Happy Endings ⁘ Chenle

72 ⁘ Space

okay so... enjoy :)

⁘ 72 ⁘

When Jeamin sat down in the middle of the sofa, he let out a deep sigh. It radiated exhaustion and an impending headache. Jeno smiled, sat down next to him and patted him on the back. It equalled a wordless yet affectionate 'there there'.

"Why's he sighing?" Haechan wondered as he entered the room alongside Jisung and Renjun. He held a couple of glasses in his hands while Jisung carried drinks and Renjun carried snacks. 

"Because he knows this will be chaotic," Jeno commented. 

Haechan raised a brow. "We are planning a two-day trip, not a new movie." 

"Both equally stressful," Jaemin argued. He had his laptop on his lap, ready to look up locations and hotels and take notes of any ideas that came to mind. 

The three sat everything down on the coffee table before also taking a seat. Jisung quickly looked around, trying to spot his best friend. 

"Where's Chenle? And Mark?" he asked eventually after noticing that both were missing. 

"They're talking to Da-eun," Jeno said and glimpsed towards the door. "They seemed pretty worried." 

"Why?" Renjun asked swiftly. "Did something happen? Is she okay?"  

Jeno looked at Jaemin who took a deep breath. "She got another threat," he told the others. None of them had known about this. They looked at each other in concern. "It's a bit ambiguous but... I'm also quite worried. Suk-ho also warned us to be careful though and keep an eye on Da-eun - and each other of course." 

"Chenle is always with her," Haechan reasoned, trying to lift the mood. 

"Well, yeah," Jaemin agreed. "But Da-eun mentioned that she doesn't want to be stuck inside. I think they had a fight just before we got here, so Mark is up there with them." 

Mark pulled at Chenle's arm, causing him to take a step back. He looked at the younger warningly, urging him to stop. 

"I didn't do anything!" Chenle argued. It was easy to tell that he was angry, which was not a first for Mark but surely one for Da-eun. It was another reason to attempt and calm the boy down first since the girl seemed incredibly overwhelmed by the whole situation.   

"I'm not saying you did," he assured calmly. "But you should give each other space when you are feeling this way. What's it going to help if you rile each other up even more?" 

Chenle huffed. Mark had a point, yet he was too caught up in the situation to agree with him. So, still upset, he looked at Da-eun who kept her eyes glued to the ground. She was holding her own hands, biting down on the inside of her cheek. 

She seemed too nervous to speak. Too anxious to look up. 

He was still angry, still upset. But seeing her like this made it hard for Chenle to stay irritated. His gaze softened as he started to worry.  

Mark looked around. He wasn't used to seeing them in such a tense atmosphere. But more than anything, he wasn't used to seeing Da-eun so riled up. She wasn't a hot-headed person and, especially after all she had been through, it took a lot to really throw her off. 

So, without knowing what exactly had happened, Mark immediately figured Chenle might have accidentally said something that caused this. When Da-eun took a step back and turned to the side to gain some distance from the situation, the oldest tugged at Chenle's arm.  

"What exactly happened?" he asked in a whisper. 

Chenle didn't see himself at fault. He didn't think that he said anything wrong per se and he wasn't willing to be made the bad guy here. But then again, that wasn't all that important right now. Because Chenle also felt unsettled by Da-eun's strong reaction.