R I D I N [zhong chenle] ✓

S E V E N

"Ooh, 1 billion huh?", she wiggled her eyebrows. Chenle rolled his eyes.

Currently, the two criminals were on his motorbike. They weren't riding on it, just sitting as Xiu Ying kicked her legs playfully while humming, holding the near priceless painting. Chenle had a laptop opened, where did he get it even? That's a question better left unanswered.

His eyes stayed on the screen, seeing numbers rise up as people were bidding off high prices for the painting. Seeing those numbers should make him feel satisfied, but no. It left a bitter taste knowing it'll end up causing a longer period of him stuck with the annoying girl.

"Ooh! 1.5 billion!", she excitedly whispered. He harshly shushed her up. She bit her lip, trying to stifle a laugh seeing how easily annoyed he gets whenever she's around him. It amused her, deeply.

Continue staring at the screen, only a few minutes were left until the auction ends. More and more biddings kept rising up, numbers even bigger than the last one.

5 more minutes

"1.6 billion, huh?"

2 more minutes

"Wow, 1.7 billion just for this crappy painting? Rich people and their money"

1 minute

An audible gasp was heard. "1.8 billion!"

30 seconds

"1.9 billion..."

5 seconds

"2 billion anddd SOLD!", the girl pressed the key before the boy got to.

"Hey!", Chenle shouted.

"What's wrong? You wanted a bigger number?", she asked playfully. He was gonna shout back at her saying "Yes!" until he remembered the deal.

Letting out the nth sigh that day, he closed the laptop and put another leg over the bike, getting ready to ride off into the distance.

"You're going already?", Xiu Ying said in a sad aegyo voice.

"We'll discuss it the next night, now get off my bike"

She wanted to ask for a ride, but considering he looks ready to snap she decided against it.

"Okay then. Bye bye Puddin~!", she said in a disgustingly cute voice which made him glance over his shoulder.

"Harley Quinn? Really?"

"I don't really have a creative mind, you see", she winked.

Not wanting to deal with her anymore, he rotated the handles before taking off and disappearing in the distance.

~~~

"Hello my lovely friends~", Xiu Ying chirped as she skipped through the school corridor and joined her friends. "How are you all on this particular fine day?"

"Weird, what's gotten into you?", Renjun quirked an eyebrow. Xiu Ying just sighed and leaned against the locker beside hers, lazily entering the code and taking her needed books.

"I just feel so lighthearted, so contented, so...gratified", she sighed in bliss.

The reason why she was like this? Well obviously she can't tell them, but it has something to do with last night's encounter. She doesn't even know what she's so happy, it just hit her differently in some way she couldn't put a finger on.

"Well whatever it is, I'm glad you're happy. Although you had to express that using three synonyms of 'happy'", Jihye added, looping her arm with Renjun's.

"No, she looks weird. What happened?", Jaemin squinted his eyes at the girl.

"Well...the thing is-", she got interrupted by the bell, which made her laugh. "Oh! The bell has rung, I'll tell you when we see each other again alright?"

"But the next time we're gonna see each other again is in two weeks!", referring to the trip that the three are gonna go on with both of their families. Don't ask, they just thought it was a good idea to go on vacation immediately after the school year just started.

"Exactly!", her bubbly laugh resonated through the corridor as she continied skipping towards her class.

In contrast to her happy self, Chenle however was not amused. A scowl etched on his face as he sat in his chair, awfully silent. Both Donghyuck and Nari wanted to ask what's wrong, but were scared to do so as Chenle looked ready to kill.

"Heyyy!", Xiu Ying sat in her spot with a foolish smile on her face.

"You seem happy, what's up?", Donghyuck enquired.

"Just, nothing~", she flaunted her hand at him. The siblings looked at each other, weirded out by how two of their classmates are so different today.

"Hey Chenle, turn that frown upside down would you?", Chenle only let his eyes move up, looking at Xiu Ying through his dark hair. He still didn't say anything and eventually looked down again.

If he let mouth run open, he might scare them. It was clear, or maybe not, that he was still upset with last night. Which was funny, considering that last night was what made Xiu Ying so happy as well.

None were used to this silence, since Chenle was always loudly laughing and rambling about PUBG, Stephen Curry, that tea brand named after him, and many other things. Not liking how it was, Xiu Ying went and grabbed one of his hands on his desk.

"Hey", she started. "I don't know what happened, but don't be too sad alright?", Eyes softened, she gave a small smile. "Things will turn out better than you thought, you'll see"

Seems like she wasn't wrong on that.

[ I don’t go toward the same path anymore now, switch my lane]