• Chapter 43 •
"Hello, fellow humans!" Chenle shouted proudly as he stepped into Jisung's living room where Renjun, Jeno and Jaemin had been waiting for them patiently.
Not minding him too much, Cho-a walked past him and plopped down on the sofa a moment later. She pulled her knees up to her chest and rested her head on them. Meanwhile, the door clicked shut as Jisung was the last to enter the house.
Jaemin looked from Chenle to Cho-a with excitement underlined by a feeling of concern. His eyes eventually stopped at the boy.
"She really did it?" he asked the younger. "You're human now?"
"Well no," Chenle said. "But I'm close to it."
"Right so if anyone wants to kill him, now's the time," Jisung noted casually. "But hurry, it won't last forever." Jeno nodded, impressed. Jaemin's excitement seemed to have rubbed off on him.
Scanning over Chenle, however, Jeno's eyes stopped at the faint smudges of blood that ran over the back of his neck. Then he looked at Cho-a, whose fingernails were dyed crimson as well.
"Cho-a," Renjun called, his sole focus lying on the girl. She lifted her head a little, gazed up at the older one right when Jisung walked past her into the kitchen.
"Hm?"
"Are you alright?" At which she nodded quickly but Renjun kept a strict gaze on her. "Really?"
Again, she nodded. "I'm just tired," she mumbled, then glimpsed at Chenle who was still proudly standing in the entrance to the room, seeming happy with his newfound humanity. "He got hurt, not me."
"Right!" Chenle stepped in. "Imagine, how weird it is Renjun! Even now it still hurts, I would've never thought."
Jeno smiled sympathetically. "Yeah it must be uncomfortable but don't worry you--"
"It's so cool!" Chenle interrupted happily, making both human boys frown and look at one another. Jeno's sympathy dropped at once and Jaemin let out a confused sigh.
Sitting down next to Cho-a, Jisung took her hand in his as he started carefully cleaning the blood off it with a damp cloth. She gazed up at him.
The light inside reflected in his eyes like tiny stars. Tiny stars amidst deep brown orbs.
Cho-a exhaled a softly whispered,
"You're pretty."
He glimpsed up at her briefly. He saw her gaze and noticed how lost it was, but he didn't comment on it. He just looked back down as if he never saw it.
When Cho-a shuffled closer and put her head on his shoulder and closed her eyes, he also pretended not to notice. Even though his smile was evident.
From outside the bubble of the two youngest came a confused hum from Jaemin. He tilted his head to the side.
"Huh? Cho-a did your ankle heal?" he questioned, pointed at where the bruise had been earlier but wasn't anymore.
"Woah, really?" Chenle questioned, stepped closer and leaned forward to get a better look at it. All the while, Cho-a frowned.
"Why would it have healed? It hasn't even been a day since I got it," she dismissed, yet quickly opened her eyes when she felt Chenle poking her ankle. "Dude."
The boy in question looked up quickly, as impressed as ever, as he gave her a thumbs up. She narrowed her eyes at him before looking down at it.
"Oh?" she pushed out. "Jaemin's right."
Jaemin smiled proudly and Cho-a smiled back at him.
"I wonder why," she mumbled, however couldn't seem to be interested enough in it given how tired she was. So she closed her eyes again and repositioned her head on Jisung's shoulder.
She sighed. "Your shoulder's bony."
He hummed. "Your head's bony."
"I can put it back on my kn-" she began, about to lift her head when Jisung held it down gently with his hand.
Eyeing both of them suspiciously, Chenle interpreted the scene and quickly came to the conclusion that,
"I think you guys should get a room."
"This is my house," Jisung countered.
"At this point, it's basically our house," Chenle replied utterly convinced.
"It's not. You have your own place, you just need to use it." With which Jisung was right but Chenle was unhappy to hear it nonetheless.
So he crossed his arms in front of his chest and gave the younger one a warning glare.
"If you talk like this then I might just go home for real," he said, very sarcastically. "How would you like that?"
Jisung thought about it for a solid second before nodding.
