guys i haven't seen this many tears since antagonistic </3
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A year and a half ago...
Jisung didn't consider himself to be a romantic. In fact, it wouldn't have been a far stretch to consider him awkward. He had crushes, silently fawned over them...and let them go without a word of greeting. Girls were difficult to approach, they wore expressions that were either genuine or fake and it was hard to discern which, they spoke without making eye contact...with him anyway, and since he was good-looking (although he hadn't known it then) they were quite teasing and a little stand-offish as a way of flirting. He thought he was hopeless, and maybe he was.
But there was one girl who wasn't like any other in Jisung's young opinion. She was always in the park each morning when he went to clear his head.
When he was sixteen he dropped out of school since he found he wasn't good at it, and his parents couldn't have shown any less interest in him if they tried. The teenager believed a lot of that negligence derived from his kleptomania, and the way they wouldn't help him or got angry when he was taken into the station for questioning every other week. He was just a kid, and they never even tried to understand him.
He taught himself most of his etiquette, learned from other teenagers and adults about what it meant to be human and how one was expected to interact with another. But he'd never worked out how to talk to girls, and this one really caught his eye. Not only was she stunning, but she was a weirdo too. In the best way.
Her laugh was wild, like every joke she heard or every scene she saw was the funniest thing since cat videos. And when she did, her eyes would crinkle into crescents and she'd make others smile and giggle at what she'd found hilarious too. Another factor: her clothes. Dresses, shorts, skirts, jeans, all of it. She suited everything. But she never looked sloppy and always appeared as though she had somewhere special or important to be — no tracksuits or lazy comfort-wear.
Something else, her voice was relatively deep for a woman. It was something that brought Jisung's attention to her from the beginning, because it wasn't exactly out of place...but it wasn't the typical vocal level of most females. Something told the star-struck boy that she'd be an amazing singer, or public speaker or something. She was confident too, with so much to say and had conversations with random people at the park all the time.
The one thing that the young male was stuck pondering on an awful lot was how sometimes she'd show up with other guys. They were always handsome too, like they'd been plucked from movies...not that Jisung had many opportunities to watch television. Whatever it was about her that allured him was stronger than any other crush had been before, and other men or not...he simply had to learn who she was.
So he did.
He perched by the duck pond one of those lovely, summery mornings when the light was just perfect for reading and the clouds were sauntering slowly across their vast pathways. He brought some bread from home with him and was plucking it delicately before tossing the small crumbs into the water. The birds were going wild for it, and he'd almost forgotten the reason he'd shown up at this time before someone crouched down beside him and hummed softly.
"You're feeding them?" She murmured, staring out at the three ducks — one male, two females — who'd been tackling each other for the bread. "That's so thoughtful. I always think to bring some snacks for them, but forget every time I leave the house."
"Ah, s-same..." Jisung tried to reply when his gaze shifted to none other than his beautiful girl. "I usually forget but...this morning, I woke up early. It just occurred to me."
"Really? I'll have to set a reminder on my phone. Otherwise, I'll walk out without bread again," she giggled in that intoxicating way and balanced her hands on the dirty pond-bank as if she didn't care at all. Her hands were slender and pretty, with manicured nails. "I believe I see you around here quite often though. What's your name?"
"My name..." the younger furrowed his brows and suddenly realised he was actually having this conversation. His heart smashed up against his ribs with a mighty jolt and he diverted his gaze back to the water before shakily throwing some more crumbs out. "Jisung..."
"Jisung? Cool. I'm Chenle. Do you recognise me? I tend to come here almost every morning."
"I do."
"I must be so annoying," she chuckled, bringing one slightly dirty hand up to scratch the back of her neck. "I'm loud. I've heard that before."
"Well, you are," Jisung agreed, but hurried to continue before offending her, "But it's not annoying! It's quite refreshing, actually...your voice. Ah! Your loudness, and chattiness and stuff. I mean, people are so reserved and boring these days, so when someone unconventional comes along and shakes things up, it's...I'm not making any sense," he panicked, accidentally dropping a whole crust into the pond and cringing as it floated away just to be savaged by the ducks and other birds who'd joined them. "I'm offending you..."
Chenle merely broke out into laughter, and for once she was sharing it with Jisung. That hearty, genuine, pitchy giggling that definitely made ghosts twist in their graves and brought an unintentional smile to the taller's face. "You're not, I promise. It's sweet of you to say, actually. Anyone I've met has always said 'oh, you're nice, but you're really obnoxious and loud sometimes'."
"Seriously? That's not fair. It's not true either."
"Says the guy I've spoken to for all of three minutes," she smirked with more chuckling withheld behind that look.
I've been discovered, he winced, pouting gently and sitting back on the bank to relax a little. He didn't want to come off as obvious, and it was creepy that he'd been watching Chenle most mornings like this. But now, if all else fell to shit, he at least learned her name like he'd always wanted to. "It's not as weird as it came out."
"Don't worry, I get it. I'm sure most of this park knows my life story at this rate. Well...the face of it. Everyone has the rest of their stories tucked away in a sacred corner only to be visited when the time is right, don't they?"
"We've been talking five minutes," Jisung smiled faintly, "and we're already getting into societal values and issues."
"Oh, sorry. Sorry, sorry, sorry," she waved her hand lazily, "I went there, huh? I actually came over to introduce myself and ask if I could feed them too. And here I am, poking holes in people's life stories."
"Oh, you want some?" The brunette suddenly dove his hand into the flimsy plastic and retriever a fresh slice of bread. The ducks had mostly moved on by now since the conversation had distracted their source of food, but they would flock back at the trickle of the water. "Here."
As the slice was passed between them, Chenle's warm fingers met those of Jisung's and the younger flushed a deep scarlet hue before quickly retracting his hand. It actually came across as a bit rude, and this was why people assumed he was awkward.
"Sorry," she apologised again with an uncertain smile and shyly glanced back at the pond where the birds were returning with intrigue. Her eyes were downcast and it looked as though she felt insecure. For Jisung, however, he was wondering how his idealised version of this person who'd always worn her heart on her sleeve could be...insecure.
"I'm the one who should apologise, that was so mean," he breathed nervously. "I don't get out much...if that's not blatantly clear."
Chenle glanced to him once again and smiled for the nth time that morning, peeling away layers of bread and throwing them out. She didn't say anything else, and just let that linger. God, she was so fucking beautiful. Long, black hair plaited so loosely by her shoulder it could've unravelled any moment there. Her sundress was loose since she was exceedingly flat-chested (not that anything if the sort defined a woman for Jisung) and the straps often needed to be pulled back up. Her legs were pale in comparison to the younger's, but very flawless with no sun damage.
Stop staring at her legs, you dumbass, he mentally scolded and actually physically knocked his forehead with his loosely gripped fist. The elder saw this and snickered, poking his bare arm where the t-shirt sleeve ended. "Daydreaming?"
"Y-Yeah. Head in the clouds..."
"Hehe, same. What do you daydream about?"
You. "Ducks."
"Well...you do you. I tend to space out and think about—" she went on, but by the time Jisung actually tuned in it was too late. He was too distracted admiring the way Chenle's loose hair lined her face, or the way she smiled as she spoke without a hint of resentment for anything in this world. He rested his elbow on his knee and leaned his cheek into his palm, listening quite contentedly.
She really was something else.
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double update dudes