silver lining ⇢ chensung

deux

it was a breezy yet clear midnight.

being past 1 am, the streets were empty with the exceptions of a few shops still up and running by sleepy shopkeepers. the cold breeze was fresh, breaking away leaves and twigs on its way to nowhere, and the sky was scattered with twinkling stars, contrasting the azureous hue of the night sky.

chenle paced slowly with reluctant steps, his jaw slightly open in awe at the sights around him, completely foreign but was definitely a welcome change from the bland monotonous room he spent most of his life in. the window beckoning him was right; this was one of the best decisions he had ever taken.

chenle gazed at his surroundings, eyes glowing in innocent curiosity. the buildings were dyed in the same cerulean hue of the night sky, vehicles stopped at corners, and in between, a boy walks by as his head drooped down towards a building, faintly lit with a sodium lamp.

chenle's attention suddenly turned to himself as his stomach started to grumble, indicating him that he starving. he sighed as he realized this was the time the creepy man would slide him food to eat. with no idea on where to go, he decided to follow the young man as discreetly as he could, in the hope that he could salvage something to eat.

the shop was at the brink of closing where the boy rushed in, begging the shopkeeper for some food repeatedly until she finally heed to his words, although really annoyed by his intervention.

chenle walked inside the place without the boy knowing, for his attention was towards the lady. sighing, the boy drooped his head down and scrambled for something, followed by a sharp gasp of realization in a really deep voice.

jisung looked horrified, his eyes, which were showing an expression of stoic was now wide in horror. fidgetting his fingers, his head started to convulse, indicating chenle that was something was very, very wrong.

the lady came back with a few pieces of bread and was suspicious about the boy's antics. she immediately took notice of chenle observing him, and turned to him for a mere moment. "excuse me? this place is closed for fuck's sake, i'm not taking anymore customers—"

taking that opportunity, jisung grabbed the loaf and ran out of the place, startling the lady and chenle. she screamed for help, while chenle, although confused, also seized the opportunity to grab a piece of bread without her knowing and ran off, giving her the illusion that he was about to save some of her earnings.

chenle caught sight of jisung turning over towards an alley, and followed suit. he stopped to see the poor boy literally shivering in fear, grabbing the loaf like his life depended on it. the loaf, during his chase, was practically ripped into mere crumbs of nothing, and it would certainly not be enough for one.

chenle approached the boy oh-so-carefully, to which he was frightened out of his wits. jisung cowered to a corner, scared on what exactly the older was going to do. chenle, on the other hand, kneeled down towards him, and out of generosity, handed over the loaf that he stole, smiling wholesomely in the process.

"here you go, i saw most of it was wasted when you ran off, and i'm not that hungry," chenle spoke out in a happy and carefree tone, dissipating the younger's fear quite a bit. reluctantly, jisung reached out and slowly grabbed the bread, his expression slowly morphing into a sad smile.

"t-thanks..." jisung spoke out in a voice inaudible, as he feverishly helped himself with the loaf of bread. chenle merely smiled as he gazed in curiosity at the boy stuffing down the food while tears fell out of his eyes for no specific reason whatsoever.

within moments, the same lady's screams were heard in the distance, startling the two. it was followed by the sounds of sirens, which was definitely something horrifying to the poor young boy. without thinking, he grabbed chenle's hand and ran out the alley, with him lagging behind.