3:00 ( And I'm thinking about you. ) 》Chengstin

the first.

justin was always the good kid, the one who happens to always meet what his parents' expectations are. the one to always bring an honor roll for them just for him to be appreciated. the one who tries his extra hardest just to be noticed, be loved. to say that maybe being overly pressured at 16 made him grow up a little earlier than he should. hell, he was still young, too young to even view life like this.

he was forced to look at life not like any other kid out there had been. life, for him, wasn't rainbows and sparkles. life for him was similar to the spinning wheel in that one disney movie, aurora, almost died to. tempting, yet you have to take too much risks just to live what you want to be.

justin wasn't an exception to life's torturous stories. in fact, he's living a nightmare more than a fairytale he used to always draw on his textbooks when he's not that interested with what the hell the teacher's talking about in front of the class.

it was 3 am and justin was supposed to wake up in less than 3 hours just for him to go and drag his ass to school, yet here he was, squatting against the soft grass bed, hands clutching the grasses underneath his palms, a book on his lap that he had been quiet repeating over and over again.

"a romance book? for a 12 year old? isn't that too complex for you to understand?" an unfamiliar voice made justin flinch, hand quickly resting on his chest, as he just felt his heart skip a beat in shock.

"are you planning to kill a 12 year old by shock? i can file child murder if you do that." justin retorts, cheeks flaming in embarrassment as he tries to squint in the darkness.

"you admitted you're 12. well, you do look like one." a figure emerged from the dark, trying to scoot its way next to justin and once the figure made its way beside justin, his face was illuminated by the moon's lamination. "oh shut up, you look 9." justin grins, making up a space for the other to sit.

"isn't it past your bedtime for a 12 year old to be up here?" the new face scoffed, propping his elbow up, his cheek squished from his palm as he stares at justin.

"stop calling me 12 year old, geez. i'm 16." 'nice one justin! you just told whoever-this-guy-is a very personal information of you which you don't even know if he can murder you on this very night, but nice one!' he thought to himself, biting on his lower tier.

"oh? you are?" the guy tilts his head to his palm even more, staring even more intently at justin.

"stop staring at me, you'll melt. gross." justin hissed before he heard the other let out a snort.

"okay, okay. also, learn to give some respect to your elders." the guy scoffed, reaching out to pet justin's hair.

"who gave you the right to touch me?" justin gasped at the elder, completely offended as he tries to fix his now messy hair.

"myself. am i not allowed to?" the elder sits up straight now, side eyeing justin.

"no, you're not allowed to." justin squats the other's hand away, though a smile forming on his lips.

"why are you so nice. " the other sarcastically rolled his eyes before his eyes trailed towards the night sky.

"chengcheng." the other mumbled out of nowhere.

"huh? pardon?" justin was back to sticking his nose back to his not-romance book, blinking at the elder.

"my name. my name's chengcheng." chengcheng beams, eyes never leaving the night sky.

"oh." justin retorts, closing the book in his lap with a soft plop before he hugged his knees to his chest, settling the book beside him.

"oh? is that what you're all going to say?" chengcheng eyes him again, yawning sarcastically.

"oh, shit. justin. justin's the name." justin sheepishly grinned, resting his cheek against his knees.

"who knows a kid could curse." chengcheng blinked at himself before justin hisses at him.

"watch your words, i'm not a kid." justin glares at him which made chengcheng burst out in a loud laughter.

"oh, mom! i'm so scared." chengcheng mocks him before rolls his eyes for the nth time which justin hoped his eyeball would fall off of his sockets.

"anyways, the book." chengcheng started which made justin look at him. "what's with it?" justin mumbles, voice barely above a whisper. "you've got nice tastes when it comes to literature. though, you're quite a masochist for choosing that book." chengcheng clicks his tongue, grabbing the book beside justin.

"'/you've/ read it before?" justin tilts his head at chengcheng, eyes twinkling. "yeah! it's one of my favorites." chengcheng smiled. he lets himself listen to chengcheng blabbering about how kinda stupid the story was, but the dynamics between the characters somehow intrigued him the way justin was intrigued as well. sure, maybe the story tried to depict two idiots in love, trying their hardest to find the perfect timing but never gets the chance to, until the moment the other had found someone else. it was bittersweet, but the story was realistic, and beautiful.

silence enveloped them for a bit, the crickets casually chirping in the night, the stars slowly occupying the whole entire skies and this is why justin loves hanging out at this place, alone, but with this person beside him, he doesn't really mind someone to accompany him.

"are you.. perhaps new here?" justin starts, hoping that the boy indeed was new, because if he wasn't then this guy probably knew that he should avoid justin at any cost.

"yeah? thought you'd find out." chengcheng turns his head to face him.

"oh, welcome!" justin greets enthusiastically for once.

"thanks. also, it's getting pretty late, aren't you supposed to head back home?" chengcheng furrowed his brows, giving justin his own book back.

"oh, uh, thanks for reminding me. i should probably go." justin retorts, already getting on his feet as he dusts off his pants.

"sure, i'll go with you, i guess?" chengcheng shrugs his shoulders and once they started walking, justin turns around, raising a hand up, almost close to touching chengcheng's chest as he halts the elder.

"what makes you think i'm trusting you for you to be following me home like this?" justin squints, crossing his arms.

"why are you so smart." chengcheng remarks sarcastically before he blows on justin's hand, making justin flinch and wipe his hand on the elder's shirt. "dumbass, i live here." chengcheng states matter of factly which made justin turn back around, mumbling some profanity under his breath.