RENDEZVOUS

16 | code red situation

the hot weather continued for the rest of the week, and the start of the next.

jisung bounded up the last few steps up to the school roof after the bell rang to signify the end of the school day. he blinked in the sunlight and headed over to the edge where a familiar figure was waiting.

wanting to surprise him, jisung crept up on the shorter boy and tapped his shoulder. "is this really a code red?" he asked breathlessly.

chenle jumped, startled by the sudden voice in his ear. "geez, don't creep up on me like that!" he screeched. "and yes, it's a code red for sure - didn't you get my text?"

"clearly i did," jisung countered teasingly, "or i wouldn't have come up here, would i?"

"shut up," chenle huffed. "anyway, i used all caps, jisungie. all. caps. doesn't that tell you it's a serious code red situation?!"

jisung laughed and leaned against the railing next to him, looking over the edge of the roof. "okay, okay, you gonna tell me what it is then?"

chenle hesitated, chewing on his lower lip indecisively. it was a huge favour he had to ask, without even telling jisung the truth in the reasoning behind it.

"is that your brother?" he asked instead, his eyes following donghyuck and xiyeon below, skipping in the direction of the bike shed.

jisung's brow furrowed. "i swear he's supposed to stay away from her," he muttered. "but seriously, lele, get to the point already."

he turned his gaze to chenle, who shifted nervously from foot to foot in front of him. moments passed, the silence suffocating between them. jisung was about to open his mouth and ask again when-

"i need you to kiss me!"

jisung stared at him.

chenle instantly became a blushing mess, his eyes everywhere but meeting jisung's. "i-i'm going on a- sort of, uh, a date? tomorrow? and i may... want to..."

"kiss them?" jisung finished.

chenle slowly met his eyes and nodded.

jisung breathed a heavy sigh. "you're working on the project with guanlin tomorrow, right?" he predicted.

"pfft, no!" chenle turned an even deeper shade of red.

jisung raised an eyebrow.

"well, y-yes, i am," chenle rambled, "but i'm also going on a d-date with a... a g-girl..."

"right," said jisung, laughing to himself at the ridiculousness of the situation. "and this is what you call a code red? you need to - what? - practise kissing?"

chenle fiddled with the hem of his shirt, feeling a little overwhelmed at jisung's response. "y-you usually agree to anything i say," he mumbled.

"yeah." jisung gave a short sigh. "why do you need to practise anyway? it's not like you've never kissed someone before."

jisung had no idea where this boldness was coming from.

"that doesn't count, i was drunk," chenle blurted in embarrassment. "and like i said, it's a... a g-girl, so..."

"practise on a girl then."

"jisungie!" chenle whined, flapping his arms in frustration.

jisung's gaze trailed down to chenle's lips, which were pink and puffy as he pouted them out in annoyance.

"you're my best friend, okay?" chenle burst out, "and i need you to do this for me just this one time. for your bestie... please? pretty, pretty, pretty please-"