𝖈𝖚𝖗𝖗𝖊𝖓𝖙𝖑𝖞 𝖑𝖎𝖘𝖙𝖊𝖓𝖎𝖓𝖌 𝖙𝖔: 𝖇𝖊𝖙𝖙𝖊𝖗 𝖙𝖍𝖆𝖓 𝖌𝖔𝖑𝖉 - 𝖓𝖈𝖙 𝖉𝖗𝖊𝖆𝖒
chenle walked back to the castle the same way he came to the forest, and was honestly saddened to see that jisung had left his 'chair'.
he doesn't know how he remembered exactly where the latter was, but he was fairly confident this was the same log.
also, the area was now teeming with life unlike earlier, confirming to him that jisung had left for good.
he was hoping to bump into him again that night, but not all hopes come true.
why is he thinking about this guy again????
he isn't even sure if he's going to get murdered by Mr. Park one night and he is gaining his trust or if he really is just another unfortunate boy.
he needed to consult someone about this, but who?
nobody except jisung knows he is out at night, but there are 4 others he trusts enough.
yes, he will talk to those 4. they could give him some good opinions.
off chenle went, almost skipping towards the edge of the forest, crouching through the meadow, heaving himself over the wall and clambering up the vine to his bedroom.
it was just how he left it.
dropping down onto the carpet, he closed the window, made sure no leaves were attached to his clothes, put on his nightwear and almost fell into bed.
another of the short list of things he liked in life, his bed.
snuggling into the covers, chenle shut his eyes and mentally prepared himself for the next day.
👑
chenle awoke to a familiar noise and the throw came as instinct.
sadly, he missed.
he was about to go back to sleep when he remembered that he needed to speak to his 4 friends, and suddenly he was awake.
throwing on another set of casual wear and putting his used set in the washing basket, he ventured to the kitchen to see if his breakfast was ready.
he seriously felt bad for the maids who had to work day and night to clean the whole interior and do all the jobs, but alas, he couldn't help.
if his parents caught him trying to help them, they'll lecture him that he's a prince and shouldn't stoop so low.
yeah he's a prince, but that's just a title? he was still a human.
he gave the maid making his breakfast a sad smile, and sat down at the table.
his food was served and he vaccumed it down, racing off to his bedroom at supersonic speed.
he grabbed a leather cloak from his closet that covered most of his face, put it on, and back down the vine he went.
speedwalking now, he joined in with the crowd, acting like an ordinary civilian who just went out for their morning shopping.
he passed the homeless man again, promised to himself that he would help him sometime, and carried on towards his friend's shop.
M & H's Sweet Shop.
it was named after the two boys who founded the business, and the other two became employees. the four of them could hold the place up quite well, to chenle's surprise.
he thought it was impossible for them to work together.
coming to its door, he opened it, and a jingle sounded, telling the man at the counter that someone had entered.
"hey zhong! guys, your father is here!", the cashier named yangyang shouted towards the back room.
out popped the owners of the shop, mark and haechan, and they enveloped chenle in a tight hug.
"guys that's a bit tight i can't breathe"
the two let go, "oh sorry big head! and he is not my father for your information, he is our baby!", haechan confirmed.
mark shook his head, "anyways, you usually come here for a reason because you don't love us and you never come to see us just for the heck of it... so what's up?"
chenle took the personal attack from mark lightheartedly, the guy was always joking around with him.
"that was a joke, by the way."
see?
"uhh, kind of a weird one"
"nothing is weird in our book"
chenle cocked his head and chuckled, "basically, i don't know if you saw this but did you see when the guards blocked off the main stretch?"
"i did! well, we all did", the oldest, kun shouted from the back room, "we were close enough to see who was outside the gates. scary stuff. there's a whole talk about it now. what about it?"
"well, did you see the tall, cloaked figure that wasn't showing any skin and had that really big sword?"
"yes... go on."
"uh. don't get mad at me, but i go into the forest at night for a reason i will not be discussing-"
"you what??!?!?!"
a uniform shout from everybody.
"you could get yourself killed going in there!"
"haechan, whatever anybody has told you about that forest is wrong. eye witness statement."
"...i'm still never going in there."
"anyways, i went into the forest last night and they were there."
kun shifted.
chenle continued, "he has humanity. i tripped over a log and he was concerned for me, i hit myself on the head really hard and he came running to me asking if i was okay. we had a comfortable conversation and he told me some things about himself. he's a good dude. but i still don't know if i can trust him."
the others all had a look of shock on their faces.
"oh my god you're alive?!?!", haechan gripped onto chenle's arms and shook him, "you could have died!"
"that's the thing. i didn't. why would he have not taken the chance and killed me then if he really wanted to? i think he's a good guy, he mentioned that he was... unfortunate just like me. i just, wanted your opinions about this because i know i can make bad decisions sometimes."
"...self-awareness!"
"shut it squared", mark said, "i think he definitely would have killed you if he wanted to. but he didn't, so i trust him a little bit. i don't know near enough about him to trust him fully, though."
"same here", yangyang voiced, "if he said he was unfortunate like you then maybe you two could get along. he is still scary-looking though, would take a while to get used to. does he even have a face?"
"i'm pretty sure, yang. how would he talk?"
"fair point. i'll shut up now and go finish this order.", and off yangyang went.
"well, i agree. anyways, what do you want our opinions for?", hyuck questioned.
"... he said he would be in the same place tonight and we both agreed to meet again. i just wanted to know if it was a good idea."
"be careful.", kun sternly said.
"that was intense."
"i don't want anything bad happening to you, my boy. please just be careful."
"don't worry, kun. if i was going to be hurt i would have been already. all i seemed to have been hurt by last night was a log i fell over and myself."
"hah! maybe if your head wasn't so big it wouldn't have taken you down with it!", yangyang popped his head around the doorframe.
"i swear i'm gonna-", chenle stepped forward abruptly like he was going to run for yangyang, but faked it.
in response, the other screamed and ran for his life.
"well, thanks for the opinions. i'm gonna go now before anyone realises i'm gone and it was nice seeing you again, my babies."
chenle chuckled at the disappointment on mark's face after being called that, and the boy hugged his friends. he found yangyang hiding behind a bin in the store room.
coming to kun now, he hugged him from behind as he was stirring some melted sugar, "don't worry, i'll be careful. i know you treat me like a son and i swear i'll be okay."
"pinkie promise me?"
they linked their pinkies together.
"pinkie promise."
saying his goodbyes, chenle left the shop and headed back to his trusty vine.
not to chenle's knowledge, kun knew more about jisung than he thought.
•
(an. say hello to the friendz 🥶 + a lil bit of kun mystery; what does my man know hmm???)