innocent.

three.

'i think i love you,'

chenle felt as though everything stopped moving. no sound was made, not even the squeak of the swings. suddenly, the children couldn't be heard. no wind blew the grass underneath them, no blossoms fell from the trees. even the constant sound of traffic had stopped. chenle could only hear his heart beating rapidly. he began to shake at hearing jisung inhale.

'oh, hyung,'

chenle felt tears spring to his eyes. all of the emotions from the past six years surrounding his best friend finally bubbling over.

he kept his eyes trained on the ground, his nails digging into his palms. he heard the swings squeak, and in the corner of his eye, he saw jisung's shoes shuffle, and then disappear. he could hear the rustle of clothing.

suddenly, jisung's arms wrapped around chenle's waist. chenle's tears began to drip more, and he took a shuddery breath.

'i'm s-sorry,'

jisung said nothing.

'i'm so, so sorry,'

chenle hung his head, his cheeks flushing more. his heart was beating rapidly. his vision was blurry, but he felt jisung put his hands into his, intertwining them, so chenle couldn't dig his nails into his palms anymore. his chest felt tight.

'i - i can't, i can't - ' chenle tried, but jisung hushed him. his breaths began to rack his body, loud sobs echoing through the deserted park. he flinched as jisung put his head on chenle's shoulder to whisper in his ear. as jisung exhaled, his breath hit chenle's neck, making him shudder more, yet calming him down, knowing jisung was there. it seemed to confirm that he was alive, and breathing.

'i love you too, hyung,' he whispered. chenle, too shocked to reply, felt jisung move away as he shuffled to face him. he tilted chenle's chin up, wiping away his tears with one thumb, 'how long have you wanted to say that?'

's-since elementary,' chenle stuttered, and jisung smiled weakly. chenle couldn't meet his eyes, choosing to focus on his lips.

jisung nodded. 'stop crying, chenle, it's okay,' jisung whispered, 'it's okay,'

chenle wiped away his tears, his cheeks heating up from embarrassment of breaking down in front of jisung.

'i- i can't believe i said that,' he whispered, 'i've been holding it in for so long,'

'oh, hyung,' jisung replied softly, taking chenle's hands and pulling him from the swing, dusting him off and grabbing his bag for him. 'do you need a drink?' chenle shook his head.

'are you ready to leave?' chenle took a shuddery breath before nodding. 'let's have some ice cream,'

how could jisung move on, onto something else, so easily? chenle wondered as jisung pulled him by his hand, away from the play park. he thought nothing of it, wrapped in his own thoughts. they held hands all the time. nothing was different. jisung was humming under his breath, occasionally squeezing chenle's hand to bring him back to reality.

chenle's eyes stung from crying, and his chest ached. he hated how he broke apart in front of jisung, how he had to tell jisung in such an emotional way. he hated how weak he had sounded.