, @whipped-kpop-creators, @prism-nw, @k-library, @knet-bakery, @kpclub,@dreamwritersnet, @nct-writers, @neoturtles, @nctcreations, @nct-frathouse, @aandmlibrary

If you’ve made it this far, thank you for reading! Consider reblogging, leaving some feedback or donating to my kofi!

Taglist: @teeztheflag, @jeonqquk, @mikailo666, @babyboobean, @taem-min, @iiindigocheesecake, @xavi-in-kpopland | Taglist form

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ghxsty-writer · 2 years

Text

Kinktober ↝ Day 26 Z.C Corruption

Pairing: Dom!Chenle x Sub!Reader

Word Count: 320

Warnings: Bad boy!Chenle, Goody!Reader, pure filth, reader is afab (I do try to make most of my works gender neutral reader but sometimes it just doesn’t work out), chenle fingering you, dirty talk, cocky chenle, degradation, talk of exhibitionism, hair pulling, omg I hope this was worth the wait guys!

If anyone walked into your room right now, they would not believe the sight in front of them. You, making the lewdest faces and sounds, completely fucked out while straddling the boy that sat in your desk chair who was abusing your pussy with his hand. And who was doing this to you? Well none other than Zhong Chenle, the schools delinquent. What was supposed to be a harmless project session, turned into, well, this.

“I didn’t know that you could make such pretty sounds, Y/N.” He smirked up at you. “Shut up.” You said, but it didn’t come out as threatening as you wanted. No, it just sounded down right pathetic. His other hand guides your hips to help you ride his fingers. Hitting your g-spot with every forward motion. “I wonder what your friends would think, you on my lap fucking yourself dumb on my fingers?”

“I don’t know.” It came out so whiny you were ashamed. You never knew sex could be this good. Sex with other people weren’t even half this amazing. You feared the desk chair that he sat in was going to break. But that thought was slowly receding into the back of your brain as every spark of pleasure ran through your nerves. He sat up a bit and put his mouth right to your ear. “What a slut. Does everyone know how much of a whore you are?” The hot breath sending chills down your spine.

“I’ve never had it this good before.” You confessed. His thumb started rubbing your clit faster. “Oh so I’m the only one who’s heard you like this? Fuck baby. I want to be so good that even if you have sex with someone else,...” He grabbed the back of your hair and pulled. His voice went an octave lower. “you’ll only think of me.” Stars started filling vision as he left hickies on your neck.

The repost of any of my work is prohibited. All rights go to ghxsty-writer

#ghxsty kinktober 2021 #kinktober2021 #kpop kinktober #kpop smut #zhong chenle smut #nct dream smut #nct smut

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pixelhyuck · 2 years

Text

a hurdle we can get through by communicating

pairing : zhong chenle x gender-neutral reader

genre : angst with fluffy ending, idol!chenle, non-idol!reader, established relationship

word count : 1.8k

warnings : none

summary : what happens when your boyfriend overhears you planning a surprise date?

———————

you were ecstatic over an idea you had three days back that was currently being set up till date. you hummed and spun around the living room, quietly showering yourself in compliments with a prideful smile.

chenle has been quite busier than usual which usually results in him ending up in a cranky mood and you understood which is why you're currently on the phone twirling as you eagerly wait for yangyang to pick up his phone so you can both go over the cute surprise date you had planned with help from the boy.

"HELLO," boomed a voice from the other end of the call not fazing you at all as you were used to it by now.

"yangyang! did you check lele's schedule for the day?" you asked and he nods his head, quickly giving a yes when he realised that you obviously couldn't see him,"hold on! i'm putting this on speaker since i have to laundry to fold. but yeah go on."

you heard a grumble, something about there not being a good reason as to folding laundry which made you chuckle as you sat on your bed with the phone beside you and a red shirt in your hand.

"so," yangyang spoke,"the only thing left is the cake."

"oh! i wanted to bake that myself to make it more special and sweet because of added extra love," you grinned as he fake puked.

"yeah yeah okay. for it to be done by tonight, you better get to it by now, slowpoke," he suggested as you sat and stared at the clock measuring the time needed when you hear a creak on the floor.

"what the—"

"oh right! chenle doesn't have any suspicions, right?" yangyang queried turning your attention to the phone. a small creak not going unnoticed.

"i don't think so," you knit your eyebrows together,"he hasn't come over yet so there isn't anything he can find for him to get suspicious. or maybe i'm just that great at being secretive," the same prideful smile like before on your face.

"hey! you and me both. i get to deal with him at the company almost everyday," he whined followed by a clap,"anyway, going back to the start...your house or our dorms?" yangyang asked as he glanced at the dorm's kitchen to see if it's sanitary to bake a cake or not.

"are you kidding!? there's too many distractions over there...and two too many loudmouths," you referred to hendery and xiaojun in a light-hearted manner though it didn't translate as well as you had hoped,"i bet we'll be exposed before we know it."

"okay be there in 10. love y—"

"liu yangyang?" your voice came out soft,"don't come over yet."

you ended the call as your eyes came in contact with the other set of eyes staring at you and then it hit you. the faint creaking floorboard that you dismissed to be paranormal activity was very much a normal human being.

chenle's eyes were empty yet hurt with what he had heard up until that moment. he was obviously exhausted with his hair disheveled and the dark circles under his eyes like he could pass out at any given moment.

of course you knowing that the reason you were so secretive was due to a surprise date didn't think much of it compared to chenle's assumption that maybe he had lost you showed as it didn't click immediately and only did when you tried to hug him but he never reciprocated it. when the gears in your head turned, you immediately grew just as grim as he was.

"how long has this been going on?" his voice was frail and it tore your heart into pieces. you knew that the best thing to do was to tell him upfront but you had planned the surprise for so long and if he had waited just a little longer minus the cake, it would've been executed perfectly.

"i...i know i've been busy and i haven't had as much time to spend with you but," he tried to continue but every word came out smaller than the previous one. just a little longer and the plan would work...but at what cost? causing him even more stress than he already was experiencing? you barely could wipe the frown off his face when he had a paper cut. so tormenting him further just seemed selfish and it hurt the both of you.

fuck it. why was hiding it a little bit more even a choice? he's the number one priority and you mentally chided yourself for even considering it.

you gave a soft sigh, taking his hand and dragging him to your bed. you sat him down and took his hands into yours.

"okay. i'll tell you the truth," a nod. despite nodding, chenle actually wasn't sure if he wanted to hear the truth. the truth that his assumption may be right. his heart clenched at the thought of it and with his fatigue and clouded mind, he just wanted it all to be a nightmare that he would wake up any minute now.

"i know you're busy with work these days and i," chenle braced himself, giving your hand a tight squeeze and stared at your intertwined hands with glazed eyes,"wanted to plan a surprise date...just you and me."

you paused and sighed, forcing a small smile but you were on the verge of breaking down looking at the current state of your lover. you knew it was inevitable when working in an industry like this but he was pushing himself so hard and you made a silent promise to yourself that the next time you spot shooting stars, you'd use it all on him and his well-being.

a deep breath in,"i begged yangyang to help me and so he's been assisting me for the past two, three days. actually he was doing a very good job until a few minutes ago when he told me you'd still be at work by now."

"i asked to leave early," his voice still not regaining the confidence it usually held but you understood and you cautiously gave a small reassuring pat on his back.

"i don't know how much you heard but yangyang and i were just going over on how and where we're baking a cake for the date! which was why he told me he was coming over. there's nothing more and nothing less to it. just a surprise date...that i was a bit careless with," you had loosened enough to let out a chuckle but immediately grew worried at the lack of response from the boy who sat beside you.

"...love?" you softly called out and stared at his back with his head hung low,"i'm sorry you had to have that kind of assumption even if it was for a while. i never want you to feel that way and i truly do apologise that i had added more worries when you're already dealing with so much."

there was still no reply and the silence was deafening. whatever you would get in response, you braced yourself for but what you didn't expect was hearing small sobs from him.

chenle was sobbing, something you've never seen or heard him do and it filled you with a sense of dread. he opened up about his inability to cry and has said time and time again that if he does cry, he'd want it to be tears of joy. the world can be cruel in some aspects.

you quickly got up and shuffled to his side, knelt on the ground so that you could see his face better. you were quite speechless and for once in your lifetime, you felt like no amount of comforting words could ever help the situation or both you and chenle.

all you saw was the top of his head as he still had his head hung lower than ever with hands covering his face. his whole body shook and any sound he held back got released as the room was filled with his cries.

you threaded your fingers in his hair, running it around to ease him a bit all while humming his favourite songs. not long after he took your hands and placed them on his face to frame it.

his cries had turned into small sniffles now as he lifted his head to look at you. his mouth drooped like his eyes did. his cheeks and nose were adorned with the same reddish pink. he closed his eyes and took a deep breath in and out.

in and out.

now being more grounded as he felt your warm hands on his cheeks, he leaned into your touch and fluttered his eyes open. how can someone who just finished crying hold such a bright and lovely twinkle in their eyes? you gave a small smile at it, the emotions it conveyed however, you weren't so sure yourself either.

all those weariness from his busy schedules somehow just seemed to fade away and he gave the biggest grin to you followed by a giggle ( oh but you swore you could hear the angels sing the moment it sounded out )

"don't worry. i was crying because i got so relieved hearing what you said," his voice a low whisper as he pulled you closer, hand on one side of your face and a pure bliss of a kiss on your lips. it lasted quite long, but who could blame you both when the world had you both apart for so long? all those feelings of yearning turning into passion and the need to hold onto each other like two perfectly matching puzzle pieces.

you both pulled back as you had to take in some air. both sighing and looking at each other, with the widest smiles imaginable on both your faces. you wiped the trails that his teardrops had made.

