1842 words
The next week at school, you were walking down the central senior school hall when a voice called out behind you.
"Hey guys, wait up!"
You and Chenle stopped walking and turned around to find a sweet eye smile following behind you and waving you down.
"Jeno! What's up?" you called while the tall dark-haired boy made his way closer to you.
Jeno, along with some other boys, was another one of the friends you had made since moving. You had become particularly close with him and Renjun, thanks to group projects in Chemistry. They were your go-to's for partner projects, and occasionally Jaemin stepped in too when you needed even numbers. They were all really sweet boys, so it wasn't uncommon for you and Chenle to hang out with them at lunchtime too.
"It's my birthday this weekend, and I was hoping to get a few friends together for a small celebration. Do you guys wanna come?" Jeno invited, shuffling his heavy pile of books around in his grip.
"Sure! Who else is coming?" Chenle asked.
"It'll be you guys, Renjun, Jaemin, and a couple of my other friends. Do you know Jisung and Donghyuck?"
"Oh yeah, they're in my psych class!" you nodded along, remembering their faces at the sound of their names despite not knowing them super well. Chenle nodded as well, saying something about how he was good friends with Jisung too.
"Cool, it's probably just going to be a day at the beach down Main street," Jeno explained. "Saturday, that is."
"I'll be there!" You agreed, Chenle joining in with an excited smile.
"Awesome, see you 'round." Jeno sent the two of you one last smile before turning and heading down the left corridor.
"Jeno's kind of cute, don't you think?" You comment, looking at Chenle. At your words, Chenle's ears turned a noticeably deep shade of red, his eyebrows furrowing slightly despite him trying to hide his expression. You couldn't help but chuckle at his reaction. "Don't worry, Lele. I don't like him like that, I was just making a comment." Chenle lifted his head up and gave you the classic 'really?' look, eyebrows raised forming soft crinkles on his forehead. "If I'm not going to go out with you, I'm not going to go out with anyone else. Trust me," you reassured.
"Why not?"
You hesitated to answer. You didn't mind Chenle knowing, but it was hard to talk about. Especially at school, you could break at any moment and it would be embarrassing having to clean your own tears up in front of everybody. Chenle noticed your discomfort straight away.
"You don't have to tell me," he muttered.
"No, I will," you paused. "Just not now, not here at least," you said, looking around.
Chenle nodded understandingly and the two of you kept walking until you reached your english classroom before heading in.
-
"Jeno! Happy birthday!" You called upon finding the boys running around on the hot sand, trying to splash each other with the seawater. You put your things on the sand and handed him a small gift bag, fit with chocolates and a new CD and pulled him in for a hug before greeting the other boys. Chenle had already arrived, and you had come just in time to watch him rip off his shirt before picking Jisung up and carrying him deep into the water.
"[y/nnnn]," Jeno waved his hand in front of your face, trying to get your attention. You were snapped back to reality, and pulled your eyes off of Chenle's toned body which seemed to act like a magnet with your attention.
"Oh, sorry," you mumbled, offering a pathetic smile. "What did you say?"
"I said thank you," Jeno replied, laughing at how obvious it was that you were staring right at Chenle.
"Oh, you're welcome!"
"[y/n]!! Hi!" Jaemin ran over, waving to you. You waved back, walking over to him to meet the other boys.
"Are they... alright?" you asked, pointing to Renjun who seemed to be trying to push Donghyuck's head into a hole he had made in the sand.
Jeno and Jaemin both let out a chuckle. "Yeah, they're always like that. They'll be fine," Jeno said.
"[y/n] you're finally here!" Chenle dunked Jisung into the water and ran up from the shore towards you, hair soaking. Before you could run away, Chenle engulfed you in a great big hug from behind, picking you up and spinning you around.
"Ah!" you let out a yelp. "Chenle! You're all wet!"
Chenle released a loud maniacal-sounding laughter right over your shoulder, holding you tighter against his chest making sure to rub the water all over you.
"I missed you!" He screamed.
"Chenle, it's been one day, I saw you yesterday. Now let me go!" You shuffled around in his tight grip trying to get him to loosen up, though you couldn't deny it was kind of a nice feeling having his arms around you.
Chenle finally let go, and the boys' attention was turned to Jisung, who was walking up to the group absolutely soaking head to toe with an unhappy look on his face.