"Take the others with you when you go."
"Wha-!" Chenle exclaimed in disbelief, his daring eyes turning into soft, big puppy eyes. "I was joking~"
"I was not," Jisung replied, pointed towards the door. "I'll see you at uni tomorrow."
As his words sounded final, Jaemin and Jeno got up already and Chenle put on a disapproving pout, whilst the girl didn't move at all.
"Cho-a, let's go home," Renjun said as he got up. But the girl just shook her head, shuffled closer to Jisung.
"I'll sleep here," she mumbled tiredly and Renjun stared at her in surprise. Even though it wouldn't have been her first time staying there overnight, he still didn't like it.
"Jisung told us to go home."
But Jisung shook his head. "She can stay."
Chenle gasped. "Favoritism," he spat and Jeno could only put a hand on his shoulder as he agreed with the younger.
"Let's leave them alone then," Jaemin said.
"No- wait," Renjun interjected. "Cho-a, what are you going to tell Kun?"
She opened her eyes as she looked up at the boy in confusion.
"That I'm sleeping here?"
"You think he will allow that?" he asked back.
"He allowed it last time too," she retorted. "You know he likes Jisung, why are you acting this way? Just go home. I'll see you tomorrow."
"He likes me?" Jisung asked as if that was a first and Cho-a nodded.
Glaring at the younger boy, Renjun began to speak yet again.
"I-" But Jaeming took his left hand and Jeno his right one and Chenle pushed against his back until the four of them were out of the house.
Alone in newfound silence, Jisugn and Cho-a sat still for a moment. Both were looking ahead, both were looking at the same blurry reflection in the window ahead without realizing it.
It was oddly comfortable.
The silence they sat in felt safe. Cosy. Free.
Did the world slow down? Just now, for them, it felt like it.
"Renjun seems clingy lately." Jisung's voice pushed through the silence around them. But his voice was warm, soothing.
Cho-a liked hearing it.
"I guess," she replied.
"Is he..." Jisung began, then drifted off as he hesitated. Hesitated for just a moment before he finished by saying, "jealous or something?"
Which Cho-a could only laugh at. Briefly and quietly and not even with her whole chest, reluctant to put too much energy into it.
But she laughed because of how innocent he made the question sound.
"We're not like that," she reassured. "He wouldn't get jealous."
"Are you sure?" Jisung urged and she nodded.
"He's just worried."
"Because of me?"
"Because of me," she corrected. "He likes to have me around to make sure I am alright."
His eyes drew over her. Over her hair to where it flowed down her shoulder, followed it to her hands and the circles she was drawing onto Jisung's leg with her fingers, then back up to where her other shoulder pressed against his arm but was hidden behind her head.
Her gaze was focused on her hands, her lips parted ever so slightly as she let out shallow breaths.
"You said he didn't like you when you were younger," he remembered and Cho-a agreed without hesitation. "When did that change?"
Stopping her circles for a second, she looked over at the chair that Renjun sat in earlier. She hadn't thought about it before, even though the answer was obvious.
Yet the answer was also something she wasn't allowed to talk about.
"Actually-" she began but got cut off when Jisung's phone started ringing as one message after the other filled its screen. Endless buzzing that wouldn't stop.
Sitting up straight, Cho-a moved away from Jisung a little so that he could take a look at his phone without having to worry that she would see anything.
Jisung eyed her briefly, upset that he didn't get an answer, even more upset that she moved away from him.
He rolled his eyes, took a deep breath and reached for his phone.
[14 new messages from Daegal's mom]
Daegal's mom
(7:24 p.m.)
hey Jisung
don't tell her I asked this
but is Cho-a angry at me?
you know because of earlier and all that
I really didn't mean it :(
(7:26 p.m.)
yo answer me
it's urgent
I won't be able to sleep later if I don't get an answer now
(7:27 p.m.)
yah poop hands!
tell me if she's angry
she seemed annoyed when I poked her
JISUNG
(7:28 p.m.)
wait are you angry too?
don't be angry at me
(seen)
(7:29 p.m.)
