The Loveliest Night || Zhong Chenle

8

----------------------------
6 YEARS EARLIER
----------------------------

I reserved a private study room at the library as soon as it opened as I had done every morning for the past two weeks. I was sitting down scrolling through my instagram page as I waited for Mr. Zhao's son, Shao Ming. I knew he was going to be late again just as he had been every morning for the past two weeks.

I double tapped my screen after seeing a selfie Sarang had uploaded with YangYang. Their cheeks were pressed against each other's and she had captioned the photo with a heart emoji. I suppose the two were officially dating now.

After another 15 minutes of mindless scrolling, a message notification appeared at the top of my screen. I opened it up and was greeted with a birthday message from Ten attached to a video.

I played the video, watching as Ten held up the phone in selfie mode.

"Happy Birthday Y/N-ah!" He immediately shouted into the Camera.

"I wish you were here so we could celebrate your big one-eight together. Woah, 18! I can't believe my little girl is all grown up." He wiped away a non existent tear.

"I'm trying my best to not be all cheesy but I'm very proud of you. You're such an amazing girl who deserves nothing but the best."

"Stop getting all sappy." I heard Lucas shout from off screen.

Ten rolled his eyes at him then turned to look back at the camera.

"Anyway..." He paused for a second. "It's Friday so go out and have a lot of fun with your new friends."

I sighed.

Those so called new friends I had were all made up. A lie I had told Jungwoo and Ten so they wouldn't worry. My father was working late tonight so I wouldn't be celebrating my birthday at all.

The video went black for a few seconds before Jaehyun appeared on screen.

"Hey y/n." He waved, an awkward smile appearing on his face.

"I'm terrible at these type of things so I'll keep it short. We miss you and wish you were here. Maybe we can all celebrate you're next birthday together but until them, have a great day and eat lots of cake."

The phone was immediately snatched from his hands, a grinning Lucas popping up on screen.

"Happy Birthday princess." He winked at the camera.

"Today's your eighteenth birthday which means you're old enough to date me. When you get back I promise to show you a good ti- ouch"

I laughed as I watched Jungwoo slap the back of Lucas's head.

"I swear I am going to kill you." Jungwoo threatened while taking the phone away from him.

"Don't listen to that dumbass." He rolled his eyes before smiling into the camera.

"Wow 18. Where did the time go?" He let out a soft laugh. "It seems like it was just yesterday that you were running around my mom's house in a diaper while Jungmin and I chased after you. I guess you're not so little anymore."