DEAR DREAM | nct dream ✓

chenle's story

after graduation, chenle was set out to inherit his grandfather's company in shanghai, where he was originally from.

at first it was quite difficult for the young boy to get used to what it was like to live in a whole other country away from his friends but gradually, when you grow busy, you begin to forget what ever gave you emotions in the first place.

chenle was a zhong and it was his duty to follow in his late father's footsteps along with his grandfather's. so at the mere age of 21, chenle became zhong ent's official ceo because it was only a job for none other than the only child of the zhong family.

before he left korea, chenle told jisung he would contact him and they would continue to talk regardless of how busy the two will become. jisung agreed and for the first year or so they kept in touch and everything felt nice and good like old times.

then jisung completely stopped returning his calls and messages, but chenle knew it was bound to happen sooner or later because his job was keeping him quite busy as well. after all, he wasn't the only one working hard for his life.

chenle didn't think he would see either of his friends ever again but once he caught a glimpse of the front page of that one saturday magazine, he knew it was a sign. it just had to be because when else would he hear that park jisung, the one and only legendary superstar, was going to be touring in china?

that afternoon chenle was desperate to learn the new life of one of his best friends, blowing off minor meetings that would have attained no important information. park jisung was an idol now and was from one of the greatest agencies in the world, but only after zhong ent, of course.

he couldn't believe it a single bit, couldn't understand how much time had passed between them already. five years after graduation and jisung was already living so well off without them. it wasn't as if chenle was upset, just a bit surprised at the fact that he was cut off from his friend years ago and he hadn't bothered to call once.

after that incident, chenle hadn't heard anything or seen anything regarding his friends. it seems they've all been keeping a low profile and have been living a normal and steady life for themselves.

he continued to work, to live, to drown himself in piles and piles of documents, files, videos, interviews, and publicity late until midnight, where he spent countless hours listening to compositions and writing lyrics.

no one had told chenle that this wasn't the life he signed up for, he knew this life was not for him but the power was not in his hands for his grandfather was someone so special to him that he wouldn't dare step down from his title.

then every single year then, every 17th day of august, chenle would fly himself to korea, to the tree house in mark's backyard in seoul and he would look at the books on the shelf, run his finger along the dusty bookcase.

august 17th was the day mark had invited chenle over to the tree house for the first time upon meeting him. in this tree house was mark, jisung, and chenle, all three of them the same age and glad to have made friends with each other.

mark would never be there when he went, he and his family had packed up and right after graduation, never returning to retrieve things from the tree house. everything was up there, still and untouched as if no one was ever there.

so when chenle went and sat in the beanbag chair, it felt the same, he was just a bit taller and was wearing a suit instead of a casual hoodie and jeans. it was the amount of memories that he remembered that made him gave him the ability to grow a little more emotion than most days.

he never skipped the day of august 17th, it was always remembered. but each and every time he went to seoul, never would he ever cross paths with the members inside the dream house who spent every waking morning huddles inside, telling their recent dreams.

after all that, chenle would return to shanghai and continue to work. but each and every time chenle climbed down the ladder leading to the tree house, he says one thing and one thing only, "i'll be back".