fireflies || haechan

chapter 38

this song.

meili dragged herself into the cafeteria the next day, head bowed as she approached their table.

only 5 of them were at the table as she slid in beside chenle, all staring at her as they sensed something off.

the girl looked exhausted, a hood encasing her head which conveniently hid her puffy eyes that she attempted to cover up with makeup. as soon as she sat down, she immediately tucked her head into her arms, failing to greet the boys in any way.

"hello to you too," renjun grumbled, earning a kick from jaemin.

chenle was a bit hesitant on comforting his girlfriend, reaching out to stroke her hair but pulling back last minute. the relationship between him and meili had felt rather strained recently, holding him back from doing the usual things he wouldn't think twice about doing.

from across the table, jisung squinted at his friend with a perplexed look on his face, unsure why he wasn't comforting her.

"where's donghyuck?" jeno asked the boys, each shrugging.

"he's at school for sure," renjun said, knowing since he had picked the boy up that morning, much to meili's displeasure. "maybe he had school work."

"maybe, or he left early."

meili felt relieved that she didn't have to face the boy at lunch, also hoping he wouldn't be in class at the end of the day either.

a girl's voice caused her to lift her head from her arms, eyes flickering in the direction of the sound.

a small girl stood beside there table, eyes focused on the boy beside her. the girl's fists were clenched, bunching up her skirt in nervousness.

"hi chenle," she greeted, gaining the boy's attention as he looked up from his phone.

"oh, hey areum," he greeted her back, smiling cheekily at the girl who then flushed a deep crimson.

meili watched their interaction with curious eyes, confused who the girl was and how she managed to get chenle off his phone with just a look.

"we never exchanged numbers in class..." she reminded him, revealing her phone that was held between her trembling fingers.

"for our project? oh yeah!" he exchanged phones with her, typing in his number and sending himself a quick text before handing it right back.

"see you, areum!" he waved her away, turning back to his friends who were all staring at him. "what?"

"who's that?" meili asked, sitting back in her seat with her arms crossed casually.

"oh... just some girl i'm working on a project with," he explained, seeming a bit nervous.

she nodded, taking it, before burying her head back into her arms.

chenle looked relieved as he let out a breath, unknown to the fact that meili noticed the faint blush glowing in his cheeks along with his burning red ears.

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"you wanted to talk?" the boy asked as they walked along the trail surrounding a pond. meili had asked him to come with her to the park, saying she had something she wanted to talk about.

she took a breath in, gaze drifting towards the half-frozen water as she thought of how to say it.

"chenle."

she froze, lightly taking ahold of his arm. he looked back at her, concern-filled eyes locking with hers.

"i love you...but..." she began, him wincing at the last part of the sentence. he knew where she was going with this, sensing it in her tone. "i think we should break up."

his head hung low as meili watched him, attempting to hide his pained face from her. she let him, glancing away and closing her eyes to give him some privacy.

she opened her eyes as she felt arms wrap around her waist and a head snuggle into her neck, warm tears wetting her shirt.

"i'm sorry," her voice quivered, close to giving into her tears as well.

"don't be," she could feel him smiling into her shirt, then pulling away to reveal his tear stricken face. that's what made her break, small drops of water trickling down her cheeks as well, before quickly being wiped away by her  own sleeves.

chenle pulled the girl closer, burying his face into her hair. "it's okay, we're better off as friends anyway."