Lost Boys {Book Two}

So Far From Telling You The Truth

Chenle sat against the wall, hitting the back of his head on the wall in an attempt to force Sicheng's sobs out of his head. It didn't work, obviously, but Chenle continued anyways. Maybe I'll give myself a concussion. Maybe I'll knock my brain around enough to not have to listen to this.

Chenle had been pulled from his nap by hushed arguing in the main room, just outside the closet he slept in.

Without thinking, he pushed the door open. Yuta's face was twisted in worry as he argued-no, though his words were angry, his tone was desperate, begging, even. Sicheng kept repeating 'no' over and over, his voice cracking despite his voice being so soft. His eyes were wide and cast down at the floor. He turned away from Yuta and began to pace. "No," he said again, "no, I can't."

As he turned in another direction, he spotted Chenle standing in the open closet. He froze. Yuta noticed and looked over at Chenle. His Express brightened, though Chenle knew it was fake. He was really good at hiding it, and if Chenle hadn't seen him almost in tears just a few seconds earlier, he never would've known anything happened (something definitely did happen, even though he didn't know exactly what. Chenle wasn't worried, he was a master detective) "Oh, hey, little dude."

"Hey," Chenle said, keeping his tone light. "What's going on?"

Sicheng couldn't look at him. He and Chenle locked eyes for only a moment before he turned away, his eyes were red and puffy and tears stained his cheeks. Chenle looked to Yuta for an explanation.

"Nothing, we were just talking." Yuta said, giving a half-hearted smile.

Chenle narrowed his eyes as Yuta disappeared outside. He moved towards Sicheng until he stood behind him, and reached out to touch his arm. "Sicheng, ge?"

"Yeah, Lele?" Sicheng said softly.

"Did Yuta make you cry?" Chenle asked. "He wasn't being mean, was he?"

"Gosh, no, Chenle," Sicheng said and turned around to face him. He rubbed at his cheeks with his sleeves. "Yuta didn't do anything wrong, okay? Don't be mad at him."

"So what happened?"

Sicheng didn't say anything for a few moments. He just looked at Chenle, his eyes searching his face like he was wondering how to say whatever he was thinking, or if he should even say anything at all.

"Nothing, Lele, don't worry about me," Sicheng gave a soft smile as he reached out to cup Chenle's cheek. "Alright?"

Chenle frowned. It most definitely was not alright, but he didn't want to upset Sicheng even more, so he nodded. "Have you seen Yangyang?" He asked, changing the subject. He quickly realized that was not a good idea, because Sicheng's expression went from sad to furious within moments.

"No, I have not," he hissed, his jaw clenched as he yanked open the blinds. "He and Yukhei better be back soon, or so help me . . . they thought they could just leave without telling me. Yukhei knows better, he knows that when he comes back, he's getting a swift kick to the knee caps."

Chenle would've laughed if he wasn't worried. Worried about Sicheng, worried about Yuta, and now Yukhei and Yangyang-Yangyang who was almost a stranger but Chenle had grown to like him a lot in the last couple days.

Xiaojun and Hendery disappeared sometimes, Chenle never saw where they went but they showed up again after a few hours. He wanted to ask where they were going, but he hadn't gotten the chance. They weren't around often enough for Chenle to feel anything other than indifference towards them. They seemed nice enough, but Chenle also wasn't stupid enough to think that meant everything.