"i love you so much," you felt the sincerity in his words which made you blush. from the first ever 'i love you' till today, it never failed to make your heart flutter and maybe that was what made that phrase extra special for chenle. seeing the hold he has on you and knowing thay it's just as strong as the hold you have on him fills him with comfort.

"i love you just as much. if not, more," a goofy yet affectionate smile visible on your face.

chenle stood up, helping you up too,"now," he squeezed your hand gently,"do you think i should post that i finally cried on bubble?"

*ding*

[VALAK] Message is here!

just finished crying ㅋㅋㅋㅋ

#chenle imagines #nct dream imagines #nct dream fluff #nct dream angst #chenle x reader #chenle #chenle fluff #chenle angst #zhong chenle #happybirthdaychenle

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midmourn · 6 months

Text

deja vu

title deja vu

pairing zhong chenle x gender neutral!reader

summary chenle’s new ‘thing’ is your clone.

characters zhong chenle, park jisung [nct] yang jeongin [stray kids] choi beomgyu [txt] shin ryujin, lee chaeryeong [itzy], kim minjeong [aespa], gender neutral!reader, gender neutral!oc

warnings angst, brief mention of death

word count 1798

author’s note reader is kinda unhinged lol but i love them. also i love chenle i swear!!! hes part of my bias line <3 btw if u have any requests; one shots, texts, reactions for dream send me an ask!!

The loud snap of the chopsticks made Beomgyu’s head turn to you uneasily, finding you staring off in the distance at something, eyes narrowed. He glanced from your clenched fist to the broken chopsticks to following your gaze, scoffing when he saw your ex-boyfriend with his new ‘friend’ walking inside Kwangya.

“Oh, you’re kidding,” he complained, staring at the two as they held hands, standing in front of Minjeong, the current hostess and one of your best friend’s. The brunette glanced between the two in disbelief before forcing a smile at the two and saying something.

“Oh, he has some fucking nerve,” you gritted through your teeth. Jeongin approached the table, sitting next to you and taking the broken chopsticks out of your hand as you continued to stare daggers into Chenle. If looks could kill, he’d be dead. “I was the one who showed him Kwangya! This was our place.”

“What a fucking loser,” Beomgyu snorted, watching as Minjeong turned to direct them to their booth, making short, wide-eyed eye contact with you three. You threw your hands up in disbelief at her as Beomgyu mouthed for her to trip Chenle.

Jeongin shook his head and pulled your attention to him, “Maybe Jiho was the one to pick the place.”

You scowled, “That’s his date’s name? Even if it was, he should’ve said no and picked something else.” You turned your head back to the couple, watching Minjeong slap their menus down on the table harshly. The two flinched slightly, Chenle looking slightly guilty while Jiho looked confused.

“I hate men,” you murmur after a moment of watching them, slowly turning to your food. You didn’t feel hungry anymore, pushing around the food with Jeongin’s chopsticks. “They suck.”

“Preach,” Ryujin commented, overhearing your comment on her way to another table.

“Uptown girl, she’s been living in her uptown world,” two voices belted out simultaneously, your head practically detaching from your neck at the sound of the familiar song and voice. Yet again, here was your ex-boyfriend with his … whatever, singing your song. You were the one who showed it to Chenle!

“Wow, the audacity of men,” Chaeryeong scoffed as she heard them, too. The two were in the music room, the same room you and your friends were going to go in a second ago, with Chenle playing the familiar tune of Uptown Girl on the piano to Jiho.

“Why I oughta—” As you started to walk towards the music room, Jeongin’s hand caught yours. When your eyes connected, he shook his head and you huffed, standing next to him again.

“He’s not even worth it,” Minjeong crossed her arms over her chest, eyeing him through the small window with disgust. “So unoriginal.”

“I hate him,” you seethed, feeling your nails dig into the palm of your hand when you noticed that Jiho was wearing his gray hoodie. You used to wear that damn hoodie he loved so much. It was practically yours, too. You suddenly wish you didn’t give it back after your break up. “I bet he tells Jiho he loves them in between the chorus and the verse. Ugh!” You felt a flood of emotions hit you all at once, similar to how it had been happening since your break up three weeks ago. “I’ll see you guys later.”

“Y/N, wait—” Minjeong tried to stop you but you waved her off, ignoring your friends’ looks.

You couldn’t believe that Chenle would use your couple things with another person. But it seemed like a lot of things were being revealed when you were no use for him anymore. Your heart clenched as you forced back an onset of tears and slowed your pace back to your dorm.

You looked up, and there he was. Chenle’s best friend, Park Jisung. With no Chenle in sight, and none of your friends to stop you, you stormed up to the boy angrily, knowing you would regret this but could take care too much in the moment.

“Park Jisung!” The boy looked up in surprise, an awkward look falling on his face when he saw it was you.

Jisung chuckled nervously, standing up straight and rubbing the back of his neck, “Hey, what’s up?”

“What the hell does your little bitch of a friend—” He blinked. “—think he’s doing?! Taking Jiho to my cafe, singing Uptown Girl with them, giving them my hoodie?! What’s wrong with him?”

“Everything,” Jisung spoke in amusement, “And I’m pretty sure you don’t own Kwangya or Uptown Girl. Or the hoodie that’s actually Chenle’s, and he loves that hoodie like a serious alarmingly amount. I’m thinking about forcing him to go to therapy.”

“Good, therapy would be fucking great for an asshole like him! Maybe he and his therapist can dig in that deep, soulless, heartless heart of his and figure out why he’s such an unoriginal asshole,” you smiled sarcastically at the taller boy. He stared at you in shock. “And then, maybe, just maybe, all three of you can go suck a dick and fall off a cliff!”

Without waiting for a reply, you turned abruptly and stumbled back slightly when you almost walked into someone. Your anger only grew when you saw the boy you were just talking about, staring at you in shock and … sadness? No. He didn’t deserve to be sad. You did.

You scoffed, glaring at him, “What? Are you following me now? Hope Jiho likes my sloppy seconds!” You stormed off in the opposite direction, not even realizing that you were heading away from your dorm.

“He loves me, he loves me not,” you murmured to yourself as you plucked off the wilting petals of a Baby’s Breath. “He loves me, he loves me … not.” You faltered. There were no more petals. You threw the flowerless stem to the ground, stomping on it for good measure like it was Chenle. “Jerk.”

“Y/N.”

You jumped, turning swiftly even though you knew who it was by his voice, “My God, Chenle. You’re really a stalker nowadays, aren't you?” You scoffed, crossing your arms over your chest. You don’t know when the anger started to fade away and turn into hurt. You just knew it hurt like hell to see him right now when he wasn’t yours and was recreating your memories with another person. “What the fuck do you want now? Haven’t you done enough?”

It was a lot easier to be angrier at someone than it was to say you were hurt.

Chenle sighed, “I deserve that.” Yeah, you do, asshole, you wanted to say, but he continued before you could open your mouth. “I just … I wanted to come and say I’m sorry.”

When he didn’t continue, your eyebrows rose as your foot tapped impatiently, “Do you even know what you’re supposed to be sorry for?” He probably didn’t. He usually never did because he thought he could do no wrong.

“Breaking your heart,” he said like it was nothing. “Stealing our old dates, our songs … Letting Jiho wear your jacket.”

“It’s not my jacket, it’s yours,” you replied offhandedly, Jisung having made you realize that technically it was. You paused, thinking of something and then failed to hide a smirk. “And you know what, Chenle? I forgive you.”

“What?” Chenle’s eyes comically bulged out of his head. He must’ve thought it would’ve been harder.

You shrugged, “Yeah. I mean … You can continue stealing our old dates, our songs, you can do everything we used to do with Jiho. Hell, even watch reruns of Glee with them, for all I care!” Your smile became devilish as you took a step towards him, his face faltering at your words. He didn’t expect any of this— you held grudges, just like he did. That’s part of the reason why you two broke up.

“What?” His voice cracked in a way that was once cute, but now you just wanted to laugh maliciously at it.