Jisung don't leave me on seen that's rude
(seen)
(7:30 p.m.)
I'm warning you, I will cry
(seen)
(7:31 p.m.)
:"(
the " are tears yk
tears because you made me cry
so now tell me if Cho-a is angry at me
[no new messages]
Jisung pinched the bridge of his nose and inhaled.
Deeply.
He filled his lungs with as much air as he could before he pushed it all out again.
Curious, Cho-a watched the older one as he rolled his eyes so far back that their brown was no longer to be seen.
"Are you okay?"
Jisung shook his head. "My best friend is an idiot."
"Why?" But at his question, all he did was give her his phone and let her read through the messages. "It says 'don't tell her I asked'."
"So what?" he asked. "Just answer him. Tell him you have my phone."
And Cho-a nodded as she typed a brief reply:
I already told you that I'm not angry, stop worrying about it
oh and poop hands gave me his phone, this is Cho-a
Daegal's mom
I TOLD HIM NOT TO TELL YOU
Well and how did that work out for you
Daegal's mom
I hate both of you
See you tomorrow
[no new messages]
"Okay, done," Cho-a said as she gave the boy his phone who nodded thankfully as he put it away.
Jisung leaned back, turned his head and locked eyes with Cho-a who was gazing at him absent-mindedly. It wasn't hard to tell that there was something bothering her.
He wasn't sure what it was though.
So when a few seconds had passed and her gaze had yet to focus on anything outside the void she was staring into, Jisung reached out and ran his hand over her head, down her hair until she put her attention on him again.
"What are you thinking about?" he asked as he took his hand away. Cho-a looked worried, shuffled closer.
"I have a favour to ask," she said and Jisung nodded, telling her to go ahead. "Please don't argue with Renjun because of me."
He didn't agree at first but he saw that she was serious about this. It was urgent to her.
"Are you so worried?" he questioned.
"You are really important to him and I don't want him to feel like he can't talk to you," she urged. "He can be overprotective but he is trying his best."
"I just don't understand how you can be so indifferent about all that he says and does," Jisung replied. He felt weird for being seemingly more upset at Renjun's thoughtless actions than the person actually affected by them.
She understood him though which was why she quickly nodded, agreeing with his concern. Agreeing with his train of thought.
And then she looked away.
"When I was younger, I didn't really understand him. I didn't know why he did the things he did. After all, I didn't do anything wrong, did I?" She shook her head, answering the question for herself. "But neither did he. So he felt wronged and he let it out on me."
"That doesn't make it okay."
"No, but I don't know - maybe if I was him, I would have done exactly the same." She managed to smile. "I understand him but I have never seen the world through his eyes. I wouldn't know how he feels. I only know what I see."
Her eyes found their way to the chair he sat on a while ago yet again. The image of Renjun there was lively - his past self and who he was now.
A boy that grew up well.
"We aren't who we used to be. He cares for me now and I care for him. He still can't find the right words to express what he feels at times but I know him well. I can guess what's on his mind." She looked back at Jisung. "Renjun and I, we are fine now. We argue sometimes but who doesn't? So can you choose to overlook it when he is being unreasonable?"
Looking at her felt confusing. Steady gaze and unwavering confidence. She was genuine about what she had said. She was honest about how she felt.
"How is he older than you when you speak like that and he behaves like an idiot," Jisung mumbled but nodded nonetheless. "Okay. As long as you two are fine, I won't interfere. But if he hurts y-"
"He won't," Cho-a reassured with a happy smile. "Don't worry."
Jisung returned her smile before he got up and walked towards the kitchen.
"Let's make you dinner," he said and Cho-a was quickly up on her feet and next to Jisung in the next room.
• Used to be •
I've been staring at this chapter for so long - if there are any mistakes please ignore them and pretend that you never saw them thank you :")
Also I didn't realize that I took so long to write this chapter. Sorry!
And thank you so much, this book has received a lot of love and support lately. I appreciate that so much! 💚
OKAY bye~