Happy Endings ⁘ Chenle

32 ⁘ Bandaid

whenever I think to myself I should have gone for a more bad boy-ish concept for this story, I remind myself of this Chenle

⁘ 32 ⁘

He called again. 

She still didn't answer. 

He texted again.

She never replied. 

That was seven days ago.

And in the early afternoon of that seventh day, Chenle and Winter followed In-hyuk into a cosy little restaurant right around the corner from where their next appointment was going to be. 

Chenle had kept himself busy with work for his new show. It helped take his mind off things and make him less worried. Worry that had continued to grow. 

Maybe it was dumb. After all they had only known each other for a few months. Still, it felt odd that Da-eun wasn't replying. It was out of character - that much Chenle dared to judge. 

However, he was busy. That was the reason why then, when he entered the restaurant, he felt okay. 

Tired, but okay. Things were going smoothly too. The schedule was moving ahead just fine and his appointments passed without trouble. 

Winter sat down next to Chenle. She let out an exhausted sigh. "I'm tired." 

"Same." 

In-huyk smiled at the two younger ones. "It's on me." 

"Oh-" Winter's eyes lit up right away. "Really?" 

The oldest of the three nodded. "Yeah, just choose whatever you want." 

Nothing easier than that. Once he was done talking, the two were already looking through the menu, eagerly discussing what they could eat. They decided to share two dishes, both of which were quickly chosen and ordered. 

Winter smiled, bowed her head slightly. "Thank you, Mr Ohm." 

In-huyk grimaced. "Please call me by my first name," he asked of her. "You're making me feel old." 

"You are older though," Winter pointed out. 

He took a deep breath at the sting he felt upon hearing that. Still, forced to agree, he nodded.
"There is no need to make it so evident, is there?" 

"Just do him the favour if it makes him feel young," Chenle said under his breath, attracting the other two's attention right away. 

"Yah, Chenle," In-hyuk warned. "I am young. You are just very young." 

"That's a matter of perspective." 

Eyes narrowed at the younger, the manager didn't know what to say. He was slightly offended but not exactly surprised by the remark. 

"Watch it. I'll actually ditch you for Da-eun one of these days," In-hyuk warned very much jokingly. 

However, since he knew how confident Ye-jun and Min-jung were in her acting skills, he was eager to figure out what she had to offer. And because of his trust in the girls' opinions, he would have been ready to take a risk. A risk that just so happened to entail dropping Chenle for a nicer and more well-mannered alternative. 

"Hyung, you'll be disappointed," Chenle cautioned. "Once she's comfortable with you, she's not much different from me."

Unconvinced, In-hyuk narrowed his eyes at the younger boy. "Really?" And Chenle just nodded.