“Because … Every time you do,” your hand raised slowly, lifting a finger to caress his cheek lightly. He flinched at your touch, not expecting it, before slowly sinking into it. You forced yourself to not sink into it, either. “You’ll think of me. Jiho’ll think it’s special, all for them— when, really, it’s only special because of me. You’ll look them in the eyes, touch them, and wish it was me. You’ll hear my voice when they say something, you’ll see me in every damn thing around you and you’ll realize … you just lost the best damn thing to ever happen to you.”

Your hand dropped back to your side, stepping away from your ex-boyfriend and smiled again. “That’s why I’m OK with forgiving you. Because you’ll suffer for the rest of your life, wondering what could have been. And that’s good enough for me.”

Chenle stared at you in a mix of shock and hurt. Your heart pumped harshly in your chest, echoing in your ears and giving you away. You hoped he couldn’t hear it.

“Y/N …” He started but you shook your head, stopping him from speaking any more.

“You’re going to have the life you deserve, Chenle,” you said lastly. You turned and walked away as calmly as you could from him, even though your heart was beating erratically and your head was yelling at you for saying all those things to him.

You only believed in half of your words, you didn’t forgive him, but you were OK with him suffering without you as you suffered without him, too. It would be a two-way street. Your trembling fingers reached for your phone in your pocket, unlocking it and texting a message to the group chat.

YOU: just told chenle off lol. im done with him for good.

Your phone exploded with messages instantly.

RYUJIN: legend!!!

BEOMGYU: whAT DID YOU SAY? WAS HE CRYING AFTER? HE BETTER HAVE BEEN CRYING

JEONGIN: good im glad youre finally done with him. you deserve better.

MINJEONG: can i still trip him and jiho whenever i see them lol

CHAERYEONG: soo wish i was there his face wouldve been priceless!!!

The corner of your lips weakly twitched up, letting out a tearful laugh as you realized what you’ve done. You felt an odd sense of relief as a tear ran down your cheek, a flow of others following seconds later.

Your chest felt lighter. The anger and hurt was still there, seething, simmering. It would be there, quite possibly, for the rest of your life. But your chest felt lighter, knowing he would suffer just as much as you would.

You were the two sides of the same coin, even apart. It would always be like this. It was always going to end like this.

sour masterlist. main masterlist.

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halaboyz · 2 years

Text

THE HEARTBREAK COLLECTION.

another milestone event only for my loveliest followers, for reaching eight hundred. nothing more makes me happy if a fic speaks to your soul— so this is dedicated to you. as a thank you. nothing more said, but my grateful heart is all yours. i wouldn't even think about reaching this far, but here we are. and it's all because of your support.

you know who we all love? taylor swift. whether you're a fan or a casual listener, we can't deny that there is a single song of taylor's that we have in mind right now. yes, that song was in your mind while reading this. so i'm going to have TAYLOR SWIFT songs— to be particular, heartbreak songs, as the main theme.

all angst, no fluff. because who doesn't love angst? okay, maybe i'll sprinkle some fluff, but no one deserves a happy ending.

whatever song is in your mind right now, drop it in my inbox with the idol— whether it's from ateez, the boyz, enhypen, tomorrow x together, nct dream, or soloist woodz.

no idols will be repeated, and whoever is taken will be put below. as with the idols, no taylor swift heartbreak song will also be repeated. come on, taylor swift has tons of heartbreaking songs out there. whatever you resonate with, you can put it in my inbox!

TAKE NOTE:

1. whoever requested first, will be given the slot. song AND idol. again, slots will be written below. ( ex. hongjoong & all too well ) 1-a. if your member/song is taken, you're always free to send another ask! 1-b. all fics will be in gender-neutral reader, unless i feel like a female reader will be fit for the fic.

2. fics will approximately be 1k-5k words, depending on the idea. i will do every request, and with that, to be able to provide you a good fic, i will take my time with every fic— patience will be appreciated.

3. requests will be ongoing until every slot is taken. since every member may not be taken.

4. if you want to be put on a certain group's taglist, or simply to the whole event's taglist, tell me through my ask box/dms!

5. enjoy!

ATEEZ.

KIM HONGJOONG :: NEW ROMANTICS, req. by @.th84u PARK SEONGHWA :: I DON'T WANT TO LIVE FOREVER, req. by @.mavericsohn JEONG YUNHO :: LAST KISS, req. by @.woahhwa CHOI SAN :: WE ARE NEVER EVER GETTING BACK TOGETHER, req. by @.mygco SONG MINGI :: BETTY, req. by @.yeoandmoon JUNG WOOYOUNG :: AUGUST, req. by @.woobly CHOI JONGHO :: THE STORY OF US, req. by @.talkbykhalid

THE BOYZ.

LEE SANGYEON :: ILLICIT AFFAIRS, req. by anon JACOB BAE :: STYLE, req. by @.bawdyboyz KIM YOUNGHOON :: OUR SONG, req. by nini LEE HYUNJAE :: CORNELIA STREET, req by @.gracefulweather JI CHANGMIN :: BLANK SPACE, req. by @.calliopegoist LEE JUYEON :: COME BACK... BE HERE, req. by @.onlyticket-home KIM SUNWOO :: RED, req. by @.morauvmi ERIC SOHN :: I KNEW YOU WERE TROUBLE, req. by @.stealanity

ENHYPEN.

LEE HEESEUNG :: BACK TO DECEMBER, req. by @.softforqiankun PARK JONGSEONG :: TEARDROPS ON MY GUITAR, req. by anon KIM SUNOO :: AFTERGLOW, req. by anon

TXT

CHOI YEONJUN :: EXILE, req. by anon CHOI SOOBIN :: BEGIN AGAIN, req. by anon

NCT DREAM.

MARK LEE :: BREATHE, req. by @.justalildumpling LEE JENO :: ALL TOO WELL, req. by anon LEE DONGHYUCK :: ENCHANTED, req. by mika NA JAEMIN :: CHAMPAGNE PROBLEMS, req. by @.kurosism ZHONG CHENLE :: WHITE HORSE, req. by @.moonieric

WOODZ :: RIGHT WHERE YOU LEFT ME, req. by @.is4b3ll3s

tagging some of my closest mutuals in case any of you are interested! <3

@hvae @moonieric @dulceamar @deputyjuyeon @mihyu-ckie @yunkiwii @woobly @lee--felix @hwarora @enivivs @talkbykhalid @yourjaylaks @softforqiankun @sunlightwoo @flrtwoo @gracefulweather @junjungsunwoo @cloudykyu @mavericsohn @mingi-banana @twentysixofmays @kurosism @stealanity @mygco @justalildumpling

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nanasarea · 4 years

Text

Arcade I Zhong Chenle

Genre: angst

Pairing: Chenle x reader

Prompt: inspired by Duncan Lauren’s Arcade

Word count: 359

A/N: what even is proof reading

You’ve been friends with Jeno since his SMrookies days, so you were close with the other trainees as well. A bit before he debuted, you met Chenle, who you got close to very quickly. Almost instantly. You became really good friends, best of friends even, so you spent a lot of time with him and the others.

He remembered when he first met you, he was like a small-town boy in a big arcade, ready to spent all of the coins he’s saved. By coins, he means love. He never thought that he would fall so quickly, he was ready to spend all of his love on you. He was ready to love you with all he could, he was young, but he knew that this wasn’t just a crush, no he got addicted to this game,but he didn’t know he would lose all his coins, to this losing game.

You were at the WayV′s dorms and you, YangYang, Chenle and Ten were joking around.

“Woah, y/n, don’t say that in front of Ten, he’ll end up falling for you.” Yangyang joked “Nah, that’s just weird.” You laughed at the bold claim, despite knowing it was a joke. “What do you mean?” Chenle asked “Well, he basically watched me grow up, wouldn’t it be weird to form a crush all of a sudden?” You laughed.

He watched me grow up, wouldn’t it be weird to form a crush all of a sudden?

“It would?” He asked “it’s like watching your sibling grow up, it’s weird” You answered, causing both Yangyang and Ten to nod in agreement. Those words filled Chenle’s mind.

It’s weird

Giving us up, didn't take a lot he saw the end before it begun Still he carried, he carried, he carried on

But you and him saw each other grow up.

That’s when he looked at you with a forced smile and he knew, that a broken heart is all that's was left. He doesn't need your games, he kept telling himself game over, get me off this roller-coaster, but he couldn’t cause he was addicted to the losing game: loving you.

Loving you was a losing game.

a/n: this concept has been in my mind ever since I heard this song and I couldn’t decide who to write it about so I ended up using a random generator and the generator said Chenle, so here we are. It’s not my best, I admit, but I wanted to write it anyway. Thank you so much for reading and I hope you enjoyed it!

