After

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⋘ Please look at the A/N at the bottom. Thanks ⋙

⋘ 𝑃𝑙𝑒𝑎𝑠𝑒 𝑤𝑎𝑖𝑡 – 𝑙𝑜𝑎𝑑𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑑𝑎𝑡𝑎... ⋙

Ⰶ║ July 20 2020 ║Ⰶ

Renjun continued to bounce in and out of sleep, his eyes droopy and head lolling to the side. He was sitting between Jaemin and Jeno, one of which was asleep and the other was staring out the window as the trees passed by. He was tired, but he couldn't fully fall asleep. He had heard from Mark and Jeno, who had called the other boys again in the morning, that they found out they were Chinese. Of course, Renjun knew it could and would be literally anyone, but he just had some small hope in him that it was his friends. Even if it was just one, he still hoped to the gods that they were safe. And that they would see each other again.

"Renjun, go to sleep," Jeno mumbles, now facing away from the window. "You look exhausted."

"I am."

Jeno frowns and puts Renjun's head on his shoulder. "Sleep Injunnie. We still have a long way to go before we reach Boseong."

"I know...I'm just..stressed..." His words become slurred until he closes his eyes and drifts off. Jeno sighs and looks at the two sleeping boys. Jaemin was on the far left, his body now leaning against Renjun and soft snores escaping his mouth. Jeno frowns and ruffles both boys' hair before looking back out the window.

"They're strong, aren't they." Mark's voice rings from the driver's seat, making Jeno look at him.

"Huh?"

"Jaemin and Renjun. Sure, I may be the 'leader', but are really holding us all up."

Jeno nods slowly. "Yeah...they are."

"Your boys are strong."

"M-my boys!?" Jeno lowers his voice to a whisper, not wanting to wake anyone.

Mark smirks. "I said what I said."

"Yeah well, you call Donghyuck darl–"

"Shut up and go to sleep." Mark's voice growls and Jeno just laughs.

Ⰶ║ July 23 2020 ║Ⰶ

Jisung frowns and opens his mouth, but only a soft whine comes out. "I-"

Chenle and Renjun nod their heads in encouragement. "You got it baby, you can do it. Just say your name."

"M-my..." Jisung quickly grasps Chenle's hand tightly.

"You can do it. I believe in you."

Renjun nods. "Just say your name and we're done for today." He smiles in hopes to calm Jisung, which works a bit.

"M-my...na..me...." He takes a breath and shuts his eyes. "M-my n-name is P-" he shakes his head, clearly discouraged.

"Come on baby...Come on."

"P-park...Park J-jisung." He lets out a breath and frowns. He wishes he could speak as well as he could think, but it just wasn't how his mind worked. He had so much to say but his communication strength was amazingly weak.

"There you go! I'm so proud of you Sungie." Chenle smiles happily and hugs the younger boy warmly. Renjun smiles and stands.

"Good job Jisung. You did really well." He leaves the room and closes the door behind him, giving Chenle and Jisung privacy.

"Was it scary?"

Jisung nods. "Yes."

Chenle sighs. "But you know it's going to help right?"

Jisung nods again. "I know."

"Can I tell you something? I was born with a neurological issue, which to this day was never fully identified." Chenle sits in front of Jisung. "Some speculated it was ADHD or ADD, but as I got older that seemed less the case. So, they put me on different medicines but I could already feel myself slipping from reality. Sometimes I would blackout and come back to see a fearful look on my friends' or family's faces. I never knew what was wrong with me and I still don't. But now that I'm older, I know how to control myself. I know how to keep myself grounded in reality. I know how to keep myself from going fully insane. I'm not saying you're going crazy but I'm saying I can help you if you ever feel yourself slipping, okay baby?"

Jisung sits for a moment, giving Chenle a sad look. "I'm sorry."

Chenle smiles and shakes his head. "Don't be, it's something I was born with, I had to learn to deal with it."

"But still..."

"I'm here to help you, ok?"

Jisung nods. "Ok. Thank you."

"You're welcome, baby."

⋘ Tʀᴀɴsᴍɪssɪᴏɴ ᴇʀʀᴏʀ. Pʟᴇᴀsᴇ ᴛʀʏ ᴀɢᴀɪɴ ʟᴀᴛᴇʀ. ⋙

⋘ Ok so Jisung has a really hard time speaking, Right? right. Ok, so. When his 'dialogue' is in italics (as we can see above) its really just his facial expression and body action and Chenle (as well as the others but boohoo) understand what he means. Hope that makes sense ⋙