Chapter Text
Chenle hummed quietly to himself as he finished writing his name on the last batch of assignments he had to complete.
It was just past midnight, and the last day before spring break ended, meaning he was going back to school on Monday.
After stacking all of his papers together, Chenle rose from his desk and stretched his back, turning off his desk lamp and laying in his bed.
Before sleeping, he decided to check his phone.
Jaem (11:48 pm)
let’s hang tomo
okie?
lele...
don’t tell me you’re still studying
ugh
boring
anyways text me back before you go to sleep
Chenle (12:17 am)
Hey Jaem
I’m down to hang tomorrow
Jaem (12:18 am)
yay !!
okay my house at like one
sound good?
Chenle (12:20 am)
Sounds great
Jaem (12:21 am)
okie
goodnight lele <3
Chenle (12:22 am)
Lol goodnight jaem
Chenle sighed as his head hit his pillow.
School on Monday huh? He wondered to himself. Back to the swing of things…
~
The following morning, Chenle woke up and ate breakfast alone, like he did everyday. He got ready and drove over to Jaemin’s house while singing along lightly to whatever music was blasting through his car’s speakers.
Life was normal.
“Chenle!” Jaeming shouted as he threw his front door open, running out onto the grass and squeezing Chenle into a tight hug. “I missed you!”
“You went on vacation for a week, Jaem,” Chenle croaked out, patting his best friend’s back.
“But I still missed you,” Jaemin said, pouting as he led Chenle into the house.
“How was vacation, by the way?” Chenle asked as he stepped into Jaemin’s room.
“Great!” Jaemin cheered. “I’m glad I’m home, though. I missed you and Hyuck.”
“Well I’m glad you’re home, too,” Chenle replied, a smile appearing on his face. “By the way, where is Hyuck? Is he coming?”
“No,” Jaemin said, rolling his eyes. “He said he was going to watch Mark’s soccer practice and then they were going on a date after. We’ll see him tomorrow, though!”
“Yeah, we will,” Chenle said.
An awkward silence fell over the room, enveloping the two boys.
Chenle bit his lip, looking over at Jaemin, whose eyes were watching him.
“... what?” Chenle asked, huffing out a frustrated sigh.
“We could go watch the soccer team’s practice… if you want?” Jaemin suggested.
“No, no,” Chenle said, shaking his head. “We’ll have plenty of time to support them when the season starts next week. No need to go now!”
“But you can see Jisung before school starts,” Jaemin spoke, putting emphasis on the word ‘Jisung’.”I heard he dyed his hair back to black…”
“Really?” Chenle asked, his eyes shooting up at Jaemin. “His hair hasn’t been black since the eighth grade! Jaemin I swear to God if you’re lying…”
“I guess you’ll have to see for yourself then, huh?” Jaemin proposed, a smirk coming across his face. “Before all of his little fangirls see him tomorrow, you’ll catch the first glimpse! An exclusive viewing of The Park Jisung! How does that sound?”
Chenle froze for a moment, staring wildly at Jaemin.
An exclusive viewing of The Park Jisung, the words echoed over and over in his mind, stinging his ears with a deep, red blush. Before all his little fangirls see him tomorrow...
“I’ll get my keys.” Chenle said simply, rising from Jaemin’s bed, running out of his room and nearly jumping down the stairs.
~
Chenle pulled up to the high school, parking his car right behind the soccer field, where the soccer team was currently doing laps.
“Are you sure?” Chenle asked, turning towards Jaemin with a nervous expression on his face.
“I already told Hyuck we were here,” Jaemin said, shrugging. “So we kinda have to go now!”
Before Chenle could protest further, Jaemin got out of the car, running towards the field like a maniac.
“Jaemin!” Chenle shouted after him, rolling his eyes as he locked his car and started jogging towards the stands, where he could see Hyuck sitting.
~
“Hey,” Chenle greeted as he climbed the stands.
“Lele!” Hyuck cheered, jumping to his feet and hugging the other boy. “I missed you!”
“I missed you too, Hyuck,” Chenle said, laughing at his friends.
Jaemin was sitting on the stands with his hand over his eyes, scanning the group of boys that were now standing on the field in a circle, kicking a ball back and forth between each other randomly.
