tuition and fees ☆ z.cl | ✔

05

As you were switching your folders out of your locker one morning, a hand suddenly ripped the earbud from your ear that had been constantly playing sad music for the past seven days. Before you could give the hidden perpetrator your perpetual scowl, he said, "I do."

Your heart practically burst at the familiar lilts. Slamming your locker closed, you were finally able to see him, and nearly cried from the relief of just having him talk to you again. Chenle was smiling a smile that reached his eyes, brown hair as unkempt and fluffy as you remembered, and thumbs looped through his backpack straps. He looked... normal, and happy.

"Do... what?" You asked cautiously, not wanting to get your hopes up. It had been nearly a full week since you'd told Chenle the secret you'd been harboring for your whole relationship, and you'd had no contact with him. Or his parents, so you'd figured that he had told them you two had broken up, and then moved on with his life.

"Want to be with you." He clarified, and without waiting for him to say another word, you threw your arms around his neck. Burying your face in his neck, you let out a deep sigh of relief, wanting to hold him for the rest of your life. Chenle chuckled as he hugged you back, pressing a soft kiss to your temple.

He spoke up again, sounding amused as he stated, "But you're being too straightforward with this."

"What?" You questioned, pulling your head back but still keeping close to him, searching those clear brown eyes you hadn't been able to gaze at in far too long.

"Did you not even think that I could just tell my parents you broke up with me, so you can stay at Brenton? And we can just, you know, date in secret. At least until we graduate. Which is in..." He started counting on his fingers, confident smirk turning down into a frown. "Sixteen weeks."

You shook your head firmly at that idea, which you had, in fact, thought of before, "I'm not going to ask you to lie to your parents."

"I was lying to them until that night."

"Oh."

"Besides, I already did tell them that, the same day you'd told me about everything."

"Did you still not know whether you wanted me or not?"

"No, I'd had my mind made up about this pretty much since I'd left your house. I passed by the ice cream shop—our ice cream shop—on my way home. And uhm, it was closed, so I couldn't get any ice cream. I'm explaining this metaphor really badly, but it felt kind of like us. I didn't want it, us, to stay closed."

A giggle bubbled up from your throat, followed by another one, and another one, until you were just a ball of happiness. Nodding, you gratefully grabbed for one of his hands, "I got it, LeLe. I love you."

"Love you, Bean Sprout." He grinned, giving you a slightly longer kiss, brimming with more emotion than any of your previous ones, even after your first kiss, or that first night you'd exchanged 'I love you's. Maybe because this one held more promise of something more, and of the ending of a time of lies.