Happy Endings ⁘ Chenle

23 ⁘ Nephew

⁘ 23 ⁘

In-hyuk sat down with a wide smile on his face.

"You kids really invited me to dinner?" he asked, warmth wrapping itself around his heart. "I am flattered that you chose me to be today's third wheel."

"Don't be. There were no other options," Chenle countered half-heartedly and watched Da-eun sit down opposite the two boys after having gotten herself a glass of water.

"I mean, we probably could have asked Kun or one of the others," Da-eun noted, earning a nod from Chenle while In-hyuk narrowed his eyes at her.

"What a good start to our friendship," In-hyuk said, shaking his head disapprovingly. "Threatening to replace me with Kun. Tsk."

She huffed. "You called me questionable, so I can threaten to replace you." It was very much logical in her eyes and also, arguably, a very good trade. "Besides, Kun is such a nice person too," she said under a sigh.

Yes, Chenle was her idol. Yes, she was more than happy and incredibly overwhelmed that she got to be so close to him.

But Kun?

What a man.

"You really like Kun, hm?" Chenle wondered.

"Everyone likes Kun," she shrugged which In-hyuk was forced to agree with.

She had a point.

"Anyway, Da-eun," In-hyuk called her name as he reached out to fill his bowl. He had his eyes on the ladle as he made sure not spill anything. "I was really curious about you, you know?"

Sparking her interest, the girl found her attention glued to the older one.
"Me? Why?"

Smirking slightly, knowing he was about to annoy Chenle, In-hyuk sat his bowl down before he pressed his elbows into the table and leaned a little closer to Da-eun.

"As Chenle's manager, I know a lot about his life, what he does, who he talks to," he said. "But you? You were just suddenly there, on the phone, talking and joking with him. I was curious - and a little worried. I need to watch out for my son."

Chenle huffed. "Son?" he questioned. "You are my weird uncle at best."

In-hyuk shrugged. "I take it."

"Congrats on your new nephew~" Da-eun said happily, making In-hyuk smile.

"Thanks!"

But all of this just caused Chenle to wonder, "What's wrong with you two?"

"Back to the topic," In-hyuk said soon enough. "I didn't know that you go to Seoul University, or otherwise I wouldn't have told Chenle about the whole security issue going on basically right before we started filming these stunts."

The older boy leaned back, hand above his heavy heart as he faked a worried sob.

"But I couldn't have known that Chenle would get so affected by it! He was incredibly absent-minded after that, so much so that he missed the timing and fell," In-hyuk recalled the horrific incident.

Well, 'horrific'.

Actually, the fall looked kind of funny and so, being a responsible adult, he had struggled to hold back his laughter.

"Hyung..." Chenle muttered under his breath.

Surprised, eyes wide, Da-eun looked at the younger of the two who looked like he was ready to hire a new manager.

"Really?"

Chenle hesitated - both, to answer and to look at her. In the end, however, he didn't exactly deny it.