Life is but a Dream {ChenJi} | ongoing

three

Chenle swears he can feel when Taeyong and Johnny return. He doesn't hear the car on the driveway – not over Jeno's music or the voices in his head – nor the key in the front door lock. But he shivers, senses a shift in the air, a deepening in the hue of the paint on the walls to accommodate the new member of the family.

Then, Jeno's music cuts off and there are voices downstairs. The ringing in his ears stops, their conversation cutting clear through the rasp of his breathing. Johnny calls for them to come down while Taeyong fusses over Jisung. Chenle waits for the others' footsteps to pass through the hallway before he follows. They crowd the kitchen door, no one wanting to be the first to enter until Johnny beckons them to sit around the table.

Jisung is a mop of overgrown black hair that covers his eyes. And half his face, since his head is ducked. But Chenle can see his lips, the way he nibbles from anxiety: that's the only expression he detects in the boy. His shoulders slouch, clearly tense enough to snap, and he rocks side to side ever so slightly.

"I'm Jaemin!" Jaemin sticks his hand out for Jisung to hold.

Jisung is scrawny, Chenle notices when he finally raises his head. Thin. Underfed, definitely, and something in his hunched shoulders tells Chenle it's not his own doing. He's tall for his age, even when slumped. His button nose twitches, his lips are round and his eyes are wide from both fright and innocence. And where Renjun is all yellow and Jaemin pink, Jisung is grey. He cowers, makes sure no one can see through his cracked mask as he refuses to give anything away. They all spot the tremble in his hand when he greets Jaemin.

"Give him space, Minnie," Johnny says with a laugh. "Why don't you all introduce yourselves?"

"I'm Donghyuck." He narrows his eyes at Jisung. Jisung's eyes flick up to his dyed hair, then trace the constellation of moles over his cheeks and neck. "My room is the second on the left. Don't go in it."

"I'm Jaemin! But I've already told you that. You're free to come in my room at any time, if you need anything at all."

"I'm Mark. Nice to meet you. I'm the oldest."

"Jeno."

Johnny raises a brow but Jeno doesn't elaborate, just pulls his hoodie sleeves over his hands and keeps his gaze down. No one pushes him to say more.

"And this is Renjun," Taeyong says, his cheeriness unfazed by Jeno's hostility. He pulls Renjun into a side hug and ignores Renjun's glare of disapproval.

"He doesn't talk," Donghyuck adds. "In case you hadn't noticed."

Jisung nods slowly while Taeyong scolds Donghyuck's brazen attitude. Donghyuck scoffs, says he's only telling the truth since no one else wants to be blunt, and Taeyong lets it slide even as the shade in his eyes tells they'll be having words later.

They order Chinese for dinner. Jisung gets to pick first, and Chenle bounces his knee throughout the whole ordeal. Renjun points at his usual choices on the menu while Jeno just shrugs. Donghyuck argues with Jaemin because they both want the same order but don't want to share, and Mark slides into the seat besides Chenle.

"You okay?" He asks. "How was your last session?"

Chenle looks around the room to confirm no one can hear their conversation over the chaos. Picking his thumbnails, he admits, "Kinda bad. I... I don't really want dinner."

Mark's features soften. He fixes his glasses and his eyes sadden behind the lenses, brow furrowed. Chenle can always be honest with Mark. They all can, and are. They pretend not to know that Mark passes important information regarding their wellbeing onto the parents of the house. When they were all younger, they'd pretend he was a spy. But now they understand that Mark is just one of them, on their side, and leans on Johnny and Taeyong as much as they do.

"Is there something else you'd rather eat? I'm sure we could work something out. And you know Taeyong loves cooking for you."

"I'll be fine," Chenle says. He rests a palm on his knee to stop it from bouncing, but his joints are still tense and his skin prickles with the anticipation of a meal. He swallows saliva down. He'd gotten used to fasting until hunger stopped affecting him so much. Now he can hardly go a morning before he's nauseous and cold, the recovery meal plan looming in his mind.

He thinks of his lunch in the bin at school, and still isn't sure if he regrets throwing it away.

✧˖° 🍦 🫧 ❀

Jisung finally arrives xD