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Jisung is scared of the dark.
It was something that everyone found endearing (even if the maknae hates it). Every time Jisung walks with a hyung in a dim-lit place, the younger instinctively holds onto his hyung's arm and goes closer to him. During the beginning of a performance when the lights are out, he bites his lower lip in anxiety. However, when being met with the light, he is fast smiling, as if the sunshine was born in him.
Chen Le finds Jisung as the most adorable person in the whole wide universe. Chen Le was scared of bugs and those little critters are the perfect solution for the Chinese boy to belt out a high-pitched scream, while Jisung, who was scared of the dark, becomes only quiet yet clingy when the lights die.
It was just that, he had never experienced Jisung being clingy to him because of the dark. Whenever they were walking outside and it was dark, it was always one of the hyungs accompanying the maknae and because Chen Le was so young, he had to be accompanied by a hyung too.
Whenever Donghyuck played the light switch, Chen Le was always not sat with or beside Jisung.
Whenever there were the dark seconds before a performance starts, he can't hold Jisung's hand and reassure him that the lights will come soon.
Whenever it was bed time, even if there was a small lamp beside Jisung's bed, he couldn't come and hug the other when the lamp's light went out because the older was simply shy.
They rarely experience brownouts.
Jisung was on the couch with Jeno, watching a movie on the huge TV. Chenle's lips formed a smile when the youngest laughed while watching and exclaiming to Jeno about the movie scene. When Jisung's bowl ran out of popcorn, Jeno took the bowl, stood up and made his way to the kitchen.
Chen Le decides to join the youngest. He saw Donghyuck in his peripheral vision, entering the living room, and coincidentally, the lights flickered.
"Donghyuck hyung!"
Chen Le exclaimed, to which Donghyuck reacted to by raising his hands in the air, shaking his head quickly, "I didn't do anything!"
Jisung body was slightly tensed yet he kept his eyes on the screen.
And in a split-second, the light was drained out not only in the room but also in the dorm.
A bunch of noises (those of annoyance and others, being shrieks of surprise) were heard. Chen Le noticed that Jisung's body was completely tense now, staying frozen in place.
"Where's the flashli—Oh, here it is!"
Donghyuck appeared a few feet away from Jisung, flashlight directed to his own face, looking like as if he was scaring the youngest.
Chen Le felt a hand holding tight onto his arm and he realized it was Jisung's.
When he thought Jisung's hand was loosening, Jaemin went out of his room with a phone in hand, the brightness of the screen making his cucumber masked-face visible.
Jisung gasped in shock, yet when realizing that it was only Jaemin, he bit his lip and scooted closer to Chen Le.
(Jaemin scoffed at their maknae's reaction until Jeno returned and gasps loudly upon seeing Jaemin's face, to which the said boy reacted by hitting Jeno's arm repeatedly.)
Shuffling feet were normal to be heard during a brownout, yet a pair of hands tapping on the floor were audible later on. Jisung shut his eyes tightly, jolting and shrinking, releasing a small yet sudden sound of fright. When Chen Le looked, a hand was holding onto Jisung's ankle, which later on loosened and tapped away from them.
Poor Mark hyung and his blindness in the dark.
(Donghyuck saw the Canadian boy crawling on the floor and he immediately grabbed him by the arm and dragged the somehow blind boy.)
Jisung was clinging onto Chen Le's arm this time, sides pressed onto the elder's, completely huddled. The youngest was shaking, his eyes shut, teeth tightly clamped onto his lower lip.
"Jisungie?"
"LeLe hyung?"
Chen Le took the younger's hand off his arm and into his own, lacing their fingers together before giving Jisung's bigger yet softer hands a squeeze.
"I-I'm scared..."
Jisung murmured almost inaudibly, yet his voice was quivering and small. Chen Le's eyes were wide for the younger has never voiced his fear out loud. Yet here he was, hands frigid, body stiff yet stuttering, face trickling with cold sweat.
"Don't worry, I got this."
Chen Le stomps his foot and his shoe lights up.
Jisung stares at Chen Le's shoe with blinking lights. Upon the sight of lights, Jisung's once quivering lips stretched into a small smile.
The Chinese boy began to stomp both feet this time, both shoes giving off bright, blinking lights.
Jisung's lips beamed wider, his body wasn't so stiff anymore and his hands were warm with Chen Le's hold.
The Chinese boy gazed at the younger with such fondness, admiring Jisung's softness under the very dim lights provided by the small, faint glows of the flashlights that were feet away from them.
Chen Le's heart beat faster than usual that night.
("Why are you buying another pair of LED shoes? Don't you already have one? And isn't that size too big for your feet?"
Renjun just watched in confusion as Chen Le places the shoebox on the counter and hands his debit card to the cashier.)
They rarely experience brownouts.
And when they do, Jisung just stomps his feet and lights come out.
Jisung isn't scared of the dark (anymore).