"Zhong Chenle!" Jisung lifted his eyebrows, sending a death glare to Chenle. Chenle's lips formed a cheeky grin, and he took off again, taking your hand in his and bringing you with him to run away from Jisung.
"Chenle no! I can't run this fast!" You laughed, trying to keep up with Chenle's speed. He didn't say anything, just kept laughing and pulled you with him until you both slipped over and ended up rolling around in the sand, unable to contain your laughter.
The night progressed quickly, chasing each other around on the sand with handfuls of water, Donghyuck trying not to be fully murdered by Renjun for no apparent reason, and making memories you knew would last. Before you knew it, you were all singing Jeno happy birthday and eventually starting to pack up.
"Thanks for coming guys! See you on Monday," Jeno called out to everyone as he headed up the sand to the footpath.
"Happy birthday!" You called out one last time, waving back. Soon, it was just you and Chenle still standing on the sand.
"Are you getting picked up, [y/n]?" Chenle asked.
"Nah, I don't live too far so I was just gonna walk."
"Are you doing anything? Why don't we stay and hang out for a little longer?"
You didn't have any other plans and your parents weren't expecting you home for dinner, so you shrugged and agreed to stay.
The sun was just beginning to set over the water, forming a very picturesque view for you and Chenle to walk beside as you carried your sandals.
"Hey," Chenle began. "I never asked you why you moved."
"Well, there were a few reasons," you explained. "First of all, it's a lot closer to my Dad's work down here so we moved to save him a lot of travel time everyday." Chenle nodded. "Second, my old school, well," you trailed off. "It wasn't exactly the best."
"How so?" Chenle questioned, turning to look at you.
"It didn't really offer the best education, but the main problem was the people from school and around the neighbourhood."
"What happened?"
You took a deep breath, trying your best not to let the lump in your throat get the better of you. "I used to go out with this guy, we dated for nearly a year. I think I was nearly properly in love with him – it took a while, but I ended up falling for him more every single day." Chenle nodded again, starting to notice the hurt in your broken voice. "It was meant to be our one year anniversary, and I was hoping to surprise him, but I found him making out with my best friend on the rooftop." You bit your lip, but its trembling was unavoidable and a well of tears started forming in your eyes. You took a deep breath, Chenle's arm finding its way around your waist to pull you in for a much-needed hug.
There was so much still left to be explained, about your feelings and why they were the reason you couldn't let yourself be vulnerable anymore, but suddenly words weren't necessary. There was something in Chenle's hold that told you he got it, and that everything will be okay. He offered a kind of comfort that you couldn't get from anyone else.
Chenle pulled away again after a few seconds. "Is that why you don't want to..." his voice trailed. You nodded. "Since I found them together, I was never treated the same. Somehow, they turned it on me, like it was my fault and I was the one that cheated. I had to get away from them, and moving just seemed to be the best option."
"I'd never do that to you," Chenle said softly, taking your hand in his and looking up to admire the way the setting sun reflected off your skin.
"I know, Lele, I'm just not ready."
"I know," Chenle took in a breath. "Don't worry about them now, they're gone. You have me now, I'll keep you safe." Chenle sent you a warm smile, and his gleaming eyes along with the soft touch of his fingertips on yours sent an undeniable rush of electricity down your spine.
"Come on, let's do something else." Chenle moved his hold of your hand up to grip your arm and put his other arm behind your legs, ready to pick you up bridal style and run towards the water.
"Chenle!" You screamed. "I only just dried off!"
Your screams and kicks didn't stop him, Chenle kept running into the ocean until he pulled you down so only both your heads could be seen on the surface. The fun you had with Chenle made it feel like you had never felt any hurt before. You could only think about how happy he made you, and any pain always disappeared with just one view of his contagious smile.
The two of you swam around in the water, the sun setting as you both kept splashing each other like your life depended on it, complete with endless laughter. The sky soon became pitch black, lit up with dozens of constellations and a bright crescent moon reflecting on the ocean. You both pulled yourselves out of the water, the crisp breeze biting at your wet skin causing you to let out a shiver. Chenle ran up to where each of your things still sat, collecting his jacket and running back down to your shaking body to place it neatly over your shoulders.
"Here," he said softly, securing it around your torso and rubbing your arms to help warm you up. You walked up the small sand dune to pick up the rest of your things again and started to head towards the footpath.
"Where do you live?" Chenle asked. "I'll walk you home."