"Chenle, wake up, we're talking to the others, now."
Chenle woke up and was aggressively being pulled out of Jisung's warm bed by Jaemin. Jisung was gone, of course, he was always busy early in the morning. Chenle was tired for sure, he had spent all night with Jisung doing God knows what, he can barely remember now. Chenle whined at the sudden action. It was too early anyway, he knew it wasn't even close to noon since the sun seemed to have barely peaked out.
Chenle didn't even fight back as Jaemin threw him over his shoulder. Jaemin was strong and he barely flinched. Chenle felt himself hang from Jaemin's shoulder and groaned in slight pain. He had a headache now, the kind where you know you didn't sleep well.
"Why?" He whined.
Jaemin didn't answer and walked out of the room, still holding Chenle securely on his shoulder. Chenle heard a knock and the creak of the door before he was dropped down into a bed again. He was about to cuddle up into the bed when he heard a scolding yell.
"Chenle, why are you like this?!" It was Donghyuk's voice. He heard laughter soon after , so he looked up curiously. He was met with four pairs of eyes staring down at him.
"Huh? What's goin on?" He asked, trying to rub the sleep from his eyes.
"We have brought you here, so we can talk some sense into you!" Donghyuk yelled, causing Chenle to flinch and cover his ears.
"Apparently, we heard Renjun is good at it, so I asked him for help and Jeno tagged along." Jaemin said, helping Chenle sit up.
Chenle wrapped the blanket of the bed around himself. He realized this was probably Jaemin's room. They were all still staring at him. He cleared his throat and looked at each of their faces. Donghyuk looked disappointed.
"What did I even do?" He asked.
"What did you do?!" Donghyuk was clearly frustrated.
"Clam down." Jaemin gave Donghyuk a glare. "You're confusing him more." Jaemin gave Chenle a small smile.
"Chenle, you did nothing wrong, but we think you shouldn't have rejected Jisung. As your brothers, we think you would be happier if you had stayed with him." Jaemin spoke calmly and slowly. Chenle could feel the care in his words. He smiled when Jaemin called them his brothers.
"Even if I would have been more happier, it didn't matter. He'd be happier with royalty. He's meant to marry royalty and live the lavish life and I'm okay with that. I'll be happy if he's happy." Chenle smiled. He heard Donghyuk groan.
"Chenle stop being so selfless." Donghyuk said with another groan.
"Chenle." Chenle turned to Renjun who spoke.
"Yes?"
"What makes you think Jisung would be happier with royalty?" Renjun spoke in a calm manner that made Chenle at ease.
"He's very good with people. I'm sure he could easily find someone else. He's very affectionate and talkative. A princess or prince would be a good fit." Donghyuk groaned once again at Chenle's answer. Renjun rolled his eyes.
"Good with people? Jisung? I think you mean someone else." Jeno said in surprise and laughed. Renjun laughed a bit too.
"Okay Chenle, since someone keeps groaning in pain let's speak this way." Renjun started speaking in Mandarin, making Chenle listen attentively.
"Okay, sure."
"Jisung is not affectionate and talkative." Renjun shook his head. "He is not very good with people either. He's an awkward kid. He may be comfortable with you and with us, but he is very shy when meeting new people. Even with us he will not be very affectionate."
"He talks to me so easily though?"
"It's because you are special to him. I really don't think he should marry some royalty he's going to be really uncomfortable with, do you?" Renjun raised his eyebrows.
"No, but I'm scared too. I'm scared to marry him and have it not work out. I'm scared, and I think he deserves better than that."
"Chenle." Renjun put a hand on Chenle's shoulder. "Jisung is scared too. Who wouldn't be? He's less scared of marrying you than a stranger though."
"But-"
"Chenle, you and Jisung aren't Romeo and Juliet. You have it so simple. All you need to do is say yes! There's no one against you being together. How is it that you even feel about him?"
