dysthymia | zhong chenle

열 하나

"why are we hiding?" chenle whispered, his arms naturally laying around her

"shut up" she retorted straight back, her voice just above a whisper. there were light conversation from the men who had walked into their place, winwin being one of the men.

"no misses today?" if voices could have colours, that mans voice would be one of grey, and only grey

"no sir" it was winwin's voice, she knew it from the first word he had uttered.

"joo hyejin, how about her?" there were several clicks of pens

"no misses recently sir"

"how many strikes?" his voice remained indifferent. there was slight hesitance in winwin's reply "4"

chenle rose an eyebrow at hyejin's uneasy face, his arms moving without instruction and pushed her ever so softly towards him as if their bodies weren't close enough.

"chenle don't take advantage of this situation" she scowled, shrugging off his hand. chenle sighed quietly, his eyes fixed on the shadow of the desk. he didn't want to make her uncomfortable by staring at her without limits, so he kept to himself, and respected her decision

"updates on NCT?" the man audibly shuffled some papers

"they blew up their base sir"

chenle and hyejin looked at each other, bewildered at how winwin was acting. he's turned so selfish and blinded by greed that even hyejin wasn't sure if winwin had been manipulating her the whole time. although, he's the only reason she's still alive, so she owes him her life.

"and the members?"

for once, don't be honest she prayed in her head, her eyes squeezed shut. she was even surprised she was helping nct right now, it was perhaps just an instinct at this point.

"we don't know"

a walkie talkie buzzed into the conversation, the device pressed up against the Stone staff's mouth

"don't" it was from the same man "not yet"

"what does he-" it was chenle's voice

"shut up" she pushed him further into the table legs, a thump rattling the lamp on the desk "awesome"

there were several footsteps, hyejin snuggled up close to chenle, completely unwillingly but that's beside the fact. it seemed to get closer, the pounds of the floor rippling into their ears

"sir" thank god for winwin "i have the file here"

as expected, he had backtracked and turned back towards winwin

"arent you claustrophobic?" chenle whispered, his voice running straight down her ear, shivers gliding along her back. she never had an issue with claustrophobia, it was just a natural occurrence that lived with her like a halo of thorns. it wasn't that bad, it was simply annoying.

"yeah no shit" she'd been trying to hold out for a while, and she's used to forcing herself. she'd force herself till she broke, it was ok if she was use to it

"hold my hand" chenle murmured at the volume of a mosquito. she rose her eyebrows at him, knowing she was going to reject his offer "chenle we're not-"

"hold my hand" he cut her off again, noticing the little cuts in her voice.

"i'm not someone you can order around anymore" she breathed, shuffling around in the tiny space. she was thankful winwin and the staffs conversation tuned in again

"i'm trying to help-"

"winwin bring this to the Head, he'd want to see it" the silence was more sophisticated than awkward, the obvious absence of any type of friendship or connection was there

"yes" the file slipped uncomfortably into winwin's hand "but the reports haven't been updated yet"

another chorus of tapping on the floor "i'll take it up"

there were a subtle kick to the table chenle and hyejin were hiding under, hyejin obviously getting the hint. gesturing chenle with her head, she slipped out of the spot, sliding towards the opposing cardboard boxes. as a mafia gang member, chenles ninja sneaking technique really lacked some skill.

in the end, she managed to yank him across the room silently, his body also tucking behind the boxes. she sighed out of relief, the confined spot no longer grasping her by the throat

the door creaked open, as if everything had finally died down. but they never heard the close of the door

winwin straightened up again, and hyejin and chenle biting their lips for dear life.

"these reports have already been updated"

and the atmosphere froze

"i uh, could've gotten it wrong" winwin scratched the back of his head, snatching the clipboard from the staffs hand

"you don't get things wrong here in Stone" the staff wasn't stupid, so he knew something was up. his eyes traced the surroundings, his eyes ultimately landing on the body like lump under the scratchy blanket. his footsteps grew, hyejin pulling chenle to slightly slip around the corner.

they were so screwed

but as if god had finally spoken to them, a buzz of his walkie talkie halted the tread.

"in place" it was static, voice muffled and hushed

"attack"