No Longer a Monster | Chenji

Chapter 12:

"This looks terrible! Not you but... the outfit itself! No one can probably pull this off at all. Not even god himself, Jisung!-"
"Jaemin, take it lightly. His sense of fashion is probably just... not that versatile."

Jeno shrugs as both of his hands squeezing Jaemin's shoulders gently, calming Jaemin's dramatic ass down.

"Alright, alright... but change that outfit, please. I don't want you to look oddly rubbish in front of your date-"
"He's not my date, Jaemin! He's just a good friend of mine!-"
"Silence yourself, you nutmeg."

Jaemin says before exiting Jisung's large closet, ready to do more palace work in his free time as a substitute for Areum. The prince sighs exhaustingly, returning to the pile of clothes with both his brother and his mother.

"Do I really have to change my clothes once again, Jeno?"
"Well... I don't really want my brother to look like a dumb ass-"
"Hey!"

Jisung interrupts with a face of annoyance as Areum comes forward, gently laying her hand on her younger son's shoulder to comfort him.

"It's going to be all alright, Jisung. Just trust your brother and I and you'll end up fine... Also, I just want to tell you that you've grown so much since last year... I am so proud of you and Jeno. I am so proud to call the two of you my sons, Jisung."

Of course, Jisung was left speechless. That was the first time he was ever told that he has been doing great and that he has improved since last year.

"Thank you so much... Thank you, Mother."

Jisung blurts out as he smiles at her before he hugs his mother tightly, almost making him cry because of the sudden feelings of hope. Jeno walks in with a better set of clothes, seeing his brother and his mother reunite in a more emotional way. Jeno smiles as he joins in with an equal amount of warmth in his hug.

No matter what happened in the past, they were still a "family".

"... Alright, we've got to stop hugging now. Jisung still has a date-"
"I swear to god- IT'S NOT A DATE, JENO!"

Jisung complains once again as they start proceeding to style Jisung once more before he leaves the palace to see his "date", Chenle.

~

"You have a visitor, Sir Chenle-"
"Is it Jisung? I hope it's him..."
"... Yes... Yes, it's Jisung-"
"I'll be there in a minute."

Chenle says as his assistant, Soobin, nods and leaves the room immediately. A few seconds later, Chenle stands up from his desk as he fixes himself before leaving his office. He makes his way outside as he sees Jisung in a very expensive-looking suit.

Of course, the look that Jisung was "pulling off" made Chenle wonder if there was an occasion or an upcoming event.

"Why are you so dressed up now, your highness?"
"Well... I actually wanted to impress you with... honestly, I don't even know but yes... I wanted to impress... you."

Jisung takes a pause before ending his sentence, looking at Chenle's eyes as he realizes that time must've stopped for him. Jisung couldn't even hear the children's noises that were circling around the orphanage because he was too distracted at something else. It was like Jisung couldn't take his eyes off of him.

'Oh, no.', he thought in between the fast pacing of his heart beating for Chenle... obviously.

Jisung still doesn't realize that he likes his friend... that he likes Chenle more than friends.

"... Why are you so silent?-"
"Ah, I apologize. I just got- never mind... What are you up to today?"
"... Well, I planned to do more office work today so I really can't go outside-"
"Oh, I'll help!"