↺ let me | zhong chenle (COMPLETED)

eight | i'll take care of you

1092 words

"Well, what do we have here?" The tall figure said, towering over you. You had to blink a couple times to make sure your eyes weren't completely deceiving you. It couldn't be him, you were way too far out of town for it to be him. It's why you moved so far away, so that you wouldn't ever have to bump into him again. It wasn't him, right?

"M-Mark?" You said softly, worried about whatever was about to happen. "What are you doing here?" You asked nervously.

"Don't worry about us," another voice said, stepping out from behind your ex. "What are you doing here? And who's that? Huh? Your new boy?" The girl pressed on.

"Th-this is Chenle," you stuttered out.

Chenle sensed the tension between you and the uninvited faces. It was obvious there was some bad blood between you, he could tell just by looking at the nasty expression of Mark staring down at you.

"[y/n], who are they?" Chenle asked cautiously.

"This is Mark and Jia, they're from my old hometown," you breathed out slowly, heart syncing as you spoke. The pair's ill intentions shot through their eyes like a wildfire, they were there to mess up your night and you weren't sure there was any way to stop it.

"I'm [y/n]'s ex," Mark introduced harshly, "she was my girlfriend not that long ago," he said. "That was, until she cheated."

"Chenle, that's not true," you quickly spat out.

Jia let out a scoff. "Not true? This is probably the guy I found you with! Unless this is your new side-boy and you cheated on the other one too?" She fired out.

"Jia, what is your problem? What are you even talking about?" you say shakily.

"I saw you with that other boy while you were still with Mark, [y/n]. You can't lie anymore," she kept insisting. All that came out of her mouth were lies. Burning lies. You looked across at Chenle, who now started to look like he was about to blow. He had his fists clenched on the table, and hot eyes staring right at the pair. You looked back to Mark and Jia, noticing them holding each others' hands.

"You liked him all along, didn't you?" You asked Jia. She furrowed her eyebrows, pretending not to understand what you were implying. "Mark. Ever since we became friends, you liked him, didn't you? You used me just to get to him," you accused, all the dots finally joining together.

Jia did a fake gasp, trying to cover up the fact she had finally been found out. Her grip on Mark's palm tightened, her cheeks going red. "Why would you make such a thing up," she said with a huff.

Chenle stepped in. "That is not something [y/n] would do," he defended. "I know [y/n]. She's caring, kind, thoughtful, she's everything you're obviously not."

Mark took a step closer, his face growing angrier as he put his fists down on the table leaning into Chenle. "You don't know [y/n], Chenle. She's a bitch. You can't believe a thing she says."

"I don't know her? Well I sure know her a hell of a lot better than you do, clearly." Chenle said with a tense voice. He stood up, matching Mark's height and meeting his eyes right up close. "Leave [y/n] alone. She doesn't deserve to have such disgusting people like you in her life." Chenle turned to look at Jia, who now appeared more scared than cocky. "She didn't do anything wrong, and you know she didn't. Get out of here," he finished boldly.

Mark scoffed. "And what if we don't?"

Chenle stepped forward again, pulling hard on the collar of Mark's shirt. "You don't have to, but I think you want to. Hm?" Chenle warned quietly. Mark's cheeks began to fire up, the tips of his ears turning a crimson shade of red. He stayed silent, glaring into Chenle's eyes. Chenle tugged again at his shirt. "Leave."

"Let go of me," Mark ordered. Chenle loosened his grip on the collar, but didn't yet let go completely.

"Stop bothering [y/n] and I will." Mark did a small nod. Chenle released him, Mark letting out a small breath of air before turning to Jia and signalling a 'let's go'. "Don't come back." Chenle called out one last time while the duo walked away annoyed.

Once they were out of sight, Chenle quickly turned around and crouched down next to you. "Are you alright?" he asked, his expression completely different from when he was looking at Mark. You nodded, taking a big gulp so you wouldn't cry yet again that night.

"Thank you, Chenle," you let out, pulling him into a big hug from your seat. He hugged back, holding you tight against his chest. He let go again, holding your hands and looking into your eyes.

"I don't like seeing you get hurt, [y/n]. You know I'll do anything to protect you."

It was in this moment that you realised just how in love with him you were. It was more than just a crush. No one had ever stood up for you like that before, no one had ever gone to such lengths to take care of you like he just had. The truth was, you needed him around. In fact, you finally felt ready to let yourself have him around, as more than just your best friend.

Completely overwhelmed by the whole situation, all you could do was let out another 'thank you' while Chenle helped you stand up from your seat. He handed you your bag, walking around to pull his jacket over your shoulders and walked you over to the counter by the door where he paid for both your meals and walked you outside again, hand-in-hand. Turning the corner of the restaurant building to reach the car park, you stopped walking, making Chenle stop as well and turn around to face you.

"Everything okay?" He checked.

You walked forward closer to him, stepping onto your tippy toes and leaning into his lips. They welcomed yours in, kissing back softly. Despite the crisp outside wind, his lips were warm, and acted as a shelter for you. Chenle pulled your body in closer, holding your hips with his soft palm as your lips continued to move together.

After a moment or two, you pulled away again.

"I love you," you said softly.

Chenle smiled.

"I love you too."