Summers With You | ᴄʜᴇɴsᴜɴɢ

prologue

summer of 2010

"Come here! Faster, Lele!" The 7-year-old Jisung shouted at his friend Chenle.

"Wait for me!" The 8-year-old Chenle shouted back. "You're too fast!"

Jisung was looking at his friend running towards his direction. He was waiting in front of a tree.

When Chenle finally reached him, he was panting.

"And now, let's start!" Said Jisung as he put out a sharp stone from his pocket which he picked along the way there.

"Are you sure that this is effective?" Asked Chenle. He was now starting to doubt if what they were going to do was really effective.

"Trust me. This is effective," said Jisung and then he started to carve his name on the tree, and Chenle followed him; he also started to carve his name beside Jisung using a sharp stone.

There's a belief in their neighborhood that if you carved your name and your friend's name or lover's name on this hundred years old tree, you're going to stay together forever.

The two was sweating after they got done on carving their names and it read as:

P. Jisung & Z. Chenle

They didn't want to be separated from each other. They wanted to stay together, especially now that Chenle's parents told him that they're going to move into the city which means that Jisung would be left alone in this province.

They carved their names hoping that Chenle's family would not going to live in the city anymore.

"We're gonna stay together forever, right?" Chenle asked.

"Yes, forever together," Jisung replied and then he smiled at the lad.

"Promise?" Chenle asked and then he offered a pinky promise.

Jisung accepted the pink promise. "Promise."

But after that summer, Chenle left the province with his family.

He broke his promise to Jisung. He didn't come back anymore.

He didn't even say goodbye to Jisung.

That damn tree was nothing but a lie.