#nct #nct 127 #nct dream #nct u #wayv #chenle #zhong chenle #nct dream angst #nct angst #zhong chenle angst #chenle angst #chenle x reader #zhong chenle x reader #nct x reader #nct dream x reader #nct x gender neutral reader #chenle x gender neutral reader

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chicksung · 3 years

Text

Beneath The Skin || Zhong Chenle

part of @pastelsicheng ai collab

Genre: ai!au, school au, robot au, mystery, angst

Pairing: ai!chenle x gender neutral reader

Word Count: 9.2k

Warning/s: kidnapping, mentions of death and murder, corrupt company, breaking into the school at night

Synopsis: Chenle’s only purpose was to blend into society, never to stand out and certainly not to be wrapped up in a mystery, but life has a strange way of bringing people together, even if it pulls others apart.

A/N: After two months and an extension, I finally finished this baby. I’ve been so excited to post it because I’ve never written a fic like it. Thank you to @clovdless and @moonbeamsung for beta reading this fic for me! I really appreciate it! Please enjoy lovely!

Taglist: @cloudyhaos @taecup-fics @lebrookestore @radiorenjun @earth-to-that-asian @pastelsicheng @jisungiest @angelhee

Networks: @kpopscape @neoturtles @nct-writers @neoswitchnet @ficscafe @ankathi-a

i would like to note that this is fiction. all characters and events used in this are fictional depictions and are in no way shape or form true/real

Any and all feedback is appreciated

Chenle was good at reading emotions. The girl sitting alone on the bench outside the library was content. The boy who used too much gel in his hair this morning was proud. The smart girl who had everyone copy her homework answers was undoubtedly annoyed. He could read them like books on the library shelf, it was as easy as stealing a blind man’s wallet (although Chenle would never commit such a heinous crime) and you would think it was because they were easy to read. You’d be wrong.

The smart girl always put on a plastic smile, masking her annoyance with unlimited kindness towards her classmates, so how could Chenle tell she was annoyed?

Chenle was one of seven AI humanoid robots, created for the sole purpose to integrate into society. Robotic teenagers, learning how to handle the world, how to get a job and solve basic math. They were programmed to read and react accordingly to emotions, however unable to truly understand humans and connect with them on an emotional level, as they were incapable of feeling said emotions. These kids had a lot to learn about humans, so step one would be learning amongst them.

The class moved slowly, slower than it should be. Chenle didn’t care about it. Why would he care about the mechanics of a robot, he already knew everything. He was a robot. He didn’t have to try to be good at this class, for him, it was like writing an autobiography. His eyes lazily scanned across his peers, some looking as bored as he was, and then his eyes landed on you. You, who was rapidly scribbling down notes as Mr. Moon continued to talk about circuit boards, wanting to understand everything he was saying.

“Right now, class. Question time,” Mr. Moon announced, turning around, folding his arms and leaning back against the whiteboard. “What are the basic elements needed to create a circuit?” He called out, watching somewhat disapprovingly as only two hands out of the twenty three students in his class shot up. “Yes, Y/N?” He pointed to you, recognising you as one of the students who decided to put in some effort.

“Voltage, path and a resistor,” you answered confidently, quite pleased with how your robotics teacher smiled.

“Absolutely correct!” He praised before thinking for another few seconds. “What significance do certain foods, such as pickles and lemons, provide to a circuit?” He saw the same two hands rise, a disappointed sigh leaving his lips as he adjusted his glasses. “Come on, guys. I don’t stand up here and teach you these things for half an hour for nothing,” he expressed his disappointment before calling on Chenle.

“They both provide electrolytes,” he said, trying not to let the bored tone taint his voice.

“Correct,” Mr. Moon smiled at him before looking between the both of you. “Some friendly competition would do this class some good,” he joked before returning to his desk and beginning to ramble about this week’s homework.

You looked to Chenle, a smirk adorning your lips. Chenle seemed to catch this and smirked right back.

The library was a nice place to study after school. It was quiet, not many students chose it over the comfort of their own home, a sanctuary for those who valued studying in peace. Your earphones filled your head with sweet melodies and lyrics, jumbling together with the memorisation of your science notes. You heard a chair scrape from beside you over the music blaring in your ears. You looked up from your notes and textbook to see a familiar face. You didn’t immediately recognise him, however you wouldn’t have to wait long to figure out where you had seen him before. “You seem to know a lot about robotics,” he commented, a teasing tone in his voice. You gave a half smile, not sure whether to take it as a compliment or a venomous jab at your intelligence.

“I do,” you replied, going back to the book in front of you, not wanting to waste another second on some classmate you had known for less than a few hours. “I would say we are like minded, wouldn’t you?” He shrugged, dropping down into the seat next to you. He slowly pulled out some school supplies, a textbook or two, a pencil and a book with the word ‘notes’ written across the top. “Is there something you want?” You asked, slightly irritated. Chenle looked at you with a baffled look on his face. “Isn’t it obvious? I’m here to study,” he shrugged, pulling his textbook and notebook from his back and opening to his latest page of notes from his literature class, sweeping his eyes over them. He really had no need to revise notes, but he did it because he found it fun. He never understood why humans found this such a tedious task.

“Well, you’re here now, might as well be nice. Do you wanna listen to music with me?” You offered one of your earphones to the boy, who stared it for a moment before accepting it. Upon placing the bud in his ear, a song he did not recognise began to play. Despite this, he began to hum the tune and mumble the lyrics like it was second nature. Software silently whirred as it connected the audio playing from your device to the song, giving him the lyrics and tune, like he had been playing this song on repeat for weeks on end.

“You know this song?” You asked, surprised.

“No,” Chenle said truthfully.

“You don’t know the song, but you know the lyrics to it?” You questioned, quite alarmed and confused by his actions. Chenle nodded simply, not realising what he had said. While you thought it was weird, you decided to brush it off as he did know the song, he just couldn’t recall all the words.

After three quarters of an hour, you began to pack up your things, yanking your other earphone from Chenle’s ear. He hissed softly, copying the way he assumed others would react in this situation.

“Hey! What the hell!” He whined, holding his ear carefully and glaring at you. You rolled your eyes, and shoved your things into your bag.

“Quit whining, would you? I’m going home. You’re coming to school tomorrow, right?” You huffed, slinging your backpack over your shoulder. Chenle gave a sly smile.

“Why would you like to know?” He snickered, causing your cheeks to feel like they are on fire.

“Because I don’t know if we have a test tomorrow and I might as well tell you if you’re not gonna be there. I don’t know if you’re gonna get sick,” you bluffed, averting your eyes from Chenle out of embarrassment.

These were one of those moments Chenle actually enjoyed being an android. He never missed a day of school, he never missed tests or assignments. He had seen several students go through sickness and he thanked all his lucky stars that he would never have to endure that. “I can assure you, I’ll be at school tomorrow. I won’t get sick,” he assured you with a tight smile. You half nodded, an equally tight smile flashed to him.

“See you tomorrow then,” you bade him before exiting the library.

Aera let out a long sigh, glad to have finished her notes for the evening. She shoved her books and stationery into her backpack and left her desk, stress falling from her tense shoulders.

“Hey, heading out for today?” A voice called from behind, causing her head to turn and make eye contact with the student library monitor, Hannah. Aera nodded, “I finally finished studying for today. I have a test tomorrow, you know? A little last minute, yes, but it gets done at least.” Hannah smiled sweetly, tidying up a small pile of books on her desk.

“Good luck with the test. I’m sure you’ll do amazing,” she encouraged, leaning back in her chair. The two exchanged goodbyes and Aera stepped out into the hall, blending in with the after school study crowd. She quickly stowed her books into her assigned locker, snapping the padlock shut and began her practised route home. Her favourite artist played in her ears, rhythmically stepping in time to the beat. She felt free, a feeling she desperately needed after the stress her coursework had put on her over several weeks. With her most important sense blocked, she was deaf to the world, and a large target had been painted on her school blazer. A figure followed her footsteps, getting close enough to hear her music from outside of her earbuds. A hand covered her mouth, muffling her surprised scream. She kicked and flailed, trying to break free from the grip. The figure pulled her into the bushes, dragging her through the dirt. She angled her feet upwards, digging her heels into the soft dirt.

“Let go of me!” Aera screeched, trying to somehow overpower her attacker. A deep chuckle, a male, resonated from behind her.

“The boss is gonna be pleased with this one,” he sneered, restricting Aera’s breath intake. She choked, scratching at his arm in an attempt to pull it away. Slowly, she eased into his arms, barely breathing but still alive. He lifted the girl into a better position to carry her. He groaned loudly, “With every mission, they get more feisty,” He complained, trudging his way towards a restricted fenced off area, a large warehouse sitting in the middle.

“Students and faculty are asked to listen up as this information is urgent and extremely important. Last night, one of our students did not return home and the police and her parents are begging anyone that knows anything to come forward. You will be greatly rewarded. Thank you and have a great rest of your day,”

Your classmates looked to one another, shocked by the news just shared throughout the entire school. Whispers of who the stolen girl could be, checking for any absent students and empty desks. Most students came to the conclusion that there are so many female students throughout several grades, so it would be hard to pinpoint one student.

“Shouldn’t we wait until the missing person posters come out?” Jeno shrugged, looking for answers within his friend group. Most murmured some sort of excuse, but they all silently and collectively agreed with him.

