webtoon » chenle

二十八

INSIDE the hotpot restaurant, renjun was busy stuffing his mouth with meat and vegetables, all while enjoying the spiciness of his favorite soup. meanwhile, chenle sat in front of him, awkwardly staring at renjun as he ate his own food slowly like a normal person.

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CHENLE;;
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I looked at renjun who ate without stopping. im starting to wonder if he's even breathing while he's eating.

yes, I'm over exaggerating but he's eating as fast as my uncle who downs all his rice and dishes in 7 minutes (or less, who knows) there was even a point of time when I believed he was inhaling his food rather than eating it like a normal human being.

finally, after what felt like staring at renjun while eating awkwardly for that past 20 minutes, he finally looked up at me and spoke.

"so, thanks for the food" he said.

"you're welcome? "

"why did you suddenly call me out to eat though? "

"because... I.. love you? "

renjun narrowed his eyes at me, obviously not believing my statement that was more of a question.

I sighed. "okay fine, I asked you out for lunch because I need your help and stuff"

he raised an eyebrow, suddenly seeming interested. "help for... " his sentence trailed off, signalling me to answer.

"l-love? "
no, I didn't mean to stutter.

his lips slowly curved into a smirk. "love? zhong chenle? plus love? " he lifted one hand when saying my name, and lifted the other when he said love, then putting his hands together, 'joining' the two words together.

I nodded while stuffing some meat into my mouth, all while maintaining eye contact with him.

"ryujin? " he asked.

I nodded while feeling my body tense up at the name. this was embarrassing. he sure catches up fast.

"so you want to ask her out?"

"yea"

he leaned back against the leathered seat. he tucked two of his hands behind his head and looked at me like some cocky mafia boss.

"take her out on a date and confess. unless you want to be a pussy, then text her. but if you are a pussy but you want to seem more sincere, do it maybe after school? "

"that's sounds horribly nerve wrecking"

"no it's not. you're just scared"

"yea no shit Sherlock"

he smacked my face from across the table, lightly, thankfully. he pointed his pointer finger at me. "I'm older than you, respect me" he said. his tone reminding me of everytime I accidentally raised my voice at dad. "anyways" he leaned back against the seat.

"that's all the so called advice I can give you. you need to do this by yourself"

"I know I know... "

I looked down at my bowl that had some extra soup left in it, using my chopsticks to stir the liquid around out of plain boredom.

"I'm just.. I don't know... scared of her rejecting me or saying like, oh I like someone else"
and by someone else, the only other person in my head was jeno. other boys seemed unlikely. the chances aren't 100% low, but anything can still happen.