“There he is!” Jaemin almost shouted, pointing to a tall boy with jet-black hair.
Chenle warily stepped to the front of the stands, until he was leaning against the railing, searching the crowd for the familiar boy.
There he is, Chenle thought as he watched Jisung converse with the boy beside him. He started laughing brightly as he adjusted his hair, and Chenle knew he was in love. He leaned his head onto his hand and stared lovingly at the boy, hearts nearly forming in his eyes.
“Like what you see?” A voice came from beneath Chenle.
He looked down to the walkway that lay beneath the stands, and met eyes with the soccer team’s coach, Coach Nakamoto.
“Good afternoon Mr. Nakamoto!” Chenle greeted, bowing harshly over the railing. His face was bright red with a blush, as he realized what the man had seen.
“Why don’t you come down here Chenle,” Coach Nakamoto suggested.
Chenle nodded as he turned to his best friends, shaking his head in embarrassment as he bounded down the metal stairs.
“Good afternoon, Mr. Nakamoto,” Chenle greeted once more, bowing properly to the man.
“That’s Coach Nakamoto,” The older man said, motioning to the whistle that hung around his neck. “I’ll be Mr. Nakamoto tomorrow morning in your AP Physics class.”
“Oh, right,” Chenle said, smiling.
“Why don’t you come say a word to the boys?” He suggested. “I’m sure they’d be glad to hear something from their beloved student council president. What do you say?” “I’m not sure,” Chenle replied, shaking his head no. “They’re probably busy. I wouldn't want to intrude…”
“Oh, no,” Coach Nakamoto said, waving his hand at Chenle. “You’ve got quite a few fans on this team. I’m sure they’d be elated. Besides,” he looked down at his watch for a moment before nodding. “It’s about time they took a break anyway.”
“Sir-”
Chenle wasn’t able to protest any further, because Coach Nakamoto was wrapping an arm around his shoulder and dragging him towards the center of the field.
When the pair reached the soccer team, Coach Nakamoto blew the whistle that was around his neck, halting the boys.
“Water break, then come half-circle up! You have ten seconds!” He shouted.
The boys all nodded before running off to the benches to grab their water bottles, before coming back to the center of the field, all of them sitting down in a half-circle around Chenle and Coach Nakamoto.
“Now I know some of you have a bit of an obsession with our precious student council president,” The older man started. “But you’re going to have to keep the hearts in your eyes until he’s done speaking. He’s going to say a few words so listen to him! Both you and your grades need it.”
The boys laughed, and then started whooping and hollering once Chenle was left alone before them.
He smiled lightly as he felt a blush creeping onto his cheeks. He bowed politely, before his eyes settled comfortably on the black-haired boy who was sitting directly in front of him.
“I didn’t have anything prepared, so I apologize if this isn’t that great of a speech,” Chenle began, a soft giggle coming from the back of his throat.
A jumble of ‘it’s okay!’s and ‘anything you say will do!’s came from the crowd. Chenle smiled.
“Well, as you all know, school begins again tomorrow,” He started once more. The crowd grumbled. “But this semester is going to be what you make it! So just do your best, and I promise everything will turn out great. School might be hard for some of you, but I’m always available to help tutor, if any of you need it. Don’t be afraid to ask for help. Uhm, I know we have a great soccer team! I’m sure we can depend on you guys to bring home some wins, right?” The group of boys started shouting, cheering ‘yes’s and ‘anything for you’s. “I won’t keep you longer. Thank you for being such a great team! See you all tomorrow!”
Coach Nakamoto nodded to Chenle as he bowed and walked off of the field, the soccer team’s relentless cheers following him.
“They really love you,” Jaemin said once Chenle was finally seated back beside him. “You could literally have anyone on that team. I don’t know why you insist on having this crush on Jisung.”
“Hey, what am I supposed to do?” Chenle asked. “I can’t change my feelings! I just… like him…”
“Yeah, yeah,” Jaemin said, rolling his eyes.
The three boys went on with watching the rest of the practice, Chenle’s eyes not wavering from Jisung the entire time.
