toxic | nct dream

41. he's in love with you

• • •

"Oh yeah, I remember that," Sungchan leaned back and stared at the ceiling for a moment, remembering a forgotten time. "Chenle ditched me that summer to go to basketball camp."

Xia stifled a laugh. "He ditched everyone that summer," she said bitterly.

"And then he tried to convince me to join the team. I made a fool of myself during tryouts while he was dribbling circles around everyone else."

A grimace spread across his face at the thought of his embarrassing failure, barely able to dribble the ball much less make a basket.

"Well, to be fair," she started, attempting to give the man a little sympathy, "you know how he is about trying new things; he can't go into anything unprepared."

"Yeah, but did he really need to become a pro overnight? Seems a little excessive." He said hyperbolically.

"He likes to take things seriously. It's not something to get concerned over." Xia countered.

"No, but your deteriorating memory should be. We were 8, not 10, by the way."

The girl rolled her eyes. "Oh, whatever."

The two sat in their bickering silence for a minute or two, lost in thought.

Sungchan was the first to break it.

"You know he did that whole camp and joined the team for you, right?" He probed.

Xia slightly gulped at the direct question, shifting in her seat. Her eyes went everywhere except to meet his.

"To shove it in my face and prove that basketball is easy and anyone can do it, or some other bullshit point."

He sighed, disappointed that she still couldn't accept certain truths that were so obvious to him.

"Xi, I'm telling you, that man has been in love with you since we were kids. I don't know exactly what happened between you two but—"

"You're right, you don't." She spoke clearly, shaking her head.

Stunned for a moment, he raised a questioning eyebrow. Quickly conceding to a relaxed stance, set back in his chair.

Xia gave him mercy. "Don't worry about it." She said quietly. "Everything's fine. We're going to be fine."

Exasperated, the girl stared down at the desk covered in papers. 

The man looked at her with compassionate eyes.

Sungchan wanted nothing more than for two of his closest friends to be happy, and it had been clear to him for a long time that their happiness was being with one another.

"So, how did you convince Mr. Zhong into letting you have a job?" He asked, changing the subject. "Isn't he very traditional? Or did he have a change of heart?"

"Yes, he still is. And Chenle was the one to convince him," Xia revealed, smiling at the thought of her future husband already advocating for her.

"He said that since Andante Studio was a new acquisition, it would need corporate higher ups to observe operations, and who better than his son's fiancé to report from the inside?"