Ironically Married~ Chensung/Chenji

Chapter 10

Jisung sighed, staring at the window on the opposite side of the room and watching the raindrops trickle down. They'd been trying to race each other for the past few hours, and somehow it never got boring. Or maybe in his case, it was just more exciting than whatever he was supposed to be doing. He glanced at the clock- only 4pm. Just an hour more. Just as he peeled his eyes away from the window again, a series of firm knocks at his door nearly made him jump out his chair.

"Not to be rude, but what do you wa- oh." Not only was Kun standing there, but a shorter, unfamiliar person too. A ring glittered on both their hands.

"I've been dragged here to say hi, so here I am, saying hi. I'm Ten." Said shorter, unfamiliar person held out a hand, and Jisung very suspiciously took it, a satisfied Kun standing a little behind Ten.

"Kun's told me about you."

"Ah, really?" Ten said almost sarcastically, a blush starting to form on Kun's cheeks.

"Chenle isn't home yet, if you were wondering. You probably came to see him anyway," Jisung turned to Kun, internally laughing at his embarrassment. He straightened up again, clearing his throat.

"That's okay! Maybe some other time then," he grinned, genuinely.

"Have a good evening then, you two," and Jisung closed the door, giggling and shaking his head as he walked back to the dining table.

Not even a paragraph later, the door was kicked open, a dark-faced Chenle shaking out his hair before entering.

"Damn, you just missed seeing Kun and Ten," Jisung commented. "You need a towel?"

"I'll shower, it's fine," Chenle heaved a sigh.

"The rain is really pounding down today."

"Hm. Good for it." Jisung's eyes followed Chenle, his chest emptying at his clearly bad mood.

"Is there anything you want me to do?" No answer. "Chenle? I may know you better than anyone else but I still can't read your mind sometimes."

"No. And I'm sorry," Chenle answered, voice hollow. Just after shaking out the last droplets, he was met with a towel gently massaging his head.

"Why?"

"You deserve better than me in a bad mood every other day 'cause of something out of my control," his muffled voice came from under the towel. His eyes peered out and met Jisung's: wide and inviting. Jisung ruffled his hair roughly with the towel, Chenle laughing and struggling to get out.

"I signed up for exactly that, don't worry," he eventually let Chenle escape. "I have you and you have me." He rolled his eyes, collecting his clothes and heading straight to the bathroom.

"You and your pretty words."

Despite the moment of laughter, Chenle's resting face at the table that evening was as sullen as ever. Jisung made a couple searches, then swiveled his laptop screen to Chenle in hopes of at least a smile- and perhaps something else too. On it; a cat contorted into some sort of shape, trying to catch a feather.

"The answer is no for now, Jisung," Chenle said as gently as he could. Which, by Jisung's recoil, probably wasn't very gentle at all.

"Should've known," Jisung clicked his tongue. "You're so stubborn with these things." Chenle took a deep breath.

"It's not that I don't want one. It's that I don't think we're capable of properly taking care of one at this moment in time," his voice slightly louder now, giving up on trying to control himself. "Why can't you understand that?" A rare uncomfortable silence settled for a moment before Jisung spoke up again, his voice nearly matching Chenle's in volume.

"How do you know that? 'At this moment in time,'" he used air quote marks, "I think it would be beneficial to the both of us."

"And I acknowledge that."

"So then why not?"

"I already told you."

"And I-"

"Move out then," Chenle said, cracking a rash smile. "Get one yourself."

Within the next couple seconds, Jisung physically felt a wave of emotions. His eyes widened at first, breath hitching. His arms twitched at his side, just as he regained some control and roughly got up, nearly knocking over his chair in the process and storming to his room.

"Can you not take a joke over this? Really?"

"It's not a very good joke," Jisung mumbled just loud enough for him to hear, before slamming his door. Chenle shook his head, continuing to eat.

It's not the end of the story if someone goes onto the next page before you.