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“What the hell happened to you?”
“What?” Chenle’s question brought Jisung out of his thoughts.
“Your eyes. They look puffy and all red…if i didn’t know how afraid you’d be to talk to a drug dealer, i’d think you were fucking stoned” Chenle looked at him trying way too hard to pretend he’s not super worried. “You okay dude?”
“Oh it’s nothing…I just watched this super sad movie last night so i didn’t sleep much” he paused. “And i kinda cried a little” he added.
He knew it was useless to try to hide it from Chenle, he was his best friend since they were little kids, he knew him better than he knew himself. They are attached to the hip, everywhere they go it’s chenle-and-jisung. They came in pairs or not at all, which looks weird a lot of the time considering they have very different centers of interest. Chenle, ever the
extraverted, takes Jisung to high school parties and all of his basketball games. While Jisung makes him go with him to space conferences about aliens and to emo band nights at the shitty bar close to their school (that Chenle showed him because god forbid Jisung ever leaves his house to discover a new place on his own). They tell each other everything, there’s no point in lying.
“Oh yeah, Dead Poets Society right?”
“How do you know that??” Chenle leveled him a look that seemed to mean *are you fucking serious*. “Dude you begged me to download letterboxd and you’re shocked i know what movie you watched? You log movies the second the credits start rolling, I just saw that you watched it. You didn’t mention in your review that you cried like a baby over it though Mr.Cinephile.”
Jisung’s cheeks burned at the comment. Curse his ability to get embarrassed over anything!
“To be fair you only have one movie logged and it’s High School musical, i didn’t know you actually used the app!!!” Chenle softly laughed at that. “Yeah well now you know”.
A minute of… weirdly charged silence passed? Jisung wasn’t really sure, he’s never been great at reading the room. His friends remind him of this fact daily.
The bell announcing the end of class rang. Shit maybe they should have paid attention. They always spend the entirety of the last period talking. It’s their first year of not being in the same class and this is the only lesson they have in common, sue them if they use it to catch up! A lot of things can happen in a few hours!
Yes, they spend every break together and text constantly but that’s not the point.
“Wanna go back to mine? Yangyang told me practice is cancelled because of the rain.”
“Sure, yeah.” By the end of this exchange they were the last ones still in class. Everyone had bolted out the second it ended, including the teacher.
“Let’s go then.” Chenle swiftly took his bag and started walking out the door while Jisung was left scrambling to get all of his stuff. “Dude, wait for me what the hell!!”
Chenle was waiting for him at the bus stop. Jeez, is Jisung the slowest runner ever or is Chenle just a freakishly fast walker? Chenle looks dryer than ever while Jisung is soaked from the rain. The bus stop isn’t even that far from the school! Does playing basketball give you supersonic speed? No. That might just be a Chenle thing.
It doesn’t matter as they are now boarding the bus and sitting in the same post they have been sitting in for the past 6 or 7 years, Jisung next to the window because he’s an emo weirdo (chenle’s words), and Chenle next to the aisle because he knows everyone in the school and will talk to anyone that sits across from him. That’s a threat, not a warning.
It seems like today’s not the case so Jisung pulls out his earphones from his bag and gestures to Chenle who accepts the invitation.
Listening to music together is something that they have been doing the most since they met. It’s actually how they became friends in the first place. That’s how Jisung found out about Chenle’s ability to make conversations with everyone he sits next to.
They were standing in the same exact spot where they are right now, except that now Jisung no longer has the world’s most ridiculous bowl cut and Chenle has all of his teeth straight and didn’t pause for full minutes when he forgot the word he wanted to say in English. Jisung was one of the first victims of Chenle’s on bus interrogations and the one he took a liking to the fastest. He stills remembers the other eyeing him up and down before asking the one million dollar question.
“What are you listening to?”
At that Jisung panicked and just handed him one side of his wired earphones preparing himself to get called a weirdo again but the insult never came. Instead he was met with the widest smile when Chenle exclaimed in recognition “Oh my god that’s my fav Naruto opening!!”
Jisung didn’t say anything in response, he just stared at him.
“You look like it’s your first day on earth. That’s cool. Kind of like an alien.”
Jisung didn’t answer right away, he just smiled (or at least tried something close to a smile).
“I love aliens.”
“Yeah, i can tell.”
~~~~~~~~~~
They are sitting on Chenle’s living room couch, ice creams and spoons, watching a movie Jisung has wanted to add to his letterboxd log since forever (2 weeks ago).
“Scott Pilgrim VS the world? What, is that like an action movie?”
“You’ll see.”
