Just teenagers | Chensung

Chapter 6

The day of the Stage 1 Presentation for the start up competition. 

Jisung woke up to a peaceful morning and went on with his daily routine while listening to Aespa's Savage album.

Jisung's POV

Hope Chenle's not mad at me.

"Hey, wanna go through the whole presentation speech before the actual thing" Jisung asked Chenle once they met up in class. 

"Sure, why not. 3pm" Chenle said without looking up from his laptop screen. 

He isn't always like this.

"What are you doing?" Jisung peeked into the screen to try and figure out. 

"It's nothing. Just making some final touch up to the video that Jaemin edited" Chenle said, now closing his laptop. 

"I think it's fine. Don't worry" Jisung tried to reassure a nervous Chenle. 

"Let's head to class" 

What has got into him? 

|❣|

Ryujin and Yeji were making some final adjustments to their presentation materials at the library. 

"Alright. I've prepared everything that Chenle and Jisung have to present except for the administration budget" Yeji told Ryujin. 

"About that... I made a few changes so the I have to edit the slides"

"What do you mean? I thought the one we went through yesterday was good enough"

"It was. But  I forgot to include the expenses for the website that we set up"

"You should've thought about that earlier. It's already 2pm now. There's only 3 more hours for the presentation. Have you informed Chenle and Jisung?" 

"I have. They said that it'll be fine as long as the expenses are clearly stated on the slides"

"What if they miss that out later? The judges are gonna think we didn't prepare well" Yeji started to tense up. 

"Yeji, relax. I have it covered. We're not gonna mess up" Ryujin tried to calm her down. 

"That's what you always say. You're always the reason I mess up. You did it 5 years ago and you're doing it again now"

Ryujin's expression changed. She looked like someone just punch her in the stomach. She started to tear up. 

"What are you talking about? I thought you forgave me for that. You said it wasn't my fault"

"Yeah well, it is. I don't want you to screw it up again so you better get that done" Yeji raised her voice at Ryujin before storming out of the place. 

Ryujin was left to pick up the pieces. 

|❣|

It's 3pm. Where's Chenle? 

"Hey, I'm here. Let's start" the blonde-haired boy walked right into the library and sat next to Jisung.

It was an hour before the presentation when they were done with the run through.

"You seem off today," Jisung voiced.

"What do you mean? I've been the same," Chenle avoided.

"What is it? You can tell me," Jisung said with a soothing voice.

"It's just that I'm really nervous. I was disqualified in Stage 2 last year so there's a lot of pressure to do well this time. Pressure from my parents and teachers," Chenle finally confided in Jisung.

"You'll do great. I believe in you," Jisung said. He held Chenle's hand in his, rubbing his thumb on his palm.

"Thank you, Jisung"

They sat there staring into each others eyes for a while before going to the competition venue.

|❣|

"Attention everyone. Hope you're all well prepared. This is how we're going to proceed with Stage 1 of EcoThinkers," the MC began.

Now I get what Chenle was talking about. This is nerve wrecking.

"Groups 1 to 5 will present in Room 1 randomly while Group 6 to 10 in Room 2. You'll have 7 mins to present your business plan to a panel of three judges. Good luck!"

"All the best guys! Don't forget the budget adjustments I told you about," Ryujin said to Chenle and Jisung while side-eyeing Yeji.

"Good luck!" Yeji said, ignoring Ryujin.

"I'll be at the control room. Just call for me if you need explanation on anything," Jaemin chipped in.

"Alright, here goes nothing" Jisung said before going backstage with Chenle.

Upon random selection, Ecofy was chosen to present second. It wasn't a favorable position but they were confident.

"The Earth is the one place that we have in common. It is a good place and worth fighting for,"

Chenle and Jisung received a standing ovation for their presentation.

The judges were pleasantly surprised with their business layout as they said

"I really liked your pitching. The direction was very clear and quite achievable. It might also garner a lot of traction with the website,"

"The whole eco friendly theme is very trendy. I'm sure the majority of your market will be the youth,"

Trendy? The environment is not trendy. He doesn't know what he's talking about.

"I can see that you prepared well for this project. The implementation plan, strategies and budget proposals are well thought of. Keep it up,"

With that, the team decided to head to a cafe while waiting for the rest of the teams to present. They did sit in on other teams' presentation but they got bored of it and decided to just hang out instead.

"So Jaemin... I heard you're in the same class as Ryujin and Yeji. You guys don't seem close though," Jisung chose a rather odd conversation starter.

"I mean... we just got to know each other through this competition,"

"Chenle and you seem close though," Ryujin said to Jisung, smirking subtly.

Oh dear, she noticed.

Chenle started blushing profusely and Jisung noticed it.

"I could say the same about Yeji and you," Jisung bit back.

"No, we're not. We barely know each other. It's not like we have a ten year history or anything," Yeji got a little too defensive.

That got Ryujin looking slightly offended as she stared at Yeji before looking down.

"Geez sorry I asked"

Jisung and Chenle looked at each other while Chenle mouthed 'Oops'.

There's definitely something there.

"Guys, they're gonna announce the qualifying teams for Stage 2," Jaemin announced looking up from his phone.

When they arrived at the venue again, the MC spoke.

"That was a pretty impressive Stage 1. Without wasting anymore time, the teams that are proceeding to Stage 2 are...."