❝ we cried a lot and laughed a lot
but it was so beautiful ❞
¤━━━¤
as the sun made its appearance, the delicate beams creating golden streaks across the sleeping bodies, the odd silence bringing some peace to them for a minute.
chenle lifted up his head, one hand supporting the rest of his body. his head pounded, all objects slurring together to create an unrecognisable blur. his eyes then shot towards the steam beside him, an unevenly shaped porcelain black bowl placed on the cardboard box that acted like a bedside table.
he slowly edged near it, the thick porridge sitting warmly in the bowl, a wooden spoon complementing it. a sticky note stuck on the spoon, a familiarly messy handwriting scrawled across it
drink it, it'll help
he knew who that handwriting belonged to, his head revolving around to see no one in the room beside kun, doyoung and taeyong. his scrunched up his eyebrow, letting his eyes wander down to his left hand that lay limply off the bed.
he may have been drunk, but he seemed to keep selective memories
a hand wrapped around his, the fingers he had once held onto without hesitance slipped through his. he didn't know what was happening, but the shuffling sounds beside he simulated that someone was indeed there. he felt the pair of hands bring his towards her chest, her back left against the mattress.
she was on the floor, her head dipped down and her back leaning against the mattress. but the thing was, she wasn't on the mattress, she was next to it
how uncomfortable would it be to sleep on the floor with a mattress as your back rest. it was the only thing she could do when her morals began to disperse. just for one night, they'd lay under the same roof, holding each other's hands, and forgetting about their past
just one night, before everything will come back to reality
slipping out of the bed, his feet pattered against the wood, his fingers sliding against the toughened frame of the door, his forever lion like hair sat untamed on his head. he was curious, being like a lost child wandering down the danger driven hallways. it was a dumb decision, but his heart had always had its own mind.
it wasn't until he spotted a dashing hyejin that he shrunk back into the mould of reality. the girls footsteps were loud and heavy, thundering against the not so stable floor while thrashing her arms around. no one was chasing her, yet she ran as if a herd of bulls were hurtling behind her.
the two spotted each other, hyejin cursing quite audibly before grabbing chenles arm and yanking his body back into the room
"everyone wake the hell up" she was panicked, violently shaking kun and doyoung up "its inspection day, they're coming for report checkups"
it was vocabulary they knew, but couldn't understand. hyejin gave them no time to stir in their sleep, tugging on their arms to rush them into the confined bathroom.
"don't just stand there, help for gods sake!" she exhaled sharply, flinging the blanket over taeyongs knocked out body.
"chenle find somewhere to hide!" her voice was distorted, panicked and rushed. chenle whipped his head around, locating nothing that could possibly conceal him.
"you fu-" and she grabbed chenle by the collar and threw him under the table, her body crashing into his as soon as the door creaked open
with their heavy breaths fanning on each other and their bodies basically cuddled up, it was a moment to treasure.
"why are we hiding?" chenle whispered, his arms naturally laying around her
"shut up" she retorted straight back, her voice just above a whisper. there were light conversation from the men who had walked into their place, winwin being one of the men.
"no misses today?" if voices could have colours, that mans voice would be one of grey, and only grey
"no sir" it was winwin's voice, she knew it from the first word he had uttered.
"joo hyejin, how about her?" there were several clicks of pens
"no misses recently sir"
"how many strikes?" his voice remained indifferent. there was slight hesitance in winwin's reply "4"
chenle rose an eyebrow at hyejin's uneasy face, his arms moving without instruction and pushed her ever so softly towards him as if their bodies weren't close enough.
"chenle don't take advantage of this situation" she scowled, shrugging off his hand. chenle sighed quietly, his eyes fixed on the shadow of the desk. he didn't want to make her uncomfortable by staring at her without limits, so he kept to himself, and respected her decision
"updates on NCT?" the man audibly shuffled some papers
"they blew up their base sir"
chenle and hyejin looked at each other, bewildered at how winwin was acting. he's turned so selfish and blinded by greed that even hyejin wasn't sure if winwin had been manipulating her the whole time. although, he's the only reason she's still alive, so she owes him her life.
"and the members?"
for once, don't be honest she prayed in her head, her eyes squeezed shut. she was even surprised she was helping nct right now, it was perhaps just an instinct at this point.
"we don't know"
a walkie talkie buzzed into the conversation, the device pressed up against the Stone staff's mouth
"don't" it was from the same man "not yet"
"what does he-" it was chenle's voice
"shut up" she pushed him further into the table legs, a thump rattling the lamp on the desk "awesome"
there were several footsteps, hyejin snuggled up close to chenle, completely unwillingly but that's beside the fact. it seemed to get closer, the pounds of the floor rippling into their ears
"sir" thank god for winwin "i have the file here"
as expected, he had backtracked and turned back towards winwin
"arent you claustrophobic?" chenle whispered, his voice running straight down her ear, shivers gliding along her back. she never had an issue with claustrophobia, it was just a natural occurrence that lived with her like a halo of thorns. it wasn't that bad, it was simply annoying.
"yeah no shit" she'd been trying to hold out for a while, and she's used to forcing herself. she'd force herself till she broke, it was ok if she was use to it
"hold my hand" chenle murmured at the volume of a mosquito. she rose her eyebrows at him, knowing she was going to reject his offer "chenle we're not-"
"hold my hand" he cut her off again, noticing the little cuts in her voice.
"i'm not someone you can order around anymore" she breathed, shuffling around in the tiny space. she was thankful winwin and the staffs conversation tuned in again
"i'm trying to help-"
"winwin bring this to the Head, he'd want to see it" the silence was more sophisticated than awkward, the obvious absence of any type of friendship or connection was there
"yes" the file slipped uncomfortably into winwin's hand "but the reports haven't been updated yet"
another chorus of tapping on the floor "i'll take it up"
there were a subtle kick to the table chenle and hyejin were hiding under, hyejin obviously getting the hint. gesturing chenle with her head, she slipped out of the spot, sliding towards the opposing cardboard boxes. as a mafia gang member, chenles ninja sneaking technique really lacked some skill.
in the end, she managed to yank him across the room silently, his body also tucking behind the boxes. she sighed out of relief, the confined spot no longer grasping her by the throat
the door creaked open, as if everything had finally died down. but they never heard the close of the door
winwin straightened up again, and hyejin and chenle biting their lips for dear life.
"these reports have already been updated"
and the atmosphere froze
"i uh, could've gotten it wrong" winwin scratched the back of his head, snatching the clipboard from the staffs hand
"you don't get things wrong here in Stone" the staff wasn't stupid, so he knew something was up. his eyes traced the surroundings, his eyes ultimately landing on the body like lump under the scratchy blanket. his footsteps grew, hyejin pulling chenle to slightly slip around the corner.
they were so screwed
but as if god had finally spoken to them, a buzz of his walkie talkie halted the tread.
"in place" it was static, voice muffled and hushed
"attack"