tuition and fees ☆ z.cl | ✔

01

Today was one of your two days out of five where you had to bring your lunch instead of purchasing it from the cafeteria, as per the cheapest meal plan at the academy. Although you reckoned that you could buy lunch everyday now that the Zhongs were paying for it. Chenle had also brought his own, laying out the contents of his bag gently on the tabletop. He had a rather large bento box filled with various foods, a bag of cookies, and what looked like some very expensive juice.

You, on the other hand, had a container of stew your mother made last night, and your reusable water bottle you would need to refill at the water fountain soon. Poking through it with your spoon, your mouth contorted into a grimace when you saw the contents of it. Sighing, you closed the lid again, wiping your spoon off with a napkin and instead taking a sip of your water.

Finally, you heard more than a one-word sentence from Chenle. In fact, it was an actual, real question, too. "Why aren't you eating?" He was sat perfectly poised, chopsticks held delicately in his hand as his head was tilted in confusion.

"I grabbed the wrong container this morning, this is my dad's instead of mine." You admitted, pushing it further away from you. "I'm allergic to bean sprouts, but they're his favorite."

"That's an... oddly specific thing to be allergic to."

You shrugged, sipping on your water again as you enjoyed the sun on your face for a moment. Chenle spoke up again as he reached forward, taking your container and switching it out for his own, "Here, I like bean sprouts just fine."

"Oh you don't have to—" You went to protest, but the boy seemed set on it, having already reached into his bag for a spare pair of metal chopsticks—with his name engraved on the thicker end—to hold out to you.

"Thank you," You relented, taking the utensil and giving him your own spoon in return. Seeming content, Chenle opened the lid again, eagerly digging into your lunch. You picked at the six different foods in his bento box, feeling guilty as he ate with no complaints. After finishing as much as you wanted, there was still some food left over, which you pushed back over to Chenle.

"Thank you, again."

"Of course," Chenle closed the now-empty stew container to return it to you.

There were still twenty minutes left of your lunch period, and the boy across from you seemed to have closed in on himself again as he took out his phone. You did the same, not wanting to force conversation and make this already-forced interaction even more awkward for you. As you listened to your music, you kept one headphone in, just in case Chenle wanted to say something to you again. He didn't. The two of you were silent for the next fifteen minutes of lunch, you listening to music as you texted the boys' swim captain, Mark Lee, about your dual meet tomorrow night, and pretended to be oblivious to the fact that Chenle wasn't as interested in his phone as he seemed. His gaze still drifted to you, nervousness laced with intrigue.

"You want to ask me something, right?" You pointed out after the sixth time you had caught him staring again.

"Uhm," He coughed awkwardly, trying to find his words. "Yeah."

"Go ahead, I don't mind."

"Why are you, you know, uh, suddenly sitting with me and stuff?"

You took a moment to think, knowing that you couldn't tell him that his parents were paying you to be his friend. Instead, after remembering an important detail that you wanted to slap yourself upside the head for forgetting, you said, "I've always been meaning to talk to you again since we got partnered up for that Literature project freshman year."

Chenle's face lit up when you mentioned it, "You remembered?"

"Of course!" You felt guilty at your partial lie—you had only just remembered—but he looked so absolutely ecstatic that you couldn't take it back. "I just got so busy, I'm sorry."