𝐼𝓃 𝒴𝑜𝓊𝓇 𝒟𝓇𝑒𝒶𝓂𝓈 ~| Huang Renjun

二

"Are you guys coming over tonight?" Jihyun asked, approaching Chenle, the only friend of hers that she shared the last class with. He was picking his stuff up, ready to go home. He looked pissed, probably tired from school.

"Jisung is probably going to be a little late" he shrugged, picking up the gift bag. "He sent me a message like five minutes ago."

"You were texting in class? And you still have the audacity to clown me for my grades?" she snickered, teasing him with an arched eyebrow.

He ignored her comment and took his phone out to show her the message. It said something about Jisung having to take care of his little cousins until his mom and aunt came back.

Then she saw another notification pop up. The phone vibrated as well, making Chenle acknowledge it. Before he turned the phone away from her, she could see who had sent him a message. "Xinghua's texting you?"

"No." He put it back in his pocket, not looking at her. Instead, he focused on the bag he held as he walked towards the door. After opening the door, he looked back at her, waiting for her to walk out. Some other students and walked out, saying their thanks to Chenle, who only nodded and smiled in response.

"And thus, winter break begins." With a relieved sigh, she walked out of the room. Looking up at her friend, she gave a warm smile. "And Christmas is around the corner. Aren't you excited?"

"Why would I be?"

"It's more likely to have the dream around these days, don't you know?"

Chenle stopped walking, giving her a judging look. "Don't tell me you believe in that shit, Jihyun. I thought you were better than that."

"How could I not believe when I myself am a child from a soulmate couple?" she asked, looking a little hurt, but forcing to keep positiveness.

Chenle sighed and shook his head. "Parents say that to their kids so they don't have to know they weren't planned."

"Say what you want, but there's many people in this world who have had the dream to prove you wrong," she replied, grasping his arm to lead him towards the entrance.

Chenle just chuckled at her comment. "You mean the crazy stoners at the back of the corner store? Wow how wise they were."

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"Thank you again, Mark." She closed the car's door as she stepped out, giving her friend a smile, which he returned. "See y'all tonight."

"See you tonight, brat," said Chenle, lowering the window.

And with that, Jihyun walked towards her house. Once she opened the door, the boys drove away. She walked inside, slowly closing the door behind and sighing as she felt the warmth of her home.

"Jihyun? Are you home already?" Jihyun's older sister, Jihee, called from the kitchen, peering over the counter. "I thought I was picking you up?"

"Mark offered to take me home. Must have been the Christmas spirit getting into him," Jihyun joked, placing her backpack on the ground and walking deeper into the house.

"Are they all coming tonight?"

"Is that why you're making cookies?" She took notice of the sweet smell in the air.

The older one nodded. "Yeah. If we're gonna have a Christmas celebration, we must make the best of it."

"Yeah, they're coming," laughed the girl. "Jisung just might be a little late."

"Ah, that's a shame. I wanted him for you."

"What the fuck?"

Jihee shrugged, laughing and looked up at the younger one. "I mean, I thought you were wanting to meet your soulmate."

"But not Jisung!" whined Jihyun, looking at her older sister in annoyance. "Yeah, he's sweet and all but he's just a child."

"He's your age, isn't he?"

"I'm far less innocent than he is. I'd be no good for him." She walked towards the kitchen and rested her arms on the counter, looking at the oven.

"So then who would you like your soulmate to be?"

Jihyun was about to respond when there was a knock at the door. Jihee walked up to it, opened it, and was met with Jaemin and Jeno. "Hi, uh, we got here a little too early. We thought shopping would take longer, we're sorry," bowed Jeno as he spoke.

"Mark's in the store still," Jaemin said, nodding to it. "Said he needed to get something to eat since he hasn't even had breakfast yet. We're gonna need help unloading."

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"So, how was you guys' last day?" asked Jihee, putting down some appetizers on the tea table in the living room. Jaemin was sitting next to her, Jihyun was sitting between Jeno and Donghyuck, who had just arrived. Mark was sitting in a separate individual couch.

Jeno shrugged slightly, giving her the smallest of smiles. "It's school. It cannot possibly be good."

"Especially for Hyuck there. His girl wasn't there," Jaemin mentioned, making an exaggerated face as if he was talking to a baby.

"Oh gee, is she sick?"

Donghyuck shook his head as he took a sip from his glass of water. "She's just visiting her family in Japan. The Nakamotos visit each other's homes every Christmas, y'know. About two years ago, her family came over to her house."

"Does your family come over?"

"No. My family's not big on inviting people over for Christmas. It's always just us."

"Wow, that's depressing," Jaemin uttered. "Imagine how quiet it would be."

"It's Lee Donghyuck's family we're talking about, Nana." Jihyun's comment made Donghyuck turn to face her with a judging expression. "It could never be possibly quiet."

"I can confirm. I once stayed over for a project and holy shit."

"Anyways!" Donghyuck changed the subject, taking out his phone to check the time. "When the fuck is Chenle coming?"

"Hopefully never. My head hurts too much and I don't want him blasting my ears out with his laugh," Mark replied, tilting his head back and frowning.

"He probably didn't buy gifts and is doing so right now," Jeno commented. "Or he's probably buying Xinghua a gift and getting it to her."

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