firefly | zhong chenle

CH14

"the feeling that Chenle felt the first time he ever lay his eyes on her surged back, the feeling of silent happiness."

-

She had never run so fast in her life.

Arin flew down the stairs, running at full force towards the ground floor. Her feet were moving on it's own accord, her heart beating erratically. She had never felt so relieved and panicked at the same time, it was a strange concoction of emotions.

As she made it to the front entrance, breaths laboured and chests heaving up and down. Her erratic heartbeat didn't stop when she watched each tired firefighter clamber off the truck, stretching their arms and legs. Blood dripped from their lips, ashes painted their cheeks as if they've just taken a trip from hell and came back.

The moment she saw the figure she had been waiting for all day and night take a step off the truck, she ran. She didn't why she ran but she bolted towards him. Literally 2 metres away from his body, she halted, reality smashing her as she realised what she was doing. Her entire body frozen. Perhaps out of relief, or perhaps out of simply not knowing what to do.

They just stared at each other for a second, like the first time they met, they just simply clashed gazes. The feeling that Chenle felt the first time he ever lay his eyes on her surged back, the feeling of silent happiness. He didn't know he was the type to experience love at first sight, but it all felt so real now, seeing her concerned and waiting for him after the mission

"Arin" Chenle spoke, hand clutching his helmet and the other one clenched into a fist.

"Ah..." Arin took a step back to distance them, scratching her head awkwardly "You're back"

"Were you waiting for me?" Chenle asked. The question kinda just jumped out of his mouth without much of a second thought, catching Arin off guard.

Then she was immediately reminded of why she was even concerned in the first place "No I was waiting for your god damn corpse. Why did you go with a 40 degree fever?!"

Upon hearing the answer he didn't want to hear, he pushed her aside, taking off his uniform as she tailed him

"You know damn well that you need to be healthier than anyone to go on a mission. What went through that empty brain of yours to think-"

"I'd like to remind you I'm your captain Arin" Chenle placed his helmet back into its stand, not even sparing her a glance.

"Ok Mr. Captain- Listen to me" Arin grabbed his arm, twisting him around to look at her "You had a fever. You could've died out there"

"It was fake" Chenle deadpanned

"What?" She scoffed

"I was trying to..." He couldn't say he was trying to get her attention, so he made some random excuse "I was trying to test whether the thermometer works"

"You were testing whether the thermometer works!?" Arin almost yelled, dropping his arms.

"You were waiting for my corpse and Id say that's a lot worse than testing a thermometer" Chenle entered the room as Arin let out another scoff of disbelief. She can't believe she was waiting for someone who faked his sickness for a whole day.

"I worried about you for a whole day because I thought it was my fault for not taking care of you and you have the audacity to tell me this was all just a joke and you just wanted to test a fucking thermometer" Arin stormed away, slamming the door and causing Chenle to jolt. However, upon hearing the word worry, he wavered. He had never felt the need to apologise or feel bad for someone, but suddenly, he felt bad. He felt a pang in his heart.

;

It was lunchtime and Arin had gone to grab her serving. After an enthusiastic greeting with Misoon, she took her tray and took a seat with Jisung and Haechan.

"How was the mission yesterday? It lasted ages" Arin asked to start a conversation, poking at her food.

"That's not nearly as long as our longest. There was once a massive bush fire, burnt down half the forest" Jisung exclaimed "We were there for days! Maybe even a week. Fighting for our lives and oh my god let me tell you how tiring it was"

As Jisung was telling her the story, Chenle came to the table, tray in hand but hesitant to sit down. Arin glanced up to look at him, scoffing in annoyance and standing up, then leaving to another table.

"Wait Arin-" Jisung said, as Chenle sat down.

"What did you do to her?" Jisung asked

"Nothing" Chenle, like Arin, poked at his food

"How can you piss her off within like two months of her being here" Jisung pouted "And I was just getting to know her then"

Chenle slammed his chopsticks down "5km tonight" He stood up "All of you"

A crowd of murmurs and groans erupted within the cafeteria. It seemed as though the entire unit was suffering due to Chenle's bad mood.

"Fucking jerk" Arin put her chopsticks down, grabbed her tray and stormed out the room too.

"Why does it feel like I'm watching my parents fight..." Jaemin glanced at the door, where the two had just both left

"Shush before Chenle makes us do more" Renjun nudged him.

"Did I ask you to worry!?" Chenles voice echoed from the door, and the entire cafeteria flooded with silence. Not a single person had the bravery to even breathe.

"So it's my fault I worried!?" Arin's voice echoed back to him from the same entrance.

"That's not the point. Why are you mad over something as small as a thermometer!"

"Is the thermometer the issue?! The issue is you lied to my face! Zhong Chenle stop blurring the problem"

"I'm your-"

"Captain! Wow, I know you're the captain but no one asked you to be an asshole"

"This is gonna last for a while..." Haechan sighed.