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Chenle still remembers the first time Jisung gave him butterflies.
It was the summer before grade 12. The sun was high in the sky and a light breeze blew through the air. It was the perfect weather for outside activities.
That particular summer Jisung became very attractive out of nowhere. Chenle caught himself staring at the taller boy more times than he’d like to admit.
At the ice cream store Chenle got a vanilla soft serve with sprinkles while Jisung opted for a big slushy (he claimed the ice cream melted too fast for him and Chenle laughed at him.)
But when Chenle got his ice cream it started to melt faster than he anticipated.
“Chenle it’s dripping all over your hand,” Jisung had pointed out. Chenle was so focused on Jisung that he had let it begin to melt.
Jisung took napkins he had stuffed in his pocket earlier and cleaned Chenle's hand. The latter assumed it would stop there but then Jisung stepped closer and wiped ice cream from around his mouth.
It was so sudden that Chenle momentarily forgot how to breathe. Something about the hot air clouded Chenle’s thoughts and seeing Jisung up that close caused him to short-circuit.
Butterflies flooded his stomach for reasons he wasn’t sure of at the time and he tried to pass it off as nothing but he couldn’t forget about it.
He thought about those very intense butterflies all night and wondered why he got them. It couldn’t have been because of Jisung. Right?
Wrong.
Every time he saw Jisung again that summer those same butterflies attacked his core as that memory of Jisung resurfaced in his mind.
Then and only then did he realize he was essentially screwed.
It’s been years—they’re in university now—and nothing much has changed. Chenle still experiences butterflies over the smallest things Jisung does.
These days Jisung gives him random compliments and Chenle doesn’t know how to handle them. He isn’t used to this type of attention. Even when he complimented the smallest things Chenle just gets butterflies and the only way to respond was with sarcasm or denial.
Jisung also had a lack of regard for personal space which is both a blessing and a curse for Chenle’s weak heart. Whenever Jisung’s hand brushed against his, he got butterflies. Whenever Jisung popped Chenle's invisible bubble—butterflies. All the time and every time he got butterflies.
Not to mention the eye contact. Chenle cannot stress this enough. It’s becoming a serious problem. When Jisung’s beautiful eyes look at Chenle’s for just a little bit too long he eternally freaks out and forgets what he wants to say and it just makes talking so much work.
And what makes it worse is that Jisung is just so oblivious to the things he does. How dare Jisung look Chenle in the eye and say his hair looks pretty? And then walk away? Leaving Chenle a blushing mess.
Chenle’s had enough!
“Okay Chenle, you can do this!” He said, staring at himself in his bathroom mirror. “…fourth time’s a charm.”
He’s tried three times to tell Jisung how he felt, but he never got the hint so now Chenle was just gonna come out and say it. Plain and simple so there is nothing to interpret or be confused about.
After his pep talk, he grabbed his back and headed out the door.
To say Chenle was nervous would be an understatement. He was so nervous he couldn’t even focus on his lecture and as he walked to meet Jisung at his dorm his whole body was shaking.
Normally Chenle was a confident person; he was smart, bubbly and loud. But when it came to Jisung, the butterflies attacked his shield of confidence, wearing him down until he was just a hit nervous blushing mesh. And while he tried his best to hide this from Jisung internally he knew he was suffering and it was only a matter of time before he accidentally let it loose at the wrong time and embarrassed himself.
After class, he met Jisung at his dorm.
He knocked and when Jisung opened the door he stormed in, using up the last bit of confidence he had stored up in that body of his.
“Hello to you too?”
“You give me butterflies,” Chenle said abruptly before he chickened out.
Jisung gave him a confused look, “…I don't remember giving you any butterflies, Chenle. It’s also winter so wouldn’t they be hibernating or something?”
You’re kidding…
He knew Jisung was dense sometimes…but this dense?
“N-no I mean I have butterflies in my stomach.”
Jisung took a step back and now his face was a mixture of confusion and worry, “You ate them?”
“Oh my god Jisung no, I have a stupid crush on your dumbass.”
“Oh,” Jisumg said, then a small smile spread across his face. Then his smile dropped, “wait so you didn’t actually eat butterflies?”
“What No! Jisung!.” This boy was unbelievable. “It’s like—every time I’m around you I get this strong tingling feeling in my stomach. Because I have feelings for you and you make me nervous like all the time.”
A smile spreads across Jisung’s face, finally understanding Chenle’s confession. He took a step closer and Chenle’s eyes widened slightly. His hands trailed down Chenle’s arm and held his hands once he reached the end. “You’re shaking right now,” Jisung whispered between them.
“Because you make me nervous,” Chenle whispered back, looking down at their hands—his shaking in Jisung’s—then back up at him.
“Chenle?”
“Hm?”
“Can I kiss you?”
Chenle nodded.
Without missing a beat Jisung leaned in and pressed his lips to Chenle’s. The butterflies he had become accustomed to, returned stronger than ever. But he smiled into Jisung’s lips because this time it was caused by something intentional Jisung had done.
Chenle still remembers the first time Jisung gave him butterflies all those years ago and he was so scared of what that meant. But now he couldn’t wait for that fluttering feeling to return again.