That was only the first. The first of five disappearances.

Brooke, the captain of the debate team. Tahmina, the sweet senior and friend to all. Aera, the vice president of the book club. Angie, the artistic student counsellor, and finally, Hannah, the student library monitor. All disappearing in the exact same way, without a trace.

Despite being unnerved about the whole situation, you couldn’t deny that the mystery aspect drew you in. Seeing posters around the schoolyard and the small city you lived in, albeit disconcerting, fascinated you. Questions of ‘how?’ and ‘why?’ swam in your head, tickling your natural curiosity. It was the talk of the town and it had everyone thinking.

Well, everyone except Chenle.

“Why is everyone talking so much? I’ve never seen this before,” Chenle pondered aloud, looking to you for answers. Your face dropped, a deadpan look written across your face.

“You’re joking, right?” He shook his head and you held back the urge to facepalm in front of him. You swivelled around in your chair to properly face the boy, trying to keep your voice. “Students have been disappearing without a trace. The school is telling everyone not to panic and that the kids will be found,” you whispered to him, watching as he furrowed his eyebrows together.

“Disappearing?” He repeated, looking as if he was doing a thousand mathematical equations in his head (which wouldn’t surprise you. He was good at math).

“Mhm, but I think the school knows more than they’re letting on,” you felt a small smile creep across your lips, a silent wish of wanting to tell him more.

“What makes you say that?” He questioned, your words piquing his interest. You looked around, making sure that no one else was listening in on your conversation.

“Don’t you think it’s weird that the school has stayed open? I mean, five of their students have disappeared in less than two weeks. Surely they would close down until they have some solid answers. The fact that they’ve stayed open is the most suspicious thing about this whole thing,” you explained, drawing invisible lines in the air as if connecting things. Chenle nodded with every word you spoke.

“Then what do you want to do about it?” He uttered, starting to realise the warning signs you spoke of. Five students had disappeared and the school had remained open? That is weird.

“I wanna look into it more, but I can’t do it alone,” you sighed, a defeated tone in your voice. Chenle picked up on this, registering it and thinking. He looked at you and took a deep breath.

“I’ll help you,” he announced. You straightened your posture at his words, a little shocked.

“You will?”

“Yep. You’ve intrigued me, so let’s help each other. Sound like a deal?” He stuck his hand out, waiting for you to respond to his action. You stared at his head, two voices telling you two different outcomes. One reminded you that you had only just met this boy and you shouldn’t trust blindly. The other told you to live a little, and you knew damn well that you needed Chenle’s help. With his intellect and your sharp mindedness, you would have quite a powerful team.

You nodded, taking his hand, squeezing tightly and giving it a firm shake.

“Deal,” you smiled. Chenle shifted his chair over to your desk, pushing aside your textbook.

“So do you have a plan? Anywhere we could start?” He asked, eyes wide with wonder.

“When I asked if you had a plan, I was thinking more along the lines of possible suspects, connections or similarities the kids had. Not once did breaking in cross my mind,” Chenle informed, watching you struggling to find a way into the school building. Night had fallen over the once peaceful town, the chill in the air blew against your cheek, making you shiver occasionally. A bobby pin was slotted into the keyhole, with which you attempted to turn it in the correct direction for it to grant you entrance. Chenle shook his head at your pathetic attempts.

“Do you even know how to pick a lock?” He groaned, straightening his posture and sitting beside you. You shot him a dirty look.

“Do you know how to pick a lock, James Bond?” You deadpanned, standing up and dusting off your knees. Chenle plucked the bobby pin from your fingers and reassumed your previous position in front of the door. He jangled the handle a few times, trying to see if he had shifted the lock, even a little.

“Five bucks says you can’t do it,” you scoffed, your arms firmly folded across your chest.

“Ten bucks says I can,” he countered, a mischievous smirk on his face. You nodded your head curtly.

“Done,” you were confident in your response, if you couldn’t pick it with a bobby pin, there is no way in hell he would be able to...right?

Turning the bobby pin just far enough, a soft click indicated that Chenle, had in fact, picked the lock. Your eyes boggled out of your head, trying to figure out how he completed a task you had been slaving away at for ten minutes. Chenle turned to you, a smirk playing at his lips.

“Ten bucks says I can, and I did, so when do I get my prize money?” You rolled your eyes at his words, pushing past him and walked through the threshold, the blonde boy on your tail.

The hallway was dark, lit up only by the weak beam of light from your phone. It had the chilling similarity to that of a ghost town. It was strange seeing the halls so deserted, like it had been stripped bare of any possible personality it could contain. Being able to hear your own footsteps was unsettling, but pushed through the feeling.

“What exactly are we doing here again?” Chenle questioned, scanning the drab grey walls. You tutted.

“Do you ever pay attention, Zhong?” You scoffed playfully, expertly navigating the maze of halls, “we are looking for the security office,” you informed him, the door with ‘Security Office, No Students Permitted’ written on the sign hanging from loose screws that barely hung it to it.

“Why?” Chenle continued to ask, finally catching up to you.

“Because each of the students that went missing all disappeared while leaving school grounds.If we can trace them, even slightly, on the cameras, we might be able to find a link to them, a suspect, something,” you explained, closing in on the door. You grasped the door handle, the door swinging open. It had been left unlocked. You and Chenle exchanged a glance, causing you to shrug. “Saves us from picking another lock,” you joked, walking into the office, hearing Chenle snicker at your remark.

Screens littered the room, none online. With the simple flip of a switch, each monitor flickered to life, illuminating the room. Static filled each screen, refusing to show you anything. You grabbed the computer mouse, jiggling it to wake the main screen from its slumber. A small bar with a small space, an arrow right beside it. A small space for a password.

“Password protected,” you groaned, silently cursing yourself for being so blind to the obvious. Of course it would be password protected, you idiot.

Chenle glanced at the monitor, thousands of combinations flashing before his eyes like a hallucination, a highlighted combination sticking out to him.

“Let me try. I’m good at computers,” he remarked, pulling back the office chair and beginning to type at the keyboard.

“Good luck,” you scoffed, “There are literally thousands of several thousand possibilities. Cracking the code tonight would have to take-”

“Got it,” Chenle interjected, watching as the screen loaded the desktop display.

“-a miracle,” you whispered at the end of your sentence, leaning down to get a closer look. You had heard that Chenle was intelligent, but this exceeded your expectations.

“How did you do that? You have to be some kind of robot,” you exclaimed.

Chenle laughed nervously. “Nope. Completely human,” his sentence was stiff but you didn’t seem to notice, “I told you I’m good at computers,” he continued by shrugging. Flicking the mouse into action, you clicked on the camera icon. A few seconds ticked by before the application opened, and several small boxes popped up on the screen, each showing a different fixed spot of the school.

“Okay, how far back are we looking?” The boy asked, flicking his eyes between you and the screen. Tapping a few keys, footage over the past few hours flooded the screen.

“Five days. They all went missing within the span of a week, so if we look back through those days, we might be able to spot them and track them from there,” you explained, flicking through the sea of students, hoping to spot one of the missing students.

Time seemed to slow down as you skimmed through the cameras, the footage starting to blur together, each face of the students started to blend into nothing when out of the corner of your eye, you saw something.

“There!” You called out, pausing the footage. You fished in your pocket for your phone. Your camera roll held the posters of each of the missing students, their details, their appearances, every piece of basic information. Holding your phone up to the monitor, you flicked through the posters, trying to match them up.

“Who is it?” Chenle asked, analysing the screen himself. Maybe he was running low on charge, maybe he didn’t recognise her, whatever it was, she wasn’t showing up on his database.

“I’m getting there,” you spoke dramatically, swiping through the posters. Flicking your thumb right across the screen, you found a matching pair.

“Aera,” you breathed, standing bolt straight, half in realisation and shock. Chenle continued the footage, following her on the camera. Aera’s first stop was her locker, collecting her belongings and placing them delicately in her bag. She then entered the library, talking to the student library monitor. She scanned the bookshelves, but ultimately decided to loan out a book. She descended down the staircase, twisted around each corner and finally began to walk down the same route she used to get home every day.

The two of you watched the footage closely, carefully scanning for any kind of clue that might allude to what happened to the poor girl. Something was off. Not with the situation, you concluded. Something about the footage was off. The screen flickered, and suddenly, Aera was gone.

“Huh?” You voiced your confusion, looking closer at the screen. You rewound the tape, trying to locate her. Chenle perked his head up.

“What is it?” He called out, leaning forward to look at the screen. You groaned in frustration and slammed your hands onto the keyboard.

“She can’t just disappear into thin air. That’s not humanly possible! It’s just not!” You shouted, running a stressed hand through your hair and began pacing the room. He furrowed his eyebrows at you.

“What do you mean she disappeared?” He questioned, rewinding the tape and watching carefully. You were right. Aera had disappeared, almost as if she was never there in the first place. Chenle replayed it several times over, trying to find some sort of explanation to her vanishing. The more Chenle replayed it, the more he kept seeing a trip in the footage. He waved you over.