"I adore him! He's the sweetest and realest person I've ever met. He's my favorite person. He's gentle and kind and a cute mess of goodness. I just... I'm not enough." Chenle felt his tears prick his eyes. It was all true. He felt like he'd be okay spending a lifetime with Jisung if all remained the way it was, comforting nights and peaceful days. He would be miserable though if Jisung ended up treating him like everyone else has.
"Isn't this love at first sight?" Renjun laughed.
"What does he even feel? What if he treats me like how I've always been treated. I'm done with people hurting me."
"Are you serious?" Renjun laughed in disbelief. "Do you really believe he would do that? I'll beat him myself if he ever even tried. Have a little faith in Jisung. I know you see his goodness."
"Well of course, everyone is good. That doesn't mean people don't do bad things suddenly."
Chenle heard another groan from Donghyuk. He had almost forgotten they were present. He looked very impatient. He probably couldn't understand what was going on.
"What now?" Renjun asked him.
"This is taking way longer than it needs to." Donghyuk walked up to Chenle and shook his shoulders. "Listen to me, you two are going to be very happy if you just marry the boy. If you're able to be such good friends right away with no issues, then you can definitely make a marriage work. Every marriage has issues anyway, but you two could probably deal with them easier than most. Chenle, I love you as a brother and so does Jaemin. We know you are the most sweetest person we know. I know you're still unsure about marriage because of what it did to our parents, but think about your old parents. Weren't they the most happiest couple ever? You could recreate that! Stop feeling sorry for yourself. Stop being so hard on yourself. Stop being so selfless for once and do what you want!"
Chenle started crying.
"Look what you did now!" Jaemin whined and pushed Donghyuk aside to hug Chenle tightly to his stomach, since Chenle was still sitting on the bed. He played with the blonde locks of hair to calm the sobbing boy. "He's right though, Chenle. Even if he did say it too harshly." Jaemin had a nicer tone. Chenle knew that Donghyuk's tone was necessary though.
"I know!" Chenle cried out into Jaemin's chest and pulled him tighter to himself.
They all chuckled softly at the cute boy. Chenle kept on sobbing and crying. It seems he had built up his tears for this moment. He cried into Jaemin's shirt, leaving it wet with tears, but he was allowed too. Jaemin definitely believed he deserved to be kicked in the stomach than just a soggy shirt for how he had treated Chenle in the past.
"What do I do? Isn't he choosing another person now?" Chenle sniffled.
"He is actually choosing right now, but I'm sure he would drop them the second you walked in. Jisung really does care about you, a lot." Jeno said.
"If he's chosen, then I won't interfere." Chenle sighed, finally starting to calm down.
"And if he hasn't?" Renjun asked.
"I don't know. I guess I'd try to talk to him, but I'm in my pajamas still. I'm not going to walk in there when everyone else is dressed in riches." Chenle whined.
"We've got this, don't worry." Renjun smiled. Donghyuk cracked his knuckles, Jaemin smiled brightly, and Jeno looked at all of them approvingly.
Suddenly, Chenle was pulled out of the comfort of Jaemin's bed and was taken to sit down on a chair. He watched Renjun and Jeno leave. They came back with many different things in their hands.
Pretty soon, his hair was being brushed, his face was being powdered, his lips were being painted, and many other things were going on around him.
"What should he wear?" Renjun asked. He groaned in frustration. He was a perfectionist and if the suit wouldn't fit perfectly, then what was he to do?
"This one! I'm sure it'll fit." Donghyuk seemed very excited.
They allowed Chenle to change into everything and he was finally ready.
"You look like a prince." Jeno said first.
"The color really compliments your skin and hair." Renjun smiled.
"You're so pretty, Chenle!" Jaemin exclaimed.
"Turn for us." Donghyuk said.
Chenle shyly turned and they all complimented him more. He couldn't believe they found a suit that fit him so well. It was a nice white color. He was almost scared to wear something so pretty. No doubt, it was expensive. He was covered in white from head to toe except for the black bowtie and shoes.
He smiled at himself in the mirror. He was nervous, but he was ready. It was now or never.