always ↬ leading me on || l.dh • h.rj • z.cl

·twenty nine·

"He has this assignment for music," Renjun started, eyesight not straying from where it was set on the surface of the table, "it makes up 40% of his final grade and he's stressing because it's a group project and obviously-" he paused, shooting his head up to glare at a certain orange haired boy, "because of some people, that's gonna be hella fucking hard."

Just as Donghyuck was about to open his mouth to say something in protest, Chenle bounded his way over to the table, donning new clothes, hair still dripping with water as he attempted to dry it off with the towel that was hanging around his neck.

"I'm back!" he shouted, childish grin on his face as Renjun pulled him to sit beside him and started to fuss.

"You're gonna catch a cold Lele, dry your hair properly," he lectured, taking the towel from him and dabbing at his blonde locks.

There was a small silence as everyone observed the two, before Haechan actually started speaking this time. "Hey, Chenle?"

"Hmm?" the younger looked over at him as Renjun ran his fingers through his hair to untangle the strands from one another.

"This music project of yours, how many people per group?"

Chenle was a little taken aback at the question before he supposed that his gege had told them and so he answered with a steady, "five or more."

"Great!" the tanned boy smiled, leaning over the table in a conspiring manner as he whispered ominously, "let's be a group then."

To say that no one was expecting those words to leave the boy's lips was an understatement. Jaemin's head whipped around to him at the speed of light, Jeno raised a perfectly arched eyebrow, Mark raised two eyebrows and Jisung dropped his milk carton.

"W-what?" Chenle stuttered out, flustered and confused.

"You heard me, let's be a group. There's five of us," he gestured to his friends and then at the two Chinese boys, "and you two, that's seven of us and it meets your requirements, right? So let's do it together."

"B-but-"

‣‣

Chenle sighed as the end of the day rolled around, so much had happened and he felt a little bit overwhelmed. Suddenly, he had a group to work with for his music assignment and not only were they the school's most popular boys, but also the most musically gifted. Not to mention the fact that Renjun would be there with him as well — it all just seemed a bit too surreal.

Mark was a year above them all and Jisung was a year below, so their schedules completely clashed with everything, but they didn't have any qualms about it. Probably because they skipped a majority of their lessons to hang out with Jaemin, Jeno and Donghyuck anyway. However, Jisung had to prepare for his own important dance project as well and Jeno and Jaemin had a shared assignment for directing & filming.

It was then, that Donghyuck came up with what he called the 'revolutionary idea' of merging all of them together and creating a choreographed song and shooting a music video for it. Each of the boys found the thought exciting and so they spent the remainder of the day roaming around the halls and talking to each of their teachers — as Renjun had insisted — to make sure that they approved of it.

Currently, Chenle was at the back of the school, sat down on the floor with his back against the wall a little further off from the picnic benches they were at previously this morning.

Renjun had wanted to talk to his maths teacher about a question he didn't really understand and when he offered Chenle to go with him, the younger shook his head, stating that he wanted to get some fresh air.

This past month or so, Chenle's emotions had been a mess. Since Renjun returned, he was over the moon, but his school life was changing so drastically and it was having an impact on him. It wasn't that he was upset or anything as such, he was just confused and he needed to take some time to think about it all and then consult Renjun; after all, they didn't keep anything from each other.

The blonde jolted out of his thoughts when he felt a presence sit next to him that definitely wasn't Renjun's. He could tell the elder boy apart from everyone else even with his eyes closed and ears covered. When he turned his head to see who it was, he stiffened.

Lee Donghyuck.

Chenle could feel his palms start to sweat as he turned his head away. Although the elder had been nice to him for the past few weeks, it still wasn't enough to get rid of his trauma.

It wasn't enough to erase the years of pain and suffering that he was put through by this one person.

All the mocking jeers and insults.

All the painful bruises and cuts.

The days where he'd regain consciousness in a pool of his own blood and the moments just before he had rubbish thrown all over him.

All the mental torture.

All the physical hurt.

He could never forget that within the span of a few days.

He doesn't think he ever could.

It was daunting because it was just the two of them — alone and he couldn't even deny it that, right now, he was scared. Scared of what the other would do to him, just like he always was.

But Donghyuck didn't raise a fist at him this time, nor did he pull his hair, or tell him that he was worthless and shouldn't be around. Instead, Donghyuck took his hand in his and played with his fingers quietly.

Chenle was waiting for the moment where he'd turn around and snap them into two, he was waiting for the moment he'd twist his arm and break it, and he closed his eyes and braced himself for the anguish that would ensue, but that feeling never overcame him.

"Chenle?" The voice that flooded through his ears wasn't filled with contempt, wasn't laced with hatred or any other negative emotion.

The voice that fell upon his ears was tiny, was hurt and suffering.

The voice that fell upon his ears sounded like his own, but then he realised that his lips weren't the ones moving when it was whispered.

A small, guilty, "sorry."