“Look at it again,” he encouraged, pointing to the screen. Unimpressed with your poor abilities, you stared at the screen. He played the clip again for you, and you saw it too. It was minor, something that if you blinked at the wrong time, you would miss it. You stared at it.

“Do you think that-” you started before Chenle cut you off.

“Think that someone has tampered with the cameras? Yes I do,” he completed your sentence, eyebrows knitted together. He tapped a few keys, revealing another camera and rewinding. It was the library camera, “but there’s another thing I noticed while you were focusing on Aera,” he paused the footage, focusing on the student library monitor. You internally slapped yourself that you missed yet another thing. The student librarian, Hannah, was another one of the missing persons.

“Follow her. See if it’s the same,” you instructed, shifting your weight onto the other foot. Chenle did as you said, switching the cams each time she walked out of frame. Coincidentally, she took the same route home as Aera, walking past the dark green bushes before the footage trips and, just like the girl before her, disappears.

“This can’t be a coincidence. We should look around the area and find if there are any clues,” you chewed on your bottom lip nervously. Two of the missing students just happen to go missing on the same day, in the same place. The chances of the two cases not being connected had slimmed down dramatically in a matter of minutes.

“I don’t mean to alarm you,” Chenle started, flicking back to the current cameras, “but I think we forgot that there is a night watchman,” he chuckled nervously, “and he’s headed straight for us.”

Another week passed, and there was no seemingly reasonable explanation for the disappearances, and the school was beginning to be targeted by the media, theories of the principal abusing his power and having some sort of human experiment programme lying within the school halls and parents were pulling their children out left, right and centre. Guilt weighed on your conscience. You knew more about this whole ordeal than anyone else in the entire school. Well, not everyone. Chenle had his own suspicions. No matter how many calculations he did in his head, everything pointed to the same place, and he did not like it. Not one bit. If he continued to follow this case, he could lose so much, his schooling, his place in society, but most of all you, the only friend he had made in this damn place.

“Hello? Earth to Zhong?” You waved your hand frantically in front of the blond’s face, catching his attention that was drifting away.

His head snapped up, “Huh?” He hadn’t heard a single word you had said, “Sorry. I zoned out.” He wasn’t completely lying, yes he couldn’t physically zone out, but he wasn’t listening either.

“Count on you to tune me out, Lele,” you tutted, tapping your pen to your open notebook, detailing theories, clues and some badly drawn composite sketches of known criminals in the area, but none of them had pulled something like this, so they could quickly be ruled out of this ‘investigation’ as there was no way they would have the metaphorical balls to pull such a stunt.

Chenle scratched the back of his head, “Sorry. I just didn’t sleep very well last night,” he chuckled nervously. You narrowed your eyes at him but shrugged off his strange behaviour. You guessed it was part of his charm. The bell rang sharply, every student in the class unanimously standing up to gather their things and make their way towards ther cafeteria. The warm weather was starting to set in, so most students were prompted to sit outside, seeing as today wasn’t overwhelmingly hot.

“We should sit outside today. It’s nice today, so let’s utilise the weather while we still can,” you turned to the boy, slinging your backpack over your shoulder. He nodded, not seeing any immediate reason to deny your request. The pair of you walked to a shaded area, sitting down underneath it and sighing in harmony.

“These disappearances are getting harder and harder to solve,” you complained, picking at a dead leaf on the pavement. Chenle hummed, but he wasn’t registering your words. He was focused on something else. He was certain you hadn’t seen it, you were too busy rambling on about your theories to notice it.

“Chenle, are you even listening?” You stopped your nonsense to draw attention to the fact he was not contributing to the conversation.

“Y/N, for five seconds, just shut up,” he wasn’t looking at you. He had tunnel vision on it.

“That’s rude-”

“Shut up and look,” Chenle pointed to where he had been staring. You scanned over the area, cold pavement with the occasional spotted sunlight glaring through the leaves.

“Lele, there’s nothing there,” you sighed, looking at him but the blond shook his head. He moved to the other side of the pavement, swatting over a slab of it. He picked up the slim hair strand with his index finger and thumb, rubbing it against each other. His scanners analysed the DNA before his eyes, the result scaring him.

“Chenle, what are you-”

“Hair strand,” Chenle interjected, looking at it. You stood next to Chenle, the boy standing to his full height, “Light brown, slightly curly, and comparing this to the amount of posters I’ve seen, I’d like to guess this is…Hannah’s.” Your eyes widened, shaking your head.

“Stop. You’re scaring me,” you chewed your lip nervously as you stared at him. You had this sinking feeling he was right. You didn’t want him to be, but the evidence was damning.

“Come on,” Chenle grabbed your wrist, pulling you towards the side exit of the school.

“What the fuck, no! Chenle, we still have another class after lunch,” you protested, trying to pry your wrist from his grasp, but he only tightened it.

“What’s more important, your grades or the potential lives of your peers? Make up your fucking mind, Y/N,” he hissed, looking out for any of the staff members before stepping off the campus. You were taken aback by his words but he was right, again. These were human lives on the line. And what’s one truancy, right?

Chenle had finally let go of your hand after you had walked several blocks and were given a few strange looks from middle aged women walking their dogs. You had lost count of how long the two of you had been walking, but the dull ache in your feet was becoming more apparent.

“How did you know it was Hannah’s?” You asked exasperatedly, trying your best to keep up with Chenle’s long strides. Chenle ignored your question, a stoic expression still present on his face. “Zhong Chenle, I’m talking to you,” You sighed.

“It just fit the description, okay?” Chenle furrowed his brows, an illusion of stress on his face. He stopped suddenly, causing you to walk straight into his back, although it didn’t faze the boy.

“Chenle, what the fuc-”

“Look,” he pointed to beside a large bush, track marks, or more so, drag marks. They led off into the thicket, disappearing out of sight. He seemed shaken, scared even? The teenager stepped off the path, following the tracks.

“Where are you going?” You called to him, following the blond into the shrubbery.

“Wherever the tracks go,” he muttered, silently praying that they did not lead him where he thought they would. You examined the tracks as you walked. At first, you thought they belonged to an animal, who suffered the short end of the stick during a standoff with another animal, but as you moved forward, you noticed something branded into the dirt. It was Converse logo, a staple that was situated on the back of the shoe’s band.

“Chenle-”

“I know,” he nodded solemnly, “I know.” The tracks stopped, cutting off at a chain link fence. Behind the fence was a warehouse of sorts. There seemed to be only one entrance, a large door, locked obviously. There was a large sign that labeled the strange warehouse. LSM Incorporated. Chenle looked up at the fence, lips parted in thought.

“We’ll climb over,” he said curtly, curling his fingers within the gaps between the links.

“We’ll what?” You gasped, furrowing your brow, “Chenle, are you crazy?”

“Wouldn’t be the first time I’ve been called that,” he smirked, hoisting himself up. You stood there in shock, trying to rationalise his idea.

“Well? Are we gonna solve this mystery or not?” He looked down to you, an adventurous smirk on his face. A groan fell past your lips, trudging towards the damned fence and clambering up it. Chenle was waiting for you at the top, a toothy grin adorning his lips.

“You’re a slow climber,” he teased. You rolled your eyes.

“I can’t say I’m continuously climbing things,” you scowled, throwing your leg over and descending down the barrier, Chenle following suit.

Your shoes touched the ground gently, relief rushing through you that you had made it. You looked up to your friend, feeling cocky. “Who’s the slow climber now?” Chenle mocked your words under his breath, attempting to move down. His foot caught on the link he was on, causing his footing to slip and free fall to the ground. He put his hand out to try and stop himself, only scraping them. He wasn’t in pain, but something didn’t feel right. He looked down at his palm, his eyes delivering the simple message of ‘fuck’. The skin on his palm had peeled away, part of his metal endoskeleton and a wire or two now exposed. The metal was shiny, so shiny that he could basically see his own reflection. Scruffy haired, facially well structured and panicked. He looked up to see you moving towards him. He couldn’t let you see, so he pulled at his tie, watching it unravel in his hand and wrapping it around it, pulling it tightly.

“Holy shit, are you okay?” You held out your hand to help him, but he pushed it away coldly.

“I’m fine,” he brushed off, standing up and looking at his makeshift bandage, and looked back up at the building. He didn’t like how familiar he was with the property, especially in these circumstances. He stalked over to the door, you following him hot on his tracks. You sighed, looking at the small box beside the door.

“Passcode needed,” you rubbed the back of your neck, mumbling something about how this was always the case with the two of you. Chenle wasted no time punching in the passcode, the screen flashing green and high pitched signal signifying his entry request had been accepted. You gawked at the boy, who did not spare you a glance before yanking the door open and stepping through the threshold. You stood there in disbelief, following him inside.

“I have several questions for you,” you hissed at your friend, your voice echoing throughout the warehouse.