Once the practice was over, Chenle, Jaemin, and Donghyuck marched down the stands and walked over to where Hyuck’s boyfriend, Mark, was standing at the benches. He waved cheerily at the trio.
“Hey, Mark,” Chenle greeted, bowing to the older boy.
“Hey, Pres,” Mark replied, a bright smile on his face. “Hyuck and I are going out after this, are you guys coming along?”
“Oh, no-” Chenle started, pausing once he heard someone calling for him.
“Hey, Pres!”
He and his friends turned to the source of the voice, and Chenle was sure his jaw was about to hit the floor once he saw who it was.
There was Jisung, marching towards them with a smile on his face.
Five minutes earlier.
“That was the student council president who gave that speech, right?” Jisung asked Jeno as they walked back to the bench.
“Yeah,” Jeno replied, his eyebrows furrowed in confusion. “You didn’t know?” “Oh, you know I don’t pay attention to stuff like that,” Jisung said, laughing. “So, if he’s the student council president… that must mean he’s close with the vice… president… right?”
“He is…” Jeno said, eyeing the younger boy. “Why…?”
“Maybe I can ask him to hook you guys up?” Jisung suggested. “You and Mister Vice President.”
“What?” Jeno exclaimed, nearly spitting his water out.
“It’s not like you’re doing anything about it,” Jisung mumbled. “Your little… crush~”
“I don’t have a crush,” Jeno protested, shaking his head.
“Look, Jen, all I’m saying is… is you’re going to graduate without a boyfriend, and you can’t blame me when Na Jaemin goes off to college in some big city, finds himself a man, and forgets you even existed.”
“I-”
“I’ll work my magic for you, just watch,” Jisung said, winking at the older boy as he jogged off towards Chenle and his group of friends.
~
“Hey, pres,” Jisung said once more once he reached the group. “How are you?”
Chenle nearly lost it.
He looked to Jaemin for a moment, giving him a ‘pinch me, please’ look. Jaemin just shook his head, nodding to Jisung.
“H-Hi!” Chenle greeted too cheerily. “I’m doing great, how are… you?”
“Oh, shoot, you probably have no clue who I am,” Jisung said, scratching the back off his neck. “I’m Jisung. Park Jisung.” He then extended a hand out to Chenle.
I know who you are… so much more than that.
“Zhong Chenle…” Chenle said, taking Jisung’s hand in his and shaking it.
He was almost in a dream state.
Was Park Jisung talking to him? Was Park Jisung shaking his hand?
What was going on?
An awkward air settled over the group, and before he let Chenle embarrass himself any further, Jaemin stepped forward.
“I’m Na Jaemin, your vice president,” He said, waving to Jisung.
“Oh, I know who you are!” Jisung replied.
“So, what’s up?” Jaemin asked.
“I just wanted to come say hey, before we get back into the swing of things tomorrow,” Jisung said, looking back to Chenle. “We should all hang sometime! I’ll bring Jeno along, what do you think?”
Chenle didn’t say anything, his eyes just sat wide as he stared up at Jisung.
“We’d love that!” Jaemin cheered. “Let us know when, and we’ll be there!”
“Oh, cool,” Jisung said, smiling. “I’ll let you know, then.”
“That would be great,” Jaemin replied, watching as the boy waved and walked back off to where he came from.
“Chenle,” Jaemin said, turning towards the younger boy once Jisung was out of sight. “Chenle!”
“Yeah…?” Chenle asked, looking up at Jaemin as he came out of his trance.
“Wake up!” Jaemin shouted. “Did you not register what just happened? Did you not hear what Jisung just said?”
“I heard,” Chenle replied. “I must be dreaming, though. This feels… fake.”
“Well it isn’t!” Jaemin said, shaking Chenle’s shoulders in his hands. “This is your chance. This has got to be… divine intervention? Someone is watching over you, Zhong Chenle.”
“Do you really think so?” Chenle asked, turning towards Jaemin fully. The soccer team was now gone, Hyuck and Mark having already taken their leave and started off towards Mark’s car long ago.
“I know so,” Jaemin said. “We’re getting you a boyfriend this semester. And it’s going to be Park Jisung.”