lonely star
chenle is like sunshine, jisung concludes.
a week ago, they'd stopped talking -- not by chenle's request, of course not, he's way too chatty and, on top of that, easily bored, and being forced to spend his days alone at home without any human interaction aside from his parents who were busy reading in bed all day, is kind of a nightmare to him.
jisung has always been shy; an introvert, a loner, the quiet kid in the back of the class, staring out the window, daydreaming about everything or nothing in particular.
the younger doesn't quite understand how the two of them had gotten so close in such a short period of time, chenle transferring to his school. he'd immediately picked jisung to be his friend.
jisung has always been shy, but chenle helped him out of his shell instantly, comforted him when he needed comforting, supported him and made him want to be more outgoing and socialize more.
with a global pandemic suddenly stopping them from being able to hang out, jisung feels like the life is drained right out of him; it's a little like when he was sick a few months back and had to stay home from school for a week. not having his best friend around has always been heavy on him, opening up the risk of going back to old habits, like closing himself up and not speaking to anybody because he felt this giant lack of energy.
when he sees chenle's icon pop up on his phone screen, he jumps, not expecting to receive a video call in the midst of reading a harry potter fanfiction.
"hey idiot, i thought you'd blocked my number!" the older expresses as soon as jisung begrudgingly accepts the request.
jisung tries to force a laugh but it sounds fake and his eyes are puffy so he quickly holds his phone away from him, only keeping it close enough to observe chenle's fresh-looking face. his hair is the only thing that's not looking flawless as always, flat and obviously not styled. jisung still thinks he looks pretty.
"why'd you call?" he rasps out, voice scratchy and thick. he mentally slaps himself. he really shouldn't have picked up the call.
chenle sighs and you can see how he rolls on his back, holding the phone over his face at arm's length. "i'm going insane! my dad won't allow me to go grocery shopping with him and all my parents do is either read or work." his gaze turns judgemental, "and you left me too, it seems. why don't you answer my snaps anymore? i sent you the banana pancakes i made the other day and you didn't even open it!"
the younger bites his lip, a guilty feeling bubbling up in his stomach. he's missed his friend's voice a lot, he notes. he doesn't know what to say, so all he mumbles out is an 'i don't know'.
the older clicks his tongue. "how can you not know? aren't you bored? i wanna go out so badly these days..."
jisung turns to lay on his back as well, eyes trained on his lamp, tiny dust particles flying around his room. maybe he should clean. he does have enough time on his hands. he yawns.
"i think i'm gonna take a nap," he speaks, hoping it'll be enough of a broad hint that he doesn't feel like talking right now.
chenle's brows furrow.
"jisung... you okay?" he sounds genuinely worried now and the younger regrets his words immediately. he doesn't want chenle to think he's having issues. he just needs a break -- not from the older specifically, but from reality.
"yeah, um...i'm just exhausted, is all. maybe we can talk later?" he's lying more and you can probably tell, but he doesn't know what to do. chenle opens his mouth, but hesitates a bit before continuing to speak.
"can we nap together? i won't bother you, i just don't wanna be alone. if that's okay..."
jisung thinks about it for a second. maybe it's smart. he isn't all that sleepy, but his body could use some shut-eye. "sure, uh, if you wanna. we can just sleep a bit."
the older's smile looks a little sad. "thanks, sungie."
chenle is like sunshine, but even the sun needs a little rest from being a lonely star.