“Keep your voice down, will you? They don’t know we’re here,” Chenle turned on his heel, slapping his unbandaged hand over your mouth, staring daggers into your soul. You squeaked at his sudden move, only nodding.

“That doesn’t change the fact that I have several questions for you,” you hushed your tone, “What the fuck is this place? How did you know the passcode? And what do you mean by ‘they don’t know we’re here’?” Your questions hit him like raining bullets, however the teenager didn’t respond. The warehouse was spacious, or at least the hallway you were in was. Windows perfectly lined the sad grey walls, each one a peek into someone else’s world, one that you did not understand.

Each room was decorated the same. The same grey colour, a workbench with its surface covered with an assortment of tools, blueprints, mathematical equations and a combination of letters on numbers spelt out on a black plaque with bold white letters. Chenle looked around, understanding a sense of home. He lived here, with his closest friends. He never knew anywhere else than here, but something didn’t feel right.

“Chenle, what is this place?” You questioned, watching him trace the plaque. He let out a nostalgic sigh before turning to you, a guilty sort of glint in his eye.

“My home,” he admitted, looking back to the plaque. ZCL#231101. It was his plaque.

You scoffed, “Don’t be ridiculous. What are you, the son of the CEO? How could this busted up shed be your home?” You admit, you were being a bit close minded, but you understood virtually none of it, and it pissed Chenle off to no end. He wheeled himself around so quickly, you saw a blurry figure, not your friend.

“It’s not some busted up shed. It’s my home, the only place I’ve ever fucking known. My friends, those who I consider my family, all live here,” he paused to look you up and down, “well, with one exception.” He trekked down the hall, his footsteps bouncing off the stone walls, looking into each identical room before he stopped at one towards the end of the hall. A woman, no older than 25, stood against the wall, her eyes trained to the floor. Her outfit was fashionable, like she had popped out of a teen fashion magazine. Her hair was long, dark and straight, beautifully framing her slim face. She was gorgeous.

“This is Yerim, or Yeri as we call her,” he introduced, watching her with a soft smile, “Basically my big sister,” his fingers touched the delicate glass, like he was letting his presence known to her. She did not respond.

“I don’t think she sees you,” you mentioned matter-of-factly. Chenle snickered.

“You’re right, she doesn’t. She’s powered down right now,” he explained, ignoring your flabbergasted look.

“Chenle, you’re not making any sense-” he cut you off, sick of your ignorance.

“For fuck’s sake, how ignorant are you? She’s a robot, Y/N. She’s a fucking robot,” he spat, his tone shifting dramatically. You flinched backwards, wide eyes staring up at him. Upon registering your reaction, Chenle knew he had already said too much, so there was no point hiding it. He turned back to Yerin, sighing, “I’m a robot,” he muttered, tugging at his school tie around his hand. The tie unravelled, falling to the cement floor, revealing his robotic underlay. You swore your eyes bug out of your head, ogling at his newly revealed secret. You couldn’t formulate sentences, only obscure sounds and a brilliant impersonation of a goldfish.

“But how?” You finally formed a coherent sentence, trying to wrap your head around the concept. Chenle shook his head, “It just is, alright? There isn’t much more I can explain except that we are all used for different reasons,” he sighed, pointing to the glass, “There are four others built for the same purpose as Yeri. They’re a musical group,” he explained, finally stepping away from Yerin’s window, continuing down the hallway. You walked beside him, more questions than answers swimming around your head.

“What about you then?

“Huh?”

“If you were all built for a purpose, what’s yours?”

“To be a teenager,” he replied simply.

A warehouse was maybe the wrong word for the building. A labyrinth would better describe it. There were rooms upon rooms, corridors that twisted and turned in odd places. You and Chenle had long left the drab hallway, leaving behind the powered down Yerin. The two of you became subjected to the maze of cold stone walls and echoing corridors. Walking became an almost dizzying task, until the corridor you walked down suddenly ended, and the hallway spat you out in front of a door that looked like it belonged in a bank, a bright yellow sign hanging above it.

Top Secret. Do Not Enter

“Top secret?” Even Chenle was confused, “I’ve never seen this here before,” he tapped his index finger against his chin, fathoming every possibility that could lie beyond that door. You narrowed your vision on the large wheel on the door.

“Standing here isn’t going to do anything,” you said, pulling all your weight onto the wheel, feeling it move slightly. Chenle watched you with a blank stare, making you look at him, “Help me, would you?” He nodded swiftly, wrapping his fingers around the cold metal. The door groaned, slowly swinging open. The room opened to reveal large cylinders, almost reaching the ceiling of the warehouse, glass wrapped around the front of each cylinder, holding large amounts of liquid, undoubtedly filled with a dangerous amount of chemicals. You glanced around at them, your mouth falling open in horror. Inside the cylinder closest to you, was a person. A person who looked insanely familiar to you. You stumbled back, her name at the tip of your tongue.

“Aera,” You whimpered out, eyes blown as wide as dinner plates. She has tubes and wires attached to her, making her look like some sort of experiment. Her eyes were open, but they were drained of any and all trace of life, like she had fallen victim to a dementor. Her hair seemed slimy, sticking together in disgusting clumps. Your eyes panned to the next cylinder, almost identical to the first, however it contained a different missing person, Angie. You frantically got to your feet, looking at all the cylinders and counting them. Ten cylinders stood high, although only five were filled, each one containing a familiar face. Aera, Brooke, Angie, Tahmina, and Hannah. In a singular room, you had solved the biggest missing persons’ case the quiet town had ever seen, yet it simultaneously opened a new one. Why were they here, of all places? Why were they in tanks? Were they dead?

“I see you found our next project,” a male voice interrupted your thoughts, but it wasn’t Chenle’s. It was too low, too wicked, too old to be Chenle.

You wheeled around to see a tall middle-aged man. His eyes were hidden behind rectangular glasses, a pristine white button up adorning his top half, paired with black business pants and shoes. Clearly, he had some wealth to him. A businessman you suspected. With you still staring at the appearance of the new arrival in the room, you had failed to notice Chenle’s expression. His systems had grown familiar with the man. He was like a father to him, he was his father in a way. The man flicked his gaze from you to the blond, a disappointed frown arching his lips. “Out of all of my children, you were the last one I would expect to break my rules, Zhong Chenle,” he tutted, shaking his head. Chenle was glued to the spot, jaw clenched and he swore if he had a heart, it would be pounding right now.

“Who are you?” You bellowed, taking a step forward. You were done with mystery, you were done with unpleasant surprises, and you were done with secrets. The man looked astounded at such a question.

“Oh, you sweet thing, don’t you recognise me? Surely, you would’ve seen me on TV or something,” there was a mocking lilt to his voice, as if he was belittling you. You wracked your brains hard, flipping through your mental files of all the famous people you had seen on the digital screen. Musical artists, actors, even boring political celebrities, but alas, nothing came up. The man sighed, folding his arms over his chest and mimicking your action by taking a step closer to you.

“Does the name Lee Sooman ring any bells?” He hinted, watching in amusement as a wave of realisation hit you.

“As in-”

“LSM Inc. The very building you happen to be inside,” he filled in the rest of your question, dropping his hands to his sides, “Which brings me to my next question; how did you get in here, pet?” He feigned musement, tapping his foot against the concrete floor.

“We came in together,” Chenle interjected, his gaze never leaving the floor. The businessman stood up, eyesight zeroed in on the boy.

“And why would you do that, son?” He hummed, footsteps echoing throughout the room, resonating off the glass of the tanks. Chenle stayed silent, quickly realising that he did not know himself. Why had he let you in? “Come on, boy. Surely there’s a reason,” Mr Lee leaned in, nose to nose with Chenle as a sickening smirk broke across his face.

“With all due respect, what is this?” The robotic teenager responded, watching his father figure recoil and step away.

“The future, son. This place is the future,” he told triumphantly, spreading his arms widely to the warehouse like it was some pirate’s legendary treasure trove. You could feel your stomach churn, the sickening feeling intensifying with every word he spoke.

“But why them? Why these innocent people? They have barely lived their lives, and you took that from them,” you choked out albeit barely comprehensible. The old man tutted condescendingly, turning on his heel to face you.

“Well, I can’t have my children running around without any clothes on. They can’t blend in if they stand out, dear child,” he smiled wickedly. You stood there, frozen in shock.

“They’re-”

“Skin suits. A cover up, if you will,” he shrugged, his wrinkled fingers skimming against the edge of the glass, an imperfect smudge being left on it. You stood there in shock, not even realising you were looking at your best friend, who was also looking at himself. You watched as he clenched and unclenched his fist in front of his own eyes. Could it be? Could he have once been a normal human being, who could breathe, and think, and eat, and experience emotion? What about the friends he had made within his own ‘home’? Were they skin suits too? These thoughts alone would be enough to send him into overdrive. Mr Lee turned around, quirking an eyebrow at his creation’s strange behaviour. The businessman stalked towards the young boy, tilting his head. “Yes, my boy. You have one too. Your very own skin,” He smiled warmly, as if Chenle should be proud of his father’s sick actions.

