Happy Endings ⁘ Chenle

20 ⁘ Magic

⁘ 20 ⁘

Shrek Enthusiast

Chenle are you okay?
I heard you are in the hospital
what's going on?
you are fine right?
(11:52 AM)

It was hours later, as she was sitting in the middle of class, barely able to focus, when her phone suddenly rang. It was muted but her screen lit up, catching her attention. 

She only glimpsed at it momentarily. At first, she did not quite register the name. However, eventually, she decided to take a closer look at it. 

Hastily, she got up, trying to keep a low profile as she hurried out of the room. She took a few steps away from the classroom before answering the call. 

"Hello? Chenle?"

"Hey," pushed through the speakers. His voice sounded hoarse, throat dry, tired - the 'I have been up too long' not the 'you woke me up in the middle of the night' kind of tired.

"What- why are you awake?!" she said in shock. "Go to bed!" 

It was quiet for a moment before he pointed out, "You texted me first." There was a quiet laugh on his end and a slight feeling of embarrassment on hers when she realized that she was partly at fault here. "Are you okay? You sound riled up."

How could he ask her if she was okay?

How could he sound so calm? 

She wanted to nag at him for not seeming concerned at all about being in the hospital. She wanted to mock him for asking her whether she was okay when the one who was hurt was obviously him. 

Yet all that she could do was take a deep breath, as his words were enough to take the suffocating weight off her chest that had built up over the hours. She turned around and pressed her back into the wall behind her. 

Lately, it had been rather warm. Sunny. But the short-lived weather change couldn't quite manage to warm up the cold air. A cold that still sat deep within the university's brick walls, which was now persistently seeping through Da-eun's shirt. 

"I am okay. I was worried, I heard you are in the hospital." 

Feeling too restless to just stand there, however, she walked over to the window opposite her. She tapped against the glass, catching fleeting glimpses of people walking outside, the leaves swinging back and forth in the wind. 

"Are you okay?" she asked, not allowing him to speak. "Hayoon mentioned something about you being worried but my phone died so I didn't know you called. I really thought you guys knew about the situation here already though. But I called you as soon as I could but you didn't pick up and I had class but I would have tried calling you again later if--"

"Eun."

Oh. 

By causing her train of thoughts to stop completely at the softness of his smooth voice, Chenle reached his goal. The way he said that made it sound like it came natural to him. Like he always called her that. 

"I'm okay. It was just a small accident- it's an action movie after all, that can happen," he said coolly. "Don't get worried. I am looking after myself well."

She huffed. "Yeah?" she asked mockingly. "Then why did you get hurt?" 

Huh? 

Chenle didn't know what to say to that? That was a first. 

"I was just a little distracted," he offered her. "Won't happen again." 

"It better not. You need to stay healthy," she warned before she added, "For Daegal, of course."