𝙨𝙤𝙡𝙞𝙡𝙤𝙦𝙪𝙮 | chensung

Ch.7

"Action," Renjun announced and rested his cheek in his palm. He was sitting in the front row with a desk in front of him, which had been dragged in earlier for him to use. Jaemin had squeezed in beside him, even though he didn't like the director, because Renjun was writing down notes about the actors and Jaemin wanted to see what he was saying about Chenle.

A huge smile was on his face at the sight of his best friend standing up and getting out of his comfort zone. He knew that this opportunity would produce a brand new Zhong Chenle, who would have more confidence and a louder voice. And then he looked at Jisung, who was chatting to one of the background characters.

"I said "action", people! Where's the action?!"

Chenle gulped and dusted down his shirt for no reason other than insecurity. This scene was Chinhae's first meeting with Jichan. He lifted his hand and pretended to knock on a non-existent door, eyes glued to Jisung who was supposedly standing behind the door.

"Yes?" Jisung asked and opened the "door", looking Chenle up and down. The script was loosely in his hands but he didn't seem keen on reading from it. The older boy, on the other hand, glanced down at the lines and then up at his acting partner.

"I'm supposed to be m-moving into this dorm. A-are you Daejoon?"

"No, I'm his friend. He's out right now."

"...Oh," he trailed off for effect and stepped towards the taller boy, glancing into the "dorm room" that he was supposed to share with Daejoon. "Can I p-put my stuff in here?"

Jisung smiled and stepped to the side, watching Chenle walk to centre stage and put his imaginary luggage down on the floor of the stage. "So..." he looked him up and down again and folded his arms. His acting was constantly getting better and Chenle felt as though he was lightyears behind him. "What made you choose this school?"

"...It's close to home." He brushed a lock of hair out of his eyes and felt the familiar burn of his cheeks when he saw the enthusiasm in Jaemin's eyes. He was waving and giving him thumbs-up signs from the audience.

"Fair enough. I'm Jichan." He held his hand out and took Chenle's, making the boy stiffen and blush. Jisung's hand was firm and assuring, while his own was soft and tentative. "You're Chinhae, right? It's nice to meet you."

"You too."

Jisung "closed the door" behind him and followed Chenle to left of centre stage, where there were supposedly beds for the "students". The props were arriving soon enough but they had to complete a few rehearsals without them in the meantime. "What are you studying here? I heard that the science classes are full, so I guess that isn't it."

Chenle, once again, blinked a supportive Jaemin out of his vision, because as much as he appreciated the enthusiasm for the acting, he was also distracting. From the corner of his eye, he spotted Renjun smacking Jaemin's waving hand and whisper something harsh to him.

Then, before he could even comprehend what had happened, Jisung's hand was on Chenle's cheek and he was turning his head to to face him. "Don't pay attention to them," he whispered almost inaudible to the older boy. "Try to block them out."

It was needless to say that he blushed. A lot.

He felt his lip trembled into an awkward smile and he nodded. "I'm studying architecture."

Jisung's smile lit up the room and Chenle could sense the stupor of the female students watching. There were a few in the audience - mostly background characters and stage helpers. "So am I. I guess I'll be seeing you around, then." His hand fell from Chenle's face and rested by his side professionally, eyes scanning the embarrassment on the face of the boy opposite him. "Daejoon obviously isn't coming back for a while, so I don't think there's any point in me hanging around. I'll see you tomorrow in class, Chinhae."

He turned on his heel and pretended to exit the room. Chenle touched the side of his face and glued his eyes to the floor, feeling heat spread across his cheeks. Park Jisung held his face!

Renjun stood up from his chair and clapped his hands, gaining the attention of everyone in the area. "Well done, my budding new actor! And Jisung? Fabulous."

Chenle scratched the back of his head and reddened when Jisung moved to stand beside him in the middle of the stage. Jaemin whooped and gained many confused glances from those around them.

"Thanks," the taller boy bowed dramatically and took Chenle's hand, pulling him into a bow as well - like the actors in a play would do on opening night. His hand gently squeezed the Chinese boy's reassuringly.

Donghyuck wandered over to Renjun's desk and looked down at the comments written about the acting. Jaemin had been keeping an eye on them and watched the scribbled pencil lines about his friend's improvement. The tanned boy, on the other hand, furrowed his eyebrows and seemed less-than-content with whatever was written down about him. "Erm, why does it say that my skills are comparable to a three-toed sloth?"

Renjun's eyes squinted and he tilted his head. "Because you're better than what you've been showing me during these rehearsals. Why else would I put that there?"

Now, it was well-known that they weren't on great terms amongst the student body. Renjun knew talent when he saw it and was gracious enough to accept Donghyuck's audition for Daejoon's role, but similar to the many years gone by when the Chinese boy had directed previous school plays, there would be tension.

Before anymore could be said, the door to the theatre burst open and in strutted a student with basketball under his arm. "Oh," he stopped walking and took in the sight of Chenle and Jisung on the stage and Renjun and Donghyuck squaring up. "I've missed the best part."

Regardless of whether or not he had "missed the best part", he had interrupted a rehearsal.

"Get out before I throw Donghyuck at you," the director called irritatedly, hating how Lee Jeno only ever seemed to show up when there was a fight. He may have been Jisung's friend, but they were different in many ways.

"I'm here because my friend is playing a lead role."

Jisung let go of Chenle's hand and waved at Jeno, pointing to a seat in the audience and hoping that he would cop on and be peaceful. It seemed that the boy understood, because he trailed over to sit on Jaemin's other side. He wasn't directly being disruptive, but he was chewing on gum rather loudly and had his mouth open to display the stuff. The squelches of the gum clearly made both Renjun and Jaemin uncomfortable, but only one of them spoke up about it.

And it wasn't the offensive director.

"Dude. That's so gross," Jaemin shuffled further away from Jeno and brushed shoulders with Renjun. "Like, ew."

Jeno shrugged and crossed one leg over the other. His eyes realigned with the two boys on the stage and everything went silent for them to continue.

It was certainly an...entertaining rehearsal...