𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞 𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐟𝐭 | nct dream

1.4

❝ you know, for a rich guy, i'm surprised that he chose to develop something as simple as a manual carwash. ❞ jeno mumbles.

the boys have now geared themselves with the cleaning essentials such as mitts and soap, all provided by the kind man that has openly welcomed them to 'do whatever they want' in the area. some people might think that this is a trap, but to them, they chose to play along with it.

❝ yeah, ❞ jaemin nods, ❝ actually, i'm more surprised to know that though he owns all those kinds of luxury, he chooses to stay kind. ❞

jisung simpers. ❝ he's kind because he's rich. ❞

❝ well, i could see chenle relating to that, ❞ renjun replies jokingly.

chenle just shrugs, pretending to not know anything. goofing around with his new camera, he chose to take pictures instead of helping the crew wash the car, trying out different angles he has never done before.

❝ anyway, you were really great there, mark-hyung. ❞ jisung wholeheartedly compliments the latter. ❝ car washes and ahn sungki? where did you get all those from? ❞

❝ yeah, let's just say though i might look like i'm of a young age, my interests puts me back to where i belong: in a nursing home for the elderly. ❞ mark grins. ❝ and because i have an attention span of a goldfish, i haven't been able to catch up with current pop culture as well, so uh, i might not understand anything way past 2005, sorry. ❞

❝ and i suppose you guys all know who bombed the whole thing.. ❞ jaemin quickly offers them the chance to mock him for his mistake.

donghyuck steps forward. ❝ yeah, yeah. i was stupid. mentioning tvn in the late nineties, clearly a rookie move. ❞

❝ actually, i was about to say the both of us, but because you chose to take full responsibility, then why not? ❞

❝ it's okay, you guys did well. ❞ mark tries to encourage them. ❝ but do you know who else did better? jeno-yah, you were quite something out there. ❞

the boys cheer for jeno, giving him a pat on the back. jeno smiles, shyly receiving a striking amount of compliment he has never gotten before.

donghyuck lifts his head as he attempts to look as genuine as he is inside his head. ❝ thank you for the save, by the way. i really needed it after the tvn thing. ❞

jeno looks at the latter in surprise — shocked by the sudden friendly act done by him — but he clears his throat to restrain his emotions from taking over himself. ❝ uh, you're welcome. ❞

snap! chenle takes a picture of the both of them in disguise. 'first compliment from donghyuckie-hyung, and jeno-hyung takes it by surprise'. he smiles to himself. this is priceless, i better cherish it all my life.

jaemin glances at the both of them, feeling the exact same shock jeno is experiencing at the moment. not wanting to milk the precious interaction, he decides to stay quiet. donghyuck adjusts himself to his normal state, returning back with regular straight face.

❝ so.. what should we do now? ❞ jisung asks, simultaneously pouring a bucket of water to the car's ceiling without further notice.

❝ no, no, jisung-ah stop, ❞ renjun winces. ❝ you'll break the car before we even get started. ❞

so the boys start off by hosing the car, brushing it off with a mixture of water and soap, and later on scrubbing it off with a huge mitt. but then as expected, boys will be boys, they applied some steps overlapping with other steps, which also includes an unnecessary one that somehow appeared after a few rounds of mindless fun: make sure that everyone also gets washed up.