Happy Endings ⁘ Chenle

60 ⁘ Secret

⁘ 60 ⁘

The next morning, Da-eun woke up without Chenle by her side. It wasn't necessarily unusual given that she tended to sleep longer than him.

Still, she couldn't help the feeling that something was wrong. If not due to her hearing two voices downstairs this early in the day then at least due to Daegal nervously walking up and down the room.

Once the small dog noticed that Da-eun was awake though, she jumped onto the bed and pressed her nose against the girl's cheek. She laughed and took it as a cue to get up.

As she opened the bedroom door, she noticed that the second voice belonged to In-hyuk.

"...condemning your relationship. I'm not blaming you nor am I blaming her. I only came to discuss it and check up on her."

Da-eun walked out of the bedroom, stopping as she reached the stairs. Daegal stood still next to the girl. She wanted to go downstairs yet didn't want to leave her favourite human's side. Nose high up in the air, she gazed at the girl that furrowed her brows upon hearing the out-of-context snippet of their conversation.

"I didn't even say anything," Chenle defended himself.

"I can tell by the look in your eyes," In-hyuk argued. "You look so ready to lecture me on how she is a good person and you love her so much and whatnot. It's not like I don't know that."

Silence erupted before In-hyuk scoffed.

"See? I was right."

"You can't blame me for that. You are working for SM and we both know that their interests aren't automatically mine," Chenle urged.

"But your interests are mine," the older said. "It is my job to take care of you."

"Taking care of me isn't taking care of her."

"At this point it's practically the same," In-hyuk said with a sigh, almost making it sound like he was mocking the boy. "Anyway, I came to check on you guys so stop investigating me."

Another moment of silence, yet it was soon interrupted by a sigh.

"Alright, sorry."

"I know you are on edge," In-hyuk said. "I won't take it to heart. Where is Da-eun? Still sleeping?"

As if on cue, Daegal let out a soft bark before rushing down the stairs, turning right once she reached the bottom of the staircase and hurrying into the kitchen.

"Oh," Chenle exhaled softly. Once Da-eun heard footsteps, she herself started walking too. She was on her way down the stairs when Chenle came into view. He stood in the doorway and watched her walk towards him. "Morning, Eun."

"Morning," she said with a smile, then glimpsed past Chenle. "In-hyuk's here?"

Her question was answered by shuffling inside the room. Moments later, the oldest of the three pushed past Chenle to get a look at Da-eun. Noticing that he was not needed right now, Chenle stepped back into the kitchen to make Da-eun some coffee.

"Hey In-hyuk," she greeted him, carrying a light tone, unaware that it didn't quite fit the panic that was bubbling inside the oldest.

"How are you?" he asked her calmly, contrasting how he felt. His eyes scanned her body carefully as if there was any need to worry about her given that she was in Chenle's care. If anything was wrong, Chenle surely would have told him.