Happy Endings ⁘ Chenle

22 ⁘ Dinner

warning: long chapter ahead

enjoy tho~

⁘ 22 ⁘

"Hey there, princess."

The second she heard his voice, her eyes unfocused. The phone's screen before her turned into an abstract blur of bright lights, of thin lines that read words if she were to concentrate on them.

She wasn't prepared to hear his voice right now, this close, this clear. And she sure as hell wasn't prepared for these to be the first words he said to her upon their first encounter.

She thought that she had gotten used to his voice through the numerous phone calls, the voice messages, the shows and interviews she watched. She wouldn't have thought that, in reality, it was even warmer, smoother. His tone effortlessly balanced between familiar banter and pure sincerity.

After being stuck motionlessly for a moment, too shocked to reply, Da-eun turned in the direction of his voice, her eyes meeting his right away. They sparkled beautifully in the street lantern's light.

"Chenle?" Disbelief was the best way to describe her reaction. While she knew that he would come back soon, she didn't expect him to pick her up. She wasn't ready to see him today of all days. "You are back?"

He reached up, hooked his finger around one of the loops of the mask he had been wearing just in case and pulled at it, taking it off to reveal a soft smile that was patiently sitting on his lips.

"I got here early this morning, so I'm a bit tired," he said, yet didn't want to further talk about it as he was more interested in asking, "Are you okay though? Juwon said you don't look too good."

Seemingly confused, Chenle let his eyes linger on the girl's features for a bit, giving himself time to think and giving her time to process his presence. However, rather soon, he came to the conclusion that,

"You look pretty though?" he wondered, failing to understand Juwon's previous statements, before tilting his head to the side a little. "A bit tired maybe."

"That makes two of us then," she quickly retorted, rummaging through her brain for any suitable reply to this unreasonably flattering comment. "You look a little tired too but you're as handsome as always."

For some reason, she managed to sound surprisingly calm and way less flustered than she actually was. While that surprised her, it didn't surprise Chenle at all. He was used to her talking like this, didn't really think that his presence or voice had much of an impact on her anyway.

She was the one that called him first, after all.

She was the one that introduced herself as Lee Sooman during their first conversation.

She didn't exactly strike him as a person that would easily get starstruck. Besides, Chenle was pretty down to earth anyway.

He was just some boy that happened to be an actor.

So he smiled a little wider, showing a slim line of white. He was amused at her swift reply. Her joking tone added a lightness to their interaction that he was used to from their texts and calls.

"You are my uber?" Da-eun asked jokingly at which he nodded.

"And you are my very first customer," he added proudly, before backtracking and saying. "Well, at least that was my plan."

He scratched the back of his neck, looked at the car behind him with an awkward smile. Da-eun only now realized that the car's engine was still running and noticed the silhouette on the driver's seat.