“Ugh fine” The oldest of the two rolled his eyes, but Jisung knows there’s no real annoyance behind his actions. Chenle is just really dramatic.
The room falls silent except for some occasional laughs and yelps from Chenle, who is inhaling his ice cream so fast that he already got 5 brain freezes in less than one hour into the movie, until Jisung spoke up, setting aside his empty jar of ice cream.
“The reason I wanted to watch this is because I saw clips of it on tiktok and Wallace reminded me so much of Renjun”
The crazy laugh Chenle let out made Jisung laugh even harder until both of them were struggling to breathe, collapsing onto each other.
“And also” Jisung struggled to add in between breaths “now that i think of it , Scott and Ramona are so us”. Chenle’s hysterical laughter softened into a slight giggle as he asked “In what ways?”.
“Well you know, in the way that you’re the coolest person ever that everybody likes and I'm the weirdo loser who's super lucky you chose to hang out with them. Also you change hair colors almost every month and I'm in a shitty band.”
At that, Chenle’s loud laughter resonated around the room again, brightening the atmosphere and warming Jisung’s heart.
Oh yeah by the way, Jisung realised a few weeks ago that he has the biggest and most embarrassing crush on his best friend. The kind that gives him butterflies in his stomach and makes him lose the ability to speak over any kind of affection. Just like right now. Chenle is still laughing, and the more he laughs, the less there is space in between them. Eventually leading to Chenle catching his breath by resting on top of jisung, his head on his shoulder.
They were close before – they are sharing a blanket after all – but the sudden proximity still made Jisung’s head spin, which made him miss what the other said.
“You said something?”
Jisung really hoped he sounded calm and collected, maybe even cool, instead of squeaky voiced and obviously enamoured with the other.
“I said, it's kinda like in dead poets society. We're like Neil and Todd if you think about it. The way we became friends is pretty similar.” he paused. Time seemed to have stopped for Jisung. Or, more realistically, he had stopped breathing. “Todd gets really cute when he’s shy.”
Jisung didn’t have to look into a mirror to know he was getting redder by the second. Was that indirect flirting? Jisung missed social cues most of the time but even he caught that.
Was it really flirting tho? He has no experience. How can he truly know? Should he respond casually? Chenle is looking at him, and visibly getting more upset (maybe nervous?) as time passes. Quick, he has to say something! Anything!!
“Yeah… I think Neil is way more beautiful though. And he has this way of speaking where you can see how smart and passionate he is. I wish I could be with someone like that.”
Silence.
Way to be subtle and smooth. He could have said "i’m in love with you" and it would have been less gay than whatever he just said.
Both best friends are staring at each other, wearing matching shades of red on their faces.
It’s Chenle that breaks the silence.
“You know it’s funny but, I really thought they would get together at the end of the movie.”
Okay, Jisung. Be smooth. This is a clear sign. It's your chance!!
“Did you want them to?”
“Yeah. A lot.”
This has definitely nothing to do with the characters anymore right?
The movie on the TV has been completely forgotten as Jisung sits up to face chenle, making the other pull away slightly.
They are sitting face to face, dangerously close. So close that Jisung only has to whisper his next words.
“I think you figured that out on your own just now but” his eyes flickered down to the other’s lips “i really like you Chenle. Like how Todd likes Neil”
His words hung in the air around them. There’s no way to turn back now.
He looked up to look into the other’s eyes. The biggest grin harbored Chenle’s face. “I really like you Jisung. Like how Ramona likes Scott. Mr. Cinephile.” he added, giggling. Jisung joined him and soon they were both ecstatic, doubled over each other in laughter.
It felt like a weight was taken off his shoulders as Jisung moves to lay his hand on top of Chenle’s, turning back to face the movie.
“Wait, what the fuck is happening? Who’s the blonde girl? What the fuck is the vegan police ???”
“I have no idea, I've been too busy trying to finally make you understand my flirting to continue playing attention.”
“That wasn’t the first time?!” Chenle laughed at Jisung's shocked expression.
“Oh yeah, you are the most oblivious person ever. I was going insane.”
Jisung retreated into Chenle’s neck, bending down to hide his embarrassment, muttering apologies as he went.
“Well it's okay now that we’re boyfriends right?”
Jisung looked up at him.
“Yeah” he responded fondly, “boyfriends.”
As they laid on top of each other on chenle’s huge couch, finally paying attention to the movie they had to rewind, (Jisung still really wants to log it onto his letterboxd) he thought of what his review will be.
Scott Pilgrim VS the world
★★★★★ ♥
The coolest movie ever. You even get a boyfriend when you watch it. 10/10.