“No it’s not,” Chenle snapped, his teeth gritting together, “This is a skin you stole from someone else. Was his name even Chenle? How could you do something like this?” He never meant to let slip these thoughts, but seeing how Mr Lee’s face fell into a disapproving scowl, he knew he hadn’t taken it well.

“You ungrateful child. Just remind yourself who you’re talking to, remember who gave you life,” he spat back, towering over the teenager as you watched on in horror. Your friend remained stone cold serious, proving that he was not backing down to his creator. Mr Lee tutted, shaking his head, “And here I thought you were one of the well behaved ones,” he shook his head solemnly before looking past the robot’s shoulder, to his staff. With a brief nod, they stalked towards Chenle, restraining an arm each. The boy tried to struggle away, jolting his body like a fish out of water, but both of the men were a lot stronger than him, making it obvious who had one in this battle.

“I didn’t think I would have to do this to you, boy,” Mr Lee grumbled, keeping the subject of his threat vague. To anyone on the outside listening, namely you, would have no idea what he had meant. To Chenle, however, his intentions were made as clear as day. He shook his head in protest, struggling harder against the two men.

“No. You can’t!” He shrieked, his brows knitting together in mimicked frustration and fear. The businessman could only snicker, like Chenle had just told the most sarcastic joke ever.

“I think you forget who runs this company, son. It’s about time you are reminded.”

Chenle stared aggressive daggers into his creator before his eyes shifted to you. Amongst this whole fiasco, you had been forgotten to the pair of them. He immediately registered your emotions as scared, terrified even. His mouth started to form words, words you could only just make out. Go. Run.

You nodded just as Mr Lee turned around, frowning at your presence. With one final glance to Chenle, you booked it out of the room, unintelligible ordering shouts echoing behind you. A second pair of footsteps joined yours, trying to match, possibly beat, the tempo you were running at. You didn’t dare look behind you, knowing it could potentially cost you your life. You outrun them throughout the maze of hallways, bursting through the door you had entered through and used your last burst of energy to sprint to the fence and clamber over it, escaping by the skin of your teeth. Your feet hit the soil, but it wasn’t enough to slow you down. You kept running until you reached the footpath you and Chenle had walked down hours before. Chenle, you remembered the last words he had told you. To run, to leave and never turn back. You peered over your left shoulder, slowly spinning yourself around. You had expected to have had the blond following along behind you, but instead you were met with the pretty scenery that contrasted the ugly feeling that sprouted in the pit of your stomach. The warehouse was a blurred spot of grey metal with a unique pattern surrounding it, but there was not a soul to be seen. Chenle hadn’t escaped. He did not follow you. You were alone, and very very worried.

Chenle grunted and continuously tried to pry his wrists from the two men clenching them in a death grip. They followed behind Lee Sooman, who led them with a slow walk with his hands clasped behind his back. He whistled a soft tune, like the situation was a simple morning stroll for him. Chenle had lost the ability to walk, his feet dragging along the concrete behind him as they entered another room, a room that the boy had heard countless stories about from his friends. The room was mainly empty, aside from a few large bins overflowing with discarded parts, denied blueprints and faulty rejects. In the middle stood a cousin to the powering stations that Chenle had become so familiar with, the only differences being the cables connected to several desktops neatly sat upon pristine mahogany desks and the large chair that sat in the middle of it. It looked more like an execution chamber that he had seen from a few crime movies that he and his best friend, Jisung, had snuck behind the company’s back.

“You know what to do,” Mr Lee spoke, not even bothering to look back at his staff. The two grunted in understanding, dragging the protesting boy to the chair, tying his hands to the arms of it.

“You can’t do this! This isn’t right!” Chenle protested as one of the staff pushed the back half of Chenle’s hair up to reveal a small charging port, located at the back of his neck. He shoved a cable into it, a satisfying hum of the pad powering up ringing throughout the room.

“But this is my company, boy, and you’re my creation so hence, I can do whatever I want,” he chuckled madly, sitting on the corner of the nearest desk.

“You’re sick,” Chenle huffed, his words backed with venom, “You’re nothing but a cruel old man.” This only seemed to amuse the businessman more.

“Call me sick and cruel all you want. In a few seconds, you won’t even remember this conversation,” Mr Lee taunted, rounding the desk and placing his hands on the back of the chair, the other staff member tapping away at the keyboard.

“Systems are online, sir,” the man chimed, looking up at his employer.

“Good,” a twisted smile crept its way across Mr Lee’s face, one that could strike panic into any human being, or robot in this case.

“You can’t! You can’t!” Chenle screamed, trying to break the knots around his wrists.

“Maybe this will teach you not to trust stupid teenagers you met in class,” Mr Lee warned. Chenle casted his gaze downwards, surveying his situation. Lee Sooman had done it. He had cornered him. He had no means of escape, and even if he did, he had no idea where you were.

“Start the sequence,” Mr Lee commanded, stepping away as another staff member burst through the threshold, visibly tired from the sweating and the panting.

“Did you catch the other, Karina?” Mr Lee bellowed, turning his head ever so slightly to look behind him. The young woman straightened up, shaking her head.

“I’m sorry, sir. The kid escaped. I couldn’t catch them,” Karina panted in an attempt to regulate her breathing. Mr Lee spun around quickly, his face like thunder.

“You useless girl! How could you let the weasel escape? If this cost us the company because that little mutt has told the public what we’re doing, I will hold you personally responsible!” He roared, watching the young woman flinch back in fear. He turned back to Chenle, angrily looking the boy up and down. “Ten?”

The black haired man, who was sat at the main desktop, shivered at the sound of his name, “Yes, sir?”

“Light him up,” he ordered, no lilt of remorse in his tone.

“Are you sure, sir?” Ten questioned, which only seemed to make him more furious.

“Of course I’m sure, you incompentent fool!” He shouted. Ten only sighed before tapping a few keys and began the process.

“Initiating memory wipe,” he confirmed. The humming of the pad underneath Chenle grew louder, and Chenle gripped the arms of his chair. He couldn’t lose his memory. It was all he had left. He had no trusted family, no friends, and most of all, no you.

“Memory wipe in ten seconds,” Ten announced to the other four people in the room.

“Any last words, boy?” Mr Lee yelled over the top of the humming.

“I hope your reputation goes up in flames,” he yelled back. The humming grew in intensity, and there was nothing Chenle could do to stop it.

“I’m sorry, Y/N,” were the last words that left Chenle’s lips before a huge spark of electricity surged through his body, pain tingling his faux senses. Slowly, memories he had accumulated over the last few weeks were slipping away. He cried out, begging Ten to turn the machine off, that he would do anything to keep his memories until he went quiet. Ten’s screen flashed green.

Memory wipe complete.

You hadn’t seen Chenle at school for what felt like months. The seat in both robotics class and the library study hour remain cold and empty, a reservation preserved in false hope. You had gone to the police station the moment you hit the footpath. You tried to keep your sequence of events straight, but the further you got in your recount, the more you broke down into tears, reducing you to nothing more than a babbling sobbing mess on the floor. In the officer’s defense, the story sounded foolish, and they dismissed your case without a second glance. Classes began to blur together, the colours of the world seemed to dull, not to mention you had stopped contributing to class discussion. You never raised your hand to ask for clarification, or to answer Mr Moon’s questions, a newly found habit that he had picked up on. He talked to you after class one day, and although you reassured him time and time again that you were feeling ‘okay’, he still persisted.

“Is it that Chenle boy? I haven’t seen him in my class for a while. Is he your boyfriend?” You almost scoffed at his outlandish assumption, but you kept up your responsible student act for a little bit longer.

“No, Mr Moon. He is not my boyfriend. I don’t know where he has got to, and quite frankly, I don’t care,” you lied. You knew you were lying. You did care, of course you cared. You had seen him being restrained by both arms and in the hands of a very dangerous and powerful man. Who knew what he was capable of?

“If you insist. I won’t keep you any longer, but if you need anything, you know I’m always here for you, kiddo,” Mr Moon offered a friendly smile, but you turned away stalking out of the classroom.

You felt a hole in your being, one big enough for only one specific boy that only if he walked into it, would fit snugly inside. You missed him. You couldn’t bear the worry of not knowing where he was. So you could imagine your delight when you walked through the school gates one fine Monday morning and saw a familiar blond haircut walking a few paces ahead of you. A huge beam spread across your face like a rainbow across the sky, and you ran towards him to catch up with him.

“Chenle! Where have you been? I’ve been worried sick about you. What did they do to you? Are you alright?” You blabbered, a warm foreign feeling filling your senses. The boy gripped one strap of his backpack, looking you up and down, his brows furrowing. The warm feeling was quickly replaced with a cold, distant one, and you swear you heard your heart break at his words.

“I’m sorry, but do I know you?”

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