{crumbs: nct one-shots}

{pieces: chenji}

concept: chenle completes jisung.

thudding footsteps could be heard as the two youngest members chased each other around the dream dorm. "stop! chenle, give that back!" jisung cried, chasing the older around the dorm. a piece of paper was in his best friend's hand and he was desperately trying to get it back.

"or what?" chenle asked. "what's on this paper that's so important, anyway?" he was standing on the couch, holding it out of jisung's reach.

"it just— it's important and i need it back, okay? don't worry about it," jisung said.

chenle smirked, turning his face toward the paper. "what does it say?" he asked, reveling in the fact that jisung's face was turning red. "'i love—'"

jisung reached up and snatched the paper from chenle's hand, tearing it in the process. it was an ugly, uneven tear, but the thundering in his chest was starting to subside with relief. he couldn't let chenle read what was on the paper. even though it was meant for him. he would have died of embarrassment if chenle had read it before jisung was mentally prepared.

chenle blinked at him, surprised. "i was just teasing. if it's really that important to you i would have left it alone. sorry for..." he stared at the pieces of paper in their hands— "tearing it in half."

jisung shrugged. "it's fine. it was just super personal to me and i didn't really want anyone to read it," he said, fighting the urge to crumple his part of the paper in his hands.

"aww, come on, don't say it like that, you actually make me feel bad now," chenle said. he let the paper fall to the floor before giving jisung a back hug. "jisungie..."

blushing furiously, jisung unwrapped chenle's arms from his middle and stepped away. "don't do that, you're acting like jaemin."

"and suddenly you don't like jaemin?" chenle asked.

"i didn't say that," jisung countered. "i just— i have to go, hyung." he could feel chenle's gaze turn to one of concern as he walked back toward his and renjun's room. he never called him hyung unless something was wrong. any minute now jaemin would come in asking what was wrong because chenle would tell him something was up.

renjun looked up from the book he was reading as jisung entered the room, flushed with his head down. "jisung-ah? is everything okay?" the older asked.

"not really," jisung admitted.

the older tilted his head, closing the book and setting it aside. "what's up?" he asked.

jisung's first instinct was to shrug. "i just screwed up. again."

"hey don't say tha—"

"jisungie!" the door was thrown open, pushing jisung aside and revealing an overly concerned jaemin. renjun stared at him wide-eyed, backing away from the door. "why did you call chenle hyung?"

"you called chenle hyung?" renjun asked, immediately leaning forward again.

"he got the letter, jaemin," jisung said, lowering his head. renjun's brow furrowed in confusion, but jaemin's expression softened in understanding.

"oh," he said simply. "you weren't ready?"

"no, of course i wasn't," jisung told him.

"ready for what? what letter?" the older chinese male asked, still sitting on his bed.

jisung sighed, looking back up at the two standing in front of him. "jaemin told me to write down my feelings so i wrote a letter. a stupid, cheesy love letter because i have this huge, stupid crush on chenle," he explained.

"it's not stupid," jaemin said, reaching out toward the younger.

"it is if he doesn't like me," jisung countered.

"you don't know that," jaemin continued.

"jaemin has a point," renjun said. "you won't know unless you, i don't know, tell him."

"i tore the letter in half trying to get it back and i'm glad he never saw it." jisung hid his face in his hands as he remembered what he had written in the letter. he was getting embarrassed just thinking about it.

"what did you write?" renjun asked as the younger flopped onto his bed with an exasperated sigh.

"i brought mark into it. i brought hyuck into it. their boyfriends. puzzle piece lyrics. it was a mess," jisung explained, cringing at his own work.

"okay maybe writing a letter wasn't the right way to go," renjun said, carefully messing with a strand of jisung's hair.

jaemin pouted, offended. "i was trying to help. i didn't think it was going to end in disaster," he huffed.

"it wasn't a disaster, nana, it was just..." renjun shrugged. "it wasn't the right thing for jisung to do," he explained, looking at the younger.

"what should i do then?" jisung asked.

"i like the puzzle piece metaphor. maybe don't use our lyrics, but you could still tell him he completes you," renjun said, on the verge of massaging the maknae's head at this point. "like a puzzle piece."

jisung gave a half smile. "yeah, i guess you're right," he said. "i should go talk to him. i probably hurt his feelings."

"maybe a little bit, with the way you walked off after calling him hyung," jaemin noted.

"jaeminnie, not now," renjun scolded him. "we're not here to guilt trip him."

jisung wiggled out from under renjun's hand and past the two out of the room. he wanted to get out of their before they started bickering like a married couple.

he snuck into the living room, where jeno was sitting beside chenle, looking at something over his shoulder. the younger of the two looked up to meet his eyes, then back at the phone in his hands. jisung saw this as an opportunity to pull out his own phone as quickly as possible, almost dropping it in the process. he quickly typed in a question asking the chinese to go for a walk with him. the older standing up from the couch answered his question and lifted a weight from jisung's chest as he headed toward the door.

"i'm sorry i tore your letter, i didn't think it was important, you know? i was just—"

"would you stop? i know. it's not your fault. you don't have to keep apologizing. i'm not mad at you." he held his hand out at his side as a sort of truce.

"oh." chenle grabbed the younger's hand and gave it a gentle squeeze.

"it fits," jisung murmured. "just like puzzle pieces."

jisung looked up to see chenle's cheeks turn pink. "wh-what?" he asked.

"our hands. they just... fit together," jisung said.

chenle seemed to be trying to process, looking for something to say in response. the best he could come up with was "huh."

"i was talking to jaemin and renjun earlier, you know when i went to hide in my room like the coward i am."

chenle chuckled at that. "that you are," he said.

"yah! anyway, we were talking and they said that i should tell you that i like you." his voice slowed toward the end of the sentence. "and i think that we just fit together. we've been friends for so long, it makes sense. unless you don't want to, i mean. i understand if you do—"

chenle pressed a finger to jisung's lips. "you're rambling too much," he said. "i like you too. and if you want to try... whatever this is—" he gestured at both of them— "i'm willing to try it." jisung smiled and the older did the same back. it felt right. his heart felt full. he felt complete.

{a/n: happy five years of nct! i'm so proud of them and how far they've come even though i haven't been here for the whole journey. i hope to be here longer and stay along for the ride. i totally didn't stop paying attention to my spanish class for mark, ten, and doyoung's live this morning, lmao. anyway, hope you're all doing well. :)}