The Loveliest Night || Zhong Chenle

10

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6 YEARS EARLIER
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Dear Y/N,

This is my first time writing a letter so I'm not sure how this all works. Did I start correctly or did I also mess this up?

I tried to contact you recently but Sarang told me you bought a new cellphone. I should have known that you would change cellphones sooner or later.

The last time we spoke I said some thing's I wish I could take back. I've been thinking about it everyday since you left. I really fucked up didn't I?

I'm sorry Y/N.

For everything. For walking away from you that day. For walking away on us. I hate myself for letting you go.

I love you.

Am I selfish for telling you this after hurting you the way I did? Maybe. But it's true. I have not stopped loving you for a single moment. I miss you more than anything the world.

Please Y/N, please let me hear your sweet voice again. I don't care if that means hearing you yell about how much you hate me.

Have you made it this far? Are you still reading my words? Or did you stop reading midway and rip this letter to shreds? If you're still here then the last thing I have to tell you is that I'll never stop waiting for you. So take your time, I promise that'll I'll be right here whenever you're ready.

I love you,
– Chenle

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"Is something wrong?"

I looked up at Shao Ming who appeared to be concerned.

I smiled and shook my head, showing him the letter knowing that he wouldn't be able to read it because it was written in Korean.

"Friend," I told him before hiding the letter in the back of my notebook.

Truth was, I've already read the letter countless times. It's been sitting in the back of my notebook for the past two weeks waiting for a response. A response, that for some reason, I couldn't bring myself to write.

"So I wanted to ask you something," Shao Ming began to ramble.

That's usually how our exchanges went. He would talk in paragraphs while I quietly listened, managing to come up with short broken responses every now and then.

"Since it's the last day of summer break did you want to go see a movie or something? I just thought it would be more fun than spending the day studying at the library."

I accepted his offer with a nod.

"Great," He smiled and began to pack his things back into his backpack.

I did the same and followed him to the bus stop.

He was leaning against the bus stop pole, staring at the passing cars when he said, "I think I'm going to miss tutoring you every morning. It was sorta fun."

I was surprised. I thought he hated tutoring me. I expected him to be happy that school was starting soon.

"Happy about school?" I asked in my broken mandarin.

He shrugged his shoulders.

"School is, how should I put it, hard for me."

So he struggled academically. But he would be seeing his friends soon after missing his class trip so shouldn't he be more excited?

"Friends?"

He looked down at me and smiled.

"I have a lot of friends, what about you?"

I nodded my head, taking out my phone. I scrolled through my image gallery and showed him a few photos.

One was of me and Sarang during our senior trip. Another was of me, Jaemin, and Suyeon. The last one was a selfie of me and the boys in Jungwoo's dorm room.

"Your friends?" He asked.

I confirmed with a nod, then pointed at Jungwoo.

"Big brother."

"You and your brother have the same friends?" He snorted, "that's kinda lame."

"Ya!" I playfully slapped his arm.

"I'm joking," He laughed, "It's actually kind of cute."

I felt a light warmth rise up to my cheeks when he said that.

"So are we friends now too?" He asked with a smirk.

"No," I teased him in return, "I am elder."

His jaw dropped.

"By like 6 months," He retorted.

"I am your noona, don't raise voice at me," I crossed my arms.

"Yeah whatever," he rolled his eyes.

"Bad kid," I scolded him.

A small laugh escaped his lips.

"You should talk more often," He smiled looking directly in my eyes, "You have a pretty voice."

There it was, the same warm feeling from earlier.

I quickly adverted my gaze away from him. From the distance, I could see the bus making it's way towards us.

"Bus is here," I shyly stated.

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Short chapter but I think I want to keep past events into their own little chapters instead of doing flashbacks. Please let me know if it's confusing for anyone.